Category: Shorties

Follow up on last post.

Two items on Plan B: one from Time Magazine and a frankly more important one from Molly Saves the Day.

Cheneyfilter: Mr. Cheney dazzles us with logic that would have earned him a D- in high school geometry. He also completely reframes reality to suit his rhetorical whim. In other Cheney news, we bring you See Dick Run (the country) and — only tangentially about Cheney himself — Cheney Can’t Scare Me Anymore. One thing that struck me as interesting about this editorial is that the author thought this was so important, he wrote and submitted this despite being on sabbatical.

“OK, OK, we’ll give them a trial. But we won’t show the accused all the evidence.” No! Really! Never mind that pesky Constitution thingy: “Despite assuring Congress that career military lawyers are helping design new trials for accused terrorists, the Bush administration has limited their input on their key request, that any tribunals must give detainees the right to see the evidence against them, officials said.” Somehow or another, this country managed to get through the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the War on Drugs, to say nothing of Prohibition without such measures. The government didn’t need secret evidence against Al Capone.

Insane rules on asylum.

They’ve run afoul of the Patriot Act of 2001 and the REAL ID Act of 2005, which further tightened asylum laws.

The Karen are not alone. Many people trying to escape Cuba, Liberia, Colombia and other troubled countries are classified as having provided “material support” to terrorists. In reality, many were forced to aid violent soldiers who passed through their villages.

Women in Liberia who were raped by soldiers have been told that they offered aid to rebel groups, experts say. Cubans who resisted Fidel Castro’s communist regime have been denied entry here because of supposed affiliation with clandestine terrorist groups.

Many Karen refugees, who make up the largest group affected by the legislation, may have aided the Karen National Liberation Army, a militia that fights the country’s military junta.

Here is an update. Two things about this situation strike me as being even more Kafka-esque. First, under Real ID rules, none of these people will be able to get a form of identification that will allow them into any federal building, such as an immigration office or a courthouse. Hopefully you see where that might delay normalizing their status. The other thing that should make your head spin is that while we are turning away people who are the victims of horrible violence in their home countries, who already have family and support organizations here in the United States, who would otherwise live in refugee camps hoping nothing else bad happens, and who most importantly are using legal channels to try and get into the United States, the Senate wants to give just forgive and forget about several million people who came to this country illegally. Not even the Right Wing News thinks that’s a good idea.

Obligatory comments on the anniversary of Katrina: one by a Professor of Political Science who just happens to have family in New Orleans and one more general item about Katrina, Terrorists, and the DHS from Dr. B’s guest blogger, No Nym. Note the links; a good researcher cites sources. Update: just arrived in my email.

A timely item on school lunches and agriculture.

Consumer confidence numbers for the American economy were released today, and they are down. It’s the lowest level since last November, and the biggest drop — what a coincidence — since Katrina hit. Let the argument about what that means begin. While many people are talking about the fact that Americans are worried about the availability of jobs, few are openly talking about the fact that real wages are stagnant. Update: lagging consumer confidence could also have something to do with the fact that poverty remains unchanged (1 out of 8 people and 1 out of 4 black people live in poverty) and the number of people without health insurance rose for the 5th year in a row.

Elsewhere in the wild world of business and economic news: Whispers of Mergers set off Suspicious Trading (who knew??) and United States wants China to have bigger role at the IMF. I am curious about the real reasons why.

And finally, an utterly absurd situation which sums up why average people will either insist upon an overhaul of airplane security rules or stop flying: Airline loses the prosthetic leg of a disabled athlete after making her put it in checked baggage.

The Bad Idea that Wouldn’t Die! Somehow “Social Security Reform” still includes the idea of private retirement accounts. Private accounts mean less money goes to the Social Security fund, and “everybody knows” the problem is that the fund won’t have enough money! If the goal is really — as proponents claim — to have more people investing more money towards their own retirements, raise the limit on IRA contributions.

Fisher-Price My First Veto. Bush’s first veto — be sure to look at the graph near the bottom of the article — happens to be for a bill the vast majority of Americans want passed! Do not be fooled. Embryonic stem cell research is not “killing babies.” It is using extra embryos from IVF treatments — with permission of the donors — that would otherwise be flushed down the drain. This usage would ultimately help save people who have actually been born. For more information on the bill and it’s possible future, take a look at what Tom Harkin has to say.

A study documents what many apartment managers already knew, the additional expenses associated with being poor in the city are pretty steep. The catch-22 is that if they were in a better neighborhood they would be spending less money, but they can’t afford to get out of the neighborhood because they are spending so much money.

Workplace Zen! A local bar has been fined for not going “smoke free.” The quote that blows my mind, emphasis mine: “[The manager] said the club had tried to establish a smoking room, but it was not approved because employees were exposed to the smoke. She said the law’s protection of employees ‘doesn’t make sense’ because employees can find work elsewhere if they wish.” Now don’t get me wrong, I voted against the smoking ban. I thought it was dumb to make it law. But I am deeply offended by the concept of “If you don’t like a workplace littered with known carcinogens, find another job!” All I can say is that Mr. Smithers had better watch his step if Montgomery Burns ever gets wind of this manager!

There’s Evangelical Christians, and then a bit farther to the right, there’s Christian Nationalists.

And finally, I summon the Iron Science Teacher!

Remember a couple decades ago when kids made fun of fat kids? Aw heck, even films like Full Metal Jacket remind us that being fat used to be stigmatic. Well times have changed! The nice folks at Boing Boing point us to CDC data on the rise of obesity. As one of the Boing Boing commentators points out, this data is based on what people said over the phone to investigators. Now, nobody ever lies about their weight, do they? Yeah right, so these figures are probably optimistic. As if to provide harmony to this continuing song, Alton Brown points out that “Food doesn’t get up and jump down our throats.”

As if it weren’t hard enough for America’s senior citizens to figure out which Medicare prescription drug plan is best for them, it turns out that when they call the companies which offer the plans to ask for more information, they will only get a correct answer about a third of the time, and the mistakes in question can cost “thousands” a year. Oops.

Again, thanks to Boing Boing, a paper on the actual mathematical odds of finding a genuine, bona fide terrorist through the monitoring of “all” phone calls and e-mail. For those of you who are impatient, the odds of finding a real terrorist is almost zero.

Thanks to Atrios and the folks at Eschaton for this one. Will somebody please stick a fork in Leiberman? He’s done! This would be a lovely time for a concession speech. USA Today says his “divisive actions don’t deserve support.” Actions like “fudging facts.” His attempts to form his own political party smell of sour grapes all the way over here on the other coast. What, the Republicans won’t take him? Who is the “Sore Loserman” now? The first DINOsaur* is dying if not dead, let the mass extinction begin; viva Howard Dean.

From Craigslist. “Lost: constitutional rights and safeguards. if found, please return to United States of America.”

New rules promise to reduce welfare rolls by making it more difficult to comply with the requirements, thus insuring an underclass of low wage menial laborers for the next generation.

A researcher finds that there are “two types of genius.” In short, those who peak young, and those who get better with time.

A plan, called Grass Banks, is trying to create a win-win situation for ranchers and the environment. So much for the idea that environmentalism costs jobs.

And in closing, “The Cult of Leia’s Metal Bikini.”

*Democrat In Name Only.

It’s a small world, after all. Is so happens we are all more closely related than you probably thought. We all have a common ancestor who lived about 3000 to 5000 years ago.

Experts aren’t sure whether we should actually tell obese kids the truth. The important quote: “If that same person came into your office and had cancer, or was anemic, or had an ear infection, would we be having the same conversation? There are a thousand reasons why this obesity epidemic is so out of control, and one of them is no one wants to talk about it.” Let’s stop pretending that “little” Johnny and Susie have some “baby fat” and admit that maybe their parents should pay a little more attention to what they eat.

In other medical news, “Docs seem to know when speedy C-section is needed.” All I can say to that is I certainly hope so!

The President and his ideological cousins say “How dare the New York Times actually talk about a supposedly secret program that was already openly talked about over 4 years ago!” Excuse me, does anyone beleive that the Evil Terraists are so dumb they don’t know how to launder money?

“Gosh, it seems like soldiers get younger and younger.” Or at least the recruiting materials do.

George Lakoff has more to say. To put it succinctly, “It’s not Bush the man who has been so harmful, it’s the conservative agenda.”

A cartoon you might like.

In this day and age, it is absolutely amazing the strange places you find sexism. What is even more amazing is that many people just won’t talk about their own sexist views.

Remember, “They” hate us for our freedoms.

And finally, a warm welcome to the blogosphere for Maya’s Granny! This is a lady to watch in the future. This post on the HPV vaccine is absolutely on target.

Open Letter to the new CIA director.

A little book for kids (or maybe not for kids!) about file sharing from Defective Yeti and Goopy called Files Are Not for Sharing. Can you say satire? Sure you can!

From the world of healthcare we have three completely unrelated items: Jim Hightower’s 4 Big Lies About Universal Healthcare; a new book about “medical tourism”; and a missive from the Duhpartment of Research, “People who can walk to shops and services in their neighborhoods are more fit and less likely to die in car crashes.”

I am the mommy, I am the internet filtering software. ‘Nuff said.

Follow up on John Stossel and his views regarding the American educational system. You may recal my discussing him way back in January.

A few items on the minimum wage. If Alternet strikes you as being too “progressive” for you, here’s the Christian Science Monitor. They discuss people having to hold down multiple jobs to make ends meet. I wonder if raising the minimum wage to a “living wage” would have the net effect of job growth as those people pare down to one job (leaving job openings for the currently unemployed). This is a completely unsubstantiated theory, but worth thinking about. The people at Let Justice Roll have been campaigning for a “living wage” on a state-by-state, non-partisan basis for some time now. I became familiar with their work last week, and was impressed by the stark common sense of “A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it.”

Of course the Senate has blocked legislation raising the minimum wage. Indeed, Congress has spent most of the week doing things that are against the wishes of the people who elected them but good for the deep pocket big business interests that keep them in golf money. Two things to watch for in the coming months are the so-called “analog hole” and Net Neutrality.

And a couple of science items. Scientists have found a giant underwater volcano that is bigger than Washington D.C.! Elsewhere, a completely different groupf of scientists say the earth is warmer now than it has been in 400 years, and yes it is the fault of humans.

Nihon no Shashin (or, Japanese Pictures). Pictures of post-war Japan. Or maybe you prefer traditional Japanese crafts. Or lucky maneki-neko cats? Or wood-block prints by Hiroshige? No pictures, but there is always Gaijin Smash! and over on the right, Pureland Mountain.

Duh Filter. Girls approach video-games differently from boys and want different things from them. On a completely unrelated note, How To Guarantee Failure.

Stuff we didn’t learn in college but should have. Some colleges are actually teaching courses on stuff your mom and dad should have taught you, but that nowadays parents have a tendency to keep doing for their (ostensibly) adult children. And an overlap from “Duh Filter,” Employers take the time to Google you and read your public blog. Now might be a good time to go delete embarassing posts and maybe put up a nice thoughtful essay about something that interests you, mmkay?

How now brown cow? Moo! BLEAGH! Woogawooga!! More American cases of Mad Cow disease. And remember, we are still only testing a few hundred thousand of the millions of cows slaughtered in the United States. How does the old saying go, you can’t find a fever if you don’t take a temperature?

Traffic Friday Is Gonna Suck. President Bush is coming to my town at the end of the week. One local columnist has proposed a “to-do” list for him. I’ll add an 11th agenda item to consider: The UAW is calling for Universal Health Care. Funny how the CEOs of the Big Three have not caught on how their costs would be lowered if they didn’t have to worry about the health insurance expenses they are often whining about.

If it ain’t The Man keepin you down, it’s El Hombre! I’ve seen the argument before, but now it’s hitting the mainstream news that illegal immigrants may make it harder for (legal) black workers to get jobs. It could be worse, they could be moms.

Economic Indicators. Today the Cleveland Fed President said that current inflation numbers exceed her comfort level. Remember, she and other Fed officials are speaking of the official CPI number, which my readers know is manipulated to look as rosy as possible. A couple of major stock indices are officially in “correction” (a drop of at least 10%) and risk going into a “bear” market (a drop of at least 20%). The housing market isn’t looking so good, either. Keep all this in mind — and remember who controls Congress — come November.

Time-Waster In closing I bring you things so cute that diabetics better check their insulin levels before clicking! Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Cute Overload!

They keep saying they are only actually listening to calls to and from known terrorists — in which case how come they haven’t been arrested yet — but nevertheless “NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls,” part of a government plan “to create a database of every call ever made.” Because you never know when it might be important to know exactly who you talk to and when. Firestorm already beginnning, with the President denying that the NSA is “trolling through” people’s lives (and so what does he call a list of every phone call you’ve made in the last year?) and certain congressmen saying “Umm, what?”

In completely unrelated news, speaking of the NSA, “The government has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the National Security Agency refused to grant Justice Department lawyers the necessary security clearance to probe the matter.” Well! That takes care of that!

Of course the Senate has taken some time out of their busy schedules to extend a tax break on stock dividends. Yeah, because that’s really on the top fo the list of American’s concerns right now. After all, the National Debt isn’t growing fast enough.

The Seattle Times asks Why does a good economy not feel that way? Now if we can get people asking that in places like Topeka and Oklahoma City and Memphis, we are in business.

Yet another serious vulnerability of Diebold voting machines has been found.

Maybe you are aware that the President has been in the practice of signing laws with a statement saying he doesn’t have to follow them. I suppose it’s easier than vetoing. The Boston Globe has compiled a few such statements for you. There are several serious issues involved, particularly since some of the laws were basically intended to stop a certain practice of the Administration. You may dimly recall from High School Civics that the Executive Branch — of which the President is the head — is supposed to enforce the law. The President has said essentially that he can ignore laws he doesn’t like. Oh, that’s only “when they conflict with his legal interpretation of the Constitution.” I don’t want to take his words out of context. How can we trust them to enforce the law when they won’t even agree to follow the law? How can the President be made to follow the law? Can we trust him to surrender the Presidency at the end of his term, or will he decide there was a problem with the Constitutional Amendment limiting him to two terms? And a more scary thought, if we can’t trust the President to follow American laws written by Congress, how and why should Iran trust him to follow international law during and following talks on nuclear weapons?

Finally, while you may be aware that Gas and Oil prices are at or near all-time highs you may not be aware that other commodities are also at high prices. Commodities being the building blocks of pretty much anything you can buy, this makes inflation almost a sure thing. Gold is also at multi-decade highs. Remember, investors usually buy gold when they are worried that all heck is going to break loose in the economy.

Sorry to be all doom and gloom today. You weren’t expecting comics, were you?

Follow up: those painters got their jobs back.

Healthcare Filter: someone else’s thoughts on the Massachusetts “Health Plan”; and Wal-Mart wants to help fix the American health system?? Tell me you aren’t in your mind paraphrasing Reagan: “I’m from Wal-Mart, and I’m here to help.”

Problem: jobs are being outsourced wherever possible. Solution: “Services Science. “The hybrid field seeks to use technology, management, mathematics and engineering expertise to improve the performance of service businesses like transportation, retailing and health care – as well as service functions like marketing, design or customer service that are also crucial in manufacturing industries.” It sure sounds like finding better ways to ask if you’d like fries with that. In truth, it encompasses much more: there are ways to get more money out of customers in a variety of fields.

Disasters near and far: why did San Fransisco survive the great earthquake, while New Orleans looks doomed?

And Finally: your culture impacts your sex life.

Presented in no particular order….

Midwives. Unfortunately both sides are right; Childbirth is a natural process, but it can go wrong. And if the lady who cuts my hair at that place next to the Kroger needs a license, then the lady who helps you deliver a baby should probably have one too.

Worried about the NSA listening in on your phone calls? The guy who brought us “Pretty Good Privacy” for email has something for you. If you are in a high tech industry and are worried about corporate espionage, this might be what you need.

Speaking of high tech, wouldn’t it be nice if the Biotech industry made money in addition to making new drugs?

Without DeLay. My favorite quote: “I’m a realist. I’ve been around awhile. I can evaluate political situations.” Now, what can we do about Frist?

What have I been saying about Adjustable Rate Mortgages for about two years now? I’ve been saying that you should refinance them at the earliest opportunity. Follow-up: Denver — Disturbing and Sad.

Follow up on immigration and guest workers: “If you ask me, the term ‘guest worker’ is another way of saying, ‘Welcome! Kneel!'” and “Battle at the bottom isn’t just for immigrants.”

Myth of the Opt-Out Mom is pretty self-explanatory.

And last but not least, Chinese official calls for sale of U.S. debt. He’s not the guy who gets to make the decision, but he has influence over that decision. This doesn’t mean the house of cards is coming down, but it means somebody jostled the table the house of cards sits on. If China stops buying bits of the United States’ debt, things could get bad. Interest rates might skyrocket, government spending may have to be drastically slashed, taxes may have to be raised. Just saying.

Segue: Alternet points out that young people are being buried under student loans. In fact they point out, (emphasis mine)….

There is social control in loading young people up with financial obligations. Burdened with debt and desperate to have and keep a job, there is no way they can take a wild year off, and there is certainly no time for protesting, organizing or causing the kind of social and political trouble young people cause from time to time.

How many young people turn away from low-paying but vital professions because they can’t earn enough to pay back their loans? How many potential social workers, pro bono lawyers, journalists, environmentalists, teachers, artists, secondary medical professionals and community workers are we losing?

How ironic that the very next item I should read on Alternet would argue that we could sure use the kind of political activism we had in the 60s.

Reprise of theme: The Motley Fool scratches their head as they realize that a lot people with credit card debt are just trying to pay the darn bills. Maybe it’s because of the student loan debt.

Variations on thematic material: 2005 brought us a record level of personal bankruptcies, up 30% from 2004, as people rushed to file ahead of new rules. Expect to hear creditors complain about this any moment now. They got the new law they wanted, now let them wallow in the results.

And now for something completely different: by now you might have heard (assuming you keep track of such things) that Microsoft is delaying the next version of Windows until early 2007. Some people think this is bad news and some people think this is good news. I think it is irrelevant news. So what if they miss the Christmas sales cycle? Nobody is going to say “Oh well, the new version of Windows isn’t out so I might as well buy a Mac.” Some people will go ahead and get their Christmas PCs with the old operating system, planning to upgrade (Microsoft makes even more money), and others will simply put off their purchase a couple months (Microsoft makes the same money, but in a different accounting period). Someone, please point out the bad part for me.

It’s nice in the Forest: Dave Johnson over at Seeing the Forest has been absolutely on fire, on target, and on the money the last few days. Where to begin? Bloggers on the nature of our Government, Listening to Everyone including privileged communications, letting the Chinese run the radiation detectors at American ports, or Who is the Economy For are all great posts in a sea of good posts.

And finally, *itch, PhD tells us she might respect the Pro-Life movement if they actually supported life-affirming, mom-supporting, abortion preventing policies.