Smashing Particles

The Hadron supercollider has broken a record for accelerating protons. The collider won't be up to full power until 2011, but they are searching, among other things, for the Higgs boson, the "God particle" that is thought to give other particles mass.

I just think it's funny that physicists, most of whom are male, spend billions of dollars to smash stuff together. The writer of the above article also seems to enjoy it, describing the process as a collision, crashing, and banging particles together.

Particle physicists at CERN (the group responsible for the Hadron Collider) apparently invented the interwebs. Things like PET scans and MRI machines also arose from physics. The idea is that even if the God particle isn't found, other advances will be made and, likely, the origin of those advances will quickly be forgotten.

10 Science Tricks

10 quick science tricks.

Interview with a would-be suicide bomber

An interview with an arrested suicide bomber. The interviewer asks logical questions & the bomber responds with propaganda. Kind of like talking to Sarah Palin, except she doesn't kill people.

Abuse in schools

Republican Cathy Rodgers & Democrat George Miller -- both US Representatives -- are teaming up to propose federal legislation that would regulate the use of restraints at schools, which are currently regulated by states. Federal regulations were put in place in 2000 for restraints used in medical settings, but none exist for school settings thus far.

The opinion piece about this also recounts a terrible incidence when a child died from the physical restraint used by a teacher.

Brain Damage & Pedophilia

A case for Law & Order, if I've ever seen one.

A man with severe epilepsy had part of his brain (part of the temporal lobe) removed. After the surgery, his appetite for food & sex increased substantially. Eventually, he was compulsively visiting pornography sites, some of which led him to child porn. He was arrested and plead guilty. At sentencing, the defense argued that his behaviors were out of his control--similar hypersexual behaviors are seen in monkeys with this damage. The prosecution noted that his urges may have increased, but he still had the ability to control them, as evidenced by his controlled behavior in public and the fact that he downloaded porn at home, but not at work. The judge sentenced him to the minimum sentence allowed by law: 26 months in prison; 25 months home arrest; 5 years probation.

Climate Change Scandal

A nice defense of climate change theory & scientific skepticism.

In fact, most scientists are skeptics, to one extent or another, about climate science and almost everything else. Of course, there are a few who actually believe with complete certainty that they are right, and that anyone who disagrees with them is wrong. These folks can't conceive of the possibility that they could be mistaken; they really are like religious zealots. However, the genuine scientific skeptics greatly outnumber the true believers, and in most scientific debates the skeptics prevail ... after a while.

Gay Marriage

A pro-marriage speech from the New York Senate Floor.

Oops!

A DVD that was supposed to contain school memories was sent to the children of Isabelle Jackson Elementary. Unfortunately, a 5th grade teacher accidentally spliced her sex tape into it. When the kids clicked on one of the school trips, they got a view of Ms. Defanti on the couch. Oopsies!!!

Check for Meth Before You Buy!!

Apparently there are a growing number of homeowners who unwittingly buy homes that were former meth labs. The meth contaminates the walls and air ducts and can cost $5,000 to $100,000 to have cleaned. The contamination can cause seizures, breathing problems, migraines, and kidney issues among others. So, do your homework!

Ginsburg a Eugenicist?

Here is a great interview with Justice Ginsburg by Emily Bazelon for the New York Times Magazine. The entire interview is quite fascinating, as Ginsburg discuss her view of women on the court, as well as touching on her views of affirmative actions and equal rights for women. The quote that is getting attention on the blogosphere is:

Q: If you were a lawyer again, what would you want to accomplish as a future feminist legal agenda?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Reproductive choice has to be straightened out. There will never be a woman of means without choice anymore. That just seems to me so obvious. The states that had changed their abortion laws before Roe [to make abortion legal] are not going to change back. So we have a policy that affects only poor women, and it can never be otherwise, and I don’t know why this hasn’t been said more often.

Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of Medicaid for abortions for poor women?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae — in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong.

Q: When you say that reproductive rights need to be straightened out, what do you mean?

JUSTICE GINSBURG: The basic thing is that the government has no business making that choice for a woman.

Some are claiming that Ginsburg is making a eugenic argument. Specifically, that she believed the purpose of Roe v Wade was to rid of us the population growth "in populations that we don’t want to have too many of." It is not at all clear here what she means, but I suspect it was much clearer live, when her inflection could be heard. There are two possible readings of the quotation. The first is that Ginsburg herself believed and supported the eugenic argument. That is, that abortions for poor people are good, because then we have fewer "undesirables." That other reading is that Ginsburg thought the court was making a eugenic argument--not one that she agreed with--but realized later that she was mistaken about that.

Blasphemers!

Ireland has passed an anti-blasphemy law, which states that it is illegal say things that offend "a substantial number of the adherents of a religion." The penalty is up to €25,000. Goodness gracious.

Church & Politics

The Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain prevent their members from joining the right-wing British National Party. The BNP allows only whites into its ranks and seeks to defend "Britain's Christian culture." Although BNP members can enter these churches, they are not welcome to become full members. Now, this sounds like a foul political party, but if religions want separation of church and state, they have to keep their noses out of the government. It's not the role of the church to tell its members how to vote.

Red Tape

Americans spend 10 BILLION hours filling out government forms each year, up from 1 billion in 1981. Yikes. That's about 33 hours per year per person in the US. I doubt infants fill out a lot of government forms, so the rate is actually higher. That's more than a day--spent filling out forms. That compares to about 4.5 hours per year per person in 1981, based on 1981 population numbers.

The Road to Resignaton

The New York Times follows the path to Palin's resignation. She clearly wasn't ready for national politics and got worn out. It's as much her fault as McCain's and the national Republican party.

Ha

Singin the news.

Who Quits?

Almost no one, at least not the way Palin did it. A number cruncher spent a few hours with a list of every governor of every state since 1900 and found Palin's pretty much the only quitter who didn't have a decent reason.

On a hunch, I reviewed online lists of all the men and women who’ve been elected governor of their state since the year 1900. Pored over them for a few hours. Over 1200 politicians have taken that first-term oath of office. Some soon died in office. Many resigned to accept other positions in government, including Spiro Agnew who was “tapped” by Nixon after being the Governor of Maryland for about five minutes. On a handful of occasions, a first-termer was dragged off to the slammer or impeached. One was incapacitated by a nervous breakdown and one left just as impeachment came knocking on his door. So—how many out of over 1200 just up and quit before the end of their term?

Three: Jim McGreevy, Eliot Spitzer and Sarah Palin.

That's right. Three out of 1200 (that's a quarter of one percent) quit without being forced or essentially transferring, and two of them quit amidst a sex scandal. Only one is truly a quitter. Way to lead Gov. Palin!

Perez Hilton & the Gay Rights Movement

A thoughtful piece on Advocate.com that begins about "Putrid Perez," and what a hateful waste of space he is. The meat of the article, however, is the writer's argument that it is unfair and counter-productive to label all opponents of same-sex marriage as hateful homophobes. Moreover, he defends Carrie Prejean's (Miss California) statement, which was not actually all that offensive. (Although he recognizes she's kind of a famewhore too, but argues that it doesn't excuse Perez Hilton's treatment of her--he called her a "dumb bitch.")

PETA would be so proud

OK, I don't want to say this is totally nuts--these vegans are dedicated to maintaining their vegan lifestyle and seem to be using an evidenced-based system to determine whether vegan restaurants are really all that vegan. But, it's a little nuts. They spent at least $1000 of their own money (I'm really surprised it's not more), using medical equipment to ensure their samples were not contaminated & used a pregnancy-like test on food samples to determine whether egg, milk, or fish products were in the food.

Conflict between LDS security & gay couple

Blue in Red Zion has an account of two men who were roughed up and detained by LDS security in Salt Lake City. It appears that the security guard were in their rights, as it was private property (unknown to the couple), but they are still obnoxious.

Sarah Palin's Metaphor

From Tommy Scraggs via Sullivan:

Iraqi Gays Safer Under Saddam?

BBC News has a story today that gay Iraqis have faced more violence since Saddam was overthrown. The last few months have seen an increase in violence against gays, but there have been reports that there has been a steady increase since 2003. Murders have involved castrations and other terrible tortures aimed specifically at gay men.

Sarah Palin is Weird; Anderson Cooper is Adorable

Oh my. Palin's spokesperson Meg Stapleton is just as rambling as Palin herself, although that could be because she didn't really seem to know this was going down. (She says she knew, of course, but that being in New York just seemed like a good idea when Palin announced she was a big fat quitter, or something.) The 4:00 minute mark and on is the good stuff. When Stapleton tries to explain Palin's nutty point guard analogy (which is flawed on so many levels), Cooper responds with, "Honestly, I know nothing about basketball. All I know about is politics." Later, around the 4:40 mark, he pulls the "lady you are a NUTBAG" face and says, "I don't know who the hoop is. I don't know who the ball is. I'm confused by the analogy, but I'll let it go."

The Global Domination of Argentine Ants

Apparently ants--normally territorial--form super colonies that may stretch hundreds of miles. Members of the super colonies refuse to fight one another. Well, there is a mega-colony from Argentina that has spread throughout the world, and regardless of which country they live in, the Argentine ants seem to be part of the same colony and tolerate each other, refusing to fight. Weird.

A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.

Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another.

The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.

Here is a short NPR piece on ants burying & stacking their dead.

Southern Baptists Kick Out a Church

The Southern Baptist Convention voted to break its 125-year-old ties to Broadway Baptist Church, a Fort Worth congregation. Broadway allowed its homosexual members to appear in the church directory. Rather than allow same-sex family pictures, the church did away with all family photos and used only candid shots of all church members. Well, the SBC said a speedy adios to the church, claiming Broadway had violated its principles by acting to "affirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior." Broadway maintains that it is "in friendly cooperation" with the SBC.

Um, when did the SBC become the Pope? The whole deal with Protestants is that you get to interpret the Bible for your own self and that individual congregations are not beholden to any higher authority (other than God/Jesus, of course). The SBC is supposed to be spreading the Good News, but they just keep getting smaller and smaller. Maybe it's time to rethink the rigidity? Just a little?

Remember, Jesus was peeved with the Pharisees because they were too rigid with the rules (Matthew 12:10-14):

¹⁰And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

¹¹And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

¹²How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

¹³Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

¹⁴Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

Albanian Muslims of the Holocaust

Little known fact: There were more Jews in Albania after WWII than before it. Nearly every Jew in Albania survived the holocaust. Albania is a majority Muslim country and Jews found safety with the Muslims (70% of population), Orthodox Christians (20%), and Catholics (10%) of Albania.

Sarah Palin is Wacky & Tacky

From the Vanity Fair profile of Sarah Palin:

More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin's extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of "narcissistic personality disorder" in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-"a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy"-and thought it fit her perfectly. When Trig was born, Palin wrote an e-mail letter to friends and relatives, describing the belated news of her pregnancy and detailing Trig's condition; she wrote the e-mail not in her own name but in God's, and signed it "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

(via Slog)

Iranian Stereotypes

Andrew Sullivan quotes an Iranian:

I remember September 11, 2001. I remember watching TV all day worried and sad. I remember holding candlelight vigils with my friends for the victims. Then George W. Bush went on to declare us as one of the “Axis of Evil.” I remember asking myself, “Why?” Not a single one of the terrorists was Iranian, and I wondered why he didn’t bother to make a distinction between the government and the people. In fact, in all of the Middle East I don’t think there is a more pro-American nation than Iran, but no one made such a distinction. Consequently, the Iranian people were viewed with an aura of suspicion in every airport and embassy around the world for the rest of the Bush administration.

But all of that unfounded negative stereotyping came to an end when, in the aftermath of the elections, the nation stood up to the manipulative authorities and separated its account from that of the government. We shattered the stereotype with the amateur photos and videos taken with our own mobile phones. We captured the true picture of the Iranian nation and relayed it to the world, a picture of a young and highly educated nation yearning to be free.

Michael

Gay Exorcism

Hearing Over Sight?

Think you'd rather be deaf than blind? Some scientists argue that our hearing is more impressive than our sight. You can detect 20-beeps-per-second as a discontinuous series of tones. 20-frames-per-second is a moving picture, not stop-motion photography. Also, we are pretty much the only animal that loves music. Even monkeys prefer silence over music, but babies love music and no known human culture has existed without music.

Innovative Orphanage

A Tanzanian orphanage has taken an innovative approach to dealing with the many orphaned infants, who often follow their mothers to the grave, due to lack of medical care and nutrition. These children are not put up for adoption, nor do they spend their entire childhood in the orphanage. They stay until their 2nd or 3rd birthday, cared for by workers and "bintis." A binti is a female relative who comes to live & care for the child at the orphanage. This allows the child to bond with a permanent caregiver, and it also allows the binti to receive education she otherwise would not. The Berega Orphanage is small, caring for only 20 or so infants and toddlers -- a tiny drop in the sea of 50 million African orphans -- but they are saving lives, one orphaned infant at a time.

Ugly Babies, Dumb Reporters

This is what irritates me about the way psychology is covered in the news. The title of the article is "Is an Ugly Baby Harder to Love?" It starts out suggesting that moms may love their infants more if they're pretty. The evidence? Women--moms and non-moms--looked at pictures of "flawed" infants (those with cleft palates, etc.) for shorter periods of time than did men & both looked at pretty babies longer than "flawed" babies. Granted, they offer alternative explanations, but most people will read the title & nothing else, or stop after the first few paragraphs, going away with the notion that mothers care for and love their prettier infants more than their less-than-perfect infants. Dumb.

Turkish-Armenian Relations

Turkey & Armenia continue to work towards normalizing their relationship, but some see Turkey as taking a step back by suggesting that opening the borders will require Armenia to cease occupation of the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

However, Armenia's former foreign minister, Vartan Oskanian, says that Armenia has "lost the battle," by allowing Turkey to determine when and how the border will be opened while gaining nothing in return.

Protecting Cambodian Americans

A touching story about the community of Rochester, which rallied around the Rochester Cambodian Buddhist community after their temple was vandalized. The paper ran an editorial condemning the act & educating the public about the suffering of Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge.

Abuse at Bagram

Apparently, we told some detainess, "Sorry," after holding them for 5 years. That was nice of us.

Scientology & Abuse

The St. Petersburg Times is running a three-part special on Scientology, based on interviews with 4 disgruntled and former top-ranking Scientology officials. Among the allegations: physical abuse by superiors. The 4 former officials certainly do not paint themselves as saints in this, admitting to beating subordinates and lying about it to the public.

Who Would You Enlist?

Play Who Would You Enlist on PBS and see if your recruitment standards are in line with Uncle Sam. Sam & I agreed on 3 of the 8 enlistees.

Khamenei Criticizes Britain

"Singling out Britain, and not the “great Satan” of the United States, so often the bugaboo for Iran’s leadership since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, might seem an odd choice for Iran’s supreme leader, when the government he leads faces its greatest crisis in 30 years." (NYTimes)

DNC losing LGBT support

More prominent gay supporters are boycotting the DNC LGBT fundraiser to express their anger over the Justice Department defense of DOMA.

Obama & the Gays

Hey, Obama! Stop being a doofus about gay rights. They are peeved and so am I.

Tehran University Professors Resign

From Sullivan, one of his readers translated a Farsi website, which stated that 119 Tehran University faculty resigned to protest the attacks on the dorm rooms last night. They have asked for the resignation of the president of the University for failing to protect his students.

Khamenei Reversal?

After twice declaring the Iranian presidential election results valid, Ayatollah Khamenei ordered an investigation into election fraud.

A message from Iranian police to students: Don't protest.



(Door in an Iranian dorm room)

Westboro Baptist

Are these people for real?

Chaos in Tehran

Guns in Church!

On June 27, bring your guns to church! New Bethel Church in Louisville is having a bring your gun to church day, because, "without a deep-seeded belief in God and firearms . . . this country would not be here." Brilliant.

Socialist America

Not so much.

Torture

Lifted from John Schwenkler (via Sullivan):

Pretty stupid, apparently. I’m sure that this line of “thought” has been picked apart plenty of times in the anti-torture blogosphere, but Newt deserves a fisking of his own:

… waterboarding is not torture. Waterboarding has been routinely used to train American pilots in the military to understand what interrogation techniques they might encounter.

By extension:

• Having sex with a woman is not raping her. Sex is routinely had between men and women as an expression of love and a means to pleasure and procreation.
• Punching a man in the face is not assaulting him. Men routinely punch one another in the face in the boxing ring as a test of athletic prowess.
• Driving 75 miles an hour on a residential street is not speeding. Cars routinely drive 75 miles an hour or more on the highway.

Education Gap Continues

Given that the education gap arose over 20 years ago, shouldn't there be more women in high power positions?

Miscarriage

Andrew Sullivan has been posting many readers' emails of their personal stories involving abortion. He is pro-life, but has been posting many stories that fall solidly in the grey area -- including women who chose to end pregnancies that would have threatened their lives, wishing they had ended pregnancies that resulted in an infant who lived only a few, painful days, or being glad they chose to continue an impossible pregnancy. One woman who wrote in said that her family practically disowned her when she terminated in ectopic pregnancy. Another woman wrote in rightly arguing that ectopic pregnancies are virtually impossible to carry to term or even to viability. This woman then argues that miscarriage and the emotional pain associated with it deserves more recognition in society, particularly among anti-abortion advocates. Here are her words:

Women who have miscarriages are the great silent minority in America. It's not acknowledged. Many people don't understand why I sank into a deep depression after mine. To many pro-life advocates it's only a baby if it's aborted by man. If God aborts it, they simply don't care.

Virgin Rape Myth

There is a dangerous myth in Zimbabwe that men will be cured of HIV/AIDS if they have sex with a virgin. This advice -- given by some traditional healers -- is one reason behind rapes. These rape victims are often young girls. CNN briefly profiles a child-rape survivor (now age 37) who has been fighting against this abuse. Due to threats on her life, she now lives in the UK.

Watch out for bad cocaine!

Andrew Sullivan on Gay Rights, Obama, & Cheney

I love Anderson Cooper...I don't even begrudge him his glass closet.

Gibbs is funny

I think Gibbs is funny. So does the press corps, apparently. Somebody actually counted the number of times laughter happened during press briefings. Here are the numbers, for the first 4 months of press briefings:

Robert Gibbs: 600+
Dana Perino: 57
Scott McClellan: 66
Tony Snow: 217


Of course, I think Gibbs also thinks he's pretty funny. That number includes when he laughs and when the press corps laughs. If you watch the video in the link above, you'll see quite a few where he appears to be the only one laughing...

Sotomayor and the race card

The headlines say that Sotomayor is a "reverse racist" or whatever.

Thankfully, somebody actually bothered to look at her record. He concludes that she rejects discrimination-related claims by a margin of at least 8-to-1. Here is an example of one of her dissenting opinions, where she supported a claim of discrimination:

"In Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143 (2002), she dissented from the majority’s holding that the NYPD could fire a white employee for distributing racist materials."

So, you know, it's a little hard to argue that she's all preoccupied with race because she's Hispanic.

Beware the Flip Flop!

Every summer they have a story about how bad flip flops are for you. No arch support, you can break a leg if you try to run in them, if you mow in them you could cut your toe off (OK, you're a dumb dumb if you mow in flip flops), they can cause back pain.

OH WELL! I love my flip flops. So there.

Dr. Tiller shot dead....O'Reilly to blame?

Dr. Tiller, an abortion provider in Kansas, was shot and killed at his church on Sunday.

Dan Savage, Daily Kos, & Andrew Sullivan are pointing fingers at Bill O'Reilly for painting a target on Dr. Tiller's back.

On the one hand, O'Reilly does repeatedly discuss Tiller and refer to him as the Baby Killer (29 segments worth). However, if you really view abortion as murder, then loudly protesting and bringing attention to the matter is completely valid. He doesn't say, "This guy should be dead." I'm not fan of Bill O'Reilly, but I don't think we can blame him for every single nutjob out there.

Want to commit suicide? Here, let me help.

A Chinese man held up traffic in Beijing for 5 hours, threatening to jump off the bridge. A commuter became so angry, he gave the guy a little help -- a shove right off the bridge. The would-be jumper fell 8 yards onto an emergency air cushion and survived.

Contain your shock

Some right-wing media hacks are sexist.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

2nd Lt. Sandy Tsao announced to her superiors that she was gay. She then wrote to Barack Obama and asked him to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell. His response:

"Sandy--
Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my committment! Barack Obama"

Another serviceman whose dismissal is pending because he's gay: Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point grad and Arabic language specialist.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

That's very big of you, Senator Sessions

Jeff Sessions is "not inclined to think it's an automatic disqualification," referring to the appointment of an openly gay justice on the Supreme Court. Senator Sessions was rejected by Congress as a federal judge in 1986.

Religion and Torture, pt 2

We know that, regardless of religion, a large percentage of Americans are OK with torture. (Although view is more widely held by white evangelicals compared to others, the difference isn't that large.) Yet theologians and religious leaders, by and large, unequivocally condemn it. What gives?

Evangelizing to Muslims

Bob Roberts, a Texas pastor, is evangelizing to the Muslim world from a place of mutual respect and is highlighted by Eboo Patel, an American Muslim. You can read more about his mission here. (Try to ignore his made-up word "glocal," a combo of global and local.) His approach is the best kind of evangelicalism. Feed the sick, care for the poor, respect local laws, and through a demonstration of Jesus' love (rather than a force-feeding of dogma), convince people.

"Sometimes you have to call the baby ugly."

The new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, says that No Child Left Behind hasn't improved student proficiency--states have lowered their definitions of proficient.

Is rape serious?

There is a massive backlog of rape kits in most American cities. Is it because rape is seen as less serious than other crimes? That its victims are less credible? (Kristof)

Turkey & Armenia

Armenian and Turkish officials continue their talks in an effort to settle old disputes and reopen the borders between the countries.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister has taken a leading role in communicating with Armenia. His efforts are not only a bid to join the EU, but also to improve relations with Turkey's neighbors: Bulgaria, Syria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, and, of course, Armenia. Turkey's pro-US stance has been at the expense of the relations with these countries, and Erdogan seeks to make Turkey's national interests paramount.

Previously, Armenia has demanded that Turkey openly and publicly acknowledge the Armenian massacre as genocide. In Turkey, however, it is actually a crime to label the massacre as genocide. Erdogan has agreed to a joint commission with Armenia to study the issue, an impressive compromise for both sides.

According to Judy Dempsey (New York Times), the US and the EU could lose their influence in the region, while Russia and Turkey regain their historical influence. However, the talks between countries is hardly being met with open arms.


(Interesting side note, the talks between Armenia and Turkey began after the Armenian president visited during a World Cup qualifying match between the Armenian and Turkish soccer teams.)

Street Preachers of NC

A video of Reidsville street preachers. The preachers and the merchants are not happy with each other.

Unemployment comparison

Google has a nice interactive feature where you can compare various areas on unemployment, down to the county level.

Evangelists make a case for nuclear disarmament

Evangelical leaders announced a national initiative for Christians to make a moral case against nuclear weapons.

"It's not about conservatives becoming in favor of liberal issues. It's about evangelicals raising an authentically Christian voice about a nonpartisan issue." -Tyler Wigg Stevenson, a 31-year old Baptist preacher

Religion & Torture

Now we know for sure that America tortures. Here's the breakdown of religious affiliation and views on torture.





See here for breakdown by party.

Switching Religion

Protestant and Catholic Americans are very likely to change religions in their lifetimes. Almost half of adult Americans now belong to a religion different from that of their childhood religion (or are now unaffiliated, and vice verse). Their reasons are numerous and diverse, including drifting away, unhappy with religion's positions (e.g., on women, abortion, afterlife, etc.), unmet spiritual needs, and interfaith marriage, among other things.

Cringe worthy!

Potential Georgia candidate for governor, Neal Horsley, admits to screwing a mule. Literally. He's running on a secessionist platform, so he's not exactly a front runner. Either way, gross.

Plan-B "risky" for 17-year-olds, according to some guy on Headline News

This plastic looking guy wants you to know that it's unsafe for 17-year-olds to be able to get the morning after pill (Plan B) without a prescription or parent involvement. His points are as follows:

1. Plan B is more powerful than regular birth control pills, which need a prescription.

> Well, yes, it is more powerful than regular birth control pills, but a prescription probably isn't really necessary for regular birth control, because they are quite safe. Some have argued for requiring prescriptions for birth control, just to encourage sexually active women to have regular pap smears. Even though these are often "bundled," there's no actual requirement to do a pap smear prior to giving a prescription for birth control. Moreover, other countries, including England, allow women to purchase birth control over the counter, with no problems.

2. Plan B must be taken within 72 hours for full effectiveness, but he doesn't buy the argument that getting a prescription would cause unnecessary delays. "Does it really take that long to get a prescription?"

> YES! Here are some examples. A Northern California general practitioners group has an average wait of 55 days to see a doctor. For those of you counting, that's 1320 hours, which is more than 72 hours. Even truly sick people have long waits--the worst, in fact, compared to peer nations. 30% of sicker adults (those with histories of serious illness) have to wait longer than a day to see a physician. Sure, some girls would be able to get a prescription within the window, but a lot of girls wouldn't.

3. We're enabling teenagers to act carelessly.

> He admits that teenagers DO act carelessly: "Teenagers are known for thinking they're untouchable." Yes, teenagers act carelessly. If we're lucky, they have an "Oh shit!" moment, go get the morning after pill, and hopefully do not create a new life to ruin. It would be lovely if those dummies would just think before they acted, but again, "teenagers are known for thinking they're untouchable."

4. 17-year-old boys will pressure their 17-year-old girlfriends into having unprotected sex, promising to get the morning-after pill the next day.

>Well, this is really just the same argument as #3. I don't think boys pressuring girls to have sex is a new invention. I think a lot of girls (and boys probably...girls can pressure for sex too!) have heard, "Don't worry about it baby, I'll pull out." Now when he says that, they have sex, and then she wakes up regretting it, at least she can go get a pill.

5. 17-year-old high school students can and will get the pill for their 15-year-old friends.

>I don't get this argument. 18-year-olds can ALREADY get Plan B without a prescription. You don't magically graduate when you turn 18, nor do you usually forget everyone in high school when you go to college. (OK, sometimes the latter is true.) Yes, a 17-year-old senior can give her sophomore friend the pill, but so can an 18-year-old senior.

"He shouldn't have run"

Elizabeth Edwards asked her husband to withdraw from the race after he told her about the affair with Rielle Hunter, which at the time he claimed was a one-time affair. He ignored her request and went forward. Way to show your remorse, John.

NC area has one of highest unemployment rates

The area of Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton has an unemployment rate of 15.4, an increase of 9.1 percentage points. This is the 3rd highest in the 372 metro areas tracked by the Labor Department.

Night Owls > Early Birds?

A new study suggests that late risers (people who, left to their own schedules, get up around noon) outperform early birds (people who naturally get up around 5-6 am) 10 hours after waking (so, around 3-4 pm for early risers, 10 pm for late risers). Unfortunately for them, society is designed better for early risers. So there you go. We early birds are still better.

(Also, it seems like it would be hard to separate time of day from hours since rising. For example, most people's circadian rhythm takes a little dive during the afternoon, but people who have just recently gotten up may be better equipped to handle that.)

Obama not THAT popular

Hey, guess what, Obama isn't actually that popular. Turns out, his "sky-high" approval ratings among blacks makes him appear more popular than he actually is. Remember, black opinions only count for 3/5 of a real opinion.

Criminal Justice Reform

Jim Webb is trying to tackle our decidedly broken criminal justice system, by establishing a National Criminal Justice Commission to study the problem. Glenn Greenwald points out the political risks associated with such a position.

Here are some disturbing facts offered by Webb:

-- The US has 5% of the world's population and 25% of its prisoners. "There are only two possibilities here: either we have the most evil people on earth living in the United States; or we are doing something dramatically wrong in terms of how we approach the issue of criminal justice."

--Number of incarcerated drug offenders in 1980: 41,000
--Number of incarcerated drug offenders in 2007: 500,000
--Percentage increase: 1200%

--Blacks = ~12% of population
--Blacks use drugs (frequent use) at comparable rates compared to other groups: 14%
--Blacks = 37% of those arrested on drug charges
--Blacks = 59% of those convicted on drug charges
--Blacks = 74% of those sentenced to prison on drug charges

(Thanks Left in Alabama)

What makes a man?

The shriveled mess at the bottom: The y-chromosome. How sad.

"The Y chromosome, however, which is inherited by males in concert with one X chromosome, is a withered version of the X, having lost many genes since it stopped recombining with the X chromosome."

Another Work Break

Am I a boy or a girl?



An androgynous high school student with good humor about people mistaking him for a girl.

Pregnant Women are Smug

Hee.



Pregnant Women are Smug from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.

Armenian Genocide

During his time as senator and during the campaign, Obama repeatedly used the word "genocide" to describe the deaths and deportation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire starting in 1915. He still says he wants "a full, frank and just acknowledgement of the facts," but as president, he hasn't used the word "genocide." (Here is the Turkish version of events.)

If we don't feel the need to placate the Germans about their genocide, then why should we placate Turkey? Let's call it what it is, recognize that Turkey isn't the same country they were 100 years ago, and encourage reconciliation between today's Turks & Armenians. I'm sure reconciliation is easier said than done, but don't say you'll recognize the deaths as genocide and then decline to use the word.

Obama = Yay! Republicans = Booo

Obama approval rating: 68%
Congressional dems approval rating: 53%

Rebuplican DISapproval rating: 67%
Congressional Republican approval rating: 15%

Yikes.

(According to Wonkette, those 15% are the same ones who fall for Nigerian email scams and think Reagan is still president. Hee.)

Tyring to kill the past

Catherine, a transgender former Mormon living in Idaho, fights to have her old self abolished, stricken from the record. A sad story.

Yay trains!

NC has a decent shot of getting some high-speed trains, as proposed by Obama. As a person who hates to fly, I would ride trains all the time if they weren't prohibitively expensive and ridiculously inconvenient.

NC not totally broke

Bev Perdue announced that tax revenue was better than expected. Maybe they can unfreeze those state funds now?

Craigslist killer found?

Some dude, fiance of a BU medical student, has been charged with the Craigslist murder of an "internet masseuse". His fiance swears up and down that he's too good inside and out to have done such a thing. For her sake, I hope she's right. That would be a hard reality to face up to otherwise.

Holocaust Remembrance

Today is Holocaust Remembrance day. Remember.

Texans say No to Governor, Yes to Stimulus

The Texas Senate voted to accept stimulus money over the objections of Governor Rick Perry (R), although the governor could still veto them. 10 Republicans crossed party lines to pass it 22-9. If Texas doesn't accept the stimulus money, businesses will have to pay more in taxes to make up the deficit in the unemployment plan. I thought Republicans didn't like taxes? Curious...

Work break!

Wolf likes Pork.

"Let's keep this Arma-gay-don at bay."

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

"They're gonig to eat the Baby Jesus."

Making fun of wingnuts.

Miss North Carolina is Miss USA

Miss North Carolina snags the Miss USA title. Yay?

The Columbine Myth

Everything you know about Columbine is wrong. Klebold and Harris were not members of the Trenchcoat Mafia. They weren't picked on or bullied. They didn't target jocks or any other specific group of people. Harris was a psychopath. The boys wanted to be more famous than Timothy McVeigh. Guess what? They aren't. Columbine is the name associated with that tragedy, not Klebold and Harris.

Man on Mars?

Russia is doing mock-trips to Mars by locking volunteers in tubes for 105 days, allowing them no contact with the outside world. They will eat dehydrated food and breathe recycled air. This simulation will be followed by a similar 520 day simulation, which is the estimated time of a roundtrip to Mars. I hope those people like each other.

So this rabid bobcat walks into a bar....

No, seriously, a rabid bobcat walked into a bar.

Yikes

The Mexican drug trade has been getting press because of Hillary Clinton's recent remarks. The drug lords do lovely things, such as bringing 5 human heads to a crowded bar as a warning to a rival gang.

Gainesville Votes Against Discrimination

A Gainesville amendment to revoke legal protections for LGBT people was shot down at the polls. Latest reporting has it failing 61% to 39%.

Barney Frank Hates Pink. Heh.

Barney Frank got irritated with the Code Pink ladies who were messing with his financial chat.

Married Gays Apologize

Walken Tweets

I don't get Twitter, but Christopher Walken is funny. (Or someone claiming to be Christopher Walken, but I like to think it's really him.)

UNC System Budget Cuts

Under the possible 7% UNC System budget reduction, here are proposed reductions to some of the schools. (Keep in mind that these proposed reductions are meant to sound horrible and untenable...if there is a 7% budget cut, other things will probably go instead.)

UNC:
Eliminate 267 positions, including 107 faculty positions
372 courses not offered. Reduction in enrollment of 3400 students
Reduction of housecleaning

UNCG:
Eliminate 109 positions, including 59 faculty positions
Reduction of 275 class sections, totaling about 7500 class seats
Limiting advising and tutoring

The Legality of Gayness

U.S. signs the U.N. declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality around the world--which the Bush administration refused to sign.

Go Tar Heels!

Obama picks YOU!

"Corrective" Rape

"Corrective" rape is a growing problem in South Africa, where men rape gay women with the supposed intention of "curing" them of their lesbianism. The Guardian has an upsetting, but important video on the problem, which gets little to no attention from South African authorities. (from DailyDish).

That is bleak.

The housing market is unbelievably bleak in Detroit. In 2008, it was cheaper to buy a car than a house in Detroit. In the first half of the year, the median house price was comparable to a decent new car: $19,448. (The picture below is through June 2008).



In October, it was still headed south: $18,513. (See 4th paragraph.)


For the month of December 2008, the median price of a home sold in Detroit: $7500. There are no missing zeros in that number. It is cheaper to buy a house in Detroit than it is for an in-state student to attend UMich for a year ($10,848, plus fees).

DC & the HIV epidemic

The Washington Post has an article today about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in DC, where 3% of its residents are HIV positive. These rates are higher than those in West Africa, and comparable to Uganda & Kenya. Although rates are rising among all demographic groups, over 70% of the cases are among residents ages 40-49. Almost 1 in 10 -- 1 in 10!! -- DC residents in this age group have the virus. That is insane.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research

Slog has a great piece on the ethics of embryonic stem cell research. Check it out here. In short, the writer -- Jonathan Golob, a scientist apparently -- walks us through some basics of stem cells and what they mean for science and treatment. He also explains why he doesn't consider pre-implantation embryos to be human beings. Yet, he recognizes people hold strong convictions about this, and argues convincingly about the oversight that should accompany this research and donation -- and how Obama's new rules might be the first step toward that.


An excerpt:

I do not believe human embryonic stem cell research should be a free-for-all. While I do not personally believe that human life starts at the moment when sperm-meets-egg, I do recognize that human blastocysts deserve serious treatment.

I believe that the donation of blastocysts and the distribution of the subsequent embryonic stem cell lines should be strictly decommercialized. The entire process should be like how we handle organ donation from adults—with oversight, and the prohibition of money changing hands in the process.

Obama's easing of the Federal funding restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research opens the door for such a policy in a way that Bush's restrictions never did. By preventing public funding, the destruction of human embryos was forced into the private sector. In a horrifying way, Bush's policies made the destruction of human embryos a matter of private enterprise—a potentially for-profit venture. Anything else would be better.

Liar, liar, pants on fire

Some dillweed anesthesiologist who was a prolific researcher in postoperative pain management has been revealed as a fraud. He made up data for at least 21 articles written over the past decade, some of which underlie a common practice of giving patients aspirin-like medications, rather than narcotics after surgery. If you suck as a researcher, find something else to be good at, don't make up data that affects people's lives.

Andrew Sullivan and I are BFF

I wrote an email to Andrew Sullivan & he posted it on his blog. Sweeeet. (Also, as a side note, you should think about subscribing to The Atlantic. Good stuff.)

Slipping in Earmarks

A bunch of senators who got all high and mighty about the stimulus bill and its "pork" like a little bacon themselves, including Richard Burr (NC). Burr's earmarks reached $1.3 million. In total, 28 Senators who voted No on the stimulus bill added earmarks. See the full list here. (Thanks to Left In Alabama for the tip.)

Nobody reads academic papers

Sixteen years ago, two economists wrote a paper calling "Looting" that explains, and predicted, our current economic crisis. If only someone read those things BEFORE it mattered. Full NYTimes article here.

hahahaha

A bunch of frat boys at the University of Chicago gave a little dance in their underwears to irritate the Westboro Baptist ("God Hates Fags" Church) protest that was going on their street. The sign reads: No tolerance for INtolerance.

When Bad Things Happen

Good post from Slog. If you don't read the whole thing, skip to the bottom about GM declining an additional $2 billion that it no longer needs. Good for them.

Responses to Dire Warnings of Imminent Danger, posted by Jonathan Golob

1. In the best way we can, in the face of no viable alternatives beyond doom.

From NOAA:

NOAA’s National Weather Service has issued a report that analyzes forecasting performance and public response during the second deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history. The report, Service Assessment of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak of February 5-6, 2008, also addresses a key area of concern: why some people take cover while others ride out severe weather.
....
In reviewing the public response, the team found that two-thirds of the victims were in mobile homes, and 60 percent did not have access to safe shelter (i.e., a basement or storm cellar). The majority of the survivors interviewed for the assessment sought shelter in the best location available to them, but most of them also did not have access to a safe shelter. Some indicated they thought the threat was minimal because February is not within traditional tornado season. Several of those interviewed said they spent time seeking confirmation and went to a safe location only after they saw a tornado. Many people minimized the threat of personal risk through “optimism bias,” the belief that such bad things only happen to other people.

2. Willed ignorance in the face of growing danger, in service of greed.

From the Boston Globe:

The federal agency that insures bank deposits, which is asking for emergency powers to borrow up to $500 billion to take over failed banks, is facing a potential major shortfall in part because it collected no insurance premiums from most banks from 1996 to 2006.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures deposits up to $250,000, tried for years to get congressional authority to collect the premiums in case of a looming crisis. But Congress believed that the fund was so well-capitalized - and that bank failures were so infrequent - that there was no need to collect the premiums for a decade, according to banking officials and analysts.

Now with 25 banks having failed last year, 17 so far this year, and many more expected in the coming months, the FDIC has proposed large new premiums for banks at the very time when many can least afford to pay. The agency collected $3 billion in the fees last year and has proposed collecting up to $27 billion this year, prompting an outcry from some banks that say it will force them to raise consumer fees and curtail lending.

3. Manipulate and lie, to temporarily cover your ass.

From NakedCapitalism:

Readers may recall that during Lehman's demise, a pitched battle was underway between some short sellers, epitomized by David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital. Einhorn raised questions about Lehman's financial statements, specifically, inconsistencies and rosy looking valuations. The struggle became weirdly per[s]onalized, as Lehman sought to burnish the image of charmismatic CFO Erin Callen, as contrasted with the presumed to be evil company wrecking Einhorn. Of course, if the real performance (as opposed to what the reports said) was as bad as Einhorn's line of inquiry suggested, it was management that had done the company-wrecking, but that level of detail is often lost on CNBC.

And one of the regular features of the Lehman versus its detractors affair was leaks to the media, leaks of a sort that even if the firm had done it in a way that it had plausible deniability, were clearly intended to reach outside parties, particularly the media.

Now let us turn to Citi. Recall what transpired, per the Wall Street Journal:

Citigroup Inc. was profitable in the first two months of 2009 and is having its best quarter in a year and a half, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said in an internal memo aimed at boosting employee and investor confidence in his struggling bank.

Yves here. This is simply stunning. The Journal says up front a supposed internal memo was in fact intended to reassure investors.
....
Dunno about you, but this looks to me like a bald faced attempt to manipulate the stock price, and it certainly worked.

Updated:

Well, the Citigroup thing might also be a little pump-and-dump scam! From Bloomberg:

Four Citigroup Inc. executives who bought the bank’s stock last week generated a $2.2 million paper profit within nine days, regulatory filings show.

The executives, including director Roberto Hernandez, benefited as the company’s stock climbed 47 percent from March 10 through yesterday’s close of markets, after Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said in a memo that the bank is having the best quarter since 2007. Their buying spree was the first by bank insiders since Jan. 14, filings show.
...
Pandit wrote in the internal memo March 10 that the company was profitable in January and February, leaving him “encouraged with the strength of our business so far in 2009.” The comments triggered Citigroup’s biggest one-day percentage gain since Nov. 24, spurring global markets.

And, for those of you who bitched about the relatively tiny US automaker bailout:

General Motors, which has borrowed $13.4 billion from the federal government since December to keep itself out of bankruptcy, said on Thursday that it had withdrawn a request for an additional $2 billion that it thought was needed to stay alive through the end of this month.

Brutal

Jon Stewart gives Jim Cramer (see the CNBC back-and-forth here) a piece of his mind. (No yelling on either side! It's like ADULTS talking...how weird is that?) It's refreshing. Jon Stewart is like Toto pulling on the curtains to expose the nonsense going on. And, to his credit, Jim Cramer doesn't yell or act like a whipped dog. Good interview.

Yikes

Stock rally in perspective.


That is bleak.

Sullivan's View from your Recession

Andrew Sullivan has been posting letters from readers about their recession experiences. I felt bad for this couple, who has made a lot of cuts (selling car, using less heat), until I read this:

"We are taking on boarders, renting our downstairs rooms (cutting our living space from 2400 to 1500 sq ft for ourselves and our two children.)" (emphasis mine)

BooHOO. I'm sorry you only have a spacious 1500 sq ft for a small family of four. I will be CERTAIN to cry in my cornflakes over your loss. Seriously, that's great they're cutting corners and being responsible, but don't play violins over 1500 sq ft. That's a lot to a lot of people.

GE is Deliverance?

Andrew Sullivan posted this ad under the title "Cool Ad Watch". I mean, I guess it's cool if you don't know the song being played is famous because of the movie Deliverance. If you do know that, then it's just weird. Do they really want people thinking of "squeal piggy squeal" when they hear about "bold new ideas"?

Jon Stewart takes on CNBC

It begins:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

It continues:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

In Cramer We Trust

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

It's still funny:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

Yay! MORE Grammar!

Wonkette's Jim Newell ALSO loves grammar!

Yay Grammar

Slog contributor Paul Constant just won my heart.

Washington Equality

Look like a bill will pass the Washington state senate & house that gives same-sex domestic partners virtually every legal right that married couples have.

When your bank fails.

An interesting 60 minutes piece on what happens when banks fail. The FDIC swoops in & tries to make you feel good about it.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Tanya Harding is still a nutjob.

How dare Obama speak Tanya Harding's name? WHAT THE HELL IS IMPORTANT IN THIS WORLD TODAY??




via Wonkette.

"Defense" of Marriage

NC is the only southeastern state that hasn't written discrimination into the constitution via a Defense of Marriage Amendment. Well, I guess we don't like being left out. Here's some of the language in the bill:

"Whereas, of the 15 states in the Southeastern U.S., only one has failed to pass constitutional amendments defining marriage as the 'union of one man and one woman.'"

Well, then, by all means, pass it. Also pass something like, "Whereas, North Carolina is one of the only southeastern states to have a decent education system, we should stop educating our children."

(But, News & Observer says Joe Hackney is trying to kill it in committees.)

Scientology Wackiness

Guess what caused 9/11? Psychiatry!!!


Scientologists Try to Explain how Psychiatrists caused 9/11 and the Holocaust from Chris Doyle on Vimeo.