![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A day's worth of material - 5 June 2009
Jun. 5th, 2009 11:28 pmGreetings to the people around, in this new world where we know that apes will laugh if you tickle them in a happy environment.
Before getting started, enjoy the following from our we love libraries department - Toni Morrison gave an address at the Free Speech Leadership Council, talking about her experiences as an author who ran into lots of censorship challenges. We need people standing for the freedom to read, more than just librarians, because there are people like this - a group purporting itself to be for safe libraries has demanded the right to remove, burn, and destroy a particular YA book from the West Bend (WI) library. They’re also demanding damages of $30,000 per suer because they were exposed to the face-out display of a book they consider offensive, they want the Mayor’s head for allowing the book to be displayed in public, and they want the state Attorney General to declare the book in question obscene and making it available a hate crime. Even worse is that four of the library board members were not reappointed because they told this particular group to go to the hell they want to create for others, and the group accused them of “stonewalling” and not hearing their demands, because they didn’t immediately give in to those demands to relocate and destroy books.
If you would like to express how much you like the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, and how thoughtful they were to recommend Francesca Lia Block’s Baby Be-Bop to a wider audience, culminating in the purchase of a copy for your household and a suggestion to your library that they also purchase it, they can be reached at WBCITIZENS4SAFELIBRARIES@gmail.com. Remember, be polite, but be thorough in your praise for their recommendation of such a fine and upstanding book.
Internationally, remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime are part of insurgency groups, according to the United States.
The United Kingdom's Prime Minister shuffled the heads of his cabinet-level authorities, in an attempt to calm concerns about his government's ability.
North Korea was not forthcoming with details about the trials of two female American journalists on espionage charges, after mentioning that the trial was going to happen. No updates, and a very curious silence.
Israel has said they will not change their policy on West Bank settlements, despite an explicit plea from President Obama for them to do so. So, will this get swept under the rug?
Brides in China are taking the price their husbands pay for the privilege of marrying them and vanishing, to go find other men to get money out of.
Finally, New Zealand has been rated the most peaceful country. the United States ranks 83rd of 144 countries selected.
Domestically, The National D-Day monument does not have sufficient funds to continue operations, and would like some donations to help them continue to honor the memory of those persons involved.
Getting to this late, some radio hosts advocated for the use of shock therapy and other abuses as "cures" if a child should engage in transgender behavior. That’s young children, when in the curiosity stage of life. Apparently, there are just some things that are unacceptable, no matter the age. Some advertisers ahve already pulled their support in protest over the matter. One might suggest that if they were anything approaching serious, that their children have an eye kept on them for abusive signs.
In his speech, President Obama admitted that the United States helped to overthrow a democratically-elected government - in 1953 . Well, the past is past, but it probably helps and hurts the image of America with Iran - we’re being honest, but it also gives a sort of legitimacy to the idea that we’re trying to overthrow governments.
Union leaders are ramping up rhetoric against corporate CEOs, calling for their resignations based on what they did do shareholders. It looks weird, until you remember that union pension funds are often invested in various companies, expecting them to do well so as to fund the retirement income.
Last out before the opinions, I remember there was a little bit at the beginning of the housing crisis about people who were so distraught they were committing suicide. Where did all their media coverage go, and how many more have taken that route out that we haven’t seen yet?
In the opinions, you may need some tin-foil for this one, but someone sees a lot of coincidences happening in the lead-up and execution of the 11 September attacks, starting all the way back in 1962. We’ll put it next to the selection suggesting Roosevelt let Pearl Harbor happen so the United States had an excuse to enter the second World War.
Much more seriously, Matthew Yglesias suggests in certain segments of the economy, anyone trying to make money will be perpetually undercut by those who will do it for free and will offer the service for free to users.
Mr. Swanson lays out a great idea - why not just give everyone a basic income guarantee, rich or poor, working or not, so that they all can take care of necessities? And then, peopel who find work will have income on top of that to help with their lives. Very win-win. Would go well with ensuring that all persons, rich or poor, have excellent health care, or at least basic health care. Mr. Swanson also notes a giant dearth of media attention to those kinds of proposals.
After David Horowitz gave President Obama's speech a glowing review, both Stop Me Before I Vote Again and Musings and Migraines roll their eyes and shake their heads, wondering whether anyone was actually paying attention to the speech itself, and how much it makes the otehrwise-intelligent Obama look like an effective panderer and not much else. Mind you, Mr. Horowitz is pretty well reading into the speech what he wants to see (as are we all, we think). So, maybe we’ll take the tack that says well, if you can back up the words with some action, then we’ll make decisions on how serious you are about the things you said.
Elsewhere, Mr. Fratto talks about teh very ludicrousness of claiming to know how many jobs have been saved or created by the stimulus package, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even really know, and they’re the experts on the matter. Following that, Mr. Turd Blossom says that the government will be judged on its results.Of course, Mr. Blossom is convinced he knows what the results will be and how the populace will react to them. As one possibility, Mr. Mitchell sees a VAT in the future, and he doesn't like it.
Earning himself a gold star, Victor Davis Hanson explains why getting into racial discussions is problematic, because race is much different now than what it was - the government is deciding whose races are minorities, rather than clear race-ness. Because of that, he says, we should vote Sotomayor up or down based solely on her record as a justice, and not any claim or otherwise about her race, made either by her or by others.
Well, he would have earned himself a flaming quiche, but the library-and-book-hating lunatics above won that contest by such a wide margin there was no contest, Nile Gardener says the US should stop apologizing for what it has done, and instead project an America that is proud of itself and disdains seeking adoration or respect from historically hostile countries. They don’t want swagger, apparently, Nile thinks that the current position of talking to people, using some of their own terms to indicate your understanding, just isn’t going to do it and we should be more “our way or the highway”. Eat quiche.
Just missing, Mr. Heninger characterises the Obama administration's reaction to GM in "too big to fail" terms, indicating the same result for GM that happened for financial institutions - bloated entities that would have been better sacrificed. Mostly because he talks as if the Obama administration has no idea of what the private sector is, much less what it does, and thus ensures every solution is a government one, to the increased bloating of the government.
Last for tonight, Ms. Rosett gives us her retrospective on Tiananmen, and says China will become modern when it stops fearing what happened there..
In the technological realms, have a look at some high-definition movies of the surface of Luna, some old technology that helped develop some new technology in hearing, a display that also acts as a camers, so you can watch something watching you, or “Hey, let’s peek behind technology that might integreate Project Natal right into our televisions”, interesting information that tells us space can cause headaches, possibly because they increase bloodflow to the brain, and that causes uncomfortable pressure.
And rather disturbing on the tech fronts, estrogen in the water supply is worse that previously thought, which could spell some very bad news for those who inhabit those waters, like the fish swimming.
Last for tonight, check out the competitors for the best photograph in the Hasselblad competition. That’s awesome. These tight-yet-baggy pants are not.
Before getting started, enjoy the following from our we love libraries department - Toni Morrison gave an address at the Free Speech Leadership Council, talking about her experiences as an author who ran into lots of censorship challenges. We need people standing for the freedom to read, more than just librarians, because there are people like this - a group purporting itself to be for safe libraries has demanded the right to remove, burn, and destroy a particular YA book from the West Bend (WI) library. They’re also demanding damages of $30,000 per suer because they were exposed to the face-out display of a book they consider offensive, they want the Mayor’s head for allowing the book to be displayed in public, and they want the state Attorney General to declare the book in question obscene and making it available a hate crime. Even worse is that four of the library board members were not reappointed because they told this particular group to go to the hell they want to create for others, and the group accused them of “stonewalling” and not hearing their demands, because they didn’t immediately give in to those demands to relocate and destroy books.
If you would like to express how much you like the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, and how thoughtful they were to recommend Francesca Lia Block’s Baby Be-Bop to a wider audience, culminating in the purchase of a copy for your household and a suggestion to your library that they also purchase it, they can be reached at WBCITIZENS4SAFELIBRARIES@gmail.com. Remember, be polite, but be thorough in your praise for their recommendation of such a fine and upstanding book.
Internationally, remnants of the Saddam Hussein regime are part of insurgency groups, according to the United States.
The United Kingdom's Prime Minister shuffled the heads of his cabinet-level authorities, in an attempt to calm concerns about his government's ability.
North Korea was not forthcoming with details about the trials of two female American journalists on espionage charges, after mentioning that the trial was going to happen. No updates, and a very curious silence.
Israel has said they will not change their policy on West Bank settlements, despite an explicit plea from President Obama for them to do so. So, will this get swept under the rug?
Brides in China are taking the price their husbands pay for the privilege of marrying them and vanishing, to go find other men to get money out of.
Finally, New Zealand has been rated the most peaceful country. the United States ranks 83rd of 144 countries selected.
Domestically, The National D-Day monument does not have sufficient funds to continue operations, and would like some donations to help them continue to honor the memory of those persons involved.
Getting to this late, some radio hosts advocated for the use of shock therapy and other abuses as "cures" if a child should engage in transgender behavior. That’s young children, when in the curiosity stage of life. Apparently, there are just some things that are unacceptable, no matter the age. Some advertisers ahve already pulled their support in protest over the matter. One might suggest that if they were anything approaching serious, that their children have an eye kept on them for abusive signs.
In his speech, President Obama admitted that the United States helped to overthrow a democratically-elected government - in 1953 . Well, the past is past, but it probably helps and hurts the image of America with Iran - we’re being honest, but it also gives a sort of legitimacy to the idea that we’re trying to overthrow governments.
Union leaders are ramping up rhetoric against corporate CEOs, calling for their resignations based on what they did do shareholders. It looks weird, until you remember that union pension funds are often invested in various companies, expecting them to do well so as to fund the retirement income.
Last out before the opinions, I remember there was a little bit at the beginning of the housing crisis about people who were so distraught they were committing suicide. Where did all their media coverage go, and how many more have taken that route out that we haven’t seen yet?
In the opinions, you may need some tin-foil for this one, but someone sees a lot of coincidences happening in the lead-up and execution of the 11 September attacks, starting all the way back in 1962. We’ll put it next to the selection suggesting Roosevelt let Pearl Harbor happen so the United States had an excuse to enter the second World War.
Much more seriously, Matthew Yglesias suggests in certain segments of the economy, anyone trying to make money will be perpetually undercut by those who will do it for free and will offer the service for free to users.
Mr. Swanson lays out a great idea - why not just give everyone a basic income guarantee, rich or poor, working or not, so that they all can take care of necessities? And then, peopel who find work will have income on top of that to help with their lives. Very win-win. Would go well with ensuring that all persons, rich or poor, have excellent health care, or at least basic health care. Mr. Swanson also notes a giant dearth of media attention to those kinds of proposals.
After David Horowitz gave President Obama's speech a glowing review, both Stop Me Before I Vote Again and Musings and Migraines roll their eyes and shake their heads, wondering whether anyone was actually paying attention to the speech itself, and how much it makes the otehrwise-intelligent Obama look like an effective panderer and not much else. Mind you, Mr. Horowitz is pretty well reading into the speech what he wants to see (as are we all, we think). So, maybe we’ll take the tack that says well, if you can back up the words with some action, then we’ll make decisions on how serious you are about the things you said.
Elsewhere, Mr. Fratto talks about teh very ludicrousness of claiming to know how many jobs have been saved or created by the stimulus package, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even really know, and they’re the experts on the matter. Following that, Mr. Turd Blossom says that the government will be judged on its results.Of course, Mr. Blossom is convinced he knows what the results will be and how the populace will react to them. As one possibility, Mr. Mitchell sees a VAT in the future, and he doesn't like it.
Earning himself a gold star, Victor Davis Hanson explains why getting into racial discussions is problematic, because race is much different now than what it was - the government is deciding whose races are minorities, rather than clear race-ness. Because of that, he says, we should vote Sotomayor up or down based solely on her record as a justice, and not any claim or otherwise about her race, made either by her or by others.
Well, he would have earned himself a flaming quiche, but the library-and-book-hating lunatics above won that contest by such a wide margin there was no contest, Nile Gardener says the US should stop apologizing for what it has done, and instead project an America that is proud of itself and disdains seeking adoration or respect from historically hostile countries. They don’t want swagger, apparently, Nile thinks that the current position of talking to people, using some of their own terms to indicate your understanding, just isn’t going to do it and we should be more “our way or the highway”. Eat quiche.
Just missing, Mr. Heninger characterises the Obama administration's reaction to GM in "too big to fail" terms, indicating the same result for GM that happened for financial institutions - bloated entities that would have been better sacrificed. Mostly because he talks as if the Obama administration has no idea of what the private sector is, much less what it does, and thus ensures every solution is a government one, to the increased bloating of the government.
Last for tonight, Ms. Rosett gives us her retrospective on Tiananmen, and says China will become modern when it stops fearing what happened there..
In the technological realms, have a look at some high-definition movies of the surface of Luna, some old technology that helped develop some new technology in hearing, a display that also acts as a camers, so you can watch something watching you, or “Hey, let’s peek behind technology that might integreate Project Natal right into our televisions”, interesting information that tells us space can cause headaches, possibly because they increase bloodflow to the brain, and that causes uncomfortable pressure.
And rather disturbing on the tech fronts, estrogen in the water supply is worse that previously thought, which could spell some very bad news for those who inhabit those waters, like the fish swimming.
Last for tonight, check out the competitors for the best photograph in the Hasselblad competition. That’s awesome. These tight-yet-baggy pants are not.
