Global warming skeptics and "truth"

Or, always check the primary documents, since getting your global warming information third hand can lead to the understanding that is the opposite of the truth.

Texas and moving the goalposts

How Christian were the founders?

Using the yearly circus that is the Texas State Board of Education, Russell Shorto examines the basic underpinning of religious fundamentalism's basic thrust into politics: That the Founding Fathers were religious fundamentalists who founding this country as a "Christian Nation."

Of course, many of these people (like Don McLeroy in the article) will lie if they have to to get their bias into the curriculum. Like Christians in the Crusades, they can self-excuse virtually any non-Christian act so long as they sincerely believe they are doing it for Christian goals.

[As an aside, it struck me that beliefs and actions they take against evolution mimics to a T those same beliefs and actions with regard to global warming. Who needs science when you really, really believe you are right? Just call the other side "frauds" who are "only in it to make money" and you'll feel really good about your actions].

Haiti, updated

For those keeping track at home: Haiti death toll now set at 230,000

The My Way Killings

Always something new in the world to learn. Who knew singing "My Way" in the Philippines might get you killed? A good travel tip.

Palin

Andrew Sullivan has, of course, gone around the bend on Sarah Palin. Like a car wreck it is hard to turn away, but I certainly hope he'll realize he's playing right into her hands with the constant attention.

Meanwhile, half of me hopes America will now wake up to the vacuousness of Sarah Palin. Half of me hopes they'll wake up after she's gotten the GOP nomination.

Meanwhile, it seems that "real folks" use manual teleprompters.

Centralia, Pennsylvania

Ghost town to-be

A fire older than I am finally forces town to close. Here's a page with pictures and more information. The place is in the middle of nowhere, but only an hour or two away from me.

Right path/wrong path?

These numbers are still way too high. But this graph is kinda cool:

Holy crap, what's next?

Sen Chambliss: Repealing DADT would cause the armed forces to allow "alcohol use, adultery, fraternization, and body art."

Jeez, and after that maybe a lot of working out with weights and stuff.

The horror! What would our military look like, should that terrible day dawn, in which the military men and women engage in "alcohol use, adultery, fraternization, and body art?" Next thing you know, the phrase "sailor on leave" would no longer be a metaphor.

Turning it up to 11

Sen. Shelby blocks all Obama nominations until he gets his money.

Maybe this will finally start the ball rolling to get rid of holds. Whatever purpose they once had has been overwhelmed by such actions as this.

Cool abandoned city

Maybe it is the urban archaeologist in me, but I love shows and pictures about abandoned cities. Imagining how it was, and how it might still come to life someday. Here's another--the Western State Mental Hospital in Staunton, Virginia.

NFL thinks it can make a buck

So it claims it owns "Who Dat" in relation to the Saints. They pretend to be confused by it just enough to claim they own rights. Obnoxious, indeed.

Myths of the American Revolution

Very nice piece in Smithsonian Magazine by John Ferling.

Maybe it is time to give a little something back

Maybe drive someone to chemo once in awhile. Tutor a kid. Play music for some old folks. Worth a look to at least see what is in your area: All for Good.

Know your obscure Star Wars quote...

Why not?

The real threat to children: Homophobia

Great piece by Rob Tisinai:



Great blurbs, especially near the end. Well done.

Anatomy of a TV news segment

Brilliant.

GOP still seeking a soul...

The GOP apparently uses "deficit reduction" as a talking point rather than a policy direction. Not one Republican Senator voted to re-impose pay-as-you-go rules for budget outlays.

Not one. Jesus. This was a straight vote on this issue without any amendments or earmarks.

This is like Republicans complaining about abortion, the Dems offering to outlaw all third trimester abortions, and for all Republicans to vote against it.

Anyone with a paid off HUD loan?

You might be eligible for a refund of a portion of the insurance premium. Not much (mine, from a loan we paid off 7 years ago, was worth $19.22), but maybe worth a look:

search page

RNS looking for average working beachfront families...

RNC a little embarrassed at the location for their winter meeting: Waikiki, Hawai'i

Another boneheaded Michael Steele idea! Long live Michael Steele!

How can I reuse...?

UK website recyclethis has some good ideas (before you throw that thing away).

"They are selling children to gay couples for $10,000!"

Also, see if you can spot the revealing metaphor uses.

Jon Stewart--again!

He gets in a series of body blows with his response to Keith Olbermann's Malkin Moment.

Most union members working for the government

I think this is more of an indication of just how badly the private sector, particularly in traditional blue collar jobs, have fallen off the table. But I think this might also be an indication that unions need to be far, far more flexible than they traditionally have been with regard to their confrontational, "single pie" style of recruitment, retention, and negotiation.

SCOTUS pokes a big hole in campaign finance laws

SCOTUS rules that campaign finance laws are a violation of free speech rights when applied to corporations. They overturned two of their own rulings in doing so.

Wish I had time right now to drill down into this issue again. Big news. My top-of-the-head response is:

-it won't be long before individuals are excepted for the same reasons, thereby trashing campaign finance laws (for good or ill).

-the Administration will propose to disallow corporate political spending from being tax deductible.

More to come, I'm sure.

Guess who is not going to the dance?

HT: This Photo Bomb

With friends like these...

Couple busted after stealing credit card of friend--who had died on their couch.

"She would have wanted us to..."

:)

Comparing cell phone plans

A handy chart.

Meanwhile, from the Cotton in My Ears Department

Cruise ships still docking at private Haiti beaches.

"Excuse me, but can you tell the natives to stop the wailing? At least, during Happy Hour."

Weird books

Sure, you're a book lover. But have you read any of these?

The Joy of Cooking

Great piece on an amazing book. In a former life I worked at Macmillan Pubishing Company, who published this work after purchasing the old Bobbs-Merrill Publishing Company, and I handled requests to reprint recipes and other material from this work. Sometimes I'd get requests from obviously poor women who were copying recipes out of a library copy of the book and wanted permission to do so. The fact that these people were doing so (and writing to be) was sometimes heartbreaking. I guess it is OK to say so now, but I used to snag extra copies of the book and send them out to those people, usually anonymously.

Still have a copy of the 1975 edition of the book that I use all the time.

Denzel Washington Venn Diagram

I just saved you a lot of work.



HT: The Daily What

Scott Ritter is coming to my county!

You remember--former UN weapons inspector, who took a lot of flack from the Bush Administration because of Ritter's insistence that Iraq had no WMD.

He's not coming for a lecture-- he was busted in a sting for guys trolling for underage girls.

Google backing out of China?

Google took some heat for their deal several years ago with China, to set of a version of their search engine which filtered web sites that the government did not want to be viewed from their country. It looks like they might be pulling out of the country now, however, but not because of the free speech/libertarian arguments originally made against them.

woman who takes children's songs literally

GET THE BABY OUT OF THE TREE. NOW.

Kerouac will forged?

Story.

Pretty sad that the guy who probably should have had millions has been homeless for years.

When moralists crash

They crash hard. This one could bring down the Northern Ireland government.

Obama limits secrecy classifiers

Good news, this. Not as good as other news, but I'll take it.

How far would they go?

Mike Konczal with a thought exercise for the cognitively weak

Google search suggestions

Josh Levin with the lowdown

Making up crap, Tiger Woods "journalists" version

I guess when academics spend a lot of time following a non-academic story, they need to make up an academic-sounding reason:

Tiger Woods costs shareholders billions! Or not...

Health care cost vs life expectancy

A neat-o graph:



Essentially, the life expentancy rises in an almost lineal fashion with health care spending. Except for the United States, which is the outlier.

Some of the debate is here. There is some debate as to whether life expectancy is a good measure of things, that this comment rebuts rather neatly:

Certainly life expectancy isn't a perfect measure of a country's health care system, but saying that it shouldn't be used as a measure is like saying a sports team's win-loss record doesn't reflect the team's talent. At the end of the day all of the other statistics are meaningless if we come up short in the ultimate measure of success (in this case life expectancy).

I agree with you that other factors are involved, but why wouldn't obesity and teenage pregnancy be considered aspects of a country's health care system. A health care system should promote a healthy lifestyle, not just save us from an unhealhty one.

Holiday cards

Just got my White House card today. I'm sure there are some on the far Right who will take Obama to task for not using the word Christmas, but those people don't need an excuse to take Obama to task--they live for that. Anyway, here they are:

Let the hyper-sensitive holidays begin!

Love the last line of this article

Random House decides to beat its head against the wall again

Claims e-rights on its backlist, again.

Scotland's oldest book being displayed for only the second time in 1000 years

In these days of Twitter, Facebook, and email, it is good to see examples of the lasting power of a book as an object of its own.

Faux news, faux numbers, faux "authentic"

The natural end to the path the Wacky Right trods in which education = "elitism" is that you get graphs like this, on FOX:



You also get people who deliberately dumb themselves down in order to get jobs there.

Beck: Goldbug with an interest

Beck in trouble for his gold endorsements?

Seems like a clear conflict to me. The guy can believe what he wants to, but when he promotes the industry on his show without disclosing his financial interest, this is a no-no. No matter what your political persuasion.

Obama in Oslo

Text of Obama's Nobel speech.

I realize that the conservative backbiters aren't going to bother reading it, but I think it lays out Obama's worldview on the role of war in our times.

A classic Safire story about a classic photo

Some of the story behind the "kitchen confrontation."

When they are quick to cite the Constitution...

Usually, they have no idea what they are talking about. Tom Schaller @ 538 with a nice little primer when you're faced with people who misunderstand the Constitution.

A peek inside Farmgate

For you military buffs.

Scour your shelves!

Rare Darwin book found in guest bathroom.

The weird thing for me is that the cover looks like about half the covers on old books.

Social Security surplus

I haven't had much of a chance to look much deeper on this issue (and this may be all a matter of perspective--taking away legitimate earned revenues from Social Security, then crying "deficit!" seems a little overwrought). But this appears to be something worth digging in.

Did Christianity cause the Crash?

More particularly, did American-style prosperity gospel teaching lead to overextended consumers among believers?

Fed to be audited?

Realizing I'm treading close to conspiracy stuff here, it is probably worth noting that the House has moved legislation along which would require audits of the Fed.

I have a small quibble with the article talking about the Administration as being "losers" in this debate--it seems to be a relatively easy thing for the Administration to re-cast this as another move for government transparency. But in general this is a good move, I think.

Holiday Mail for Heroes

I had neglected to note that Red Cross was already accepting mail for their Holiday Mail for Heroes program, but because there is still some time it is probably worth posting here.

There are some limitations on what can be sent through the program, but take a look. It is a good program if you have kids who want to take part and give thanks to those thousands of men and women (often, Dads and Moms themselves) protecting our freedoms overseas.

Cleaning for a reason

A foundation that offers free housecleaning services for women undergoing cancer treatment. Very nice.

Weird Windows error messages

A cornucopia of messages, with great commentary.

Dave Ramsey

Megan McArdel with a smart piece on Dave Ramsey. My wife and I have listened to him, watched much of his talk, read books, etc.

The most important aspect of Ramsey, IMO, is your relationship with debt. Many people carry some debt, but certain debt is stupid, frankly. There are people who carry debt because they would rather have the cash in their bank account (not making money) and then pay minimums on their credit cards even though they have enough to pay off their balances. Stupid debt.

But Dave Ramsey is much more than that--re-examining how you utilize budgeting (first, by placing a budget in its proper place as a record of what you spend your money on rather than a wish list of what you should be spending money on), how you save, what is important to save, etc. He's worth a long look by people not because you should buy into his system (literally), but because people sometimes need a real look at their own finances and Ramsey offers an easy yet bracing way of doing that.

Black Friday, 2009

Want to know what Wal-Mart will have on sale?

"Mandatory gratuity"

PA couple arrested for not paying tip after bad service.

Another reason to get rid of tipping entirely and just add the cost of the food.

More ACORN blaming...

This is just dismaying:

A majority of Republicans think ACORN stole the election for Obama.

If given the choice: "Do you think that Barack Obama legitimately won the Presidential election last year, or do you think that ACORN stole it for him?" 52% of Republicans choose the latter.

Sigh.

The dingo stole my baby!

Hoffman blames ACORN for his election loss.

If nothing else, the last few elections should strip away the notion of Republicans as the party of personal responsibility.

Never again! Err....

The GOP Publicity Channel caught pumping up crowd sizes through wrong footage. Again.

Hit the Bitch!

Somehow I don't think trying to get guys to stop domestic violence by letting them hit a woman virtually is the way to go. Call me crazy. Or an idiot.

HT: Megan McArdle

Israel keeps on building settlements

With many conservatives (particularly neocons) equating any deviation from Israeli policy on the part of the US with enabling terrorism, there should be no wonder that Israel feels it can do anything while the US pays the bills.

God forbid that anyone in the Administration even mentions that Israel has nukes.

Cut em off, I say.

Is your library included?

With all the talk of libraries closing, it is nice to know there are still many great public libraries around. Check out the Library Journal list of top public libraries.

A good point

Darwin in the job market...

Also:

Wolf Blitzer attacks Jag lawyer of Hasan

Looking for a show trial, perhaps.

I hate those weasely questions where some is suppose to respond to "they" instead of the person asking the question. I wish some of these people would get the balls to say "
I'm sorry--I don't answer any questions you don't take responsibility for asking on your own behalf."

Maybe the military should be doing profiling after all...

Marine reservist beats "terrorist" with tire iron.

Where ya getting your news?

NY Post run by a sexist ass who runs the paper to "destroy Barack Obama."

Jeez, you can't make this stuff up. The Right should hang its head in shame if only it had any.

What year is this?

Mendoza has faced sexual discrimination claims before. In 1999, he was manager of a Denny's restaurant in Allentown. A hostess accused him of following her around the restaurant with a vibrating sex toy in his pocket, buzzing his genitals and singing to himself.

Inevitable

IMO. And it makes me optimistic:



I realize many of these young people will change their minds (just as we know that there is a conservative trend as people get older). But we also know that once gay marriages are approved in some states and the arguments against them in all states are shown to be hollow, some that oppose gay marriage right now will start becoming more agnostic toward them.

The best book companies to work for

[I used to work for #5]

mean-ass woman's soccer player suspended

Take a look. I don't know how it ever got this far:

Health care--getting to the root of the problems

David Goldhill with an excellent piece on health care that tries to get at the root of the problem. This, I think, is a classic description of what we are facing:

"Indeed, I suspect that our collective search for villains—for someone to blame—has distracted us and our political leaders from addressing the fundamental causes of our nation’s health-care crisis. All of the actors in health care—from doctors to insurers to pharmaceutical companies—work in a heavily regulated, massively subsidized industry full of structural distortions. They all want to serve patients well. But they also all behave rationally in response to the economic incentives those distortions create. Accidentally, but relentlessly, America has built a health-care system with incentives that inexorably generate terrible and perverse results. Incentives that emphasize health care over any other aspect of health and well-being. That emphasize treatment over prevention. That disguise true costs. That favor complexity, and discourage transparent competition based on price or quality. That result in a generational pyramid scheme rather than sustainable financing. And that—most important—remove consumers from our irreplaceable role as the ultimate ensurer of value."

LA Clippers owner to pay record fine for discrimination

Not for the sad Clippers, but for housing discrimination.

Cheated by clerk out of a million dollars

I realize that the sentiment is that the lottery should pay the guy, but (unlike businesses who can bend or break their own rules), the "rules" for lotteries are statutes and subject to very little interpretation as to when they can pay out money.

Busy secretary costs Pepsi $1.26 billion

Ooops. Too busy preparing for a board meeting to forward papers regarding a lawsuit results in a default judgment against PepsiCo.

New Gingrich, RINO?

How far will the GOP fall? And what will it take for the Democrats to finally get a backbone and govern?

Da Bones

The relationship of relics in the modern Church.

Wonder how many priests this week will get asked about the relic in their own altar?

Happy Sunday

HT: Andrew Sullivan

Boating around

Seth Stevenson posts his final entry in an engaging blog diary on sailing around the British Virgin Islands. Sounds like a boring tale, yes? Worth the read, however, just for reading about the unexpected pleasures such a trip can bring.

No English zone...

Dozens cited in Dallas over the past three years for not speaking English.

WTF?

Most of the text of that story gives the impression that this was a one-shot thing. But with 39 citations over the last three years it is clear that this is a rare, but ongoing, problem.

FOXy independence

Mickey Kraus with a sharp piece on FOX and the criteria of measuring whether something is a "news organization"

Maurice Sendak tells hand-wringing parents to STFU

Or "go to hell" which really means the same thing in this context.

Can't wait until I'm a cranky old man and can just say what I want...

Polling and the public option

Some interesting points being made by FactCheck on polling regarding the public option.

We all know that the right and left are talking past each other on the polling numbers--the left emphasizes the "choice" part of the public option, while the right emphasizes the "federal government administers" part. Not surprisingly, when the public is asked questions which include both aspects, they overwhelmingly support a public option. Take out the word "choice" from the question, support drops. Even those numbers are far, far higher than the right likes (or probably even believes).

Recovery? Not yet it ain't...

As expected, job openings is not only a lagging indicator of any economic recovery, but in this case might actually be holding back the recovery. Dow is up (way up), business orders are up, interest rates are down and credit is now easing.

In other words, American businesses seem to be making do after shedding a ton of workers (including hiring some back part-time, without benefits). As we know, however, without consumer discretionary income any recovery will occur (at best) in fits and starts, and it it continues misfiring it might short-circuit the whole thing entirely.

We're paying now for the fact that the housing market carried us through about 8 years of expansion previously, masking many of the growing underbrush that typically would be burned away through much smaller market corrections. I have faith that we'll get through this in the next 2-3 years a stronger economy and country. But let's not make the mistake of thinking this is either the sign of full recovery or the opportunity to try to score political points on the news either way.

Pictures from space

I usually stop in at listverse.com a couple of times a week. One of their latest is a real treat: 10 More Stunning Pictures from Space

My favorite (see the caption to find out why):

Can't have a non-sellout in the playoffs!

When is a game a sellout? When we say it is!

Yankees overpriced tickets continue to hamper on-site support.

They aren't covering a protest with tens of thousands of people!!

Bad math by FOX

yeech

Worst Sexy Halloween Costumes

Playing with numbers, tort reform style

CBO estimates that tort reform would save the government just 2% of its health care costs

That's not what the title of the article says, of course. And the CBO presumes that employers will plow the savings from health care premiums into increased wages (which I just don't see happening). But there you go. Limiting the payouts to people who proved in court that they are victims saves a tiny bit of money to the government, assuming that employers increase wages when they don't have to.

Peace Prize and bad losers

Some predicted GOP talking points--mostly turned out to be true, I think Sad just how bitter the GOP has become. Maybe that is why it is now down to being self-identified by just 22.5% of people.

Drunk punks pick on drag queens--oops!

Another White Jesus sighting

Christian Hathos alert, as Andrew Sullivan points out:

Interactive painting--roll over the characters in the painting for commentary on each

"More accomplished in one day of negotiations than in 8 years of threats"

The benefits of talking with our "enemies."

Consumers Union jumps into health care reform debate

Unprecedented, it seems. But they advocate for reform.

In previous years (and issues) this might have meant something. But in these Beck-ful days the measured advocacy of a respected organization toward health care reform is merely another example to the wacky Right of how far toward Marxism Obama has already put us.

Oldest living things in the world

Cool photo site. Amazing how old some of these things are.