Pacific Views

Last Week In Blog

Yeah, it's mostly the standard favorites, I promise to go farther afield next time.

TalkLeft: An inmate was killed by tasers while bound hand and foot, but the DA who thinks the so-called runaway bride might have to answer to the law isn't worried about the guards that killed their helpless prisoner. The cocaine war isn't just a failure, it's a colossal, destructive, wasteful and enormous failure in every possible respect and objective. Finally, a 13-year old Florida girl has been ruled competent to make her own medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion as is her constitutional right.

Obama proposes legislation supporting ethanol refueling stations.

Feministing: Something may finally be done about the abuse of women by U.N. peacekeepers, though as noted, this problem has been ignored for a very long time. Iran vs. Texas on abortion laws. For what I'm sure is no particular reason at all, mothers feel underappreciated by society in general. Three Afghan women killed for working with aid organizations, their brutalized bodies left as a warning to others. Laura Bush may have been quite the charmer at the NPC, but she also ran down women's math skills and no one seems to care. But I'm sure there were people who noticed, like maybe James Dobson:

... Girls are closing the gap on boys, and indeed, more of them are attending math and science classes than boys.9 Those were the last bastions of masculine strength academically because of the way male brains are designed. Not even that physiological advantage can overcome the "stacked deck" in public education. ...

Payvand & Iran news: The perfect audience for propaganda is an audience that doesn't think it could happen to them. The Iran-India gas pipeline may become the Iran-India-China gas pipeline, and that may be a story that's more important to the politics of the region than anything else going on right now. If the U.S. wants to attack Iran, it will be doing so without Britain.

The Center for Digital Democracy has been keeping track of the conservative takeover of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. What they've also found is that the CPB board is sitting on a poll that shows overwhelming public support for CBS and NPR, in spite of the fact that they've been targeted by long-running smear campaigns.

Over at the Economic Policy Institute, Max Sawicky takes a pile-driver to Bush's bogus Social Security claims. And to repeat what so many others have said, just so it sticks, Social Security is the Democrats' plan for Social Security. It's the most successful and popular government program yet, and we like it just fine, though we'd like it more if Republicans weren't stealing out of it to give tax cuts to millionaires.

Steve Gilliard: We've made so much progress as a society that the Scopes trial is coming back for a 2005 rerun season. It used to be 'gooks', now it's 'hajis' that U.S. troops are targeting for their frustration at being shot at in a foreign country. Also, Gilliard takes on Cosby on the subject of poor blacks.

A guy over at Democratic Underground writes about why he hates liberals. My favorite responses: "... Conservatively speaking you might want to try hating two or three of us first to see how that goes. ...And since you've gotta make [do] with the liberals you have, not the liberals you might want or wish to have..." A mighty heh, indeed.

E.J. Dionne thinks that Bush is really an egghead.

Random Health News: There are at least 20 million uninsured, and this article detailing the problem notes that this is cover the uninsured week. A partial cure for road rage may be as simple as a little peppermint or cinnammon oil. If you're worried about catching West Nile from a mosquito bite, lemon eucalyptus oil has been shown to work as well as DEET. Administrators for a food program for poor families has finally been told that they need to provide fresh produce. A link has been discovered between sleep disturbance and metabolic disorders. Both green and black tea have been found to have protective effects against diabetes and cataracts. Next time some bonehead blathers on to you about all stem cells being just about the same as all the other stem cells and how new lines are unnecessary, explain to them that stem cells that divide too many times become exceptionally cancerous, and that counts for both embryonic and adult stem cells.

A brief history of pornography.

In addition to a bunch of other cool stories she's found, Avedon Carol has rounded up the latest on the unfolding 2004 vote fraud story.

Wampum: A post on blocked Bush judicial nominee William Myers' opinions on grave robbing, with links to his opinions on a couple other topics. Debunking the charges that Democrats are discriminating against people of faith. The difference between clinical and epidemiological studies, and why that might be important in determining whether or not thimerosal is toxic to certain individuals. A bill to recognize the Abenaki has been introduced in Vermont. An argument that the same attitude that killed the estate tax will probably doom Bush's Social Security plan. If you know more about tribal law than I do, check out this discussion of Janice Rogers Brown's legal theories.

Whiskey Bar: Is this economic downtime likely to be more persistent than the rest of our Bush regime soft patches. Why it may be silly to argue about saving Social Security when financial collapse may be imminent. The grand delusion of Leo Strauss and his disciples. And finally, a little bit of Limbaughfreude to wash that all down with.

MyDD: Chris Bowers talks about class perceptions in politics and the backlash narrative, and how in the face of consistent conservative libel and hate-mongering, liberals still aren't fighting back. Gary Boatwright gives us some basic facts about wealth in America. Also, the evangelical news machine.

Oliver Willis: The best argument ever for why we should easily be able to overcome fossil fuel dependence. Another classic from Al Gore about the new American heresy of the religious right. He also pointed out a Media Matters story about the fact that a member of the Saudi delegation was on a terror watch list.

AmericaBlog talks about Microsoft's decision to put wingnuts on their payroll. Microsoft defends their decision here. I've got a defense for them: blackmail. That company is the subject of so dang much litigation that they if they didn't pre-emptively pay people off they'd drown in red tape. I've engaged in my share of MSFT baiting, and who hasn't, but I find myself curiously sympathetic to their position. As companies go, they're better than average corporate citizens, even considering the fact that they've been carrying an enormous kick-me sign around for years. And no, neither I nor my SO works there, and yes, I'm still ticked about their decision to pull back from supporting the non-discrimination bill.

Eschaton: More on Bush's man date with Crown Prince Abdullah. Atrios elaborates on the fact that disclosure laws for blogs would involve requirements that are put on no other media outlet in any other medium. Start here and go down for a discussion of what it means to be middle class.

DailyKos: Paging Sister Kenny; an outbreak of polio has hit a 16th country after an epidemic that began when vaccinations were stopped in Nigeria. Bush's interesting changing views on democracy. The story of someone who died because he was uninsured. The amazing Texas Bible elective. How Bush is steadily, relentlessly, and with fixed singularity of purpose destroying the middle class. Cheers to politicians being very blunt about legislation. They finally did it in South Carolina, a woman has been arrested for having an abortion and may face jail time. The role of advice and consent in relation to the filibuster. Pat Robertson thinks that out of control judges are worse than Al Qaida and the Nazis, and every other threat we've faced for 100 years. It really isn't the DLC that Democrats should be mad at, apparently. Why British politicians get asked tough questions and why American politicians don't. And finally, yes, yes, yes! Yes! YES! The ocean is really warming, and it really is a big dang hairy freakin' deal.

Posted by natasha at May 3, 2005 02:55 AM | Recommended Reading | Technorati links |