With Thanks To Those Who Fought....

"I've always been amazed that the very people forced to live in the worst parts of town, go to the worst schools, and who have it the hardest are always the first to step up, to defend us. They serve so that we don't have to. They offer to give up their lives so that we can be free. It is remarkably their gift to us. And all they ask for in return is that we never send them into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary." - Michael Moore, Farenheit 9/11

To those who came before us, and secured the blessings of liberty and peace to our nation, and to those who right now fight a war that divides this country, thank you.

I've always been struck by the fact that we delineate summer with two celebrations of the people who created this nation: the soldiers and the laborers. Somewhere in the middle, we honor those whose thoughts and philosophies and courage went about giving the initial shove into the pool of world affairs, but that we honor the citizens of this nation as bookended holidays for the sumemr season is remarkable. I'm not aware of any other nation (perhaps the old Soviet Union) where the common man has meant so much to so many.

My dad was a soldier, albeit not in the US Army. He was a laborer as well. I respect and honor both of those parts of his life. I was a laborer, too, in my youth, but never a soldier, per se.

It's interesting to me that we spend so much time paying lip service to these two aspects of the human existence-- the warrior and the laborer-- but in truth, we take both for granted except in the breach. We tell each other, "Support the troops!", but sit quietly by as they come home, ravaged and torn asunder by watching their fellow man die. We say we respect hard work, you know, the Protestant work ethic and all, but we don't take care of our workers, we don't provide for them, we force them to pay for their own health insurance and raise their taxes as we lower it on those whose hands have no callouses. And then we shun unions.

So on Monday, I will find a veteran, at least one, and thank him for making me free, despite the best efforts of a government which would rather see us not so free. Or as Orwell put it:

"The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia but to keep the very structure of society intact."

Hat tip to Desi

Memorial Day

tags technorati : Top 50

File This Under "Redundant"; Also Under "Repetitive"

Moment of remembrance hasn't caught on

By MARTHA MENDOZA, AP National Writer
1 hour, 31 minutes ago

A tiny White House commission has spent the past five years and $1.5 million trying to bring a new American tradition to Memorial Day's barbecues, parades and sales: A moment of remembrance, a sigh, perhaps a prayer. Just a 30-second pause.

The results, so far, are mixed.

The White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance does have a theme song donated by Charles Strouse, creator of the musical "Annie." There's a logo, pens and coasters, prewritten news articles and television spots. There have been events, like a sand-sculpture display inspired by D-Day.

And a few towns, businesses and organizations have paused silently at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day.

In general, though, the commission's hyper-energetic executive director, Carmella LaSpada, has been somewhat frustrated by the lack of interest.

"We're a little disappointed," she said. "What has been the problem is that we haven't gotten the support that we would like to have from the media."

Nevermind the fact that no one's heard of this "event". Nevermind the fact that the ENtire fucking day is set aside for rememberance, with parades and trips to graveyards, and flowers and flags. Nevermind that trying to get Americans to take a minute out of a WORK day is hard enough.

No, the real reason this hasn't taken off might just have something to do with a conflict of interest:

LaSpada has been repeatedly criticized in annual federal financial audits for blurring the lines between her tiny federal agency and No Greater Love, a nonprofit agency LaSpada founded 30 years ago, which operates right next door and has a similar mission.

In July, 2005, an auditor with the Government Accounting Office, the investigatory arm of Congress, wrote that "the distinction between the two organizations could be misperceived." A new financial audit is currently under way, said a GAO spokesman.

LaSpada said she's learning to separate the two.

"Personally, I'd rather play down No Greater Love because it looks like I'm still wearing two hats," she said. "I'm no longer affiliated with any No Greater Love. When you are director of an independent government agency you can't be affiliated with any other group."

Except, ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I don't know, by close proximity? By, uh, funding? Perhaps even a little, you know, skimming off the top? As in:

As executive director of the commission and White House liaison, LaSpada receives about $165,000 in salary and benefits, according to federal reports. As executive director at No Greater Love, she was paid $13,840 in 2001, the last year she was listed as running that organization, according to the non-profit's tax forms.

Anyone care to bet that, prior to 2002, she was paid around $190,000 by "No Greater Love" directly?

Sheesh. Is it any wonder she's not exactly motivated to get the word out about this "event"?

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
No Greater Love
White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
Carmella LaSpada
National Moment of Remembrance

Tomorrow is.....

Towel Day.

As a hoopy frood, you know I'll be carrying mine with me.

UPDATE: Now, I realize I get a lot of uptight white folks visiting my site who have zero clue what this is all about.

So in the interests of fair play and good sportsmanship, I offer the following clues:

First, the movie's website.

Next, the seminal project based on the original series of books.

If you're really lost, DON'T PANIC! Here's the Wikipedia explanation.

Here's how I discovered this wonderful treasure trove of entertainment.

The TV series that grew out of the radio series that grew out of the books like Zaphod's second head is here.

And finally, a tribute to the man who started us all on this galaxy-wide journey, Douglas Adams.

Not to be confused with this Doug Adams, who is also an icon in my life.

So why May 25, 2006? I was hoping you'd ask that. Today is the day we'll be hit be an asteroid. Make SURE you have your towel!

So Long And Thanks For All The Fish!

tags technorati : Douglas Adams

tags technorati : Doug Adams

tags technorati : Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

tags technorati : Hitchiker's Guide

tags technorati : Towel Day

Eirc Julien's Website

Write Your Own Caption!

I'm sorry, man, I saw this and couldn't resist reviving my "Write Your Own Caption" contest:Now, now, you tell me thes hat keeps mah brains from falling out? Heh heh heh heh...

Yes, We Have No Bananas...

Two items in last week's "New Scientist" caught my eye:

A future with no bananas?

Go bananas while you still can. The world's most popular fruit and the fourth most important food crop of any sort is in deep trouble. Its genetic base, the wild bananas and traditional varieties cultivated in India, has collapsed.

Virtually all bananas traded internationally are of a single variety, the Cavendish, the genetic roots of which lie in India. Three years ago, New Scientist revealed that the world Cavendish crop was threatened by pandemics of diseases such as that caused by the black sigatoka fungus. The main hope for survival of the Cavendish lies in developing new hybrids resistant to the fungus, but this is a difficult and time-consuming task because the seedless modern fruit does not reproduce sexually and has to be bred from cuttings.

Now the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that wild banana species are rapidly going extinct as Indian forests are destroyed, while many traditional farmers' varieties are also disappearing. It could take a global effort to save the bananas' gene pool.

In fact many of the genes that could save the Cavendish may already have been lost, says NeBambi Lutaladio, a plant scientist at the FAO's headquarters in Rome, Italy. One variety that contains genes that resist black sigatoka survives as a single plant in the botanical gardens of Calcutta, he says.

The news gets worse, folks....

Maize in global gene bank crisis

Maize, the world's most widely grown crop, is facing its own genetic meltdown

The world's crop gene banks are in crisis, a meeting of maize researchers and organisations in Texcoco, Mexico, was told last week. At least half the seed stocks are unable to germinate because of incorrect storage, with potentially dire consequences for the world's food supply.

Maize - known as corn in North America - grows in 160 countries, but to maintain its high productivity and keep a genetic edge over weeds, pests and diseases requires constant interbreeding between varieties. Most of the genes needed for this breeding now come from the freezers of gene banks, held by governments and international centres, which between them have more than 250,000 varieties of maize.

Unfortunately much of the stock is useless, says Cary Fowler of the Global Crop Diversity Trust in Rome, Italy. "Germination rates are falling quite dramatically, and genes and genetic traits are being lost as a result," he says.

Suketoshi Taba, head of CIMMYT, the international maize gene bank based in Mexico, says fewer than half the maize seeds held in store round the world were able to germinate. Many had not been dried properly before being put into storage. Others were lost when refrigeration units failed during power outages.

Ya huh.

So two staple crops of the entire world-- bananas and corn-- are in danger of extinction.

And it's not just those foods. Think about what corn means to the US economy.

No more high-fructose corn syrup, so no more Coke, Pepsi, "sugar"-sweetened cereals. No more gum, Oreos, ice cream. No more candy bars. No more American chocolates.

No more tortillas.

No more ethanol.

We're fucked, thankyouverymuch conservatives....

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
corn
bananas

More Inconvenient Truths

As you are no doubt aware by now, thanks to a massive publicity campaign as well as Blogtopic (©Skippy, but barely...I may claim credit for this iteration) discussion, former Next President Al Gore has a new movie about global warming coming out called "An Inconvenient Truth".

Trailer Here. (For you folks who absolutely refuse to recognize the superiority of Apple technology, here)

Based on the lecture that Gore has given for five years now, "AIT" explores the effects of unfettered global warming as predicted by scientists for the past three decades. The lectures were scary enough, but now it has been polished up with video and CGI graphics that will knock your socks off.

Perhaps, finally, this will be the "Rachel Carson" moment the environmental movement has yearned for since the Carter administration.

Or not. See, another inconvenient truth about America is that we are a society of capitalists. That's not a bad thing. That's not a good thing. It's a thing we have to acknowledge and respect in planning how to change the dynamic of this nation.

We measure our decisions not in national prestige or moral truthiness, but in terms of cost/benefit analyses. How does this thinking affect decisions? After all, it's clear that the devastation of global warming far outweigh any possible benefits it could offer, such as milder winters in our large urban areas, or beachfront property in Barstow.

Capitalism insists that anything be measured with how much cash you have to lay out in order to obtain it. Truly a simple model. Evaluating that model is the tricky part.

Look at Iraq. We were told back in 2002 that it should take no more than $84 billion dollars to secure our freedom from terror. Would any Senator have voted for the war if you had told them the ultimate cost would be closer to one trillion dollars?

See? Even "freedom" has its price, somewhere between $84 billion and one trillion. I'm often reminded of the story told about Winston Churchill, wherein at a cocktail party, he is approached by a gushing woman whom he wishes to get away from. He asks her if she would sleep with him for one million pounds.

"Certainly, Prime Minister."

"Well, then, how about one pound?"

"Goodness! What type of woman do you take me for?"

"Oh, I've already established what kind of woman you are, now we're merely negotiating price!"

Establishing price. There's the rub. How much would it be worth to us now to stop lower Manhattan from flooding clear up to Canal Street? How much will it be worth to us when it's imminent?

America has always operated in crisis management mode. We wait until the problem is so apparent that we can no long ignore it and then act. That's a function of capitalism, because God knows Christianity implores the opposite, that we behave as if we will outlast our bodies.

Capitalism begs for crisis management. For capitalism to act, it requires three things: 1) A problem be imminent, 2) A problem be catastrophic, and 3) That problem has a solution that can be afforded.

Capitalism failed New Orleans during Katrina. Christianity failed New Orleans during Katrina. Both capitalism and Christianity, as embodied by the Religious Right and the President and Congress, have continued to fail New Orleans in recovery. It has taken far too long with too little progress made, as if both tropes suddenly found themselves reeling like a punch-drunk fighter, staggering and swinging at air.

The global warming crisis is imminent. Even the most hardened among us do not seriously doubt its existence or effects. The trouble is, we've had all this warming warning, and when it happens, it's going to happen fast. Our earth hangs in the balance.

We know what type of planet it is. It's time to negotiate the price.

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
global warming
An Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore

tags technorati : Top 50

How The Right Wing Nutcases Operate

Check this out. In regards to my article yesterday linking the consumption of hormones and how it affects the body, as pertains to two articles on the topic, this shithead misquoted me as saying that I was linking this particular drug to President Bush

Related: Ace wrote about something similar in March. Allah says women are turning into men (and men into women -- check that photo). As for the blogs I'm not familiar with: Jessica at feminsting.com notes that this news story gives her an excuse to post a picture of a stuffed tampon. (More things I didn't know existed.) Carl at Simply Left Behind ends his post on the subject by saying, "Oh yeah. I forgot. Our President doesn't give a shit." I kid you not.

Well, you can imagine I tore him a new one. So I did!

No I didn't. My reference was to the fact that the Federal government has reduced enforcement and loosened food additive rules, which you would know if you bothered to read the fucking post, shithead.

But I forget, you probably think Rush Limbaugh is a font of information....

But what's really odd about all this, the majority of Americans want to eat a healthier diet, even as we become more obese and less healthy. "According to a survey by the Washington-based Food Marketing Institute, 59 percent of shoppers were trying to eat a healthier diet last year, up 14 percent from 2000. Forty-two percent of those shoppers said losing weight is a health goal that influences their purchases."

Now, I'm no vegan, even if my doctor says I would benefit from it. I drink my cheap American beer (not going to endorse the product here, mostly because they're not paying me, but it's the one that always advertises with horses during the Super Bowl) with its formaldehyde and preservatives, and I eat the occasional candy bar (rarely) and buy prepackaged foods from time to time.

I have to balance a busy schedule with my health concerns. I understand that. But look at how much harder I have to work to eat healthy when I do. Now compound that by the fact that I have more choices: I live in a reasonably upper middle class area, which means that people can afford more organic and more healthy foods, which means stores provide them. I can drive to my supermarket, and am not forced to munch down a Whopper on my walk from the subway. I can handpick from a large selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, as opposed to grabbing a tired banana off the top of the short stack at the local delicatessen, right in front of the "fruit-containing snacks" display.

And I'm in the home stretch when it comes to raising a kid, so I have much more time than a harried mother (or father) of two or three, trying to schedule shopping around school, work, band practice, Little League and getting out of the house for a movie.

How is this happening? WHY is this happening?

Oh yeah. I forgot. Our President doesn't give a shit.

Now, I think that's a slightly different meaning than an idiot like you would bother to give it, putting it in context of hormonal therapy for a period, but hey, if it floats your boat to lie about other people's beliefs, then that's your own fucking problem.
Actor212 | Email | Homepage | 05.23.06 - 10:53 am | #

Warning to Attila: I work with Huns. I have friends who are Huns. Huns and I go a long way back. You, pussy, are no Attila.*

I will miss you, Lloyd Bentsen

And DON'T MESS WITH THE BIG FISH!

Paging Captain Obvous! Captain Obvious!

States Fear Fixes May Bring New Problems

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer

May 23, 2006, 7:35 AM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Competition for relief supplies and confusion about who's in charge could hobble preparations for the brewing hurricane season, say state officials.

Just over a week before the June 1 start of the storm season, the Homeland Security Department has nearly finished 11 top-priority changes to nation's beleaguered disaster response agency.

The hurricane season starts next week, and predictions for this year are far worse than the initial predictions for last year.

MIAMI -- With visible reminders from last year's Atlantic hurricane season -- blue tarps and broken signs -- still dotting parts of Florida and the Gulf Coast, forecasters warned storm-weary residents to prepare for as many as six major hurricanes this year.

There could be up to 16 named storms, the National Hurricane Center announced Monday.

Last year, forecasters initially predicted 12 to 15 tropical storms, with seven to nine of them becoming hurricanes, and three to five of those hurricanes being major, with winds of at least 111 mph.

[...]But 2006 should not be as destructive as last season's record year, which had 28 named storms, 15 of which were hurricanes, seven of them Category 3 or higher.

Or it could be worse. Still...this is the part of today's story that caught my eye:

He said FEMA has done little to coordinate with states on stocking and distributing food, water, ice and other items to disaster sites -- meaning states could end up competing against the federal government to purchase relief supplies.

"What can we expect and how quickly we can expect it? What is going to be pre-positioned in our states?" Latham said. "That is what is important. I know they're working feverishly to develop that plan, but we need to know."

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a small little piece in the news that I was reminded of in reading this story today:

So imagine my surprise this morning to read this:

Report: Federal Bird Flu Aid May Be Tough

By LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer

May 3, 2006, 6:35 AM EDT


WASHINGTON -- States, cities and businesses should not expect to be rescued by the federal government if a flu pandemic strikes, warns a draft of the latest national response plan, one already under fire from critics who say federal preparations are moving too slowly.

Ya huh. In other words, "Don't mind us, we'll be praying for you!"

Does it surprise anyone that, in a day and age when the Bush administration is basically abandoning its responsibility to its citizenry, perhaps in a fit of pique over been so unliked, that FEMA is deliberately dragging its feet on informing states of its plans in the event of a major storm, at least one which is guaranteed to devastate part of the United States?

I'm not, and that's sad.

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
FEMA
hurricanes

If The World Went According To God's Plan....

What Are We Doing To Ourselves?

A couple of news items this week made me sit up and take notice. First off, comes this item from the AP:

Pills Rendering Menstrual Period Optional

By LINDA A. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

May 21, 2006, 8:53 PM EDT

TRENTON, N.J. -- For young women with a world of choices, even that monthly curse, the menstrual period, is optional.

Thanks to birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives, a growing number of women are taking the path chosen by 22-year-old Stephanie Sardinha.

She hasn't had a period since she was 17.

"It's really one of the best things I've ever done," she says.

Oh really? Want to rethink that, Steph?

Dairy diet the natural way for mothers to conceive twins

Sarah-Kate Templeton, Medical Correspondent

FOR decades, doctors have blamed the rise in the number of women who give birth to twins entirely on the widespread use of fertility treatment. But now they have found a much more natural cause — a glass of milk.

Scientists have discovered that drinking milk and eating cheese stimulates a protein than prompts the release of eggs and makes women five times more likely to give birth to twins.

The findings have been made by researchers from the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York who wanted to know why the rate of twin births in the United States rose by more than 75% between 1980 and 2003.

[....]They suspected changes in diet may have contributed to the change, and compared the records of more than 1,000 vegan women with mothers who ate animal products. They found that the twinning rate in vegans is one fifth of that in vegetarians and meat-eaters.

The research, published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, says eating animal products, in particular dairy foods, boosts the production of a protein called insulin-like growth factor (IGF) in women. The scientists say the protein promotes the release of eggs by the ovary, increasing the chance of two or more eggs being fertilised at the same time.

In America there has also been an increased use of growth hormones in dairy cows. The growth hormone is banned in British cattle.

Reading between the lines, we can see that a link can be drawn between the growth hormones used in cattle feed, and twinning, even if the Times (UK) refuses to make that explicit.

So in truth, you are what you eat, and if you eat a lot of meat and dairy, you're a breeding reactor.

What concerns me, what ought to concern all of us, is what exactly is IN these hormone therapies (in this case, I'm going to lump in the deliberate ingestion of food products that contain hormones passed through in the production process) and how exactly it affects us. How many chemicals do you really eat in a day, and how does your body process them? Pesticides, toxins, pollutants, vaccinations (both your own as well as those given to the animals you ingest), your body absorbs a lot of things, and who knows how it deals with them?

Remember, our evolutionary process was based on finding nuts and berries, and hunting game with spears and clubs. While we developed more efficient ways of providing food, such as agrarian societies and the bow and arrow, our bodies could keep up. But now we're mass producing consumable, and not all of them are that good for us. We're moving faster than nature can keep up, in so many ways.

And then, comes this story: even when you want to eat healthier, you may not be. When granola contains more calories than a bowl of Cap'n Crunch, when yogurt is laced with Reese's Pieces, and who knows how many additives or preservatives, you're not going to find a healthy way of letting your body recover.

But what's really odd about all this, the majority of Americans want to eat a healthier diet, even as we become more obese and less healthy. "According to a survey by the Washington-based Food Marketing Institute, 59 percent of shoppers were trying to eat a healthier diet last year, up 14 percent from 2000. Forty-two percent of those shoppers said losing weight is a health goal that influences their purchases."

Now, I'm no vegan, even if my doctor says I would benefit from it. I drink my cheap American beer (not going to endorse the product here, mostly because they're not paying me, but it's the one that always advertises with horses during the Super Bowl) with its formaldehyde and preservatives, and I eat the occasional candy bar (rarely) and buy prepackaged foods from time to time.

I have to balance a busy schedule with my health concerns. I understand that. But look at how much harder I have to work to eat healthy when I do. Now compound that by the fact that I have more choices: I live in a reasonably upper middle class area, which means that people can afford more organic and more healthy foods, which means stores provide them. I can drive to my supermarket, and am not forced to munch down a Whopper on my walk from the subway. I can handpick from a large selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, as opposed to grabbing a tired banana off the top of the short stack at the local delicatessen, right in front of the "fruit-containing snacks" display.

And I'm in the home stretch when it comes to raising a kid, so I have much more time than a harried mother (or father) of two or three, trying to schedule shopping around school, work, band practice, Little League and getting out of the house for a movie.

How is this happening? WHY is this happening?

Oh yeah. I forgot. Our President doesn't give a shit.

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky

Bush
hormones
obesity
health

Something We Finns Can Take Pride In?

OK, I saw some of this on TV over the weekend. It's a little scary:

First Look: Hard rock hallelujah

In case you think Halloween's come early, let us assure you -- it hasn't.

The picture is of Lordi, the Finnish horror rock group that won the 51st Eurovision Song Contest at Athens.

The Contest has been on since 1956, but it is more about kitsch pop and good-humoured patriotism than stunning musical virtuosity. As the Guardian's rock critic Alexis Petridis put it: 'When did quality music ever come from the Eurovision anyway? To see people from countries you've never heard of perform weird concoctions on stage is just fantastic.'

Lordi's winning song -- which earned them the prize over 22 other acts -- was called Hard Rock Hallelujah. It had such profound lyrics as: Wings on my back, I got horns on my head/My fangs are sharp, and my eyes are red/Not quite an angel, or the one that fell/Now choose to join us, or go straight to Hell.

And the band lived up to its image, dressed as orcs, complete with latex masks and talons.

Speaking to the media after the win, the band leader said: 'We are not Satanists. We are not devil-worshippers. This is entertainment. Underneath [the mask] there's a boring normal guy, who walks the dogs, goes to the supermarket, watches DVDs, eats candies. You really don't want to see him.'

'We won the contest, looking like this,' he said. 'It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place.'

So....what's the big deal? Just this:

(ironic, ain't it? The band is from Finland, singing in English and this vidcap is from YLE, a Finnish network, which had to subtitle a Finnish band back to Finnish...)

I probably should point out at this time that this is the competition that launched ABBA onto their remarkably bland career...

...AND THAT SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME!!!

snarkasm, snarcasm, snarky
Lordi
ABBA