![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptWelcome back, people who understand the need for sportsmanship and a helping hand - enjoy the story of a good team offering to forfeit the game so that they could spend the time teaching it to their opponents, instead of just beating them down into nothing. The opposite team accepted the forefeit, and the girls spent the time taching, then they gathered equipment for their opponents, and then big companies got involved to get them good dirt, equipment, and a whole lot more. The inner city kids? Have gotten better by leaps and bounds already.
Monday was also the day where United States persons are supposed to observe a memorial for the members of their military that have died in the various wars the country has fought and to appreciate those that have survived and those who fight still. It can be difficult in conflicts of dubious need where civilians are killed, or when contemplating the possibility that one thousand persons may have died fighting a conflict that could have been avoided or left alone, but anyone who goes into military service willingly and with full knowledge of the possible consequences deserves the respect of someone who made a hard choice and fights with the idea of protecting his country in mind. Mr. Helprin insists they also deserve a citizenry that supports them fully in all their endeavours, convinced of the rightness of their cause. If he is to have his wish come true, then the discussions, the debates, and the certainties must be better-laid out than these last conflicts have been, for the holes in their arguments have already been found and shown widely.
Out in the world today, the rains in Guatemala from the first tropical storm of the season eroded the ground sufficiently that a sinkhole formed swallowed a three-story building.
The President of Malawi pardoned a couple that had been given a 14 year sentence for gross indecency and unnatural acts involving what looked to be gay sex. Likely, the visit of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, had something to do with the pardon. It’s not like the region around has a stellar record on LGBT relationships.
Israeli troops stormed a Turkish ship containing aid for the Gaza Strip and killed several of the people on board. The Strip is blockaded, one, the confrotnation happened in international waters, two, but accounts differ as to whether the people on board had any weapons and started shooting, three, and four, regardless of whose account is correct, did Israel just commit an act of piracy, and if they did, what exactly is going to be the fallout from this? (There’s also some facepalming that Israel ran straight into the trap the flotilla was setting for them.)
Not that this discourages the presence of nuclear subs around Iran, because we all know those crazy Iranians are just waiting to do something that’s utter suicide for them and their country. Israel also complained about a conference in 2012 aimed at establishing a nuclear-free Middle East, saying all the pressure will be on them to come clean and disarm, while Iran will be able to hide and disclaim. Israel’s position is further antagonized by the United States signing on to the idea of the conference.
The United States is considering unilateral strikes against Pakistan if any terror attack can be successfully traced back to the region. Because three land wars in Asia is better than two. Of course, we might be looking at four, instead, if the clearness that General McChrystal has about Iranian involvement in Taliban training becomes a certainty.
The United Kingdom is phasing out their national biometric identity card database, citing the cost of the project as a major reason why it is being scrapped. I wonder if actual security concerns also managed to help nix the attempt. Of course, not everyone thinks the ID card should go away, based on the amount of people who pre-registered to get one.
Staying in the United Kingdom, I wonder if the following would be incorrect billing - Tories tap Ferguson for Texas-style textbook and curriculum renovation, to build a grand narrative out of the fragments of history, one that suits the people in charge.
A cluster balloonist flew across the English Channel in his chair, having obtained the necessary permits and equipment to make his flight safe a few months ago. If you want more balloons, blimps, and airships, The Big Picture Has You Covered for your lighter-than-air excursions.
Inside the country, sometimes the greatest damage to life from an oil spill is not what you see, but what you don't see. Furthermore, despite their duck and dodge, truthfully, corporations and their greed are responsible for the disasters we have suffered, and really, the only thing the federal government can do properly is supervise the technological wizardry, and then impose regulations and sanctions that make companies think four times before flouting any sort of safety requirement anywhere and six more before passing any equipment that might have had the slightest variance outside acceptable parameters on safety. Not that it’s going to stop columnists trying to pin some sort of blame on the President to make him look bad because he could not call in the Avengers or the military to dash in and cap the well immediately when BP failed to do so. That, and he tried to plant the blame where it belonged - with the companies that put profit before people
On economics, some homeowners are taking a path of passive resistance and not paying their mortgages, allowing them to put the money they save while they’re in foreclosure (or even before then) to rebuild their lives and get stabilized in their finances.
Forbes puts up a slideshow of the worst Masters degrees in terms of job outlook. #25? Library science, of course, because we’ve been oversold on the job and growth prospects of the profession, but we’re not as bad as, say, those Fine Arts people (who always get the shaft on everything), or teachers, or Great Gods forbid, people who have divinity degrees.
On matters of health, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson and Johnson, is alleged to have sent out contractors to buy up tainted children's ibuprofen rather than issue a formal recall, trying to hide the bad stuff (and possibly shirk any responsibility) from consumers.
Some medical marijuana dispensary employees are now unionized in Oakland, California. Solidarity, man.
In technology, if you have an iPhone, someone with the latest version of Ubuntu Linux can bypass all your security settings if they hook your phone up to their computer - the iPhone apparently doesn’t feel like it needs scurity when mounted as a USB drive.
In Louisiana, using tools like Google Maps to plan or commit a crime will extend your sentence by at least one year if caught and convicted.
Music students building robots to play music. And they’ve got the idea - build robots to do things that human musicians can’t do so easily, like have seven arms to play instruments with.
Exposure to nature may help your learning abilities, assumnig you ingest a particular type of bacteria scientists are interested in.
Last out, Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that people e-mailing articles from the New York Times tended to choose the ones that were positive in nature, large in scale, and that required the mind to open up and see things from a new point of view
In the opinions, The Slacktivist leads today by calling out a supposed expert on economics for thinking a wireless telephone is a luxury item, pointing out that most places require either a telephone number (or, as I’ve seen, an e-mail address) for you to apply for work. Even McDonalds, the place most people think of as the basement of jobs, needs a telephone number in their on-line application. A telephone is not a luxury item (and neither is Internet access these days). Related to economics, the Slacktivist also relates the story of how he and a professor worked through the text's frowning on usury and lending at interest to understand that the point of it all was about not exploiting the poor through usury, getting off of literal proof-texting and into the realm where it’s okay to take the point without having to slavishly hang on every word. Once you do that, you can go after problems like why the tax code and culture of the United States did their very best to make sure white people got rich, the rich got richer, and minorities were left with crumbs to fight over.
Observe the false feminism of Sarah Palin - the place that wants to fight for equality, but equality where abortion is outlawed and women make less money because they choose motherhood. They have the name but none of the substance.
Mr. Lind opines that if we are to teach the history of the Confederacy, we should do so completely, with the primary sources that show what the Confederacy was founded on, what it did, and what happened when it realized the only way out was to undo what it had done. And then, we can see what kind of effects that split still had on the country almost 100 years later.
The WSJ takes up the cry that the inquiry of whether Representative Sestak wanted an uncompensated position in the administration needs a full Department of Justice probe, as does Mr. Jacob, who compares the offer to the Blago scandal, and The Washington Times claims this isn't an isolated incident.
Last out for tonight, gazing at the future as Shimizu sees it.
Monday was also the day where United States persons are supposed to observe a memorial for the members of their military that have died in the various wars the country has fought and to appreciate those that have survived and those who fight still. It can be difficult in conflicts of dubious need where civilians are killed, or when contemplating the possibility that one thousand persons may have died fighting a conflict that could have been avoided or left alone, but anyone who goes into military service willingly and with full knowledge of the possible consequences deserves the respect of someone who made a hard choice and fights with the idea of protecting his country in mind. Mr. Helprin insists they also deserve a citizenry that supports them fully in all their endeavours, convinced of the rightness of their cause. If he is to have his wish come true, then the discussions, the debates, and the certainties must be better-laid out than these last conflicts have been, for the holes in their arguments have already been found and shown widely.
Out in the world today, the rains in Guatemala from the first tropical storm of the season eroded the ground sufficiently that a sinkhole formed swallowed a three-story building.
The President of Malawi pardoned a couple that had been given a 14 year sentence for gross indecency and unnatural acts involving what looked to be gay sex. Likely, the visit of the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, had something to do with the pardon. It’s not like the region around has a stellar record on LGBT relationships.
Israeli troops stormed a Turkish ship containing aid for the Gaza Strip and killed several of the people on board. The Strip is blockaded, one, the confrotnation happened in international waters, two, but accounts differ as to whether the people on board had any weapons and started shooting, three, and four, regardless of whose account is correct, did Israel just commit an act of piracy, and if they did, what exactly is going to be the fallout from this? (There’s also some facepalming that Israel ran straight into the trap the flotilla was setting for them.)
Not that this discourages the presence of nuclear subs around Iran, because we all know those crazy Iranians are just waiting to do something that’s utter suicide for them and their country. Israel also complained about a conference in 2012 aimed at establishing a nuclear-free Middle East, saying all the pressure will be on them to come clean and disarm, while Iran will be able to hide and disclaim. Israel’s position is further antagonized by the United States signing on to the idea of the conference.
The United States is considering unilateral strikes against Pakistan if any terror attack can be successfully traced back to the region. Because three land wars in Asia is better than two. Of course, we might be looking at four, instead, if the clearness that General McChrystal has about Iranian involvement in Taliban training becomes a certainty.
The United Kingdom is phasing out their national biometric identity card database, citing the cost of the project as a major reason why it is being scrapped. I wonder if actual security concerns also managed to help nix the attempt. Of course, not everyone thinks the ID card should go away, based on the amount of people who pre-registered to get one.
Staying in the United Kingdom, I wonder if the following would be incorrect billing - Tories tap Ferguson for Texas-style textbook and curriculum renovation, to build a grand narrative out of the fragments of history, one that suits the people in charge.
A cluster balloonist flew across the English Channel in his chair, having obtained the necessary permits and equipment to make his flight safe a few months ago. If you want more balloons, blimps, and airships, The Big Picture Has You Covered for your lighter-than-air excursions.
Inside the country, sometimes the greatest damage to life from an oil spill is not what you see, but what you don't see. Furthermore, despite their duck and dodge, truthfully, corporations and their greed are responsible for the disasters we have suffered, and really, the only thing the federal government can do properly is supervise the technological wizardry, and then impose regulations and sanctions that make companies think four times before flouting any sort of safety requirement anywhere and six more before passing any equipment that might have had the slightest variance outside acceptable parameters on safety. Not that it’s going to stop columnists trying to pin some sort of blame on the President to make him look bad because he could not call in the Avengers or the military to dash in and cap the well immediately when BP failed to do so. That, and he tried to plant the blame where it belonged - with the companies that put profit before people
On economics, some homeowners are taking a path of passive resistance and not paying their mortgages, allowing them to put the money they save while they’re in foreclosure (or even before then) to rebuild their lives and get stabilized in their finances.
Forbes puts up a slideshow of the worst Masters degrees in terms of job outlook. #25? Library science, of course, because we’ve been oversold on the job and growth prospects of the profession, but we’re not as bad as, say, those Fine Arts people (who always get the shaft on everything), or teachers, or Great Gods forbid, people who have divinity degrees.
On matters of health, McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson and Johnson, is alleged to have sent out contractors to buy up tainted children's ibuprofen rather than issue a formal recall, trying to hide the bad stuff (and possibly shirk any responsibility) from consumers.
Some medical marijuana dispensary employees are now unionized in Oakland, California. Solidarity, man.
In technology, if you have an iPhone, someone with the latest version of Ubuntu Linux can bypass all your security settings if they hook your phone up to their computer - the iPhone apparently doesn’t feel like it needs scurity when mounted as a USB drive.
In Louisiana, using tools like Google Maps to plan or commit a crime will extend your sentence by at least one year if caught and convicted.
Music students building robots to play music. And they’ve got the idea - build robots to do things that human musicians can’t do so easily, like have seven arms to play instruments with.
Exposure to nature may help your learning abilities, assumnig you ingest a particular type of bacteria scientists are interested in.
Last out, Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that people e-mailing articles from the New York Times tended to choose the ones that were positive in nature, large in scale, and that required the mind to open up and see things from a new point of view
In the opinions, The Slacktivist leads today by calling out a supposed expert on economics for thinking a wireless telephone is a luxury item, pointing out that most places require either a telephone number (or, as I’ve seen, an e-mail address) for you to apply for work. Even McDonalds, the place most people think of as the basement of jobs, needs a telephone number in their on-line application. A telephone is not a luxury item (and neither is Internet access these days). Related to economics, the Slacktivist also relates the story of how he and a professor worked through the text's frowning on usury and lending at interest to understand that the point of it all was about not exploiting the poor through usury, getting off of literal proof-texting and into the realm where it’s okay to take the point without having to slavishly hang on every word. Once you do that, you can go after problems like why the tax code and culture of the United States did their very best to make sure white people got rich, the rich got richer, and minorities were left with crumbs to fight over.
Observe the false feminism of Sarah Palin - the place that wants to fight for equality, but equality where abortion is outlawed and women make less money because they choose motherhood. They have the name but none of the substance.
Mr. Lind opines that if we are to teach the history of the Confederacy, we should do so completely, with the primary sources that show what the Confederacy was founded on, what it did, and what happened when it realized the only way out was to undo what it had done. And then, we can see what kind of effects that split still had on the country almost 100 years later.
The WSJ takes up the cry that the inquiry of whether Representative Sestak wanted an uncompensated position in the administration needs a full Department of Justice probe, as does Mr. Jacob, who compares the offer to the Blago scandal, and The Washington Times claims this isn't an isolated incident.
Last out for tonight, gazing at the future as Shimizu sees it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 05:12 pm (UTC)I'm amazed that they got rid of it, considering who's in office. I thought the Tories were pretty keen on that sort of thing.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 05:47 pm (UTC)I think that British conservatism seems to be a bit more fiscal than social, whereas American conservatism seems more social than fiscal. This isn't to say that British conservatism hasn't got its social element (for example, some of the older, more extreme Tories who hate immigrants, nonwhite British people and queer people), but with American conservatism, it's all about culture wars and spending money on more 'conservatively correct' causes, like national defence.
I think this stems from America being initally settled by Nonconformists who wanted to break away from 'decadent' Anglican tradition, and wanted to practise their own, more conservative, 'biblically correct' religion. That is, American conservatism is extremely focussed on ideological purity, rather than economic considerations. Conversely, in the UK, economic conservatism is very much based on classical liberalism and the importance of free markets & private enterprise. American Republicans talk quite a bit about 'free markets' and 'privatisation', but it's just talk, really; the money all goes to defence or to corporate welfare—not very 'private', is it, when it's all going to the government they claim to hate!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 05:55 pm (UTC)So it is "private" in the sense that it's being done by the private sector, just funded by tax dollars, that's all.