House on Shorties Hill

A Win-Win-Win Proposal. Russell Shaw wrote a piece for the Huffington Post suggesting that we could put together some sort of government agency to rebuild our infrastructure. Things like bridges and roads and parks would be (re)built and maintained; Joe and Jane Average would have the benefit of things like bridges and roads and parks; American citizens would be employed in such fields as construction, engineering, and even back-office professions. You know what? FDR tried that in the 30’s and it works!

A Tale of Two Fed Heads. Ok, by now everybody has seen the footage of Jim Cramer going on about how Bernanke needs to lower interest rates by a full percent to avoid catastrophe, fire and brimstone, dogs and cats, living together? Never mind that he made a very similar speech a week earlier on his own show. Needless to say Mr. Cramer had some things to say about yesterday’s Fed meeting. Meanwhile, the always insightful Tim Iocono has advice for Mr. Bernanke and a summary of current Greenspeak. What Would Alan Greenspan Do?

Listen, we know you only have about an hour of electricity a day, and that temperatures are over 100F, but you really need to ram through this piece of legislation mmkay? Next time you see one of those political cartoons making fun of the Iraqi Parliament for taking August off — huh, just like the President and Congress does! — go ahead and look up a current Baghdad weather report. But sometimes it feels like nobody in the West except me and Alternet have noticed that maybe the reason Iraq can’t get the “oil bill” passed is that it is a steaming pile of stuff that isn’t good for Iraq.

Insurance Filter. USA Today asks and answers, When is something less than nothing? When it’s insurance coverage for childhood and adolescent vaccines. Listen folks, kids who don’t get vaccinated become a health hazard in our communities. They become the basis for outbreaks among people too young to be vaccinated, people whose immunity has worn off for whatever reason, and other people who are not vaccinated. Sure, the insurance companies are trying to save a few bucks; that comes with being a for-profit company. But public health is more important than meeting Wall Street expectations. Elsewhere in the Wonderful World of Insurance, young adults make up 30% of those without health insurance, largely because they can’t afford it.

Congress better have an ace up its sleeve. US News’s roundup confirms what was clear to me from Ed Schultz’s callers yesterday: people are mad that the Democrats they sent to Congress in the 2006 elections to change the status quo have caved in to Presidential pressure and fears of being branded some kind of terrorist-lover by passing this wiretap bill. Here’s the List of Shame.

Tough rules are meaningless unless you enforce them. “In a new effort to crack down on illegal immigrants, federal authorities are expected to announce tough rules this week that would require employers to fire workers who use false Social Security numbers.” Here’s a thought, enforce the rules that already exist! Enforcement of these rules during the Bush Administration is down 95%. And that’s 95% down from what the Christian Science Monitor calls reduced enforcement since the Reagan Administration, noting that “Since the 9/11 attacks, there has been even less focus on interior investigations.”

Somebody Knew the Ride was Ending. What a coincidence! Four guys who got out of those now-defunct Bear Stearns hedge funds just happened to be executives with Bear Stearns.

And finally, That’s One Heck of a Snow-Cone! Of course, in Japan they call it kakigori.

Two for the Road

Part One: What, Me Worry?

The New York Times was kind enough to publish a little item called “A Question Recurs: How Safe Is Las Vegas?”

Please remember, I am one of the 1.5 million people who live in the Las Vegas Valley, and that Las Vegas itself is one of the 50 largest cities in the United States, and 5000 people move here every month. This is before you account for the fact that 16 of the 20 largest hotels in the world are in Las Vegas and that 38.9 million people visited town last year.

Reading the article, I could not decide whether the NYT was saying “eek beware stay away” or “hey, they have things under control.” You wouldn’t know it to watch reruns of CSI on Spike, but there have really only been two recent incidents that have broken into the national news seen: a lone nutcase who opened fire before being taken down by off-duty military tourists, and a hit that happened to involve a bomb on the victim’s car. A former sheriff, who now runs security for one of the casino groups, says:

“We have not had an event here in Las Vegas the equivalent of the events of 9/11 or anything close to that, and that hasn’t been by accident…. With all that said, it’s going to be very, very, very difficult to prevent lone criminals who have the intentions of harming themselves and others.”

Translation: it’s really hard to stop one nut.

Look, folks, I am not worried about terraists attacking here. First, every casino has cameras everywhere (remember? “part of me knows what you’re thinking”?) — and there’s even casinos in grocery stores. There’s also security everywhere, and they have been trained to make sure that the city’s guests have a good and safe time. There are other factors I won’t trouble you about, let me just say that the only coordinated attack that I think has any chance of success is if some truly fringe religious group is involved.

Part Two: Even Steve Liesman doesn’t like the numbers

CNBC was talking about the job creation figures for July, which were released today. CNN nicely summarizes job growth as “weaker” and points out that average hourly wages grew a whole six cents! So much for how raising the minimum wage was going to put employers in a bind. Those who would like to blame the minimum wage hike for these numbers would do well to remember that this is merely the latest in a trend of bad numbers, and that we have actually had a month with worse job creation earlier this year. TheStreet.com has some more details, but if you want the overall picture check out this chart from The Mess That Greenspan Made.

Let’s set aside the fact that 92,000 jobs were created, when we need at least 150,000 to absorb new people in the labor pool. Let’s not get bogged down in the fact that none of those people count as “unemployed” because they were never employed in the first place. And let’s only give a passing nod CNBC’s mentioning “All the July job growth came in service industries, which added 104,000 jobs while goods-producing industries cut 12,000 positions. The government shed 28,000 jobs in July, the first time in more than a year and half that the government has cut hiring.” That’s the second month in a row that “service industries” created more jobs than the headline job creation number! How long until every job requires phrases like “how can I help you”? How can we continue to call ourselves a “superpower” when each month we make less stuff, we build fewer things, and we spend more time giving one another “service” using products made somewhere else?

An hour after the figures were released, CNBC’s Chief Economist Steve Liesman asked whether the job creation numbers in the financial services industry accounted for the 7000 employees of American Home Mortgage for whom today is the last day of work. Frankly, he sounded skeptical of the numbers overall. Could it be that he’s beginning to suspect that the employment and job creation numbers are just as rigged as the inflation figures?

In closing: the things dads can teach their kids include financial literacy and lockpicking; remember me mentioning that the Canadians had sent an expedition to claim the North Pole? Well Russia sent a submarine to claim the land under the ice cap, so the Stalemate for Santa is on!; and finally, beating your wife is not a Christian value! Submitting to “authority” and having the crap beaten out of you are different things, and any man who can’t see that does not deserve to have a wife. Or, to paraphrase Karl Cullinane, “You do not say ‘my wife’ or ‘my child’ in the same way you would say ‘my shovel.'”

From the “now I’ve seen everything” files….

Today I got one of those coupon booklets in the mail. You know the sort of thing. I was flipping through it when I saw this:

Menopause, the Musical

The rest of the page informed me that someone from the local paper wrote “Dollar for dollar, it’s the best show in town.” At this point, it is worth pointing out that the next line on the page is “Free Las Vegas Hilton Buffet! See Reverse Side for Details!”

Apparently this is for real, but I bet you’ll never ever see a high school production of it.

But Wait There’s More

If you are pressed for time today, the Associated Press has condensed this Washington Post article. For the truly short-of-attention-span (emphasis mine):

The Bush administration’s top intelligence official has acknowledged that a controversial domestic surveillance program was only one part of a much broader spying effort, The Washington Post reported in its Wednesday edition. [snip]

“That is the only aspect of the NSA activities that can be discussed publicly because it is the only aspect of those various activities whose existence has been officially acknowledged,” McConnell wrote, according to the Post. [snip]

The letter was written to defend Attorney General Alberto Gonzales….

So it’s ok for someone to lie to Congress because they’re not in the loop about your illegal spying operation? What?

Just about the only person standing up for Mr. Gonzales at this point is Mr. Cheney, who appeared on Larry King Live to say that since there’s no charges yet, the investigation is a “witch hunt.” Apparently Mr. Cheney is unaware that investigations usually precede charges, not the other way around. If you would like to see Mr. Cheney’s comments analyzed and certain facts disputed, check it out here. One thing that I will point out is in the very last minute or so. Mr Cheney very specifically says something that is supposed to be interpreted as “I don’t recall that I sent [Mr. Gonzales] to the hospital [to see Mr. Ashcroft].” What he in fact says is “I don’t recall I sent him to the hospital.”

The word that does not appear between those phrases. Perhaps he meant a period.

Stop waiting for “the other shoe to drop”, because we clearly have a centipede on our hands.

In closing: researchers come to the conclusion that it’s because it feels good; Brad Plumer tells us how the War on Drugs is the War on the Welfare Rolls, and there is a related commentary here; where business and fashion collide, we find Liz; three items for economics filter, housing prices, “blame the Chinese”, and “5 lies my economist told me”, and last a solution so simple it should already be in place, if classrooms have locks, it’s easier to keep gunmen out. Now of course it is possible for Bad Guys to lock doors too, and I’m sure most Principals are sputtering on about kids locking the door for nefarious purposes. That’s why locks have keys, people. It seems to me the Principal should probably have one.

On Retail

This summer, I have been trying to buy a new swimsuit. The word “trying” should probably alert you to the fact that I have — so far, anyway — failed.

I’ve been working out, toning up, actually have regular access to a pool. Since I have not purchased a new swimsuit in about 5 years, I thought this was not only the time, but that I should really try and get a bikini. I have not found anything acceptable, and frankly have only found about 2 things worth even taking back to the fitting room. I don’t know who is designing these darn things, but they need a serious talking-to.

Pet peeve one is that bottoms are almost universally adorned with buckles, bows, or ruffles. Just what every woman wants, is to make her butt look bigger! Sure, go ahead, put those bows right out there on my hips, add a couple inches to them. Oh, and look, the bow makes the fit adjustable — or gives a perfect opportunity for Bad Boys to harass you at the public pool. It’s two, two, two inconveniences for the price of one! Look, even if you are trying to attract Sir Mix-a-lot, he’s a smart guy and isn’t going to be fooled by a bit of fabric.

Peeve two is metal decorations. Sometimes these are on the aforementioned hip-enlarging brigade. Sometimes it is holding the top together. Sometimes it even includes little dangly bits that are supposed to be attractive somehow. You know what they are to me? Something that will get blazing hot in the sun. Oh yeah, perfect thing to put on a swimsuit! Maybe the designers didn’t notice, but most people go to the pool on hot, sunny days.

What the heck were they thinking? At least the guys who decided to put school supplies on sale for super-low prices in July (before anybody even gets their school supply lists) have a sort of mad genius going for them; the people who buy early will be back for the things they didn’t know they needed.

In closing, CBS televising video games (bye bye EGLN, so long EREV); why you should digitize your old photos; Hillary proves she cares more about corporate interests than American interests; didn’t I tell you people were filing for disability when finding a “decent” job was too hard?; thanks to Jill for pointing out someone else who understands that universal health and mandatory health insurance are different things; caffeine + exercise = lower risk of skin cancer (but that’s not an excuse to skip sunscreen!); and finally, why have there only been 2 Medals of Honor awarded in Iraq — both posthumous?

On Being One Human in a Sea of Human Stories

Of all the places I could be this morning, there is one remarkable place I am not, and that would be Chicago, Illinois. That is remarkable on this particular day not because I happen to have been born there, but because it means I am not at BlogHer 2007. Theoretically I could, and maybe even should be there, giving a hug to the, oh, probably 3 people I actually know, and networking with moms who document public restrooms to twenty-something economists to people working for global issues impacting the quality of life for billions of people.

When you consider the fact that they didn’t exist 3 years ago, it is quite remarkable that they have 13,000 members. I am just one of them.

However, we have reached a point where there is no such thing as a slow news week. It would be very easy to have spent the whole week paying attention to nothing more than Gonzovision and the escalating tension between Congress and the Bush Administration over subpoenas and such. But if you did that you would have missed the Senate calling for universal internet filtering and the House actually passing a Farm Bill that the President will likely veto (along with the current version of the SCHIP renewal bill and anything else that means he doesn’t get exactly his way). You would have missed the President asking for an overhaul of the FISA statute that he can’t even be bothered to follow. And that’s just the news from Capitol Hill!

In other political news you would have missed an effective end to voters registration drives (so for goodness sake, why don’t you pick up a half dozen of those cards and make sure your friends are registered?), the Republican Presidential Candidates deciding they won’t debate on YouTube, this item on Purple America, and the World Can’t Wait campaign, Declare It Now: Wear Orange.

From economic news you would have missed the fact that wages are stagnant and the lowest job growth in 40 years, and I honestly don’t know why the Neo-Cons aren’t screaming about how Clinton’s numbers weren’t much better and blaming him for everything (with added bonus Hillary-smearing!). You also would have missed millions of people getting a raise, the only ray of sunshine in the last Iraq spending bill.

Speaking of Iraq, did you know that we’ve stopped gathering data on how much electricity per day they get in Baghdad? Just so you don’t forget, it’s a typical July day there, with a projected high of 116 F. That might have something to do with why “In Baghdad, the search for ice becomes a deadly struggle”. Oh, and we might be abusing the workers we imported to build the American Embassy, begging the question of why we aren’t hiring locals considering the current unemployment rate there. And to top it off, one of the Iraqi Vice President’s bodyguards was shot by an off-dute Blackwater operative.

Speaking of assassination, just when you thought we knew everything about Pat Tillman’s unfortunate death as a hero, no wait by friendly fire, more keeps coming. Friendly Fire doesn’t normally result in 3 bullets to the forehead.

From the world of science, we have a hospital reducing infections through the inexpensive and liberal application of common sense and even the Pope says that evolution probably happened! He did caution that didn’t mean God didn’t make evolution. Somehow that seems like a good middle ground that should be palatable to many Christians, even the not-Catholic kind.

Somehow through all this, CNN has time for Lindsay Lohan and Zsa Zsa Gabor’s naked husband. Go figure.

Don’t Go Into the Shorties

It’s getting hot in here, so turn off all your stoves…. Cool recipe links for hot days.

Guess who’s not going to Eastern Illinois University? Some unnamed applicant sent an application packet that resulted in the bomb squad coming to campus. A spokesperson said “There was no return address, it was poorly written, poorly addressed to the university, there were misspellings… There was some tape over it. Just the overall appearance was rather strange.” No return address and “strange” appearance can be forgiven, but I would think that the misspellings and poor writing hurt his or her chances of admission. I wonder if this person was applying for the upcoming fall semester.

But if we go back to the way things were, we will have to allow cute puppy dogs equal airtime with the Nazi Party, and you don’t want that, do you?? No no no I don’t think so. Here’s perhaps the smartest thing you will read this week about the Fairness Doctrine.

I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. That is, unless you are a librarian. Or have an appointment with your gynecologist. Or want to take a picture of a building while standing on a public sidewalk. Or want to exercise your First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of assembly.

Do not buy flip flops at Wal-Mart without reading this! And after you read it, you probably won’t want to. Ouch.

Common Sense vs Fear Mongering. Succinct, down to earth, plain language talk about universal health.

When Bruce Schneier says you have to read something about airplane security, you know it’s going to be good. And so I humbly send you to see A Pilot on Airline Security.

What a coincidence! So am I! House Democrats are divided on Farm Subsidies bill. The original purpose of farm subsidies was to keep prices stable and encourage farmers as a group to grow a diverse assortment of crops. But now, subsidies are used as a stick with which big agriculture beats the snot out of the “small family farms” which by and large barely exist anymore. That, and the WTO and EU are insisting that the whole system be scrapped, because it is not fair for the world to compete with our subsidized crops. Something has to change, but what?

We have switched their regular Daily Kos with Gonzales Crystals. Let’s see if they notice…. Yes, today’s Daily Kos is Gonzo-vision! They’re all gonzo gonzo gonzo about Gonzo! And they are joining the merry band that is calling for his impeachment or resignation, a band I’ve been a member of since January! Oh look, and here’s Digby! And… what’s this?? Fox News even says he should resign?? Well now they are a bit more conservative than the HuffPo, aren’t they? I still think it’s hilarious that Gonzales wants to “fix” the problems in the DOJ, despite the fact that he caused them. Just a little reminder, the Senate gets to confirm nominees for things like Attorney General; if Mr. Gonzales is out — for whatever reason — his replacement has to be palatable to enough Democrats to get a majority vote. Oh, and confirming a nominee might have to wait until this whole contempt thing is settled if Harry Reid is smart.

Last but not least, No More Echo Chamber. Dave Johnson at Seeing the Forest does it again. He has pointed out that we, the Progressives and Centrists, have to get out there and make our opinions heard to people who don’t necessarily agree with us. So get your logic in order and get the word out to Joe Average.

L’Etat? C’Est Moi!

Today’s Washington Post reports that the White House has announced that the Executive Branch does not need to answer to the Legislative Branch.

Well, that’s the short version. The long version is that Congress won’t be permitted — permitted! — to pursue contempt charges against certain members of the Administration for whom the President has invoked executive privilege. How can they do that? Very simple: under federal law the contempt charges must be run through the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, who is then legally obligated to convene a grand jury. However, the U.S. Attorneys work for the Justice Department and for Alberto Gonzales. Furthermore, remember that Congress is attempting to investigate how and why 9 U.S. Attorneys were fired.

An anonymous administration official has stated that no U.S. Attorney will be allowed to pursue such charges against the administration, nor “permitted to argue against the reasoned legal opinion that the Justice Department provided.” He did not need to add that at this point, each and every U.S. Attorney knows what will happen to his or her job should if they do not Follow Orders and Tow The Company Line. This of course includes the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colombia.

How on earth is Congress supposed to get to the bottom of anything when the Administration refuses to give them complete documentation and even refuses to allow key witnesses to appear for questioning? They aren’t, and that’s the point.

What exactly are they trying to hide? Perhaps a High Crime or Misdemeanor?

Several possible options lie before Congress. They can use their “inherent contempt” power, which does not require the cooperation of the Justice Department, but will have the look of an internal witch trial. They can impeach Gonzales — he’s already on record lying to Congress and that’s impeachable all by itself — and the Senate can refuse to confirm a successor until this mess is settled and Harriet Miers appears before them. Perhaps they will talk about using the I Bomb on the President himself. And perhaps there is a path that seems clear to guys like Harry Reid that isn’t obvious to you and me. But this situation cannot be allowed to stand.

In closing: War on Science == War on Women; a follow up on an item from 4 years ago (!), details are finally trickling out about Cheney’s energy task force meetings from 2001; Sure, the President gets to invoke privilege, but he also has the right to say you won’t be needing due process; new study by guys who know what they are talking about says there’s a big energy problem, and we’d better address it starting with better efficiency; and finally “Key to a long life — Less Insulin in the Brain cautions us that the best way to get that “less insulin” is “good, old-fashioned diet and exercise.” But then they never tell you what they mean by a “good old-fashioned diet.” A quarter says they mean a diet low in sugar and moderate in complex carbohydrates, because under normal circumstances our bodies produce insulin after we eat such foods. So a sugar-high might be just as bad for you as illegal drugs?

Japanese Data Dump

Before I get started, I’d like to mention that I don’t bring in big bucks. In fact, to date I have not taken in a dime for this site. Now then. I have had some requests for Japan and Japanese language links. Some of these links have been posted before, nevertheless it is handy to have them in one post. You’ll find them by clicking the read more link. If this is not your cup of tea, please scroll down for something completely different. Thank you for your patience!

Continue reading Japanese Data Dump

Nothing in Common

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation with someone, when suddenly you realize that the person you are talking to has such a radically different viewpoint from yours that you don’t even know where to begin finding common ground? And such a disconnect is almost always concerning some subject where it is not so simple that you can say “Ok, well if that’s so, please explain this thing that doesn’t fit with your idea.” You may feel some stirring of disbelief that your companion feels that way, a moment of shock where you wonder if it is even worth continuing to talk about the issue at hand. You struggle for a way to express what is — to you anyway — the obvious.

But no, this is like two young adults arguing about which came first, the chicken or the egg, with one shouting about how clearly eggs evolved before chickens did because after all dinosaurs laid eggs, with the other insisting with equal fervor that God created all creatures including the chicken that laid the first egg. If one could reasonably prove the other wrong, it would have already happened. Each will talk about how the other’s theory is unproven, and the other will reply, and each will find flaws — real or imagined — in the other’s reasoning. As Tim Iacono said about a completely unrelated issue, “It’s easy to ignore [something] when it goes contrary to everything you want to believe, so that’s what we did.” The only possible end to this argument is stalemate, regardless of the merits or flaws of either position.

Today I offer two examples: one from the Halls of Academia and one from the core of Neo-Conservatism.

First, thanks to Ken DeRosa at D-Ed Reckoning for pointing out this item called “Read It and Weep: Why does Congress hate the one part of No Child Left Behind that works?” This lengthy but excellent article details the ongoing philosophical battle between two opposing reading pedagogy methods, “whole language” and “phonics.” One works for almost all kids, one only works for some kids (the ones whom, I personally suspect, are actually being taught with the other method at home by Mom and Dad), but to listen to the dueling research papers, you’d be hard pressed to tell which is which. Systems that stress phonics and comprehension and building new skills on a foundation of recently learned skills work. The evidence is strong enough that part of No Child Left Behind will give schools money to implement such systems, and schools that have taken the money have watched their test scores soar, with teachers and administrators exclaiming things like “We could see immediate results,” and “It’s exciting to be successful.”

But you’d never know that to listen to the whole language proponents. They deride the thing that actually works as “drill and kill,” and “cutting learning up into itty-bitty pieces,” and even “the factory model.” They claim to have research that says their system works as well, but every time someone knowledgeable digs into the research they find flaws. No amount of research on the other side will ever convince them that simply exposing kids to the written word will not teach them to read by some sort of literary osmosis. The losers in this war are of course the kids, many of whom never become good readers, and many of whom end up spending time with expensive tutoring and Kumon to learn what their first grade teacher should have taught them in the first place.

My other example is far more horrifying. A British journalist went on the National Review’s annual cruise. She listened attentively to people who were absolutely certain that Muslims were “breeding” and taking over Europe, anti-war liberals want nothing more than to demoralize America and thus should be executed for treason, Vietnam was only a failure because of the “Left”, there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq but they were moved to Syria, all non-whites are inferior so any discrimination they are victim to is deserved, Rumsfeld and Pinochet were both heroes, and of course the Middle East would run so much better if enlightened conservative Republicans controlled it (for the benefit of those poor inferior and Muslim non-whites currently there of course). Don’t miss page two, where Robert Bork is heard saying “The coverage of this war is unbelievable. Even Fox News is unbelievable. You’d think we’re the only ones dying. Enemy casualties aren’t covered. We’re doing an excellent job killing them.” Oh and scroll down for Norman Podhoretz on why things in Iraq are great and that the invasion of Iran can’t come soon enough.

These views, clearly held in sincerity by some, are foreign to my reality. People like these are why I look like a progressive leftist freak, when in fact I am moderate and my views generally in line with Joe and Jane Average — assuming of course that Joe and Jane have actually thought about the issues and not just gotten the soundbites from highly biased sources. In the places where I am a little more progressive, I can explain my views such that Joe and Jane at least know why I feel as I do even if they do not agree.

Is there any reasoning with these radical Neo-Con points of view? Any common ground? Are these views common, or just peculiar to the sort of hyper-conservative who has both the money and desire to go on a cruise with people like William Buckley?

In closing, Paul Krugman and Dan Agin and Robert Weissman on health care, particularly the “universal” kind; Cheney vs. Rice on Iran, and as Joe Gandelman points out, the article says the President and Vice President “did not trust any potential successors in the White House” and clearly believe they are the only ones who can safeguard America. Indeed, whither the middle ground?