![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
All the best from us - 30 June 2009
Jul. 1st, 2009 10:02 amGreetings. We're late on the latest Dead Pool payout, Billy Mays, because were were flattened yesterday by what appears to have been a small cold that decided it wanted to get a hell of a lot worse, starting as a sinus headache, and then adding on some discomfort in the gastrointestinal region, although there was no reverse peristalsis. Luckily, the magic of sleep has removed the worst of the symptoms. Thank Prime.
Additionally, Firefox 3.5, a major step up for the Firefox 3 branch of the popular browser, is available today, and apparently boasts quite a few new goodies to make your browsing experience better.
Last before the news, a nice piece explaining the versatility of the MLIS/MSI as well as the recognition that we really do need that much education to do well at the library profession.
Internationally, It's not totally up to the Iraqis now, but the United States needs a request before they soldier out now, and that does likely mean an uptick in violence. However, before declaring this idea to be a failure, because it ends the "surge" that has become the mythological reason why peace happens in Iraq and apparently projects that we've suddenly decided to become weaklings, perhaps you should give the locals a chance to prove they can handle the task of policing themselves.
South Korea disguises an intelligence-gathering attempt as a game, hoping to gather the wisdom of the crowd in picking out who looks like a spy or a foreign agent. Inform on your neighbors, because they might be working against you. That's always a dangerous game to play.
A little late, but a nice piece about how women are at the forefront of the recent protests - perhaps because they're traditionally the ones that get stomped on by the regime. And, of course, how the news cycle gyrating away from Iran to cover Michael helps the unelected leaders of Iran crack down on their people.
Perhaps just as dangerous, schools in the United Kingdom may be able to start applying for parenting orders, which would compel parents, under force of law and fines of up to one thousand pounds, to keep their children clear of bad influences, enforcing curfews, and possibly attending parenting and/or counseling sessions. These are part of reforms that apparently will also allow parents to give report cards to their schools and detail criticisms and improvements needed.
In domestic travails, the founder of the paramilitary group the Minutemen is challenging Senator McCain for the Republican primary in 2010. This will likely mean there will be a lot of dirt dug up and aired out for the country to see. So, in that sense, bring it on. Just don't be surprised if you don't get all that much for a following.
Speaking of Senate matters, the Senator from Minnesota has been decided - Mr. Al Franken.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed on the New Haven firefighter question, indicating that the lack of minorities doing well on a promotion test and the fear of lawsuits coming from that was insufficient grounds for dismissing the results of the test. According to critics, this is a new reading of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act - judicial activism, in other words, from the conservative members of the court. The majority of judges saw in this case a situation where racial considerations weighted the decision in the wrong direction, rather than giving equal consideration under the law to all candidates, with subtler or more overt tones of "See? Affirmative action doesn't work and actively discriminates against white people", from the quotes and selections i've seen so far.
The fact that this was an appeals ruling of which Judge Sotomayor was a part of gives new ammo to her opposition, including The WSJ coming this side of accusing her of being a racist based on her and the Appeals Court's quick dismissal of the appeal, with dissenting justice Ginsberg noting that remanding would probably be in order, if the Court really thought the problem was that she moved hastily on the matter. Beyond that, there came bizarre insistence by Boss Limbaugh and other conservatives that even the dissenting voices were against Sotomayor - uh, perhaps against the quick dismissal, but against the larger matter of the claims that New Haven shouldn't be allowed to dismiss test results because not enough minorities scored high enough on it? 5-4. And really, the claim that this was somehow against the Judge, when there were two other people on the panel? Sounds like someone's still trying to paint the nominee as a racist against white people. Mr. Greenwald notes today's decision affirms minstreamness of the judge, as well as providing an interesting foil - empathy in the decision from people who mock empathy in decisions, as well as certain other aspects of the case that make it less about reverse discrimination and more about a city deciding its metrics didn't meet the standard of the law.
A program that permitted retired Army personnel to voluntarily return to active service has been terminated, with the explanation given that the Army must downsize to Congressionally mandated limits. Those wanting to volunteer are, naturally, disappointed, and feel their experience would be valuable in helping the younger active-duty soldiers.
It being a slow news day today, apparently (not enough all Michael, all the time), generally speaking, Democrats prefer foreign cars and Republicans domestic, but if you're in UAW territory, and you have domestic auto manufacturing plants nearby, everyone drives domestic. Probably because of the rumors of people at the Ford plant getting their cars destroyed if anything other than "Ford" was on it, or the idea that, hrm, because so much of Michigan's economy is tied to the domestic auto market, buying domestic autos ensures one's own survival and continued employment. The second page goes toward deconstructing the strokes the first page has presented, anyway, so clearly a slow news day.
The United States is considering legislation that would punish United States companies that assist or aid countries engaged in censorship of their populaces with fines, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Cisco.
Opinions begin with a reminder that the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action has been sufficiently changed as to be offensive to the original.
We then continue with Mr. Altman, who is certain there will be tax increases soon to pay for stimulus spending in record defecits, and thinks a VAT is the most likely candidate for such.
Mr. Epstein wants Mr. Obama to come down hard on malpractice reform, pointing out that even the systems being held up for emulation by the United States cap malpractice awards and enforce other rules that make lawsuits less likely to happen. I don't know if this is a "instead of insuring everyone, just hammer malpractice costs down and all will be well", or "if you're going to go for the big one, you've got to include this reform in it".
The WSJ turns on Justice Scalia for being number 5 in a 5-4 decision that supposedly lets state Attorney Generals prosecute banks for discriminatory lending practices, arguing that the regulatory power over that is vested in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and thus is solely a federal jurisdiction.
Mr. Stephens takes issue with the President's Iran policy, considering it incoherent and obsolete, because it didn't seize the unrest opportunity to push a more aggressive involvement by the United States while the result was in doubt. Now that the opportunity has passed, Mr. Stephens says that things are back to normal, with nuclear aggression, contempt for the United States, and continued support of terrorists still the way Iran will do things. Thus, "regime change" and "democracy promotion" are in order, just like they were before. There was still no guarantee that this was anything looking like a push to overthrow or destabilize the unelected government, and perhaps with active interference, it could have become so. But the United States was probably not the nation to be spearheading such a charge. Our last coup attempt in Iran worked so well, they threw the guy out of office and killed him, taking hostages in the process. Perhaps the President would like to engage in regime change. He might, as soon as one of the other land wars in Asia started by his predecessor, both potentially under false pretenses, gets finished.
In technology, no more charger worries - ten mobile companies agree to have the same plug, microUSB for charging, the possibility that short full-on bursts of certain types of exercise may be just as effective as long moderate exercise, so that perhaps six minutes plus warm-ups and cooldowns could produce the same result as that ninety-minute cycling, utilizing screens and camera to generate an effect sure to shock your friends, robots that navigate in a human-like manner, using stereo cameras on a swiveling head, a mind-controlled wheelchair, thanks to Toyota, the possibility of changing magnetic memory's chemical make up to make it both more dense and last for archival time periods, more tests of nanoparticles designed to eliminate cancerous growths, and a bulldozing tank constructed with the body of a Fiat on top.
Last for tonight, recall this - The Internet lets you make your temper tantrums very public, so you can go off half-cocked or you can decide to be professional when you tell your critics they don't understand a thing.
Additionally, Firefox 3.5, a major step up for the Firefox 3 branch of the popular browser, is available today, and apparently boasts quite a few new goodies to make your browsing experience better.
Last before the news, a nice piece explaining the versatility of the MLIS/MSI as well as the recognition that we really do need that much education to do well at the library profession.
Internationally, It's not totally up to the Iraqis now, but the United States needs a request before they soldier out now, and that does likely mean an uptick in violence. However, before declaring this idea to be a failure, because it ends the "surge" that has become the mythological reason why peace happens in Iraq and apparently projects that we've suddenly decided to become weaklings, perhaps you should give the locals a chance to prove they can handle the task of policing themselves.
South Korea disguises an intelligence-gathering attempt as a game, hoping to gather the wisdom of the crowd in picking out who looks like a spy or a foreign agent. Inform on your neighbors, because they might be working against you. That's always a dangerous game to play.
A little late, but a nice piece about how women are at the forefront of the recent protests - perhaps because they're traditionally the ones that get stomped on by the regime. And, of course, how the news cycle gyrating away from Iran to cover Michael helps the unelected leaders of Iran crack down on their people.
Perhaps just as dangerous, schools in the United Kingdom may be able to start applying for parenting orders, which would compel parents, under force of law and fines of up to one thousand pounds, to keep their children clear of bad influences, enforcing curfews, and possibly attending parenting and/or counseling sessions. These are part of reforms that apparently will also allow parents to give report cards to their schools and detail criticisms and improvements needed.
In domestic travails, the founder of the paramilitary group the Minutemen is challenging Senator McCain for the Republican primary in 2010. This will likely mean there will be a lot of dirt dug up and aired out for the country to see. So, in that sense, bring it on. Just don't be surprised if you don't get all that much for a following.
Speaking of Senate matters, the Senator from Minnesota has been decided - Mr. Al Franken.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court reversed on the New Haven firefighter question, indicating that the lack of minorities doing well on a promotion test and the fear of lawsuits coming from that was insufficient grounds for dismissing the results of the test. According to critics, this is a new reading of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act - judicial activism, in other words, from the conservative members of the court. The majority of judges saw in this case a situation where racial considerations weighted the decision in the wrong direction, rather than giving equal consideration under the law to all candidates, with subtler or more overt tones of "See? Affirmative action doesn't work and actively discriminates against white people", from the quotes and selections i've seen so far.
The fact that this was an appeals ruling of which Judge Sotomayor was a part of gives new ammo to her opposition, including The WSJ coming this side of accusing her of being a racist based on her and the Appeals Court's quick dismissal of the appeal, with dissenting justice Ginsberg noting that remanding would probably be in order, if the Court really thought the problem was that she moved hastily on the matter. Beyond that, there came bizarre insistence by Boss Limbaugh and other conservatives that even the dissenting voices were against Sotomayor - uh, perhaps against the quick dismissal, but against the larger matter of the claims that New Haven shouldn't be allowed to dismiss test results because not enough minorities scored high enough on it? 5-4. And really, the claim that this was somehow against the Judge, when there were two other people on the panel? Sounds like someone's still trying to paint the nominee as a racist against white people. Mr. Greenwald notes today's decision affirms minstreamness of the judge, as well as providing an interesting foil - empathy in the decision from people who mock empathy in decisions, as well as certain other aspects of the case that make it less about reverse discrimination and more about a city deciding its metrics didn't meet the standard of the law.
A program that permitted retired Army personnel to voluntarily return to active service has been terminated, with the explanation given that the Army must downsize to Congressionally mandated limits. Those wanting to volunteer are, naturally, disappointed, and feel their experience would be valuable in helping the younger active-duty soldiers.
It being a slow news day today, apparently (not enough all Michael, all the time), generally speaking, Democrats prefer foreign cars and Republicans domestic, but if you're in UAW territory, and you have domestic auto manufacturing plants nearby, everyone drives domestic. Probably because of the rumors of people at the Ford plant getting their cars destroyed if anything other than "Ford" was on it, or the idea that, hrm, because so much of Michigan's economy is tied to the domestic auto market, buying domestic autos ensures one's own survival and continued employment. The second page goes toward deconstructing the strokes the first page has presented, anyway, so clearly a slow news day.
The United States is considering legislation that would punish United States companies that assist or aid countries engaged in censorship of their populaces with fines, including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and Cisco.
Opinions begin with a reminder that the Avatar: The Last Airbender live-action has been sufficiently changed as to be offensive to the original.
We then continue with Mr. Altman, who is certain there will be tax increases soon to pay for stimulus spending in record defecits, and thinks a VAT is the most likely candidate for such.
Mr. Epstein wants Mr. Obama to come down hard on malpractice reform, pointing out that even the systems being held up for emulation by the United States cap malpractice awards and enforce other rules that make lawsuits less likely to happen. I don't know if this is a "instead of insuring everyone, just hammer malpractice costs down and all will be well", or "if you're going to go for the big one, you've got to include this reform in it".
The WSJ turns on Justice Scalia for being number 5 in a 5-4 decision that supposedly lets state Attorney Generals prosecute banks for discriminatory lending practices, arguing that the regulatory power over that is vested in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and thus is solely a federal jurisdiction.
Mr. Stephens takes issue with the President's Iran policy, considering it incoherent and obsolete, because it didn't seize the unrest opportunity to push a more aggressive involvement by the United States while the result was in doubt. Now that the opportunity has passed, Mr. Stephens says that things are back to normal, with nuclear aggression, contempt for the United States, and continued support of terrorists still the way Iran will do things. Thus, "regime change" and "democracy promotion" are in order, just like they were before. There was still no guarantee that this was anything looking like a push to overthrow or destabilize the unelected government, and perhaps with active interference, it could have become so. But the United States was probably not the nation to be spearheading such a charge. Our last coup attempt in Iran worked so well, they threw the guy out of office and killed him, taking hostages in the process. Perhaps the President would like to engage in regime change. He might, as soon as one of the other land wars in Asia started by his predecessor, both potentially under false pretenses, gets finished.
In technology, no more charger worries - ten mobile companies agree to have the same plug, microUSB for charging, the possibility that short full-on bursts of certain types of exercise may be just as effective as long moderate exercise, so that perhaps six minutes plus warm-ups and cooldowns could produce the same result as that ninety-minute cycling, utilizing screens and camera to generate an effect sure to shock your friends, robots that navigate in a human-like manner, using stereo cameras on a swiveling head, a mind-controlled wheelchair, thanks to Toyota, the possibility of changing magnetic memory's chemical make up to make it both more dense and last for archival time periods, more tests of nanoparticles designed to eliminate cancerous growths, and a bulldozing tank constructed with the body of a Fiat on top.
Last for tonight, recall this - The Internet lets you make your temper tantrums very public, so you can go off half-cocked or you can decide to be professional when you tell your critics they don't understand a thing.
