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Midweek materials - 05 March 2008
Mar. 6th, 2008 12:14 amWorking late always seems to put me into a bit more hurry-up mode, but I always end up with enough time in the end. Plus, I’m back to getting through some of the books that I bought earlier. If I’m lucky, I might actually make them all appear on the shelf, having been read... by the end of this year?
Onward to the news. The Slacktivist suggests that some merry pranksters could really wreak havoc with newspapers by submitting bogus articles through the "citizen journalism" section, getting the paper to be bitten by its own cost-cutting measures. Enough fake news and the paper could kill the “citizen journalism” section and go back to doing real work. Now, if they would just stop passing off press releases as actual news, something that I’m guilty of, too. I hope, though, that my reading audience knows that I’m drawing from diverse places, and that not everybody adheres to the standards of journalism.
For those still insisting that the United States has a health care system that the country should be proud of, residents of Oregon that cannot afford basic health insurance enter their names into a drawing to see if they will be the lucky recipients of state-sponsored health care. It would be far better for everyone if all those who needed the care could get it, of course, but too many people are opposed to this because they feel that people are somehow undeserving of good health and life just by being here. Other health-conscious people are getting refunds from Airborne because the company marketed a common cold remedy falsely. Yet again, be careful and read what those “dietary supplements” supposedly do.
Internationally, Iraq's cabinet has given the okay for its oil fields to be exploited by United States oil companies, in an attempt to increase output.
OpinionJournal comments on pre-emptive strikes against a film critical of Islam, considering it a lot of premature noise and death threats. Which is true - protesting something that hasn’t come out is pretty premature. Sending death threats against someone because they were critical of your religion is really stupid, and smacks of extremism, no matter the religion. We definitely don’t see death threats being lined up against the researcher that claims Moses was high when he was high on the mountain, getting commandments from YHWH.
Domestically, nonbinding resolutions passed in two towns of Vermont instruct their police to arrest Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. Which both have as much chance of being enforced as a package of bills introduced by the GOP proposing much more stringent penalties and restrictions on illegal immigration. The bills appear to be just an opportunity for debate in the chambers of the Congress. I’m beginning to think that both the House and Senate could do with a “Prime Minister’s Questions”-style period of time for the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.
Involving persons vying for the presidency of the United States, the dead heat between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama continues unabated. It’s likely that the convention will have to make decisions and broker some deals to make a candidate appear. On the Republican side, the General reports that Senator McCain has not been kind to the Native Americans in his own state.
Student threatens classmates on YouTube, arrested. This is what the headline should read. What they are going to do is make much about the use of the popular anime Naruto in a quote. Like they have made much of dark music, video games, and other forms of new media. Restraint, please? Or at least, put the presence of the anime in the place it deserves - a part of the narrative and nothing more. The people writing articles about how Nauto is influencing people to kill are probably also salivating at the idea that the popularity of iPod has sparked a new crime wave.
In our Arts section, a musician turns to her fans to raise the cash for her seventh CD, after two major labels dumped her and two indie labels folded with her on their imprint. With each level of donation, certain perks are offered, including a $10,000 level where the donor gets to sing on the CD. As a more general rule for artistic endeavors, 1,000 True Fans is the magic number to make a living off your art. And staying in artistic pursuits, a book apparently co-authored by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs is slated for publication after spending more than sixty years as simply a manuscript.
In Science (SCIENCE!), the Long Duration Exposure Facility, an experiment designed to see what vacuum and cosmic rays would do to Earth materials - would be a good idea to select something that resists being affected by cosmic radiation in designing spacecraft. Such research is important, especially when binary stars are potentially going to bombard the planet with gamma rays. In technology, Alaska Airlines now has Jenn, an avatar that responds in speech to questions typed. Apparently, Jenn does her job quite well, and is learning more all the time about good customer interaction. Those flying the airplanes, or just interested in haptic technology are possibly looking at a floating joystick as something to keep an eye on. Even more so if it can be powered by inkjet-printed solar cells.
In the opinion columns, Walter E. Williams argues that government has no business dictating how Americans live their lives, using the squished bill that would have prevented obese people from eating out as an example. This sounds like a classic libertarian position, just with an updated example. That message may resonate with those who are offended at pediatricians asking children about their parents' behaviors, possibly in an attempt to figure out if the children are growing up in a good household. The questioning probably crosses ethical lines, for one, and for two, children can be tough to get accurate answers out of on things like abuse, unless they show the signs of it physically.
Our Unabashed Feminism Department has found another example of women giving advice to other women that is potentially harmful. Bureau Chief![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ldragoon found out about The Surrendered Wife, a conflict-avoidance philosophy that hinges on the woman in a relationship not confronting her husband, even in cases where he's doing something wrong, out of wanting to avoid “emasculating” him and having him feel like he’s in control. Admittedly, she does say to get out of abusive relationships immediately. Still, the book is selling remarkably well, for being mostly crap. There’s a whole movement dedicated toward improving conditions such that women aren’t being taught to just believe that their husband will take care of it and to go seek said husband as soon as possible. Y’know, feminism? Suggesting that the easiest solution to marital conflicts is to roll over sets that idea back. Plus, while letting small, inconsequential things go is good for marital harmony, things like a missed turn need to be pointed out if it looks like the hubby has zero clue that he’s going the wrong way.
Looking at the URL on this item makes my professional self say “miscatalogued” and my Chick-Tract sensors blare wildly. I’m wondering how old this item is - it's supposedly about Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan being worshippers of the Satan that fundamentalist Christians believe is active in the world and recruiting. Yet the URL files it under “False Religions”, and then “Wicca and Witchcraft”. Uh... that’s definitely not where I’d file something like that.
Last for tonight, related tangentially to the piece above, images of the fantastic in literature and art. This is darker stuff than what Disney would have us believe, and would probably fit nicely in with Grimm. However, for you and me, let’s have happier stuff for dreams. Like decoding what Papa Smurf and Smurfette are going to do to each other according to the picture on the cover. Unless something like that would give you nightmares.
Onward to the news. The Slacktivist suggests that some merry pranksters could really wreak havoc with newspapers by submitting bogus articles through the "citizen journalism" section, getting the paper to be bitten by its own cost-cutting measures. Enough fake news and the paper could kill the “citizen journalism” section and go back to doing real work. Now, if they would just stop passing off press releases as actual news, something that I’m guilty of, too. I hope, though, that my reading audience knows that I’m drawing from diverse places, and that not everybody adheres to the standards of journalism.
For those still insisting that the United States has a health care system that the country should be proud of, residents of Oregon that cannot afford basic health insurance enter their names into a drawing to see if they will be the lucky recipients of state-sponsored health care. It would be far better for everyone if all those who needed the care could get it, of course, but too many people are opposed to this because they feel that people are somehow undeserving of good health and life just by being here. Other health-conscious people are getting refunds from Airborne because the company marketed a common cold remedy falsely. Yet again, be careful and read what those “dietary supplements” supposedly do.
Internationally, Iraq's cabinet has given the okay for its oil fields to be exploited by United States oil companies, in an attempt to increase output.
OpinionJournal comments on pre-emptive strikes against a film critical of Islam, considering it a lot of premature noise and death threats. Which is true - protesting something that hasn’t come out is pretty premature. Sending death threats against someone because they were critical of your religion is really stupid, and smacks of extremism, no matter the religion. We definitely don’t see death threats being lined up against the researcher that claims Moses was high when he was high on the mountain, getting commandments from YHWH.
Domestically, nonbinding resolutions passed in two towns of Vermont instruct their police to arrest Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney. Which both have as much chance of being enforced as a package of bills introduced by the GOP proposing much more stringent penalties and restrictions on illegal immigration. The bills appear to be just an opportunity for debate in the chambers of the Congress. I’m beginning to think that both the House and Senate could do with a “Prime Minister’s Questions”-style period of time for the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House.
Involving persons vying for the presidency of the United States, the dead heat between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama continues unabated. It’s likely that the convention will have to make decisions and broker some deals to make a candidate appear. On the Republican side, the General reports that Senator McCain has not been kind to the Native Americans in his own state.
Student threatens classmates on YouTube, arrested. This is what the headline should read. What they are going to do is make much about the use of the popular anime Naruto in a quote. Like they have made much of dark music, video games, and other forms of new media. Restraint, please? Or at least, put the presence of the anime in the place it deserves - a part of the narrative and nothing more. The people writing articles about how Nauto is influencing people to kill are probably also salivating at the idea that the popularity of iPod has sparked a new crime wave.
In our Arts section, a musician turns to her fans to raise the cash for her seventh CD, after two major labels dumped her and two indie labels folded with her on their imprint. With each level of donation, certain perks are offered, including a $10,000 level where the donor gets to sing on the CD. As a more general rule for artistic endeavors, 1,000 True Fans is the magic number to make a living off your art. And staying in artistic pursuits, a book apparently co-authored by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs is slated for publication after spending more than sixty years as simply a manuscript.
In Science (SCIENCE!), the Long Duration Exposure Facility, an experiment designed to see what vacuum and cosmic rays would do to Earth materials - would be a good idea to select something that resists being affected by cosmic radiation in designing spacecraft. Such research is important, especially when binary stars are potentially going to bombard the planet with gamma rays. In technology, Alaska Airlines now has Jenn, an avatar that responds in speech to questions typed. Apparently, Jenn does her job quite well, and is learning more all the time about good customer interaction. Those flying the airplanes, or just interested in haptic technology are possibly looking at a floating joystick as something to keep an eye on. Even more so if it can be powered by inkjet-printed solar cells.
In the opinion columns, Walter E. Williams argues that government has no business dictating how Americans live their lives, using the squished bill that would have prevented obese people from eating out as an example. This sounds like a classic libertarian position, just with an updated example. That message may resonate with those who are offended at pediatricians asking children about their parents' behaviors, possibly in an attempt to figure out if the children are growing up in a good household. The questioning probably crosses ethical lines, for one, and for two, children can be tough to get accurate answers out of on things like abuse, unless they show the signs of it physically.
Our Unabashed Feminism Department has found another example of women giving advice to other women that is potentially harmful. Bureau Chief
ldragoon found out about The Surrendered Wife, a conflict-avoidance philosophy that hinges on the woman in a relationship not confronting her husband, even in cases where he's doing something wrong, out of wanting to avoid “emasculating” him and having him feel like he’s in control. Admittedly, she does say to get out of abusive relationships immediately. Still, the book is selling remarkably well, for being mostly crap. There’s a whole movement dedicated toward improving conditions such that women aren’t being taught to just believe that their husband will take care of it and to go seek said husband as soon as possible. Y’know, feminism? Suggesting that the easiest solution to marital conflicts is to roll over sets that idea back. Plus, while letting small, inconsequential things go is good for marital harmony, things like a missed turn need to be pointed out if it looks like the hubby has zero clue that he’s going the wrong way.Looking at the URL on this item makes my professional self say “miscatalogued” and my Chick-Tract sensors blare wildly. I’m wondering how old this item is - it's supposedly about Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan being worshippers of the Satan that fundamentalist Christians believe is active in the world and recruiting. Yet the URL files it under “False Religions”, and then “Wicca and Witchcraft”. Uh... that’s definitely not where I’d file something like that.
Last for tonight, related tangentially to the piece above, images of the fantastic in literature and art. This is darker stuff than what Disney would have us believe, and would probably fit nicely in with Grimm. However, for you and me, let’s have happier stuff for dreams. Like decoding what Papa Smurf and Smurfette are going to do to each other according to the picture on the cover. Unless something like that would give you nightmares.
