Rachel Maddow and Bill Nye on Climate Change

Just because big winter storms are happening, doesn't mean "global warming" is false. For god's sake I'm tired of hearing this crowing from the right. In fact, it could be a proof that climate change is actively in progress creating that very storm.

Here is Bill Nye on the Rachel Maddow show addressing this sentiment directly.

The quote that says it best from Nye is, "there's more energy in the atmosphere, and this is stirring things up." The global climate is a complicated system, you heat one area and another could get very cold because of it -- thus the 'stirring things up' he's referring to.



Enjoy logic and reason applied to large planetary problems,

Bp

R.I.P. health care reform

Great video that captures a bit of information, and a lot of emotion (that I share) about the current B.S. that's making its way through congress about health care. Is the host being helpful? No -- but I can relate to where he's coming from:



Bp

[via Faith in Honest Doubt, whose post is worth reading]

Mark Twain Quotes

Ran across these at Refspace, and picked out a few choice numbers that caught my attention. Click the linked text to see the whole collection. There are 3 pages, and its worth the scroll. Folks who know me will recognize some of these as I use them often -- see further, the Wagner comment:

History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.

If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it.

In religion and politics, people's beliefs and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second-hand, and without examination.

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man; brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

Enjoy wisdom from the past,

Bp

[image via Wiki Commons]

Saturday Night Awesome: Craig Ferguson (the Late Late Show) on the Deification of Youth

The fact that this rant sounds like a perfectly sound hypothesis to me proves that I'm an old geezer.

But I challenge you to provide sound counter-argument. Seriously.



Enjoy settling into your golden years,

Bp

[via yesbutnobutyes]

Haha, a horrible joke of a video

Right?

... RIGHT?

Le Taser iRobot PackBot Explorer
Uploaded by npesblog. - Watch the latest news videos.

Sighing with you,

Bp

[via Blogtown]

This is America...

... yeah not much to say here. I don't normally post unattributed material, but I felt this was poignant. I do believe this encapsulates much of how the world views the U.S. at this point in history.

Bp

[via Dani Boynton Photography]

Gonzales's Advice to Bush on How to Avoid War Crimes

Isn't that a heart-warming picture there? What a smile, I tell ya.

Here is a Truthout.org piece about Gonzales and the Bush administration and torture. It's not heart-warming.

On January 25, 2002, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales advised George W. Bush in a memo to deny al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners protections under the Geneva Conventions because doing so would "substantially reduces the threat of domestic criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act" and "provide a solid defense to any future prosecution."

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Federal Employee Sacked for Reporting Illegal Cougar Kills

Here is an article from the journal Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) about an upcoming whistleblower case in Nevada. Gary Strader, a professional hunter for U.S. Wildlife Services, had is position "de-funded" after he reported his agency co-workers had killed up to 5 Cougars from government aircraft and then filed false paperwork to cover up the act. Only the heads of the animals were taken, apparently for trophies.

This will be a good sample case for how the Obama administration deals with whistleblowers in the government.

(nothing to enjoy here)

Bp

[article originally found through Truthout.org, photo credit and explanation also at Truthout]

Terminator Salvation -- I tried, I really tried

I'm sorry folks, I tried, but I failed. By the end of the movie, I was completely overwhelmed by The Suck. Or The Stupid. Or The Horriblest writing you could imagine for such a high-budget movie.

I pride myself on my willing suspension of disbelief. I really do. I can watch schlocky action movies with the best of them -- until this. Excise the last 10 minutes of the film, and I may have been able to have walked out of the theater without feeling like I had just unnecessarily aged 5 years. Maybe.

The beginning has some action sequences (ok I'll say it, helicopter crash) that are awesome, inventive, and fun to watch. Hell -- the action sequences (UNTIL THE END) are all inventive and fun to watch. But EVEN THOSE fell down for the sake of cliche at the end. The demands of cliche that someone put on this movie are staggering. Holy hell it ruined a perfectly watchable movie.

The palette of this movie, most of the action sequences and special effects, the grittiness, the apocalyptic world -- all very decent. In fact, some of the monster and actions effects are in the "fucking great" category. But the writers and their overlords shit all over that high-budget work with some incredibly, mind-numbingly stupid writing.

I knew it was going to be a rough ride when a kid who never drove a car before pulls off an epic chase scene behind the wheel of a jeep in the first 1/4 of the movie. All for the sake of one crack joke. "Oh no," my gut told me, "this is too early in the movie for a fuck up that bad.... oh no."

I can only give this movie a C (very tempted to put a "-" on that). And I'm telling you -- that says A WHOLE LOT about the look and feel of the actiony parts of this movie. Even about the first 1/2 of the movie in its entirety. Because... well yeah, what I already said.



Enjoy what you can,

Bp

Obama and "Prolonged Detention"

Ok, dammit, here is the straw. Camel's back is broken. Obama is talking about detention without trial. Not only not closing Guantanamo, but keeping it working in the same way it is now -- for holding SUSPECTS WITHOUT TRIAL. Indefinite detention -- no charges, no rights, for "preventative detention."

Get that phrase in your head -- "preventative detention." Meaning someone, somewhere, in the government has decided that you MAY commit a crime, IN THE FUTURE, so they're going to lock you up now. For as long as they want, without a trial.

Do the math on that. The real math.

God damn it.

Here is an excellent post at Pearls Before Swine about the speech in which this came out and the ramifications. There are lots of sources cited at the bottom for your perusal and investigation. And below is the Rachel Maddow clip talking about this as well.



Now we have to fight the Obama administration for basic human rights in our own country.

Here is the link to USA.Gov's "contact your government" page. I knew we'd have to be on top of this administration, but I didn't know it would be over issues this dire. Dammit.

Bp

[via Dani, of Dani Boynton Photography]

Odds of dying in a terrorist attack

When the need for fear is great, the propaganda is strong, I tell you. Nearly the most dangerous thing you could possibly do in this country is get into a car (or worse yet eat a greasy meal), and yet we are asked to give up civil liberties, fight wars on two fronts, go into massive debt, and torture innocents to "protect us" against the this supposed emergency.

It reminds me of the odds of shark attack.

Please, people.

The below list is from The Eyewash Station. You can view stats directly here at the NSC.

You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

You are six times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane

You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack

You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack

You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack

You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

You are nine times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

You are eight times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

Enjoy putting things back in perspective,

Bp

[image via Wiki Commons]

Aerial shooting of wolves has begun in Alaska

Looks like the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is planning to reduce some wolf populations up to 75% to boost caribou numbers, according to this L.A. Times article. The parks service isn't so hot on the plan, stating bad information about wolf populations (possibly leading to over-culling), and unrealistic goals for Caribou herd recovery. Apparently, the Fish and Game Department goals are herd numbers that haven't been seen since the early 1900's.

As a biologist, I could start in at this point with an enormous tirade, scientific references to back up my opinions, and righteous indignation. Instead I'll just say I disagree with this plan. My first child is due today and I need to keep my blood pressure down.

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

Just when I thought I couldn't love XKCD comics more

What more could I say?

Bp

Speaking of Socialism for the rich, dregs for everyone else

When you're living in a plutocracy (ok, maybe an oligarchy -- you decide), amazing things happen. Like folks yelling about "personal responsibility" and "pulling yourself up by the boot straps" who are themselves benefactors of ginormous amounts of government handouts.

The other amazing thing: many of the folks who are flipping the bill for these handouts INSIST that the money go to the already-rich, and DEMAND that it not go to everyday folks. Because when it goes to folks who made bad decisions (or were duped by experts) about their mortgages -- you see -- that's a HANDOUT. But when taxpayer money goes to enormous institutions that over-leveraged themselves due to an utter lack of oversight (I.E. made bad, no HORRIBLE decisions) -- THAT, somehow, "fiscally conservative."

The mind reels.

Here's the daily show on the same subject:

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

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Enjoy laughing whenever you can,

Bp

[original idea via Idea Whiplash blog, thanks sir]

Bush's 8 years in 8 minutes

A quick reminder of what we're walking away from.



Bp

Judges admit to jailing children for money

You know, I occasionally get dour enough to figure shit like this happens -- but I talk myself out of it before I get too pissed off.

However, the world provides ample opportunity for righteous indignation. For fuck's sake people.

Why were privatized prisons a good idea again?

Oh, it looks like the judges are going to be getting sued civilly -- and may get some prison time (hold your breath on that one). Despite this, I have a punishment suggestion. Put them both in maximum security prison, after distributing a pamphlet describing their crimes to the prison population. Even a year might suffice, though 7 sounds better.

Bastards.

Bp

Topical Word of the Day: Defalcate

defalcate \di-FAL-keyt\, verb:

to steal or misuse money or property entrusted to one's care

The stockbroker defalcated millions from investment clients.

c 1540, from Latin defalcere, from de- + falx/falcem "sickle, scythe"


Enjoy learning new ways to say it, especially ones that sound like they have something to do with a B.M.,

Bp

(via Dictionary.com's emailed word of the day list)

GOP trying to strongarm Holder into not prosecuting over torture

From Truthout.org article "Republican Senators Resort to Extortion on Holder Nomination":

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have asked Eric Holder to make a commitment, before he is even confirmed, that he will not prosecute any Bush Administration officials for their involvement in acts of torture during the last administration.

Click Here for full article.

Look at the slime rising to the surface,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

A rundown of the farewell speech

I couldn't bring myself to watch this speech. It's historic, but I just couldn't do it. I would have been spitting broken glass by the end. So, here is William Rivers Pitt, writing for Truthout.org to give you the blow by blow. Click the teaser quote for the jump:

Of course, of course, of course, it was a ridiculous speech. Preposterous. The worst one of all, and boy howdy, that is saying something. This, after all, was the man who gave us "Bring it on" and "Mission Accomplished," and who once was unable to think of any mistakes he might have made. Each of these was a legitimate phenomenon in every respect, to be sure, but the spectacle on Thursday night bent the definition of "absurd" into bold new shapes.

Enjoy basking in his gone-ness,

Bp

Health care costs, Canada (and the World) Vs. U.S.

Here is a telling illustration with some text from the Health Insurance 2008 web page.

As health costs shoot into the stratosphere, the U.S. has turned to Canada for a steady supply of low-cost drugs and medical care. Overall, medical tourism -- in which U.S. citizens travel to other countries simply for cheap care -- doubled over the course of one year (from 2006-2007).
The Key Issue? Cost.

The key issue was cost. And the perfect illustration is a comparison with Canada. Our neighbors to the north have been able to spend the same amount of money administering free, universal coverage to its 27 million citizens as the single region of New England in the U.S. (which has a meager population of 2.5 million).

Obviously, costs have gone haywire. Have the added costs provided more quality in health care? Or are these costs simply attributable to mismanagement and inefficiencies. Expect this issue to come up more during this year's election coverage.

For grins, here is another illustration from the UC Atlas of Global Inequality:




Enjoy seeing at least part of the situation laid out clearly,

Bp

[via Uncle Ted]