Follow-up and China-Fiter: China is responding to international pressure market forces by implementing “a system allowing the recall of unsafe or unapproved food products….” What that version of the story doesn’t bother to mention is the former head of the Chinese version of the FDA has been sentenced to death. Could this be a message for the person who currently holds the post? Maybe a message for the West? Hmm, could be. On a completely unrelated note, one New York neighborhood has changed so much, some of its residents are trying to learn Mandarin.
Vegas Baybee: Did you know that there’s 400 miles of flood control tunnels under Las Vegas? Or that there’s a huge luxury community/resort called Lake Las Vegas… that actually has a lake? Or that we’ll bet on anything here, even Rock Paper Scissors? Well, uh, now you know.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Far East: your dose of Japan-Filter for the week includes a blog about Japanese Whiskey It turns out there’s a bit to know about them. I suppose I must mention that the new Miss Universe is from Japan. But most importantly, the West is clearly falling behind in Rock Ballad Technology! This nation must embark upon an amtibious program of lyrical and musical research; I nominate Jimmy Webb to head the program with a generous government grant. Note, the first version of the song includes subtitles (in Japanese), but I honestly like the second version by the original songwriter better.
But back in Massachusetts: It’s nice to see some Ivy League colleges like Amhearst actively doing things to help young people with talent but not necessarily money attend.
What nobody knew about was the news from Brazil: Brazil gets it. They know too many abortions take place in their country, despite the fact that abortion is illegal (Right, making something illegal totally makes it go away, memo to the “just say no to drugs/sex/whatever” crowd). They also know that if they want to prevent abortions, they have to prevent unwanted pregnancies. So what are they doing? They are subsidizing birth control pills. Just show your state ID card, and a month’s supply is only twenty cents! They also intend “to increase the number of free vasectomies performed at state hospitals.” Good move from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Even that could not compare to the news from Outer Space: Namely, that 28 new planets had been found, bringing the total known non-solar-system planets to 236 (or is that the number of stars with planets?), highlighting advances in planet-hunting technology, and virtually insuring that conditions condusive to the development of life must exist out there someplace.
Of course, other events were unfolding in the Midwest: Presidential Candidate Senator Obama has tossed a healthcare plan into the ring, but little in details are available yet — just dozens of reprints ot that one article by Mike Glover — even on his official website’s section on healthcare. Interestingly, this happened within a day of the Christian Science Monitor telling us that Detroit’s auto manufacturers are trying to get out from under retiree’s health insurance expenses. Oh, and let’s not forget that some medical groups are posting their pricelists online. I think such transparency is a good idea, personally. And not because it lets patients consumers shop for a better deal. Because it gives doctors a tool for determining fair prices to charge and for dealing with insurance companies. Update, The plan is out: read it firsthand, or Ezra Klein’s one, two, three posts on what he sees there.
But all these events could be overshadowed by news coming from our nation’s Capitol: If you haven’t read up on this yet, educate yourself. Any sufficiently big disaster — terrorist attack, another Katrina, heck even a stock market crash the way I read it — and the President can unilaterally decide to invoke a directive making him more or less a dictator until such time as he decides it’s safe to cede power back to pretty much anybody else. Meanwhile, Pelosi says the disaster known as Global Warming is real, and lawmakers want to make it worse by pretending coal is an “alternative fuel.” Oh, and as one final insult, it turns out that if the Federal Government had to follow the same accounting rules as most companies, last year’s deficit spending would be $1.3 trillion with a t (“million million”), and the national debt would be more like $59 trillion, putting your own household share at $11,434 last year and $516,348 total. Nothing like putting your own debts in perspective, is there?
i want to know when they are betting reaching capacity for providing ample and good quality water. Years ago there was talk of building aquaducts from Minnesota for the southwest to waste… someday that may become “cheap” enough to do.
ps. pelosi is a greedy gravy sucking pig just like EVERYbody else in washington dc. a political career is no longer about public service…