tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307071632024-03-12T23:07:22.445-05:00INTERRELATED… Cultures, Distinct and ConnectedTwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-83514852823924520042009-08-26T13:59:00.001-05:002009-08-26T13:59:35.678-05:00When Weasels Attack Given that the entire global economy has tanked in the wake of unscrupulous lending practices that began in the US sub-prime home mortgage market, you would think that CNN, the self-proclaimed 'Worldwide Leader in News,' might chose to distance itself from mortgage lenders as customers for a while, at least until things cool off and the DOW rebounds a bit more. Instead, CNN had sold serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-53491390453006218772009-04-13T09:02:00.001-05:002009-04-13T09:02:16.571-05:00Operation Roast Duck Scores its First Success Merchants in Chinatown have been harassed for selling 'illegal' goods for as long as I can remember. When I first moved to Manhattan, I recall watching an exposé on the local 6 o'clock news about pet turtles that carry salmonella. It's against the law to sell them in NYC, and the crack Action News team managed, with their concealed camera, to film several of them swimming blissfully in a serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-66303424655581146362008-11-30T09:50:00.001-06:002008-11-30T12:24:38.926-06:00Here We Go Again I have said before in this blog that 'we need an agency whose overarching mission is to ensure the safety of our food and drugs.' My point, one that I seem to be repeating a lot, is that our current FDA is more akin to a trade association. It's natural instincts are to downplay risks to prevent undue harm to large corporations, during which time great harm could be ensuing amongst the public serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-64428578037881833142008-10-09T09:33:00.005-05:002008-10-09T13:15:37.882-05:00The Ironic Rule of LawWith regard to the imminent release of 17 Uighurs from their indefinite detention at Guantanamo, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has demanded their repatriation, offering assurances that they would not subsequently be tortured, because China is a nation ruled by law and does not torture. Did they copy this from a US Justice Department press release? First they pirate our DVDs and now our legalistic serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-1602697591207555932008-09-21T09:20:00.004-05:002008-10-12T09:00:06.774-05:00Krugman: Nostradamus in a Suit? I read this when it first appeared and thought his analysis was an extreme worst-case scenario.Of course, the reason I bother to keep up with Krugman is that his economic insight is always illuminating, even when I disagree with him. This time he gets extra points for seeing into the future. The date on the column is March 17, 2008. <!-- BEGIN_CLIP_CONTENT ID:7A0B104D-7316-4356-AF5C-30EB6A5DB1FBserial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-24915379974414364682008-08-26T10:40:00.002-05:002008-10-12T09:00:31.674-05:00Simulated Fine Dining Capgras Delusion is a psychiatric syndrome that manifests itself in this way: one morning a person awakes to find that the people close to him have seemingly been replaced by exact duplicates, each a perfect impostor in every way, lacking only in authenticity. It can happen also that one so stricken gains a sense that he, himself, is a mere facsimile. Perhaps this is something like waking serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-37342483705491752712008-03-30T09:12:00.001-05:002008-10-12T09:00:45.051-05:00Shred Everything  When the Bush administration finally passes the torch, how much evidence will they need to destroy? Granted, their brand of hubris has been marked by a willingness to perpetrate crimes in the light of day, but still, there will likely be troves of documents in need of rapid destruction. Look for smoke coming out of the White House. Cheney, I suppose, has already had to get a jump on serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-16880231883313480612008-02-21T01:59:00.003-06:002008-02-21T02:09:10.127-06:00I'm with herWhy would any guy think this would be a cool thing to do?Woman realizes how lame her boyfriend is while thousands of fans look on.Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-27272533822624427332007-10-27T08:47:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:58.605-06:00Aesthetics Lesson: It's Britney, BitchAmerica's favorite trailer trash has been roundly denounced and derided to the point where it has become fashionable to defend her. Having overdone our criticism of this model of a sex kitten-mother-girl-woman, we must now critique the critics for piling on the misogyny.Besides the important lesson that sloppy parenting is best done in private, Britney also teaches us a lot about art. Even if oneTwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-86707838302425561062007-09-08T22:16:00.001-05:002008-12-09T04:55:58.691-06:00Now How Much Would You Pay?Stay tuned to the NBC downloads recently announced to be offered by Amazon's Unbox Service. The gist is this: NBC left iTunes over a disagreement about pricing. Episodes on iTunes go for a couple of bucks each. Apple says NBC wants 5 bucks per episode, but NBC says not quite, but rather, they want "flexibility in … pricing."Why this is interesting is that it asks a fundamental question about the Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-21390540007151540162007-09-04T01:36:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:58.834-06:00Fear of a White PowderThere's a test of common sense going on in Connecticut. The story about the white powder that was puffed up to a terrorist threat is well worth watching.A pair of fun runners used flour to mark a trail through an Ikea parking lot for their running club, and for doing so, they've been charged with a felony."You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know," [New Haven Mayoral Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-33168188694130197092007-08-22T08:13:00.002-05:002008-02-29T10:11:22.020-06:00Does Diet Soda Make You Fat?If you're reading this post because of its eminently Google-able title, you've come to the right place. I'd like to welcome you with this suggestion: we should have an agency whose mission it is to help ensure the safety of our food and drugs. I know there's something called the "Food and Drug Agency," but it's clear that their charter is strictly one of reassurance, and they exist mainly to calmserial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-28258114522166078622007-08-06T21:16:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:58.987-06:00FallingThere have been some spectacular falls in the news lately, and for those into gravity impact porn, the following videos provide ample pleasure.But another fall, just as painful, is the plummet of those formerly known as working Americans and their wages.A seattle newspaper analyzed jobs data in Washington state (and here too) to find an unsurprising yet horrifying trend: Jobs that are being Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-59791833325675677972007-07-13T03:47:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:59.082-06:00How Hitler and the American Republican Party Seized Their PowerAn article in the Los Angeles Times made me think of the old days. Because nothing is new, and Bush ripped his moves from the playbook of the Nazi Party, I could not help thinking of Hitler when I read of how Congress' attempt to enforce the law against White House malfeasance is being scuttled by a Justice Department that puts the president above the Law.The essential brilliance in Hitler's Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-69495255046509329922007-07-11T08:37:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:59.255-06:00There Is No LeavingWe are accustomed to the White House denying what 71% of Americans believe is the truth, which is that Bush's war in Iraq is a lost and hopeless cause. But there's a deeper truth that we have yet to consider.Leaving Iraq is impossible. It cannot be done. Therefore, it will not happen; we will never leave Iraq.Even if we put aside the moral dilemma of deserting a civil war for which we bear full Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-83018873303095834382007-06-19T06:33:00.001-05:002007-07-11T09:01:29.082-05:00The Auteur's Heavy Burden Watching the sublimely perfect Soprano's farewell episode got me thinking about Ken Burns. Why? Because no one told David Chase how he should finish his movie. He gets to sing "I did it my way." Not so for Ken Burns, who has been pressured by Latino activists and even the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to include more Hispanic perspectives in his documentary "The War", a history of WWII. Mr. serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-84218469917723201842007-06-06T02:35:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:55:59.726-06:00Sexy FeminstI have no idea of her intention or ability, but if supermodel, Gisele Bundchen, continues to speak her mind, she could become the new spokesmodel for the feminist agenda.At fashion week in (way Catholic) Brazil, she spoke out in favor of condoms …"It's ridiculous to ban contraceptives -- you only have to think of the diseases that are transmitted without them. I think it should be compulsory to Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-18556750623318698712007-06-03T01:56:00.001-05:002008-12-09T04:56:00.009-06:00To the People in the Street: Rock On!Cindy Sheehan may have had it with the peace movement, but Marine Corps Sgt. Adam Kokesh appears to be just getting started. He and 14 others were arrested for unlawful assembly while staging a mock military funeral in the Hart Senate Office Building.At the hearings of Alberto Gonzales to the Senate Judiciary Cmte, Sgt. Kokesh editorialized silently and graphically, and with awe inspiring Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-88943649441453551972007-05-14T06:03:00.001-05:002008-12-09T04:56:00.161-06:00Gonzales Has Earned Medal of Freedom I remember well the distinct feeling of being punched in the gut, though it wasn't the first time and wouldn't be the last. The date was December 14, 2004, and President Bush had just awarded the Medal of Freedom to George Tenet, Tommy Franks, and Jerry Bremer. In the President's words, These three men symbolize the nobility of public service, the good character of our country, and the good serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-61476802832718099122007-05-09T13:39:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:56:00.314-06:00Iraq CharadeBush's war in Iraq is a failure, and those who think otherwise are fooling themselves. This week, House Republican leader, John Boehner, demonstrated the language of charade:"We don't even have all of the 30,000 additional troops in Iraq yet, so we're supporting the president. We want this plan to have a chance of succeeding. ...Early signs are indicating there is clearly some success on a numberTwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-71579696635981360942007-05-05T08:40:00.001-05:002007-05-09T14:17:12.846-05:00Treating Reefer Madness With Good Old Pot A recent study suggests that THC can trigger psychotic symptoms. Researchers observed that experiment subjects sometimes experienced hallucinations and feelings of paranoia after being dosed with straight-up tetrahydrocannabinol. While this effect has generally been verified by countless millions of individual pothead investigators worldwide, it remains unclear whether or not this is aserial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-66719597246839973512007-05-04T15:20:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:56:00.486-06:00Cheaters WinWhen we heard about massive systematized cheating at Duke University's business school, many lamented the state of today's youth. How is it they think they can get away with such breaches of integrity, we asked with indignant rhetoric.But our entire culture is now a perversion of right and wrong.These are not young people cheating at Duke, but rather students whose average age is 29 years, and Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-18789984173262530462007-04-29T16:12:00.001-05:002007-04-30T01:00:59.860-05:00Rethinking No-Bid ContractsFirst, in the spirit of full disclosure, I'd like to divulge the fact that, until recently, I owned Halliburton stock. I dumped it when the misunderstanding which developed surrounding certain unintended KBR billing overages made me nervous. It's one thing to add extra sand to the concrete, after all Iraq has plenty of sand, but please, no-bid contractors, don't mess with my boys' serial#http://www.blogger.com/profile/16778925866170058105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-12262107487991889362007-04-28T12:19:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:56:00.839-06:00Good TerroristsThis week in Alabama, the ATF uncovered a paramilitary group with a cache of weapons, but the newspapers hardly mentioned it. The AP wire appears to be the only coverage. Perhaps news organizations are taking their cue from the Justice Department, who's been quick to downplay their own bust, stressing that the "ragtag" group "had no apparent plans to use the weapons.""They just have a beef with Twhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30707163.post-78563715650390162832007-04-25T11:15:00.000-05:002008-12-09T04:56:01.128-06:00Walmart SpyThe notion that government can be run like a corporation has been so successful, as evidenced by FEMA's work in New Orleans and Haliburton's work in Iraq, that it follows that companies start to assume the powers of governments.So why shouldn't Walmart have it's own intelligence service? This idea is completely consistent with the fact that Walmart's revenues exceed the GDP of several nations andTwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04598419461926194041noreply@blogger.com0