Category: Shorties

But we need those guest workers! The EPI on the unfortunately enduring problem of long-term unemployment.

Which one of those Canadians wears the beret? Many thanks to The Crone Speaks’s Sunny 66 for pointing us to Mythbusting Canadian Health Care. It’s part one, so keep an eye out for part two!

I also have a side-business selling tiger-repellent rocks. Carry one of these rocks anywhere in the United States, and you won’t see any tigers outside a zoo, guaranteed! No? Well D-Ed Reckoning has a nice item on Poverty and Education.

ShortWoman agreeing with the Cato Institute is normally a sign of impending calamity. Oh well, make sure your disaster supplies are in order, because they are the real Straight Talk Express when it comes to John McCain.

Things I’ve learned from Japanese grammar. When you don’t know how to pronounce something, start by not emphasizing any syllables. Putting “yo” at the end of a sentence is a perfectly good way to add emphasis and point out new information. Listen to everything before you decide you know what’s going on. And little details make a big difference in what something means. Here’s a site that those studying Japanese might enjoy.

Look before you Leap. Wired tells us Three Smart Things You Should Know About Leap Year.

Laptop security ends at the security checkpoint. Seriously. Don’t bother taking your portable computer overseas.

Keeping an eye on this one. The (new) 3 Rs.

Help handicapped children and get rid of wrinkles all at once. Did you know that Botox can help some kids get out of wheelchairs? Well, that is if they have a certain kind of cerebral palsy. And it does take five to fifteen times the amount of Botox it would take to get rid of the “number 11” between your eyes. And unfortunately, there are a very small number of kids who have had bad reactions recently.

Excuse me, does anyone here speak Kudlow? Heh.

Deja Vu. Petite Sophisticate is closing. Again. Maybe if they actually sold petite clothing at reasonable prices they would do better. As opposed to “slightly smaller than regular sized” clothing at “really too damn expensive” prices.

Herding Cats. Running an orchestra. Pretty much the same thing.

If you were expecting me to say something about the so-called stimulus package, The Crone pretty much said what needed saying.

And that’s it for the day. Have a great weekend. Stay warm!

Merry Christmas, folks.

Let’s get started with two items on healthcare, one from the ever-insightful Dave Johnson, and one from Expert Ezra.

YouTube is now officially good enough for the Queen of England.

Are we prepared for Chinese investors?

CNN reports that “credit card defaults [are] alarmingly high“, and the Christmas bills haven’t even arrived yet.

JurassicPork must be in a more festive mood, as he brings us 10 more little known “facts” about Chuck Norris.

Devilstower over at Daily Kos explains to one and all why fundamentalism and democracy are incompatible. The money quote: “A theocratic democracy is an impossibility. That’s just as true for Christianity as it is for Islam.” Remember Salem, anybody?

The TSA has earned itself the position of just as unpopular as the IRS!

And finally, a really cute picture.

What will they come up with next? Just what you probably don’t want to deal with first thing in the morning, a flying alarm clock.

Who needs extradition? “A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it,” if they are accused of a crime in the US. If that is so, why did the Feds wait until Skylarov came to the United States to arrest him?

Navigate By Numbers. A great quote.

Everybody Loves Dinosaurs. Here’s a mummified dinosaur, complete with skin and tendons! Scientists hope there may also be mummified muscles and organs. But wait, there’s more! As a bonus, we have a bus-sized fossilized sea predator.

Preach On! DeanDad pointed me to some inspired writing on at Tiny Cat Pants (don’t you love that name?), but I found Bradford Plumer’s commentary on my own.

News You Can Use. I’ll be crossposting this link over at BridgetMagnus.com, but thanks to the MetaFilter crowd for Landlord-Tenant Law in Every State.

So much for making fun of the Canadians. Not only is their dollar doing a lot better than ours, their health system is better than ours too, both in costs and results. And yet every presidential candidate except Kucinich wants to give us “mandatory giving money to insurance companies”.

Just what I needed! Toyota has built a robot that plays the violin. Elsewhere, someone has — for reasons known only to them — made cactus out of yarn.

Catch 22. On one hand, we have kids dying because drugs are not tailored to them. On the other hand, what parent wants to sign their kid up for experimental drugs?

What’s that line again, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”? I don’t know what to make of the revised WIC guidelines — the first major changes since the 70s — but I’m pretty sure that if the current administration is involved, it is probably not what it at first seems.

If you really care about education, you need to read this book. The nice folks at D-Ed Reckoning point out that Zig Engelmann’s book will finally be published. Learn the true story about a system that won’t admit it’s failures or anyone else’s successes, and get a bonus side order of My Pet Goat.

 

Happy Holidays, folks.

Half a Million Dollars in Debt, and Some People Want to Worry About Pens and Notepads: CNN tells us about a young family I wish were more unusual. Both young adults graduated medical school. Their first child is due any day now. They work “brutal hours for salaries that, on an hourly basis, work out to a little more than they could earn stocking the shelves at Costco.” And they have $500,000 in student loan debt — so far. But as I say, the people who want to “reform” health care are much more concerned with the pens and notepads that drug companies give to doctors.

Extra, Extra! Read All About it! Book store reinvents the book! Actually, the Amazon Kindle looks pretty cool.

That Makes Elmo Want to Sing the Cow Song. I grew up watching Sesame Street. And these people just don’t get it. Early Sesame Street — which by the way, packs a whole lot more actual education than the newer, sanitized, dumbed down for younger kids version on PBS today — is not about escaping into some happy place where numbers and letters dance. It’s about meeting kids where they are, admitting that sometimes things are not all rosy. It taught us that the world did not end at the next cross-street, that some people are just grouchy, and that milk comes from cows. Oh, and since milk is pasteurized, what the heck does it matter that “[c]ows are milked by plain old farmers, who use their unsanitary hands and fill one bucket at a time”?

Thankful for the Planet. Here’s 84 ways ordinary people can help the planet. Some of them even save you money.

The Social Security Debate that Wouldn’t Die. Heeeeeeeere’s Krugman. He would like to take a few minutes to refute just about every sentence about Social Security beginning with the phrase “Everybody knows that….”

Maybe They Should Call It USA ToDuh. USA Today tells us that many sex offenders are homeless, making it more difficult to track them. That’s the direct result of Megan’s Laws making it difficult for sex offenders who have served their prison terms to find housing (and avoid mob justice). Seriously, if these people are so dangerous we have to track them for the rest of their lives, put them in prison for the rest of their lives. In another story, USA Today tells us that hate crime was up 8% in 2006. Well, that couldn’t’ have anything to do with the various hatemongers telling us to fear people who are not like us: people who are Muslim; people who are gay; people who are Hispanic (and therefore implied illegal immigrants).

When There Are No Invaders, There Are No Insurgents Either. The British have left Basra, and violence is down. Imagine that.

This is a Bad Idea. Colorado wants to pass an amendment to the state Constitution giving legal rights to fertilized human eggs. It’s a bad idea. Unless, of course, you think that women are nothing more than a cardboard box. Oh, and never mind that it’s not even a pregnancy until implantation.

Political Discourse.  If you happen to live in Nevada, I have some links regarding our upcoming caucuses over here.

Too True. “And you never find what you need in there.”

Speaking of Now-Inappropriate TV I Watched as a Child. A link to an interview with Moe Howard of The Three Stooges.

And Last But Not Least. The BlogHers Act landing page for initiatives to improve maternal health worldwide is live and active.

Happy Nevada Day from Las Vegas.

“Is your uh, is your wife interested in….photography, ay?” (reference) Ay? Well now you no longer have to keep records proving that she was of legal age at the time.

What’s twice the size of Texas, disgusting, and getting bigger every day? Unfortunately, it’s a massive garbage dump at sea. It’s so big, one expert says “At this point, cleaning it up isn’t an option.” Since 80% of the trash-continent’s contents come from land-based sources, experts propose measures that reduce reliance on plastic bags and packaging as a means to slow its growth.

Oil’s Well that Ends Well. Oil is up again, now hitting over $92 a barrel. Oh, and the dollar continues to slide. Add to that this item:

On September 29th…, the government of Iraq announced that the next annual renewal of the United Nations Security Council mandate for a multinational force in Iraq — the only legal basis for a continuation of the American occupation — will be the last. That was… the first shoe to fall. The second may be an announcement terminating the little-noticed, but crucial companion Security Council mandate governing the disposition of Iraq’s oil revenues.

Tax overhaul proposals blooming in the sun? There must be an election coming up.  This one comes from Congressman Rangel.  It allegedly would reduce taxes on roughly a third of Americans, repeal AMT, and place a surtax on people who he thinks make too much money ($200,000 per year).  You want a simple sensible tax overhaul proposal that can be explained to anybody in less than 10 minutes?  Make the standard deduction equal to the poverty line, indexed annually.  Cap itemized deductions at three or even four times that, making AMT obsolete.  Add no more than a half dozen “over and above” deductions for stuff most of us agree are beneficial to society, like charitable contributions. Recalculate tax brackets and rates accordingly.  The End.

I wish my inner conspiracy theorist would shut up.  Seriously.  Not to make light of what is still happening in California with the fires, but now we are finding out that several of the fires were arson,  there were delays in getting firefighting aircraft into the skies, the stadium shelter was just short of being a free festival, the number of evacuees turns out to have been greatly exaggerated, and Mr. Bush arrives (stopping all other flights, including those firefighting planes) just in time to look like a conquering hero.  I don’t want to think that anybody could have set this in motion just to show how well the government can respond to a disaster. I want to believe all that is mere coincidence. I really do.

Interview with a MythBuster.  Ok, interview with both the MythBusters.

Declare War on Stress. (reference)  Americans have more stress these days, fueled by housing costs and terror fears.

Won’t somebody think of the children.  Firedoglake has a fascinating item called “From The Cradle to Uncertainty”, but be sure to click through to the  CDF called  “The Cradle to Prison Pipeline”.  I could do without the ethnocentric preachyness of Marion Wright Edelman (hint, not all religions worship on Sunday, and what the heck does that have to do with kids being doomed to prison?), but the idea that some kids — by the very circumstances into which they are born — may be funneled into a life of crime is sobering.  Oh, and on a related note, a cartoon relevant to SCHIP and other Medicare For All plans.

Stop worrying about the War on Terror.  It’s the War on Freedom we need to be concerned about.

And finally.  If the economy is great, and corporations are making lots of money, and the consumer is buying stuff,  how are corporations getting that stuff to the consumer?  Because they sure aren’t putting it on trains and trucks. He cites not just one, but 4 shipping companies whose earnings are soft on “reduced demand”.

Have a great weekend.

The Better Late Than Never edition on some items.

Europe’s not so bad after all. It turns out you can afford socialized medicine and a vibrant economy after all.

Delicious Pickled Red Herring. Two things bother me about this AMERICAblog post concerning the “bad judgement” of the various Wall Street firms that stood to make a lot of money had Mr. Bush actually gotten his Social Security Privatization plan rammed through. The poster points out that a bevy of such firms have pre-announced bad earnings numbers and written off a lot of bad debt. The thing is that all these firms are trying to “get out in front of the numbers,” that is, get all the bad news out so that there will be no unpleasant surprises. In one case, a bank is writing off any debts more than 3 days overdue. Now I don’t know about yours, but my mortgage payment coupon says I have a 15 day grace period; these banks are making their numbers deliberately bad so that it will appear that they have a miraculous comeback next quarter! Of course this still doesn’t address the biggest problem with Social Security Privatization: you can’t solve “not enough money” by having less money.

Take your anti-contraception propaganda and shove it! Contrary to what some activists would like us all to believe, “The Pill” doesn’t cause cancer; it may prevent cancer.

The Math is a Harsh Mistress. Somebody figured out that a lot more jobs were created in Mr. Clinton’s administration — after a tax increase — that Mr. Bush’s administration. Even if we want to cut Mr. Bush some slack and not count those pesky jobs lost during the last recession and start counting at August of 2003, that’s 4 years and one month ago. Jobs needed per month (150,000) times months (49) is 7.35 million. That’s somewhat more than 5.8 million. In other job creation data, I am not the only person noting that the only real areas of job growth are in three rather narrow service fields. But something I should have wondered and did not: “If these three sectors contributing all of net job growth over the last three months were to be an indication of a healthy economy, then the source of the funds ultimately used to pay the salaries of all these new workers would be an important question to ask. Just where does all the money come from?”

Because just what everyone needs is another bank account. Hillary wants us all to have access to “401(k)-style retirement accounts for all Americans and provide federal matching money to middle-income people who save at least $1,000.” Excuse me, is there some reason we can’t raise the contribution limits on IRA accounts to achieve the same goal? Why can’t the dollar-matching happen with accounts many Americans already have? Time to stop reinventing the wheel, people!

Speaking of politics…. Some states don’t have primaries. They have caucuses. They’re a little more intimidating to Joe and Jane Average, but really, if your state has a caucus, you should go participate.

Fashion Controversy. Just where did the traditional Japanese “sailor” styled schoolgirl uniforms come from originally?

The Real Intellectual Heir of Ronald Reagan. George W. Bush. Oh, and bonus Krugman thoughts on the side.

Concentric Waves. The ripple-effect from America’s credit crunch is perhaps just beginning.

History is re-written by the survivors. I’ve said for a long time that “eating fat makes you fat” is a “you are what you eat” taken to it’s most ludicrous conclusion. Well, it turns out there never was any real evidence that dietary fat causes heart disease either.

You Tell ‘Em! Bravo to Mr. Nadler for speaking common sense when everyone else wants to look “tough” on terror.

Potato, potahto potato. Last week Mr. Bush said that we don’t torture people; this week Mr. Carter said that um, yes you do.

Where is that crazy elf when you need him? There’s good money in dentistry. Such a shame so many people are choosing to do without it.

The Last Thing in the Circus. Every time we have yet another scandal involving a secretly gay conservative and/or Republican figure, I wonder if we will ever know how and why a gay male prostitute had extensive access to the White House.

Harry? Wrong time for compromise, Senator Reid.

Patrick, on the other hand, has figured it out. Senator Patrick “Go **** Yourself” Leahy has said what I have been telling you Senator Reid should have said: we can talk about Mr. Gonzales’s successor once we’re done investigating Mr. Gonzales.

Some ideas worth considering: Alternet offers 10 reasons they feel pot should be legalized.

Maybe we can pass a hat for him. Dan Brown comments on Poor Tony Snow, making $168,000 annually and that’s just not enough to support the lifestyle to which he has become accustomed. Yeah, I wonder if he gets to keep his federal health benefits as he battles cancer.

Is he actually a licensed, you know, Doctor? It turns out that the latest nominee for Surgeon General is even a controversial figure in his own church.

Short Version: “It’s Icky!” isn’t reason enough to say it’s immoral, so how about we stay out of one another’s bedrooms. A conservative offers a truly conservative view on homosexuality and Senator Craig’s little mishap.

We don’t want no help around here. Have you ever seen a child stubbornly refuse too accept assistance, insisting he or she “can do it myself!”? Well, turns out the Feds are refusing help too. On one hand, one can see where officials might not want Joe Average offering “negative help” — help that creates more work or actually does harm. On the other hand, it sure looks like a small group of motivated helpers can, in the right circumstances, do more than the pros.

Baka hashi wo suru no hito. [stupid chopstick-using person] Ill-mannered ways to use one’s chopsticks.

Chancellor. CEOs. Queen. Secretary of State. Executives and Ministers, Judges and Senators. Forbes presents the 100 Most Powerful Women in the World.

Just because I like to eat them doesn’t mean I hate animals. Neil the Ethical Werewolf offers this commentary on being omnivorous and still doing your part to reduce cruelty to animals.

Take MaxSpeak off your favorites lists and add Econospeak. I will miss Max, no question. But his co-bloggers have already set up shop at Econospeak. Check out this item on a possible Middle Way in Iraq.

Um, when was the last time you saw a movie on an airplane? In my case, that would be never. I have never, in all my [REDACTED] years been on a flight that had a movie. Never ever. But apparently I could be watching some really racy and/or violent films. Parents are shocked, just shocked I tell you. Apparently they never got the memo that they are responsible for seeing to Junior’s entertainment on the plane.

Happy Labor Day. I have two items for you, one from Kim Pearson and one from the always eloquent Maya’s Granny.

Obligatory Housing Posts. Matthew Yglesias asks if real estate is such a great investment, how come the government has to give us tax breaks to buy it? Elsewhere, BondDad evaluates the possible upcoming scenarios. Next up, a fellow who feels the Bush plan is a bad joke.

Welcome Back Congress. Have a good vacation? You realize that’s more than Joe and Jane Average get, right? Good. Now get back to work and clean up that FISA mess you left on your desk.

Contractors Helping Contractors. I hesitate to point out that the Army may have to hire contractor medical personnel to take care of the other contractors in Iraq, because the fact of the matter is that there are many many medical contractors working on military bases right here Stateside. Maybe they ought to look into why they are having a hard time recruiting enough medical personnel in the first place, eh?

Making America Safer for Criminals. The Department of Justice has been “hollowed out” over the last few years, pushing experienced people out in favor of rookies that will toe the party line and Do What They Are Told.

I hope our President is as logical. If you have been poking around the Leftosphere this weekend, you have heard rumblings of invading Iran within a week. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t think so. In fact, he says that he’s an engineer, and he’s used his science and math skills to determine that America does not dare attack his nation. Oh yeah, and he’s got faith in Allah to that effect as well. It seems clear to me that he thinks our nation will act rationally, and I’m just not sure that is true anymore.

You mean people will pay good money for a book of ads? Someone did the math, and determined that over 700 of Vogue’s 800-someodd pages are advertisements.

At least he’s being honest about it. John Edwards has announced that his mandatory health insurance plan will include mandatory preventative care. Hey, kudos for calling it a “mandatory” plan instead of a “universal” one. But I must say I don’t like the idea of mandatory preventative care. First, how dare “the government” say I have to get X test done. Some of these tests are expensive and controversial. I assume that if I decline any of these tests — or simply don’t have the time to get them done — I will be on my own should something serious come up? This is the kind of thing people point to when they accuse liberals and progressives of favoring a “nanny state.” Frankly, as long as I pose no health hazard to others, it should be my choice what preventative care I choose to avail myself of. Second, I don’t see where he’s mandating that our employers give us the time off to make these mandatory appointments and have our mandatory care done. I hope Mister Two-Americas has thought that far ahead Corrected: I have now read the Edwards proposal as it appears on his website. I should have read it before saying anything, and I apologize for not having done so. I still don’t like that employers are the cornerstone of coverage, but here’s what it says about preventative care:

Health Care Markets will offer primary and preventive services at little or no cost. Incentives like lower premiums will reward individuals who schedule free physicals and enroll in healthy living programs. Edwards will also support community efforts to improve health, such as safe streets, walking and biking trails, safe and well-equipped parks, and physical education programs for children.

Dog Trainers Wanted. Open Left is looking for people to profile a few so-called Bush Dog Democrats. As you know, I prefer to call them Democrats in Name Only, or DINOs. Of course Liebermensch, my original DINO, has already been neutered. I also like that DINOs make it easy to distinguish DEAN-ocrats.

Two years later, we are still talking about this. Cleaning up New Orleans, that is. Mind-bogglingly enough, guys like Tom Tancredo are in essence saying “Ok, Waah Waah. Clean up your own mess and stop playing the pity card already.” Frankly this attitude boggles my mind when you consider everything that was done to thwart people from cleaning up and getting things back to normal. There are people who are still trying to get their insurance companies to cough up the money they are owed so they can clean up and get things back to normal (while still paying the mortgage I might add). And that’s to say nothing of the fact that almost no funds have gone towards rental housing, that some people have cleaned up the best they can only to find their homes bulldozed, that in some cases people have been physically prevented from returning to their homes at all. Mr. Tancredo? You want to stop “helping” these people? Good, stop preventing them from helping themselves, and help them line up the resources to rebuild it themselves instead. It sure is easy for some guy with “reported assets of between $530,000 and $1.1 million” to talk about not waiting for other people to help out.

I could be wrong, I could be right. Last but not least, a lengthy interview with Johnny Rotten.

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.

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.

If we say we’re fixing the problem, maybe nobody will notice it’s still there. Granted, I think it’s good that the United States is looking into “regulatory proposals that could mandate broader inspections of imports and stiffer penalties for ignoring safety rules.” However, it occurs to me that their track record on such issues is somewhat less than stellar.

It turns out “privatization” of some government functions isn’t very libertarian at all. DarkSyde over at Daily Kos points out all the warts on the face of outsourcing such things as emergency services, but the short version is that “the level playing field is dissolved in favor of government sanctioned monopolies awarded in secret no-bid contracts” and “only the profit is privatized – usually into a tiny number of already obscenely wealthy hands — while overhead, cost, and losses are offloaded onto the taxpayer….”

They chose poorly. Do you remember seeing Ezra Klein telling Larry Kudlow how things really stand on universal health? Well Ezra appears on TV regularly talking about health care and health insurance issues; he researches and writes about it as his day job. Keeping that in mind, it really wasn’t terribly clever of Delta Dental to decide his $2000 root canal wasn’t medically necessary after the fact.

It only makes sense if you are anti-sex. This article called “Increasing access to birth control increases use of birth control makes the very astute point that “So more women are using Plan B, which means fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer abortions. Who could be upset with that?” Seriously, who could be upset with that, unless what they really have a problem with is the fact that women might be having sex? Somehow the logic of “the right way to prevent abortions is to prevent unwanted pregnancies” is lost on the so-called “pro-life” movement. If they were really pro-life, they would loudly and continually denounce their inner faction that thinks it is right to enforce their opinion with violence, vandalism, and murder. If they were really pro-life they would be just as actively picketing prisons where the death penalty is carried out.

Interesting. Do you think Ted Rall has gone too far, suggesting that we know little enough about the real motivations of suicide bombers that the profile includes many, ahem, lawful combatants?

iPhone follow up. A recent poll shows that many Japanese people would love to have an iPhone. But only if they add a bunch of features. Oh, and over half of them wouldn’t actually change cell phone carriers to get one.

Nicely written. This item on traveling and passenger’s rights is worth reading, and doesn’t mention the “bye-bye plane” baby (really, which would you rather have on your flight, a happy toddler saying something over and over or a screaming, crying, unhappy toddler?) Since we do live in a highly mobile society where people routinely need to get from one place to another in a timely fashion, we need the right to do so in dignity and safety. This means no planes sitting on tarmac for hours. This means our luggage arrives with us. This means we can’t be arbitrarily delayed and denied on nothing more than the say-so of one capricious airline or TSA employee.

Restore the Constitution. Restore Habeas.

Outrageous. Marines were ordered to make things even more violent in Iraq. Um, that’s the opposite of what we thought they were supposed to do. Gee, that couldn’t have anything to do with why the Prime Minister of Iraq is inviting our troops to go home “anytime they want”.

Coincidence. Right? Last night I happened to see a newer Volvo, and looking at its size and profile I casually remarked “That’s a Volvo? What’s Ford trying to do, kill the line?” Today I happened to read that Ford is thinking of selling Volvo.

We don’t need no steenking watchdogs. It turns out that the Bush Administration hasn’t bothered to report to the intelligence oversight board. Senator “Go **** Yourself” Leahy put it better than I possibly could: “It is deeply disturbing that this administration seems to spend so much of its energy and resources trying to find ways to ignore any check and balance on its authority and avoid accountability to Congress and the American public.”

Statistics are only meaningful when you look at the underlying data. A recent study shows that video game playing among adolescents has a minor effect on reading and homework, and no effect on social skills. Earlier coverage tried to scare us by reporting that the drop was over 30%, a closer read showed that “while boys did indeed spend 30% less time reading, it was 30% of 8 minutes per day. And although 34% less time was spent on homework, this only applied to girls, and only on weekends….” Yeah, I think the more important point is that the typical adolescent boy spends only 8 minutes a day reading, not that if he were a gamer he’d only spend 5.6 minutes.

And finally. Support Dave Johnson. He makes the internet a better place.