Commentopia - The Digest of Best Readers' Comments from Top News Sites and Blogs

I don't know how this post was published. I am sure the good Doctor would not sacrifice himself and his family to this Overpopulation Crusade. Why would anyone accept the direction of others for this cause? Brainpower, its' benefits derived from human creativity, is generated from the growing population. The standard of living generally, has gone up with population growth. The American experiment has proven Thomas Malthus wrong. To change America's mission to one that reduces populations, however creatively, is unacceptable.

Instead we must focus on the world economic/financial system that is in disintegration, threatening the lives of millions. I am suspicious of the concurrent themes of justifying economic and population contraction.

The fact is that humanity has economic, political and financial impediments to development. Humanity must develop the planet, first by discarding the monetarists controls on the forces of creativity, policy and production; unsustainable usury and speculation, in every sector of the population's economy has brought about our crisis. Perpetual wars, have stolen treasure, the lives of our young, most earnest, brightest, and best people.

The redevelopment of the North American continent will be the impetus that reverses our current crisis; from that point we can turn and cooperate with other nations, to develop the rest of the planet. A great mission, for a great nation.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/David Katz: Overpopulation:9 billion things to talk about

You make good points. But to somehow insinuate that anyone let alone Mr. Katz has to sacrifice his family to solve the over population crisis I feel is an intentional distortion of what he has written.

Quality of life like so many other things you have mentioned has also gone up because of advances in technology. And to ignore the fact that we are consuming so many of this planets resources as we speak and that the current rate of population growth is going to be unsustainable is I feel like standing in a burning house and saying "Ohhh the smoke? Ya that's not a problem.. you know what it's probably good for our lungs".

There are 2 easy yet complicated answers to this question / problem.

Either we make serious advances in technology which will allow us to sustain this growth is population. Or countries start discussing the problem seriously and find ways to help curb population growth.

Whether Mr. Katz is right or wrong the worst thing to do is not talk about it and just ignore the smoke until the fire consumes us.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/David Katz: Overpopulation:9 billion things to talk about

The population of the world will level off in 2050 and start to decrease rather quickly due to falling fertility rates. For all you population alarmists: Russia's population is decreasing from a high of 143 million down to 119 million by the next decade. Japan and western europe are in a free fall. Here in the US, if we didn't have immigration we'd have a negative population growth. Our fertility rate is around 2.4 and 2.1 is what's needed to maintain a stable population.

China will be in serious trouble in 10 years because they wont have enough young people to take care of the elderly. We've reached a precarious balance and if the death rate were to go up to a disease outbreak then we could see a rapid decrease in the population. These are just a few facts the author of this article purposely overlooked.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/David Katz: Overpopulation:9 billion things to talk about

As a researcher and author of several books on nature-based illness prevention, I subscribe to the hypothesis that the current human population far exceeds the planet’s carrying capacity, perhaps by double. Feeding the population is not the problem. The toxic wastes we generate, causing everything from climate change to environmental illnesses, will likely be our undoing.

From research on the effects of environmental toxins and GM foods on animals (illness and failure to reproduce), it could be just a matter of time until humans will feel the same effects - susceptibility to illnesses (such as pandemics and epidemics) for which there are no cures (perhaps already happening), and low sperm count in men and infertility in women (perhaps already happening). The resulting increase in death rate and decrease in birth rate will speed up the process used by nature to deal with other communities that exceed the carrying capacity of their environment – a path toward sustainability - or extinction.

Once the smoke clears, those humans still standing (if any) will be in the enviable position to start over to treat nature with the respect she deserves. Other societies that have failed to do so are extinct. In our absence, nature has millions of years to cleanse herself of our legacy, regenerate, create many new species, and perhaps evolve an improved human model.

Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/David Katz: Overpopulation:9 billion things to talk about

GREETING A NEW DAWN DARKLY IN IRAQ

Well, we left them a mess, did we? Why haven't they themselves cried out against the insurgents, given information that leads to their capture, why haven't they tried to adopt newer ways of doing things and come out from the dark ages? Why do they keep electing the same corrupt politicians? (ok that they may have learned from the Democrats)?

If they want their country to move forward, they have to do it themselves, We can't protect them from themselves. They have to want to live in peace and have a productive society. If they want to live in a village where the raw sewage runs down the middle of the street, then let them. The Iraqi people have to stand up and say, enough. We will not let ourselves be terrorized by the Taliban, the insurgents, Al Qaeda, or any of these other terrorist mullah led groups. They need to educate themselves and stop letting all of their thoughts come from the mouths of barely educated mullahs. If they want it bad enough, it will happen. By their own actions, and not from behind a cover of US combat troops!

Read the article YAHOO NEWS/Iraqi citizens angry after U.S. troop withdrawal

Who cares what they think. Five tours 03 (Baghdad), 04 (Fallujah), 05 (Baghdad), 06 (Mosul), and 08 (Mosul). They have had plenty of time to help themselves, but they chose not to. Granted we no doubt created a big mess, but imagining the 03 invasion never happened they're still living under the brutal Saddam reign of terror or worse yet one of his insane sons for the next 30 years.

Read the article YAHOO NEWS/Iraqi citizens angry after U.S. troop withdrawal

The U.S. can not afford to continue in Iraq. We were spending nearly a trillion dollars a year in total for the war effort there and Afghanistan. The work to rebuild was never accomplished. Many billions of dollars in aid are unaccounted for. The average Iraqi citizen sees no aid and are not to blame. The average Iraqi citizen today does not have running water or electricity or health care. This is similar to the state they were in during the 10 year embargo imposed by the UN but worse. Over 130,000 Iraqi citizens have lost their lives from U.S. armaments. Millions have been injured, many permanently maimed and disabled and are without sufficient medical care.

Corrupt U. S. officials, Iraqi officials and corporate partners are to blame. We are a nation that has lost our ability to serve a higher purpose without lining our own pockets. We move around the world lining the pockets of any tyrant who swears they will serve our purposes, like we did Saddam Hussein before the Persian Gulf War. We certainly do not have the moral fiber to over see such a daunting task as rebuilding a nation. Iraq is not the source of the terrorists who attacked us in 01, Saudi Arabia is, but we did not invade them. We have done great harm to the Iraqis since Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1989. Protecting our economy which would have collapsed had Hussein been successful is understandable. The biggest favor we can do them now is to just leave them alone and let them shape their own future finally. It is going to be very ugly but it is the only way for them now.

Read the article YAHOO NEWS/Iraqi citizens angry after U.S. troop withdrawal

Iraqi-American, Samir, 34, pinning deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to the ground during his capture in Tikrit, on Saturday July 24, 2004. Samir was the translator for the U.S. Special Forces that helped find Hussein and pull him from his hiding place on December 13, 2003. Samir recently met with U.S. President Bush and thanked him for liberating Iraq. U.S.Army photo

What can you say about an invasion based on false intelligence. What can you say about staying to occupy when you learn the truth that there were no weapons of mass destruction, therefore no dealing with terrorists to get them.

You can brag that we built the largest U.S, embassy in the world, in downtown Baghdad, but then you have to admit, there were no other successful construction projects in 8 years, and that electric and water has not been restored to pre-war levels.

You can down play the Iraqi civilian deaths, to the lower estimate of 100,000, by not counting those that died due to lack of hospitals, doctors, medicine,electric food and potable water, or those that died later after succumbing to their wounds.

Well, I guess you brag about the democracy that you forced on the people, but have to admit, has not functioned for the last 5 months.

The truth is Iraq lays in shambles, and the fault lies with America, and lack of morality of it's citizens. Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Anne Applebaum: "It's too soon to tell how the Iraq war went"

Anyone who is familiar with the Iraq war knows there really wasn't a plan for the occupation, and that squabbles between the Pentagon and anyone else were caused by the lack of a plan. We won the war but we may yet lose the peace.

President George W. Bush said, years after the invasion, "I wasn't prepared to go to war. I wish the intelligence had been different."

I'm not sure those statements were true. It seems pretty obvious he was prepared to go to war. But he, along with the rest of those in the US chain of command, weren't prepared to maintain the peace in an occupied country where widespread hostility should have been expected.

So far the results of the Iraq war have been largely negative for the US, and two of those results, increasing the influence of Iran in Iraq and strengthening Radical Islam, all but guarantee a lot more violence in the Middle East. Brilliant!

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Anne Applebaum: "It's too soon to tell how the Iraq war went"

As a journalist with over 30 years' experience of covering Iraq and the Arabian Gulf - living there throughout the Iraq-Iran war, the invasion of Kuwait, the first Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq - I can honestly say the invasion of Iraq was a) illegal b) opposed by most Iraqis in the country or in exile, regardless of any hatred they may have harboured for Saddam Hussein c) opposed by the country's neighbours d)a seven-year ongoing abuse of Iraqi human rights and e)a prime example of US ignorance and bullying to no avail.

The US campaign - judged against the information released at Centcom's US media centre in Qatar during the war - was just one lie after another.
US claims at the time were refuted by both UK and
Russian military intelligence (yes, I have the statements made at the time on record) and the devastation caused in Iraq - the loss of life and damage to the infrastructure - was and is indefensible.
Iraqis are intelligent, resourceful people who don't need irrelevant, inappropriate or damaging intervention from a country which understands nothing about Iraq's history, capabilities or needs.

The world - not just Iraq - has been damaged horrifically by the US' unlawful and unjustifiable decision to invade the country; an example of crass stupidity.

Hopefully now the country will be able to start its regeneration - though it will take decades just to get back to the 'square one' of 2003.

The exit of US combat troops from Iraq is a positive step. Making good the aid money squandered - claimed to have been spent but never actually put to accountable and justified use by the US - is the next essential step.

Read the article BBC/HAVE YOUR SAY: Was the Iraq War worth it?

It was certainly worth it for ex-military mates of mine, who were making between £750 and £1000 per day with private security firms. Many have bought houses in UK and abroad, for cash!! The same is true for those mates now operating in Kabul. These wars have become cash cows for them.

Sadly, the poor populations of these countries have seen their standard of living plummet, if that is possible!! Having lived in Iraq (and not in the sumptuous, palatial conditions in the Green Zone, I hasten to add), I have first-hand experience.

The Iraq war was not worth it, in humanitarian terms. The rich construction company owners, oil barons and private security firms have profitted on the misery and pain of others.

In time, history will reflect badly on those who perpetrated these terrible wars.

Read the article BBC/HAVE YOUR SAY: Was the Iraq War worth it?

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SCI|TECH

PROS AND CONS OF CRAIGSLIST SELF-CENSORSHIP

A screen shot of Craigslist.com censoring the

Craigslist should have been a great tool for law enforcement. It was a centralized gathering place for illegal activity. Law enforcement officials should have just started arresting the people who put up illegal advertisements.

Instead they decided to shoot the messenger and dispersed the illegal activities to harder to track areas. Most of these attorney generals are just politicians grandstanding while running for governor, senator, or other higher offices.

Read the article PC WORLD/The pros and cons of Craigslist shutdown of Adult Services sections

Craigslist was pushed to remove this section in order to try and reduce the sale of abused and victimized children and adults. While they claim to be monitoring and removing questionable postings they really weren't as proactive as they should have been.

There parent as many "free-lancers" out there as you would like to think.

Read the article PC MAGAZINE/Hookers and the battle for Craigslist

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of hookers suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced...

Yeah, I've been viewing the battle against Craigslist's adult categories for the past several years with disgust. They were an easy target for politicians to dupe the masses with fear of sex trafficking and evil evil bad men who want to turn our daughters into whores.

The reality was far more mundane: 99.999% of people posting ads were consenting adults who wanted to make extra money by quietly, unobtrusively, engaging in sex work that ran the gamut from massage with happy ending to full service--and Craigslist made it possible to do so without either dangerously walking the street and fouling up neighborhoods in the process, putting ads in mainstream newspapers where kids are likely to wonder what a "full-service escort" does for $250 an hour, or submitting to a pimp or madam who takes 50% or more of the cash.

Craigslist helped make prostitution a cleaner, safer practice, and it even helped law enforcement crack down on it in any jurisdictions where they actually cared to--Northern Virginia sheriffs, for example, proudly gave quotes to articles all the time about how they'd sting advertisers on Craigslist to catch the sex workers and post ads themselves to catch the customers.

Yes, there are stories of underage sex workers and even trafficking involving Craigslist posters. The reality is that this was a sensationalized minority, and that Craigslist helped expose these things not create them. Most underage sex workers and trafficking in the U.S. takes place in low income ethnic communities by word of mouth and on the streets; Craigslist actually made these people more exposed and more likely to get busted. Way to go endangering children and victims of trafficking, law enforcement.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Craigslist unexpectedly pulls adult service listings

I point this out every time, in these and the 'legalize drugs' threads, but the idea that legalization eliminates criminal activity is not based on any facts. We have real world examples of this, both with prostitution and drugs. In Europe prostitution is heavily regulated and taxed in several areas, including Germany and parts of Holland. Two things have occurred, 1) Women are kidnapped from eastern europe and russia and forced into sex slavery to feed the now burgeoning sex markets in the legal zones, and 2) Unlicensed prostitutes still flourish as they can offer the same services for cheaper.

In the US we can see this with drugs directly. The most smuggled controlled substance in the US is tobacco products, by far, with alcohol a distant second. More than marijuana, more than coke, more than meth. Due to regulation and taxation, the market for unregulated and untaxed cigarettes and alcohol is huge, the profit margin is simply the tax and regulation costs.

There is no reason to expect this pattern to change with prostitution, drugs or anything else.

This is not to say we should not have an honest debate about whether or not government should be regulating social activities in the first place. That is a debate I would love to see. Its one I could potentially be persuaded on. But claiming that legalization inherently eliminated the criminal element and undesirable effects of these activities ignores history and the reality of other nation's experience as well as our own where we have done so with other substances. Its a disingenuous argument at best. If we are going to argue for legalization, lets be honest about what is being proposed and what the probable results will be.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Craigslist unexpectedly pulls adult service listings

GOD DID NOT CREATE THE UNIVERSE, SAYS STEPHEN HAWKING

Stephen Hawking

Hawking didn’t say God didn’t exist, but that God did not create the universe. Physics created the universe. If it makes you sleep better at night, you can believe that God created physics.

And to the person who said you don’t believe in science, please shut off the computer. That device is entirely designed by science. The physics that created the universe also ensures your computer works. Without science to explain why things work they way they do, the world would be a much different place.

Spiritual belief also has a place in the world. That place is to help us cope with the unknown. But just like science, religion needs to be updated to account for our ever changing knowledge and needs.

Thank you Mr. Hawking for all your contributions.

Read the article REUTERS/God did not create universe says Stephen Hawking

As a life long Atheist and a Scientist I don't think it’s my role to try to convince people that belief in religion is wrong.

Yes, privately I think people who believe in any divine entity are deluded but for many it’s a necessary part of their life.

Where I would take umbrage with Hawkins is the idea that we fully understand the laws of physics sufficiently to prove God doesn’t exist. That is a different thing than me believing He doesn’t.

Anyway even if the laws of physics apply to everything a fraction of a second AFTER the Big Bang and it did happen all Physicists agree that the laws of physics totally break down at the exact moment of the Big Bang.

Perhaps God did do it and then left everything else to take place according to those laws, perhaps He didn’t.

Either way its a belief system not science.

Read the article REUTERS/God did not create universe says Stephen Hawking

The problem with Hawkins claim is that the mere implication of a law of gravity recognizes an existing force in action. Where this force comes from and why does it exist is a question that inevitably begets more questions than answers.

When applied within reason the notion of God still offers an elegant solution to this otherwise unsolvable puzzle. Denial of God does not solve this puzzle it merely wrecks it and calls it nothing.

Read the article REUTERS/God did not create universe says Stephen Hawking

I'm bothered by the popular notion that science and religion are mutually exclusive.

I'm a church pastor who happens to love science. In my experience, if you approach them objectively, without trying to discredit one or the other, science and scripture often complement one another. One example is the documentary, "Is Everything We Know About the Universe Wrong?" Although He is not so much as alluded to, I can see God all through it.

Too many scientists have abandoned the quest for pure scientific truths in exchange for the sole mission of stamping out religion. Dawkins is not interested in scientific truth. When he trumpets scientific theory as if it were fact, you can feel the hatred in his voice. He has allowed his personal feelings to sully his approach to science, and that is sad

Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Has Stephen Hawking ended the God debate?

"The point is, he says, that our universe followed inevitably from the laws of nature. But, we might ask, where did they come from?"

Very well put point. Science will never be able to disprove God, and the idea amongst believers of a "God of the gaps" has long been discounted as an explanatory belief. You are so right with saying that science and religion are different things. Science is amazing: it tells us how this wonderful universe works, and yes what we know as fact is forever changing with further scientific experimentation. Faith in God (or at least my own personal faith in Christ) is based on an understanding of a personal God revealed through a historical event, knowable through Christ. This is unprovable in the ways atheists want it to be: historical and verifiable as Jesus may be, and as real as my personal experience may be, it cannot be tested in the way atheists want it to be.

Thanks for the very well written and well perceived article. Sadly, all I feel I can expect now is a collection of inane comments based on nothing but petty insults and atheist dogma from the new atheists, unwilling to actually engage in anything but name calling...

Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Has Stephen Hawking ended the God debate?

"In many cultures it is customary to answer that God created the universe out of nothing. But this is mere temporizing. If we wish courageously to pursue the question, we must, of course ask next where God comes from? And if we decide this to be unanswerable, why not save a step and conclude that the universe has always existed?" Carl Sagan

'Nuff said

Read the article GUARDIAN/In praise of...God

I don't get why spontaneous creation is so hard for people to fathom.

The alternative is some supernatural being that's either always existed or had to be created at some other point.

Which is more likely - intelligence existing prior to the universe's creation, or physics going about its business with a few simple laws.

Read the article GUARDIAN/In praise of...God

EYE IN THE SKY ON U.S.-MEXICO BORDER

Interesting to me that nobody mentioned that using drones to patrol the border is an example of foreign policy come home.

I see it as normalizing surveillance.

First we use drones in Afghanistan/Iraq/Pakistan, then it seems like such a good idea (plus a boon to the military contractors involved)that we use them on our borders, then...maybe when there is a domestic disturbance, or Katrina-like catastrophe, and it's only prudent to use them to, you know, protect "property and interests" that are "vital", we use them again, and again, and then always.

And then that's just the way it is, looking up, seeing drones, just part of daily life. Of course, who is it that is looked upon by drones? It isn't white collar criminals. They don't help there one bit. It isn't anyone involved in control fraud. It isn't political graft that we formally thought of as illegal.

So, drones can not only intimidate by their presence, but they also can set the parameters of what is considered dangerous and illegal.

But, maybe not, I'm prolly just an old crank.

Read the article BOING BOING/Entire length of U.S.- Mexico border to be patrolled by unmanned drones

Does no one remember that we've already got giant blimps along the border that were supposed to do the same thing? They've been here for 16 years. I don't know the cost. And while the blimps may stop PLANES carrying drugs into the US, but they do not stop the drugs. Nor the illegal immigrants.

Nothing law enforcement has done has stopped people from buying these drugs, and users are enriching some very bad people every day with the purchases. And corrupting law enforcement on both sides of the Rio Grande.

I used to think Milton Friedman completely daft for suggesting legalization; I'm beginning to think he was right all along. At least with respect to marijuana...

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Drone fligts to begin in Southern Texas

REDEFINING THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

The full OED is over a dozen volumes. Each volume is easily a megabyte or two; having once seen them, weighed them in my hands, and had a chance to see just how much tiny print they fit into each volume, I'd be willing to bet each volume is more like ten megabytes at the very least just for the text, exclusive of the fairly complex markup that'd be necessary to correctly represent the content, and the additional font that'd be required to correctly represent the pronunciation guides.

I guarantee you there's not one ebook reader in ten which is capable of correctly representing a page of OED print, much less making it searchable in a way that works -- what would take you or me maybe ten minutes of page-riffling is going to take that dinky little ARM in your Kindle from now until the end of the universe, more or less.

Are these good reasons *not* to work out a way of distributing the full OED electronically? No -- but they *are* good reasons why an ebook version isn't going to replace the paper version.

Read the article THE REGISTER/OED goes the way of all flesh paper

"Another benefit of paper is their survivability"

Look up "Library of Alexandria" and then repeat this idiotic statement with a straight face. (Hint: look at the icon.)

One Repository To Rule Them All has never been a good storage system. Multiple repositories is the only safe way to go - you can then keep your repositories up-to-date and error-free. And electronic repositories are the only way of making that process automated, fast and low-error.

Contrary to people moaning "BBC Master - laserdisk - obsolete media", there *are* plenty of existing BBC, C64 and other games around today, playable through emulators such as MAME. They've been format-shifted to another storage medium, that's all. You may also notice that the original Gutenberg press plates for Shakespeare's plays no longer exist, but the plays are still being printed...

It also rather depends on how long you want to wait between updates. With an electronic version you can pick up all the latest updates as they're added - no need to wait 28 years for a version of the OED containing the word "email", or new definitions for the words "mobile" and "text".

Read the article THE REGISTER/OED goes the way of all flesh paper

SOFTWARE FINGERS HARD CRIMINALS

Skull showing sword-blade trauma, 1903, National Institutes of Health, Health & Human Services, Via Wikipedia

Software is used to predict all sorts of things -- how likely you are to get a disease (e.g., it helps set your insurance rate -- you really don't think it is human doing that calculation, do you?), how likely you are to repay a loan (helps determine how much of a loan you should receive and at what rate), how likely you are to get into a car accident (helps assign your car insurance premium... again, it is not a person making the calculation, but a person gathering the data that goes into a software program that uses historical records to predict your likelihood of being in an accident).

The same type of software using massive databases of information from past murders, of which there have been ample in this country, can be used to predict the likelihood of a parolee committing murder.

It's not some random function, but a carefully calculated rate based upon past incidences. Is it 100% perfect? No, of course not. But is it better than a random guess or the average police officer's assessment? Most likely, yes and testing will surely prove its accuracy or lack thereof.

Read the article ABC NEWS/Software predicts criminal behavior

This guy Berk is full of himself. To say that his v1.0 software"replaces those seat-of-the-pants calculations" which is really the cumulative lifetime knowledge of an expert in the field and which takes into account far more variables than his software if fallacy. Perhaps the software can help but it is not going to replace human judgment anytime soon. I an also guessing that his software is built around interviews of experienced parole officers as well as some data mining. So he is automating some of the basics that they already know for perhaps the benefit of the new parole officers. Now will this be used in sentencing? Because that is a fight that is coming... I can hear it now.... "preemptive sentencing".

Read the article ABC NEWS/Software predicts criminal behavior

Big Brother playing Nostradamus ...What's next?

Read the article ABC NEWS/Software predicts criminal behavior

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NATIONAL

BURNING QUESTION: THE GENERAL, THE PASTOR, AND THE QURAN

U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, speaks to key NATO and U.S. military leadership at a commanders conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2010. DOD PHOTO: U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bradley Lail

As a recently deployed (and returned) soldier I can say that if the Dove World Outreach Church does do this, they will not only disgrace their own name, but it WILL have serious repercussions on the deployed soldiers. Most muslims are peaceful day-to-day workers who could easily be you or me. I've lived amongst the common Muslim overseas and most of them are very polite and courteous. But they are fiercely passionate about their religion and their holidays and this is possibly the worst thing a "peaceful" organization can do. It will incite violence and bloodshed, and that violence and bloodshed will be pointed at the soldiers and other Americans that are overseas in these areas.

I read a comment that Petraeus should "forget politics and concentrate on his job." Well as a 4-star general politics are part of his job. He is the commander of ALL American, and some non-American, forces deployed to the Middle-East. He doesn't just have to deal with the American government, but with the governments of over 35 different countries, some of which are predominantly Muslim countries. Heck, the base of operations from which all US military actions in the middle east are controlled is only 15km from the capital city of a Muslim country. So do not try to tell a man who is truly and deeply concerned for the lives of his soldiers and the effort at hand that he needs to "butt out" of something that will directly affect his job. That's like telling a police officer to butt out of a planned bank robbery

Read the article CNN/Pastor weighing plans to burn Qurans

When I fought in Viet Nam during a period when 58,000 Plus Americans came home dead, we heard and saw films of Jane Fonda and others in Hanoi criticizing the United States and providing aid and comfort to our enemy. Nobody stood up in the media to say their politics put us in added danger - because it didn't!

Anyone who thinks this stupidity in Florida will put our troops in danger does not understand war. Our enemy is trying their best to kill and maim our troops! They can't hate us any more than they do. Nothing in the media will make haters inside and outside this country hate less.

Again, Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right, not something a general should decide on. People burn American flags inside America, and nobody says or does anything. They have that right. Grow up people. Burn Palin or Beck books at your rallies if you want.

But don't decide what Americans can and cannot say or do. Chances are you've not been in combat and you've not earned that right.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Petraeus condemns Florida church's plans to burn Korans

Muslims of America and the world need to know that this tiny Florida group does NOT represent the beliefs of our country or the beliefs of Christians at all.

We are horrified and appalled at this stupid stunt. Jesus said love your neighbor, not go out of your way to offend him. If you spend your money buying books to burn instead of buying food for the poor, you are NOT a Christian. You are a hypocrite.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Petraeus condemns Florida church's plans to burn Korans

Oh for Pete's sake, this isn't Christianity in action. For those of you who use any bad behavior by some cult as a reason to start tearing down religion, just stop it. This cult is no different than the Westboro Baptist cult that goes to military funerals and cheers the death of each soldier because in their view "God hates gays and is punishing US soldiers because we accept gay people." Fred Phelps and his family are the only ones in his stupid "church" and they do not represent one thing in the Christian faith. They are a hate group. So is this Dove Center in Florida. Its a hate group. They would probably participate in lynchings if they could get away with it.

We can't censor their free speech, but it can be drowned out with louder speech. Just look at what the motorcycle freedom riders have done to drown out Fred Phelps. See the videos on YouTube. You will stand and cheer for these men and women who through exercise of their free speech have silenced Fred Phelps.

What's needed is for the good people of Florida to gather and do the same thing on September 11th at this location. Thousands should peacefully gather and loudly sing hymns and hold a very loud peace meeting that drowns out these 50 cult misfits. That's the one way to legally shut them down.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/Petraeus condemns Florida church's plans to burn Korans

AT HIS BECK AND CALL

Glenn Beck, Photo: David Shankbone

The assertion that this rally was held "without advancing any explicitly political agenda" strikes me as silly.

There was no need to advance: everybody was already grunting around the same monolith. Anti-government, anti-Obama, anti-tax, anti-ME! Everybody came for the purpose of cheering cynical angertainment manipulators such as Sarah Palin and Beck himself.

No explicit political agenda? C'mon, Ross. Are you unclear about the sympathies of this crowd? Were they angling for the reality-based vote? Not likely. Charlatans do not become great leaders just because they throw a big rally and nobody riots.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Mr. Beck Goes to Washington

Glenn Beck made some good points. Honoring our troops,their families and "Restoring Honor to America" Some people forget this country was built with God's guidance, and in God we Trust. For the last year and a half our nation's leaders have apologized for our country saying that we Americans are sorry.

Those who have apologized need to read a history book. I think they will find out a different view and reality. In this country we can achieve the American Dream, no matter what race,ethnic background you are. We have great traditions and history. I am proud to be an American and proud to be an American Indian, in the greatest country in the world.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Mr. Beck Goes to Washington

I'm an American veteran, son of a vet, grandson of a vet and so on for over 200 years. We served to defend the freedom of religion. These comments about God belonging in government dishonor my service and my family's service. Are you saying since I’m devoutly agnostic I have no place in this country? What of my Black brothers-in-arms, are you honoring them with the site and date of your rally? What of our Democrat veterans?

You only seek to honor White Christian Republican veterans. Shame, shame, shame.

Read the article CNN/Glenn Beck's honor rally

"Somehow I suspect we'll be hearing about Beck for many, many years to come."

Only in the same way that 1930s American religious/fascist Father Coughlin was talked about for years after he was discredited and lost his populist appeal. Beck is similar to Coughlin and may follow his decline if he isn't careful. I noticed that he pulled back from his "Obama is racist" comment (finally), so maybe he will be able to avoid discrediting his views.

One thing I wondered was, how many rally attendees were those who had been suspicious of Mitt Romney in 2008 because of his Mormon faith? Do they know Beck is also a Mormon? Makes no difference to me, of course, but I'll bet it does to them. Read the article

DAILY BEAST/Glen Beck rally; Malcolm X similarities

IS CITIZEN KNOW-NOTHING ON THE MARCH?

Uncle Sam's youngest son, Citizen Know Nothing.

All that you have said here is true, but the Sarah and Rush and Sean and Glen believers will never buy it. They need a devil to fight, and have found one in the White House. History will call it them racist reactionaries. The beauty of their lies is that they are so unbelievable and detached from reality that you would think even the most gullible and stupid among us would get it. What has been discovered by their fabrications is that the stupidity of the electorate knows no limit! There truly are folks out here in the world who believe that Elvis is alive. Why would they not believe that the President is a muslim or that he was born in Kenya?

If anything, the current "debates" on talk radio and within the right wing spheres of influence concerning mosques in New York and the fascist Obama regime; those diatribes that abandon all truth and reality, should prove to us that our public school systems have failed miserably in teaching students the basic functions and foibles of mass communication, and the importance of good citizenship. We should be talking about education reform that brings civics and history back into the curriculum of all public schools.

Too many of our citizens seem almost eager to throw off the bondage of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to get their way with the rest of us. They seem to think that the loudest shouter is the winner. That is not how democracy works.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Building a nation of Know-Nothings

Trouble is today, even if the media does try and state the truth (far too little I must say) the constant repetition takes root. Jake Tapper recently wrote that when he pointed to all the facts about Obama's citizenship and religion, he was bombarded with phone and e-mail messages from folks who insisted he was wrong. And research shows that in cases like these, when you tell give someone facts to refute a misconception they may have, they are likely as not to emerge with an even stronger belief in their original position.

The "media" today isn't newspapers, magazines and TV....it is syndicated talk shows with wall to wall falsehoods, it is websites, it is viral e-mails filled with lies.....it is insidious and it is dangerous to our democracy. We are increasingly making political decisions which ignore fact, science and reason. We are increasingly becoming Palinized....reducing all thought to 140 character "tweets"...and primarily from twerps.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Building a nation of Know-Nothings

Ready for the contrary view? No, I do not believe the nonsense about Obama, and I also could not care less.

But the incredible hypocrisy spewed forth by Mr. Egan (why is he dubbed a commentator "from the West" since his opinion are so mainstream NYT?) is laughable.

So what if half of Republicans believe this nonsense? I could probably show you a poll that half of Democrats believe that Iran's pursuit of nuclear energy is for peaceful purposes only, that climate change is reflected by a two week heat wave, and that the controversy surrounding the mosque at Ground Zero is really about religious freedom. Like Rush Limbaugh, the liberal media beats the drum of the afore-mentioned themes 24/7, enabling teachers who educate our children, like poster #4, to inculcate our children with the "correct" way to perceive the policy of the day.

If we live in a land of "know-nothings," then it is a land in which truly all know-nothings are created equal. Or perhaps, despite Mr. Egan's one-sided tirade, this is the "exchange of ideas" contemplated by the Founders, whether the ideas are deranged or bona fide.

But then, one has to smile at a leftist protestor holding up a sign in support of freedom of religion at Ground Zero. Next thing ya know, that protestor will be supporting prayer in the public school. And I'll be lauding Ahmadinejad as merely, in the words of Democrat director Oliver Stone, a "misunderstood" politician.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Building a nation of Know-Nothings

P.S. $578 MILLION: COSTLIEST PUBLIC SCHOOL IN U.S. TO OPEN IN LOS ANGELES

The number of kids doesn’t bother me, because my kids went to a K-12 school, and, honestly, there is very little interaction between the youngsters and the high school — they are in separate buildings, and have very little interaction, if any, during the school day. Separate principal, separate facilities, separate car pool, etc., etc.

I suspect that this new school has similar divisions.

The money for the school was raised by bonds several years ago, before the current economic issues — it’s not as though they could use that bond money for anything else, so they might as well build the school they intended.

But does a gorgeous building mean better learning? Of course not — but it sure doesn’t hurt.

Read the article ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION/L.A. unveils $578 million school: do costly school facilities equal better learning?

Somehow I am reminded of all the wonderful private schools, which are over 100 yrs old and cranking out classes with 100% college(4yr) acceptance. My mom’s school in Ohio is over 150 yrs old and is still standing today. It is still generating more successful students than all of the local shiny new public schools in the area. The heart of the students,teachers, and parents will always outweigh the prestige of the structure.

It is disgusting how LA Unified School district could not find the means to hire/retain more teachers, but had access to unlimited construction funds. I bet a large portion of this school was funded with federal bail out/stimulus money. A child could learn more in a shack with a quality teacher, less red tape, more parental involvement, and a smaller class.

Read the article ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION/L.A. unveils $578 million school: do costly school facilities equal better learning?

Public schools don't need fancy architecture and manicured lawns. They needs books, security guards, and an adequate supply of competent teachers. $700 million could have bought that for 20 schools. Where did all this money come from, and why is so much of it being funneled into just one place?

Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/L.A. unveils $578 million school, costliest in the nation

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HEALTH/EDUCATION

THE HORROR FROM BELOW

This digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed on the ventral surface of a bedbug, Cimex lectularius. From this view you can see the insect's skin piercing mouthparts it uses to obtain its blood meal, as well as a number of its six jointed legs Photo: Janice Harney Carr, Center for Disease Control, via Wikipedia

To the commenters with DDT nostalgia:

Even if DDT hadn't been banned in 1972, it would have disappeared from the market not long thereafter because it would have stopped working.

DDT, like most chemical pesticides, doesn't kill 100% of it's targets. The handful of bugs that survive (and their offspring) are immune to DDT and don't have any competition.

Eventually, you have as many bugs as you did before, only now the DDT has no effect at all on them.
I worked in commercial agriculture in the '80s, and I saw the constant hunt for new pesticides as the old ones lost effectiveness.

Read the article BOSTON GLOBE/ Bedbug fears putting bite on hotel industry

There appears to be a little bit of bad information in these comments. First, simply having a Tempurpedic mattress does not get rid of or prevent bedbugs. They can live in a number of places, such as along the seams of mattresses, under the mattress tags, in the carpet, between cracks in a hardwood floor, in alarm clocks, behind light switch and electrical plates, inside the bed frame, pretty much anywhere. Wrapping a mattress in protective covers helps, as long as there is not a single rip or tear, and you wrap the box spring as well.

I had to deal with these buggers in my apartment. I had been waking up with bites for several months before I finally saw one and did some research online. I declared war, and I won, but it took some time and effort.

First, I had the mattress replaced, since I found two “nests” within the mattress. I then had an exterminator come in twice. This knocked the infestation down, but didn’t end it. After doing tons of research online, I armed myself with Diatomaceous earth (DE) and a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. DE is natural an non-toxic to me and my cat, but deadly to bugs.

I spread the DE along every point where the carpet meets the wall, in each room. This way, any bedbug trying to come in to the apartment would have to go through it, ensuring an eventual death. I pulled my bed away from the wall and outlined it with DE as well, after having coated the frame. I then put some DE in between the box spring and mattress and between the mattress and the sheet. I then dissolved some in water in a spray bottle and coated the sides of the mattress and box spring, so that when the water evaporates it would leave the DE on the surface.

DE works because it sticks to bugs and cuts into their exoskeleton, and draws fluids out into the air, so they eventually dry out and die. Once a bug touches DE, it will eventually die unless it can get to water and wash it off. Since bedbugs cannot jump or fly, the only way to get to me is to climb through the DE around the bed, and up the sides of the box spring, which is also coated. When not sleeping, I had the rubbing alcohol always nearby, in case I saw one. One shot with rubbing alcohol kills them almost instantly.

I’d say it took about 2-3 weeks for them to finally die off, as you have to get though several cycles of eggs hatching and adults dying. It’s been 5 months now, and I’ve never had another bite or seen any evidence that they are still here. I still leave the DE in place, since I am in an apartment building and I don’t want to risk the bedbugs coming in from other apartments.

It was a nasty experience, but you can beat them within a little time and effort.

Read the article BOSTON GLOBE/ Bedbug fears putting bite on hotel industry

GOOD CHEER FOR MODERATE DRINKERS

"Any kind of outpatient care" means that they saw a doctor for any reason at all, including a physical, with the exception of visiting the hospital.

How do you track a person's health, if they do not see a doctor at least once in three years?

This sample selection method is actually fairly solid. While, there will be some healthier people that feel they do not need to see a doctor and therefore not included in the study, there are also people that go straight to the hospital for care, who tend to be less healthy, and who were also not included in the study.

The key is "everything in moderation." The moderate drinkers live the longest, not the heavy drinkers.

Read the article TIME/Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers, study finds

So I guess Buddha was right. Everything in moderation. It makes perfect sense that moderate levels of alcohol will release more dopamine into your system without overloading your hepatic response to toxins or creating a chemical dependence.

I have a great aunt who is...oh about 95 now....still lives alone and has a job. She has one beer every day and is in perfectly good health. The only thing i believe may be a little off kilter with this article is the comment that "those who abstain from alcohol tend to be from lower socioeconomic classes, since drinking can be expensive." May I please see the stats on that one....

Read the article TIME/Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers, study finds

The study is based on people 55-65, and only shows the mortality rates of non, heavy and light drinkers compared to moderate drinkers. Shows non drinkers had 2 times higher mortality rate than moderate, heavy had 71% higher, and light had 23% increased mortality over moderate drinkers.

Here is a quote from the study when they adjusted for some other variables

"However, even after adjusting for all covariates, abstainers and heavy drinkers continued to show increased mortality risks of 51 and 45%, respectively, compared to moderate drinkers."

So this study shows, that moderate drinkers have the lowest mortality rate, which makes more sense than what the title of this article shows. Of course the age range of this group, automatically excludes any heavy drinkers who had already died due to other alcohol related reasons. So this study only applies to you if u make it to 55.

So here is your revised title. "Heavy Drinkers who have lived to the age of 55 outlive Nondrinkers, that have lived to the age of 55, although moderate drinking still shows the best survival rate, after the age of 55."

Read the article TIME/Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers, study finds

COUNTING THE COST OF HALF A BILLION BAD EGGS

“I’m not paying that…”

I’m in retail, and that is the most common statement I hear from consumers when referring to the price of “organic” or “pasture raised” foods. Even if it’s only 10 cents more!

The industrial food complex has debased almost all of our foods for a very long time now. And, the US public’s demand for cheap, unnaturally produced foods is the most guilty willing accomplice.

When will people learn that nothing of worth is cheap or free, especially when it comes to our well being. We all pay for what we get, one way or another.

Read the article REUTERS/ U.S. probes egg recall and calls for tighter rules

This is why I research the food I put on my family's table.

A year ago I didn't like the smell of eggs I was purchasing at the grocery store. So I found an egg producer in our state and they go out of their way to process egg safely. I buy my meat from a locally raised herd. I buy my produce locally too.

Since govt stripped the food inspectors of their ability to do their job I didn't wait for the govt to "protect" my family. Neither party cares one bit about us and the sooner you take steps to buy smarter the safer your family will be.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/As egg producers consolidate, problems of just one company can be far-reaching

"Egg recall comes at time of industry consolidation"

It also comes at a time when the American food supply has acquired the quality and safeness of a 3rd world nation. We are now a 3rd world nation status when it comes to our food supply.

My in-laws from Spain were visiting a couple of months ago, and they were surprised that I don't eat regular American food unless it's organic, local or it's a carefully screened product.

I told them basically what this article implies: there isn't enough FDA/USDA regulation, the agencies can't enforce what regulations do exist, and none of the funding and regulatory infrastructure kept up with globalization and consolidation during the Bush years.

The U.S. food supply is pretty close to being effectively unregulated at this point and it's just not safe.

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/As egg producers consolidate, problems of just one company can be far-reaching

The incredible inedible egg !

Read the article WASHINGTON POST/As egg producers consolidate, problems of just one company can be far-reaching

STEEP DIFFERENCE: BOTTLED TEA AND THE OLD CUPPA

Green tea leaves steeping in an uncovered zhong (type of tea cup). via Wikipedia

Just because a compound has antioxidant activity does not mean its healthy or good for you. This is a myth perpetuated by nutrional companies to make their food sound healthier.

Some compounds like polyphenols and flavonoids found in many fruits and vegetables have beneficial health effects but it often has little or nothing to do with antioxidant activity.

Your body makes all the antioxidants it needs. If it didn't you couldn't survive your own bodies metabolism

Read the article NPR/Bottled tea comes up short in antioxidant tests

I began drinking Lipton diet green tea with citrus last summer when a bottle was given to me at a social gathering. I liked the flavor so much that I quit my 6-10 can a day Diet Coke habit and switched to the tea. I assume that I have been getting health benefits since I switched....not from the tea...but from not drinking so much Coke

Read the article NPR/Bottled tea comes up short in antioxidant tests

I have been in tea for 40+ years, growing and manufacturing different kinds of tea in different countries: I am happy to tell you that green tea brew is the best and the way it is brewed in eastern oriental countries.

Brewing a small quantity of tea in a tea pot for about 3 minutes and then pour it in small cups and drink it when it is palatably warm. The same tea is poured with hot water for two more brews giving a little longer time each time to get the maximum extract. It is drunk in lieu of water . The brew is at all time very pale when infused and strong liquor is not necessary . The aromatics stay with the brew and polyphenols are not lost. Try it once and you would like what I have told you .

Black orthodox tea should also be made in this process but the liquor will be more golden in color. I have changed from black tea to green tea after understanding its goodness.

Chemically flavored tea loses the volatile good qualities and there is very little polyphenols in it. One drinks flowery flavors only , not tea !

Read the article MSNBC/Bottled versus brewed teas: Study reveals healthiest teas

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BUSINESS

PROPOSED: A $200 BILLION TAX BREAK FOR BUSINESS

DarKobra at Deviantart, via Wikipedia

First, this sounds like an idea that might have worked a year ago, but right now is not necessarily the smartest move. The problem now is that people aren''t hiring. Now the professional liberals on TDB claim I get this from Fox News, but since I am not a Fox News person, I can tell you I get this from my business associations: People are NOT HIRING...partially due to the uncertainty of recent aggressive legislation and partially due to clarity of the negative consequences and increased cost of health care...Repeal Health Care legislation and you'll get the fast increase in employment we need.

Second, the quid pro quo for this will be allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to expire on the over $200,000 crowd. That's a bad idea because that tax hits small business owners disproportionately. One of the reasons they're holding back on hiring is this upcoming de facto tax increase.

Third, for a plan that is very expensive, I have seen very little data to show that in this specific economy it has any chance of creating jobs.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Obama wants a business tax break

Here is a glaring example of how different Democratic policy makers are from Republican policy makers. A Republican policy maker wishes to make permanent reductions in taxes so that when businesses invest, a business is able to make a much longer term investment decision based on clearer future cash flows.

But, the Democratic policy maker says to American business, 'we'll give you one year's tax gift, but every year after that all bets are off '. Sorry, but a 100% one year tax deduction is a poor tax policy to help the US economy for the next decade. We need better long term tax policies, and unfortunately for me and many others, it means severe cuts in social security and medicare.

Let's just bite the bullet and start growing our economic pie. I'm hungry!!

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Obama to push tax break

This is all a diversion.

Unless a business needs to expand and build something, it is useless. Since capacity is over demand how many companies are going to expand.

It is a way to say "I did something for businesses". But without doing anything really. Will the economy suddenly go to 7% growth because a few companies are able to expense some equipment or a new plant?

Not a chance.

By the time the main stream media gets around to telling what is really with it, the election will be over and then it will be "but we tried". Can you say stimulous worked? Case closed.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Obama to push tax break

If anyone has amnesia, let me help you out. We followed the republican economic plan for over 8 years and what happened? You know, less regulation, more tax breaks for corporations and agribusinesses. Unpaid wars and tax cuts. Destroyed an surplus of over $250 billion. What did we achieve? An economy that almost collapsed. It was so bad that Bush had to bail out the banks. That's right Bush not Obama bailed out the banks!

If anyone has read on this site the report from all corners of the economic spectrum that the Recovery Act saved our nation from another Great Depression, saved or created 3 million jobs. And the money, which the states have not spent all of it nor has the government disbursed all of it, was invested in our nation. Not on a war or tax cuts for the uber rich.

Republicans don't give a hoot about the middle class and the sooner we realize that the better. Their actions speak for themselves.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Obama to push tax break

ONE IN SIX AMERICANS GETTING HELP FROM GOVERNMENT

Camden, New Jersey is one of the poorest cities in the United States. Camden suffers from unemployment, urban decay, poverty, and many other social issues. Much of the city of Camden, New Jersey suffers from urban decay. via Wikipedia

Everybody seems to have their reason and excuse for being "in need" of the money that somebody else expended part of their life earning. Nobody is "deserving" of somebody else's money. Nobody is being "punished" because they cannot get "enough" of somebody else's money.

I am responsible, hard working, I save even if I have to go without things I want, I plan for future emergencies and I want to be able to spend my hard earned money on my family. I am sick and tired of paying for the welfare crowd, no matter what their excuse is. Including having more kids than they can afford.

All of the government's giveaway programs were started with good intent and I supported them. However, they have all grown into monsters sucking the life out of the country. Since the "means tested" programs started, including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing, they have cost the country 13 TRILLION dollars and we are worse off than we were and are now 13 trillion in debt.

People have to start being responsible for themselves. If the tide is about to turn in favor of the taxpayer - GOOD!

Read the article USA TODAY/Record number in government anti-poverty programs

You know, 'taxedmore'...I used to sound a LOT like you...

Try becoming one of those downtrodden 'welfare' schmucks you talk about like that...you personally should just remember that contempt you have for them...without knowing how they got to that point...when you are starved for 2-days, because you lost your job, your house, maybe even your family, and burned up 20, 30 years of savings...with no hope in sight. Remember how snide contempt feels...when it is given to you by another.

I speak from experience, when I say...it is one hell of a humbling experience. I went from not rolling down the window of my mercedes window, to drop a quarter in some poor guy's change jar...to wishing I could find a change jar to catch a few donations in myself. Sure looks funny, from the other end of that looking glass, 'taxedmore'...maybe you'll get that viewpoint one day and see for yourself.

God be with anyone, with such a limited hypocritical viewpoint as this...for when we lose charity to other men, we are nothing but animals...and forbid, the evil, uncaring animals we have become.

Read the article USA TODAY/Record number in government anti-poverty programs

"NO-RECOVERY' -- A BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW

Paul Krugman

No, it's not a recovery. It's more like "the patient is relatively stable but remains in danger of organ failure."

There are two parts of the problem:
1 - Even if you take the the realistic view that only 75% or so of the workforce is "fully employed," that's a pretty significant majority. The kind of structural change that's needed on the economy -- the restoration of the possibility of a workable equilibrium, for one thing -- will not be politically feasible unless and until things get *much* worse.

2 - The "common sense" folks, the ones who believe that a national or world economy -- by nature a closed or semi-closed system -- can work the same way a household economy does make far too much, well, sense. They're wrong, but they make sense.

Barring a model -- and perhaps a messenger -- that can sell the ideas that would be truly effective, we are condemned to continue, at best, to see the kinds of half-measures that both cannot work and make continued measures difficult to propose, let alone pass.

On the bright side, things may just recover by the time my kids enter the workforce. On the less bright side, one must remember that even the eldest is in single digits.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/ Paul Krugman: This is not a recovery

This is not a recovery. Where I live nothing is working and everything is running out - money, patience, and time. The delusionals in D.C. have no idea how bad things really are on the ground. Their all playing media games or at fund raisers. I have now been unemployed for almost eighteen months and no one is hiring. There are NO JOBS!

All we see here in western NC is gridlock in Washington, a President who has quit and is being fed a bunch of tripe by the Wall Street flunkies at the Treasury dept. and on his economic team, and the republicans saying "no" to everything. Well I guess we got the best gov't. money can buy special interest money that is. Someone up there needs to wake up soon or the whole mess is going to implode or explode soon.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/ Paul Krugman: This is not a recovery

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SPORTS/ENTERTAINMENT

THE MAN WHO CRUSADED AGAINST THE "10 CENT PLAGUE"

"He was only calling for a law "that would forbid the display and sale of crime comic books to children under fifteen," he insisted.

Sure, Wertham didn't advocate censorship. He just wanted the government to make it illegal for comic books publishers to sell to the people who actually bought them."

Come now. You must realize that most people who buy comics are 30-40 year old neckbeards with no social lives?

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Papers of comic book crusader now open to scholars

When I was about 10, I was part of a pack of kids who collected Marvel comics. We had heard about Wertham's book, which, I believe, had led to that little stamp in the upper right hand corner of all the Marvel an DC comics, the Comics Code seal of approval. A coveted issue of SpiderMan from the early seventies was a story that dealt with drugs; it didn't glamorize drugs and ended badly. It didn't have the seal of approval on it, so it was more collectible than other issues from the same time.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Papers of comic book crusader now open to scholars

Weird Worlds comic, image courtesy Ars Technica

I would argue that the "wrong sorts of books," by themselves, don't wreak harm on the psyche, any more than the "right sorts of books" will turn us into good, upstanding members of society. Any person whose behavior can be drastically altered, for better or ill, by reading a book (or watching a movie, or hearing a song, or playing a game) was mentally ill or unstable to begin with. These circumstances cannot appear fully formed with no prior basis.

If it wasn't the book that incurred the change, it would have been the next conversation with a stranger, or seeing a news report of a plane crash. To put the onus on the book, or genre of book, is to completely ignore the real source of the individual's problem, which is of course far harder to remedy. Censorship of "wrong books" is nothing more than a fruitless and destructive attempt to find a simple solution for problems that can never be solved so simply.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Papers of comic book crusader now open to scholars

ELIN BLASTS OUT

I admire Elin - she has shown dignity and class throughout these many months - she has not spoken to the media and added more fuel to the fire. She is a classy lady. She has, I'm sure, gone through unbelievable heartbreak, anger, and sorrow, and has risen above it and survived with her integrity and dignity.

It is so easy for men in these situations, who are put in a pedestal by fans, who travel a lot, and who have the means to pay for whatever or whomever they want, to become very selfish and self-centered and think they are above the "rules" or the standards expected of the regular Joe.

Money obviously meant very little to Tiger, as did family, so whatever the settlement amount was, Elin will use it to benefit her children, and they are the most important and valuable "asset" of the marriage.

Read the article PEOPLE/Elin Nordegren speaks: "I feel stronger than I ever have"

When your husband travels for a living and is a celebrity, it's very easy to not know. Most people do not want to jump on every shred of evidence that something could be going on. The incessant papz didn't even figure it out for heaven's sake, anyone expects the woman that loves him to blaze the trail?

As for the amount of money, she deserves every penny she received, as she was a huge help in marketing his brand as the family w a beautiful wife and kids. His fame brought her massive humiliation as every ho that ever met him came parading out to exploit their 15 minutes.

Bad enough when someone tells you a small lie, imagine having to live even one day of that. It hasn't really been mentioned in the press, but can you imagine having to wonder if you will be tested positive for HIV at some point because of his prowling around, even with women known to be in the porn industry? Fear of your children being exposed through pregnancy/breastfeeding?

Read the article PEOPLE/Elin Nordegren speaks: "I feel stronger than I ever have"

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PEOPLE

MR BLAIR REFLECTS ON SOULMATES AND TYRANTS

President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair shake hands after their press conference in the East Room of the White House on Friday November 12, 2004. White House photo by Paul Morse

He is a political strategist in the same way that successful captains of industry are business strategists. It is more about Labour's market share and wrong-footing the Tories than high principle

In short, it was about being a winner - and if that meant coming up with policies which even the Tories balked at (tuition fees, 90 days' detention, ID cards), in the belief that it would get you more votes than the other lot, then so be it.

All that's happened since he left Downing Street is that there has been nothing and no-one to constrain him, let alone to do the equivalent of whispering 'remember, you are mortal' in his ear. A Journey is 'Blair Unbound' - and it's not a pretty sight.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Tony Blair's memoirs: Verdict

The Spartan general Brasdias to the Acanthians (Thucydides 'History of the Peloponnesian War Book IV) concerning the Athenian 'democratic empire'

'For it is more disgraceful, at least for those who have a name to lose, to gain one's ends by deceit which pretends to be morality than by open violence.'

The one thing all political commentators and indeed his political critics agreed upon was Blair's 'sincerity' - his belief that he was doing the right thing for the right reasons which is perhaps the biggest delusion of all. Blair knew he was doing the wrong thing in Iraq for the wrong reasons (finishing off George Bush senior's economic crusade from the first gulf war) yet was prepared to see thousands slaughtered in order to cement his place in history.

Let's call imperialism that it is, as Brasidas suggests, instead of dressing it up as a fight against tyranny.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Tony Blair's memoirs: Verdict

I watched a brilliant programme a few years ago called 'Tired and Emotional' about the drinking culture in Westminster. Maggie used to have a couple of large drinks before PMQ's apparently and Wilson used to have brandy before and after it and of course Churchill was known for having a few bottles of wine a day.

When New Lab came into power it all changed. One Tory said they had a horrible sort of Methodist type of aversion to the way the comons was run. So out went working all hours and drinking in dens of iniquity and in came New Lab puritanism.

A guy who thinks half a bottle of wine with dinner is being an alchy is clearly not one in my humble.

Anyway I would wager that Tony Blair is too hard hearted and hard headed and in control to become a raging alcoholic. Read the article

TELEGRAPH/Was Tony Blair an alcoholic?

BOBBY THOMSON: A GIANT AMONG PLAYERS

THE SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD

I always get goosebumps seeing this clip. There are so many factors to it. One hearing the announcer go crazy. You can hear the joy in his voice. Then seeing a player and the 3rd base coach jumping all over each other as Thomson is rounding the bases. Then there is Thomson himself. He seemed to be floating on air as he skipped towards 1st base. And then seeing him carried off the field by his team.

Read the article YOU TUBE/The shot heard round the world

I had the pleasure of meeting Bobby Thompson some years ago at a charity sports dinner. He was there with a whole group of former players, each of whom got up to speak after dinner. He was the nicest, most modest, unassuming guy.... Very self deprecating, and still wondering why everyone made such a big deal of his "shot"....

When it came time for us to line up for autographs, he refused to sign the "sweet spot" on the baseball I handed him, saying that there were far greater players than him in attendance, and that I should save that spot for someone important... Classic Bobby Thompson... Rest in Peace....

Read the article .N.Y. DAILY NEWS/Willie Mays, Monte Irvin share memories

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ENVIRONMENT

CONGO CHIMPS DECIMATED FOR BUSHMEAT TABLE

Rescued Chimpanzee, Photo: Brian Smithson, via Wikipedia

It is extremely sad what happens in the Congo. I am currently working with an NGO in Katanga assisting various groups in need, such as internally displaced persons from South Kivu who have fled across the border into Northern Katanga. Their diet is basically manioc (cassava root) - there is not much in the way of protein - especially when people are not generally able to settle long enough to raise livestock (ie goats). So it's easy to see why people hunt and eat what they can - and unfortunately in Katanga that means pretty much all the wildlife.

I also volunteer in a chimpanzee sanctuary in Lubumbashi on weekends. It's an amazing place to work - the chimps are incredible and the stories about how they came to be at Jack are very sad. They were all confiscated by the state from a range of places - including even pets politicians. In all cases their families were slaughtered - the figures are on average ten adults killed for one baby captured.

Unfortunately the chimps are easy food and easy money (babies can be sold for a couple of hundred dollars). Yes - in many cases it is clear why this happens - if you have a starving family you will kill to feed it. But it is still unforgivable. With a little stability, there are many more efficient ways farming and producing protein.

The Congo is a mess and I think that with the amount of food aid available (mainly maize flour), people are not always settling as they should. Forests are being cut down to feed the illegal charcoal trade, the trade in bushmeat is thriving - destroying the countryside whilst people are forced to work in mines. Congo needs stability and it needs its laws that protect the environment and the people to be enforced or very soon there will be nothing left and its people will be in the dark ages.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Congolese chimpanzees face new wave of killing for bushmeat

While the destruction of any species is deeply saddening, it's a shame that in this article there is little or no mention of the appalling human tragedy that has taken place in the DRC over the past decades with the total breakdown of society and order, starvation, disease and mass slaughter on an unprecedented scale.

Reading this you might think that "bushmeat" is some kind of novelty foodstuff or bizarre delicacy, and the influence of "outsiders" has been key to the disruption of traditional taboos where chimps etc were not eaten.

A much more compelling reason for the increase in hunting bushmeat is the humanitarian disaster that has taken place in the DRC, which has led to widespread malnutrition, with bushmeat becoming a valuable source of protein in a country where the constant violence, civil strife and population displacement has made it very difficult to grow crops or raise livestock.

But of course, we know better. These petty human concerns are sad, but they pale in comparison to the importance of preserving the bio-diversity of the planet. And if our children were starving before us we would still put the chimps welfare first, wouldn't we?

Read the article GUARDIAN/Congolese chimpanzees face new wave of killing for bushmeat

TIGER, TIGER TRAVELING LIGHTLY

Bengal tiger and cub, via Wikipedia

The illegal wild pet trade is unfortunately a lot bigger and nastier than this one terribly ignorant, animal-cruel woman. Judging from the comments here, people see this as a cute, throw-away story, but the reality is that wild animals suffer every day as they're bred and/or kidnapped/stuffed in boxes and even smaller containers/sent to opposite sides of the globe to be purchased by so-called animal lovers, and they often die slowly and agonizingly along the way (or during their early life from abuse and neglect).

It's no laughing matter. If you care about animals, don't buy exotic pets. Period.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Woman hides tiger cub in baggage

STUCK IN THE MOTHER OF ALL TRAFFIC JAMS

Beijing Traffic Jam via Wikipedia

The truly mind boggling part is this quote from one of the stuck drivers which ran on CBC yesterday:

"Another driver, Wang, told Xinhua he'd been stuck in the traffic jam for three days and two nights.

"We are advised to take detours, but I would rather stay here since I will travel more distance and increase my costs," Wang said.

I think he just doesn't want to go home to his wife's cooking.

Their seeming resignation to the situation is striking, but what can they do right?

Read the article BOING BOING/Photos from China's 10-day-long traffic jam.

There was a short story in the old "OMNI" magazine (way back when) about a giant intractable traffic jam.

In the story the jam lasted so long that the government finally just dropped concrete (from helicopters !?!) onto the peaceful 100-mile-long "village" that had resulted -- repaving the road and burying everyone and everything that was stuck there.

I always remembered this story because there was a passive and fatalistic tone to it that I found horrifying and cynical and complete believable. I guess everything comes true eventually (at least partly).

Someone should warn those truckers to keep an eye out for helicopters...

Read the article BOING BOING/Photos from China's 10-day-long traffic jam.

US had horrific traffic jams just after WWII, when vehicles were (finally post-War) being pumped out of US factories at a record rate. Turnpikes and Throughways were just being built (as they are in China) as part of a growth economy's investment boom.

Key will be for investment in rail (plenty) and highways (lots) to be matched by benefits/returns from the users of that transportation investment - e.g. tolls, gas taxes, etc. Given petrol in China is cheap (like US) and not a lot of roads are tolled (like US), car ownership/over-use is essentially subsidized (like US).

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/China traffic jam could last weeks

IS YOUR ENERGY KNOWLEDGE IN THE DARK?

Compact Fluourescent Bulb, via Wikipedia

I suspect some of the conclusions of this article are wrong. For me, it boils down to this:

My dad taught me to shut off lights and be conservative with the thermostat. He didn't teach me how many watts the various kinds of light bulbs use. He didn't teach me anything about line-drying vs hot-water washing. And, nope, didn't lecture me on the energy spent making a glass bottle vs an aluminum can. I don't think anyone taught him these things, so how could he pass them on to me?

So if our parents don't teach us these things, who does? Well, really no one. The power company sends a bunch of flyers along with my bill, but who reads those?

We do get a quick education from those large labels on the washers and dryers on sale at the local appliance store. But even there, nothing is said about line-drying vs hot-water washing. If we're expected to know these things, they need to be built into the device interfaces themselves. With a light-switch, we know the deal. It's obvious: on and your electricity bill goes up; off and it doesn't.

So the incandescent vs CFL bulb problem is about to get solved for us, and that is a good thing. As for most of the rest of the questions these folks asked, let's get real: that's not sticky information unless we're reminded of it daily. Asking us to remember these things is like asking for a nation of Trivial Pursuit champions: not gonna happen, unless something changes such that we are reminded of these factoids frequently.

The study authors must have known they were building a test most people would fail.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Most people in the dark about best ways to save energy

I write software to manage energy savings programs for utilities, and when figuring the deemed savings for an incan to CFL swap we can include the additional heat cost in the winter and the cooling savings in the summer. Both are tiny, though the cooling savings tend to be slightly higher. Most utilities just ignore both for residential retrofit programs, as they're insignificant compared to the base savings (both peak load and annual kWh).

Fun fact - most utilities that I know of are giving up on programs to install programmable thermostats, not because they don't work great, but because most homeowners are too clueless to use them. Something like 90% end up locked out on whatever temperature their old thermostat was set for. Lesson: people are dumb, and they're creatures of habit. If you want to save energy it has to start with passive measures (like lighting and weatherization). If you can get people to change behaviors too that's a bonus, but it rarely works out when you look at large populations.

Read the article ARS TECHNICA/Most people in the dark about best ways to save energy

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