Via the Huffington Post today comes The Most Ironic Signs of All Time. LOL
30 March 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
College Aid Reform
Although it has received almost no press, in part due to being in the shadow of health care reform, Congress passed sweeping legislation this week to reform a great deal of the system governing college financial aid. The changes will expand aid; streamline the aid process; and make the system both cheaper to operate and more financial secure. Moreover, it was done in stark, blunt opposition to heavy lobbying by the banking industry, which stood to lose a lot of money if reform passed. Amazingly, the Democrats stood up to this lobbying from one of the most powerful industries and actually did the right thing. (The Republicans stood with the banks. Water is wet.) This is a real victory for the nation, and will help new generations of American students achieve their dreams of higher education, thereby strengthening the country.
26 March 2010
26 March 2010
Rachel Maddow and Scott Brown
New Senator Scott Brown has been trying to raise out-of-state money this week by telling conservatives that the MSNBC television host Rachel Maddow -- who is progressive, brilliant, & funny -- has been asked by the Democratic party to run against Brown... and that she's considering it. Earlier this week, Maddow took the unusual step of having herself interviewed on her own program in an attempt to put this rumor to rest. Brown still kept at it. Now, MSNBC has run an ad in the Boston Globe, printing a letter from Maddow to her fellow citizens of Massachusetts about Brown's false claims, about what it says about him, and about its effect on political dialogue in the nation. Take a look.
26 March 2010
26 March 2010
Walmart & Food
Apparently Walmart may actually be doing something helpful on the food front. No, really. Coby Kummer of The Atlantic, via MSNBC, has the low-down.
26 March 2010
26 March 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Pay It Forward
This story from The Huffington Post caught my eye. I'm quoting it is large part here. Read the complete text at the link.
25 March 2010
When Australian man James Harrison was just 14 years old, he received a life-saving blood transfusion during an invasive chest surgery. Grateful for this gift, Harrison pledged to pay it forward by becoming a blood donor when he was old enough.
True to his word, after turning 18, he became a regular donor. Now, at 74 years old, he has donated blood an astounding 984 times. This alone would be an extraordinary feat, but Harrison's unique blood type makes his gift so special he's been called the man with the golden arm.
Harrison has a rare antibody in his blood that can save babies with Rhesus disease, a deadly form of anemia. Because of his unique blood type, Harrison was also asked to undergo testing to help doctors find a way to prevent the disease. Over his 56 years of donating blood and helping to find cures, it is estimated that Harrison's contributions have saved over 2 million babies.
Even after the recent passing of his wife of 56 years, Harrison remains dedicated to his cause.
25 March 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
World Water Day
Today is World Water Day. Many of us are aware that the lack of access to clean water is a real danger to much of the world. However, 10% of Americans lack such access as well. Dr. Edison de Mello has information on this issue, including some facts about where and how harmful water is allowed to reach each of us. These include not only run-off from farming and other chemically-intensive industries that can harm entire cities, but also the plastic that make up individual bottles for water and bubbler-type office tanks. Take a look.
22 March 2010
24 March 2010 Addition: Bottled water industry fights back with fake "journalism."
25 March 2010 Addition: The April 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine focuses on global water issues.
22 March 2010
24 March 2010 Addition: Bottled water industry fights back with fake "journalism."
25 March 2010 Addition: The April 2010 issue of National Geographic magazine focuses on global water issues.
House Vote: Health Care Reform
In the wake of the House passing the Senate health care reform package, both as written and with changes to be sent back to that body, Robert Reich has written a short blog post regarding the meaning of the event and where it stands historically. He offers some interesting insight into why this reform is tied most closely to policies of previous Republican presidents rather than to FDR and the New Deal.
Christina Bellantoni of TPM outlines what happens next. In a nutshell, President Obama will sign the Senate bill that the House first voted on last night -- "warts and all" as Ms. Bellantoni puts it. Thereafter, the Senate will vote on the second bill passed by the House. This modified bill features the changes to the original Senate bill agreed to by House and Senate members via the reconciliation process. If -- and when -- the Senate passes this modified bill, it will go to the president to sign, and will then supersede the previously signed bill, becoming the law of the final land.
If you are interested in the 34 Democrats who voted against health care reform last night in the House, check this out. While I can see political justification for such an action -- although I would ultimately call it cowardice -- there can be no moral justification for such a vote. Health care has been a bedrock concern for the Democratic Party for the last century if not longer. If expanding this basic human right is not at the core of your values, why the hell are you a member of the Democratic Party? When you have the opportunity to vote to pass the most significant piece of social legislation in the past five decades and you don't... ????
That this vote was even close, says volumes about the political situation in Washington. This bill, however monumental historically, is fairly milk-toast in relative terms. There will be changes to American health care, but all too few to the way the system of care operates. That so many are up in arms to oppose it and that so many call it a great victory demonstrates that we haven't come very far in America and that we have so very much farther still to go.
22 March 2010
Christina Bellantoni of TPM outlines what happens next. In a nutshell, President Obama will sign the Senate bill that the House first voted on last night -- "warts and all" as Ms. Bellantoni puts it. Thereafter, the Senate will vote on the second bill passed by the House. This modified bill features the changes to the original Senate bill agreed to by House and Senate members via the reconciliation process. If -- and when -- the Senate passes this modified bill, it will go to the president to sign, and will then supersede the previously signed bill, becoming the law of the final land.
If you are interested in the 34 Democrats who voted against health care reform last night in the House, check this out. While I can see political justification for such an action -- although I would ultimately call it cowardice -- there can be no moral justification for such a vote. Health care has been a bedrock concern for the Democratic Party for the last century if not longer. If expanding this basic human right is not at the core of your values, why the hell are you a member of the Democratic Party? When you have the opportunity to vote to pass the most significant piece of social legislation in the past five decades and you don't... ????
That this vote was even close, says volumes about the political situation in Washington. This bill, however monumental historically, is fairly milk-toast in relative terms. There will be changes to American health care, but all too few to the way the system of care operates. That so many are up in arms to oppose it and that so many call it a great victory demonstrates that we haven't come very far in America and that we have so very much farther still to go.
22 March 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Rancid Tea
From Sam Stein at The Huffington Post comes details on the Tea Bagger rampage through the Capitol.
20 March 2010
21 March 2010 Addition: The madness continues.
Abusive, derogatory and even racist behavior directed at House Democrats by Tea Party protesters on Saturday left several lawmakers in shock.
Preceding the president's speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.
A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a 'ni--er.' And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a "faggot," as protesters shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president's speech, shrugged off the incident.
But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.
"It was absolutely shocking to me," Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. "Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit-ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus."
"It doesn't make me nervous as all," the congressman said, when asked how the mob-like atmosphere made him feel. "In fact, as I said to one heckler, I am the hardest person in the world to intimidate, so they better go somewhere else."
Asked if he wanted an apology from the group of Republican lawmakers who had addressed the crowd and, in many ways, played on their worst fears of health care legislation, the Democratic Party, and the president, Clyburn replied:
"A lot of us have been saying for a long time that much of this, much of this is not about health care a all. And I think a lot of those people today demonstrated that this is not about health care... it is about trying to extend a basic fundamental right to people who are less powerful."Stein also has photos of "protest" signs at the link above. These people stand for nothing. They are simply against that which is different. Bigotry, pure and simple. And any Republican official who addressed this mod is just as morally culpable as those in the mob itself. And if you support those officials, so are you.
20 March 2010
21 March 2010 Addition: The madness continues.
USA Upward Mobility: Myth?
From Dan Froomkin at The Huffington Post:
20 March 2010
The entire article can be found through the first link above.Is America the "land of opportunity"? Not so much.
A new report from the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) finds that social mobility between generations is dramatically lower in the U.S. than in many other developed countries.
So if you want your children to climb the socioeconomic ladder higher than you did, move to Canada.
The report finds the U.S. ranking well below Denmark, Australia, Norway, Finland, Canada, Sweden, Germany and Spain in terms of how freely citizens move up or down the social ladder. Only in Italy and Great Britain is the intensity of the relationship between individual and parental earnings even greater.
...
Recent economic events may be increasing social mobility in the U.S. -- but only of the downward variety. Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren, for example, argues that America's middle class had been eroding for 30 years even before the massive blows caused by the financial crisis. And with unemployment currently at astronomical levels, if there are no jobs for young people leaving school, the result could be long-term underemployment and, effectively, a lost generation.
According to the OECD report, the main cause of social immobility is educational opportunity. It turns out that America's public school system, rather than lifting children up, is instead holding them down.
20 March 2010
Discovery Channel: Life
From the makers of the multi-part documentary Planet Earth comes Life on the Discovery Channel. The series begins tomorrow night, March 21st, and will run on Sundays thereafter. Note that multiple episodes are set to appear each Sunday. I'm setting my DVR can can't wait to watch it in high definition!
20 March 2010
20 March 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Why We Need Health Care Reform
This Reuters story by Murray Waas titled Insurer Targeted HIV Patients to Drop Coverage tells you all you need to know -- really -- about why we need health care reform in the US. It is simply a morally irrefutable fact.
17 March 2010
17 March 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Avatar & District 9
Yesterday, I saw Avatar 3D for the second time. Week before last, I watched District 9 on DVD. I had been pondering a blog post on Avatar since I first saw the film back in January. After seeing this second film and Avatar for a second time, it is time.
Technology
Avatar is a triumph of technical innovation and it is for this alone that I would recommend that everyone see the film on the large screen and in 3D. It is a once-in-a-generation change to the way that movies are created. The techniques and technology that James Cameron and his cohorts have created will filter down to film-making across the board. Cameron has given us a 3D experience like none other and perhaps the prettiest film that I've ever seen. Avatar is, among other things, an action movie. The temptation with an action film is to over-use 3D, to make the entire movie pop out at the audience. Indeed, I think that most films of whatever nature that use 3D go this route more often than not. However, Cameron's genius with Avatar was to use 3D -- even his amazing new wiz-bang 3D -- relatively sparingly. Many shots contain the technology not at all, or in such economy that I could not tell that it was being used. In the rest, more often than not only a bit of the scenery -- and likely as not it wouldn't even be the focus of the scene itself -- would be 3D... just enough to given the added illusion that the viewer was a part a real world. My wife, who saw the film with me yesterday, said that after a while, she simply forgot that the movie was 3D. I would imagine that Cameron would consider this a great compliment. Indeed, the core purpose of this technology, this film-making technique, will not be to have monsters come flying out at the audience -- although that will be fun, too. Rather, it will be to have a scene set in a library and have the rows of books spread around the viewer, bringing him or her within that simple, quiet room. With the surround sound technology that already exists, if Hollywood can simply provide the smell of the books, the transformation will very nearly be complete. The next step up might actually be a Star Trek holodeck. If Cameron could live long enough, he might be the one to get us there.
Cameron has a history of utilizing the latest and greatest technology in his movies. He utilized the first real fluidic CGI movie shots in his wonderful 1989 film The Abyss. (This was not, however, the first use of CGI.)
District 9 was filmed on a much, much, much, much tighter budget. That said, the money spent on its special effects was well-spent. It is a grittier film than Avatar and the dirt and grime that its world displays are evident to the viewer and serve a purpose to the story-telling. Really nothing more needs to be said, I think, about the effects for this film. They are what they are and that is enough.
The Stories
Much has been written about Avatar and its relatively blunt-nosed story-telling. That it has a "green" theme to it is a given. Many also consider it anti-corporate and with that, I wouldn't strongly argue. (Although the idea that a Hollywood movie made by James Cameron could really be anti-corporate is like saying that a news network owned by a major corporation could really be liberal in nature. Ultimately, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.) The Catholic Church has even gone so far as to condemn the movie, saying that it promotes the pagan worship of nature. That is complete poppycock and I'm not just saying that because the Catholic Church wouldn't know an actually moral stance if it reach up and goosed the Pope on his snow-white backside.
The reason that I am blogging about these movies together is that at their core I think they are about what it is that makes us human, about what is it that we share as "collective humanity." Is it only our physical nature, our DNA and features and tissue? I would say no, although surely this is a part of the picture. Is it our souls as those "of faith" would argue? If we have souls, then I would say again, it is a part of the picture, but only a part. What makes us human, what gives us our collective sense of humanity, is our ability to empathize beyond ourselves. We can reach out to another human -- and even to beings other than human, both real and imagined -- and put ourselves in their place, to feel what they feel, to see through their eyes. Thus we say: Walk a mile in my shoes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Treat your brother as you want to be treated. And so on. I am able to rationally believe that I am not the center of the universe, that another has value, even that another has rights equal to my own.
Science fiction has long been among the best, most powerful tools to tell such stories. Indeed, it is often a way to convey the moral message of acceptance to audiences who would or could hear no other. Star Trek -- the original series -- did this in America for example, dealing with topics ranging from the Vietnam War to racial bigotry to McCarthyism to nuclear armageddon. Themes and direct imagery that never would have made it past the censors -- much less the goodwill of the corporate sponsors -- were shown to a public that knew what it was seeing. At least in part.
The mother ship in District 9 comes to rest over Johannesburg rather than the more-often-used New York or Washington DC or Moscow. This is not a mistake, nor is it due to the backgrounds of the movie-makers or to budget constraints. Rather, setting this film on a continent that itself has been plundered by the more powerful, among people who have been abused by those more powerful, sends a message with every frame. Humans -- even those otherwise downtrodden themselves -- treat the aliens not only as being lesser, but as being nothing. It is not the concentration camp into which they have been placed that is most telling. It is the very dehumanizing name that the aliens are given, Prawn. A prawn is other. A prawn is lesser. A prawn can be used and abused and even killed... without it reflecting on us, without it lessening us. Yet it very much does reflect on us. It does lessen us. An attack on a prawn is an attack on a human. The biology may be different, but the humanity is the same.
And so it is with the Na'vi on Pandora in Avatar. What is more, however, is that it is not only the Na'vi who are mistreated, tortured, and murdered by humans. It is also Aywa who is harmed -- and disregarded -- by the humans. Seen as a deity by the Na'vi, Aywa is not truly that. Nor is Aywa humanoid. Still, Aywa does -- I would argue -- possess humanity and should thus be treated as such. This mass of biology may be something that the humans on Pandora -- much less we humans here on the earth of 2010 -- can not hope to understand. Still, Aywa is conscious. Aywa is aware. Aywa is sentient. And just as harming the Na'vi diminishes us, so too does harming Aywa.
That a planet-wide mass of biological matter can be "human" represents the wonder of science fiction. Avatar is slick and smooth and clean. District 9 is raw and messy and bloody. Both of these films, however, have much to say. And not all of it as blunt-nosed as critics might think.
14 March 2010
27 March 2010 Addition: I added the "Pope" link above to a NYT article to make my point.
Technology
Avatar is a triumph of technical innovation and it is for this alone that I would recommend that everyone see the film on the large screen and in 3D. It is a once-in-a-generation change to the way that movies are created. The techniques and technology that James Cameron and his cohorts have created will filter down to film-making across the board. Cameron has given us a 3D experience like none other and perhaps the prettiest film that I've ever seen. Avatar is, among other things, an action movie. The temptation with an action film is to over-use 3D, to make the entire movie pop out at the audience. Indeed, I think that most films of whatever nature that use 3D go this route more often than not. However, Cameron's genius with Avatar was to use 3D -- even his amazing new wiz-bang 3D -- relatively sparingly. Many shots contain the technology not at all, or in such economy that I could not tell that it was being used. In the rest, more often than not only a bit of the scenery -- and likely as not it wouldn't even be the focus of the scene itself -- would be 3D... just enough to given the added illusion that the viewer was a part a real world. My wife, who saw the film with me yesterday, said that after a while, she simply forgot that the movie was 3D. I would imagine that Cameron would consider this a great compliment. Indeed, the core purpose of this technology, this film-making technique, will not be to have monsters come flying out at the audience -- although that will be fun, too. Rather, it will be to have a scene set in a library and have the rows of books spread around the viewer, bringing him or her within that simple, quiet room. With the surround sound technology that already exists, if Hollywood can simply provide the smell of the books, the transformation will very nearly be complete. The next step up might actually be a Star Trek holodeck. If Cameron could live long enough, he might be the one to get us there.
Cameron has a history of utilizing the latest and greatest technology in his movies. He utilized the first real fluidic CGI movie shots in his wonderful 1989 film The Abyss. (This was not, however, the first use of CGI.)
District 9 was filmed on a much, much, much, much tighter budget. That said, the money spent on its special effects was well-spent. It is a grittier film than Avatar and the dirt and grime that its world displays are evident to the viewer and serve a purpose to the story-telling. Really nothing more needs to be said, I think, about the effects for this film. They are what they are and that is enough.
The Stories
Much has been written about Avatar and its relatively blunt-nosed story-telling. That it has a "green" theme to it is a given. Many also consider it anti-corporate and with that, I wouldn't strongly argue. (Although the idea that a Hollywood movie made by James Cameron could really be anti-corporate is like saying that a news network owned by a major corporation could really be liberal in nature. Ultimately, you don't bite the hand that feeds you.) The Catholic Church has even gone so far as to condemn the movie, saying that it promotes the pagan worship of nature. That is complete poppycock and I'm not just saying that because the Catholic Church wouldn't know an actually moral stance if it reach up and goosed the Pope on his snow-white backside.
The reason that I am blogging about these movies together is that at their core I think they are about what it is that makes us human, about what is it that we share as "collective humanity." Is it only our physical nature, our DNA and features and tissue? I would say no, although surely this is a part of the picture. Is it our souls as those "of faith" would argue? If we have souls, then I would say again, it is a part of the picture, but only a part. What makes us human, what gives us our collective sense of humanity, is our ability to empathize beyond ourselves. We can reach out to another human -- and even to beings other than human, both real and imagined -- and put ourselves in their place, to feel what they feel, to see through their eyes. Thus we say: Walk a mile in my shoes. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Treat your brother as you want to be treated. And so on. I am able to rationally believe that I am not the center of the universe, that another has value, even that another has rights equal to my own.
Science fiction has long been among the best, most powerful tools to tell such stories. Indeed, it is often a way to convey the moral message of acceptance to audiences who would or could hear no other. Star Trek -- the original series -- did this in America for example, dealing with topics ranging from the Vietnam War to racial bigotry to McCarthyism to nuclear armageddon. Themes and direct imagery that never would have made it past the censors -- much less the goodwill of the corporate sponsors -- were shown to a public that knew what it was seeing. At least in part.
The mother ship in District 9 comes to rest over Johannesburg rather than the more-often-used New York or Washington DC or Moscow. This is not a mistake, nor is it due to the backgrounds of the movie-makers or to budget constraints. Rather, setting this film on a continent that itself has been plundered by the more powerful, among people who have been abused by those more powerful, sends a message with every frame. Humans -- even those otherwise downtrodden themselves -- treat the aliens not only as being lesser, but as being nothing. It is not the concentration camp into which they have been placed that is most telling. It is the very dehumanizing name that the aliens are given, Prawn. A prawn is other. A prawn is lesser. A prawn can be used and abused and even killed... without it reflecting on us, without it lessening us. Yet it very much does reflect on us. It does lessen us. An attack on a prawn is an attack on a human. The biology may be different, but the humanity is the same.
And so it is with the Na'vi on Pandora in Avatar. What is more, however, is that it is not only the Na'vi who are mistreated, tortured, and murdered by humans. It is also Aywa who is harmed -- and disregarded -- by the humans. Seen as a deity by the Na'vi, Aywa is not truly that. Nor is Aywa humanoid. Still, Aywa does -- I would argue -- possess humanity and should thus be treated as such. This mass of biology may be something that the humans on Pandora -- much less we humans here on the earth of 2010 -- can not hope to understand. Still, Aywa is conscious. Aywa is aware. Aywa is sentient. And just as harming the Na'vi diminishes us, so too does harming Aywa.
That a planet-wide mass of biological matter can be "human" represents the wonder of science fiction. Avatar is slick and smooth and clean. District 9 is raw and messy and bloody. Both of these films, however, have much to say. And not all of it as blunt-nosed as critics might think.
14 March 2010
27 March 2010 Addition: I added the "Pope" link above to a NYT article to make my point.
Rove-Cheney: The New Assault on Reality
Frank Rich has a great new op-ed detailing the current full court press to rewrite history in an attempt to absolve President George W. Bush -- and themselves -- of their failures in foreign affairs... not to mention their war crimes. This campaign is being waged for reasons both historical and political. Both are a danger to the United States and its people.
14 March 2010
14 March 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Of Celebrities & Alternate Lives
I found a site that features 7 Celebrites Who Had Badass Careers You Didn't Know About. There is some interesting -- and often funny -- stuff there. Some of it I knew, but most was new to me.
12 March 2010
12 March 2010
Daylight Savings Time: Cat Style
This comic is the creation of Ed Allison. The comic can be found at the ComicsDotCom website.
12 March 2010
HBO: The Pacific
I wanted to give everyone a heads-up regarding a miniseries that is beginning on HBO this Sunday, March 14th, titled The Pacific. Created by those who previously did the truly-outstanding Band of Brothers, this series charts WWII in the Pacific campaign.
Set in the European theater of WWII, BoB was gritty, real, well-acted, and a triumph. One-hundred-million dollars was spent to make it so. This time, $250 million are on the line to ensure that The Pacific measures up, a staggering sum for a TV production. That production has much to do with Tom Hanks, who was recently interviewed in Time Magazine regarding his history-based works and his love for this genre.
If you have HBO, my suggestion is make the series a priority. If you lack access to HBO, I have no doubt that the series will appear on DVD in the following months. Get your Netflix queue fired up!
12 March 2010
Set in the European theater of WWII, BoB was gritty, real, well-acted, and a triumph. One-hundred-million dollars was spent to make it so. This time, $250 million are on the line to ensure that The Pacific measures up, a staggering sum for a TV production. That production has much to do with Tom Hanks, who was recently interviewed in Time Magazine regarding his history-based works and his love for this genre.
If you have HBO, my suggestion is make the series a priority. If you lack access to HBO, I have no doubt that the series will appear on DVD in the following months. Get your Netflix queue fired up!
12 March 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Of Glenn Beck & Radicchio
Just when you thought Glenn Beck couldn't become a bigger parasite. Just when you thought those who watch his program for the "news" couldn't get any more stupid. Just when you thought Mole Men were as fictional as the Chupacabra. I give you this from Stephen Colbert.
It would be even funnier if some a$$hole wasn't out there falling for it. Daily.
11 March 2010
19 March 2010 Addition: This time, Jon Stewart spent half a show on Beck, to priceless result.
It would be even funnier if some a$$hole wasn't out there falling for it. Daily.
11 March 2010
19 March 2010 Addition: This time, Jon Stewart spent half a show on Beck, to priceless result.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Deadly Baby Slings
The federal government is on the verge of putting out a safety warning on sling-type baby carriers. Apparently babies have been hurt via their use and even killed, it seems via suffocation. The entire story can be found at The Huffington Post, quoted here in part.
9 March 2010
12 March 2010 Addition: MSNBC ran an AP story on this topic today.
24 March 2010 Addition: A recall has taken place.
The government is preparing a safety warning about baby slings – those popular and fashionable infant carriers that parents strap around their chests to give the little ones a cuddle on the move.
The concern: Infants can suffocate, and at least a few have.
The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, said Tuesday that her agency is getting ready to issue a general warning to the public, likely to go out this week, about the slings.
"We know of too many deaths in these slings and we now know the hazard scenarios for very small babies," said Tenenbaum. "So, the time has come to alert parents and caregivers."
9 March 2010
12 March 2010 Addition: MSNBC ran an AP story on this topic today.
24 March 2010 Addition: A recall has taken place.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals: Obesogens
I read this on the MSNBC website and found it interesting, quoting the story in part.
8 March 2010
Read the entire story at the above link.But if you've ever followed a diet program and achieved less than your desired result, you probably came away feeling frustrated, depressed, and maybe a bit guilty. What did I do wrong?Instead of X, it's XXL.
Why?
Because there's probably more at work here than just calories in/calories out. More and more research is indicating that America's obesity crisis can't be blamed entirely on too much fast food and too little exercise. (Or on these seven habits of highly obese people.) A third factor may be in play: a class of natural and synthetic chemicals known as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), or as researchers have begun to call them, obesogens. The new weight-gain threatObesogens are chemicals that disrupt the function of hormonal systems; many researchers believe they lead to weight gain and, in turn, numerous diseases that curse the American populace. They enter our bodies from a variety of sources — natural hormones found in soy products, hormones administered to animals, plastics in some food and drink packaging, ingredients added to processed foods, and pesticides sprayed on produce. They act in a variety of ways: by mimicking human hormones such as estrogen, by misprogramming stem cells to become fat cells and, researchers think, by altering the function of genes.
8 March 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Failure of Financial Regulation
It looks like financial reform may end up being as toothless as that in the offing for medical care. Arianna Huffington has the low-down. America should be rising up for this type of reform, but as usual, people are easily distracted by shiny objects and flashing lights. And the media really isn't any sharper.
5 March 2010
5 March 2010
Taxes, Tea Parties, and Murder
Frank Rich had an interesting op-ed in last week's NY Times on the great possibility of violence -- and perhaps mass violence -- growing out of the so-called Tea Party Movement.
5 March 2010
5 March 2010
Reconciled to Hypocracy?
Josh Marshall of TPM had the following to say, linking a great, short explanation of the current battle over health care reform.
5 March 2010
Let's stop dancing around it. On "reconciliation" the Republicans are being such a gang of hypocritical liars it's shocking even for them. It really is. The Health Care Bill isn't being passed through reconciliation; it's being used to pass a few amendments to the bill that's already passed. The Republicans have used it numerous times and themselves and for bill's that were far bigger in budgetary terms than this bill. The whole thing is just an immense crock. And it's borderline scandalous that any of their nonsense is even being taken serious. E.J. Dionne has a great column explaining the whole thing. Do read it.
5 March 2010
Funny Stuff
The most ridiculous caution signs. Wonderful!
Creepy classified ads. Renew your faith in humanity.
Presidential trivia. OK!
Duck replaces doctor. What a quack! (Touching story. I provided the quack joke.)
Following a different path, Jon Stewart again discredits Fox "News." Yes, he does this quite often, but this one is funnier than most... and that is saying something.
As you probably know, we from Massachusetts have elected ourselves a new Senator, a Republican who once posed nude for Cosmo Magazine. Now, even funnier is what his wife was doing back in the 1980s! If you haven't found yourself staring at her hands in news footage before, you certainly will now!
And finally, while not really funny, sidewalk art that is really amazing. Enjoy.
5 March 2010
Addition: I'll point you back to this post from December for more humor, should you have missed it.
Addition 2: Today came Staticky Cat vs. Balloon: A Showdown. You can watch it without sound, but it is funnier with the music. No cats were harmed in the making of this film, but one was really, really cheesed off.
11 March 2010 Addition: A friend forwarded the following YouTube Clips to me, which are related. Someone has produced a intro for "Han Solo, P.I." in the spirit of "Magnum, P.I." The two intros can be seen here side-by-side. The new Han Solo intro can be seen here alone in a larger format.
Also on the funny front, I've learned that Betty White will be hosting SNL on May 8th. For Betty White, I'll watch SNL. Hmmm, I wonder if Abe Vigoda will do a cameo?
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Creepy classified ads. Renew your faith in humanity.
Presidential trivia. OK!
Duck replaces doctor. What a quack! (Touching story. I provided the quack joke.)
Following a different path, Jon Stewart again discredits Fox "News." Yes, he does this quite often, but this one is funnier than most... and that is saying something.
As you probably know, we from Massachusetts have elected ourselves a new Senator, a Republican who once posed nude for Cosmo Magazine. Now, even funnier is what his wife was doing back in the 1980s! If you haven't found yourself staring at her hands in news footage before, you certainly will now!
And finally, while not really funny, sidewalk art that is really amazing. Enjoy.
5 March 2010
Addition: I'll point you back to this post from December for more humor, should you have missed it.
Addition 2: Today came Staticky Cat vs. Balloon: A Showdown. You can watch it without sound, but it is funnier with the music. No cats were harmed in the making of this film, but one was really, really cheesed off.
11 March 2010 Addition: A friend forwarded the following YouTube Clips to me, which are related. Someone has produced a intro for "Han Solo, P.I." in the spirit of "Magnum, P.I." The two intros can be seen here side-by-side. The new Han Solo intro can be seen here alone in a larger format.
Also on the funny front, I've learned that Betty White will be hosting SNL on May 8th. For Betty White, I'll watch SNL. Hmmm, I wonder if Abe Vigoda will do a cameo?
.
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