Getting onward - 10 June 2008
Jun. 11th, 2008 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptMy professional self gets a good lead-in today. Despite what many people think, just because it is a public institution funded by tax dollars does not mean that the library has no need for outside funding sources. The behavior exhibited in this particular account sounds like ignorance rather than asshaberdashery. The tax monies your local library gets most likely have strict rules on them how they may be spent, and on what. To provide more flexibility, the library friends groups provide some funds that are unencumbered by the tax restrictions. Beyond that, though, for major projects, or even, sometimes, for minor ones, the library needs additional donations of unencumbered funds. Paying taxes means you get library service, and librarians, and library buildings. It does not guarantee in any sort of way that the library is a place that you would want to go. For that, we need additional donations, or Friends memberships and dues. It’s sad, but true. A lot of what goes into making your local library awesome has very little to do with your tax dollars, past paying for the space, books, and salary of the librarian.
International news starts with military posturing - Hugo Chavez's navy and air force fired live missiles in war games exercises in a show of how strong his forces are, and proceeds into Turkish forces continuing to pound on Iraq.
From there, we get into the sad realities of the world - in attempting to keep them on as allies in the War on a Concept, the United States is overlooking several women's rights abuses in Pakistan that they condemn in other countries. Just remember what Fearless Leader has said about the enemies of the United States. Meanwhile, an Iranian person wanted by Interpol has appeared in Saudi Arabia, apparently in defiance of the Interpol arrest order. Joseph Klein decries the presence of Robet Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a UN summit on the world food crisis, considering both of those leaders to be causes of their own countries’ problems, and that the UN should stop insisting that developed countries do more, and instead insist that those countries elect or put leaders in power that will actually resolve their food crises, rather than perpetuate them.
A very bad headline-article combination. Headline: Threat of world AIDS pandemic among heterosexuals is over, report admits. Article: Despite this, AIDS still remains a very dangerous thing for high-risk groups, for Africa, and for anyone who comes in contact with it. So, while it may not spread out as a worldwide pandemic, that doesn’t mean “AIDS is harmless” or “AIDS is contained” or even “AIDS is not the leading infectious disease in the world”. Bad headline. All it said was that education has been effective to the point that the world is not going to be facing a rampant pandemic.
Representative Edward Markey finds it strange that the Untied States is helping Saudi Arabia develop nuclear technology, but is trying very hard to prevent Iran from doing the same. Probably drawing from the same source of worry, Jay Greene is suspicious of donations to universities from Middle Eastern countries, believing that those gifts permit the donors to influence how and what Middle Eastern Studies students end up studying.
Domestically, flying without showing identification has just become impossible. This does not necessarily improve actual security, as "no-fly" lists can still be bypassed with certain techniques, and generally speaking, the people who would want to bomb or harm on a plane have very little trouble obtaining an identification to show to a screener.
Twisted justice - a man who picked up a case of M-16s after they fell out of a military vehicle has returned the weapons with a note of apology, but may still face charges. Weapons returned, no intent of using them for nefarious purposes, apology attached. Problem solved. Heads will roll on those who let the things fall off.
On a significantly smaller firepower scale, several gun owners are taking advantage of the ability to openly carry guns with them and to display them visibly as a way of educating people that other citizens can carry guns around, rather than just police or military personnel. It doesn’t require a concealed carry permit, because it’s not concealed. I do worry about what may happen if the gun should find its way into the hands of a criminal, but I don’t expect a lot of people to be carrying their guns around, either.
Proving again that the fringe gets news coverage, it's true - some people are not getting back on their feet as fast as FEMA would like them to, but these few people here are probably a small percentage of all the people who have gotten back on their feet and are rebuilding their lives, having used FEMA assistance when they needed it. The article would have you believe that there are still plenty of people who are living on the taxpayer dime and have no motivation or want to do anything else but freeload. It’s the same argument against actually having a decent safety net - if it’s actually possible to take enough time to get yourself picked up, sorted out, and back to a life that you want to live, then everyone will just want to live on government money.
While the state of California will be legalizing gay marriage, the the Kern County Clerk will soon stop providing civil union ceremonies as its way of not following the new ruling. Whether this is flouting the law or following one’s conscience (or both) is yet to be determined.
Doctors who led the charge to use antipsychotics on children failed to disclose just how much money drug companies paid them in consulting deals. Not only can we say “conflict of interest”, we can realize just how much control drug companies may have on research scientists. Plus, this particular researcher led an aggressive charge to diagnose children with bipolar disorder and treat them with drugs that will mellow them out. A standard rant about how children are being medicated into mediocrity and submission, rather than letting their true natures out to play for a bit goes here.
Metallica shoots themselves in the foot by not requiring an NDA, and then forcing someone to remove a positive review of an early cut of the upcoming album. A positive review. So, no positive buzz for this album at this point, and probably more than a few old negative Metallica jokes and commentary to return.
In candidate matters, Robert Novak thinks Senator McCain needs to get his act together and ger evangelical endorsements. There’s something rather sad about the Republican candidate “needing” to sell himself out to fundamentalist Christians just to be elected into office. Or even to make a good showing. Continuing in the religious theme, William McGurn believes that Barack Obama may be a good candidate to returning religious voices to the public square, by recognizing that a lot of law and moral principles that the populace uses derive themselves from religious beliefs.
Chuck Muth believes he's found an indication of Barack Obama's socialist wealth-redistributor tendencies, from an account of how the most highly profitable riverboat casinos were ordered to subsidize the failing horse-racing games, by a law passed by the legislature. Had to be more than the Senator involved who wanted to pass this law. I wonder what the rationale for all the other people that voted for the billl was? Surely, it couldn’t have all been socialist leanings? OpinionJournal wants to peg Senator Obama as indebted to the unions, to the point of requiring union wages to be paid to all government construction contracts, through the clause of paying a prevailing wage. This is apparently almost twice the normal wage that would be paid in the private sector, and derives from a 1931 law apparently supposed to inflate prices such as to drive nonwhite contractors out of the market. Last on Senator Obama himself, Thomas Sowell finds Barack Obama's inquiries about what the Secretary of Defense will do about making sure the troops coming home are in good mental condition presumptuous. It’s apparently not that bad, compared to the populace at large. Nevermind any sort of actual obligation for the government to return their volunteer soldiers in good condition, where one soldier who has mental issues from war and fighting is one soldier too many. I guess Thomas Sowell really doesn’t support the troops, with his willingness to abandon some of them to mental illnesses. (See how easy character assumptions and assassinations based in hearsay are?)
In more general opinions, Kimberly and Frederick Kagan claim progress in Iraq, and say that the U.S. needs to see it through to the end, while also saying that the current Iraq structure and security forces aren’t enough yet to handle things. Mathhew Kaminski says that relations with Europe have gotten better, but properly placing the reason for the change on the election of new officials in Europe, rather than any significant change in U.S. policy toward anything.
Much like humans who can see an oncoming storm, bacteria anticipate changes in their environment, having learned to associate certain signals with incoming conditions and adapt accordingly. So yes, the bugs are getting smarter - just as we are. And if we're not in a good mood when we're sick, we may get sicker faster. Feeling good helps with keeping healthy. This we knew, and now we have the science to help it out.
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miyarificius altered me to this particular gem - the Souther Baptists are worried about their membership numbers. Having been successfully painted as the fundie wing of Christianity, without a moderate position on anything, will do that to you. Being responsible for, or at least affiliated with, George W. Bush doesn’t help any, either.
But winning the prize of silly, recall that Mr. and Mrs. Obama shared a dap, “fist-bump”, or wahtever you will call it, recently. Faux and other organizations that continue to have credibility problems by substituting rumor, fearmongering, and character attacks for actual journalism (yeah, I know, I’m not really one to talk...) attempted to play this up into another “Look! He’s a black man! Do you want a black man as President!” or a “Look! He’s a black man! Black men are terrorists! He shouldn’t be President!” matter. Thus, thanks to the tireless efforts ofgwenophelia, a sampling of some of the worst comments about the fist bump. Recall, of course, that since the Senator and his wife were implied to be terrorists because of the dap, then there are a lot of people who have just become suspected terrorists.
And now, going to bed. Considering the nation as a whole isn't getting nearly enough sleep, leading to things like naps at work, I think I’ll try for as much Z time as I can get.
International news starts with military posturing - Hugo Chavez's navy and air force fired live missiles in war games exercises in a show of how strong his forces are, and proceeds into Turkish forces continuing to pound on Iraq.
From there, we get into the sad realities of the world - in attempting to keep them on as allies in the War on a Concept, the United States is overlooking several women's rights abuses in Pakistan that they condemn in other countries. Just remember what Fearless Leader has said about the enemies of the United States. Meanwhile, an Iranian person wanted by Interpol has appeared in Saudi Arabia, apparently in defiance of the Interpol arrest order. Joseph Klein decries the presence of Robet Mugabe and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a UN summit on the world food crisis, considering both of those leaders to be causes of their own countries’ problems, and that the UN should stop insisting that developed countries do more, and instead insist that those countries elect or put leaders in power that will actually resolve their food crises, rather than perpetuate them.
A very bad headline-article combination. Headline: Threat of world AIDS pandemic among heterosexuals is over, report admits. Article: Despite this, AIDS still remains a very dangerous thing for high-risk groups, for Africa, and for anyone who comes in contact with it. So, while it may not spread out as a worldwide pandemic, that doesn’t mean “AIDS is harmless” or “AIDS is contained” or even “AIDS is not the leading infectious disease in the world”. Bad headline. All it said was that education has been effective to the point that the world is not going to be facing a rampant pandemic.
Representative Edward Markey finds it strange that the Untied States is helping Saudi Arabia develop nuclear technology, but is trying very hard to prevent Iran from doing the same. Probably drawing from the same source of worry, Jay Greene is suspicious of donations to universities from Middle Eastern countries, believing that those gifts permit the donors to influence how and what Middle Eastern Studies students end up studying.
Domestically, flying without showing identification has just become impossible. This does not necessarily improve actual security, as "no-fly" lists can still be bypassed with certain techniques, and generally speaking, the people who would want to bomb or harm on a plane have very little trouble obtaining an identification to show to a screener.
Twisted justice - a man who picked up a case of M-16s after they fell out of a military vehicle has returned the weapons with a note of apology, but may still face charges. Weapons returned, no intent of using them for nefarious purposes, apology attached. Problem solved. Heads will roll on those who let the things fall off.
On a significantly smaller firepower scale, several gun owners are taking advantage of the ability to openly carry guns with them and to display them visibly as a way of educating people that other citizens can carry guns around, rather than just police or military personnel. It doesn’t require a concealed carry permit, because it’s not concealed. I do worry about what may happen if the gun should find its way into the hands of a criminal, but I don’t expect a lot of people to be carrying their guns around, either.
Proving again that the fringe gets news coverage, it's true - some people are not getting back on their feet as fast as FEMA would like them to, but these few people here are probably a small percentage of all the people who have gotten back on their feet and are rebuilding their lives, having used FEMA assistance when they needed it. The article would have you believe that there are still plenty of people who are living on the taxpayer dime and have no motivation or want to do anything else but freeload. It’s the same argument against actually having a decent safety net - if it’s actually possible to take enough time to get yourself picked up, sorted out, and back to a life that you want to live, then everyone will just want to live on government money.
While the state of California will be legalizing gay marriage, the the Kern County Clerk will soon stop providing civil union ceremonies as its way of not following the new ruling. Whether this is flouting the law or following one’s conscience (or both) is yet to be determined.
Doctors who led the charge to use antipsychotics on children failed to disclose just how much money drug companies paid them in consulting deals. Not only can we say “conflict of interest”, we can realize just how much control drug companies may have on research scientists. Plus, this particular researcher led an aggressive charge to diagnose children with bipolar disorder and treat them with drugs that will mellow them out. A standard rant about how children are being medicated into mediocrity and submission, rather than letting their true natures out to play for a bit goes here.
Metallica shoots themselves in the foot by not requiring an NDA, and then forcing someone to remove a positive review of an early cut of the upcoming album. A positive review. So, no positive buzz for this album at this point, and probably more than a few old negative Metallica jokes and commentary to return.
In candidate matters, Robert Novak thinks Senator McCain needs to get his act together and ger evangelical endorsements. There’s something rather sad about the Republican candidate “needing” to sell himself out to fundamentalist Christians just to be elected into office. Or even to make a good showing. Continuing in the religious theme, William McGurn believes that Barack Obama may be a good candidate to returning religious voices to the public square, by recognizing that a lot of law and moral principles that the populace uses derive themselves from religious beliefs.
Chuck Muth believes he's found an indication of Barack Obama's socialist wealth-redistributor tendencies, from an account of how the most highly profitable riverboat casinos were ordered to subsidize the failing horse-racing games, by a law passed by the legislature. Had to be more than the Senator involved who wanted to pass this law. I wonder what the rationale for all the other people that voted for the billl was? Surely, it couldn’t have all been socialist leanings? OpinionJournal wants to peg Senator Obama as indebted to the unions, to the point of requiring union wages to be paid to all government construction contracts, through the clause of paying a prevailing wage. This is apparently almost twice the normal wage that would be paid in the private sector, and derives from a 1931 law apparently supposed to inflate prices such as to drive nonwhite contractors out of the market. Last on Senator Obama himself, Thomas Sowell finds Barack Obama's inquiries about what the Secretary of Defense will do about making sure the troops coming home are in good mental condition presumptuous. It’s apparently not that bad, compared to the populace at large. Nevermind any sort of actual obligation for the government to return their volunteer soldiers in good condition, where one soldier who has mental issues from war and fighting is one soldier too many. I guess Thomas Sowell really doesn’t support the troops, with his willingness to abandon some of them to mental illnesses. (See how easy character assumptions and assassinations based in hearsay are?)
In more general opinions, Kimberly and Frederick Kagan claim progress in Iraq, and say that the U.S. needs to see it through to the end, while also saying that the current Iraq structure and security forces aren’t enough yet to handle things. Mathhew Kaminski says that relations with Europe have gotten better, but properly placing the reason for the change on the election of new officials in Europe, rather than any significant change in U.S. policy toward anything.
Much like humans who can see an oncoming storm, bacteria anticipate changes in their environment, having learned to associate certain signals with incoming conditions and adapt accordingly. So yes, the bugs are getting smarter - just as we are. And if we're not in a good mood when we're sick, we may get sicker faster. Feeling good helps with keeping healthy. This we knew, and now we have the science to help it out.
miyarificius altered me to this particular gem - the Souther Baptists are worried about their membership numbers. Having been successfully painted as the fundie wing of Christianity, without a moderate position on anything, will do that to you. Being responsible for, or at least affiliated with, George W. Bush doesn’t help any, either.But winning the prize of silly, recall that Mr. and Mrs. Obama shared a dap, “fist-bump”, or wahtever you will call it, recently. Faux and other organizations that continue to have credibility problems by substituting rumor, fearmongering, and character attacks for actual journalism (yeah, I know, I’m not really one to talk...) attempted to play this up into another “Look! He’s a black man! Do you want a black man as President!” or a “Look! He’s a black man! Black men are terrorists! He shouldn’t be President!” matter. Thus, thanks to the tireless efforts of
gwenophelia, a sampling of some of the worst comments about the fist bump. Recall, of course, that since the Senator and his wife were implied to be terrorists because of the dap, then there are a lot of people who have just become suspected terrorists. And now, going to bed. Considering the nation as a whole isn't getting nearly enough sleep, leading to things like naps at work, I think I’ll try for as much Z time as I can get.
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no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 09:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 02:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 05:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-11 08:01 pm (UTC)This is the best snark ever...
Date: 2008-06-11 09:37 pm (UTC)Typical Republican said,
June 7, 2008 at 21:44
If Barack HUSSEIN Obama is elected, the Statue of Libery will be replaced by a giant replica of Aunt Jemima.
Do you liberals want that?
Liberals. Hmf.
I almost spewed my water all over the library computer when I read that. Fortunately, I'm more than capable of practicing Library Restraint, and so I'm saving up for a big giggle-fest on the way home.
I think I'm going to start giving everyone I know the "fist bump" from now on. The Sign of the Beast is getting a bit old.
Re: This is the best snark ever...
Date: 2008-06-11 10:21 pm (UTC)Fist-bumps for all! Spread the terrorist signal! Make every member of the cult of Fox Noise nervous that the world is coming to an end!