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]

Paul Krugman quote, on Climate Change

"Responding to climate change with the vigor that the threat deserves would not, contrary to legend, be devastating for the economy as a whole. But it would shuffle the economic deck, hurting some powerful vested interests even as it created new economic opportunities. And the industries of the past have armies of lobbyists in place right now; the industries of the future don’t."

— Paul Krugman

Saturday Morning Awesome -- Area Man Passionate Defender of What He Imagines Constitution to Be

This awesomeness brought to you by The Onion:

ESCONDIDO, CA—Spurred by an administration he believes to be guilty of numerous transgressions, self-described American patriot Kyle Mortensen, 47, is a vehement defender of ideas he seems to think are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and principles that brave men have fought and died for solely in his head.

"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination. "It's time for true Americans to stand up and protect the values that make us who we are."

According to Mortensen—an otherwise mild-mannered husband, father, and small-business owner—the most serious threat to his fanciful version of the 222-year-old Constitution is the attempt by far-left "traitors" to strip it of its religious foundation.

"Right there in the preamble, the authors make their priorities clear: 'one nation under God,'" said Mortensen, attributing to the Constitution a line from the Pledge of Allegiance, which itself did not include any reference to a deity until 1954. "Well, there's a reason they put that right at the top."

"Men like Madison and Jefferson were moved by the ideals of Christianity, and wanted the United States to reflect those values as a Christian nation," continued Mortensen, referring to the "Father of the Constitution," James Madison, considered by many historians to be an atheist, and Thomas Jefferson, an Enlightenment-era thinker who rejected the divinity of Christ and was in France at the time the document was written. "The words on the page speak for themselves."

According to sources who have read the nation's charter, the U.S. Constitution and its 27 amendments do not contain the word "God" or "Christ."

Mortensen said his admiration for the loose assemblage of vague half-notions he calls the Constitution has only grown over time. He believes that each detail he has pulled from thin air—from prohibitions on sodomy and flag-burning, to mandatory crackdowns on immigrants, to the right of citizens not to have their hard-earned income confiscated in the form of taxes—has contributed to making it the best framework for governance "since the Ten Commandments."

"And let's not forget that when the Constitution was ratified it brought freedom to every single American," Mortensen said.

Mortensen's passion for safeguarding the elaborate fantasy world in which his conception of the Constitution resides is greatly respected by his likeminded friends and relatives, many of whom have been known to repeat his unfounded assertions verbatim when angered. Still, some friends and family members remain critical.

"Dad's great, but listening to all that talk radio has put some weird ideas into his head," said daughter Samantha, a freshman at Reed College in Portland, OR. "He believes the Constitution allows the government to torture people and ban gay marriage, yet he doesn't even know that it guarantees universal health care."

Mortensen told reporters that he'll fight until the bitter end for what he roughly supposes the Constitution to be. He acknowledged, however, that it might already be too late to win the battle.

"The freedoms our Founding Fathers spilled their blood for are vanishing before our eyes," Mortensen said. "In under a year, a fascist, socialist regime has turned a proud democracy into a totalitarian state that will soon control every facet of American life."

"Don't just take my word for it," Mortensen added. "Try reading a newspaper or watching the news sometime."

Enjoy the Onion in all its glory,

Bp

[image and text via, of course, The Onion]

A real cost of Premarin -- Hormone Replacement Therapy drug

Horse lovers, honestly, just pass this post up.

Folks interested in knowing where your medicines and foods come from -- here's a quick note about Premarin, by Pfizer.

Click quoted text for a Discovery News article about Premarin, horses, and horse rescue (they leave you on an up note in the article, thankfully):

The active ingredients for Premarin—used by around nine million women to relieve menopause symptoms—come from the urine of pregnant horses. The mares are confined to narrow stalls for 20 hours at a time while hooked to collection devices, MSNBC reports. The foals of these mares usually go to auction, where they are often snapped up by bidders known as "horse killers," who send the horses to feedlots. There the animals are fattened before slaughter, according to the report.

Bp

Protect Insurance Companies PSA

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Enjoy irony,

Bp

[via my faithful Canukistani operative Yuri]

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]

Blackwater/Xe -- just sitting here with my mouth open

I never knew this angle on the infamous mercenary outfit Blackwater (now known as Xe) -- specifically the religious angle.

Take it away Keith.



Holy crap,

Bp

[via the Cynical C blog]

National Do Not Call Registry -- Register Your Cell Phone Now

There is an email circulating that claims all our cell phone numbers are about to be distributed to telemarketers. This doesn't appear to be true. But the rest of the email is true -- it gives information on the National Do Not Call registry. Below is the information to get your phones put on that list:

Call this number: 888-382-1222 with the phone that you want on the list and register on the National Do Not Call registry.

Or you can go to the National Do Not Call Registry to register multiple numbers at once. I think I'll be doing both... you know, just to be safe.

Enjoy opting out,

Bp

[via Richard and T.]

Moyers Interviews Robert Reich on "Who Runs Government"

An interview worth your time over at Truthout.com -- click here for the full text:

Teaser quote:

BILL MOYERS: One of the problems with the Clinton health plan when you were Secretary of Labor was that it was too complex to explain to journalists like me, members of Congress, and the public. So in a sentence, if you can, tell me what a true public option would be in healthcare reform.

ROBERT REICH: Well, regardless of what you want to call it, Bill, it could be called liverwurst. I mean, it simply means that the public- average members of the public have a choice, if they want it- of either their private for-profit insurers like they now use or a public not-for-profit insurer.

And that public insurer would resemble ideally Medicare- low administrative costs. And it would have the economies of scale. It would be so large that it could actually negotiate low drug prices and very, kind of low premiums. That's what the private insurers are scared of. That's what the-

BILL MOYERS: Why are they scared of that?

ROBERT REICH: Because that means that their profits will be squeezed. They don't want anything that's going to squeeze their profits. And, they're putting up smoke screens. They're putting up other things that may look like public options but don't have the bargaining leverage to get drug prices down and also to keep the private insurers honest.

Enjoy keeping abreast of the health care crisis and its effect on Washington,

Bp

[photo credit in linked article]

The most probable Colony Collapse Disorder culprit yet

So that last post I made about a possible CCD agent is on pretty thin ice, it turns out. This pesticide, however (imidacloprid) looks very seriously like a possible cause. In this Salon.com article, they present some pretty compelling information.

Bayer CropScience, the producer of both imidacloprid and another suspect pesticide clothianidin, doesn't want you to think this, however. They've got big money on the association between CCD and their products just going away.

Although I can't say that case connecting these pesticides and CCD is waterproof, it sure deserves a WHOLE LOT of attention.

Enjoy possibly finding the solution to a problem with one of our most important agricultural animals,

Bp

[image credit in linked article]

Lets look at the last swine flu, shall we?

Lets look back, back to 1976, when this type of thing happened before. Here is a post on Gawker about the last swine flu and the government reaction -- it's pretty brilliant.

*spoiler alert* In the end, the government spent a bunch of money on vaccines, and then even more destroying said vaccines because the cure was worse than the disease.

Not saying this is exactly the same scenario, just saying "bold decisive action" can be a load of hogwash and a political maneuver to quell histrionics in the populace incited by the media.

I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.

I also truly, sincerely believe that the majority of people are so deeply desirous of radical change, that they subconsciously lust after catastrophe because it will at least disrupt the stasis in which they find themselves (it's an "inward" problem, but gets projected outward to society and "the world").

Sorry, did I say that in my out loud voice?

Back to your regular programming,

Bp

[thank you cousin Zed for the article, image credit in linked article]

Paper companies use creative interpretation of transportation bill to land $8 billion in subsidies

Check this out -- this The Nation article explains how the largest paper companies in the U.S. are reaping enormous profits from subsidies not intended for them. And they're doing it by using more petroleum products, not less.

Through a perfectly serviceable interpretation of a subsidy written into a Bush-era transportation bill (intended to encourage use of alternative fuels like Biodiesel), paper companies have become more profitable than possibly any time in their existence. The trick to being eligible for this subsidy is -- they add some diesel to their "black liquor" which is burned to provide power to their factories.

Black liquor is already a by-product of the paper making process, and already is used as a fuel source for the plants -- a great practice. In fact, upwards of 70% of their power can be provided by using their own by-product. But to qualify for this subsidy, standard petroleum fuels must be present.

As insidious as it sounds, it's still kinda legit. I mean -- this process of using black liquor as fuel to create energy for the plant, even though it's been around a long time, is a good re-use of an industrial by-product. It's great that a business is being rewarded for right-practices. However, using extra diesel to do it sucks, and the amount of money they're being awarded is surely way over the top as well.

It's almost guaranteed that the loophole/interpretation will be sewn up in some way, some time soon, but in the meanwhile stocks for these companies are looking good.

Enjoy seeing how damned inventive humans can be when money is at stake,

Bp

[via Micah, random image of German pulp mill via Wiki commons]

Death and Taxes, where your federal tax dollars go

I'm a big fan of seeing budgets visually represented in ways you can get your head around. This pie chart of U.S. budget priorities is an example. There is a newer one circulating right now called Death and Taxes that warrants a good look. You can link directly to it HERE. Through the link it is navigable and easier to read.

Here's a teeny version to spruce up the blog a bit, clickable for a larger copy.



Enjoy learning more about where your money is going,

Bp

[via Muse]

Enzyme search hot as ever to solve food-to-fuel debacle

Biofuel needs to be produced on what is now considered "waste" for me to get excited about it. I've talked about this a few times before.

According to this Bloomberg.com article, there is promising research being done in this field.

The oily grail is a fungi (or lichen) that will efficiently convert organic cellulose into biofuel. More specifically, in this case, an enzyme produced by a fungi or lichen. If found, any source of cellulose would become fuel fodder -- agricultural waste of all sorts, waste wood, and waste paper.

Competition between two companies, Novozymes and Danisco, is pushing the research and development of this technology. It is encouraging to know that market forces are pushing innovation in the alternative energy sector finally. Money is showing up to bolster this work.

And with money comes the usual shenanigans, including a pretty righteous patent infringement settlement against Danisco.

If biofuel production can be based on simply cellulose (as opposed to the current need for plant sugars), then the options for what crops could provide good fodder for fuel production opens right up, as well. Fast-growing, high-cellulose crops like bamboo become viable at that point. Crops that do just fine in temperate environments.

Enjoy keeping your eye on the ball,

Bp

[via my ex-pat Canukistani Uncle, photo credit in linked article]

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]

Stewart Vs. Cramer -- Unedited

In case you have been living under a rock (I was, I didn't find out until after the fact) -- the Daily Show has had a momentous event. It's definitely the best interview I've ever seen on the Daily Show, and if you are a media analyst or sociologist, it may be the best television you will see (or have seen) in years.

To be clear, what makes it great isn't even necessarily explicit in the interview, it is the whole situation that made the interview necessary, who is doing it, and why. It's a contextual media whiplash that deserves serious attention.

Stewart had Jim Cramer on his show, host of the CNBC show Mad Money. Cramer came on (to his credit, I must say) after the Daily Show had been lambasting him and his recently-horrible financial advice, to the point where the MSM (main stream media) started saying there was a feud between them. It became a media circus, apparently.

There is so much I could say, but really -- you should just watch this if you haven't yet. If you've only seen the T.V. version, these uncensored videos may be of renewed interest to you as well. I'm very curious to hear your reactions too, if ya'll feel like sharing.

Below is the first of three videos showing the uncensored, unedited interview. [HERE is part two, and HERE is part 3] You have to get to the 2nd and 3rd part to get to the good stuff.



Enjoy a comedy show living up to the term "the 4th estate,"

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]

Ford's solution to a zombie apocalypse

Here is Jalopnik's pick for the Post-Apocalyptic bests at the Chicago auto show. A hilarious concept for a blog post.

"Yuri," my faithful Canukistani operative, pointed out the New Scope Ford F-650 XUV as the car on the list which is of particular interest. Not only for it's Zombie-protection potentials (check out that front grill) but for the obvious fact that it is yet another example of Ford having its finger RIGHT on the pulse of the times.

Thank for Ford for creating a car with fuel economy in mind -- making this bulletproof would have set the gas mileage way too low to be useful in a Zombie apocalypse. Considering the 4wd F150 is getting 9/12 MPG, I'm betting this baby is squarely in the single digits, even on the freeway.

Solid,

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