One Monday Posting - 2 March 2009

Some lists to start your day - the ten best cities for job growth in 2009, twenty of the most miserable cities in the U.S., and the thirty best careers for 2009, of which I apparently have landed in one.

In the "We really can't make this up" department, a warning has been issued about a gent wanted for child pornography - he might be radioactive. Additionally, unhappiness in childhood may be linked with disabilities later on in life.

Additionally, a ministry dedicated to raising money for vasectomy reversal surgeries, which draws praise from The General. Further on, tips on spotting scientific-looking material that has a hidden religious agenda, which might help you in discovering whether that interesting-looking thesis is really a creationist cover. For practice, an article suggestions humans may be hard-wired to believe in creationism, based on their responses where scientifically false teleologies are consistently marked as true, like "The earth has an ozone layer to protect itself from UV rays". Best of the troop, though, is the bishop who got scandalized for ceasing to believe in hell, for which the slacktivist points out that our belief in Hell is a bit odd, considering it's a tangential point in its stories to "You will be judged based on how you treated people in this life."

Going interplanetary, Russia intends on sending some organisms to Phobos and back, stopping along the way to pick up some samples of Martian soil. There's the worry that things might escape, of course, and cause problems.

Returning to the international sphere, Mr. Gordon Brown would like to work with Mr. Barack Obama in creating and implementing a global version of the New Deal, which, if there were someone willing to take on the credit, might not seem like such an odd idea.

Sensitive details and blueprints for Marine One, the presidential helicopter, were found leaked on the Internet. Well, information knows how to get out.

This might be praise, this might be unpraise, but the SecDef says the new President is more Analytical than his predecessor, and more willing to make sure that everyone in the room has had a chance to say what's on their mind. The SecDef also said that Iran was not close to nuclear weapon, so that there was time for talks to happen. If you believe Mr. Bolton, ranter of some fame, this will just give Iran more time and better aiming for the inevitable strike.

In domestic news, when it comes to choosing between environmental standards and economic stimulus, the environment often gets the shaft, despite new green jobs supposedly forthcoming.

A mother recalled to active service brought her two children with her to her post to try and finally hammer home te pont that there would not be anyone to look after the children while she was on active overseas duty - and will receive a discharge. It's not known yet whether it will be honorable or dishonorable.

Certain unpraise for a comedian comes from Rahm Emanuel, who enjoys painting Rush Limbaugh as the de facto head of the GOP.

Here in opinions, a suggestion that home ownership be removed from its sacred place and that renting be the encouraged form of housing, so that the populations can be more nimble and move to where the jobs are, instead of being stuck in one place that might be dying or have jobs that aren't suited to the people that live there. This coincides nicely with the repair manifesto, which wants us to get past recycling and into things like repairing our objects so that they live longer and we learn more about them in the process. And everyone can do stuff like this, witness Max, who got to have one of his ideas basically realized - a geodesic dome made from trash - by winning a contest. The kids have good ideas, too.

Also, another call to the Senate Leader to fix the rules so that if the opposition wants to stop a bill by filibuster, they actually have to do the filibuster instead of just threatening it.

Mr. Kudlow wants us all to know that Barack Obama hs declared war on businsspele, their investors, entrepreneurs, and others by raising taxes on the successful to help pay for the stimulus programs. The WSJ might add the Defense Department to that list, believing that the country should continue to spend a lot on military expenditures, and anyone who was honest about their home borrowing, because the borrower bailouts are going to reward theirresponsible with the esponsible's tax money. Mr. Ryan pushes his proposals on how to fix things, by cutting taxes, fixing monetary policy to things like commodities, and cut entitlement spending by establishing a floor and making individual contributions the bulk of health and retirement draws.

The WSJ lauds the United States for dropping out of the Durban II conference, chiding them for being late in their withdrawal, as well as believing this is the first sign where the Obama Administration has to admit that people just hate America and the West Because of Who We Are and Our Principles.

Last out, Ms. O'Grady suggests that if the Obama administration is going to stop raiding on medical-marijuana zones, it should go all the way and lift prohibitions on trafficking marijuana, so s to basically undercut the money that drug cartels make running the stuff illegally.

In technology, real-time data on how hard your muscles are working, devices that convert sound waves to vibrations, making it easier for those without hearing to distinguish between certain phonemes, the onrushing inevitability of designer babies, a possibly safer and less controversial method of generating stem cells, solar power available at $1/watt, testing new ways of getting the Internet up to speed through the use of flow control in software, finding a part of the genome prone to mistakes with big consequences, and perhaps a robot replica of Einstein can get over the creepy factor? If it were programmed with the software for Laura, it might be able to get over a lot of that gap.

Last for tonight, sound advice on what to do with the things of your childhood.