January, 2008 archive
Nagging Question 3
Has anyone else noticed how all the guys in the commercials for Levitra, Viagra, and stuff like that there always have wives who look to be 20 years younger then them?
Gosh, we can’t all be Dennis Kucinich.
Bushonomics 2
Richard Blair pins an eloquent essay on the social and economic cost of Republican rule. Here’s a couple of excerpts; please read the whole thing:
(snip)
When consumers stop spending, the economy is going to crash hard. Signs already point to a significant contraction in consumer spending, which is why George Bush today offered up a $140 billion economic stimulus package. The plan tosses a meager bone to those who chose to forgo a new winter coat this year in order to pay the gas or heating oil bill. The theory is that people will see $800 or $1000 from the government as “found money†and go out and buy a new refrigerator or big screen TV, thereby stimulating the economy.
Here’s a news flash for George Bush and his fiscal policy wonks: a lot of people aren’t going to use the cash from his proposed “economic stimulus package†to buy a new big screen TV. They’re going to use the money to catch up on a late car payment. Or pay the electric bill for a month or two without having to figure out which Peter to rob in order to pay Paul.
This is the GOP price of living. And it isn’t cheap or indexed for inflation.
What Happened? 1
Brendan sums it up. My language might have been a little more circumspect, but that’s just a matter of style. He has the substance:
This Just Doesn’t Seem Right 1
From the Wilmington News Urinal. Follow the link for more details:
Gregg N. Lynch, of the 100 block of Murphy Road, was released on $20,500 unsecured bail Wednesday after being charged with felony aggravated menacing, possession of a firearm during a felony, carrying a concealed deadly weapon and disorderly conduct.
The three men involved in the fight were not immediately charged, Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh of the Delaware State Police said.
“It’s still an active case under investigation,” Whitmarsh said Thursday.
It all started at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot outside Dick’s Sporting Goods in the Brandywine Town Center, where the occupants of two cars each claimed the others cut them off.
The three occupants — two teenage boys and a 27-year-old man — stopped and got into an argument that turned physical.
Shoppers called state police.
Before troopers could arrive, Lynch pulled up in a pickup, brandished a Glock 9 mm pistol and ordered the trio to “get to the ground,” police said in court records.
(snip)
“I have every right to have a gun,” Lynch replied, according to the records. “I don’t have to show you anything.”
Troopers who arrested Lynch said he didn’t have that right because his life was not in danger.
(Of course, this means that, if you have gun, you are forbidden to come to the aid of someone who needs your aid–ed.)
Troopers said they found the unloaded Glock, an unloaded 9 mm Baretta pistol and a loaded .22-caliber revolver during a search of his truck.
(snip)
Whitmarsh said Lynch’s brandishing of a gun implied he was going to use deadly force.
“If he’s threatening someone to comply or face deadly force, then he himself has to be threatened with serious bodily injury or death, or be in fear that someone else will face seriously bodily injury or death,” he said.
Lynch never claimed that he was making a citizen’s arrest and made no mention of holding the men at bay until police arrived, Whitmarsh said.
I’m not a big fan of guns. They are dirty, messy, and noisy, and, in the wrong hands, usually result in bad things happening.
I also think that persons who carry guns around with them are generally pretty much asking for trouble.
But, in this case, the gun user ended a confrontation that could have resulted in someone’s getting hurt.
End result. No one got hurt.
And the guy who ended the confrontation gets arrested.
Mr. Lynch may be a crackpot of some sort. I don’t know. He may have broken a law here. But, based on the contents of the news story, he seems to have acted on the side of justice, if not on the side of law.
But, as we know, the law and justice are seldom related.
As far as I am concerned, the district attorney (or whatever they call that position here in Delaware) should drop these charges and find something with which to charge the road rage guys.
Chain of Custody 1
My freshman roommate (6’2″ 210 lb. football player) was from Bergen County, New Jersey. He told me that, whenever he drove through Passaic, he kept on hand on a hammer.
Of course, that was a long time ago. It’s probably worse now.
Especially with missing machine guns and the like.
Police are trying to find a (police-ed.) submachine gun that’s been missing for at least a week.
(snip)
The department noticed the MP5 weapon missing during an inventory of the arsenal.
Passaic County prosecutors are investigating what happened to the weapon. It’s listed as missing or stolen in a national police database.
Hormones 0
Up the road a piece, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture decided to forbid dairies to label milk produced by cows who have not been feed synthetic bovine growth hormone (BGH) as “hormone free.” (That’s the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture as in the “Reg. Penna. Agr.” that appears on so many labels).
They claimed that the label confused consumers.
Well, apparently, consumers don’t think that knowing that cows have been fed synthetic BGH (which, by the way, has been banned in Europe because of posing a risk to the health of cows) is all that confusing:
The ban was to take effect Feb. 1, to the dismay of consumer activists and many smaller dairies who choose not to inject their cows with hormones. But the move was superseded by new standards issued today, after a review by the office of Gov. Rendell.
Now, I don’t have a position on BGH per se. I grew up on a farm and therefore I grew up with chemicals. There are good chemicals and bad chemicals, and I don’t know about this chemical.
Nevertheless, I find it suspicious when the guv’mint doesn’t want us to know about a particular chemical, because, in the words of one of the members of the panel that recommended removing the warning from the label, the chemical “means more income for the producers” (that is, more milk per cow).
I heard him say that in an interview on Radio Times. I urge you to listen to it. The guy from Penn State and the guy from Consumers Union were at each other’s throats so much that the host had to remind them that “It’s my show” (smackdown).
From the website:
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently ruled that dairies that do not inject their cattle with synthetic growth hormone can no longer label their milk as hormone-free. The decision, which has been put on hold until the beginning of February, raises serious questions for consumers, dairy farmers, and retailers. We talk to TERRY ETHERTON of Penn State University and MICHAEL HANSEN of Consumer’s Union.
The show is worth a listen, if only to hear the host rein in the guests. But it’s also worth a listen to help understand how more and more food is being turned synthetic.
Go to the website and search for 1/16/2008 or listen here.
In other news in the same vein, the same show had a very interesting interview about nutrition and “nutritionism.” (Go to the website and search for 01/10/2008) or listen here. This one is worth it.
Yeah, I know, I’ve said that before. But, if you’ve followed the links, you know that, whether you agree or disagree with what’s on the show, shows I recommend are worth it.
In his new book, â€In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, author MICHAEL POLLAN argues that “instead of eating food, we’re consuming ‘edible foodlike substances,’ (such as Cheez Whiz–ed.) no longer the products of nature but of food science.†His advice for a healthy diet can be summed up in seven words — Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
And if you have a podcatcher, make Radio Times a regular on it.
Brendan Writes a Letter 1
It’s worth reading.
Uninsured 3
John Cole at Balloon Juice (emphasis added):
$65,000.00
I asked him if he had insurance, and he just laughed and said he could never get it, but that is ok, because even if he could, he could not afford it. He’ll never be able to pay the bill, and he has to go back for some more procedures and is heading to the VA to see what can be done.
Our health care system makes no damned sense whatsoever. . . . Something is going to have to give, and quite honestly, I find it amazing that the Republican candidates never even talk about the subject other than to scare people with phrases like “socialized medicine†or “Hillarycare.†The Republican attitude towards health care right now isn’t just stupid, it is grossly irresponsible and negligent.
At any rate, my cab driver friend thanks all you out there with insurance, because believe me, he isn’t paying the bill. You are. And you are a damned fool if you think you aren’t.
Another Reason To Migrate to Linux 0
They say it’s for your own good . . .
But, then, they always say that.
Details of the planned “Big Brother†system are revealed in an application to the US Patent and Trademark Office, seen by The Times, over seventeen pages of text with ten diagrams.
Get your Linux Questions answered here.
Via Susie.
It’s Not Because They Are Illegal . . . 2
. . . it’s because they are brown.
Oh, yeah. And Catholic.
You want to know what’s happening?
Follow the money:
They should not have been surprised. The furious nativist tide was largely driven by an array of immigration restriction organizations that has been built up over the course of more than 20 years into fixtures in the nation’s capital.
The vast majority of these groups were founded or funded by John Tanton, a major architect of the contemporary nativist movement who, 20 years ago, was already warning of a destructive “Latin onslaught” heading to the United States. Most of these organizations used their vast resources in the days leading up to a vote on the bill to stir up a nativist backlash that ultimately resulted in its death.
At the center of the Tanton web is the nonprofit Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the most important organization fueling the backlash against immigration.
Founded by Tanton in 1979, FAIR has long been marked by anti-Latino and anti-Catholic attitudes. It has mixed this bigotry with a fondness for eugenics, the idea of breeding better humans discredited by its Nazi associations. It has accepted $1.2 million from an infamous, racist eugenics foundation. It has employed officials in key positions who are also members of white supremacist groups. Recently, it has promoted racist conspiracy theories about Mexico’s secret designs on the American Southwest and an alternative theory alleging secret plans to merge the United States, Mexico and Canada. Just last February, a senior FAIR official sought “advice” from the leaders of a racist Belgian political party.
Sadly, this country has a long history of nativism, in which sons of immigrants wish to close the doors to subsequent immigration.
As Raymond so ably demonstrated, today’s immigrants are here because they have something to contribute: their labor is taking the place of the labor of us retiring boomers. They aren’t taking, they are giving.
It is not without reason that the first organized nativists earned the name, “Know Nothings,” though it is certain that they did not realize how ironically accurate that name would become.
Frankly, I think we should go back to the immigration policy of the Ellis Island Days. If they can work and otherwise have okay records, let ’em in.
This nation has grown from expanding opportunities for everyone (sometimes, admittedly, under duress–think “The Civil Rights Act of 1964“).
Contracting opportunity is against everything the United States of America is about.
Well, except for the occasional anomaly.
Put This in Your Pipe and Smoke It 0
From El Reg:
Sandra Bergen, 23, of Biggar, Saskatchewan, alleged that “her nursery-school classmate Clinton Davey got her addicted to crystal methamphetamine by offering her a free dose when she was only 13 years old”. She subsequently kicked the habit and had been drug-free for eight months until she met Davey at a friend’s house in 2004, shortly before her 20th birthday.
(snip)
In her lawsuit, in which Bergen also named the unknown supplier “John Doe” who’d supplied the crystal meth to Davey, she said the latter was aware the the drug was highly addictive and its sale was “for the purpose of making money but was also for the purpose of intentionally inflicting physical and mental suffering on Sandra”.
Davey filed a defence statement denying the allegations and stating that Bergen “did assume the risk to her person when she voluntarily ingested the illegal drugs”.
However, Davey refused to name “John Doe” in pre-trial discovery, “putting him at risk of a contempt-of-court charge”, and the judge duly entered a default judgment against him.
And This Surprises Us How? 0
From CREW:
The latest filing from the Bush administration raises some very troubling questions that the White House clearly does not want to answer. (The filing from the White House and related documents can be found here.) This is how CREW’s chief counsel, Anne Weismann, described the situation:
With this new filing, the White House has admitted that although it has long known about the missing emails, it did nothing to recover them, or discover how and why they went missing in the first place. The missing emails are important historical records that belong not to the Bush administration, but to the American people. As a result, the public deserves a full accounting and hopefully, now that the matter is before a federal court, we will get one.
Holy two-face, Batman, do you think they might have something to hide?
H/T to Linda.
Bushonomics 0
If this isn’t a recession, it’s looking an awful lot like one.
The unemployment rate has taken the biggest jump since the 2001 terrorist attacks, a key gauge of manufacturing activity has fallen to a five-year low, and now consumer spending, which had been a standout performer, is starting to sag.
The Commerce Department reported yesterday that retail sales fell a sharp 0.4 percent in December, handing retailers their worst Christmas in five years.
It seems that consumers, who account for two-thirds of total economic activity, have slowed their spending in the face of an array of problems. And the worry is that they may cut back further.
Already, consumer confidence has slipped significantly amid the spiral of oil prices, the sagging of home prices, the rising of mortgage defaults, and the increasing of unemployment.
Of course, this is what happens when the ruling party believes the wealth is an indiator of virtue and that selling the country to the highest bidder is wise public policy.
DL Tomorrow 0
Pick up the slack for me.
I have a meeting at 7:00 p. m.
I’d much rather be Drinking Liberally.
Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard, right behind Jeff, 6:00 p. m. till 9:00 p. m. or whenever.
Reminds Me of My Chevette 0
Which I purchased with 41,000 miles on it and was just 2,000 miles shy of putting 100,000 of my own miles on it when it died.
I got my money’s worth out of my $2,100.
Then, again, I also learned that cookie sheets make great floorboards.
Probably even better than particle board:
Seen at the local Super Fresh
Unpaid Water Bill 0
Twisted double talk untwisted over at Phillybits’s place.
Not Lionel 0
Having worked for the railroad for many years, I know how dangerous this was. Crashing trains is not a good way to get one’s rocks off.
The 14-year-old modified a TV remote control so that it could be used to change track points, The Telegraph reports. Local police said the youngster trespassed in tram depots to gather information needed to build the device. The teenager told police that he modified track setting for a prank.
Wind Chimes . . . 2
. . . seem to be an offense of some kind in Colorado.
What’s Happening in the Horse Race? 0
Josh Marshall tries to make sense of it:
