Journal Aug 2005

31 Aug 2005

Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the hurricane and floods in the southeast US.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Rachel contrast the natural disaster of the hurricane with the aftermath, the flood, which we don't categorize, but is more damaging than the hurricane.
• 0900: Rachel notes that FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) predicted, four years ago in early 2001 (article on 01 Dec 2001), the top three most likely catastrophic disasters facing the country are a massive earthquake in San Francisco, a major flood and hurricane in New Orleans, and a terrorist attack on NYC.
• KEEPING ITS HEAD ABOVE WATER: New Orleans faces doomsday scenario
  http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm
  This is the post-9/11 2001 Times-Picayune article that shows the FEMA predictions from earlier in the year.
• Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? 'Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending Issues
  http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313
  This article shows how SELA, the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, lost a lot of federal funding, in favor of the Iraq war and homeland security (isn't SELA itself a matter of homeland security...from natural threats?) and concurrent with tax cuts.
• 0930: Rachel: "Can we call the flood a natural disaster if we knew it was coming, if we knew it would happen when a hurricane like this, as it inevitably would, would hit this area? [phone number mention] I do not relish this process of finding out what's wrong in what the government has done about this issue in the midst of this incredible operation to save people's lives and stop the looting and stop the incredible devastation that's going on right now. I do not relish talking about how we got here, but I think you have to. I think you have to distinguish between the hurricane and the flooding that followed, and I think you have to say, as local press in Louisiana is, that this is something that is not unforseen. This is something we knew was coming. In fact, this went basically exactly as we thought it would, down to the fact that they're moving the refugees in the Superdome over to the Astrodome in Houston now. I'm telling you, this is something we have to talk about now."
• 1000: The percentage of Americans living under the poverty line has increased over the last five years from 11.7 percent (already high) to 12.8 percent (if you believe the statistic).
• 1000: Judd Legum shows that the middle class and lower class aren't doing so well. Who is doing well? CEOs. In 2004, CEOs made 430 times the income of the average worker. In 2003, it was 301:1. Defense contractor CEOs are doing even better than other CEOs.
• Average CEO makes 430 times ...
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/30/average-ceo-makes-430-times/
• 1030: Dahlia Lithwick on the toad and the federal Endangered Species Act and John Roberts
• 1100: Today's "underbelly" story: take out the trash day -- Friday is a good day to release unfavorable information, since Saturday has the lowest newpaper readership of all days of the week, and Friday night newscast have the lowest viewership. Rachel extends the tactic to include days when there are other big news things going on, such as when Pope John Paul II died and the base closing commission restarting. Today, in the midst of the hurricane, the State Department released its annual report on compliances by foreign governments on arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament agreements. The report was focused on the two years that ended December last year. Who was running that last year? John Bolton.
• 1100: Col. Ann Wright, calling in today from Crawford, is one of the only people in the US government to resign in protest to the Bush administration's policy in Iraq (and elsewhere). She joins the Sheehan camp and will travel with them to Washington, DC, where Camp Casey will march on 24 Sep.
• 1130: Bush's new rationale for Iraq (yes, yet another one!): Zarqawi and bin Laden would seize oil fields to fund their ambitions. He finally admits that we went there for oil.
• 1130: Hugo Chavez (for whose assassination Pat Robertson called) has volunteered to send food and fuel to the US after Hurricane Katrina.
• 1130: McClellan quotes Bush as saying, upon surveying the hurricane damage and flooding from 5,000 feet above, "It's devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." Kent Jones (from Rachel's staff): Yes, twice as devastating as from the window of Air Force One.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1230: Randi recommends using Navy ships (destroyers) in Mississippi to pick up survivors and mentions the story below.
• Fundies: Katrina is Gods [sic] punishment on abortionist!!!
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/0836/62623
  Just disgusting. How long did that take?
• 1330: At the onset of the Iraq war, the Southeast Lousiana Urban Flood Control Project was defunded severely; the contractors were then building the levees for free because it had to be done, but they couldn't complete their work (it was 20% incomplete).
• 1330: San Diego caller reports on his W protest in Coronado, where men seeing the protest signs tended to nod in agreement while women actually insulted them. There were hundreds of protestors, but the protest was absent from the local news.
• 1400: Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), former head of the RNC, took $2 million from a Chinese businessman and put it into the Republican presidential elections, and it got no media coverage, while Gore was being falsely accused (subtly) of taking money from a Buddhist temple, whereas the fundraiser was relocated there (down the street from the original location when the reservation didn't take.
• 1530: Bill Maher calls in about his new book New Rules and his support for Cindy Sheehan.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• President's Poll Rating Falls to a New Low: In Post-ABC Survey, 53 Percent of Respondents Say They Disapprove of Bush
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/30/AR2005083000302.html?sub=AR
  It seems like I keep seeing this headline every week. Now W is at 53% DISapproval. What's interesting to me is that yesterday the online headline was "President Bush's Numbers Sink to an All-Time Low: Deaths and Instability in Iraq, Soaring Gas Prices Take Their Toll". And yet, we need to hear more from Democrats opposing this administration's failed policies!
• Teaching of Creationism Is Endorsed in New Survey
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/national/31religion.html?th=&emc=th
  This is highly disturbing news. Bush wants people to "understand what the debate is about," but there is NO DEBATE in the scientific world over evolution. The "debate" comes from a small minority of extreme fundamentalists who control the Republican Party. If you're going to teach creationism in schools, let it be in philosophy class or in religion classes in private schools, and along with different creationist stories, not just the Adam and Eve one.
• Editorial: Please Deposit All Your Money
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/opinion/31wed3.html?th=&emc=th
  The author addresses one of the injustices in the American prison system -- collect-call-only phone usage.
• Editorial: What's the Matter With Kansas?
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/opinion/31wed4.html?th=&emc=th
  This piece comments on the marriage between a 22-year-old man and 14-year-old woman/girl, and the author offers an opinion. This is a case I haven't figured out yet. But I do wonder what general opinion would be if the genders, or equivalently, ages, had been reversed, like the cases involving female teachers and their male students. Would we accept a 22-year-old woman marrying a 14-year-old man/boy, baby or not?
• Maureen Dowd: A Lipstick President
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/opinion/31dowd.html?th=&emc=th
  Dowd charges Hillary Clinton with maybe being a little more vocal about the war, presidential ambitions or not.
• Editorial: Job Posting
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/31/opinion/31blachman.html?th=&emc=th
  Recent law school graduate Jeremy Blachman advocates for protection for bloggers from their day-job employers, as long as the bloggers aren't clearly doing harm to the company like giving out sensitive information or company secrets.
• Katrina
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/1442/53877
  Katrina strikes, Bush continues his vacation.
• Compassionate something or other in action
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/161431/880
  The official Democratic Party website shows hurricane relief links while the official Republican Party website shows W's V-J Day commemoration speech.
• Category 4 Hurricane Determined To Strike U.S.
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/205843/351
  Hunter's headline, of course, is a parody of the 06 Aug PDB, "Bin Laden Determined to Strike U.S." Hunter cites the Editor & Publisher article about the SELA funding redirected to Iraq. The important point: "A lot of people are going to huff and bluster about making this disaster a political issue. Put bluntly, however, what government does and does not choose to spend money on for the essential safety of its citizens is a political issue, and a very basic one at that. The administration willfully reduced the budget for the protective levees around New Orleans to a level where even maintaining the current levee height was impossible, in order to shift that Corps money into Iraq. I'd say that's a political big deal." Even better: "Pouring guns and gold into Iraq while ignoring basic aspects of America's own domestic safety was a risk that the Bush administration was willing to take. Now the neo-cons of the administration and their tubthumping supporters have a vivid demonstration of why pumping money into Iraq combined with deficit-causing tax cuts combined with cutting basic domestic safety programs has results a bit more sanguinary than the careful spreadsheets of either Karl Rove or Grover Norquist might convey."
• US won't let Canada help Katrina victims
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/31/235829/261
  Oops. The new bureaucracy (as Randi Rhodes calls it), the Department of Homeland Security, in action.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Gen. Clark Merges Politics and Policy
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/53325/3578
  After easing in with a weak critique of the administration, Clark shows what we need to do in Iraq, how the administration has failed to do it, and if they don't follow his recommendations (or similar ones), the last resort of "cut and run" will be the only option.
• The National Review Is Right
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/7569/22059
  Armando points out that the Review rightly says that Clinton liked small, popular things while Bush likes big, unpopular things.
• New AP Poll: Iraq War Support 37%, Support for Dissent 87%
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/111948/885
  lapin describes this as the "kick to the groin" of Bush and his supporters: 6. Do you think it is OK for people who oppose the war in Iraq to express their opposition publicly, or not? --Yes, 87 percent --No, 12 percent --Not sure, 1 percent
• Did Progressives Destroy America?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/145638/153
  Nope! lilorphant shows progressive strides in this diary and urges the picture archives showing these to be put in the public domain in order to counter revisionist historians.
• Gallup and Senate
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/213151/709
  kos shows the latest Gallup on W's 40% approval/56% disapproval job rating and states where we can win in the Senate.
• When Fox News Fans Attack
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/29/when-fox-news-fans-attack/
  First of all, should Faux News host be giving out a home address to an alleged suspected terrorist? Secondly, the CBS story gave a misleading picture, but has corrected it (i.e. brought it back to the original vandalist's spelling) and put the caption "Artist Illustration."
• Arizona Daily Star dumps Ann Coulter
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/29/arizona-daily-start-dumps-ann-coulter/
  You mean they won't get the chance to read this extremist anymore?

30 Aug 2005

I put up my set list and quick concert review for Coldplay. Nothing monumental in my description. Good concert. I wish we could have seen more, but I guess that's what we get for lawn seats.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Gov. Schwarzenegger (R-CA, 38% approval) is not meeting with Bush (34% approval) while he's in San Diego (argh), thus Rachel describes Bush as "toxic."
• 0900: The number of members of the US military killed in Iraq now exceeds the number of days Bush has been in office.
• 0930: Gary Hart on what we should do about Iraq, strategically and politically
• 1000: Unfortunately, it has been a class-based response to the hurricane.
• 1030: Tucker Carlson on the Iraq war: there is an antiwar movement on the right, but more on the libertarian side (like him). Tucker agrees with Rachel on being against the war and is also not a Bush man, but is conservative in the traditional sense. They disagree on Cindy Sheehan. Rachel notes that Tucker misquoted Sheehan and plays the clip. Tucker says that some on the left attack America in a general fashion when certain policies are wrong, but Rachel responds with patriotism being holding your nation accountable when it does the wrong thing. Rachel posits that name-calling and demonizing prevents a debate. It's good to see professionals like Tucker and Rachel debate honestly; they appear to be friends, or at least respect each other. Ah, if only all, or even most, pundits, or even politicians, debated like this.
• 1100: Today's "underbelly" story: the opposite game -- the Bush administration "talking about security and safety but not actually keeping us safe"; "using the fact that fear we all have of terrorists attacks and the proliferation of terrifying weapons in our world to justify government policies that actually make us more susceptible to those threats." They used the "smoking gun/mushroom cloud" image before invading Iraq and talk a great game about watching for loose nukes in Russia. How much did they care about it? They put John Bolton in charge of the program watching for loose nukes in Russia program, but under his leadership we locked up less nuclear material in Russia before 9/11 than after.
• 1130: Rachel: addressing the treatment of prisoners won't prevent us from getting attacked by extremists, but it will help prevent extremists from turning moderates against us.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Randi: Bush ends his vacation (that wasn't really a vacation, according to the WH) (by three days) to flee both Hurricane Cindy and Hurricane Katrina by going to Washington (instead of overseeing the hurricane recovery). New poll: 52% of Americans think Bush should speak to Cindy (46% don't) -- it's a mandate! It took him two days to respond to the hurricane, three days to respond to the tsunami, but no time at all to fly back from vacation to sign 'emergency' legislation for the parents of Terri Schiavo.
• 1230: Randi: Bush put his eye on Iraq (12 years after Gulf War I) again because the sanctions were coming off, and Saddam was going to trade in Euros instead of dollars.
• 1300: Randi plays a disgusting and projecting comment by O'Reilly comparing Air America to Goebbels. Response: (a) Faux News IS propaganda that promotes right-wing policy and thus more comparable to Nazis, and (b) they're losing their audience, while Air America is gaining. This accusation by O'Reilly is his reactionary response to low ratings. Clearly, Air America is making a difference. Kudos to Randi for being able to laugh at O'Reilly, 'cause my blood boils hearing his cowardly, smearing attacks on anyone on the left.
• 1400: Caller: Bush slashes hurricane funding for Louisiana by $71.2M, the cost of 9 hours of the war in Iraq.
• Bush Slashed Hurricane Funding For New Orleans
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/29/slashed-hurricane/
• 1430: Today, a barrel of crude oil traded for $71. A normal price would be $28.
• 1430: Bush went golfing at the El Mirage Golf Course in AZ (one of the driest places in America) yesterday. Randi recounts: "...now watch this drive!"
• 1430: Caller notices that the cost of the war ($300 billion) dwarfs the estimated damage by the hurricanes ($26 billion). Randi goes further by saying that the amount missing in Iraq ($8.8 billion) can pay for the entire reconstruction of three American states (actually it's a third, Randi, but it is comparable).
• 1500: Bush gave bin Laden everything he wanted: the Prince Sultan airbase out of Saudi Arabia, an Islamic republic in Iraq (Saddam was a secular dictator), relatives airlifted out of the U.S.
• Prince Sultan Air Base
  http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/prince-sultan.htm
• 1530: Caller jokes that when Bush says to stay the course he means the golf course.
• 1530: Caller reports that he paid 2.74 a gallon, and the gas station attendant said tomorrow it'll go up to 3.24 (regular unleaded).
• 1530: Caller from Crawford helped take down the camp at the end of the vigils and dug up some of the ditch for souvenirs and plans to plant wild flowers along the roadside where they were, leaving it better than they found it.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• The map
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/26/3498/17388
  Side-by-side maps of the right's color-coded electoral map and US fatalities in Iraq
• Turion 64 Mobile Technology: Saving Grace For Third-party Chipset Makers?
  http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050830/index.html
  AMD's Turion 64 mobile processor may give Intel's Centrino closed platform a run for its money in terms of power and openness in compatibility. Plus, it works in Centrino-certified hotspots. Now if Turion could just counter the Intel jingle....
• Storm Thrashes Gulf Coast: Dozens Are Reported Dead in One Mississippi County
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/29/AR2005082900206.html
  Details of Hurricane Katrina
• Tokyo Teacher Is Punished for Pacifist Stance: Refusal to Sing Wartime Anthem Comes As Japanese Schools Push National Pride
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/29/AR2005082901865.html
  The article nearly mixes the terms nationalism, which to me means thinking one's country is better than all others, and patriotism, which to me means simply love of one's country. There really is nothing wrong with overt patriotism. But it shouldn't be enforced by the government. Revisionist history sanitizing Japanese war crimes om Korea and China isn't good, either. Unfortunately, there is a parallel to be seen here in the US.
• President Bush's Approval Ratings
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2005/04/25/GR2005042500945.html
  From Feb 2001 to Aug 2005.
• Editorial: Nature's Revenge
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/opinion/30tue1.html?th=&emc=th
  The author demonstrates how fund diversion and environmental modification have contributed to the urgency of required aid to Louisiana.
• Editorial: Morning-After Maneuvers
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/opinion/30tue4.html?th=&emc=th
  Rachel Maddow mentioned this yesterday in her "soft white underbelly" story, but I didn't list it because it was a little complicated. I get it now. The FDA's advisory committee recommends the pill for over-the-counter, but the FDA itself is still delaying its approval due to process questions on age restriction. Rachel compared this to alcohol, cigarettes, and nicotine gum for age-restricted, publicly-available controlled substances already being regulated.
• John Tierney: The Road to Hell Is Clogged With Righteous Hybrids
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/opinion/30tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Recently I've been hearing subtly anti-environmentalist views coming from Tierney. This time, he has a point, along with a few possibly snarky remarks aimed at the "left" carpool lanes (though they generally are positionally on the left side of traffic). I just noticed a Prius with a carpool access sticker and after reading this, affirming what I thought when I saw the sticker -- hybrids get special access to carpool lanes (in some states). I hoped that the provision would be temporarily at least, since demand would make it such that the lanes could get overcrowded by hybrids, and Tierney shares this sentiment. While carpool lanes may not directly cause more pollution (since I read that when idle, hybrids have much lower emissions), it would cause it indirectly with the non-hybrid cars stuck in the same lanes. I've been for some kind of tax against SUVs, and the carpool discount proposal (HOT lanes) based on weight, that he advocates, makes sense. See, progressives listen to reason when it comes from conservatives, too.
• Editorial: Irreplaceable Exuberance
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/opinion/30blodget.html?th=&emc=th
  Former Wall Street analyst Henry Blodget shows how history repeats itself with technological advance.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• How To Talk To A Conservative About Karl Rove (If You Must)
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/07/14/rove-primer/
  A short point-by-point list of conservative claims and the plain fact debunking them.
• New Fuel Economy Standards Proposed: Critics Call Bush's Plan Inadequate
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082300625.html

29 Aug 2005

Maureen and I watched Coldplay on Friday, and it was excellent. But then again, what concert we've been to hasn't been excellent? I'll post the set list and review soon.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Rachel Maddow (from her eponymous Air America front page news show) is subbing for Al and Katherine this week.
• 0930: Green Day calls for bringing the troops home safe during their speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. No jeers, only cheers in the audio playback. Rachel: it's hard to "Dixie Chick" them when most of the country agrees with them.
• 1030: Csaba Csere, editor of Car & Driver, on oil and fuel efficiency
• 1030: Bunny Greenhouse, who objected to a KBR contract, was demoted.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Randi recounts her visit to Camp Casey II.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides
  http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7267.shtml
  Randi mentioned this on Friday. I was in a meeting all day, so I don't have a journal entry on that, much like most of my off-Fridays.
• Dell tired of sticker mania from Microsoft and Intel
  http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050829_153536.html
  At least you can't have jingles like Intel's in stickers. Yet.
• Hurricane Bears Down on Gulf Coast: Thousands Flee Area as Vulnerable New Orleans Braces for Direct Hit
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800146.html
  Bush declares a state of emergency. Let's hope he does something about it too.
• Access to Abortion Pared at State Level
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800981.html
  I believe the work of antiabortionists to reduce the number of abortions is noble. (That number has been decreasing over the decades, but more slowly under this president than it did under Clinton.) Preventing unwanted pregnancies and helping mothers-to-be with their pregnancies by financial support (which should continue after birth too!) or support up until adoption ($1M in Missouri for low-income pregnant women) are examples of such noble causes. But some restrictions that are hard to paint with a broad brush, such as minor parental notification (counterproductive in the case of parental abuse), are slowly eroding the Roe decision in terms of privacy, but not in the state regulations aspect.
• Full Text of Roe v. Wade on FindLaw (which is, I believe, an objective, non-partisan site)
  http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=410&invol=113
  I'm no legal expert, or even novice, but I believe the major part of the decision is (in Section VIII): "We, therefore, conclude that the right of personal privacy includes the abortion decision, but that this right is not unqualified and must be considered against important state interests in regulation." I believe this translates to "abortion is protected under the Constitution except in certain cases, the class of which is defined by state regulations." The pro-choice crowd is not pro-abortion as anti-choice people like Rush would name-call. They instead (should) promote the decision being a personal one, not necessarily advocating the actual abortion. Because abortion is contrary to the true culture of life (as should be the death penalty), alternatives should be stressed, encouraged, and supported. But it's best to provide comprehensive (or at least abstinence-plus) sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place, in an honest and compassionate manner, unlike the abstinence-only path, which has shown not to work.
• Measuring the Economy May Not Be as Simple as 1, 2, 3
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800730.html
  The current metric for poverty does not consider certain factors like local cost of living.
• Blair Told In '04 That Policy Fueled Extremism
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082800403.html
  Conservatives in Britain acknowledge the mistake Blair made in not linking bombings to policy.
• Balancing Religious Sensitivity, Fashion Sense: Young Women Follow Islam's Ancient Tenets on Modesty -- but With a Modern Twist
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/28/AR2005082801022.html
  It's good when adherence to religious standards is a personal choice. It's bad when the government mandates following it or prohibiting it, like France prohibiting the hijab in schools. You heard me right; even as a progressive, I made an anti-French government statement. I supported that government's decision not to invade Iraq, but I didn't agree with the head scarf ban when I heard about it.
• In the Struggle Over the Iraq War, Women Are on the Front Line
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/politics/29letter.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=112...
  Note that pro-war Tammy Pruett, who hasn't lost of her boys that are in Iraq, supports Cindy Sheehan's right to protest: "Ms. Sheehan's supporters immediately pointed out that while there are mothers who have lost children in Iraq who still support the president, Ms. Pruett had lost none and should not be compared with them. 'Actually, I would agree with them completely,' Ms. Pruett said. 'I have not experienced what they experienced, and I wouldn't judge how they chose to express their grief.'" Also, note that there aren't any liberal pundits or talk show hosts smearing Ms. Pruett the way the conservatives have disgustingly smeared Ms. Sheehan.
• Editorial: Destroying the National Parks
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29mon1.html?th=&emc=th
  The author shows how Bush's Interior Department is allowing erosion of protection for the national parks, partly in favor of commercial activity.
• Editorial: Nebraska in the Lead
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29mon3.html?th=&emc=th
  Props to the Republicans seeking to restore voting rights to prisoners who finish serving their time.
• Bob Herbert: Left Behind, Way Behind
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert addresses the Program for International Assessment's report "Getting Smarter, Becoming Fairer" showing our lapsing education system and recommendations to fix it.
• Paul Krugman: Greenspan and the Bubble
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  Krugman shows how Alan Greenspan's words are too little, too late and don't admit his mistake of supporting the unfair Bush tax cuts.
• Editorial: A School of One's Own
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29mcmillen.html?th=&emc=th
  Georgia Ka'apuni McMillen argues the case for a school protecting its disadvantaged indgenous Hawai'ian people with its founding mission of affirmative action.
• Editorial: The Health Factory
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/opinion/29spear.html?th=&emc=th
  Steven J. Spear of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement recommends a procedural policy change in hospitals to fix potential problems as processes at some companies do in problem solving and cites an example where it worked to prevent infections in patients that had central line catheters.
• NARAL Round 2: No Distortion Here
  http://www.factcheck.org/article342.html
  FactCheck likes the replacement NARAL ad. Mostly.

25 Aug 2005

In my ongoing attempt to find open source or otherwise freeware alternatives to commercial software, I've already found the OpenOffice.org suite (which will go to 2.0 soon) to replace the basic Microsoft Office (Word/Excel/PowerPoint), so I wanted to look for a Microsoft Project replacement, or at least a basic Gantt chart producer. Here's one: GanttProject, an open-source (GPL) basic Gantt chart producer that runs in Java. Not as easy as Microsoft Project, or feature-rich, but if Gantt charts are all you need, GanttProject works.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Robertson changes his response to the response to his call for the assassination of Chavez. Franken compares this to a story in which a guy borrows a plate from his neighbor, breaks it, and sneaks in to return it broken; when the neighbor questioned him about it, he says "I never borrowed the plate. When I borrowed it was already broken, and when I returned it, it was in one piece." Franken's equivalent statement from Robertson would be: "I never said 'assassination'. Except when I said 'assassination', I shouldn't have said it, and I apologize." and then "It's okay to do it."
• Pat Robertson's evolving excuses on Chavez assassination call
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508240010
  I thought extremists like him oppose evolution.
• Help Stop Conservative Hate Speech on Public Airwaves
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508240007
  It's Robertson-fest at Media Matters. They give a short list of his outrageous statements and call for The 700 Club off the air at ABC Family, FamilyNet, and Trinity.
• 0930: Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City, UT calls in.
• 0930: Franken: Mayor Anderson spoke at the VFW, a few people booed at first, but then he got applause throughout his speech, but they only wrote that he was booed.
• 0930: David Sirota: The White House (Trent Duffy, subbing for McClellan) said that those who want us to pull out of Iraq don't want us to succeed. Typical absolutist crap!
• 1030: Malcolm Gladwell: read Bush's 2004 annual Economic Report; it has a section on people who lack health insurance -- they never mention that people may not afford insurance and never use the word "poverty." They insinuate that people without health insurance choose not to have it.
• 1100: Skit of "Accuro" the radio psychic (played by Tom Davis) who has predicted the exact outcome down to electoral votes for every presidential election since 1980.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1230: A caller who went to Crawford reports on her call to a local (Waco) Army and Marine recruiting center to bring recruiting information to the Bush supporters across the street from Camp Casey.
• 1300: Audio bit: OnStar-type call from Bush's limo in protestor traffic

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Commission Votes to Close Walter Reed Army Medical Center: Pentagon's Proposal Would Expand Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/25/AR2005082500390.html
• Democrats Seeking Release of Withheld Roberts Documents: Iran-Contra Among Topics of Reagan-Era Papers
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402016.html
  Once again, it's not Democrats who are obstructionists. It's the White House that's stonewalling on requested documents, just as with the bully Bolton. Speaking of Iran-Contra, though, isn't it funny how so many of the players are back?
• Bush: 'We Will Stay, We Will Fight': Faced With Rising Criticism, He Says Goals Are Being Met
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082401454.html
  According to Randi, Idaho is where Bush still has decent support. It's no wonder the families he talks to are ones for which "Sheehan doesn't speak." How many anti-Bush or pro-peace families actually get invited, let alone get through security, at these pep rallies? Every single protestor I remember hearing about is peaceful and yet gets escorted out, whether by real security guards or ringers dressed up like one. It just furthers his distorted reality of what America really thinks of him. He only knows the 36% who still support him.
• Book: "100 People Who are Screwing Up America"
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2005/08/15/DI2005081500800.html
  Yet another anti-Sheehan conservative a--hole. In response: Al Franken spends his day reporting news that matters since the mainstream media doesn't do that and also exposes the lies and weasels of the right-wing talk show hosts and politicians. And Howard Dean has the right to be angry at this incompetent administration where primary player came from the oil industry.
• Editorial: States to the Rescue
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25thu1.html?th=&emc=th
  New York and California are leading the way in the fights against oil dependence and global warming.
• Editorial: Judgment Malfunction
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25thu2.html?th=&emc=th
  The author compares the White House's quick and loud response to Sen. Dick Durbin's comparison of Gitmo to a Gulag (actually valid; the problem is that Gitmo is different enough from a Gulag) to its slow and weak response to Pat Robertson's assassination call, which is worse in magnitude and comes from a right-winger.
• Editorial: Rating the Ratings
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25thu3.html?th=&emc=th
  Wow, Faux News criticizing a ratings measure that shows more reliably how crappily FNC is doing (even more so than with the current system)? Do tell....
• Bob Herbert: Truth-Telling on Race? Not in Bush's Fantasyland
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  When was truth-telling ever a Bush administration policy? Only when W said, "We've had no evidence that Saddam was involved in September the 11th."
• Editorial: Lost in Translation
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/25xhammes.html?th=&emc=th
  Retired Marine Col. Thomas Hammes, who was on the Al Franken Show on 12 Aug, emphasizes the need for Arabic translators in Iraq and here in the U.S.
• Editorial: In Iraq's Prisons, Try a Little Tenderness
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/opinion/25gerwehr.html?th=&emc=th
  Scott Gerwehr and Nina Hachigian at the RAND Corporation suggest a counterinsurgency technique for Iraq that appears to have worked in Vietnam. Whatever the political tint of the RAND Corporation, a humane treatment of prisoners, even violent ones, is a good idea. Not just because of the side effect of having the IRC and Amnesty look well on us, but because it can diffuse the insurgency and will help prevent our troops from facing vengeance from improper prisoner treatment.
• Marketing "Intelligent Design"
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/25/102654/270
  Scientist sees through the Discovery Institutes pseudo-science.
• Blame The Dems?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/25/13253/6644
  ...for the Iraq Debacle? We're not the ones in charge!
• Pat Robertson: An embarrassment to the church
  http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=050825#3
  Jim Wallis chimes in on the disgrace that is Pat Robertson.
• Jim Wallis on Pat Robertson
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/25/2010/21023
  philo's diary on Jim on Pat.
• You know Bush is in trouble when...
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/25/191154/140
  Santorum lies about having been critical of Bush in the past.

24 Aug 2005

Today I overheard someone a few cubes down from me say that California is pretty much a liberal state, and Berkeley is the perfect place to test a nuclear weapon. Disgusting. How much do you want to bet he identifies himself as "Christian"? Such is my life and the place where I work. "We're pilgrims in an unholy land."

Yay! I'm all caught up with DailyKos. Now I've got to work on NYT. And maybe clean up my email inbox.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: 15 Oct will be an interesting day because Sunni insurgents are encouraging a vote, so it should be safer in Iraq that day.
• 0930: Christy Harvey: Bush says Islam is a religion, not THE religion of Iraq in the constitution, but the constitution itself says Islam IS THE religion. Perhaps Bush should read it. The White House (David L. Macy) says Bush isn't on vacation; he actually has to be in Crawford due to renovation of the West Wing.
• Wal-Mart is trying to roll back some of the tough state laws on meth amphetamine, which one can make at home using product at its store (and other stores, of course).
• 1000: In response to Mark Luther's Rush: Clinton met with Tenet or his deputy twice A WEEK on average, where Rush said twice (period).
• 1030: Linda LaGrange, an Air America listener (she calls herself an 'Airhead' (cf. 'Dittohead' for Rush listeners)) in San Diego, went to Mark Luther's fiddle camp and calls in to compliment the fiddle camp and Mark's personality in spite of his ideology. Mark also takes as a compliment hearing that he looks like a liberal in appearance. Isn't it nice when people of opposite political views can get along? It's something missing in today's political climate, and the blame is on both sides. (Though I'd put more blame on the right-wing movement that's been building for over two decades against liberals.)
• 1030: Sharon Lerner, senior fellow at the Center for NYC Affairs at the New School, on abstinence-only education: the company Mathematica funds an evaluation of it, but it doesn't test for STDs or teen pregnancy rates resulting from these programs, instead testing for knowledge and attitudes of abstinence.
• 1100: David Brock on Pat Robertson calling for the assassination of Venezuela president Hugo Chavez (Robertson falsely denies he used the word "assassinate."), Rush's statement on Cindy Sheehan and his later false denial of that comment, and Robertson's attributing of no-fault divorce to gays leading the charge (Reagan as CA governor signed this into law, the first no-fault divorce law in the nation, in 1969). Robertson on the 700 Club says you don't hear about Christian extremists (uh...what about Eric Rudolph?) and that Islam at its core teaches violence in the Koran in over 100 verses.
• Robertson Calls for Chavez Assassination
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082300176.html?sub=AR

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Chalabi is now hooked up with Muqtada al-Sadr.
• 1230: Caller: Pat Robertson said Bush should meet with Sheehan and "take her out" and smiled and laughed. Caller called him a publicity whore, but still called Randi an obnoxious c--- and said her voice drives him f---in' crazy.
• 1300: Randi read excepts from Maureen Dowd's column today.
• Maureen Dowd: My Private Idaho
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/24dowd.html?th=&emc=th
  Dowd notes Bush's vacation from his vacation, going to Idaho, where Randi Rhodes notes his support is one of the strongest of all the states. She also notes the twisted logic in his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars: "with no W.M.D., no link to 9/11 and no democracy, now we have to keep killing people and have our kids killed because so many of our kids have been killed already? Talk about a vicious circle: the killing keeps justifying itself."
• 1430: Patrick Murphy, an Iraq vet, former West Point professor of constitutional law, JAG corps prosecutor, and Irish Catholic, calls in about his running for the 8th Congressional district in Pennsylvania as a Democrat. His challenger is a former Republican.
• Murphy 06 | Democrat- PA's 8th Congressional District
  http://www.murphy06.com/
• 1430: Bush lied in his speech to VFW that he increased veteran's benefits, the most of any president ever.
• 1500: Randi reads the long-awaited email response from the recruiter Nelson that called earlier in the week. She apologizes to Nelson, for not hearing him out as a knee-jerk reaction to being a recruiter, as she did yesterday and hopes to talk to him again. How many conservative talk show hosts will admit mistakes, not just cover them up or give some lame excuse?
• Randi Reads Nelson's Message
  http://forums.therandirhodesshow.com/index.php?showtopic=63388&hl=nelson

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Bush Says Activist Doesn't Speak for Kin of Casualties
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/23/AR2005082301281.html
  However..."President Bush probably breathed a sigh of relief when he landed in Idaho last night," said Laura McCarthy, whose son is in Iraq, as she addressed 100 people at the Boise protest. "But no matter where he goes, he's going to find a Cindy Sheehan in every community across the United States. The name is going to be different, but the message is going to be the same."
• Editorial: Channeling Money Westward
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/24wed3.html?th=&emc=th
  The author notes that Democrats like Sen. Russ Feingold (WI) will oppose "soft money," unlike other Democrats like Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA) who go along with lifting the ban. (Pelosi does have her good points, though, like opposing the war while being a "high-profile national political figure" (kos' words).)
• Editorial: Welfare Reform Redux
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/24wed4.html?th=&emc=th
  Republican moderates like Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) seem to have the best ideas in that party. Sometimes it seems like they are the best hope for some of the Democratic Party's goals.
• Editorial: Why This Band Plays On
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/opinion/24gilmore.html?th=&emc=th
  Mikal Gilmore is working on a book and the Beatles and the '60s and takes a memory trip back to that era and notes the Beatles' fun sound combined with their empowering sense of revolution and youth, something carefully watched by conservatives today just as conservatives of their time did. Randi Rhodes noted, like this piece, that during the time of the "Vote for Change" concert tour that modern equivalents of antiwar songs like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" wouldn't be played on the radio today.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Bush shatters vacation record
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/19/132855/161
  In less than five years, W broke the record for days on vacation in office, previously held by Reagan over 8 years.
• Reid suffers minor stroke
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/19/213618/304
  But he's okay now, not hospitalized.
• More Democrats and Iraq
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/21/15212/5416
  Armando cites David Sirota, who quotes Armando's words challenging Dems who support the war (mostly in the DLC).
• It Is Time
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/21/234942/293
  Armando shows that Sen. Hagel (R-NE) is doing a better job of criticizing the administration than Sen. Biden (D-DE), who only criticizes Rumsfeld.
• The Angry Left
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/22/3367/59266
  kos shows how conservatives still complain even though the control all of the federal government. If Dems owned it all and still messed up, we'd still complain.
• Iraq is, like, every war combined
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/34223/6772
  Heh, kos said "ginormous." kos' words are wise like those of Bob Herbert of NYT.
• Bush: "[Sheehan] Doesn't Represent the Views of A Lot of Families I've Met With"
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/13466/5622
  Poll numbers show that W lives in Fantasyland. Or Fantasy Island.
• My Response to George
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/141740/140
  Cindy Sheehan writes to W on DailyKos!
• The Fundamentalist Republic of America
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/153213/433
  kos asks, "Okay, so how is the Christian Right in this country different than Iran and the forthcoming Islamic Republic of Iraq?" Good question. Saddam was a brutal dictator, but at least women (in theory) had more rights than they will soon; Saddam was a secularist. Osama is a fundamentalist and despised secularism in Iraq and the U.S. So who's more like the terrorists, progressives or fundamentalists? Hitler was also somewhat of a fundamentalist who wanted a theocracy, so unlike O'Reilly's BS accusations, Hitler would hate the ACLU, who fight for freedom of religion. The ACLU is truly fighting for freedom, which the war supporters say "isn't free" (the same ones who support eroding our freedoms).
• Cue up slime machine!
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/175043/149
  This is great. The picture seen in kos' entry here shows a VFW vet at a Bush speech to VFW. The vet wears a 'bullsh-- protector' on his ear. Randi Rhodes posted this picture today on her site, too.
• Why Won't BushCo Condemn Robertson's Remarks?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/24/115659/534
  Because they'd rather give a lame-ass slap on the wrist so as not to upset the extremists like Robertson that control the GOP.
• I'm a guy with a blog
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/24/142719/602
  kos defines his role as a provider of a platform for progressives to discuss, agree, or disagree. Also, he has a blog.
• American Legion turns Stalinist
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/24/165411/706
  They have declared war on antiwar protestors. Thus, by corollary, the American Legion has declared war on the majority of Americans who oppose the war.
• In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Wallet
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/24/213422/746
  Hunter lays it all out on a comparison of extreme right-wing "Christians" with religious extremists in the Middle East. These (both groups) are the people that give religion a bad name.
• The Iraqi Constitution: An Opposing View
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/24/231317/741
  Armando responds to Peter Galbraith, who was on the Al Franken Show yesterday.

23 Aug 2005

It's funny, all you need to make meatballs that taste like IKEA Swedish meatballs is the gravy, which you can buy at IKEA, and the lingonberry sauce. Everything else can be made from scratch, but you can get the meatballs there too. Perfect for those pregnancy cravings, like a friend of ours had. Anyway, we used turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's last night, and aside from the turkey taste, it was pretty much the same thing. That was pretty random, huh?

Anyway, I've been listening to more new bands courtesy of Ben, like Kaiser Chiefs, Hard-Fi, and The Bravery, all of which follow the same template of The Killers and Franz Ferdinand of "neo-new wave," as I've heard it called. I still like these two bands the best, partly because they came first, at least commercially and in the order I heard them, but also because the whole of their sound including the voices, lyrics, and instrumentation works well together while each component stands on its own. Kaiser Chiefs' Employment album is good, but I like the Hard-Fi album, Stars of CCTV better. I just started listening to The Bravery's self-titled album, and it's about the same quality as Hard-Fi's album so far. I guess the record companies found a formula that works and is signing bands that fit with that. Reminds me of alterna-rap and swing (both which I still like, but mostly by the pioneers of those). In my opinion, the best music is that which stands the test of time (think long term; Beastie Boys were out of style in the pop sense sometime after Licensed to Ill but stayed true and got recognition back with Check Your Head, where they played their own instruments).

By the way, I have a very subjective formula of my own for a major label album, which my friends know of. The best albums in my collection tend to be ones designed such that the first single or radio-played song, whether it comes out before or after the album, appears as a song other than the first (pretty common) or last track (rare), but like track 2 or 3 (or about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the album). The best song, which may or may not be a single, would be somewhere in the middle or middle of the second half. On top of that, the first and last songs should be solid and function as the sales pitch and closer songs, respectively, i.e. a song that reels you in and a song that leaves you with a feeling of the end of the album while still wanting more. It sounds complicated, but it's really simple. I've just noticed over the years that generally albums I can listen to over and over have these characteristics in common.

Here is a small list of some examples of the type of great albums (in my opinion) that I think fit my subjective formula are (wow, that's a lot of qualifiers). You can also get a glimpse of the variety of music I listen to.

Fiona Apple - Tidal,
Coolio - Gansta's Paradise,
Erasure - I Say I Say I Say,
Erasure - Cowboy,
Evanescence - Fallen,
Franz Ferdinand - 2004 self-titled album,
frente - marvin the album,
frou frou - details,
Gin Blossom - New Miserable Experience,
Green Day - dookie,
Green Day - nimrod,
Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island,
Chris Isaak - Forever Blue,
Jewel - Spirit,
The Killers - Hot Fuss,
Live - throwing copper,
Kylie Minogue - fever,
Matchbox 20 - yourself or someone like you,
Moby - hotel,
Jason Mraz - Waiting for My Rocket to Come,
New Order - Technique,
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom,
nine inch nails - the downward spiral,
nine inch nails - The Fragile,
olive - extra virgin,
Brad Paisley - Who Needs Pictures,
Portishead - Dummy,
Seal - 1994 self-titled album,
Spin Doctors - Pocket Full of Kryptonite,
The Smashing Pumpkins - siamese dream,
The SUNDAYS - reading, writing, and arithmetic,
Tears for Fears - Elemental
Third Eye Blind - 1997 self-titled album,
TLC - crazysexycool,
U2 - The Joshua Tree,
weezer - the blue album (the self-titled 1994 album), and
just about every Radiohead and Coldplay album ever made (so far).

Likewise, here is a small list of counterexamples, great albums that don't follow the formula (usually meaning that the first single appears as the first track).

Audioslave - 2002 self-titled album,
Boyz II Men - cooleyhighharmony,
Michelle Branch - the spirit room,
Bush - sixteen stone,
Dave Matthews Band - crash,
Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion (and its live counterpart),
Depeche Mode - Exciter,
Dido - no angel,
Dixie Chicks - Wide Open Spaces,
Erasure - the innocents,
Erasure - Chorus,
Green Day - american idiot,
Norah Jones - come away with me,
Keane - Hopes and Fears,
John Mayer - Room for Squares,
Sarah McLachlan - surfacing,
Sarah McLachlan - afterglow,
Moby - Everything Is Wrong,
New Order - Republic,
New Order - Get Ready,
nine inch nails - pretty hate machine,
No Doubt - Return of Saturn,
Pet Shop Boys - Nightlife,
Pet Shop Boys - Very,
Santana - Supernatural,
Soundgarden - Superunknown,
Spacehog - Resident Alien (from which I partially took my web name),
Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot,
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
The Tony Rich Project - Words, and
U2 - Achtung Baby.

I don't know if anyone else, especially a music critic, makes similar guidelines. I've never actually written this down until now. This and other similar quirks of my philosophies will be compiled in a forthcoming section of the website, resident alian's guide to life.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: David Sirota: Northwest Airlines preparing to try to break a union (as reported by NYT), veterans and troops realize that antiwar protestors are protesting the policy, not the troops; Bush's current approval rating (36%) is lower than that of Nixon (39%) during the Watergate hearings in the summer of '73.
• The Big Question for Northwest Airlines Execs
  http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/08/big-question-for-northwest-airlines.html
• Strike Is Called by Mechanics for Northwest
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/business/20northwest.html
  David Sirota comment on this: "Here's the simple question (that the media, of course, hasn't asked): If the company is supposedly in such severe financial straits that worker pay cuts are required, how do these executives have $100 million of company money to throw around for anti-union activities?"
• Vets Understand Iraq War Criticism Is Not Criticism of Our Troops
  http://www.davidsirota.com/2005/08/vets-understand-iraq-war-criticism-is.html
• 1000: Garance Franke-Ruta, senior editor of American Prospect, on CSX and Treasury Secretary John Snow (former CEO of CSX, a freight train company): Amtrak takes a lot of flak for derailments, but much of the blame should be on CSX, who owns some of the actual rail.
• 1030: Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt: A World History that W is supposedly reading: wars were once fought over salt, a commodity; compare that with the present and oil.
• 1100: Peter Galbraith, former US Ambassador to Croatia, on Iraq: Iraqis identify more with their ethnic groups (Sunni, Shia, Kurdish, etc.) than with a national identity.
• 1130: Roger Wilkins, professor of history and American culture at George Mason University, is co-chair of the Center for American Progress' national education task force that has some recommendations on reforming education in the U.S.: a longer school day, redesigning the school year to reduce summer vacation time in order to improve knowledge retention between school years, and accountability for staff members of outcomes (conceptually like No Child Left Behind but with better implementation and metrics).

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1330: A caller recounts his stop-loss till 2035, which he could avoid with his hernia.
• 1330: A caller, Stacey, tells from the heart her story of her military husband and her family and pleads with everyone not to listen to the right-wingers who are brainwashing the nation.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Iraqis Submit Charter, but Delay Vote: Shiite-Kurd Coalition Agrees to Negotiate With Sunnis, Who Threaten Revolt
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082200101.html
• Stem Cell Advance Muddles Debate: Work May Stall Efforts To Lift Research Limits
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201198.html
• London Police Modify Story: Brazilian Was Not Provocative
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201287.html
  It's a shame they had to cover up the story in the first place, but at least the police admitted their mistake, even though it took a month. Such an admittance may not come at all in the Bush administration (even though this was a local matter). Hopefully the people responsible will be appropriately charged.
• Google's 'Intelligent' Desktop 2: Data Delivered Based on Users' Internet Searches
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201463.html
  Interesting idea for something I'll probably never use. I'm more of a keyboard/Start Menu/command prompt kind of guy.
• Editorial: An Irrevocable Error
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201237.html
  There's a reason that progressives tend to discourage the death penalty. It's not necessarily just believing that no crime is worthy of it. The American justice system is one that we hope works most of the time because no human institution can be absolutely perfect, but because of the final nature of the death penalty, there's no correcting a mistake after an execution. Of course, another good question is that of how you correct for wrongful imprisonment like the case in the movie "In the Name of the Father", especially after 15 years.
• Scientists Speak Up on Mix of God and Science
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/national/23believers.html?th=&emc=th
  Concrete evidence that scientists can be religious as long as they use purely scientific (fact-based) methods in their science. I saw X2: X-Men United a few weeks ago, and I found it interesting that the character Nightcrawler was a devout Catholic, and he stressed his faith. Of course, Nightcrawler is not a scientist, but in being a mutant he is at least a product of science, and possibly something else. The point of this is that he realizes that there is something bigger than himself guiding things; while science explains how creation works, it doesn't explain why, and this is why science and religion are mutually exclusive in scope but complementary in human experience.
• California Ruling Expands Same-Sex Parental Rights
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/national/23gay.html?th=&emc=th
  Interesting implications of the other side of parental rights -- parental responsibility. The rights and responsibility must be together in any law either granting or denying either.
• Editorial: Iraq's Unsettling Constitution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23tue1.html?th=&emc=th
  This piece touches on the implications of the proposed Iraqi constitution and the possibility of multiple states to accomodate the different ethnic groups.
• Editorial: Punishment for Merck
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23tue2.html?th=&emc=th
  The author makes the case that while the actual evidence against Merck in the Texas case was relatively weak, it was really the slow response to evidence of risk and overmarketing of the drug that makes Merck deserve its punishment. Randi Rhodes would compare this to the mobster Al Capone, who was eventually brought down by charges of tax evasion because he couldn't be brought on more serious charges.
• Editorial: Grasping the Depth of Time as a First Step in Understanding Evolution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23tue3.html?th=&emc=th
  "Accepting the fact of evolution does not necessarily mean discarding a personal faith in God. But accepting intelligent design means discarding science. Much has been made of a 2004 poll showing that some 45 percent of Americans believe that the Earth - and humans with it - was created as described in the book of Genesis, and within the past 10,000 years. This isn't a triumph of faith. It's a failure of education. The purpose of the campaign for intelligent design is to deepen that failure. To present the arguments of intelligent design as part of a debate over evolution is nonsense. From the scientific perspective, there is no debate. But even the illusion of a debate is a sorry victory for antievolutionists, a public relations victory based, as so many have been in recent years, on ignorance and obfuscation." I think it should be clarified that the author probably doesn't believe that intelligent design is a full rejection of evolution, it just undercuts the basic element involved in the process -- random events -- that drive evolution (biologically, change over time), and in that sense it does reject evolution and its repeatability and predictability, thus is ID not science.
• John Tierney: The $10,000 Question
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Well, for the world's sake, I hope Tierney is right that human ingenuity will make the price of oil go down. And by that, I mean I hope that market forces drive the cost and price of hybrid technology down and maybe make electric-only cars more attractive. It is long past due for the end of the SUV era of bulk.
• Editorial: Don't Underestimate the Mullahs
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23milhollin.html?th=&emc=th
  Gary Milhollin cautions readers of the potential nuclear weapon capabilities of Iran. He appears to be nonpartisan.
• Editorial: The Process in Place
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23gottemoeller.html?th=&emc=th
  Rose Gottemoeller, responsible for nonproliferation policy during Clinton's second term, encourages using the Sister Laboratory program started in the '80s to build trust and transparency between the US and North Korea.
• Editorial: Bubble? What Bubble?
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/opinion/23harris.html?th=&emc=th
  Chris Harris takes a humorous look at the current housing market in his hypothetical Q&A session. If you see a print-friendly version, the chart in question is a hand-drawn graph, "Minimum Cost of a Place You'd Be Willing to Settle For," showing a squiggly line just above a marker "The Most You Can Afford," between 1995 and 2005.
• COLDPLAY
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/23/204125/063
  Yes Coldplay sounds quite a bit like Radiohead, but not that much. Both bands have their high marks. And I get to see Coldplay on Friday.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• The Hillary snub (which wasn't)
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/16/12226/7057
  There is a lie on right-wing "news" sites about Hillary Clinton snubbing the Gold Star Mothers (unrelated to Cindy Sheehan's Gold Star Families for Peace) at her office. And yet the right wing doesn't bash Bush for snubbing Cindy Sheehan, instead smearing her.
• Gender equity the silver bullet?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/16/153034/499
  kos talks like a moderate but is quite the progressive. Why? Because he's truly fair and balanced (i.e. NOT in the Faux News sense) and will give credit where it is due (Roberts is conservative but not a wingnut like some liberals would argue) and criticism where it is due (NARAL ad misleading). As I read in WaPo recently, Roberts' history of opinions on women's issues and civil rights doesn't look too good.
• Ahh, the good ol' days
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/17/144732/740
  A list of quotes from conservatives on Clinton's Bosnia action (similar to the list I posted from the Randi Rhodes Show).
• Democrats and Iraq
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/18/112721/641
  Armando explores good and bad ways for Dems to deal with Iraq.
• FL-Sen: Scarborough asked to challenge Harris
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/18/15297/6971
  A reminder by kos of the kind of person Joe Scarborough is.
• Ice picks on planes, courtesy of Bush Admin
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/18/183435/123
  Huh?

22 Aug 2005

Yesterday, we were in Claremont for my mother-in-law's birthday, so we went to Our Lady of the Assumption (OLA). The presiding priest that day had a good sermon on creationism and evolution and ID. While I disagree with a small point that extreme arguers for evolution are atheists (because people of faith can strongly justify evolutionary theory), he makes the excellent point that faith and science are not mutually exclusive for a person, but they are mutually exclusive in their scope. The cool thing is that he calls out "intelligent design" as a bad idea. I think the basic premise of intelligent design of God or a Creator being behind evolution may be valid for true Christians, but it's not science, and instituting it in public institutions or labeling it as science is a bad idea. Other priests I've heard at OLA are similarly enlightened. I'm glad my in-laws' church is so progressive. Now if they would just see Bush as an anti-abortion, anti-truth, pro-war puppet, not a truly pro-life, war-as-a-last-resort, thinking Christian....

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: Skit of "Dr. Dexter Pangborn" from Awkward Pauses Research Institute and their non-standard metrics (length amplifiers) on awkward pauses in speeches: Bush's Abu "Garaif"...situation (you can drive a truck through); Bush's response to John Dickerson's question "after 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say, and what lessons have you learned from it?" (several pauses: boing, truck, elephant stampede, Pac-Man death, and cartoon hammer sound); Pirro's missing page 10 of her campaign kick-off announcement "...Hillary Clinton...ah, sorry . . . like so many New Yorkers" ("Stars and Stripes Forever").
• 1000: P.W. Singer from the Brookings Institution on child soldiers
• 1030: Colorado State Sen. Maj. Lader Ken Gordon on reforming Colorado's state tax law

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: The Army recruiting web site has a video game for potential recruits. The difference between the game and real combat is that you can't turn off the combat.
• America's Army - the official U.S. Army video game
  http://www.americasarmy.com/includes/bumper.php?goto=http://www.armygamegear.com/
  Randi had this link on her website, but the goto parameter didn't have the dot between www and armygamegear.com. I don't know if that matters or not.
• 1200: The proposed constitution establishes an Islamic republic -- Bush is a uniter, not a divider...of Iraq with Iran!
• Conservative Pundits Bailing by the Busload
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/21/124310/445
  An Islamic republic is not worth the war, some defecting conservatives note.
• US relents on Islamic law to reach Iraq deal
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1553862,00.html
• Iraq Parliament Delays Constitution Vote: Drafters Given Three More Days to Work Out Differences
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082200101.html
• 1200: Clinton fought terrorism while he was being impeached and acquitted.
• 1230: Barry Crimmins reports from Crawford with a veteran.
• 1300: A recruiter, Nelson, calls in to challenge Randi's recruitment issues.
• 1300: People in Crawford at Camp Casey respond to recruiter's comments.
• 1400: Caller tells his recruitment story about solving his drug problem.
• 1430: Anti-Bush protest in Utah
• Photos of today's Bush protest in Salt Lake City (warning LOTS of photos!)
  http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2026290
  Awesome. Note that the Salt Lake City mayor, Rocky Anderson, supports the protest and spoke at it. We'll see if the mainstream media covers it.
• 1430: Glenn Smith, writer for the Houston Chronicle and author of The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction, at Camp Casey tells his story of Karl Rove; he was interviewed for the documentary Bush's Brain.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• They Are Stardust, And in Texas: At the Crawford Protest Camp, Growing Echoes of Woodstock
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101113.html
  A colorful description of Camp Casey in Crawford. Note that there is a minister (Methodist, just like Bush) who led a service in the great outdoors. You can't say that protestors can't be people of faith.
• Skin Cells Converted to Stem Cells: Scientists' Work Could Clear Moral Hurdle to Embryonic Research
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082101180.html
  The hybrid cells created with this technique are still of concern because they (a) still require standard donor embryonic stem cells (of which there is a limited supply with the Bush stance) and (b) contain both the DNA from the skin cell and DNA from the donor stem cell. Purifying out the donor stem cell's DNA is quite a challenge, but I'm wondering whether the skin cells are reliable copies of the genome in question because of UV exposure and other natural modifications involved with their original differentiation from the stem cells from which they developed.
• Rudolph Apologizes, Sentenced to Life
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082200108.html
  John Hawthorne faces the man who killed his wife in the 1996 Summer Olympics. Note that Rudolph is described as being anti-abortion, not pro-life, for if he were pro-life, he wouldn't resort to violence. He's obviously an arrogant and obnoxious slimeball, and it's only fitting that his killing of others results in his life in prison.
• Synthesizer Innovator Robert A. Moog Dies
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082200373.html
  Hats off to a pioneer of electronic music. While electronics may threaten acoustic instrument players, it is an enabling technology for budding musicians to create a new sound. The many fans of the natural sound (myself included) still appreciate and support acoustic musicians in orchestras and classical ensembles, so they shouldn't run out of work, as a whole at least,
• Death of Lineman After Game Remains a Troubling Mystery
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/sports/football/22herrion.html?th&emc=th
  We pray for Herrion's mother and family and that this quite mysterious collapse will be solved. No drinking, smoking, or drugs, just a nice, clean guy.
• Editorial: Promises, Promises
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/opinion/22mon1.html?th=&emc=th
  The author addresses unfair trade practices by rich countries in the World Trade Organization.
• Bob Herbert: Truth in Recruiting
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/opinion/22herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert discusses recruiting tactics and argues that they should be truthful, and if number come up short, "stop fighting unnecessary wars, or reinstate the draft."
• Paul Krugman: Don't Prettify Our History
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/opinion/22krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  Krugman reexamines the 2000 recount in light of the current inaccurate belief that W would have won with a recount. He urges us to remember the situation as exposing ugly truths about our election process and its limitations (which can be fixed in a nonpartisan manner!) and not to look back on a similarly rosy picture of Iraq in the future.
• Editorial: Burning Money
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/opinion/22markel.html?th=&emc=th
  Pediatrician Howard Markel exposes where some of the money earmarked for tobacco prevention and cessation programs really went.
• Editorial: Warned, but Worse Off
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/22/opinion/22welch.html?th=&emc=th
  Steven Woloshin et al analyze the practice of CT scans for lung cancer screening and the potential for overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Merck Found Liable in Vioxx Case: Texas Jury Awards Widow $253 Million
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/19/AR2005081900256.html
  Merck's already low public image gets worse.
• CIA Report on 9/11 Is Complete: Inspector General's Findings Have Yet to Reach Congress
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/19/AR2005081901526.html
  No word yet on any actual findings.
• Refusal to See Sheehan Is Second-Guessed: A Decision Characteristic of Bush Has the Potential to Be a Consequential Act
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/20/AR2005082001046.html
  A summary of the Cindy Sheehan situation with the president. One thing to note is that two Republican Senators call for Bush to meet with her.

18 Aug 2005

A little bit of catch-up. I'm coming close to the present. I've got references to science and health at the bottom, with some pop culture references.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Franken: What is George W. Bush's management style? Being George H. W. Bush's son.
• 0930: Al and Katherine do a skit on Al's joking charge on Abramoff
• 0930: David Sirota: Gov. Taft (R-OH) charged with 4 misdemeanors in Franklin County and enters nolo contendere plea. Also, Gov. Schweitzer (D-MT) makes good on his word to keep his office free of lobbyists for special interests by preventing Democrat Bob Rowe from working on the governor's energy conference.
• Ohio Gov. Taft Enters No Contest Plea
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081800319.html
  The full story on Taft.
• Corruption isn't a partisan issue
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/11158/0610
  I linked this before, but here it is again. I didn't specify who was involved last time, but it's the whole story of Schweitzer's clean government.
• 1000: Manal Omar of Women for Women International talks about the implications on women's rights with the upcoming Iraqi Constitution.
• 1030: Melanie Sloan, president of CREW, calls in from San Diego, promoting the Resign Randy campaign against ethically challenged Randy "Duke" Cunningham.
• 1030: Robertson responds to fake Boxer comments.
• Robertson "absolutely appalled" by comments Boxer never made
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508160006
  The "comments" come from a satirical "translation" blog.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Randi plays Limbaugh's BS denial of what he (really) said.
• Limbaugh backs off Sheehan comparison with Burkett: "I've never said this"
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508180002
  Typical.
• 1300: Randi exposes the talking points strategy of the neocons: smear Cindy Sheehan and say that she's endangering America.
• 1400: Randi reads the disgusting smear of Cindy Sheehan from the supposed moral values people.
• Limbaugh, Coulter, Liddy, Hitchens, Barone continue attacks on Cindy Sheehan
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508180005
  Neocons like these ARE THE REAL ANTI-AMERICAN MONSTERS WHO ARE ALMOST AS BAD AS THE TERRORISTS. They're DISGUSTING, and their falling ratings show how out of touch they are with real, patroitic Americans.
• 1430: Barry Crimmins reports from Crawford that Cindy's mother Shirley, and Cindy and her sister headed out to see her. Randi: "I wonder if this did have anything to do with the smearing of her daughter and the disrespect that's been heaped upon her grandson. How much can a woman take before her blood pressure goes sky high and she has a stroke?"
• Sheehan Leaving Camp Because of Mother's Stroke
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081700258.html
  We pray for Cindy's mother and Cindy and her sister in their time of need.
• 1430: Some military moms at Camp Casey start a letter campaign to Laura Bush (whom Randi respects) to ask her husband to answer Cindy Sheehan.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Olbermann: Limbaugh "worst person in the world" for "Cindy Sheehan is just Bill Burkett" quote
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508180001
  Randi played this Limbaugh clip yesterday.
• Prewar Memo Warned of Gaps in Iraq Plans: State Dept. Officials Voiced Concerns About Post-Invasion Security, Humanitarian Aid
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/17/AR2005081701974.html
• Roberts Resisted Women's Rights: 1982-86 Memos Detail Skepticism
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081802041.html
  This article starts to give an insight into Roberts' character and potentially predict the kind of Supreme Court Justice he would be if confirmed.
• Firm Fined for Channeling Donations to GOP
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801989.html
  The case against DeLay builds.
• Editorial: Filipino 'People Power'
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/18/AR2005081801455.html
  The author suggests letting the democratic process work in the Philippines and avoid an uprising. Of the suggestions in the conclusion, I'm not sure if automatic vote counting would be safe unless there were still a paper trail. This problem sounds familiar.
• Editorial: Guarding the Fight Against AIDS
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18thu2.html?th=&emc=th
  If the author's facts are right, it should the continuing trend of the administration against practical sense. While the proposed Ryan White Act renewal puts more money into states behind in AIDS fight progress, it's at the expense of states where the program is doing well. This is in line with the funding of states with low threat of attack getting money at the expense of states like New York with a greater threat, and it's in contrast with No Child Left Behind, which punishes schools that are doing poorly (according to their possibly contrived standards of measure), while they just may need more money to do well. If not for the three unbalanced and unwarranted tax cuts, maybe we'd have the money for these needs in all of our states. At least we'd have more of it.
• Editorial: Another Methane Move
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18thu3.html?th=&emc=th
  The conclusion summarizes it: "The White House has given the industry no reason to consider restraint. Its energy policy is based entirely on expansion, extraction and consumption, with little thought for conservation or the environment."
• Bob Herbert: Blood Runs Red, Not Blue
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert notes that blue-blooded (wealthier) people are not doing any sacrificing for the war. If the war were such a great cause, the people vocally supporting the war would encourage enlistment from everyone. I've heard him on the Al Franken Show saying that he supports the draft (for wars worth fighting) because it is not (in theory) selective of economic condition. As Randi Rhodes puts it, you should be able you buy more democracy than me.
• Editorial: Get Real
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18rose.html?th=&emc=th
  Foreign Affairs editor Gideon Rose offers a mostly balanced look at the last half-century or so of administrations from Truman to W and the sort of cyclical effect of waves of dreamers and realists. Not that Condi is that great of a realist since the promoted the "mushroom cloud" image, but at least she opposed Bolton.
• Editorial: Artificial Intelligence
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/18/opinion/18morton.html?th=&emc=th
  The creator of the anagram-finding program Ars Magna (an anagram of 'anagram') and writer Sabra Morton reveal the comedic truth hidden in anagrams of currently important phrases.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• U.S. Fraud Charge for Top Lobbyist
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/politics/12abramoff.html?th=&emc=th
  This article gives a quick history timeline on Jack Abramoff's troubles.
• Racial and Ethnic Minorities Gain in the Nation as a Whole
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/national/12census.html?th=&emc=th
  The country is looking more and more multicultural and multiethnic like California and Texas.
• Editorial: An Iraqi Constitution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12fri1.html?th=&emc=th
  The author offers three guidelines on the new Iraqi institution (unfortunately in the online version, the headings aren't separated from the first paragraph in that section): it should be transitional, it should be nonsectarian, it should be Iraqi.
• Editorial: The View From Crawford
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12fri3.html?ex=1124683200&en=9085f9cd391b02c1&ei=5...
  The author describes how bad our economy is and how little the administration acknowledges it (vicious cycle).
• Paul Krugman: Safe as Houses
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12krugman.html?ex=1124683200&en=0e9410e0482941a5&e...
  Krugman, in his usual practical sense, compares our current slow economic recovery and foreign borrowing with previous better recoveries. The important difference of note is that our borrowing now is not used to increase our ability to pay it back as we have sensibly done in the past.
• Editorial: In Defense of Common Sense
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12horgan.html?ex=1124683200&en=29b8d710024b7312&ei...
  Science journalist John Horgan explores the link/disconnect between science and common sense. It's kinda complicated, but I would call on my favorite writer on the subject, the late Douglas Adams. His character Wonko the Sane in So Long and Thanks for All the Fish notes that his name (given by his mother in childhood) reflects his perceived sanity while projecting an image of being a fool, which he believes scientists must not fear, because if they discover or explain something that seems to be foolish, they must be willing to say it. Science depends on what we can perceive and measure, thus we must be child-like. (Adams' character Dirk Gently affirms this in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. (For a good absurdist look at holistic (actually existential) detectives, see the movie "i heart huckabees."))
• Editorial: High on the Hog
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/opinion/12kummer.html?ex=1124683200&en=c7a6189fc2dd45ea&ei...
  The Atlantic Monthly's senior editor, Corby Kummer, suggests a re-examination and return to using lard. From my own biology classes in college, I know lard is just slightly better than butter in terms of saturated fats. Maureen, of course, uses butter all the time and prefers it over margarine. Both butter and margarine have pros and cons, but butter is more natural. As with all things, the key is moderation. I've started eating less (just enough to feel slightly full), and it's been better on me. This is how I've heard the French paradox explained. Though they eat more food worse for one's health, they eat less of it and stay thinner. The best explanation for obesity I've heard is that food costs so little in the U.S. that it's so much easier to eat more just because (which makes it worse with those with a genetic predisposition). I thought the best part of Eddie Murphy's "Nutty Professor" remake is when Sherman decides to get his exercise and watch his diet even more than he already did, and he got in shape even though he still considered himself big. He really could have stopped there, because he was happy and healthy, but his fears overcame him and led him to his desperation in scientific experimentation (though contrived just for entertainment). Anyway, the body needs fat, at the least for uptake of fat-soluble vitamins. And as the late Dr. Saltman at UCSD said, "fat things that good." But it's best in moderation.

17 Aug 2005

Catching up is sweet...but it's not done yet.

I'm posting this relatively close to my last post. I'm behind on posts too. Like I said, I'm catching up. So if you missed my short essay on the HHGG radio series, which now covers all five books (and then some) and want to read it, it's yesterday's post.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Frank Gaffney of the Washington Times (Rev. Moon's paper) has a disgusting criticism of Cindy Sheehan. Is there any right winger media person who likes her? I have yet to hear of any.
• Conservatives, others in the media launch smear campaign against Cindy Sheehan
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508170008
  Self-explanatory
• 0930: Al mentions WaPo article "The Ad War in Iraq" leads to a skit about "Bomby" the Robot.
• The Ad War in Iraq
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400879.html
  The Pentagon creates an ad campaign for Iraqi people on ways to thwart IEDs.
• 0930: Christy Harvey: guest op-ed piece in Boston Globe from someone claiming to be from the "Labor Policy Center" of the "nonpartisan" "Evergreen Freedom Foundation" (not to be confused with the Electronic Frontier Foundation) attacking boycotters of Wal-Mart. The biggest funders of the foundation include Sam Walton and Richard Mellon Scaife, so not exactly non-partisan. The op-ed should be an advertisement, not an op-ed.
• Today's Boston Globe features an op-ed...
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/16/todays-boston-globe-features-an-op-ed/
  See above.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1230: Harry Jeffries from Optruth.org emails the Texan (Waco resident Larry Northern) who desecrated the 500 cross memorials using his truck.
• A Message to the Crawford Memorial Vandal
  http://www2.operationtruth.com/dia/organizations/OpTruth/blog/comments.jsp?blog_entry_KEY=19954
  Jeffries' message to Northern
• 1330: Randi pulls out old quotes regarding Clinton and Kosovo.
• Bush: "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the president to explain what the exit strategy is."
• DeLay: "You can support the troops, but not the president."
• Joe Scarborough (as Rep. from FL): "Well, I just think it's a bad idea. What's gonna happen is they're gonna be over there 10, 15, maybe 20 years."
• Hannity quote (06 Apr 1999): "Explain to the mothers, explain to the fathers of American servicemen that they may come home in bodybags why their son or daughter had to give up their life." Randi's response: "Fascinating, sounds like Cindy Sheehan, except no one's son or daughter gave up their life [in Kosovo]."
• Santorum: "The president is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. He's not informed our armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy."
• DeLay again: "American foreign policy is now one huge, big mystery. Simply put, this administration is trying to lead the world with feel-good foreign policy."
• Karen Hughes on behalf of W as governor of TX: "If we're gonna commit American troops, we must be certain that they have a clear mission, an achievable goal, and most importantly, an exit strategy."
• Trent Lott (R-MS): "I had doubt about the bombing campaign from the beginning. I didn't think we worked hard enough in the diplomatic area."
• DeLay again: "I can't support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it's easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The president began this mission with very vague objectives and a lot of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. The president has no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There's no contingency plan for 'Mission Creep'. There's no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There's no explanation. There's no strategic plan for war when the president started this thing, and there's still no plan today."
• 1330: Randi plays a disgusting Rush clip saying Cindy Sheehan's story is nothing but forged documents. Huh?
• 1400: "The cousin of the man that shot the gun off in Crawford now steps up and offers his private ranch to Cindy Sheehan so she can exercise her constitutional right to protest this war."
• 1500: New conservative talk show host Melanie Morgan, who organizes anti-Cindy Sheehan protests, says on Chris Matthews (Hardball) believes some crazy things about Iraq, 9/11, and the Bush administration.
• 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' for August 16
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8983914/
  Melanie Morgan spreads some falsehoods about the war in Iraq.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• 17 Hurt as Computer Sale Turns Into Stampede: 'Pandemonium' As 5,000 Show Up At Richmond Event
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081600738.html
  Yikes! I guess when the crowd showed up outside, they should have regulated the inflow traffic in the first place. Lesson learned.
• The iPod: A Love Story Between Man, Machine
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081601887.html
  Jose Vargas explores the relationship between people and their iPods (or other music devices), how it's an extension of one's identity, and the implications of having potentially one's entire music collection on one device.
• Editorial: The Merits of Delay in Iraq
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/opinion/17wed1.html?th=&emc=th
  I guess a week more is better than rushing it. Of course it took our founding fathers years to come up with our Constitution, but much more is known about the world and how our nation has succeeded and also missed some things, so it shouldn't take THAT long. I guess we'll find out in a week what happens.
• Editorial: A Moment of Grace
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/opinion/17wed4.html?th=&emc=th
  This is a beautiful story of forgiveness and of how we can disarm hate with love, as Jesus did.
• Maureen Dowd: Biking Toward Nowhere
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/opinion/17dowd.html?th=&emc=th
  Dowd compares the two Bushes vacationing during war time.
• Editorial: Conservative Compassion
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/opinion/17morris.html?th=&emc=th
  Edmund Morris, who once spent time with Reagan in dealing with wounded Americans, doesn't quite smear Cindy Sheehan as much as try to discredit her intentions. First of all, W is on vacation, so it's not like he doesn't have time for her. Second, Cindy Sheehan has a cause for all parents of servicemen, so they don't have to feel what she feels. At least Morris shows some other presidential emotional profiles. I think he ends up showing, unintentionally, that W is worse than Reagan.
• Editorial: Left Behind
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/17/opinion/17lynch.html?th=&emc=th
  Thomas Lynch offers a poetic compare/contrast between himself and Bush.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Editorial: What's in a Name
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/opinion/11thu3.html?th=&emc=th
  This is an interesting look into people and their eponymous corporations and what happens when the person is separated from the company.
• Bob Herbert: No End in Sight in Iraq
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/11herbert.done.html?th=&emc=th
  "The administration has never been straight with the public about the war, and there's no reason to believe it will start being honest now. There is a desperate need for a serious national conversation about alternatives to the Bush approach in Iraq, which is tantamount to a permanent American military presence in that country." Meanwhile, the president is on vacation, his 50th time in the ranch since he took office, for 5 weeks.
• Editorial: The Energy Bill's Gift to Terrorists
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/opinion/11kuperman.html?th=&emc=th
  D'oh! Alan Kuperman shows how Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) forced an amendment that could allow exports of bomb-grade uranium from the US, despite bipartisan opposition from both the House and Senate.
• Editorial: Black and White and Read All Over
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/opinion/11mcwhorter.html?th=&emc=th
  John McWhorter, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, grew up with the magazines Ebony and Jet. He celebrates the life of their creator John H. Johnson and analyzes the dichotomy between celebrating successful blacks and attention to poorer blacks in terms of race relations.
• Heresy: The Press Getting Better?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/6/225910/4951
  This is an excellent comparison of the press among different recent eras and a short comparison of HW's war with W's war.
• Wanted: Dead or Alive? Not at Tora Bora
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/7/161053/5120
  Armando reports what could have happened at Tora Bora: Gary Berntsen, CIA field commander of the Jawbreaker team at Tora Bora, says they had definitive intelligence that bin Laden was there and could have been caught. No one knows why the order was not given to our own troops.
• Did Roberts Support Groups Who Bombed Abortion Clinics?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/8/19139/80646
  Armando is part of the reality-based community. He doesn't like the ad by NARAL, same as Al Franken, because of some problems with the truth. Members of the reality-based community frown on this whether it comes from the right of the left.
• MT-Sen: GOP freaks out
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/9/02936/88476
  When the GOP sends attack dogs, we're winning.
• NARAL's bloggy call to action
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/9/141338/3244
  kos values movement-building over single-issue fighting/protecting in order to protect all our progressive values.
• Condi: still out of touch
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/9/142534/7031
  Condi believes the whole 'last throes' thing.
• The Right's Word Games on The Right To Privacy
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/9/161628/1268
  Self-explanatory
• Bush 393,000 Average Jobs per Year; Clinton 2.9 Million
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/10/191657/493
  From the Bureau of Labor Statistics
• To What Level Will they Sink?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/12/113737/093
  There are respectful, respectable people on the right, and then there ar ethese people.
• The conservative elite versus Cindy
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/12/114321/293
  I don't know if Bush himself is responsible for the attack on Cindy Sheehan, as kos implies, but it's a disgusting thing nonetheless from the people who supposedly support our troops. Again, there are decent people on the right like the one cited by kos here, because they are not afraid of calling out their own kind when they do wrong.
• Chickenhawks, Away!
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/12/182426/409
  If you support the war, enlist or encourage others to enlist, otherwise, you're a chickenhawk.
• The New McCarthyism Hit Parade
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/12/22028/7457
  I link to Friedman and Kristof every now and then because sometimes they provide some insight, and sometimes they don't. Also, they've been on the Al Franken Show occasionally, so Al must have some respect for them. He also has conservative friends who sometimes agree with him and sometimes not. Part of what makes that show great is the range of opinions presented, at least for a liberal talk show. Contrast that with Randi Rhodes, who is all wit, and can convince many decent conservatives of the failure that is this administration. Where was I? Oh yeah, Friedman. I've noticed that some diarists on DailyKos dislike some of the things he says. The quote cited here is downright idiotic if Friedman's a liberal and just plain unwarranted if he's not.
• Physics and dating: a Science Friday late-night nerd thread
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/12/225459/686
  This is funny and nerdy, and worth the read about how super-daters breaking up weak relationships may be a good thing. Of course, that doesn't necessarily result in the broken up finding their perfect mates eventually.
• The Return of Extremist Sunday
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/13/14331/7743
  Armando cites a piece of a progressive who is truly Christian and has good insight into the parasite that is the Extreme Right on Christianity.
• Coming Full Circle: Chemical Weapons Plant Found in Mosul
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/13/16652/6995
  If the analysis is correct, this lab came into being after the start of our war in Iraq, as a response to our invasion. If so, not only has the administration allowed terrorists to enter Iraq (thus making it the center in the War on Terror(tm), when it wasn't before) but also encouraged the making of weapons that didn't exist before the war (and after the disarming after Gulf War I).
• Extreme Sunday's Amnesia On Anti-Catholicism
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/13/20018/4626
  Catholics are loved or hated by the Christian Right when it suits them.
• Corruption isn't a partisan issue
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/11158/0610
  The Democratic Party should be clean, too. Corruption is unwanted in any party.
• Cheers and Jeers: Monday
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/83918/8269
  It's Bush-vacation-fest in talk show humor.
• Iraq babies
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/145856/939
  Interesting. kos compares the backlash against the GOP after Watergate with a potential for the same due to Iraq. The important thing to note is that Iraq war veterans are coming home to run for office as Democrats, even asking Paul Hackett for advice.
• Who served in the military?
  http://www.awolbush.com/whoserved.html
  The above kos piece links to this page, which highlights prominent Democrats and Republicans and their service or lack thereof. The subheading jokingly says it's fair and balanced...just like Fox News, but it really is, because it commends both Democrats and Republicans who served. Not too many Dems listed who did not serve, but maybe that's the way it is.
• Coddled punditocracy
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/151720/724
  Another list of service summaries, this time of both politicians and media personalities. It's slightly more balanced than the previous list. kos notes that Randi Rhodes also served. She was, as she will say herself, in the Air Force but was not in combat. She still salutes current and former military personnel who call in, especially those who outrank her.
• The birth of the VRWC
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/192717/535
  It looks like an urban legend. But it is shocking that we've responded so late.
• Local Wingnut Read My Kos Diary: Called It "A Flagrant Act of Democracy!" (Updated)
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/15/223919/623
  Yes, a conservative radio hosts compliments a kos campaign led by ColdFusion04. It's nice when decency shows its face.

16 Aug 2005

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an interesting franchise. Here is what I've learned since my last journal entry on the HHGG movie and what I've read/heard/seen before the movie, partially due to Wikipedia, and partially due to listening to the new Phases of the radio series (sorry, some spoilers contained within for those who haven't read all of the books!):

It started out as a radio show by Douglas Adams, who was working on Doctor Who. Eventually the two "seasons" or Phases of the series found their way into two novels, the first two of five, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which mostly follows the first 4 episodes (or "Fits" as he calls them, after a term for part of a poem) of the first series ("Primary Phase"), and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, which mostly follows the last 2 episodes of the first series, with most of the material in the second series ("Secondary Phase") appearing in the middle of that book. How does that work, especially considering Arthur needs to end up in prehistoric Earth before the start of the third book? I'll explain soon.

My first experience came with the text adventure on the IBM PC, of which we had a copy and a clone, respectively. I eventually bought the game when I saw a "Gold Edition" with built-in hints at Waldenbooks. Before that, though, I bought the two audio cassette tapes of the stories, which featured a banjo-leaded theme that I later found out (this year) was a version of the Eagles' "Journey of the Sorceror." Another version of this is featured in the movie. It's only in listening to a copy of the Primary and Secondary Phases (episodes 1-6 and 7-12, respectively) and in reading the Wikipedia articles that I found out that my two cassette tapes are transfers of the LP albums and follow the books more than the radio series. At the beginning of the Secondary Phase radio series, Arthur is already stuck on prehistoric Earth and escapes and has subsequent adventures with Ford and Zaphod. In the Restaurant book, Zaphod has some of these adventures with Trillian, which don't include the Nutrimat/bird creature/Arthur statue/Lintilla subplot that includes Ford and Arthur. I found out about the third radio series ("Tertiary Phase") earlier this year and bought that from Barnes&Noble.com. Upon listening to the beginning of that, I had assumed that my Restaurant cassette corresponded in full to the Secondary Phase radio series since Arthur starts out on prehistoric Earth as he does in the third book, Life, the Universe, and Everything. It wasn't until I went back and heard the Primary and Secondary Phases that I understood where (a) the material I thought was present in the Restaurant book but missing in the Restaurant cassette went -- the Secondary Phase and then some, and (b) the Secondary Phase material fits into the whole Hitchhiker's universe. It wasn't until reading the Wikipedia article on the Tertiary Phase that I caught that the whole of the Secondary Phase was dismissed by Trillian as a "psychotic episode" during the beginning of the Tertiary Phase, thus restoring Arthur and Ford to prehistoric Earth, where he was at the end of the Primary Phase but not (obviously) at the end of the Secondary Phase. Thus, when I first heard the Tertiary Phase, it seemed seemless to me since I assumed my cassettes represented the entire radio series so far without knowledge of the material in the Secondary Phase. The gist of the Secondary Phase material that doesn't appear anywhere else (so far; it may be included in a possible sequel to the movie) is the introduction of the Lintillas, which are clones whose voices are similar to the voice of the Bird in the radio series corresponding to the fifth book (and are actually played by the same actress).

Are you as confused as I am? Bottom line: my cassettes correspond only to the Primary Phase of the radio series. The events in the Hitchhiker's book more or less correspond to the first cassette and episodes 1-4 of the radio series. The events in the Restaurant book more or less correspond to the second cassette (with the exception of the Frogstar/Zarniwoop subplot) and leave Ford and Arthur on prehistoric Earth. That book also corresponds roughly to, in book order, episode 5, episodes 7-12, and episode 6 of the radio series, with the exception of the Nutrimat/bird creature/Arthur statue/Lintilla subplot I mentioned earlier that doesn't appear at all in the book. The Tertiary Phase corresponds to the Life book (third in the "trilogy"), and it was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in Sep-Oct 2004 as episodes 13-18, with most of the original cast of the Primary and Secondary Phases. The Quandary Phase corresponds to So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish book (fourth in the "trilogy"), and was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May this year as episodes 19-22. English actress Jane Horrocks, the voice of Babs in Chicken Run, plays Fenchurch. Because the fifth book, Mostly Harmless, wasn't my particular favorite, I was concerned that the Quandary Phase ended with Fenchurch disappearing in the hyperspace jump, which happens in Harmless, since before the broadcast I was hoping to "end" the series in my mind with the Quandary Phase, and I wasn't particularly looking forward to the Quintessential Phase. After hearing that ending, though, I had to finish the series, and I do actually find the Quintessential Phase satisfying. The Quintessential Phase, of course, corresponds to the Harmless book, and was broadcast immediately after the Quandary Phase on BBC Radio 4, ending in June, as episodes 23-26. It's through the webcasts from the HHGG subsite on the BBC Radio 4 website that I was able to listen to these.

So, I can't wait till the Quandary and Quintessential Phases are released here in the US (starting Dec 2005), since they're currently only available in the UK. Of course, I can just buy them on Amazon.co.uk, so I'm torn. Also, the Primary and Secondary Phases are only available in the UK. They already have a box set of the entire series, but I own the Tertiary Phase on CD already. I highly recommend the radio series in full, because it really gives the characters life and soul as they were originally conceived. Then I'd recommend the books, then the movie. Either way, you're in the company of a great mind in the late Douglas Adams.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: Jack Abramoff put in jail yesterday (for a while).
• 1000: Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, leader of the Iraq Index project
• IRAQ INDEX: Tracking Reconstruction and Security in Post-Saddam Iraq
  http://www.brookings.edu/iraqindex
  This is a statistical compilation on what's going on in Iraq.
• 1030: Karen Tumulty, Time magazine's national political correspondent
• 1100: Josh Marshall on Jack Abramoff with evidence on ongoing Abramoff-DeLay connection

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: It seems like all the people who actually talk to Cindy Sheehan love her, those who refuse to are just following the GOP party line.
• 1430: Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna in studio!

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Editorial: Justice Sunday Reloaded
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/opinion/16tue2.html?th=&emc=th
  The Christian Right strike again, but they didn't invite Frist this time since his newfound support for sound science in stem cell research.
• John Tierney: Fighting the Last Hijackers
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/opinion/16tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Tierney sounds like a real conservative in that he opposes the Transportation Security Administration, in favor of using private companies. However, the TSA may be just like the Department of Homeland Security in being an unnecessary bureaucracy. Maybe we could have done better with more strict guidelines for screeners who already work at airports, but I don't think privatization is the answer.
• Editorial: The Underprivileged Press
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/opinion/16dole.html?th=&emc=th
  Former Senator Bob Dole chimes in with his take on the Plame case, specifically with Judith Miller. While he does acknowledge that the press should keep the public well informed, he seems to devalue Valerie Wilson's role at the CIA with the common right-wing dismissal of a "desk job."

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Editorial: The Last Anchor
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/opinion/09tue4.html?th=&emc=th
  The author offers a tribute to the last of a breed, the network news anchor, Peter Jennings.
• John Tierney: Debunking the Drug War
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/opinion/09tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Conservative Tierney quotes gambling addict Bill Bennett and explores addiction. Not surprisingly, he doesn't mention certain neoconservative talk show hosts.
• Editorial: An Unwelcome Fish
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/10wed4.html?th=&emc=th
  Generally nature is something man shouldn't mess with. A good example is when man hurts an ecosystem by introducing an outside species like the snakehead fish featured in this piece.
• Maureen Dowd: Why No Tea and Sympathy?
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/10dowd.html?th=&emc=th
  Dowd recommends W. to take Cindy Sheehan in for tea and sympathy instead of his usual "inhumane humanistianism."
• Editorial: Tipped Off
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/opinion/10shaw.html?th=&emc=th
  Steven Shaw has an interesting insight into the practice of tipping and its economics. While I may not agree with some of the sentiments, it's definitely a perspective I find thought-provoking and fresh, and definitely less cynical (and comical) than the rant by Quentin Tarantino in "Reservoir Dogs."
• U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq: Administration Is Shedding 'Unreality' That Dominated Invasion, Official Says
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/13/AR2005081300853.html
  The debacle that is the war in Iraq continues, and now we're admitting how bad it is.
• Editorial: Big-Government Conservatives
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400905.html

15 Aug 2005

We are the reality-based community (also known as the fact-based community). This is why it takes me so long to do entries. I like to check the stories I hear with what appears in print, or at least, follow the links or addresses mentioned on Air America, on blogs, etc.

In order to be part of the reality-based community, we must not be afraid to speak out against people we normally respect but do something we don't. Democrats must speak out against other Democrats who are doing the wrong thing just as Republicans must speak out against other Republicans who are doing the wrong thing. These politicians who are not afraid of their own party, who speak out for what is right, and who speak for the people they serve deserve to stay in office, regardless of their party. Of course now, just for the sake of checks and balances, it doesn't hurt to vote Dem now. It's a different world now, not just because of 9/11, but because we have one-party rule. And yet, that party can't get all of their legislation past because of people in their own party who really do think things through. But they do get some undesirable things passed like the bankruptcy bill (pro-credit card companies) and people approved like the undiplomatic bully John Bolton (by bypassing the standard route with a recess appointment), so our desperate measure is strategic voting. Once a balance of power is restored, we can return to supporting candidates of either party who really do their job well serving the people.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Smearing of Cindy Sheehan by the right.
• 0900: The SCOTUS judges who are the most activist, meaning turning over precedents, are the conservatives, Thomas and Scalia.
• 1130: Prof. Elizabeth Warren from Harvard Law School on bankruptcy and debt: familes spend 22% less on clothes than they did a generation ago (adjusted for inflation), 21% less on food, 44% less on appliances. What are they spending that money on? Mortgages, insurance, second car payments, daycare, and taxes. After these five payments, today's two-income family has less money to spend than their one-income parents had a generation ago. And it's a riskier situation today.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1330: Playback of E.J. Dionne (sympathetic) and Byron York (disgusting) on Andrea Mitchell about Cindy Sheehan. Randi's response: Bob Fertig is not a strategist; he simply put up a website to allow a community forum for Democrats; he's a grassroots organizer like Joe Trippi.
• 1430: Barry Crimmins calls in from Crawford, TX with Ray McGovern, the 27-year CIA analyst (who was present during the time of Iran-Contra), who also supports Cindy Sheehan.
• 1500: Conservatives encourage Bush to attend funerals of fallen military (Rupert Murdoch's New York Post) and to talk to Cindy Sheehan (Bush loyalist George Allen).

Other news and opinion from the day:

• My contacts don't appear in the Address Book
  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011127401033.aspx
  I had a problem of not seeing my old contacts from before the migration from Microsoft Office 2000 to 2003 (yeah, we skipped Office XP for some reason), and the online help was actually helpful (since it searches the web-available help on microsoft.com). I don't know why the automatic migration program I ran didn't do this, but all I had to do was create an "Outlook Address Book", and my Contacts (from that navigation pane, where they migrated from my Outlook 2000 profile) now appear in the Address Book, which is important when forwarding stuff to myself or a personal contact. Otherwise, I'd have to double-click a contact, then do a message from scratch.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• A Richer Life Beckons Congress
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08mon2.html?th=&emc=th
  The author has some thoughtful suggestions on how to regulate congressmen and senators leaving their posts and becoming lobbyists.
• Leading by Example
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08mon3.html?th=&emc=th
  The author here worries that Judith Miller's jail sentence is being used in other countries as an example to jail their own journalists. I don't believe we have the freest press in the world. According to Randi Rhodes (source below), the U.S. is ranked 24th (6-way tie) in the world for press freedom.
• Freedom House's annual press freedom survey
  http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/pressurvey.htm
  I believe this could reflect on the televised media and radio too, considering 5 companies control TV media, and radio is pretty consolidated too.
• Bob Herbert: The Pain Deep Inside
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert describes the story of Army Specialist Olander and his struggle with morality and taking lives, along with his physical and mental injuries.
• Paul Krugman: That Hissing Sound
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  I must live in the Zoned Zone of all Zoned Zones, and described by Krugman in this piece. Our house value has gone up since we bought before the bubble peak, but imagine buying a house that two years ago could have been bought at half the price. Unfortunately, we came into the market at the wrong moment when we needed some more permanent residence with our growing family. At least we've made something so far on the value of our house, but maybe on the price downturn it may get to the break-even point, and hopefully not lower than that.
• Editorial: The Male Condition
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/opinion/08baron-cohen.html?th=&emc=th
  An autism research director takes a look at the average differences between male and female brains and extends the findings to autism and related conditions like Asperger's.
• When Close is Close Enough
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/4/212832/4309
  Some inspiration that goes with Democratic candidate Paul Hackett's narrow defeat in a Republican stronghold district in Ohio: Clinton's similar battle at the start of his career.
• Fighting Dems
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/5/15134/56717
  Since the media do not serve us as they should, we should be the media. The netroots supplies an enabling technology for us whose voices are not heard in the mainstream, conservative (or at least corporate) media.
• A Tragedy
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/6/11551/39357
  Armando at DailyKos mourns the loss of Steven Vincent, a freelance writer who wrote in the conservative frontpagemagazine.com and was stationed in Basra. Really. Even though Vincent supported the war, Armando notes certain of his pieces that criticize certain handlings of the war in Iraq. Regardless, the loss of any life is tragic.
• Is the Fix In (in Plamegate)?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/6/203811/9769
  Uh-oh. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, investigating the Plame leak, now has a new boss to whom he must report. Is this boss friendly to the administration?

12 Aug 2005

Slow catch-up, but I'll get back to the present soon. Lots of DailyKos catch-up to be done too.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: NARAL ad withdrawn. Al supports NARAL generally but doesn't agree with a recent ad that is somewhat misleading about SCOTUS nominee Roberts.
• NARAL Falsely Accuses Supreme Court Nominee Roberts
  http://www.factcheck.org/article340.html
  FactCheck's summary: Attack ad says he supported an abortion-clinic bomber and excused violence. In fact, Roberts called clinic bombers "criminals" who should be prosecuted fully.
• 0930: Christy Harvey on Abramoff
• Abramoff Indicted in Casino Boat Purchase: Lobbyist, Associate Charged With Fraud
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/11/AR2005081101108.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&...
• A High-Powered Lobbyist's Swift Fall From Grace
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/11/AR2005081101752.html
• Lies, Damn Lies, and Limbaugh's Press Release About Progressive Radio
  http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/10/limbaugh-radio-lies/
• Can Homosexuality Be Treated and Prevented?
  http://www.family.org/docstudy/newsletters/a0021043.cfm
  Hate monger James Dobson offers advice (based on another's writing) on "preventing homosexuality" as if it were a disease. How much do you want to bet he's repressing feelings of homosexuality himself?
• In Iraq, No Clear Finish Line: Timing Is Muddy For U.S. Pullout
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/11/AR2005081101837.html

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1230: Even Nixon went and visited with the antiwar protestors at the Lincoln Memorial in the middle of the night.
• 1230: Jeff Gannon chimes in with typical con crap. He still has a job?
• 1400: Phil Hendrie (who Randi otherwise respects and considers a great talent) calls Sheehan an ignorant cow on FreeRepublic? Only if that's really him on there. I've heard Phil too, and he's pretty funny, and a Democrat, but sometimes tows the Bush line, especially when it comes to military action.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Editorial: When a Heart Device Short-Circuits
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/opinion/07sun3.html?th=&emc=th
  The author refers to an article in NYT from last May that deals with medical devices (defibrillators) from Guidant Corporation, of which the company knew of a flaw but did not recall it for three years with the stated reason that the devices are still reliable and that the risk of complications due to surgery to replace one outweighed the risk of failure. However, I agree with the op-ed author that they should have disclosed that information and let the doctors of patients with installed devices should decide on replacement or not.
• Maker of Heart Device Kept Flaw From Doctors
  http://query.nytimes.com/gst/health/article-printpage.html?res=9803E4D71239F937A15756C0A9639C8B63
  The original NYT article referred to above.
• Nicholas Kristof: When Pigs Wi-Fi
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/opinion/07kristof.html?th=&emc=th
  Kristof reports from Hermiston, OR, where they have free Wi-Fi internet access as a free, legal benefit of local police building their network for police business.
• Editorial: The Spy Left Out in the Cold
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/opinion/07richardson.html?th=&emc=th
  John H. Richardson has a father of the same name who was outed as a CIA officer by a "high official source" back in 1963. I guess the Plame affair wasn't really the first of its kind in history, but it doesn't make it any better, especially since the suspected source of the leak came from the White House.
• Editorial: An Anniversary to Forget
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/opinion/07ito.html?th=&emc=th
  Joichi Ito was born after the two atomic bombs dropped in Japan and thus has a different perspective on the apocalyptic events than the generation that was there during the bombings. Ito writes mostly about the effect of these events on popular culture, both Japanese and American. One thing I immediately thought of was the featurette in the Animatrix DVD about the history of anime and its roots in manga, and how many stories have post-apocalyptic, wasteland-type settings; while Americans may find this a bleak foretelling of the future, the Japanese have already lived through an apocalyse in these bombings, so they have somewhat of a unique perspective on this.

11 Aug 2005

No general comment. Usual catch-up.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0930: Gerry Wheeler, Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association, on intelligent design: It's a very legitimate religious theory, but it doesn't belong in science.
• 0930: David Sirota: O'Reilly contradicts himself: If you give bad news, you are helping the terrorists. . . . We want to know the truth.
• 1000: Sabin Willett, lawyer defending the two Chinese Muslims in Gitmo who were found innocent in a military tribunal months ago but are still incarcerated.
• 1030: Eric Reeves, Smith College English professor and Sudan expert.
• 1100: Melanie Sloan, Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW): Abramoff is being indicted for bank fraud.
• 1130: Tom Oliphant with new theme "Baby Oliphant Walk" (actually unmodified "Baby Elephant Walk")

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Cindy Sheehan and Barry Crimmins report from Crawford, TX.
• Editorial: One Mother in Crawford
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/opinion/09tue1.html?ei=5090&en=ffee016e8cf1b8a6&ex=1281240...
• 1230: A-hole O'Reilly smears Cindy Sheehan!
• Cindy Sheehan "changed her story on Bush"? Tracking a lie through the conservative media
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508100009
• One day after smearing protester Cindy Sheehan, O'Reilly claimed he and Malkin were "respectful" to her
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508110002
• 1300: Randi plays back the second half of the interview of Dolores Kesterson (whose pilot son was killed in an accident) on O'Reilly.
• Bill O'Reilly Lowers the Bar Again [scroll down to find it]
  http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/08/10.html
  Crooks and Liars' coverage of Kesterson on O'Reilly.
• 1430: William Rivers Pitt from truthout.org calls in

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Mac OS X for Intel leaked, cracked
  http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050811_112044.html
  The tom's article sets straight which security implementations go to which company. The key news for me (since I haven't really checked) is that Intel-based Macs, or "Mactels" as it says here (as opposed to Wintel, meaning Windows on Intel), are to debut in June of '06.
• Steam survey shows AMD, Intel neck and neck
  http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050811_111900.html
  If those surveyed were mostly gamers, since the survey was done by a game manufacturer, the results are limited to gamers, who tend to go for performance, thus AMD 64's and Intel Extreme Editions should be prevalent anyway.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• The Wilson-Plame-Novak-Rove Blame Game
  http://www.factcheck.org/article337.html
  A timeline on the events involved in the Plame outing.
• F.D.A. Responds to Criticism With New Caution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/politics/06fda.html?th=&emc=th
  The FDA is interesting in that it shouldn't be too lenient or too conservative; it has to be just right. Too conservative means thoroughly, exhaustively testing new drugs for approval; unfortunately it's hard to know side effects that aren't apparent until after a long time. Too lenient means rushing through an application to get a new drug approved in order to reap the benefits it provides. In light of recent discoveries or side effects (Sudafed and Vioxx), it's easy to be more cautious to compensate. What's interesting about being conservative here is that being conservative politically, or at least Republican, nowadays means being pro-business or at least anti-regulation for business (and also pro-regulation for people's activities, for social conservatives, but that's another story), thus being a conservative in the FDA means regulating drug companies more and tending not to approve their products, just in case, which is at odds with being pro-business. Hmmm. It's hard to decide, but it seems to me that it's worse to die of a drug you thought was safe than to die of lack of a drug that wasn't available because it wasn't approved since the latter drug's full effects were not known. I'm still not firm on this one, because I don't know enough. But it's something to think about.
• Editorial: Some Caveats on Job Growth
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/opinion/06sat2.html?th=&emc=th
  This pretty much confirms what was said on the Al Franken Show recently: job growth numbers are misleading because they don't account for inflation and population growth.
• Editorial: One Flier's Best Friend Is the Safety Brochure
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/opinion/06sat3.html?th=&emc=th
  This story is an anecdote about the author's superstition about reading the safety brochure to ensure a safe flight, at least for herself.
• John Tierney: The Good News Bears
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/opinion/06tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Conservative Tierney implies a positive effect of global warming on some bears but at least credits environmentalists for helping to increase hunting regulations (which associates with the polar bear population increase).
• Editorial: Keeping the Polls Open
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/06/opinion/06Lewis.html?th=&emc=th
  (Rep.?) John Lewis (D-GA) calls for renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, where some provisions expire in 2007. According to Randi Rhodes, Lewis was one of the original voting rights advocates and used nonviolence to further his causes.

10 Aug 2005

Why does the so-called Christian Right, as Moby puts it, like creation but not the icky details that go into it, like sex and evolution? While I may personally believe, as intelligent design supporters do, that God may actually be behind creation and things that seem random, intelligent design is not science and should never be treated as such. Especially in public schools. I believe in evolution, which works through random processes. Whether God is behind it or not is a philosophical question, but it belongs outside of science. This is why science and faith can coexist. Science requires proof and repeatability. Faith requires no proof, so it is independent of science.

Who's to say that a Creator is definitely behind evolution? Not a scientist. And evolution is not "just a theory." Scientific theories like those of evolution and gravity and relativity are based on empirical evidence (read: fact) and shows repeatability and predictability. Evolution is reliable, sound science that can predict following generations. Yes, I took genetics and molecular biology in college. That's how I know. There's no way to know for sure what is behind it all. And that's why such an "origin" is beyond science; it is (with our current technology) beyond measure. All our science and engineering comes from what we observe, but it's all an approximation of some underlying principle(s) that we haven't discovered (yet).

But the fact that I do believe in God and in some kind of universal justice is a personal matter, which everyone has a right to accept or not. God is not measurable with scientific means. God is measured by our faith and our responsibility to take care of each other (including "the least of us," which Jesus taught) and our environment (creation, if you believe that), and we should use our brains (which I believe God gave us for a reason) to discover both fact (observable evidence) and truth (abstract ideals that help guide us).

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1100: Rush is a chickenhawk with no right to criticize the marine Paul Hackett.
• 1100: Rush blames environmental regulations for last shuttle disaster.
• 1130: Jonathan Alter with a new theme song, "Johnny Alter" to the tune of "Johnny Angel", has a piece on intelligent design, "Monkey See, Monkey Do".
• Monkey See, Monkey Do: Offering ID as an alternative to evolution is a cruel joke. It walks and talks like science but in the lab performs worse than medieval alchemy.
  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8853604/site/newsweek/
  Here's Alter's main point: 'When Bush was asked about intelligent design last week, he answered, "Both sides ought to be properly taught... so people can understand what the debate is about." This sounds reasonable until you realize that, as the president's own science adviser, John H. Marburger III, admits, there is no real debate. "Intelligent design is not a scientific concept," Marburger told The New York Times, committing a bit of candor that will presumably earn him a trip to the White House woodshed.
• 1130: Alter: Pope John Paul supported Darwin.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1300: Randi reads the articles she referred a winger caller to.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Holiday Season Game Preview 2005
  http://www.tomshardware.com/game/20050808/index.html
  While the new graphics technologies are getting better and better, I like to focus on story, and adventure games are my favorite. So, of course, I'm most interested in the new Dreamfall game. I haven't played or even heard of the original, but I'm interested now. Currently, I'm pretty involved in Metroid Prime, and I'm waiting for the sequel to be under $20 before I grab that too.
• 1 Landline + 1 Cellphone = 1 Handset
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html?th=&emc=th
  RCA has an interesting idea in its combo phone to allow (certain) cellphones to use a landline phone system so a caller at home can choose which line to use on the same handset.
• Editorial: Guns in the Parking Lot
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/opinion/04thu3.html?th=&emc=th
  I don't know enough about the gun control issue, but it should be pretty universal that assault weapons don't belong in sport or for protection, and it's a shame the Congress and the administration let the ban expire.
• Bob Herbert: Forget the War? Many Can't
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/opinion/04herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert reminds us of the cost of Bush's war in the story of Specialist Gonzalez, who was wounded in a Humvee "bucket" by an I.E.D. and awaits his return to the real world in anxiety.
• Editorial: The Message Thing
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/04/opinion/04wallis.html?th=&emc=th
  Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners, the progressive religious magazine, has advice for Democrats on refining their message in addition to framing it.
• Editorial: Afghanistan's Forgotten War
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/opinion/05fri1.html?th=&emc=th
  There's a war in Afghanistan? Yes, even though a huge chunk of our forces has been dedicated in Iraq, the war goes on in Afghanistan. Our relationship with the Pakistani military ruler, Gen. Musharraf, has been unstable, and we need to define it properly.
• Editorial: The Duplicate Dog
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/opinion/05fri2.html?th=&emc=th
  South Korea is leading the way in genetic research while we're dealing with moral issues of sound science.
• Paul Krugman: Design for Confusion
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/opinion/05krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  Krugman presents a powerful look into the back story of the intelligent design movement -- fabricating controversy in place of actual science -- and compares it to the energy industry trying to discredit global warming, which has a scientific consensus in its validity, like the theory of evolution.
• Thomas Friedman: Too Much Pork and Too Little Sugar
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/opinion/05friedman.html?th=&emc=th
  Friedman shows the limitations and flaws of the energy bill and offers some solutions like corn-based ethanol.
• Editorial: The I.R.A.'s Gift of Gab
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/05/opinion/05moloney.html?th=&emc=th
  Author Ed Moloney is concerned that the IRA statement last week may be all talk and suggests the British government crack down on organized crime to limit the potential power of the IRA.

09 Aug 2005

Now I'm sacrificing reading DailyKos (always accessible) for catching up the NYT editorials (accessible for a week after publication).

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Anniversary of Nixon's resignation and Jerry Garcia's death.
• 0930: Obnoxious Rush line about media keeping track of body count in Iraq. Uh...the Pentagon does the count.
• 0930: Real job numbers: 200,000 new jobs last month (good (for Bush)); WSJ says "more people [Americans] are working now than any other time in our history" -- that's because there are more Americans period. The change in disposable income in the first quarter was -1.4%. It went up 3.9% in the first quarter of Clinton's second term. From the Rocky Mountain News: According to the U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics, payrolls have hit record levels in 51 of the 66 years since 1939, or 77% of the time. Of the 15 years when a president couldn't claim that more Americans are working than ever before, 3 have been on Bush's watch. An Al Franken Show staff member compiled a chart and report that says how many months (percentage) could presidents say more Americans are working than ever before: FDR (Jan '41 to '44) could say it 62.5% of the time, JFK 70.8%, LBJ 95.8%, Reagan 70.9%, Clinton 91%, Bush Sr. 37.5%, Bush Jr. 17.5%.
• Stuck in Second
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/opinion/09kohut.html
  The op-chart featured here shows the horrendous economic performance under Bush II.
• 0930: Christy Harvey: Not one single private contractor in Iraq has been prosecuted.
• 1030: Chris Fabricant, criminal defense attorney and author of Busted: Drug War Survival Skills from the Buy to the Bust to Begging for Mercy.: nationally, about 50% of prisoners are in for drug-related crimes (including murder), about 40% for drugs itself, 700,000 drug busts are possession-only cases.
• 1100: Remembrance of Jerry Garcia.
• 1130: Franken on Abramoff: He did the movie Red Scorpion.
• Red Scorpion on IMDb
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098180/
  Hmmm...

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: Technical problems, return from Pro-Democracy March in Atlanta. MSNBC did a nice piece on Sunday about the Voting Rights Act.
• 1200: The president actually did meet Cindy Sheehan before, but treated her indifferently and disrespectfully.
• 1230: Yesterday, military were ordered to fire upon Iraqi protesters in a small town.
• 1330: Cindy Sheehan calls in.

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Apple to refund "piracy tax" levy to Canadian iPod owners
  http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050809_111110.html
  Wow, I didn't know this tax even existed. At least the Canadian Supreme Court ruled the tax unlawful.
• Could RFID tags clutter the earth?
  http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20050809_102723.html
  Environmental concerns. Always something to think about.
• Getting Naked
  http://www.tomshardware.com/game/20050806/index.html
  James Francis mentions the anti-violent-games lawyer Jack Thompson as well as Hillary Clinton. Interesting. I can understand the concern over violent games, but ultimately it is the parents' responsibility to know about video game ratings and monitor their kids' game purchases. If 3-D-rendered excite or disgust you, this article is for you.
• Jack Thompson (attorney) in Wikipedia
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attorney)
  Rated "Top Ten Censor" by the ACLU.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• MRC's response to news of Peter Jennings's death? Promote its political agenda
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508080002
  The Media Research Center is the conservative analog of Media Matters. This is one of the few times I've seen a cross-reference like this, but I don't read Media Matters every day, usually just when I hear something on Franken. Anyway, I've heard too many times of the so-called 'moral values' people using bad news or tragedy for political gain. Of course, I don't know if the MRC is such a 'moral values' kind of group, but that group is a critical part of the conservative base.
• Nicholas Kristof: Another Face of Terror
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/opinion/31kristof.html?th=&emc=th
  Kristof tells the story of brave rape victim Dr. Shazia Khalid and her supportive husband. It is a sad day when countries put the blame of rape on rape victims as a matter of policy.
• Editorial: What We Talk About When We Talk About Editing
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/31/opinion/31shipley.html?th=&emc=th
  NYT Op-Ed Editor David Shipley offers some guidelines of their editing staff.
• Editorial: And Now a Word From Op-Ed
  http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/opinion/01SHIP.html?ex=1123732800&en=8782ad08f2674483&ei=5...
  This is Shipley's original article about the Op-Ed page.
• NYT op-ed editor Shipley says op-eds must be fact-checked; does policy apply to Brooks, Tierney?
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508040001
  Media Matters responds to the above editorial from NYT Op-Ed Editor David Shipley with questions about the conservative columnists (not op-ed writers) and their (lack of) fact-checking.
• The Independence of Liz Phair
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/arts/music/02phai.html?th&emc=th
  A short look at the down-to-earth modern rock icon Liz Phair and how she balances art and popularity.
• Editorial: A Death in Sudan
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/opinion/02tue3.html?th=&emc=th
  The death of Sudanese Vice President John Garang may crush hopes of peace, but the author is more hopeful and suggests the empowerment of democratic institutions to further the objective of peace.
• Editorial: Too Many Planets Numb the Mind
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/opinion/02tue4.html?th=&emc=th
  The author contemplates the question of whether or not Pluto should be called a planet.
• Nicholas Kristof: A Pakistani Rape, and a Pakistani Love Story
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/opinion/02kristof.html?th=&emc=th
  Kristof continues the story of Dr. Shazia Khalid and her husband, who were forced to leave the country by the Pakistani government and now live in London.
• Thomas Friedman: Calling All Luddites
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/opinion/03friedman.html?th=&emc=th
  Friedman describes NYC Democratic primary candidate Andrew Rasiej encouraging the Democratic Party to connect with technology and help citizens to use that technology to solve the city's problems.
• Editorial: Nuclear Hubris in Idaho
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/opinion/03broyles.html?th=&emc=th
  Who's keeping the Energy Department in check?
• Editorial: The Price Is Right
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/03/opinion/03ghemawat.html?th=&emc=th
  Ghemawat and Mark believe that Wal-Mart has a positive effect on the poor by increasing purchasing power. However, the problem is deeper than that. If the poor were lifted out of poverty, they could afford the merchandise anyway. While I do agree that Wal-Mart's success was not solely due to work force exploitation (it probably didn't start out that way), the problem is that the exploitation exists now. The employees of Wal-Mart in these same poor neighborhoods have limited ability to move up or to provide their families with healthcare, so they cannot lift themselves out of poverty. And since the presence of a Wal-Mart helps to close down local businesses, the neighborhood increasingly relies on this monopolistic store that has the ability to lower wages and such, and the cycle continues.
• from cnn
  http://www.moby.com/node/6999
  Moby posts a copy of the article on CNN of Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq last year and is camping out in front of Bush's Crawford, TX ranch.

08 Aug 2005

I'm playing catch-up again.

It's incredible that Peter Jennings died. He still looked really young. His broadcast was the one I watched when the planes hit the WTC while I was in Connecticut before Maureen's first year at Yale. I've always remembered him being professional and serious but not too serious, and a well-rounded journalist.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Remembrance of Peter Jennings.
• ABC News: Full Coverage: Peter Jennings
  http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Jennings/
• 0900: There were three Bush tax cuts, not one (as the WSJ editorial page has on its graphic), in fact the other two were bigger: number of payroll jobs in millions goes down until "Bush tax cut" then rises slowly, but the graphic ignore the first two cuts. Reality: it starts at 132+ and goes down a little biy, tax cut 1, goes down, tax cut 2, goes down, marginal tax cut 3, then economic recovery brings it back up.
• 0930: Santorum now against intelligent design being taught in public schools.
• Santorum changes his mind on 'intelligent design'
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/6/175259/1450
  Good for him. It's probably the first good news on Santorum in a long time, and it's not long after Frist embraces sound science again by supporting stem cell research.
• 1000: Steve Robinson, Executive Director of National Gulf War Resource Center and former Airborne Ranger, talks about the administration and its limited support of the troops. The administration cut hazard pay and gave Congress a raise on the same day. They also cut the death benefit for families. VA funding is not keeping pace with medical costs or inflation.
• 1130: Norm Ornstein from American Enterprise Institute on Iraq war: people in the intelligence community beyond the CIA to the State Department, the NSA, etc. who were previously optimistic about the war are now more pessimistic about it. The problem is that insurgent situation is getting worse, and more are coming from neighboring countries. On Novak: you just don't hear the word bull---- mentioned on network...knowing that Novak was going to be asked about the Plame leak...it was probably manufactured outrage. It's amazing that there have been no leaks out of the Fitzgerald investigation...Fitzgerald will follow the investigation to the end.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• Correction from 27 Jul 2005: "Struggle" wasn't Bush's new word for the "war on terror", it was Rumsfeld's word, really. Bush still wants to calls it a war, and now he seems to want to override Rumsfeld's buzzword.

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Editorial: The Roots of Prisoner Abuse
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/opinion/30sat1.html?th=&emc=th
  There's a reason we don't torture. It's to protect our soldiers from torture. That sounds kinda like the golden rule, doesn't it? The real golden rule. Kudos to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for speaking out.
• Editorial: Behind the Famine Footage
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/opinion/30sat3.html?th=&emc=th
  The author advocates for preventative measures for alleviating extreme poverty.
• Editorial: Debunking the Concept of 'Race'
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/opinion/30sat4.html?th=&emc=th
  Studies like the one mentioned should really help race relations by showing us that we really don't choose what race we are. And if we get surprised by where we come from, it really hits home.
• John Tierney: Over the Moon
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/opinion/30tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  Tierney wants to forgo the shuttle missions in favor of missions to Mars, after having been in a Mars sim himself that seems reassuring and exciting.
• Editorial: Bangladesh's Deadly Wells
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/opinion/30vangeen.html?th=&emc=th
  The three scientist authors detail a feasible plan for Bangladesh's tube well system, where a third (of the tested wells) are contaminated with arsenic: increase access to safe wells, build more wells in safe areas of villages that lack them, and provide a testing and treatment program for all of the wells.
• Editorial: Making Immigration Work
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/opinion/01mon3.html?th=&emc=th
  We are a nation of immigrants (plus Native Americans, whose land our forefathers stole, but that's another story), so we should recognize that and find a way to get illegal immigrants in the process of becoming legal. I'm not sure if I agree that the jobs they take are ones that Americans don't want, but they are part of the economy that would suffer if they all left. What we need is a humane and practical solution like the one proposed by Sens. McCain and Kennedy.
• Bob Herbert: Who We Are
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/opinion/01herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert wisely points out that the three Republicans (McCain, Warner, and Graham) introducing the legislation for prohibiting cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment of prisoners, are all Senate Armed Services Committee members as well as experienced in war. Of course opponets of the measure would says the prisoners are terrorists, but only a handful of them have been charged, and many have only committed minor crimes if any at all. Regardless, if we torture, we risk being torured ourselves. And not just because of reports but because of the torture itself.
• Paul Krugman: Triumph of the Machine
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/opinion/01krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  The machine is rewarding friends and achieving and maintaining one-party rule. But it's worked so far; all the more reason that we -- the people, the governed, without whose consent those governing have no power -- should change it.
• Editorial: The Mexican Evolution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/opinion/01dowd.html?th=&emc=th
  Bush-Cheney '04 chief strategist and senior RNC adviser Matthew Dowd appears to offer some practical advice about immigration from Mexico. However, he doesn't address the problem of illegal immigrants who already live here, an issue which McCain and Kennedy do address see above).
• CNN suspends Novak
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/4/205123/2145
  On his first day back.
• DISGUSTING: Right-wing Group Protests Homosexuality at Soldier's Funeral
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/5/74430/23765
  The leader of this group is a registered Democrat. That doesn't make what he does right. He's still blaming violence on homosexuality, like Pat Robertson did.
• My Kos Diary Was Read On Air By a Local Conservative Radio Host
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/5/132549/4582
  The three best quotes from this: (1) "Carlson likes to think of himself as "a crusader", waging a David-versus-Goliath battle. Please. Carlson is part of the Goliath - the titantic Republican Noise Machine." (2) "So who's the establishment, John? Who's got the think tanks? It's your side. You're part of the local media "establishment", and yet you're railing against one." and from Lincol in 1854 (3) "The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves in their seperate and individual capacities."

04 Aug 2005

I was never a history buff in school, and all of it seemed quite beyond my grasp while I was learning both world and US history. On top of that, politics was completely beyond my understanding, and I only had my parents' political opinions as a reference. Now that I understand that the personal is political and how important it is to "bring balance to the Force" in this country (and not in the Fox sense of balance, but REAL balance), all of my previous history lessons are coming back to me (slowly) and showing how relevant they really are.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: Franken on intelligent design: "...it's a little way to sort of put creationism into...it's sort of a sneaky way...and I guess the idea is, you can kinda believe in evolution, but there's something behind it, and that's God. Or something.... The point is that evolution is science, and when we teach science, we should teach science. And intelligent design, which is, no matter what it is, to me, it is the equal of teaching creationism, or teaching [American] Indian creation myths or stories that are just as valid, right? . . . Now, in a philosophy class, fine, in a class of comparative religions, great, absolutely." (source: Wash. Post overlooked apparent Bush administration contradiction on intelligent design)
• 0900: One textbook in Odessa, Texas "repeats the false urban legend that NASA findings show that the earth stopped twice in its orbit in support of the literal truth of the Biblical text that the sun stood still in Joshua and 2 Kings."
• 0900: Al on Dobson likened embryonic stem cell research to Nazi experiments: "...it's stupid, and we know it's stupid, and it's throwing the Hitler thing in again...to compare taking frozen embryos that are six cells to the torture of human beings is obscene to me, and I think that's kinda obvious."

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1330: On his first day back, Novak curses and leaves the set!
• Novak loses it on air! UPDATED!
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/4/165959/8959
  Isn't Novak one of those "moral high-grounders"?

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Wikipedia: Israel
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
  I guess when you grow up with a country already established, it's as if it's been there forever. My first exposure to the establishment of the state of Israel was from the televised version of the book my mom recommended to me a long time ago, The Chosen by Chaim Potok. I need to make time to read this one. Well, at least this Wikipedia article gives a background on the forming of Irsael so I can get some context for the book.
• Wikipedia: Definitions of Palestine and Palestinian
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_Palestine_and_Palestinian
  I've been wondering recently what "Palestine" actually refers to, a country, a principality, or something else. I guess it's something else, because it's not entirely agreed upon, but there are some conventions.
• Wikipedia: Palestinian territories
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_territories
  More on the definition of Palestine, geographically.
• O'Reilly boycotts truth to spin French boycott; falsely claimed it "hurt France"
  http://mediamatters.org/items/200508020002
  It's the lie that won't lie. Well, actually one of many. And that's just from O'Really.
• When Size Really Matters: Smallest Flash Cards
  http://www.tomshardware.com/storage/20050805/index.html
  The Final Frontier.
• SCOTUS: Roberts Helped Pro-Gay Rights Coalition in Key Case
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/4/11415/23695
  Good news or bad news? And for whom? The plot thickens....

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Paul Krugman: French Family Values
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/opinion/29krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  The French economic model is very attractive. Relative to the US, there is less disposable income, but more personal time to spend in vacations with friends and family. Wow, could the French, that the "family values" people hate so much, actually have good family values?
• Thomas Friedman: All Fall Down
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/opinion/29friedman.html?th=&emc=th
  Friedman offers an overview of the different major groups in the Middle East.
• The Price of Fame
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/opinion/29slichter.html?th=&emc=th
  Jacob Slichter of the band Semisonic gives his personal experience in radio promotion of a single and payola.
• Broken Record
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/29/opinion/29doerksen.html?th=&emc=th
  Film critic Cliff Doerksen shows a broad history of payola of some form or another since the late 19th century (yes, over 100 years ago): "Yet, like it not, every popular song you've ever loved has reached you via some chain of pay-for-play machinations. The technological landscape has changed over time, as have the laws supposedly governing music promotion, but payola has been as constant and pervasive a force as gravity for more than a century now."

03 Aug 2005

It's all below. I'd say I'm doing a better job of keeping the list small, especially when I've had to do some catch-up.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1000: John Dickerson weighs in on Hackett and the Iraq War.

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1330: What Democrats believe in: "the right to free speech [even for those who disagree], the right to free assembly...the right to vote", a "free and fair playing field," not that "the rich will pity the poor," but that "the poor need a hand up to get their feet on the playing field, and once they do, they thrive."
• 1500: Commentary on Current TV: "...[Gore]'s saying it's like TV modeled on the Internet. So I'm watching it waiting for, like, commercials to just pop up on my screen, and then you turn to the Bush News Network, you know, Fox, and they do pop up on the screen!" Gore was funny on Leno; maybe he should actually be on his own network. "I think Current TV ought to be all Gore, all the time. The Gore girls are stunning.... Really when it comes to politicians' kids, you can't really do better than the Kerry girls and the Gore girls. They're stunning. They're studious. They achieve. They're employed. Totally different than the Republican kids, right?"

Other news and opinion from the day:

• Mozilla Foundation Reorganization
  http://www.mozilla.org/reorganization/
  The software remains free, but a Mozilla Corporation now exists to promote its use.
• Miller Won't Get 'Conscience in Media' Award
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/3/165949/0587
  The American Society of Journalists and Authors overturned their decision to award Judith Miller with the award, based on her entire career and the Plame leak.
• What Bush had to say about today's news from Iraq
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/3/223358/4464
  So 20% of Bush's 'presidency' has been spent on vacation. I'd like to see the numbers compared with other presidents besides the fact that 5 weeks is the longest single presidential vacation in 36 years. Aren't we at war? Oh, I forgot, it's a "struggle."
• OH-02: The Cook post-mortem
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/3/235349/3382
  A good round-up of Hackett's accomplishments even in loss in Ohio's 2nd district.
• Brooks: Blame America First
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/4/15141/87548
  I've given up reading this conservative NYT columnist (even Tierney is better than him), leaving it to kos members to comment on it. This sums it up for today's terrorism being more like the Right than the Left: "I know I know, he is trying to say it is the Left's fault. But since the defining characteristic of terrorism is religious extremism it is really the American Taliban that offers the Western model for the terrorists. Liberals believe in women's rights, civil rights generally, voting rights and, as the Extreme Right loudly states, secularism. The terrorists abhor civil rights, voting rights, women's rights and secularism. Just like the American Taliban. David Brooks, we have found the enemy, and it is you and your Extremist Right Wing fanatic allies." If we're really fighting religious extremism abroad, shouldn't we be fighting it here too?

Other news and opinion from the past:

• Editorial: Charles Colson and the Mission That Began With Watergate
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/opinion/25mon4.html?th=&emc=th
  What? Someone on the Christian Right doing something Christ-like? Whether his intentions are good or not, Colson's experience in prison (as a result of his role in the Watergate scandal) led him to push for prison reform, a noble cause. Just because liberals don't agree with the extreme conservative views of the Christian Right, it doesn't mean that they disregard any action that the Right takes. Does it? Well, it shouldn't, and if liberals truly are liberal, as I believe they are, then it doesn't matter who has a good idea as long as it is carried out well.
• Bob Herbert: What Bush Doesn't Know
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/opinion/25herbert.html?th=&emc=th
  Herbert tells it like it really is on Iraq vs. the War on Terror (tm).
• Paul Krugman: Toyota, Moving Northward
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/opinion/25krugman.html?th=&emc=th
  Krugman discusses Toyota's choice of Canada over the Southern US for its next plant (due to better average education level and universal health care), and advocates for companies to treat their workers better. It's not just humane, it's good for business: "For now, let me just point out that treating people decently is sometimes a competitive advantage. In America, basic health insurance is a privilege; in Canada, it's a right. And in the auto industry, at least, the good jobs are heading north."
• A Few Degrees
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/opinion/26tue4.html?th=&emc=th
  The author makes the case for attention to global warming by our notice of 'a few degrees' of difference when it comes to extreme temperatures in Phoenix and Las Vegas.
• Nicholas Kristof: All Ears for Tom Cruise, All Eyes on Brad Pitt
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/opinion/26kristof.html?th=&emc=th
  Sometimes Kristof can sound like a Bush apologist. But usually he is very insightful and consistently shows great concern for the human condition, so he gives credit where it is due and criticism where it is due. This time he really calls out the media, especially television for lack of coverage of the genocide in Darfur (that is, the genocide itself as opposed to another story with the genocide as background information), in favor of more sensationalist stories like celebrities. I did see some of the Brad Pitt interview, and Pitt really does seem concerned with progress in Africa at the local level, and in person. (I don't remember if this was the same interview Kristof is referring to.) But there is definitely no excuse for forgoing Darfur stories in favor of Tom Cruise or the runaway bride.
• John Tierney: The Sagebrush Solution
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/opinion/26tierney.html?th=&emc=th
  It's no surprise that conservative Tierney is anti-environment and anti-Clinton. But he does seem to imply that he is for common-sense approaches to problems. He appears to assume a lot (like environmentalists being responsible for shooting deaths of cows), and I don't quite follow his logic this time.
• I.R.A. to Give Up Violence in Favor of Political Struggle
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/27/international/europe/27irish.html?th
  Hopefully, the IRA follows through in its disarming and does in fact start to use diplomacy to heal Ireland.
• Editorial: Playola
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/27/opinion/27wed4.html?th
  I always wondered why I hear the same 10 songs on the radio, at least when I used to listen to the radio (for music) years ago. Part of it may be due to record company payola, but I'm sure a big part of it comes from consolidation of radio corporations and deregulation (one of the few things for which Randi Rhodes faults the Clinton administration). Hmmm, this sounds a lot like how 5 corporations control the mass television media too. Lately, I've been relying on word-of-mouth for which bands and artist I would listen to, namely my friend Ben. I won't always like everything he recommends, but usually I do, and that's how I discovered Keane, The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand (with a little help from VH1 (where I actually see videos sometimes when they're not airing one of their shows (which I still like better than MTV's))). The debut albums of those three bands, by the way, are, I think, excellent. In particular, Franz Ferdinand's self-titled debut is a CD I can play over and over again. And yes, I bought all three of those debut CDs to support the artists.
• Thomas Friedman: Learning From Lance
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/27/opinion/27friedman.html?th
  Friedman has some advice on sacrifice, outsourcing, energy independence, and the Iraq War in the spirit of Lance Armstrong.
• Editorial: Casing John Roberts
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/27/opinion/27amar.html?th
  Vikram Amar offers a short list of cases he feels that nominee Roberts should discuss.
• WaPo Page One: World Not Set To Deal With Bird Flu
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/31/94534/8067
  I think NYT dealt with this earlier in the year, at least in an op-ed piece, but now the Washington Post feels it important enough to front-page it.
• It's Official, Bolton Is In
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/1/9326/35024
  When is he going to start removing those unnecessary "10 floors" that "wouldn't make a bit of difference?"
• Bolton's irrelevant UN tenure
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/1/12332/74268
  Remember it's not "obstructionist" Democrats filibustering Bolton that held up the confirmation, it's the obstructionist White House that refused to hand over important information on Bolton that did that.
• Bush gives the finger to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/1/222034/0522
  What happened to preventing nuclear proliferation? "I like his answer!"
• Litmus tests
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/2/0381/52938
  kos weighs in on the DLC.
• OH-02: Framing the Race
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/2/122529/4515
  We can achieve victory even if Hackett doesn't win, because it shows the GOP domination in Ohio has eroded amidst scandal and adherence to the Bush line.
• OH-02: Schmidt smear backfiring
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/2/131953/8503
  I heard this on Randi Rhodes, too. Schmidt claims that there is already in Iraq War vet in Congress, Rep. Kirk (R-IL), but Randi (or her staff) called Kirk, who disproved it and complained about fielding calls about this claim.
• A New Wind Is Blowing
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/2/23437/81594
  Hackett loses by less than 4 points (assuming you believe the vote count), but it shows a victory of a sort in "pure Red Southern Ohio": "the GOP is on the run."
• Tidal
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/8/2/235527/3051
  Comparing the 2004 election to the Ohio special election (again, assuming you believe the vote vount), going from a 44 point loss for a Dem candidate to one of 4 points is some accomplishment.

01 Aug 2005

I haven't yet personally commented on Star Wars Episode III, which I think was great, or the recent Hitchhiker's radio series covering the last three books, which I also think was great. I have linked to reviews and info on them, though. I currently am still catching up with other things, so those commentaries will come soon. Just a reminder to myself.

-res

Selected notes from The Al Franken Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 0900: John Murphy of the US Chamber of Commerce lies about a statistic: current unemployment rate of 5% is lowest in decades -- not true! In Clinton's last month of office, it was 3.9%; Bush's first month in office 4.2% -- source: the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Al Franken Show blog entry with source)

Selected notes from The Randi Rhodes Show and related stories (indicated times are Pacific) (why this is here):

• 1200: It's Bush's 50th trip to his ranch in his 5 years in office.
• 1230: Randi on the A-hole Bolton: "Bolton is...like I said, if he were any more abrasive, he could be a pot scrubber."

Other news and opinion from the past:

• The "No Race" Superiority
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/30/122440/287
• More Bad Environmental News: Arctic Sea Ice Melting
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/30/145839/113
• The Strange Workings of the Republican Mind
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/30/191227/663
• Who Hates Our Freedom?
  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/7/30/201030/726
• Sarah Vowell: Lock and Load
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/opinion/23vowell.html?th&emc=th
  Vowell compares and contrasts the current Minuteman vigilantes with the original minutemen of 1775.
• John Tierney: Handcuffs and Stethoscopes
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/opinion/23tierney.html?th&emc=th
  Isn't OxyContin what Rush was addicted to? Funny how Tierney doesn't mention that.
• Editorial: What We Saw in London
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/opinion/23hadley.html?th&emc=th
  This piece is an ideological tirade and love letter to Bush by the national and homeland security advisers. I'm surprised they mentioned Osama since we haven't caught him yet.
• Editorial: Houses Divided on Warming
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/opinion/23sat1.html?th&emc=th
  Classic case of traditional energy industries vs. sound science and the environment.
• Editorial: Getting Early Later
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/opinion/23sat4.html?th&emc=th
  Hear, hear. Daylight savings time is complicated enough already, and probably unnecessary if we can just adjust business hours instead of forcing entire states to pretend that the time is an hour earlier or later. And yes, it would be more effective to enforce greater fuel efficiency to lower our oil requirements. Maybe we should also do something about the ridiculous number of SUVs out on the road, especially the unnecessary ones with one passenger, the driver. (I can understand using an SUV for a large group of commuters or in mountainous or snowy areas where 4-wheel drive is useful.)
• The Wikipedia article on Daylight saving time
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time
• Frank Rich: Eight Days in July
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24rich.html?ex=1137902400&en=15fff3677f4404ce&ei=5...
  Rich hits all the right points with his history of the Wilson/Plane affair and the real tragedy: the Iraq War based on knowingly false intelligence.
• Maureen Dowd: A Woman Who Found a Way to Write
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/weekinreview/24dowd.html?ex=1138075200&en=f4ce526395383f31&...
  Dowd writes a nice memoir of her mother, who died the previous Sunday.
• The Green Machine That Could Be Detroit
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/business/yourmoney/24cont.html?th=
  High-efficiency vehicles are already marketable; why not exploit that? And you would save the environment and promote energy independence!
• The Rabbi Who Loved Evangelicals (and Vice Versa)
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/magazine/24RABBI.html?th=
  A long but worthwhile look at the controversial Yechiel Eckstein, Jewish friend of the Christian Right.
• Editorial: The Story Behind a New York Billboard and the Interests It Serves
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24sun3.html?th=
  This piece deals with the Center for Consumer Freedom, a pro-corporate organization against groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Here's my favorite paragraph describing CCF's strategy: 'In fact, the language of the Center for Consumer Freedom is as Orwellian as it is possible to get. Its basic linguistic strategy could have been taken directly from George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," still the most important single essay on how to lie without seeming to. It would hardly work for C.C.F. simply to tell the truth - to say to consumers, on behalf of the food and beverage industries, "Activists and watchdog groups are trying to stop us from selling you anything we want to sell you." Much better to say, "These groups are trying to prevent you from buying anything you want to buy." Then it becomes a matter of sustaining freedom, protecting individual rights and keeping the prairie of consumer choices unfenced.'
• Nicholas Kristof: Where the Right Is Right
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24kristof.html?th=
  I don't know enough about the issue to really comment on it, but if human rights in North Korea is one of the few such issues led by the Christian Right instead of liberals, one would have to wonder why. My guess would be building a case against North Korea in order to declare war on it, something we've seen before with right-wingers.
• Editorial: Bringing the Hearings to Order
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/24/opinion/24specter.html?th=
  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), weighs in on the confirmation process for SCOTUS nominee John Roberts.
• For Gore, a Reincarnation on the Other Side of the Camera
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/25/business/media/25gore.html?th=&emc=th
  A good, short look at Al's interactive TV network, Current, and at the man himself.
• Terrorism and the Random Search
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/26/opinion/26tue1.html?th&emc=th
  This is a much more sensitive and practical opinion on security than the two op-ed pieces on profiling and shooting first (below). Eroding civil liberties is a slippery slope, and if "they" truly "hate our freedom," then we should try to preserve our freedom ourselves too.
• Editorial: When the Profile Fits the Crime
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/opinion/28sperry.html?th&emc=th
  Really dangerous....
• Editorial: When You Have to Shoot First
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/opinion/28watzman.html?th&emc=th
  Also really dangerous....
• Editorial: No Immunity for the Gun Industry
  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/28/opinion/28thu4.html

---

Past Journal Entries: 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001

2009 Journal Entries: Dec Apr

Common and favorite references and their acronyms:

• Washington Post (WaPo): http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (requires free login)
• Moby's journal: http://www.moby.com/journal/
• Sojourners (Sojo): http://www.sojo.net/ (requires free login)
• Tom's Hardware Guide (THG): http://www.tomshardware.com/
• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): http://www.eff.org/
• SourceForge.net (SF): http://www.sourceforge.net/

• My referral link for a free Mac Mini (legit): http://www.freemacmini.com/?r=160454 (why this is here)