Every Time ... that you purchase body soap -- or toothpaste, or shampoo!!

Every time you choose a product for your shower or bath or aprés-bain, consider whether it contains petroleum-derived ingredients (such as "mineral" oil, paraffin, petrolatum), and whether it is contained in a plastic jar or tube (also a product of the oil industry). Consider that liquid products such as "body wash" cost much more in carbon fuel emissions to ship, because of the weight of the water that is included, than do solid or powdered dry products.

In my quest to consume as few plastics as possible, in (of all places) my local Rite Aid drug store, I recently made a very happy discovery in "South of France" French-milled bar soap. (They also make glycerine soaps, and I will try one soon.) The soap is packaged in unprinted recyclable cardboard, and is olive oil and plant-derived glycerin based. No animal testing involved. The brand was almost sold out (not surprising at four bucks and change for two bars) so between the two scents left on the shelves I chose Lavender.

When I unwrapped the soap I remembered a hint about soap products that was taught to me by a facialist many years ago. Soaps have an alkline pH factor -- some stronger and some more neutral. To test whether the alkalinity of a soap is tolerable to your skin, give it a little lick -- if it "bites" it is too alkaline.

My South of France lavendar soap has NO bite. It is a lovely, gentle cleanser. So I decided to try it as toothpaste. And shampoo. It works great as a tooth and hair cleanser as well as a body and face wash. Just rub your toothbrush on the bar, or rub the bar itself on your wet hair (then splash on a little more water and lather up).

"South of France" soap is made not in France but in Greensboro, North Carolina. Check out their product line, but Every Time consider whether you really need to buy any of the stuff that comes in plastic bottles made from evil oil.

Follow-up on December 8, 2011:

Another great brand, though twice as expensive, is Dr. Bronner's bar soaps in great natural scents. The "plus" of Dr. Bronner's is that it is (1) organic and (2) most ingredients are Fair Trade.

Cornell Quotes Code and Cuts Clits

If you visit Cornell University Law School's web site today you can read U.S. Code Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 7,  § 116 which says:

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever knowingly circumcises, excises, or infibulates the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris of another person who has not attained the age of 18 years shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both

 The exclusions in subsection (b) number only two: necessary to the health of that other person, or for medical purposes in connection with labor or birth.

If you now cruise over to The Bioethics Forum, you will learn that pediatric urologist Dix Poppas is operating on little girls, and I mean little girls, whose clitorises are deemed to be too large -- by surgically removing a portion of the shaft and reattaching the glans. Then to prove that the young beneficiaries of his "medical care" still have normal nerve response, in follow-up exams a vibrator is applied to the clitoris of patients as young as six years old while they are conscious. Where is this taking place? Cornell!

In my time I have met two or three men whose penises were too large. I mean, really too large. Would anyone contemplate treating little boys by removing a section of their penile shaft at age 6 or 8 or 10? Especially since a large clit hardly interferes with a female's enjoyment, whereas a too-large penis, as explained to me by the bearers of these members, does interfere with a guy's?

Kudos to Profs. Dreger and Feder for bringing this to light, not just on this Hastings Center-hosted blog but Dreger mainstreamed it as well and it's already all over the b'sphere.

Quote of the Day: Emman Mbong, Nigerian Official, re the Gulf Gusher

"We’re sorry for them, but it’s what’s been happening to us for 50 years."

I Guess She Is Not Happy About Being Raped and Plundered

Tears of Mother Earth Illusion | Mighty Optical Illusions

The Fury of Jilted Citizens

Philosophy professor J.M. Bernstein breaks down for us what he identifies as being the root cause of virulent Tea Party anger. He explores the underlying belief -- a prevalent myth in our culture of minimized, granular social units -- in the notion that the Individual is autonomous and owes nothing to our collective existence.

Tea Party anger is, at bottom, metaphysical, not political: what has been undone by the economic crisis is the belief that each individual is metaphysically self-sufficient, that one’s very standing and being as a rational agent owes nothing to other individuals or institutions. The opposing metaphysical claim, the one I take to be true, is that the very idea of the autonomous subject is an institution, an artifact created by the practices of modern life: the intimate family, the market economy, the liberal state. Each of these social arrangements articulate and express the value and the authority of the individual; they give to the individual a standing she would not have without them.

Bernstein makes a strong analogy between Tea Party anger and that of jilted lovers, drawing on Hegel's philosophy that:

... all social life is structurally akin to the conditions of love and friendship; we are all bound to one another as firmly as lovers are, with the terrible reminder that the ways of love are harsh, unpredictable and changeable. And here is the source of the great anger: because you are the source of my being, when our love goes bad I am suddenly, absolutely dependent on someone for whom I no longer count and who I no longer know how to count; I am exposed, vulnerable, needy, unanchored and without resource. In fury, I lash out, I deny that you are my end and my satisfaction, in rage I claim that I can manage without you, that I can be a full person, free and self-moving, without you. I am everything and you are nothing.

This is the first piece I've come across that seems paint a valid Big Picture. The angry jilted lovers are denying the interconnectedness that actually defines us and validates us as a society. It's worth a good, slow read.

Interlude: Playing. Life. Change. Ah, AfReeCahhh

"The Playing For Change Foundation is building a new music school in the Village of Kirina, Mali. Kirina is a village of musicians, some of whom can trace their musical ancestry back over 75 generations! In this very special episode West African music legend Baaba Maal and friends perform for the village elders in honor of the new "Playing For Life" music school that is just beginning construction."

Comment of the Day: assessment of the nationalism of our species

It's sad that today there are still people running their lives (and ruining others) according to primitive fairy tales.

As a species we are dumber than dirt.

by "Dom" re the concept of a "Greater Israel" that incorporates the "God-given" Samaria and Judea.

Idea of the Day: from America Speaks Out

Dana Milbanks has written up the GOP's lame new effort at providing a speak-out platform. Apparently they are hoping the common muck might help them figure out what the hell their party is supposed to stand for these days. Milbanks chooses a few funny samplers, but the actual site is even better. Democrats (or, at least, anti-Republicans) are out in legion posting such stuff as ...

The Republicans need to get as far away from Socialism as possible. Therefor, they need to shed associations with one of the most socialist figures in our country: Jesus Christ! Yes, this man took from the rich and gave to the poor. He aided people who were in dire needs, instead of letting private enterprises do it. This man is Pure Evil and we will not tolerate the association of Republicans and Jesus Christ! Republicans may want to burn an effegy on a cross to send a signal to all of us American-loving, conservative voters of how they are now with us instead of against us!

Completely Forgettable London 2012 Logo

I am not a graphic designer, not even a good amateur designer, but maybe I serve as a valid critic here because my eyeballs are Average Josephines that like or dislike a visual element the same as any other member of the common muck.

The London 2012 Olympics, to my eyes, is horrible. A series of disjointed shapes that do not, for me, ring a bell. What the hell are they supposed to be? Is this a map of the fairgrounds? A representation of the continents? Not only do I not "get it", but it does not even make a lasting impression on the brain, it is too complex. Too many shapes, with edges too serrated to leave an imprint. Show someone the logo for 10 seconds. Wait a few days and show it to them again -- just the shapes with the words removed this time. I'd bet that person would not be able to tell you what they're looking at.

Besides. It's just FUGLY:

A Spark of Hope

I don't know that I could survive if I did not encounter the occasional news story that re-inspires hope that the human race has merit and can join together to reinvent our world.

Worldpress.org posted a piece, A Palestinian Village that Started a Movement, that started my day off right:

A new feature documentary film Budrus, produced by the Washington, DC and Jerusalem-based organization Just Vision, documents nonviolent Israeli and Palestinian civilian efforts to resolve the conflict. It tells the story of Budrus, the village where this movement was born....

The movement aims to stage nonviolent protests to change the route of the separation wall off of Palestinian-owned lands....

The film captures images of Palestinians weeping over lost olive trees, Israeli border police struggling over whether to use violence against Israeli peace activists, and Palestinian youth being chastised because their rock throwing at Israeli soldiers threatens to turn a peaceful movement into a violent confrontation.

Some of the most moving scenes show Palestinian women jumping away from bulldozers and a female Israeli soldier establishing a rapport with Palestinian women in Budrus. While this film captures the story of this village in particular, its larger goal is to show that change can be accomplished in the Middle East through peaceful means."

Just Vision has posted a trailer:



I will try to "stay tuned" and will post when the movie becomes available in theaters or online.

UPDATE 2010-05-19 08:02 -0400 --

Budrus was shown on Apr 28 at the Tribeca Film Festival (an event I swear to myself each year I will attend "next year" ... I'm such a stick in the mud!). I hope it returns to New York soon...

There is an official Budrus site that lists screenings here.

What He Said

My Country, Tis of Me - Magazine - The Atlantic ... Michael Kinsley's standout passage:

... the Tea Party movement is not the solution to what ails America. It is an illustration of what ails America. Not because it is right-wing or because it is sometimes susceptible to crazed conspiracy theories, and not because of racism, but because of the movement’s self-indulgent premise that none of our challenges and difficulties are our own fault.

“Personal responsibility” has been a great conservative theme in recent decades, in response to the growth of the welfare state. It is a common theme among TPPs—even in response to health-care reform, as if losing your job and then getting cancer is something you shouldn’t have allowed to happen to yourself. But these days, conservatives far outdo liberals in excusing citizens from personal responsibility. To the TPPs, all of our problems are the fault of the government, and the government is a great “other,” a hideous monster over which we have no control. It spends our money and runs up vast deficits for mysterious reasons all its own. At bottom, this is a suspicion not of government but of democracy. After all, who elected this monster?

This kind of talk is doubly self-indulgent. First, it’s just not true. Second, it’s obviously untrue. The government’s main function these days is writing checks to old people. These checks allow people to retire and pursue avocations such as going to Tea Party rallies.

Tweet of the Day: Adobe p(r)opoganda

adamwilcox: "Dear Adobe, when the name of your 'open' product contains two uses of ® then it isn't open."

Short-Sighted in 3D

Washington Post reports in James Cameron: 3-D will become standard format:

"Avatar" director James Cameron said Thursday that 3-D will replace 2-D as the standard, mainstream format for film, television and online content in less than 25 years.

Viewers will soon not only enjoy films in 3-D theaters but all forms of entertainment, including sports and music shows on TVs and laptops, Cameron said at a technology forum in Seoul.

I personally actually prefer 2-D viewing, because for me the abstraction of human experience into the 2-D format transports me in such a way that I can "lose myself" in what's happening on the screen (on a good day, with a good flick). 3-D does not allow me to lose myself; instead it puts me into the picture.

Take that for whatever it's worth (or not), since I also love B&W movies, and to this day I still miss the hiss and pop of a needle on vinyl and the acoustic sound of musicians all sitting in one recording studio playing together in a room at the same time.

However, looking at the idea of a mass market for 3-D viewing as a practical matter, I just don't see this happening ... because of the glasses that one must wear to watch a 3-D movie or video. And for those who already wear glasses, the glasses-over-the-glasses.

Sorry, I just cannot see that millions of us would be keeping multiple pairs of 3D glasses in a home entertainment center drawer, passing them out to our guest, all of us sitting around in silly specs to watch every TV show or movie we rent.

I'll post back on this in 25 years :-)

Quote of the Day: Obama’s Remarks on Oil Spill Response

Text - Obama’s Remarks on Oil Spill Response - NYTimes.com:

Let me also say, by the way, a word here about BP and the other companies involved in this mess. I know BP has committed to pay for the response effort, and we will hold them to their obligation. I have to say, though, I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter. You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn't.

Donor Strike: Rich Progressives Pledge To Withhold Cash

So the Stinkin' Rich may save the American political system from special interests. The irony of it all.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Driving While Hispanic, Being Presidential While Black

Frank Rich looks at the connections between Arizona's new "arrested for driving while Latino" law and the radical right's growing "Take Back America" campaign complete with its Birther members who would be so funny if they were not so sad and so scary. The GOP is bending over in full kowtow to the Teabaggers and I'm starting to think the overt racism of the past was less dangerous than the tide that is currently on the rise.

It's difficult, as always, to choose from among Rich's high-fidelity paragraphs a couple to quote. These were chosen sort of randomly:

It's harder and harder to cling to the conventional wisdom that the Tea Party is merely an element in the G.O.P., not the party's controlling force -- the tail that's wagging the snarling dog. It's also hard to maintain that the Tea Party's nuttier elements are merely a fringe of a fringe. The first national Tea Party convention, in Nashville in February, chose as its kickoff speaker the former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, a notorious nativist who surely was enlisted precisely because he runs around saying things like he has ''no idea where Obama was born.'' The Times/CBS poll of the Tea Party movement found that only 41 percent of its supporters believe that the president was born in the United States.

The angry right and its apologists also keep insisting that race has nothing to do with their political passions. Thus Sarah Palin explained that it's Obama and the ''lamestream media'' that are responsible for ''perpetuating this myth that racial profiling is a part'' of Arizona's law. So how does that profiling work without race or ethnicity, exactly? Brian Bilbray, a Republican Congressman from California and another supporter of the law, rode to the rescue by suggesting ''they will look at the kind of dress you wear.'' Wise Latinas better start shopping at Talbots!

Oh gosh, I can't resist adding one more paragraph:

In a development that can only be described as startling, the G.O.P.'s one visible black leader, the party chairman Michael Steele, went off message when appearing at DePaul University on April 20. He conceded that African-Americans ''really don't have a reason'' to vote Republican, citing his party's pursuit of a race-baiting ''Southern strategy'' since the Nixon-Agnew era. For this he was attacked by conservatives who denied there had ever been such a strategy. That bit of historical revisionism would require erasing, for starters, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, not to mention the Willie Horton campaign that helped to propel Bush 41 into the White House in 1988.

 Frank Rich so skillfully melds his pieces. He knits and purls together his thoughts, the news, our political history, and "startling" quotes you may not have heard about before. A read of the whole rather lengthy op-ed piece is highly recommended.

Spill, Baby, Spill (LOOK IN THE MIRROR)

From this morning's NY Times:

The latest effort to contain the oil spill that has poured millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico encountered a setback 5,000 feet underwater, officials said Saturday, meaning oil will continue gushing into the ocean for at least several more days, and possibly months.

This will be the worst man-made environmental disaster of my lifetime. My prayer is that it is never exceeded in anyone's lifetime.

Poisoned water will spread into the Gulf Stream, up the Atlantic seaboard, across the ocean. We have mainlined an overdose.

This is so sad; when I think of marine life, of generations future, of the vanity, selfishness and greed of our human race ... my throat clamps up and my heart physically hurts.

The oil companies do not have bottom-line responsibility here; there would be no oil industry without our demand for petroleum products. Do not point at BP and Big Oil. Let's each of us, instead, look in the mirror and NOTICE OUR OWN ADDICTION ...

• every time we start up a fossil-fuel-fired engine.
  
• every time we place a small order on the internet and, like pathetically stupid royalty, have a truck burn fuel to deliver, for our convenience, a small box directly to our doorstep
  
• every time we order take-out food that arrives in plastic containers
  
• every time we purchase shampoo, hand cream, laundry soap, bottled water, children's toys, household items that are contained in plastic.
  
• every time we use a disposable plastic pen (or, worse, throw away a pen for which we could, instead, purchase a refill) or lighter.
  
• every time we purchase or don clothing made with polyester fiber
  

A quick web search for "petroleum-derived products" turns up this page from Ranken Energy Corporation, an oil exploration company. "A partial list of products made from Petroleum (144 of 6000 items)":

One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make things like...

Solvents	Diesel fuel	Motor Oil	Bearing Grease
Ink	Floor Wax	Ballpoint Pens	Football Cleats
Upholstery	Sweaters	Boats	Insecticides
Bicycle Tires	Sports Car Bodies	Nail Polish	Fishing lures
Dresses	Tires	Golf Bags	Perfumes
Cassettes	Dishwasher parts	Tool Boxes	Shoe Polish
Motorcycle Helmet	Caulking	Petroleum Jelly	Transparent Tape
CD Player	Faucet Washers	Antiseptics	Clothesline
Curtains	Food Preservatives	Basketballs	Soap
Vitamin Capsules	Antihistamines	Purses	Shoes
Dashboards	Cortisone	Deodorant	Footballs
Putty	Dyes	Panty Hose	Refrigerant
Percolators	Life Jackets	Rubbing Alcohol	Linings
Skis	TV Cabinets	Shag Rugs	Electrician's Tape
Tool Racks	Car Battery Cases	Epoxy	Paint
Mops	Slacks	Insect Repellent	Oil Filters
Umbrellas	Yarn	Fertilizers	Hair Coloring
Roofing	Toilet Seats	Fishing Rods	Lipstick
Denture Adhesive	Linoleum	Ice Cube Trays	Synthetic Rubber
Speakers	Plastic Wood	Electric Blankets	Glycerin
Tennis Rackets	Rubber Cement	Fishing Boots	Dice

I suggest we shock ourselves about how Green we really are NOT compared to how Green we like to think we are, by studying this entire list.

I suggest that any one of us who does nothing to protest ocean-floor drilling has a barrel of spilled oil on our conscience.

And I suggest we look in the mirror, and assess our own role in using, and disposing, thoughtlessly and often needlessly, the products derived from oil drilling. Every time we use something. Every time we toss something in the trash. Daily. Every minute. Every time.

Quote and Blogger of the Day: Matt Taibbi rips a new one for David Brooks

In his blog piece Let Them Eat Work, Matt Taibbi shreds David Brooks (NYT) for asserting in the latest Opinionator Blog (with Gail Collins) that, "for the first time in human history, rich people work longer hours than middle class or poor people. How do you construct a rich versus poor narrative when the rich are more industrious?"

Matt's piece is so good I had trouble picking what to pull out as my Quote of the Day". After several reads I decided to honor this sentence:

If [Brooks] keeps this up, he’s going to make his way into the Guinness Book for having extended his tongue at least a foot and a halfp farther up the ass of the Times’s Upper East Side readership than any previous pundit in journalistic history.

Heros of the Day: Zimbabwean Orphans

Nicholas Kristof's has been reporting from his lastest African travels in Zimbabwe, and offers a hard look at the impact of a corrupt and totalitarian ruler on the populace. Recommended reading: "Young Superheros in a Hut" and accompanying slideshow.

These kids are my heros of the day.

They come from two families. Both sets of parents died from AIDS and the kids banded together to raise themselves under the leadership of the eldest, who was 15 at the time the kids moved in together.

Are you connected to mountaintop removal?

A Day Late, 40 Acres and a Mule Short, in VA

Breaking news on washpost:

McDonnell issues thorough apology for leaving slavery out of proclamation

Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) apologized late Wednesday for failing to include slavery in his proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month.

 Nothin' like a majority voting block of persons of color and progressives to make a politician fall prey to Delayed Involuntary Sensitivity Syndrome.

Must-See of the Day: War comes to reality video

I am sorry to do this to you but this must be seen by anyone living in any country that has any troops in Iraq. And everyone else in every country that might some day send some troops somewhere. Unless you have witnessed or fought or suffered through war first-hand, even if you *think* that you think War Is Wrong, watch this classified video.

This is what our taxes fund. This is what we are not out in the streets protesting. This is our shame. This RIPS MY HEART.

(Props to Julian Assange and any/all others involved in creating Wikileaks ... a whole new breed of citizen journalism that our society so desperately needed.)

McDonalds v. Burger King

posted by Ilyse Kazar

That's how "Reverend" Billy Talen, Green Party mayoral candidate here in NYC termed the contest of two career politicians to be our next mayor.

Billy raked in 0.8% of the vote. Considering he is a performance artist, activist and all-out, no holds barred critic of the power structure, I think it's great that 8 in 1,000 people voted for him!

The other "nice" thing about the mayoral vote was the 51%/46% split between Bloom-Borg and Thompson. Mayor mike is not as loved as he wanted to think. Especially considering the enormity of the differential in the money they each had to spend, Thompson's percentage is significant.

Response to a comment: Trickle-Down Piss

posted by Ilyse Kazar

A good buddy on Facebook commented on my post about today's VA and NJ governor races:

I wonder if it really Obama - that has people voting R - versus just how bad the economy is. Think we may not be finished with bad economic news (commercial real estate) And Americans want instant fixes - without them paying for it

I think people realized full well how bad the economy already was, and sensed how bad it might get, when they voted in November '08. I think people were hot to see some very tangible things done that directly benefited them. I think people were absolutely ready, in fact, would have cheered from the sidelines, to see the robber barons go down hard.

I also think people understood that fixing Dubya's mess was gonna cost and would not be a free lunch.

When we were on the purported precipice of complete economic meltdown, the people would  have been sobered by the need to pump a trillion dollars of funny money into the system, that will cost us so much as we move forward. But if the money had gone as deferred loans directly to keep real people in their homes, thereby ...

• saving whole neighborhoods from the sad loss in property values and crime and desolation that has resulted from foreclosures
• staving off the costs that we have yet to even calculate in feeding free lunches and offering other services to homeless children and families
• helped folks keep their jobs or find new ones quicker (it's nigh impossible to keep a job or walk into an interview like a positive fresh-faced prospective employee, when one is hungry and homeless)
• kept mortgage payments (preferably re-financed ones) coming into the banks that were crying they were collapsing because of mortgage defaults
• providing a way for the government to at least partially recoup our money when those homeowners get on their feet 

...  then folks could say, well, we can see the real benefits of this costly bailout in front of our eyes. They would have been sobered but not angered at so much money going down a stinking sink-hole while nothing changes in their towns and cities, nothing improves for their families.

Ditto if the money had been put directly into financing small businesses, to create or save jobs and help re-stimulate the Main Street economies.

I haven't noticed any revival of Main Street. I haven't seen the reversal of Reagan's trickle-down theories that have held sway in this country, to a huge extent, ever since 1980. The only thing I've seen is more piss trickling down on the little guy.

The Status-Quo Sucks (us back under)

posted by Ilyse Kazar

So, McDonnell takes VA and Christie takes NJ. This is just hunky dory. The Conservatives will now be spreading the meme that this is a rejection of Obama.

The distinction that will be lost: This is not a rejection of the Obama who promised to sock it to the special interests. This is a rejection of the glacial pace at which anything has been done along those lines.

If politics in Washington had ridden the tidal wave of sentiment re the little guy suffering at the hands of huge power blocks, if Washington had done a trickle-up bailout of homeowners instead of a fairly useless (to 99.999% of us) bailout of Wall Street, if Obama were pushing harder for the Dems to include a make-no-bones-about-it public option and if his administration had done a better job of selling it to the people, if stimulus money had gone directly to folks who needed to save or wished to start up small businesses, if Congress had immediately enacted some sort of real incentives to encourage Earth-friendly consumption and energy-user habits, if we had not only gone up against Coal but had the imagination to plan re-training, re-tooling and thereby a boost for the employment prospects of folks in areas where Coal has historically been the only employer ... this would not be happening.

I also blame this on all of us. We were all psyched during the election. There were leagues of us talking it up, knocking on doors, standing at tables, organizing and attending rallies.

Where is the march in Washington against escalation in Afghanistan?

Where are the dramatic news-worthy public events in support of universal health care, demanding real action against global warming?

Where are the demonstrations against the subsidies to factory farming mega-corporations?

I mean, shit, in my junior high school we staged a sit-in, complete with black arm bands, against the war in Nam. Where are you, people? In November 2008 we pulled levers, touched screens or punched chads. We poured out into the streets in a spontaneous celebration when the results came in. Then we sat back to watch and complain.

Maybe the election of more Christies and McDonnells is what we actually need. Maybe we simply have not reached that howling pain-point at which we will get up off our duffs. Maybe we needed this dangerous pivot, this wake-up call that if you don't push hard and keep pushing for Change, the Status Quo is whatchergonnagit.

We were going to take back America, remember?

Quote of the day: Steve Lacy on Music

We don't determine music,
The music determines us;
We only follow it
To the end of our life:
Then it goes on without us.

Excerpt from 'Saxovision' by Steve Lacy

Poem of the day: Lao-Tzu on non-being

We join spokes together in a wheel
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move
We shape clay into a pot
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want
We hammer wood into a house
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable
We work with being
But non-being is what we use.

(Lao Tzu)

... this is one that saves me again and again.

Journalist of the day: Helen Thomas

Dana Milbank - Washington Sketch - washingtonpost.com:

Helen Thomas is 89 years old and requires some assistance to get to and from the daily White House briefing. Yet her backbone has proved stronger than that of the president she covers....

"Has the president given up on the public option?" she inquired from her front-row-middle seat....

"...[W]hy do you keep asking me?" Gibbs inquired.

"Because I want your conscience to bother you," Thomas replied.

Let's just give her a lifetime achievement Best Journalist award, come to think of it.

Quote of the day: Thos. Jefferson on Christian dogmatism

the greatest of all the reformers of the depraved religion of his own country, was Jesus of Nazareth. Abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried, easily distinguished by its lustre from the dross of his biographers, and as separable from that as the diamond from the dunghill, we have the outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has ever fallen from the lips of man; outlines which it is lamentable he did not live to fill up. Epictetus and Epicurus give laws for governing ourselves, Jesus a supplement of the duties and charities we owe to others. The establishment of the innocent and genuine character of this benevolent moralist, and the rescuing it from the imputation of imposture, which has resulted from artificial systems,* invented by ultra-Christian sects, unauthorized by a single word ever uttered by him, is a most desirable object, and one to which Priestley has successfully devoted his labors and learning. It would in time, it is to be hoped, effect a quiet euthanasia of the heresies of bigotry and fanaticism which have so long triumphed over human reason, and so generally and deeply afflicted mankind; but this work is to be begun by winnowing the grain from the chaff of the historians of his life.

* e. g. The immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection and visible ascension, his corporeal presence in the Eucharist, the Trinity; original sin, atonement, regeneration, election, orders of Hierarchy, &c.

From Jefferson's letter to William Short, Oct. 31, 1819.

House Expands Federal Aid to College Students

Hip Hip Hooray. Say good-bye to the multi-billion-dollar annual boondoggle that generously pads the profits of banking institutions for writing up student loans, while the Federal gov't (translate: taxpayers) takes all the risk:

“This legislation provides students and families with the single largest investment in federal student aid ever,” said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, who wrote the bill. “Today, the House made a clear choice to stop funneling vital taxpayer dollars through boardrooms and start sending them directly to dorm rooms.”

Under the current program, the government pays subsidies to lenders and guarantees the loans. All colleges would be required to convert to the federal Direct Loan program by July 1, 2010.

The measure passed handily in the House; looks like it will breeze through the Senate also. Finally some measure of sanity prevails, if only for a moment.

Cutting back on salt could save U.S. billions

Cutting back on salt could save U.S. billions - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com:

...researchers estimate that if the average sodium intake fell to the recommended level of 2,300 mg per day, there would be 11 million fewer cases of high blood pressure each year. (Estimates are that about 70 million American adults have high blood pressure.) The costs of treating high blood pressure and related heart disease and strokes would fall by $18 billion.

Cutting sodium consumption down to 1,500 mg, they say, could save $26 billion.

So before we go spewing about how some group of Others costs the taxpayers money we didn't agree to spend, each of us oughtta check our diet. How many mg of sodium a day do you consume? Do you know? If not, why not?

Wanna give your baby its best shot at life? Move to a country with socialized health care.

posted by i.n.kazar

As a follow-up to my examination of life expectancy here is a selected list of countries in order of "number of infant mortality deaths per 1,000 live births. On this list, the closer one is to #1 the worse the survival rate of newborns, so I'm starting from the end.


224. Singapore: 2.31 infant deaths/1000

223. Bermuda: 2.46

222. Sweden: 2.75

221. Japan: 2.79

[and again: "OK but where's the U.S., did you skip it??"]

217. France: 3.33

214. Norway: 3.58

211. Czech Republic: 3.79

204. South Korea: 4.26

198. Netherlands: 4.73

196. Australia: 4.75

193. United Kingdom: 4.85

189. Canada: 5.04

["WHAT ABOUT THE U.S.?!" ... hang on, I'm almost there]

181. Cuba: 5.82

[and now quite a decline between Communist Cuba and the next one on the list ...]

180. United States: 6.26

Yes, that is right, according to the CIA's figures your baby born in this country is 2.7 times as likely to die in infancy than a baby born in the top-ranked Singapore. At number 38 from the end of the CIA's reverse-ranked list, the U.S. ranks near the bottom of the second decile when looking at the survival rate of infants around the globe.

Still think that our money-driven health system is something to cling to? I have some ideas as to why our infant mortality rate would be so high, but I'll leave that for a possible future post.

Photos of the day: California Wild Fire

The Boston Globe has assembled a stunning, scary collection of photos for their Big Picture online section, such as this one:

Wanna live longer? Move to a country with socialized health care.

posted by i.n.kazar

Countries in order of life expectancy, as reported by the CIA Factbook, with details on the health care systems of some of the countries (enough to communicate my point) as reported by the World Health Organization and other sources. Oh, and by the way, many of the governments topping the list have panels empowered to examine health expenditures in the final year(s) of life. Contrary to the 'death panel' hysteria promoted by groups in the U.S. that wish to preserve our lovely status quo, countries whose governments take stock of the expenses and questions of dignity at end-of-life have the LONGEST life expectancy. If you don't believe me, click some of my links and do some reading for yourselves, instead of just repeating what your favorite columnists and radio hosts might be spouting.


1. Macau: 84.36 years -- Mixture of government-provided healthcare and private services overseen by the government. (WHO and Wikipedia)

[hmmm... not the U.S.? where we are not subjected to "the nightmares of government-controlled medicine"?]

2. Andorra: 82.51 years -- 92% of the population covered by the government health agency (WHO pdf)

3. Japan: 82.12 years -- "In the Japanese health care system, healthcare services, including screening examinations for particular diseases at no direct cost to the patient, prenatal care, and infectious disease control, are provided by national and local governments. Payment for personal medical services is offered through a universal health care insurance system that provides relative equality of access, with fees set by a government committee. People without insurance through employers can participate in a national health insurance program administered by local governments. Since 1983[1], all elderly persons have been covered by government-sponsored insurance. Patients are free to select physicians or facilities of their choice.... It is compulsory to be enrolled in a Japanese insurance program if you are a resident of Japan." (Wikipedia)

"The basic principle governing the delivery of health care services is that all citizens should be able, at any time and place, to receive the care they require, with an affordable personal contribution.

"The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced a health promotion programme, the National Health Promotion Movement in the 21st Century (Healthy Japan 21), in 2000. The movement, unlike traditional programmes, emphasizes ‘primary prevention’, aiming at early detection and treatment of diseases." (WHO)

4. Singapore: 81.98 years -- "There is a dual system of health care delivery. The public system is managed by the Government, while the private system is provided by private hospitals and general practitioners." (WHO)

[OK but where's the U.S., did you skip it??]

5. San Marino: 81.97 years

6. Hong Kong: 81.86 years

7. Australia: 81.63 years -- "Australia’s health care system is a partnership between the Federal, State and Territory, and local governments. Through the Health and Ageing portfolio, the Federal Government provides national leadership, determines national policies and outcomes, and shares responsibility for funding services....

"The system is complex, with delivery provided by both the public and private sectors." (WHO)

8. Canada: 81.23 years -- "Canada has an extensive social security network, including old age pension, family allowance, employment insurance and social assistance. Basic health care is provided to all Canadians through a universal free health care system." (WHO)

9. France: 80.98 years

10. Sweden: 80.86 years

13. Israel: 80.73 years

19. Italy: 80.20 years

[WHAT ABOUT THE U.S.?!]

23. Spain: 80.05 years

30. Netherlands: 79.40 years

36. United Kingdom: 79.01 years

38. Jordan: 78.87 years

40. South Korea: 78.72 years

50. United States: 78.11 years

Poem of the day: Song

beauty is a shell
from the sea
where she rules triumphant
till love has had its way with her

scallops and
lion's paws
sculptured to the
tune of retreating waves

undying accents
repeated till
the ear and the eye lie
down together in the same bed


-- William Carlos Williams

Four-Paragraph Descriptive Essay

brown boy spins
limbs spread
a twirling human asterisk


on a swivel-seat office chair
in the street
spun by hydrant water


white teeth laugh
at flying bricks


wet brown boy.


-- ilyse kazar. written 24 July 1980 in rebellion against, it seems, all the four paragraph essays I was forced to write for years, yet somehow still true to the form

NY Times invites reader interaction with content

Just now the New York Times published a CIA report detailing abuses that took place inside secret prisons.

The entire pdf of the report is published within an online document reader. A brilliant feature is that readers are invited to interact with this content by helping to annotate it.

Hip hip hurrah, NYT.

Poem of the day: The Hebrew Mamita

Vanessa Hidary is one of my faves amongst the poets who appeared in the six seasons of Russ Simmons' Def Poetry series on HBO.

This performance is especially deep for me, because I have been that girl on that barstool, I have been told many times "gee, you don't look Jewish" and remained silent (or, worse, took it as a damned compliment). On the other hand, I have been known to let people go on and on about "this Jewish bastard" or about "the Kyke landlord" or about "the Jewish conspiracy that owns all the world's stocks and plots to limit my access to the pharmaceuticals I need" (yes, that is an actual meme out there) ... let them go on and on until they have taken all the rope they need to hang themselves, and then stood up and before leaving the table have let them know THEY WERE TALKING TO ONE.

But I have not done the whole trip that Hidary has done (at a much younger age). I never fully processed the shit I've sat and listened to that people felt safe to say in front of me because I "don't look Jewish" (odd, also, because I think I do "look Jewish") ...

Thanks, Vanessa, for crossing the desert for me and bringing this back with you:

Quote of the day: Police Chief Stamper on Legalizing Marijuana

Any law disobeyed by more than 100 million Americans, the number who’ve tried marijuana at least once, is bad public policy. As a 34-year police veteran, I’ve seen how marijuana prohibition breeds disrespect for the law, and contempt for those who enforce it....

Perhaps the biggest objection to legalization is the “message” it would send to our kids. Bulletin: Our children have never had greater access to marijuana; it’s easier for them to score pot than a six-pack of Coors. No system of regulated legalization would be complete without rigorous enforcement of criminal laws banning the furnishing of any drug to a minor.

Let’s make policy that helps, not handcuffs, those who suffer ill effects of marijuana or other drugs, a policy that crushes the illegal market — the cause of so much violence and harm to users and non-users alike.

that was Norm Stamper, Seattle police chief from 1994 to 2000, in a Room for Debate piece in NYT in July.

Poem of the day: And I Always Thought

I have had this poem pinned to my wall or laying around ever since i bought my first electric typewriter and typed it out on an index card.

And I always thought

And I always thought: the very simplest words
Must be enough
When I say what things are like
Everyone's heart must be torn to shreds.
That you'll go down if you don't stand up for yourself
Surely you see that.

Bertolt Brecht, 1956
Translated by Michael Hamburger

Doh of the day: control air traffic around Manhattan

Why would this be a matter of debate for more than 3 seconds?

The freewheeling nature of the corridors has spurred debate about whether to place tighter controls on the airspace or to restrict who can fly in them.

America's Seniors are the real "Me Generation"

Ezra Klein pulls together a brief analysis of who supports and opposes the public option in the Health Insurance debate:

...one reason that it's been hard to explain the appeal of the bill to the insured population -- which tilts older and votes in higher numbers -- is that it doesn't have a lot to offer them.

Hot Females Rule Evolution

FOR the female half of the population, it may bring a satisfied smile. Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become ever more beautiful, while men remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.

As reported in UK's Times Online and many other sites...

Protecting the Gun Rights of Capitol Hill Visitors

E.J. Dionne Jr. in today's Washington Post:

Isn't it time to dismantle the metal detectors, send the guards at the doors away and allow Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights by being free to carry their firearms into the nation's Capitol?

I've been studying the deep thoughts of senators who regularly express their undying loyalty to the National Rifle Association, and I have decided that they should practice what they preach. They tell us that the best defense against crime is an armed citizenry and that laws restricting guns do nothing to stop violence.

If any proponents of unlimited individual gun rights does not see the irony, kindly elucidate.

Partisan Schmartisan

--posted by Ilyse Kazar

A party-line Senate committee vote on legislation to remake the nation’s health care system underscored the absence of political consensus on what would be the biggest changes in social policy in more than 40 years.

Sheeeeeesh. I feel SO done with all parties.

Bogus Unemployment Numbers are Nothing New

--posted by Ilyse Kazar

David Leonhart reminds us that

The national unemployment rate has risen to 9.5 percent, the highest level in more than a quarter-century. Yet it still excludes all those who have given up looking for a job and those part-time workers who want to be working full time.

And let's not forget that the unemployment figures also do not include small business owners whose businesses either are not supporting them with adequate income or who have had to close up shop.

Mind you, this has always been the case. Only those eligible for unemployment benefits are counted as "unemployed". This leaves out ...

- the underemployed
- starving small-biz owners
- the homeless
- the long-term unemployed whose benefits have expired

During good times, perhaps these four groups of people are a very small proportion of the working (or wish-I-were-working) public. But during hard times like these I would think the percentage is signifcant since far more people might, for example, need to fold their business, or not be able to secure new employment before their benefits run out.

The Obama administration has begun creating "real" budgets by throwing out the bag of tricks that has been used in the past to make overly optimistic projections. This was a good and important change. Now it's time to start providing us with "real" unemployment figures. I'd wager it's around 15 percent now and climbing.

News Analysis: Sarah's Lapse of Facts

Ah, Sarah. We knew you were cooking something up. [I believe a free account on washingtonpost.com is necessary to view this].

Palin's editorial attacking President Obama's cap-and-trade plan is terribly misinformed and/or purposefully misleading. Unfortunately, in today's infopropegainment (one of my favorite Jon Stewart words) news style, Sarah Palin gets a lot of air time, and as much cannot be said of her opponents.

 First, some general points.

We must remember that this is a woman who does not believe that humans are causing global warming. Her arguments for further use of dirty energy sources is tainted by her inaccurate concepts.

It's also significant that Sarah Palin is building a base founded on controversial issues in what I consider to be her early campaigning for the 2012 Presidential Race. It is classic Republican campaign strategy to be against taxes (although their actual track record tends to suggest otherwise).

Let's break down her arguments, shall we?

"The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet... So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year."

The Cap-and-Trade (TRADE, not TAX) plan generates $650 billion in federal funds over the course of seven years, $80 billion of which will be contributed towards middle-class tax cuts. [1]

"Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs."

The proposal would create jobs in a new rapidly growing clean energy sector. The proposal promises that new jobs created will not be outsourced [2- pg 100]. Pew reports that between 1998 and 2007 job growth in the clean energy sector has progressed at nearly three times that of the economy in general -- even though the government has favored making financial contributions to fossil fuel energy over green alternatives [3- pg 3]. The report goes on to say that by giving clean energy a boost through President Obama's plan, new lasting jobs (this is significant because we know that fossil fuel is non-renewable) will be generated. This projection is supported by Pew's research on state energy programs. [3- pg 40-41].

"In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America."

Projected cost of the Alaskan Highway Pipeline project is over $20 billion and will not begin producing revenue until 2016 [4]. Obama's plan begins producing revenue in 2010. The pipeline plan will only further entrench our economy in an extremely harmful energy culture whose days are numbered. While natural gas is preferable to coal in emission levels, it still is not clean. Environmental impacts of actually building a 2,140 mile long pipeline to Canada and then distribution pipelines from there is yet to be determined.

"We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats."

The 2000-acres only refers to the land on which the rig supports actually touch the ground. The actual area affected would be much greater due to multi-directional drilling technology - "horizontal production wells" [5]. Plus, drilling crews need to build roads through the nature reserve to bring them to drilling sites, and then carry very heavy equipment along these roads which harms the ice shelf.

The Energy Information Administration reports that there is a 95% probability that ANWR contains 5.7 billion gallons of recoverable oil [6]; that would fuel the USA for less than a year at current rates.

Bottom line, Palin's arguments are simply inaccurate.

---

Citations:

1. Samuelsohn, Darren and Bravender, Robin. "Obama's draft budget projects cap-and-trade revenue." Scientific American. 02/26/2009. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cap-and-trade-obama-budget>.

2. EPA FY 2010 Budget Overview -- <http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/asset.aspx?AssetId=757> [PDF]

3. The Pew Charitable Trusts. "The Clean Energy Economy." June 2009. <http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/uploadedFiles/Clean_Economy_Report_Web.pdf> [PDF]

4. "Alaska Highway Pipeline". 2009. <http://www.jobmonkey.com/oilindustry/html/alaska_highway_pipeline.html>

5. "ANWR Arctic Technology". <http://www.anwr.org/techno/drilling.htm>

6. Energy Information Administration. "Potential Oil Production from the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge". <http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/arctic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/execsummary.html>

---

Further Reading:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cap-and-divident-not-trade

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/

http://environmental-economics.blogspot.com/2007/09/carbon-tax-cafe-standards-and-cap-and.html

Evil Trouser Wearing Women

BBC NEWS | Africa | Sudan women 'lashed for trousers' -- and Obama didn't even mention Sudan?

Is there nothing to be done about theocracies that brutalize their women? That is not a rhetorical question, I really wonder about the implications of doing nothing and also about the implications of interfering.

Still wondering whazzup that Prez O did not take one of the most cruel African regimes to task when he had the chance.

TY to Nick Kristoff for his FB post on this.

Every time ... Sweep before you Vacuum

If you sweep first you will then vacuum less. The benefits of implementing this tip are manifold:

Economic/Practical

• save money on vacuum bags, especially if you have furry animals around the house
  
• be more likely to notice and retrieve small items that have fallen to the floor

Health

• burn more calories
  
• subject your household members' nervous systems to less mechanical noise pollution

Green

• less bags used, therefore less energy and raw materials used to manufacture vacuum bags
  
• less energy used and pollution produced by shipping vacuum bags to stores
  
• less frequent (possibly carbon-burning) trips to the store to get vacuum bags
  
• less electricity burned due to reduced vacuuming time
  
• less waste produced because less bags in the waste stream
  
• your vacuum will last longer, saving additional materials, energy and waste

Mental and Emotional Health

• rhythmic activity is beneficial and therapeutic
  
• sweeping (like many other household "chores") can be enjoyed as an interlude that lends itself well to calm planning, letting suppressed thoughts and emotions surface, meditation or free-wheeling thought

Metaphysical *

• the act of sweeping one's path in front of one physically aids in keeping one's path through life clean and clear on the astral plane, which is something only you can do for yourself and which one gets better at with practice **

* look for a post some day soon on my decision to include metaphysical observations, learning and personal experience and theory in this blog

** I was lucky to have a dream once in which I was crossing a plane of light, on foot, deliberately and patiently and meditatively sweeping just in front of myself before taking the next step. This 5-second dream was actually a huge vision for me.