Politics
gregladen | April 17, 2009Update: See this: CIA exemption is the wrong thing to do
I do not disagree with Obama's decision to pre-pardon CIA agents who tortured people at Gitmo and elsewhere. (See this.) The only reason to not pardon them is to use them to get to higher-ups who should actually be prosecuted. These on the ground operatives are the ones who, like it or not, need to do what they are told even when they may well "know" it is wrong. As long as they were not acting as rogue agents, they should be immune, and they should certainly not take the fall for what Bush, Cheney and their cronies did.
gregladen | April 17, 2009"Building a permenant home in the political wilderness" ... brilliant, Rachel.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
This is totally unbelievable. The Imams were polite yet annoyed. Reasonably annoyed.
Here's the Imam story from way back when:
MINNEAPOLIS - The Council on American-Islamic Relations called Tuesday for an investigation into the behavior of airline staff and airport security in the removal of six Muslim scholars from a US Airways flight a day earlier.
A passenger raised concerns about the imams -- three of whom said their normal…
grrlscientist | April 17, 2009tags: HR669, pets, exotic animals, invasive species, politics
[larger view]
Feel free to download, email, print and distribute or post this fact sheet among your friends, colleagues, and the pet stores that you patronize.
The text of this poster states:
HR 669 prohibits what YOU can do with your pet bird (or other exotic animals).
You may NOT take your pet bird (or other exotic animals) if you move to another state [Section 6(a)(2)] or country [Section 6(a)(1)]
You may NOT travel across state lines on vacation with your pet bird (or other exotic animals) [Section 6(a)(2)] NOTE:…
gregladen | April 17, 2009Who knows what might come of it!?!?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
grrlscientist | April 17, 2009tags: HR 669, pets in peril, politics, nonnative animals, exotic animals, streaming video
This interesting video discusses the potential repercussions of HR 669, The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, which is being heard by congress on 23 April 2009 [4:00]
Take Action Now.
HR 669 Links:
Will HR 669 Transform Your Exotic Animals into Illegal Aliens?
My detailed analysis of HR 669 and its impacts.
Are you a scientist, conservation biologist, biomedical researcher or exotic animal breeder who will be impacted by HR 669?
Brief Factsheet (printable) regarding HR 669 and its impacts.…
oracknows | April 16, 2009One of the stereotypes of anti-vaccine loons is that they are predominantly left wing New Agey ex-hippie types, usually well-educated and affluent. Certainly recent stories out of California indicating that Marin and Sonoma counties are ground zero for declining vaccine rates would seem to back up that stereotype. However, there is a right wing religious variety of antivaccinationist, and it's hard not to point out that Representative Dan Burton (R-IN) is arguably the best friend the mercury militia has in Washington. But if you want to get a true flavor of right wing paranoid whackaloon,…
jrosenhouse | April 16, 2009I was going to write something up about those miserable teabagging dimwits, but I can not improve on the eloquent summary of Comrade PhysioProf. My longstanding no profanity rule prevents me from quoting any of it, alas, so you will just have to follow the link.
pharyngula | April 16, 2009Obama is going to rouse the ire of the religious right yet further: he wisely opted not to endorse Jesus while giving a speech on economics by having a Christian symbol on the lectern covered up while he spoke. Good move, I think — let's not get secular economic decision making all muddled up with Catholicism.
Amidst all of the American flags and presidential seals, there was something missing when President Barack Obama gave an economic speech at Georgetown University this week -- Jesus.
The White House asked Georgetown to cover a monogram symbolizing Jesus' name in Gaston Hall, which Obama…
amillikan | April 16, 2009A proposed law to protect native species and habitats from invasion by nonnative animals is scheduled to be heard April 23 in the U.S. House of Representatives, and ScienceBloggers are voicing strong--and contending--sentiments about the bill. House Resolution 669, the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Protection Act, would prevent the importation and trade of invasive animal species, but ignores invasive exotic plants that can cause "tremendous economic, environmental, and habitat damage," in the words of GrrlScientist. She raises a number of other objections to the bill, but Mike Dunford of the…
pharyngula | April 16, 2009The governor of Texas is ranting about seceding from the United States.
Speaking to an energetic and angry tea party crowd in Austin Wednesday evening, the Lone Star State governor suggested secession may happen in the future should the federal government not change its fiscal polices.
"There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent…
palmd | April 15, 2009OK, OK, so the U.S. isn't a democracy per se but really a representative democracy, with a federalist set up. Still, most of us understand the basic idea of a democratic, federalist republic, right? The ultimate power resides with the citizens, who vote for representatives who, well, represent our interests in the seat of federal power. If we don't like the way we are being represented, we usually vote out the offending representatives. We also elect a chief executive, albeit a bit indirectly, and, like our representatives, if we don't like the job they're doing, we vote them out at the…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: taxes, pet taxes, humor, satire
Image: Orphaned. Please contact me for proper attribution [larger view].
This form should be familiar to those of you who live in the USA, but if you click on the "larger view" link, you'll realize this is yet another change that President Obama has made to our existing tax code.
Once again, I ended up owing a huge amount of taxes (considering my laughable income). This year, I owe $500, but since I managed to qualify for the $300 "economic stimulus package," I only have to come up with another $200 instead of having to survive the trauma of scraping…
pharyngula | April 15, 2009Sign the petition! Pass the word on to Norm Coleman that it's time for him to back down.
oracknows | April 15, 2009There's an old saying, so old that it's devolved into cliché: Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it. I'm sure the vast majority of my readers, if not every last one of them, have heard this saying before. Certainly, it has a lot of truth to it. Sometimes it even applies to blogging. The most recent example that comes to mind occurred yesterday, when a commenter named David M. taunted me (or so he thought):
I know you all like to pick on actresses, college students and parents with sick kids, but how about taking a look at the column by Dr. Bernadine Healy on U.S. News. She used…
jlynch | April 14, 2009The Arizona Education Association is reporting that nearly 4,500 K-12 teachers and other personnel have been pink-slipped for the next school year. What is truly worrying about this is that it is based on reports from only 36 of the 220 districts statewide and more layoffs are inevitable. You may remember that Republican lawmakers called for drastic cuts instead of raising taxes (which haven't been raised state-wide in 20 years). I hope they are happy.
For some context, you need to remember that Arizona before the cuts spent less than almost every state in the Union on education while being…
tqa | April 14, 2009
Over at Majikthise, Lindsay Beyerstein has a post up that takes a look at the Navy's handling of the attempted piracy/hostage standoff involving the captain of the Maersk Alabama. She makes some good points at the beginning and end of the article, but I think she misses to point a bit in the middle.
At the start of the article, she writes:
I'm relieved that the Navy SEALs rescued the American hostage from Somali pirates. Their skill and professionalism was indeed impressive.
But really... Two days after the rescue, the banner headline on the front page of the Washington Post should not…
gregladen | April 14, 2009 Violence in Nigeria's oil region left 1,000 people dead and cost $24bn (£16bn) last year, a report says, according to an official and activist.
Ledum Mitee, chairman of the Niger Delta Presidential Technical Committee, says the figures only cover the first nine months of 2008.
Militants and criminal gangs often attack oil installations, leading to reprisals from the military.
The unrest has cut Nigeria's oil output by about 25% in recent years.
Last week, President Umaru Yar'Adua said his government was considering granting amnesty to violent groups if they disarm.
Hat Tip, Elle. Read the…
drorzel | April 14, 2009Over the weekend on FriendFeed, Paul Buchheit posed an interesting question:
Assume that I'm going to get rid of $20,000 and my only concern is the "common good". Which of these is the best use of the money: give it to the Gates foundation, buy a hybrid car, invest it in a promising startup, invest it in the S&P500, give it to the US government, give it to a school, other?
A lot of the discussion consists of tedious (and non-specific) banging on about the wonders of start-ups, but there's some good stuff in there if you have the patience to read through it.
Buried in there with…
gregladen | April 13, 2009The judicial panel hearing Coleman's challenge against Franken in the Minnesota Senate Race has made its decision: Franken is the the winner of the election and should be certified. The procedure is this: A ten day period occurs after which the Governor certifies the election. Unless there is a challenge in the State Supreme Court.
Colman has been ordered to pay Franken's legal costs.
Coleman is expected to continue to obstruct democracy. About half the people of this state knew he was a bastard before this started. That number has grown.
GIVE IT UP, NORM!!!!!!
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: House Resolution 669, HR 669, The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, legislation, pets, politics
A proposed new law, House Resolution #669 (HR 669), The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act, is working its way through the United States Congress. This resolution was introduced by Delegate Madeleine Bordallo [D, Guam] on 26 January 2009, was referred to Referred to the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife on 4 February 2009 and is scheduled to be heard by the House of Representatives on 23 April 2009. The stated purpose of this resolution is to prevent the…