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IRAN RAISES THE HEAT IN NUCLEAR DISPUTE
Iran is not a threat to the World in any way. Saudi Arabia, the radicalised Sunni Muslim nation, sees Shia Iran as a threat, so does Israel. Israel is scared because the Persians are the smartest lot in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia the funding agent of Islamic radicalism will remain a U.S. lackey as long as America confronts Iran. Please remember that Iran has always opposed Al Qaeda and Taliban while the West's allies Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have funded & trained these violent misogynists. Read the article BBC/HAVE YOUR SAY/How should the world react to Iran's nuclear regime? <> If the rest of the world does nothing, others in the region will have to. Iran's nuclear ambitions are a prop to an unpopular regime, who will use those weapons against a fabricated external threat, in order to corral unquestioning internal support (The fatherland must be united against "them".) Every tyranny in the world has done that sort of thing, with disastrous results. No wonder that Iran's supporters are Russia and China, those paragons of free democracy. Iran should be blockaded, now. Read the article BBC/HAVE YOUR SAY/How should the world react to Iran's nuclear regime? <> This is a move that the Iranian leadership will use to get control of their country back. The West will rail against the leadership for its nuclear ambitions, enact a bunch of sanctions that will only affect the citizens, and all the while, Khamene’i and his puppets will use the period of isolation to crack down on the revolutionary movement and reaffirm their grip on the country. Sanctions will not work against Iran. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Iran's nuclear move prompts new calls for sanctions THE TRIBE THAT LOST ITS VOICE: EXTINCTION OF THE BO IN THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA
"Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee". You can count all human actions as part of evolution, from the murder of your parents to the Holocaust. But as intelligent beings we can make different choices to help people preserve their way of life. These groups didn't just go die off because they couldn't compete, other groups of people took their means of survival. Any group that survived 65,000 years in one area probably had things to teach us and all human cultures are part of our story. Read the article CNN NEWS/Ancient tribe becomes extinct as last member dies <> And to think that the first I ever heard of this ancient tribe was on the day the last of it's people died. I want to know more about this tribe now and the others that still exist in seclusion but I hope that their desire to remain secluded is respected so that another ancient culture is not lost. Read the article
U.K. DAILY MAIL/ Last member of 65,000-year-old tribe dies, taking one of world's earliest languages to the grave,
I was touched to read such a sensitive article. A language and its associated culture and folk memories cannot be replaced once it is gone. Read the article U.K. TIMES/Oblivion for 65,000-year-old tribe as last of the Bo takes her language to the grave
LISTEN TO BOA SR. SINGING IN BO It is indisputably a loss for us all when a language dies. As a historical resource, a language is as valuable as a library whose contents can be found nowhere else. Culturally, with the loss of a language, we lose ideas about the many ways humanity can express itself, which is not just a way of understanding the past, but also an inspiration for the future. Those who suffer most from the death of a language though are obviously the language community themselves, or what is left of the community. Many are wont to object to 'identity politics' but a sense of belonging and community is nearly as important as food and shelter for almost all of us. A shared and exclusive language is a very powerful provider of these things, and without it a community is robbed of some of the meaning, which can often feel in short supply in modern life. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/The death of a language U.S. BOOSTS ALLIES WITH PATRIOT MISSILE SHIELD
M.A.D. isn't the deterrent that it used to be. Even in the darkest days of the cold war, the USA and USSR were both too fundamentally sane to bring about their own destruction. Now there seem to be religious extremists of every stripe who would positively welcome the end times - Armageddon - Gotterdammerung - Judgement Day or whatever their particular mythology has planned. Some of these people have been getting alarmingly close to the big red button of late. We live in scary times. Read the article U.K. Times/U.S. raises tensions with Iran by selling anti-missile systems <> Reality check time. Some of you are acting like an invasion is imminent. This is nothing more than defensive positioning. If there was about to be an invasion we would know about it because of the massive troop buildup that would be going on. Even if you combine the troop numbers in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would not be anywhere near enough to go in and invade Iran and conduct regime change ourselves. Re-nation building is not in the cards this time. That is up to the people of Iran to decide. If Iran continues to fail to live up to it's NPT commitments, then the two options will be sanctions or limited air strikes on suspected sites. Sanctions would be the preferable option, but if China vetoes then Israel will probably strike Iran unilaterally. We will be in a position to handle any fallout should Iran try to retaliate or escalate against our interests if Israel does go ahead with air strikes (hence the moving in of defensive weapon systems to go with the air bases already in the region+U.S. Navy). Both the United States and Iran have pressure points in the region, but there is a disparate bargaining power position between the two countries. Iran can choose to retaliate only so much before they run up against a response by the United States that leaves it no choice, but to back down or have their country set back a few decades by air power. The United States and friends do not face that choice. This is pretty much how the next few years will proceed as it pertains to the Iran theater so there is little reason to get all excited and hysterical at the smallest movement in this campaign. We still got awhiles to go before anything really interesting happens. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Barack Obama looks set to give up negotiations with Iran
TONY BLAIR: "WHAT CHANGED FOR ME AFTER 9/11: THE WHOLE CALCULUS OF RISK"
VIDEO: BLAIR TESTIMONY HIGHLIGHTS "After September 11, if you were a regime engaged in WMD, you had to stop" said Mr Blair. If so, then why did we not invade Pakistan? Their WMD programme was far more advanced that Iraq's ever was, and they are a hotbed for far more fundamentalism. This "calculus of risk" is a nonsense. Blair backed the invasion of Iraq because he wanted to strut the stage next to the US. And we all know that Bush pushed for the invasion of Iraq because those who bankrolled his presidency - and supplied his advisors - wanted it. Blair is still the same attention-seeking boy pictured in those university photos from years ago. And now thousands have paid with their lives for his vanity. There are no words for the contempt that this man deserves - or the contempt that he has shown for truth and democracy. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/I believed beyond doubt that Iraq had WMD, Tony Blair tells inquiry
First Blair took us into a war on the pretext of Saddam's possession of WMD - which didn't exist, and which he knew full well didn't exist. Now his reasoning has shifted towards supporting invasion because Saddam might have started amassing WMD. If this anemic defense is in any way considered acceptable, we may as well declare open-house on global military interventions based on the merest suspicion of future hostility - and a descent into barbarism and chaos. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Tony Blair at Iraq Inquiry <> Nerve agents, as used by Iraq, can be made in a garden shed or purchased. (Some people put weak ones on their children's hair to kill nits). Nuclear weapons take hundreds of people with adequate funding and large factories decades to make. Mr Blair uses the term WMD to obscure the difference and conflate the threat. There was never any possibility that Iraq had nuclear weapons and contrary to Mr Blair's assertion, many people realised this in 2002. An inquiry composed of persons who do not understand the detail is unlikely to be useful. Read the article U. K.TELEGRAPH/Tony Blair live at Iraq war Inquiry
<> You don't have to like Blair. You don't have to like his beliefs nor his decisions. But I don't see many people defending the legacy of Saddam Hussein, whom, everyone will remember, isn't in power any more, precisely because of some of the decisions and beliefs of Tony Blair. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Citing 9/11, Blair defends legacy at Iraq inquiry <> This sort of investigation will never take place here. Isn't that a shame on us and congress that presidents can get away with the foul deeds they do and never get called on it unless it's some sexual misconduct in the Oval office? Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Citing 9/11, Blair defends legacy at Iraq inquiry
AUSCHWITZ AND THE REMEMBRANCE OF PURE EVIL
Never stop talking about the Holocaust. Never stop talking about what can happen when the world looks away while people are being tortured and murdered. When I listen to survivors of Nazi death camps, today especially I heard a survivor of Auschwitz speak, I am reminded again and again of the spirit of a people--this woman reminded me that as victims of one of the most horrific events in history, these people did not go out and avenge--they did not set out to declare war on their tormentors--the stories survivors can tell us about the people who never walked out of those camps and their own stories are gifts to us. These gifts can help all of us be better people, to strive to be kinder and more compassionate. After all if survivors of this hell can find compassion and forgiveness, the rest of us should have no problem doing that in our own lives. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Nazi camp survivors dwindle to a few
I try to imagine who are those that believes that moving on is to forgive whatever wrong doing was made. Where are the voices of the Romani People, the voices of the homosexuals, the voices of the Armenians, from Ruanda, from Kosovo, from Darfur, from Jeovah Witnesses? Did somebody hear it? But we, the Jews keep our voices high and clear and we will keep doing it for all coming generations, because we know that the Holocaust is the tip of the iceberg of long millenias of persecutions and brutalities, and there are people that under the disguise of anti-semitism will hurt other People. So, while Jews don't "move on" there will be concern to all Mankind, be assured. Never Again is relly what is meant. Remember that it is easy to pay your way out of guilt, but you cannot get ride of shame unless you forget the cause of it. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Holocaust survivors' stories <> I grew up 15 years after the war's end but very much saw the effect of the Holocaust on my people and my country. The lingering effect of this monstrosity on many of it's people's life. Yes I agree that nothing has been learned if Darfur is still allowed to happen and nothing is being done. Not really. If the likes of Ahmedinajad are allowed to spout his venom. No he is not Hitler - but his venom and the hypocrisy, pseudo humanism, and delusion of (in particular) the European left and the viciousness of the extreme right are a real threat to the world not only to Israel. I have lived in Britain for many years and saw it change. Not for the better. I saw the rise of racism and yes - the exclusion of minorities, of what is seen as the other... and the memory of a best friend's mother who, in Budapest under Nazi occupation, saw her brother being brutally murdered by Nazi soldiers and who after the war - displaced, homeless and traumatized made her way to Israel - comes to mind. The bitter legacy of that war is still carried by her two children and they paid a heavy, bitter, price for it... The idea of the OTHER is repugnant and dangerous. In a country that prides itself in giving refuge to the persecuted it should never be allowed!!! Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Holocaust survivors' stories
BYE-BYE BIRDIE -- SUN CEO SCHWARTZ TWEETS RESIGNATION
Financial crisis Stalled too many customers CEO no more Resigning with a haiku is so classy! How many executives write poetry at all, much less resign from their jobs with poetry? Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Sun's chief executive tweets his resignation Communal I.P. Read the article BARRONS/Sun's Jonathan Schwartz: The haiku resignation tweet Oracle shuts down Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Sun CEo Schwartz tweets resignation in haiku Idealism Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Jonathan Schwartz tweets his last goodbye to Sun Microsystems
WHAT RECESSION? INTERNET 419 SCAMMERS NETTED $9.3 BILLION IN 2009 419 READ THE REPORT . Read the article ARS TECHNICA/(Suckers) Victims lost $9 billion to scammers in 2009 <> Although its hard for me to understand how anyone falls for this nonsense, it doesn't actually surprise me since there are many computer illiterate and just generally ignorant people in the world. A mother of an old roommate of mine actually fell for the "We found a virus on you're computer, buy this software to get rid of it" pop up. She was a real ignorant nutter, but that is who they shoot for. A co-worker that I work with currently is an old man who can barely grasp using a computer and found a Nigerian email and asked me what it was; he was very confused wondering why a Nigerian would email him and clicked on the link that was on it before he asked me about it. I told him to delete it cause it was a scam; I am not sure if he still really understands though. Read the article ARS TECHNICA/(Suckers) Victims lost $9 billion to scammers in 2009 THE iPAD HAS LANDED ON THE SEA OF EXPECTATION
I don’t think any of you “yawners” are seeing the big picture here. These are the first footsteps forward in developing small, tablet like computers with all the functions and more of a computer today. This, as well as the iPod, and iPhone (and other stuff that is non-apple) are all setting the stage for a new era of technology. Remember the first Mac? it was a box that was able to do the same thing a type writer could. It basically electronified the typewriter and aside being a base for a new market and technological revolution, was an overpriced luxury. But it was a basis for the personal computer. Now you take this creation, a half inch thin tablet, with a few more features (than the iPhone,) many more features on the way that could end up revolutionizing modern computers, and you yawn. Sure, this may not be the best thing since sliced bread, but it’s making steps towards that. And that’s more than any of you can say you’re doing. Read the article WIRED/ Apple's special table event live
This is just a glorified super sized iPhone/iTouch. I have a hard time calling this a computer. It depends heavily on the App Store for application and other stuff. Unless it runs OSX, people will be buried in a lot of the shovelware that exists on the App Store. As much as Jobs picks on netbooks, they are able to run Windows applications and aren't confined to applications only available from a single source (i.e. iTunes). I see the iPad having some people running to the store to buy it, but I think a lot of people might think this is another Newton or iTV. For now, I'll stick with my iPhone. No real need to get this super sized device since it doesn't really offer anything that I need or feel make it worth the extra price. I personally think Apple pre-announced this a little to early in an attempt to take some focus away from Windows 7 and some upcoming Microsoft based tablet products. I'll give him credit, the press coverage for this has been insane. Read the article CNET/Apple's iPad touches a nerve in Redmond <> I think they have got winner here. Yes, it's a big iPod Touch but at that size the books and, importantly, newsprint looks so much better. Video too. The App Store will evolve to accommodate the larger screen size (but scaling up of existing apps shouldn't be too bad). Yes, you can plug in a keyboard and bluetooth is there too. The accessories look cool too. I especially like the cover which can double up as a mounting stand if you want to display pics/video etc to more people.
It's a serious alternative to a laptop and is a synthesis of the MacBook Air and iPod Touch. It looks gorgeous and the pricing is really keen. $499? That is really not bad for a 1st Gen product. Read the article MACWORLD/Apple puts an end to tablet rumors with Ipad <> I think what was downplayed today is the potential for this device to be a great laptop replacement/adjunct for college students. A better e-book app that provides more functionality than just reading, bookmarking, and minimal notes would be a boon for this potential market. The ability for textbook writers to incorporate audio, video, internet updates to its usual text laden product would be a significant improvement. Instead of ten books, buy an iPad (I still hate the name) and load them up with a years worth of books. However one still needs to be able to take notes and touchscreen typing just doesn't cut it. Maybe a foldable portable keyboard like what was available for the Palm PDA would be just right. Read the article CNET/CRAVE/ Should the Apple iPad be considered a computer?
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TEA PARTY: STRONG BREW OR STORM IN A TEAPOT?
The tea party thing is a movement based on anger. Even when that anger is justified, it doesn't solve anything. This is a group of grownups having a collective tantrum because things aren't going their way, and they seem to think they know better than everyone else. Well, when are they gonna prove it? I have yet to hear a single, solitary suggestion put forth by this bunch that actually addresses the issues they're so ticked off about. Where are the better ideas they seem to think they have? Just saying that the federal government should be smaller and that taxes should be lower is not adding anything to the discussion. Show me a strategy for governing that involves some tangible, feasible policy proposals, show me how it can get done in the real world, show me the actions we need to take that can actually lead us somewhere better than we are now. Until then all I'm hearing is yelling, and as I always tell my kids, yelling doesn't get you what you want. If some of these tea partyer's mamas had taught them that then maybe they'd be getting something done instead of just adding to the noise and static. Read the article CNN/Where does the Tea Party go from here? <> Wow.... lots of reference to Tea Party members being members of the KKK, stupid, Neanderthal, Bush Lovers... You guys are very well informed... Here is the deal.. I hated the Bush years... I voted for President Obama because I did not want another Bush clone... I, like many others only want a smaller Federal Gov and Larger State Govs... Does it not make sense to keep the power closer to the people, not further from them? Oh by the way, many "Tea Baggers" are African American, Hispanic, and American Indian.... Yes I am white, but not a member of the KKK or a closet racist... I am a graduate of Shaw University). I care about this country and all of its citizens,even those who like to bash me for my political beliefs. Twenty-three years of military service taught me that. Instead of using the typical mindless schoolyard attacks, perhaps address the issues. I would gladly accept a valid argument for the current trends of spending during a time of extreme financial crisis. (minus the name calling)... I respect each of your opinions regarding the direction of our country, but don't have to agree with them. How about talking about issues instead of name calling. Read the article CNN/Where does the Tea Party go from here? <> I hope the party can quell any ideas of her running for President early on. Surely we can come up with some one a bit more qualified and capable. Let Palin do what she is best at, rallying the troops. Perhaps give her a radio show or something, but not the Presidency. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Palin not ruling out a run for the presidency <> I really hope she does run, just for the entertainment value of seeing her fellow Republicans rip her to shreds in the primaries. This woman is the very definition of what's wrong in US politics; she is as ignorant as a doorknob, committed ethics violations at an amazing rate while governor, endlessly repeats blatant lies to her unthinking followers (death panels?), and quit her responsibility as governor when the going got too tough, yet a sizable chuck of the population ignores the facts and approves of her just cause she talks hillbilly and says "you betcha" a lot. She is a national embarrassment Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Palin not ruling out a run for the presidency <> We want the whole apple cart tipped over, spilled out into the streets and refilled per the tenets of the Constitution. It begins "We the People" and we are demanding the return of our government to the people.
We are calling in our loans and demand the return of a Sovereign and Free USA. Read the article FOX NEWS/What did you think of Sarah Palin's speech at the Tea Party Convention?
HEALTHCARE SPENDING AT ALL- TIME HIGH; UNCLE SAM PREDICTED TO PAY 50.4% OF BILL BY 2011
HEALTH EXPENDITURE PROJECTIONS 2009-2019
Per capita spending on healthcare Norway $4080 Read the article NPR/Nation's health spending climbs to record high <> It's a simple as this: it can't be resolved through politics or public policy. And it's as complex as this: the real solution lies in changing how health care is delivered so that more focus is placed on wellness/prevention (70% of h/c costs are avoidable) rather than factory line illness treatment. That requires health care providers to change, American people to change and laws protecting lawyers to change. Then, there will be plenty of money available for government subsidies to the lower income who can't afford insurance. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Public health-care spending to hit milestone <> It does not matter what healthcare plan is adopted. We cannot afford it. Period. We have too many people contributing too little and taking too much. It's that simple. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Public health-care spending to hit milestone <> "We need health care reform not government control and mandates." Read the article USA TODAY/Medical expenses have "very steep rate of growth" <> Where is the surprise? The population is growing, as is the elder population demographic. Charity case are growing along with them, and part of the increased costs are being born by those who DO pay their doctor bills and higher insurance premiums to make up for those who don't. Read the article SEATTLE TIMES/Health costs reach record, government study shows SEX, LIES AND HONOR: THE MOVE TO REPEAL "DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" POLICY ON GAYS WHO SERVE
I live in Arizona, and I work with soldiers every day. Some are young enough to be my grandchildren, but all share an unwritten understanding of each other - one forged in the battles many have returned from in Iraq and Afghanistan: Live and let live. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Defending the long gay line <> I'm a Navy veteran. I served three years as a hospital corpsman in the Navy Reserve before enlisting for a six year active duty stint and serving as machinist mate on board two different 637-class submarines. I'm currently pursuing my commission in the Navy Reserve. I am also a straight, married man with absolutely no attraction to the same gender. Now that we have my credentials established, I'll provide my perspective: Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Gay ban should be lifted, says Mullen <> A veteran is someone who, at one point in his/her life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to and including my life." ------Let them write that check..in the open.
Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Backlash expected over "Don't Ask" repeal bid
Is the gay man that enlists in the Army any less willing to sacrifice his life for his country than the straight man? Is there some feeling that his only desire is to put frilly curtains in the tent? Actually women in the military have more to fear from straight men than straight men have to fear from gay men. I saw some retired general on GMA this weekend trying to defend "DADT by saying it's an insult to the families in the military, that they are a close group and gays threaten the families. That you need a cohesive group that doesn't fear others supporting their loved ones at war. Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Backlash expected over "Don't Ask" repeal bid <> Most Americans agree that it is time to repeal this broken policy including conservatives. It is at this point just another pawn by screwballs to divide rather than accepting the world that we live in. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Gay ban should be lifted, says Mullen
PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL, PROGNOSTICATOR OF ALL PROGNOSTICATORS: "SIX MORE WEEKS"
ONLY six more weeks! If we didn't have Phil as a guide we would think winter's never gonna end!!! Read the article ABC NEWS/Groundhog Day 2010: Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter. <> I wish I lived in a place called Gobbler's Knob. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Groundhog day: Phil says it's winter <> It may be Groundhog Day in America but back here in the Old World it's even better - it's Imbolg! Hurray! Best day of the year! Imbolg is the ancient-British original, it goes with Beltane & Lammas & all those pagan holidays Christianized as Candlemas - (or the Purification of the BVM but we needn't go there.) What it really is is a cross-quarter day. A day that falls exactly between a solstice and an equinox (or vice versa), marking an eighth section of the year. What makes Imbolg the most happy is that it marks the point when the dark bit of the year suddenly starts to let go and the evenings do start getting perceptibly, measurably lighter. We are no longer scraping along the bottom of the pit of the year but lifting up, now, in a parabola of growing light towards Easter and then Midsummer. ........ Yes the best is yet to come. All's to look forward to. A very Happy Imbolg to everyone. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Groundhog day: Phil says it's winter <>
I wonder how the the Met office's prediction record compares to Punxsutawney Phil's. From what I've seen, I think I'd use Phil if a coin wasn't available. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/Groundhog day: Phil says it's winter <> Hearing this and living in the north really makes me want to play whack-a-mole with that groundhog. But being the gentle person I am, instead I will spend the day shoveling snow. Read the article CNN/Groundhog sees shadow, more winter <> I heard Phil couldn't go back into his ceremonial tree stump at Gobbler's Knob.
Read the article CNN/Groundhog sees shadow, more winter <> As someone who's birthday is on Groundhog Day, I've taken note of the Groundhog's actions as long as I can remember. And I've been to Punxsutawney for the big event. Every animal should have such care. I guess the PETA folks prefer that the Groundhog have the stress of being in a predator's jaws rather than the stress of being held for 15 minutes once a year. Great priorities for your organization, PETA! PETA doesn't understand why mainstream America thinks PETA members are extremists? PETA, you need to look at your own shadow. Read the article CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR/PETA wants to replace Punxsatawney Phil with a robot <> Y'all stay warm now. Our beloved groundhog General Beauregard Lee did not see his shadow here in the southeast, so we can enjoy our Mint Juleps on the veranda and our early daffodils. Y'all come visit now, will be toasting to y'all. General Beauregard Lee sends his regrets to Punxsutawney Phil and a bag of peanuts and suggests he run and hide today. LOL he might get shot. Read the article MSNBC/Newsvine/Punxsutawney Phil: Six more weeks of winter
WITH $3.8 TRILLION BUDGET PROPOSAL, SEE HOW THE DEBT CLOCK RUNS...
Stunning! And the "main-stream media's" lack of reporting on the deficit/debt issue is equally stunning. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Obama proposes $3.8 trillion budget <> Somebody will write a classic in 2025 called ' The age of entitlement or how Western society got turn apart'. It will cover the period of 1960 till 2010 and the Baby boom generation will be at the center of it. Historians of the future will read this book to try to understand how a system arose in the West, where under the banner of social welfare everybody tried to get Government entitlements, while trying not to pay for it, and at the same pushing the bill to the future generation's. Unfortunately the boomers kept on living, while retiring in their fifties, and putting up their 1.3 child with a Massive bill, locking up the labor market in Continental Europe so the young were massively unemployed. They thought they could change society, and kept on babbling about societal transformation but ended up killing up the entire societal fabric. Pretty soon after 2010 it became everyman for his own and it was not pretty. Read the article ECONOMIST/Budget day <> Our technological, space, and industrial progress is going to be strangled to death by uncontrolled, wasteful domestic social programs that do nothing but maintain the status quo of misery and entitlement dependence. And it will continue to grow, and crowd out everything else we hope to attain.
<> You have got to be kidding me! The interest on the national debt is quickly becoming the largest ticket item on the federal budget. You can not spend your way out of debt, it does not work in the business world and it does not work for personal budgets. You have to stop the flow of red ink, make hard choices to cut the budget and assure your investors that you are exercising good management principles with their money. The federal government has not been a good steward with our tax money for over 40 years. Both political parties have engaged in run-a-way spending. It took a long time to get to this point and it will take even longer to get out of it. We will never get there until there is a political will to balance the budget. That is a start, and then we will have to generate more revenue for the government than we are spending. Mark my word, if this does not happen, irresponsible government spending will spark the next financial crisis and it will be much worse than that first one because the government will not be able to spend their way out of it Read the article NPR/Obama unveils budget with $3.8 trillion in spending
THE BATTLE FOR BRADDOCK: CAN STIMULUS FORGE A FUTURE FOR OLD STEEL TOWN?
I guess we can't blame you for wanting a piece of the charity pie that was baked under threat of economic annihilation in 2008 and 2009. But, many folks like myself are in the "two wrongs don't make a right" mindset now. Read the article CNN/Stimulus is last chance for U.S. cities <> Do you live in Braddock? Have you been there to watch the decline of a town from 20,000 to just 3,000 people, or otherwise been part of the economic upheaval brought on by cut-throat capitalism that saw business move their operations overseas because of cheap labor? Read the article CNN/Stimulus is last chance for U.S. cities
This is a great story and very well written. I sympathize with the Mayor and agree with his supposition that what we have gotten is "socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor". What else do you call the TARP? Is it not socialism? Is it not Corporate Welfare? The sad reality is that it really does not matter who is in power. TARP was passed in the latter stage of the Bush administration. The current administration gleefully implemented it. Tim Geithner and Larry Summers are both Wall Street insiders and they looked after their banker friends. Who looked out for US? They want to make us believe that by saving the banks they saved US! It's a hard pill to swallow when you've been out of work for a year. It's even harder to take when you read about all these Wall Street bonuses. Read the article CNN/Stimulus is last chance for U.S. cities
CHEERS TO YOUR HEALTH! BEER MAY BE GOOD FOR DEM BONES
Italian heritage, with a smash of German and Irish. Grandma on Dad's side drank 3-4 beer a day until she died in her late 80s (cancer, she smoked every day of those 80+ years since she was 14 on.) Grandpa on that side is 88 and still playing golf a few days a week (and scoring under his age almost every time). Grandma on my mom's side had 1 beer every night with dinner, and made it to 96. Her husband worked underground on the NY water tunnels a good chunk of his life, and dies of cancer in his 70s. However, great grandparents on both sides made it to their 90s. 2 made it past 100. All we typically eat is pasta (tomato based mostly), bread, chicken steak and venison, a mix of veggies, heavy on the garlic, Olive oil in the pans instead of butter, and wash it down with either red wine or beer (and typically the darker beers if not a stout). Given the powers of red wine, beer, garlic, tomato, and all the spices, it's no wonder everyone is fat and happy into late years. The only cancer cases have been extreme long term smoking, or industrial hazard related. Pretty much every single member of the family dies of heart disease, but in your 90s, i call that natural causes... Read the article THE REGISTER/Drink beer not fizzy pop for pity's sake, say the boffins <> Rubbish! They're just poking and prodding the results of their studies, dividing them into ever smaller boxes until they get the return they want. What's the relative risk? Was it a double-blind trial or just a trawl through observational study data? All this statistical rubbish is why we keep getting stories about how wine/coffee/chocolate/sex is good for you one month and bad for you the next. They don't actually demonstrate any significant risk and they're often working with a relative risk (or risk ratio) of less than 1, which is statistically insignificant, and using just a fraction of the population initially claimed for the study. Given those conditions it's easy to prove just about anything you want, and these alleged scientists usually do. Read the article THE REGISTER/Drink beer not fizzy pop for pity's sake, say the boffins
PIG TO HUMAN LUNG TRANSPLANTS A BREATH CLOSER
The story says "Human DNA is now added to the pigs as they are reared", not that their DNA is partly derived from humans. If there is any medical ethical issue, it should be the source of that DNA, not this use. I may not be a doctor or a medical ethicalist, but like most people, I see no ethical difference in using pigs for human parts if they have received some DNA from humans or not. The pig still dies, a human has a shot at life. It is NOT a half-human, half-pig that is slaughtered. Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Pig lungs in human transplanjts a step closer . <> "Ethical"??? we are comparing the life and death of a human being to a "pig" and are talking "ethics". Like the man said "Bacon anybody"? The pigs going to die anyway, so why not save a human life at the same time? By the way, I have a cow valve in my heart that has been keeping me alive for the last threee years, is that wrong Mr Ethicist? Read the article DAILY TELEGRAPH/Pig lungs in human transplanjts a step closer .
THE LANCET BURSTS AN ANTI-VACCINE BUBBLE
Unfortunately I don't think this will make a dent in the anti vaccine campaign. Once people go into the conspiracy mindset it's pretty hard to convince them otherwise, besides, they have given up on science completely, so why would a scientific article make any difference? You can't reason people out of something they didn't use reason to get into in the first place. The only "science" valid for these people is the one that corroborates their point of view, and anecdotes, everything else is evidence for the conspiracy of the whole scientific community. Read the article ARS TECHNICA/The Lancet retracts paper linking MMR vaccines and autism <> Wakefield happened to raise an interesting hypothesis that had no rigorous data to support it. Attempt after attempt to test the hypothesis has failed to support it. Science is based on the testing of hypotheses. You can never prove any general statement true (even if the first million marbles in an infinite barrel of marbles was black that does not prove the general statement that all the marbles were black) but even a single counter example can disprove a general statement (one white marble definitively disproves the hypothesis that all the marbles are black). In this case Wakefield's hypothesis has been tested over and over again and it just is not supportive of the data. Interesting idea that happened to be wrong. The only reason the idea has kept alive was the combined political influence of unscrupulous trial attorneys combined with the gullibility of desperate parents wanting some explanation and shoddy science writers. Bottom line is that the hypothesis has failed to stand the tests of real world data. As Einstein noted, "truth is that which stands the test of experience." Unfortunately Wakefield failed. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/The Lancet retracts Dr. Andrew Wakefield's article on the autism/vaccine connection <> Of course hindsight is 20/20, but after reading Wakefield’s original paper, I’m stunned that it was published in Lancet. Besides Wakefield having obvious conflicts of interest that he choose not to disclose, such as the children selected for the study being involved in a class action lawsuit against vaccine manufacturers with Wakefield as an expert witness, the science as reported in the paper was weak. Lancet’s peer review process failed in this case and they took so long to retract the study because of their arrogance. This situation is really no different than the ghostwriting scandals perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry. In both cases you have a party with a financial interest seeking to deceive the public with regards to a medical issue by getting a biased paper published in a peer reviewed journal. The best kind of advertising is the kind you do not recognize as advertising. I’ll bet that most of the people who think Wakefield is a hero despise pharma for their despicable misrepresentation of science for financial gain. Wakefield is no different than the pharma execs who chose to put profits over public health. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/The end of a paper that linked vaccines to autism
L.A. POT CLINICS GET SMOKED BY CITY COUNCIL
How does the LA City Council propose to serve an estimated 500,000 patients with only 70 dispensaries? The LAPD, already staggered by budgetary constraints, has estimated that it would cost $1.3 million to monitor 70 collectives and would require a lieutenant, 11 detectives, an auditor and a clerk to enforce the new rules. How is this preferable to collecting millions in tax revenue from more open dispensaries? There is no doubt that stricter regulation is needed, but closing 93% of all dispensaries will only force those who have obeyed the law to go back underground for their medication. The Mayor must not approve this short-sighted ordinance. Read the article NPR/L.A.city council votes to close most pot clinics <> Just decriminalize it already! Pot isn't good for you, but it doesn't create nearly as many health problems as drinking. I think many social harms could be eliminated if adults trying to get pot could go to an approved dispensary, not trashy black market dealers. It is especially inhumane to deny very sick people this rather harmless anesthetic. Come on L.A., there are more pressing concerns. Read the article NPR/L.A.city council votes to close most pot clinics <> I'm glad the city finally clamped down on these opportunists. I know a handful of people who run them, and dozens of people who go there for prescriptions, and the vast majority of the transactions are about getting $55/eighth, high grade weed (or edibles) to party with. Basically, these dispensaries are just really huge cash machines. I'm all for sick people legitimately using weed dispensaries, and I even support legalizing weed in general, with the same rules and taxes as alcohol - but 99% of this med weed dispensary situation has just been about partying and making a bongload of money. Read the article LA TIMES/L.A. city council approves medical marijuana ordinance that will shut down hundreds of dispensaries <> First of all let me state that I am a patient and MMJ advocate. Seriously folks what did you all expect? what with dispensaries popping up on every street corner and some dispensaries even advertising vaporizer sundays this was inevitable. The dispensaries "ran amuck" and the legitimate pt's are the ones who will be inconvenienced. Yes the best route would be to legalize and regulate. I think that that is where further efforts should be focused. Prohibition never works. Read the article LA TIMES/L.A. city council approves medical marijuana ordinance that will shut down hundreds of dispensaries
KIDS PLUGGED INTO MEDIA SEVEN-PLUS HOURS A DAY AND COUNTING
GENERATION M2 -- KAISER FAMILY STUDY The problem, folks, is kids are evolving and education ISN’T . . .public schools are still educating they way they 200 years ago, just with better teaching aids. It’s time to move education into the present! I home schooled my kids. They did most of their work online and my lesson plans followed their interests and current events . . so we did things like deconstruct the US Constitution or study William Wallace. I remember one time the youngest asked at breakfast if there was really a Rasputin (we had just seen Anastasia). I laughed and said, “Go find out. I want 500 words at dinner about him.” I came home from work and he was bouncing around he was so excited. He couldn’t even wait until dinner to tell me everything he had found out. And at dinner we discussed the Bolshevik revolution and a bit of the history of communism. I figure eventually groups will figure out that we have passed the time where forcing kids to remember a bunch of crap for a few months so they can regurgitate it for a test is what it means to give them an education. Now we need them to develop the ability to find what they need to know quickly and use their critical thinking skills to spin the knowledge into new ideas. Read the article DISCOVER/Generation IPod spend 53 hours a week consuming media
I very much agree with this - While I spent more time playing games, my time now (I'm 26) is spent absorbing as much information as I can. Read the article MASHABLE/Kids spend every waking minute in front of a screen <> Technology is not the problem, socialization and values are the problem. I teach high school and it would be easy to condemn the entire generation as being vacuous, inattentive and driven by instant gratification. But that is so far from the truth. Young people today do benefit from the greatest range of technological advances in all of human history...and all at their fingertips. But those who abuse the technology do so for one reason, because they can. Their parents have - for a host of reasons - abrogated the responsibility of cultivating and modeling strong relationships where a child learns about intimacy and interpersonal connections. Many young people have seen a generation of parents who chose to work more hours to get more stuff all the while ignoring their kids' isolation because they see the march of technology as just an inevitability, not something to be moderated next to real life. If you show kids you care about them, it's amazing how fast they stop worrying about where the next text is coming from. Why do you think so many more young people hug each other just to say hi?! Read the article ABC NEWS/New study shows kids spend seven hours a day with electronics
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MAGAZINES ON THE RACK AS NEWSSTAND SALES PLUMMET
Newsstand magazine prices are outrageous as compared to a subscription and the unfortunate reality is that the editorial content for the most part is extremely meager. I have been a Time subscriber for many years and most issues have been no more than 56 pages thus far this year. I was fortunate to have received a free subscription to The Economist last year and it is far and away vastly superior to both Time and Newsweek. While I believe it is fairly expensive at the newsstand, it is still reasonably priced for home delivery. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Magazine newsstand sales fall 9.1% <> It's interesting to note that the publications geared towards mass market - TV Guide, Business Week, etc. - are losing readers and the niche magazines, like the Off Road magazine, are doing much better. I am sure that the Internet has taken away many readers, but you also have to look at the product. Is there anything worth reading in TV Guide? Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Magazine newsstand sales fall 9.1% PAUL KRUGMAN: DEFICIT HORROR OR HYSTERIA?
Policy is "headed" in the wrong direction? We've been going off the rails for at least 30 years, when Ronald Reagan started to popularize the notion that we could simultaneously cut taxes, increase spending and balance the budget. Three decades of wage stagnation, bubbles followed by bust, crumbling infrastructure, and ballooning debt haven't shaken the fervent belief of most Americans in this economic orthodoxy. Any politician crazy enough to try to talk straight about these issues is on the certain road to oblivion. And that's where this country is headed, unless the citizenry faces reality. As long as reality includes tax increases for nearly everyone, social security and health care reform/cost containment, serious cuts in defense/homeland security spending, most Americans will prefer to maintain the fantasy of voodoo economics, until the ship of state sinks altogether. Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Fiscal scare tactics <> Maybe deficits don't bother you but they bother me. You can play ostrich if you like but the facts are still facts. At the current rate of spending the interest payments on our debt will become our biggest expenditure as a government. Me and mine (the generation in college now) is gonna have to pay for that through taxes. That means less money we'll be able to spend on important things like education, defense, and keeping you alive long enough to see you eat these words (SS and Medicare). Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Fiscal scare tactics <> As Spain and Greece are finding out, deficits do indeed matter. They spent like the current US Government is proposing, on a list of social welfare, energy subsidies and government job creation. Unfortunately it has left the countries at risk of defaulting on their debt and unable to tap the markets for any new credit needs. As so many in the real world have discovered, you can indeed borrow right up until you can't. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Deficit hysteria resembles Iraq war scare tactics UNEASY DRIVERS: TOYOTA'S CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE
This article is almost a year old: Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/U.S. starts inquiry into brake problems on Prius
<> No car company has been free of massive recalls in the past. What worries me is not the problems we know about, but the one's we don't. In a year or two another car manufacturer will have a massive recall of their own and we will all be criticizing them. The worst part for Toyata is the timing of the recal when a recession is "ending" (debatable) and consumer confidence is at its lowest. They will survive, how well is to be seen! Read the article CBC NEWS/Toyota boss apologizes for mass recalls <> Secretary LaHood's political grandstanding is transparent. He and his fellow Obama Administration colleagues might want to take note of the fact the faulty part at the root of this Toyota problem is manufactured by an American company. Toyota can prevent a recurrence easily enough by outsourcing to an Asian firm instead. Continually bashing businesses for political gain can only backfire when it comes to jobs creation requiring investment and spending by businesses. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/If you were in the market to buy a car today, would you consider a Toyota? <> Toyota's problem is an example of the unintended consequences of complexity. The vehicles in the recall are drive-by-wire systems. There is no direct mechanical connection. Toyota is now admitting the problem may be deeper and could reside in the computer, which may be susceptible to electrical interference, such as from cell phones. If this turns out to be the case, Toyota is in deep, deep trouble, and other manufacturers, since they all share subcontractors, need to take a close look at their own vehicles. Read the article NPR//LaHood backs off "Stop Driving" remark U.S. GDP GROWS T0 5.7%: POLITICAL SPIN OR RELIABLE INDICATOR?
I have been with the same company for 29 years now. In that time I have seen our company's sales increase in the months before recessions end. That is what we've seen since November. Our plants are working more hours. I can tell by the number of trucks leaving the plants and going into our Distribution Centers that the jobs will come late this summer. At some point in the summer the production lines that are running extra hours will have to go to extra shifts. Things aren't going to be great, but they sure will be better than a year ago. It's the most reliable indicator I have know for over 20 years. Read the article POLITICO/Growth numbers greeted cautiously <> Some very basic math. 3rd Q GDP was ultimately revised downward from 3.5 to 2.2, or approximately 37%. The 2.2% was essentially generated by the cash for clunkers program, i.e. government stimulus, meaning essentially flat economic growth otherwise. If similar revisions occur to 4th Q GDP, the effect would be a downward revision from 5.7 to 3.6, virtually all of which is a result of the inventory component. Bottom line, the consumer still isn't spending. And with unemployment still in double digits, and the congressional budget office forecasting it to remain there into 2011, I say we're in deep trouble. I'm not an economist, but I do have a good understanding of economics... not the politically spun version either. Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/GDP expands at 5.7 rate <> There is a mix of good and not so good news in the details. Inventory build up, particularly among automakers accounts for 3.4 pts. of the 5.7% growth. That's good if the inventory sells. And exports were up 18% contributing to 2 pts. of the growth. Consumer spending was still a bit sluggish (up only 2%) so it did not contribute much to the growth. Read the article MCCLATCHY/U.S. economy grew 5.6 % in fourth quarter, capping a dismal year SEVEN REASONS WHY WE SHOULD WORRY ABOUT THE ECONOMY
The bubble that too many Americans lived in was crafted and maintained by the creators of an economy driven by consumption. Consumption not of our own goods and services, but those made overseas at below minimum wage levels allowing for cheap imports of cheap goods. And, because if something broke we just bought (on credit) a new one, the financial tsunami kept growing and growing. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Seven things about the economy everyone should be worried about <> We are in big, big trouble. It is all because our entire government and the entire American people do and did not understand intelligent economic policies for the last 80 years. The country now runs on the Military Industrial Beltway Think Tank Complex and gamed federal programs since FDR .All government programs start out as viable good ideas and are then completely gamed for profit by the insiders in the Eastern Establishment elite. War has been gamed for money and profits for a tiny few while others are sent to kill or be killed. Everything else is "make a law, make a business." Everything has been gamed. Even reform will be gamed unless people start to educate themselves and monitor every move. Many have. I hope more do. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Seven things about the economy everyone should be worried about <> Dan Froomkin deserves credit for taking such a thorough but simple approach to analyzing the situation we're in. His reference to the Washington Post and the deficit hawks is indicative of a bigger problem in journalism. Except for pockets of hardnosed independent journalism -- found primarily in books and blogs -- there has been very little reporting of this crisis that has taken an intelligent, outsider's view of things. The Washington Post barely knows where Wall Street is; The Financial Times has chosen to take a sociological approach; and the Wall Street Journal likes to impress us with its understanding of the granularity of things. Ironically, only the New York Times has taken an old fashioned investigative journalistic approach in explaining things like the Goldman Sachs/AIG relationship and what was really behind the collapse of Lehman Brothers. The United States is suffering today from a dysfunctional political process and a press corps that is too in love with itself to see the forest for the trees. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Seven things about the economy everyone should be worried about
HALLELUJAH! THE SAINTS TOUCHDOWN IN THE PROMISED LAND!
Who dat up there who’s dat down there
To the bold, goes good fortune. The on-sides kick at the beginning of the second half was bold and it paid off. Congratulations to the Saints and the Who Dat Nation. The ghosts of 43 years have finally been exorcised, the bags can go in a museum. Never again can you be called Aints.... the New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl Champions!!!! Read the article DAILY BEAST/Saints win 31-17 <> With 55 seconds remaining, when Victory seemed inevitable I swear I thought a giant meteor from deep outer-space was going to slam into the earth extinguishing all life ..... that thought was some how more real to me than my Saints ........... winning the SUPER BOWL..? Maybe I will wake up tomorrow morn as if from a dream ... and after 45 long years .... this will be a dream that really did come true... Read the article NOLA/TIMES PICAYUNE/New Orleans saints win Superbowl XLIV forn Who Dats everywhere
<> What an amazing, amazing night. We had no streets to flood into, no strangers to hug at 6 a.m , but Kampala, Uganda, cheered for and celebrated with the Saints last night. To see my hometown erupt in long-overdue joy brought tears to my eyes... only wish I was there to be part of something, part of an emotion, that will stand still in time. Never again will any city feel what we've felt. It is more than football, and those boys knew it. Viva, New Orleans, Viva. Love and longing from uganda... WHO DAT! Read the article NOLA/TIMES PICAYUNE/New Orleans saints win Superbowl XLIV forn Who Dats everywhere
"I AM OZZY...AND I STILL HAVE NAUGHTY THOUGHTS"
Read the article SPINNER/Ozzy Osbourne opens up about drugs, failed marriage in memoir <> I do NOT like Ozzy, his family, his beliefs, etc. I will not be reading his book. I will not be, and haven't watched any reality show involving him or his family. I do not listen to his "music." Why do you ask? Because it is my choice. I chose to not associate with his kind in any way, form or fashion. Read the article SPINNER/Ozzy Osbourne opens up about drugs, failed marriage in memoir <> For those of you who haven't seen the biography of Ozzy's life, Ozzy grew up below the poverty line in England with his parents and several siblings. He was the laughing stock of his school because he was considered a "dummy" and fell way behind his classmates. He was beat up on a daily basis. Ozzy dropped out and turned to music as his only solace. Today we know he was extremely learning disabled. Due to his extreme emotional trauma, Ozzy became much of what he is today. While you can't excuse it all, I can understand why a lot of it happened. There was no help for Ozzy as a child and he survived the best way he could and that way was not the best. It's a testament to his strength that he is still here and alive and now telling the world of his mistakes. Not many men are man enough to do that. Read the article SPINNER/Ozzy Osbourne opens up about drugs, failed marriage in memoir
GRIPING ABOUT THE GRAMMYS -- "GIVE HER A BREAK, WILL YA?"
I agree that Taylor Swift has a lot of trouble singing live [most people with a tin ear do] but I believe she is an exceptional songwriter. She does exactly what songwriting is supposed to do, take real-life situations and make everybody feel it. True, she writes about young love, fairy tales and the like but I am 53 years old and her song "Fifteen" brings me right back to my first couple of years in high school. Will the song change the world? Probabky not but it can bring a tear and smile to anyone and everyone whose lived through those days of saying bye-bye to childhood and hello to adolesence.Give her a break, will ya? Read the article CHICAGO TRIBUNE/Taylor Swift and the Grammys: Is that all there is? <> The Grammy awards are chosen by a professional organization of people all of whom are in fields directly related to the creative or technical process of producing recordings.
There is another point. Most people are not buying copies of music these days, but stealing them because it is so easy to violate copywrite laws these days. In an environment where many people are seeing their incomes disappear due to this grass roots piracy, we can hardly fault industry professionals who reward the fans who are actually paying for their recordings. Seen in that light, a producer who votes for a record because a lot of people bought copies of it may be actually rewarding those who did the right thing in the only way he can. Read the article CHICAGO TRIBUNE/Taylor Swift and the Grammys: Is that all there is? ALL THE PRESIDENT'S CHILDREN -- JACOB ZUMA'S LOVE CHILD ROCKS THE CRADLE
This article really brings to attention how we Africans - well, all peoples really - relate to our respective cultures. The question always is: which parts of our cultures have outlived their validity, and which do we need to maintain? Is it just a question of the evolution of culture; an evolution ...that should not be fought against? Aren't our ideas of right and wrong formed by our own cultures and coloured by our knowledge of other cultures? I won't go as far as to condemn Mr. Zuma and his [consenting] wives, but I would most certainly not want to be part of such a "tradition". Please note - if there is no consent among any of the parties, it is simply WRONG. Otherwise, it's a matter of perspective. I am not obliged to agree with such a practice, and neither is anyone obliged to agree with me. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/The first polygamist and his first, second and third ladies <> What sets back respect for women in SA is not the message President Zuma sends through his legitimate marriages, it is the message he sends by his lack of respect for the sanctity of marriage. His reckless adultery is reprehensible and poisonous to the public discourse, and it would be no less so if he were monogamous. In the US, we have anti-polygamy laws which were enacted for the sole purpose of persecuting religious minorities (initially Mormons, now Muslims as well), and all that they accomplish is to break up immigrant families and force American families living by their cultural religious convictions to go underground (where all forms of abuse and exploitation are less likely to be noticed). There is no problem with President Zuma having multiple wives; there is only a problem with the way he treats women, whether he's married to them or not. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/The first polygamist and his first, second and third ladies
INTO THE SILENCE: J.D. SALINGER, AUTHOR OF CATCHER IN THE RYE
It seems to me that Salinger always wanted to have his work frozen in time like the Eskimos in the museum that Holden so admired. He left us with his best work so that his memory wouldn't be tainted by a less than perfect set of novels failing to match up to, "The Catcher in the Rye." I really hope though, that should we now see a flurry of his unpublished works being released that whoever is left in charge of editing the boxes full of text, is a passionate fan and not someone out to make a buck on the bloke's death! Really rather sad, was very shocked when I saw the headline. For some reason you never expect people like Salinger to die, even though it's obvious they will! Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/J.D.Salinger: America's greatest literary hermit <> He was undoubtedly a talented author and I enjoyed his style of writing. However, when I read Catcher in my sophomore English class, I remember hating Holden Caulfield and not really understanding his allure or why so many people claim him as their favorite character or Catcher as their favorite book. I do have to credit Salinger with creating a character I could detest so much, though; that in itself is a testament to how real and believable he was. Am I the only one who felt this way about the book? Maybe I should reread it now (13 years later) and see if my tastes have changed. Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Catcher in the Rye author, J.D. Salinger, dies <> I haven't read Salinger since high school, but while I do remember considerable cynicism about "Catcher" as required reading, there was also a great reverence among the thoughtful readers for "Franny and Zooey" and some of the "Nine Stories," especially "A Perfect Day for Bananafish." Salinger captured something essentially American on the midcentury/postwar cusp of social upheaval. Despite the lauds of the Beats for Zen and Taoist philosophy, Salinger's uncertain introspective quality touched upon that sort of perspective in a quieter manner, less of an acquisition than a poem from the heart. Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Catcher in the Rye author, J.D. Salinger, dies
HOWARD ZINN, PEOPLE'S HISTORIAN OF THE UNITED STATES
"History, looked at under the surface, in the streets and on the farms, in GI barracks and trailer camps, in factories and offices, tells a different story. Whenever injustices have been remedied, wars halted, women and blacks and Native Americans given their due, it has been because 'unimportant' people spoke up, organized, protested, and brought democracy alive." Read the article DAILY BEAST/Howard Zinn dead at 87 <> There was never a better read than Zinn's books. He took American history out of the realm of myth and into the factual realism. His influence on generations of us who benefited from Zinn's books as required reading in university history classes. After reading just one of Zinn's works, the reader/student was instilled with a hunger for more. Read the article DAILY BEAST/Howard Zinn dead at 87
To me, Zinn represents an early point of my life where I started to question what I was taught in a formal U.S. educational system. His work helped to bring about a desire to learn more about history - U.S. history specifically. Do I agree with all of his arguments and framings of U.S. history? No. Am I mourning his loss because he helped to push me to question the standard pro-U.S. historical rhetoric? Yes. Read the article NPR/Historian Howard Zinn is dead
CHEF FERRAN ADRIÀ SHUTTERS WORLD'S BEST RESTAURANT FOR TWO YEARS, SEEKS NEW "EXPERIENCES"
Is this a gourmet version of a "Concorde Moment"? Few of us mere mortals entertained realistic hopes of ever eating there, despite regularly submitting a begging email to get a reservation and putting a kidney on eBay to settle my potential bill! Traditionalists have long argued that molecular gastronomy goes against the very essence of cooking, replacing art with science, but whether Ferran Adria is an artist or a scientist he is undoubtedly a genius. We can not expand our culinary horizons unless someone is pushing the culinary envelope. As to who replaces him? How do you replace genius? He is as important a culinary figure as August Escoffier or Bartolomeo Scappi. The real question for me is now where to send my begging emails? Homaro Cantu at Moto prepare to be besieged! Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/El-Bulli to close for two years <> If I were to go somewhere like El Bulli or the Fat Duck, I would be going for the very different experience these places afford. But equally, I'd love to go somewhere where they have devoted as much time and attention to perfecting steak and chips as they have to broccoli-stuffed helium balloons, miniature caraway seed golf balls that taste like a question mark, or eggs that burst open to reveal nanobots that paint the inside of your mouth with marzipan. Read the article U.K. GUARDIAN/El-Bulli to close for two years <> My wife and I managed to dine there.
One needs that memory to feel one has had a 'good meal'. Read the article U.K. TIMES/Owner of El-Bulli, world's most exclusive restaurant, shuts up shop for two years
PRESIDENT OBAMA FUELS THE NUCLEAR DEBATE
I'm a liberal, but I'm also a scientist, and these people are just idiots. Any realistic assessment of future energy needs will lead one to the inevitable conclusion that the use of nuclear power absolutely must be expanded, especially if we are to curtail our use of fossil fuels. While alternative forms of energy are out there and even going through significant development, none of them (and no combination of them) has even a remote chance of significantly supplying the world's growing energy needs. At best they can supplant a small portion in specific applications. But like it or not, nuclear is the only "alternative" power source for the foreseeable future that has any realistic potential for even slowing our reliance on carbon-based fuels. Read the article USA TODAY/Obama's call for nuclear power plants angers supporters <> Doing the math. . .
With energy efficiency, the price keeps dropping as our youth and our most innovative thinkers take on more challenges figuring out how to improve efficiencies (and solar and wind energy technologies) and reduce impact on our wallets and on our environment. Read the article USA TODAY/Obama's call for nuclear power plants angers supporters
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