Lots of data - 8-10 January 2011
Jan. 11th, 2011 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptGood day, readers of the news. There's a lot. And not all of it is good. So we'll start with cute pictures of a lion and a tiger cub, and their occasional moonlighting as shepherd animals. And move from there into an optical illusion that takes advantage of the fact that it's harder to tell when something is changing when it's also in motion.
Dick Winters was recalled to the Dead Pool Army Regiment, at 92 years of age. He's most famous for having some of his achievements recounted in the book "Band of Brothers".
We also saw the life and passing of David / Sonia Burgess, a lawyer with a passion for human rights, and significant success in both refugee asylum and transgender recognition fields.
Out in the world today, A Catholic school banned a gay-straight alliance, and could have used a better set of comparisons to other organizations that would not be permitted there. I wonder how the kids at that school who are gay feel about this? Marginalized? Despairing? Something else?
Mutada al-Sadr returns to Iraq, and returns to his pervious rhetorical position against the presence of the United States in Iraq.
Ratchet your Iran fear up a notch - it's claimed that Iran can produce its own nuclear fuel rods.
A cleric arrest in Afghanistan sparked protests from local inhabitants and from local forces, who claim they were not involved or consulted in the matter.
And completing the Quartet, Time speculates how far extremists have gotten into the government and security forces of Pakistan.
It's not all bad, though - Egyptian Muslims joined Coptic Christians in celebration of a service, with the Muslims serving as shields against further violence to the Christians. That's the kind of interfaith relationships that we need in that area. I hope this is not a one-off.
Finally, A referendum in the nation of Sudan succeeded at the ballot box, creating a new nation of Southern Sudan out of the original country.
Domestically, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission sued a corporation for firing someone based on their obesity, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The person fired has since died, but according to the claim filed by EEOC, she was able to perform all the required functions of her work and was thus terminated solely based on a perception of how her weight would affect her work.
A doctor group has sued the United States Department of Agriculture for not recommending vegetarianism instead of the new food pyramid to keep people healthy.
A recruiter for a church in Florida turned himself in on charges of kidnapping, after it was alleged he kidnapped a boy from a Wal-Mart, drove him somewhere else, then performed a sex act on himself in front of the boy.
The United States government is subpoenaing information from social media platforms like Twitter to build their case against Wikileaks.
The United States Army is looking into changing their policy that prevents women from taking part in active combat roles.
House Republicans have pushed for a bill that would close the offices of any task force or commission or other Executive agency whose head was not confirmed by the Senate.
Protesting the Department of Homeland (in)Security's programs that encourage citizens to spy on each other and report it to DHS, several packages sent through the post ignited into flames at their destinations.
Finally, ProPublica would like to know which Senator killed the whistleblower protections bill by placing an anonymous hold on it.
In technology, a Unitarian Universalist congregation raised sufficient funds to install a wind turbine on their congregation grounds.
There's also the concept of Jelloware, edible and biodegradable drink containers.
Also, a poratble book scanner, for up to 200 pages worth of material. In case you want to take your collections, make them difital, and possibly clean out some space or donate/sell your long runs of various works.
Last out, The Commerce Department may be at the head of an effort to create a secure Internet ID for all Americans. Shades and overtones of Orwell may be invoked at your leisure, even as the administration denies that there's anything centralized or even ID-ish about it, just that private sector companies need to move forward in making it possible for people to get a secure trusted identity on the Internet.
Welcome to opinions, where the virtue of thrift and living on nothing espoused by older generations is being waved in this generation's face as a Take That.
Arturo García is happy for Ted Williams, the homeless-blessed-with-a-radio-voice, but worries that in our celebration of raising one man up, we're ignoring the millions of others in a similar predicament, who might not have the benefit of a viral video to help them.
Zaheer Ali says that Katie Couric missed it by that much in suggesting that a Muslim version of The Cosby Show is the right idea to get people to stop believing all the bad stereotypes about Muslims. Right background, right problem, wrong solution. Mostly because television doesn't portray reality, and especially not minorities.
Mr. Mauro takes advantage of Wikileaks' information to say "Look! All that stuff about the Danish cartoons was manufactured by terrorists to score points! It wasn't genuine outrage!". Hooray, it wasn't genuine outrage. People still got attacked. There are still plenty of examples where outrage against something is both genuine and pigheaded. We like the call for Muslims to respect the societies they are in as a better point, because it provides a way out on both sides from extremism and violence, but we would hope that it's not just Muslims who take to heart the knowledge that society has to be able to integrate and work with everyone, despite what certain commentators are saying about non-white groups.
And finally, Ms. Wright says that the United States shouldn't ratify treaties that subject it to the U.N. on issues like women's rights and speech regarding religion, because the U.S., stalwart defender of the One True Faith that allows for Freedom of Speech and Religion, Christianity, can be outvoted by countries that pracitce the Bloodthirsty, anti-women, anti-Christianity religion of Islam. If the U.N. were a body with enforcement powers, there might be something to it. That said, the United States can still point to a record that says "We don't stone people", even as they are rightly subjected to review about the parts of their policy that do fail to protect women and religious freedoms, should they sign on.
An excellent question from The Merch Girl - when you're both Not From Around These Parts and trying to express yourself as queer, how do you manage to get people, especially women, to get past the Exotic Beauty bit to the part where you discover a shared attraction?
The Heritage Foundation's Mr. Carrol accuses the Obama administration of crony capitalism, as if it were something new and heretofore unkown, instead of the standard business practice of the government for the last 20+ years.
Mr. Donnelly lays out his case as to why the defense budget should never be cut and the military should always get whatever it wants without question - because the FREE WORLD! is at stake when Team America: World Police cuts back on its military spending, produces fewer fighter planes, fields fewer large ships, and reduces the forces. Why, coupled with the apparent destruction of the Warrior Culture in the military, a nebulous and undefiend agent that is somehow the antithesis of "politically correct culture", Team America is on the verge of being filled with sissies, liberals, and other people who don't want to Kill The Terrorists and Save The World.
The WSJ claims that Obamacare should still be repealed, because it's going to be more expensive than the budget tricks say, and that people pointing out the way the Republicans are breaking their promises and not holding to their rules are being petty. Well, if you're going to set yourselves up as the people who are in favor of transparency, measured thought and forewarning, and budget cutting, then don't go making obious and visible departures from that message in your first two days in office.
Mr. Krauthammer thinks this idea of governing within the Constitution, as the original framers intended, will catch on and become a very popular movement. Assuming the Republicans actually govern that way, that is. And hopefully with the standard caveat that "no, slavery is bad, and women should be able to vote, and discrimination sucks." among other things. Because if Mr. Krauthammer wants to walk back all of those three things, then his "Constitutionalism" condemns itself to the fringe of the right-wing, instead of being the alternative to his perception of liberals just deciding they can do something, Constitution-be-damned.
Finally out of opinions, Ms. Fabrizio laments the lack of Truth in American society, whether moral truth (godlessness), political truth (the "unprecedented" ways in which the Administration and the Congress grab power), scientific truth (because we teach climate change as a reality, instead of an unsupported hypothesis), and American truth (because we're not all gung-ho jingoists who believe they are extra-super-special-snowflakes and revere the Constitution in the way the Tea Party claims to).
And last out for tonight, Torchwood is apparently returning for a fourth season, despite having killed most of the cast at the end of the third, with a possible storyline where everyone on Earth has the same condition of Captain Jack Harkness. Other welcome television news includes the non-renewal of Sarah Palin's reality television series for a second season.
Plus one flowchart - a humorous attemtp at helping you find real food at your megamart.
And one interesting bit - a digression into the way that various countries have handled naming children, from the English being fairly free-flowing, while other European countries require it to be taken from the list of official names...
Dick Winters was recalled to the Dead Pool Army Regiment, at 92 years of age. He's most famous for having some of his achievements recounted in the book "Band of Brothers".
We also saw the life and passing of David / Sonia Burgess, a lawyer with a passion for human rights, and significant success in both refugee asylum and transgender recognition fields.
Out in the world today, A Catholic school banned a gay-straight alliance, and could have used a better set of comparisons to other organizations that would not be permitted there. I wonder how the kids at that school who are gay feel about this? Marginalized? Despairing? Something else?
Mutada al-Sadr returns to Iraq, and returns to his pervious rhetorical position against the presence of the United States in Iraq.
Ratchet your Iran fear up a notch - it's claimed that Iran can produce its own nuclear fuel rods.
A cleric arrest in Afghanistan sparked protests from local inhabitants and from local forces, who claim they were not involved or consulted in the matter.
And completing the Quartet, Time speculates how far extremists have gotten into the government and security forces of Pakistan.
It's not all bad, though - Egyptian Muslims joined Coptic Christians in celebration of a service, with the Muslims serving as shields against further violence to the Christians. That's the kind of interfaith relationships that we need in that area. I hope this is not a one-off.
Finally, A referendum in the nation of Sudan succeeded at the ballot box, creating a new nation of Southern Sudan out of the original country.
Domestically, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission sued a corporation for firing someone based on their obesity, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The person fired has since died, but according to the claim filed by EEOC, she was able to perform all the required functions of her work and was thus terminated solely based on a perception of how her weight would affect her work.
A doctor group has sued the United States Department of Agriculture for not recommending vegetarianism instead of the new food pyramid to keep people healthy.
A recruiter for a church in Florida turned himself in on charges of kidnapping, after it was alleged he kidnapped a boy from a Wal-Mart, drove him somewhere else, then performed a sex act on himself in front of the boy.
The United States government is subpoenaing information from social media platforms like Twitter to build their case against Wikileaks.
The United States Army is looking into changing their policy that prevents women from taking part in active combat roles.
House Republicans have pushed for a bill that would close the offices of any task force or commission or other Executive agency whose head was not confirmed by the Senate.
Protesting the Department of Homeland (in)Security's programs that encourage citizens to spy on each other and report it to DHS, several packages sent through the post ignited into flames at their destinations.
Finally, ProPublica would like to know which Senator killed the whistleblower protections bill by placing an anonymous hold on it.
In technology, a Unitarian Universalist congregation raised sufficient funds to install a wind turbine on their congregation grounds.
There's also the concept of Jelloware, edible and biodegradable drink containers.
Also, a poratble book scanner, for up to 200 pages worth of material. In case you want to take your collections, make them difital, and possibly clean out some space or donate/sell your long runs of various works.
Last out, The Commerce Department may be at the head of an effort to create a secure Internet ID for all Americans. Shades and overtones of Orwell may be invoked at your leisure, even as the administration denies that there's anything centralized or even ID-ish about it, just that private sector companies need to move forward in making it possible for people to get a secure trusted identity on the Internet.
Welcome to opinions, where the virtue of thrift and living on nothing espoused by older generations is being waved in this generation's face as a Take That.
Arturo García is happy for Ted Williams, the homeless-blessed-with-a-radio-voice, but worries that in our celebration of raising one man up, we're ignoring the millions of others in a similar predicament, who might not have the benefit of a viral video to help them.
Zaheer Ali says that Katie Couric missed it by that much in suggesting that a Muslim version of The Cosby Show is the right idea to get people to stop believing all the bad stereotypes about Muslims. Right background, right problem, wrong solution. Mostly because television doesn't portray reality, and especially not minorities.
Mr. Mauro takes advantage of Wikileaks' information to say "Look! All that stuff about the Danish cartoons was manufactured by terrorists to score points! It wasn't genuine outrage!". Hooray, it wasn't genuine outrage. People still got attacked. There are still plenty of examples where outrage against something is both genuine and pigheaded. We like the call for Muslims to respect the societies they are in as a better point, because it provides a way out on both sides from extremism and violence, but we would hope that it's not just Muslims who take to heart the knowledge that society has to be able to integrate and work with everyone, despite what certain commentators are saying about non-white groups.
And finally, Ms. Wright says that the United States shouldn't ratify treaties that subject it to the U.N. on issues like women's rights and speech regarding religion, because the U.S., stalwart defender of the One True Faith that allows for Freedom of Speech and Religion, Christianity, can be outvoted by countries that pracitce the Bloodthirsty, anti-women, anti-Christianity religion of Islam. If the U.N. were a body with enforcement powers, there might be something to it. That said, the United States can still point to a record that says "We don't stone people", even as they are rightly subjected to review about the parts of their policy that do fail to protect women and religious freedoms, should they sign on.
An excellent question from The Merch Girl - when you're both Not From Around These Parts and trying to express yourself as queer, how do you manage to get people, especially women, to get past the Exotic Beauty bit to the part where you discover a shared attraction?
The Heritage Foundation's Mr. Carrol accuses the Obama administration of crony capitalism, as if it were something new and heretofore unkown, instead of the standard business practice of the government for the last 20+ years.
Mr. Donnelly lays out his case as to why the defense budget should never be cut and the military should always get whatever it wants without question - because the FREE WORLD! is at stake when Team America: World Police cuts back on its military spending, produces fewer fighter planes, fields fewer large ships, and reduces the forces. Why, coupled with the apparent destruction of the Warrior Culture in the military, a nebulous and undefiend agent that is somehow the antithesis of "politically correct culture", Team America is on the verge of being filled with sissies, liberals, and other people who don't want to Kill The Terrorists and Save The World.
The WSJ claims that Obamacare should still be repealed, because it's going to be more expensive than the budget tricks say, and that people pointing out the way the Republicans are breaking their promises and not holding to their rules are being petty. Well, if you're going to set yourselves up as the people who are in favor of transparency, measured thought and forewarning, and budget cutting, then don't go making obious and visible departures from that message in your first two days in office.
Mr. Krauthammer thinks this idea of governing within the Constitution, as the original framers intended, will catch on and become a very popular movement. Assuming the Republicans actually govern that way, that is. And hopefully with the standard caveat that "no, slavery is bad, and women should be able to vote, and discrimination sucks." among other things. Because if Mr. Krauthammer wants to walk back all of those three things, then his "Constitutionalism" condemns itself to the fringe of the right-wing, instead of being the alternative to his perception of liberals just deciding they can do something, Constitution-be-damned.
Finally out of opinions, Ms. Fabrizio laments the lack of Truth in American society, whether moral truth (godlessness), political truth (the "unprecedented" ways in which the Administration and the Congress grab power), scientific truth (because we teach climate change as a reality, instead of an unsupported hypothesis), and American truth (because we're not all gung-ho jingoists who believe they are extra-super-special-snowflakes and revere the Constitution in the way the Tea Party claims to).
And last out for tonight, Torchwood is apparently returning for a fourth season, despite having killed most of the cast at the end of the third, with a possible storyline where everyone on Earth has the same condition of Captain Jack Harkness. Other welcome television news includes the non-renewal of Sarah Palin's reality television series for a second season.
Plus one flowchart - a humorous attemtp at helping you find real food at your megamart.
And one interesting bit - a digression into the way that various countries have handled naming children, from the English being fairly free-flowing, while other European countries require it to be taken from the list of official names...
