Social Commentary

USNORTHCOM 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 advisors were…
There 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">5…
Speaking 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.  
I 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 substantial…
Leave 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…
Ohio has just href="http://www.env-econ.net/2008/06/electric-vehicl.html">approved certain smartcars 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?
Politics: 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…
This 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,…
tags: 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]
This 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 all…
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.
Mike 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/videos…
Now, 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. 1. Islam in Global…
Christians have a solemn duty.  The reason will become clear. Recently, there was a strong reaction in the Blogosphere about GovernorMitt 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/…
Uprising 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 pmGUEST: 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 searches results…
I'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 signed a…
On 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.
According 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...
Currently, 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/…
Sometimes 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 such…