Social Commentary
j7uy5 | September 21, 2008USNORTHCOM is the organizational unit of the US military that
is
assigned to North America. They are the ones who are
responsible
for defense of the homeland.
href="http://www.northcom.mil/News/2008/091308I.html">Religious
Support Teams providing hope after Ike
September 13, 2008
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – For the first time, military
chaplains and the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
are collaborating their efforts to provide cohesive spiritual response
to those affected by the next hurricane.
“During [Hurricane] Katrina, chaplains and religious…
j7uy5 | September 12, 2008There have already been several posts about
href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091100263.html">hurricane
Ike on Scienceblogs (
href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/09/ike_texas.php">1
href="http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/09/ike_friday_pm_texas_as_categor.php">2
href="http://scienceblogs.com/authority/2008/09/hurricane_ike_storm_surge_in_p.php">3
href="http://scienceblogs.com/catdynamics/2008/09/hurricanes_bad_scenarios.php">4
href="http://scienceblogs.com/deepseanews/2008/09/hurricane_websites_getting_coo.php"…
j7uy5 | August 22, 2008Speaking of art, Rodger Payne has a
href="http://rpayne.blogspot.com/2008/08/hypocrisy-watch-georgia-edition.html">beautiful
post highlighting the hypocrisy of the US Government's
responses to Russia's actions in Georgia.
j7uy5 | August 14, 2008I am wondering if the USA, as a whole, is more prosperous now that it
was in 2000.
We are told that the GDP has gone up every year. Population
growth has been modest. The published per-capita GDP has gone
up, from $33,000 to $46,000 (as of 1 January 2008). That
seems positive...
From CIA World Factbook, via
href="http://indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us&v=67">Index Mundi:
But we are running a deficit. The USA's
href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html">account
balance was $ -738,600,000,000 in 2007. There has
been…
j7uy5 | July 1, 2008Leave it to the scientifically-minded among us to solve the world's
economic crisis. All it takes is an understanding of the
elements.
At this point, there is little doubt that a serious economic crisis
awaits the people of planet Earth.
The Bank
for International Settlements (BIS) released their
href="http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2008e.htm">Annual
Report on 30 June 2008. The BIS, based in
Switzerland, is an organization of 55 central banks. It
href="http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2008e8.htm">concludes:
In the aftermath of a long credit-driven boom, it
would not be…
j7uy5 | June 15, 2008Ohio has just
href="http://www.env-econ.net/2008/06/electric-vehicl.html">approved
certain smart
cars for
use on roadways. This may strengthen our country by reducing
use of fossil fuels.
In other news, Blackwater
USA is
href="http://www.archive.org/details/BlackwaterForcesInBaghdadsNisourSquare">trying
to get its Grizzly
APC licensed for use on America's
roadways.
Pretty soon, you might have a choice. In fact, in November,
you will have a choice.
BTW, does anyone know why Blackwater would want to be able to drive
Grizzlies on American roads?
j7uy5 | May 21, 2008Politics: ON NPR today, they were talking about
href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90696947">the
"mistakes" of the Clinton campaign. I was annoyed
by that. Framing the issue in that way implies that a) the
race was hers to lose, and b) the outcome is not really up to the
voters. The discussion implied that if a candidate runs a
perfect campaign, then that candidate will win.
I'd like to think that the voters will choose the candidate they want,
unless a grievous error is made.
Another news item caught my attention. In commemoration of
the anniversary of…
j7uy5 | March 7, 2008This is interesting. Banks think they have found a way to
make money no matter what happens.
href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=axksyBiC6q78&refer=news">As
Houston Auctions Fail, JPMorgan Exploits Taxpayers
By Darrell Preston
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The collapse of the auction-rate bond market may
cost borrowers from New York to California at least $1 billion in fees,
enriching JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and
the rest of Wall Street that let the market fall apart.
The firms that pulled their support of the market where states…
grrlscientist | February 26, 2008tags: achievement whore, humor, satire, social commentary, streaming video
This amusing little video shows you just what a life of an achievement whore is really like -- it's not all goodness and light, either. Yes, it's safe for work, too. [2:37]
j7uy5 | February 3, 2008This absolutely blows my mind. Evidently, it is OK to drop
cluster bombs on municipal areas. But show your
derrière, and you're off the job.
href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080203/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictisraelmilitary">Israeli
soldiers suspended for mooning Palestinians
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli army said on Sunday that it had suspended
several soldiers after they were filmed exposing their bare buttocks to
Palestinians in the south of the occupied West Bank.
"All personnel implicated in this unfortunate affair have been
identified and immediately suspended from…
j7uy5 | December 29, 2007
This came in an email from a neighbor. It's from
href="http://www.freethoughtpedia.com/wiki/Main_Page">FreeThoughtPedia.com
While not as sophisticated as
href="http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2007/02/scientific_and_unscientific_co.php">Janet's
treatment, I think it is amusing. Image below the
fold.
j7uy5 | December 29, 2007Mike Huckabee is on the warpath again.
In Washington state, there has been
href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/92789.php">an
outbreak of
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittacosis" rel="tag">psittacosis,
a pulmonary infection caused by contact with imported birds that carry
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydophila_psittaci"
title="Chlamydophila psittaci">Chlamydophila psittaci
bacteria.
Responding to the outbreak, Huckabee decried the widespread practice of
cockatiel-human fraternization. He said, citing
rel="tag"
href="http://technorati.com/…
j7uy5 | December 19, 2007Now, if only they would offer these online for free...
10. Collegiate Sexualities at
Occidental College.
9. Body Politics: Power, Pain, and Pleasure at
Williams College.
8. Issues Dividing America at Columbia University.
7. Whiteness and Multiculturalism at Ithaca College.
6. Truth, Lies, Politics, and Policy at Portland
State University.
5. Introduction to Labor Studies at the University
of Washington.
4. Speaking Out at Bucknell College.
3. Imperialism in American History at the
University of California, Irvine.
2. Movements in Social Justice at Occidental
College…
j7uy5 | December 14, 2007Christians have a solemn duty. The reason will become clear.
Recently, there was a strong reaction in the Blogosphere about Governor
Mitt
Romney's "
href="http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/Faith_In_America"
rel="tag">Faith In America" Address.
I noticed in particular the posts on
href="http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2007/12/freethinker_sunday_sermonette_76.php">Effect
Measure,
href="http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/12/romneys_terrible_speech.php"
rel="tag">Matthew Yglesias, and
href="http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2007/12/…
j7uy5 | December 1, 2007Uprising Radio reports on an item of social justice:
href="http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=2134">San Diego
County Searches Welfare Recipients’ Homes
Published on 28 Nov 2007 at 12:06 pm
GUEST: Eric Isaacson, Partner in the law firm,
Coughlin-Stoia, and cooperating attorney with the ACLU of San Diego
& Imperial Counties
If you live in San Diego and are a welfare
recipient, investigators from the County’s DA office can show
up unannounced and without a warrant to search your home in order to to
confirm that you are eligible for government aid. Failure to submit to
the…
j7uy5 | November 26, 2007I've rarely linked to Kos before; this is probably the
second time (I'm a liberal, just not that kind of
liberal). However, the recent post on the reality of the Iraq
war demands some commentary. Plus, there is no point in being
one out of >100 commenters. Note: the
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/26/world/main3539432.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3539432">sub-quote
is from CBS News.
href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/17716/535">Freedom
Isn't Free. It charges interest.
by Kagro X
Mon Nov 26, 2007 at 02:17:41 PM PST
President Bush on Monday…
j7uy5 | November 24, 2007On 24 November, 1859, Charles Darwin's
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Origin_of_Species">book,
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the
Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, was
href="http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1859/november_24_1859_54077.html">published.
Things haven't been the same, ever since. For
example, the cost of a new copy, then, was 15 shillings. Now
it's 97.55 shillings for a hardcover copy (or it would be, if the Brits
still used shillings). That is the main difference.
The biology is still the same.
j7uy5 | November 19, 2007According to the
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2213075,00.html">Guardian:
...because it minimally adheres to certain
superficial conventions, it can masquerade as a "news" outfit and enjoy
all the rights that accrue to that...
j7uy5 | November 16, 2007Currently, both the
href="http://rawstory.com/news/2007/House_passes_FISA_update_without_telecom_1115.html">House
and the
href="http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/in-twist-senate.html">Senate
are leaning away from granting immunity to telecommunications companies
that were involved
in warrantless domestic spying.
In an unrelated debacle, the State Department tried to
href="http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004662.php">grant
immunity to Blackwater personnel who shot a bunch of Iraqi
citizens. (Now the
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/world/middleeast/…
j7uy5 | October 21, 2007Sometimes we hear the allegation that the war in Iraq is
about oil.
That is only an approximation of the truth. Really,
it is about money. Oil at this point is merely a proxy for
money.
Certain corporations that are in Iraq stand to make a
fortune regardless of whether the oil ever is exploited. If
the place settles down enough to permit exploitation, they will make
money developing the oilfields and/or providing security. If
it does not settle down, they make money fighting the war.
They win either way.
Remember before the War, from time to time we would read about how
despots…