big brother
For the first time in a long time I've run into non-election based news that is SO appalling it required me to make an entry here.
F.D.A. Approves Implantable Chip for Patient's Health Data
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 4:50 PM ET
The Food and Drug Administration approved an implantable computer chip that can pass a patient's medical details to doctors.
I'm just thinkin', you know, off the top of my head, that along with electronic balloting, this has to be ONE OF THE WORST FREAKIN' IDEAS IN HISTORY!! I don't care how "idiot proof" or "secure" you make it, the world will create a better idiot/hacker. I don't know why this is not obvious!!!
argh.
hello world
I could have written a computer program in any of several languages to write that, but typing it was easier.
It's been about a month since I posted to this particular blog. Mostly because I've given up on reading the news. It's more appalling than I can deal with. I just get angry, and that seems counterproductive to a calm work environment and thus keeping my job.
I receive a mailing every day from FactCheck.org. FactCheck goes through the spoutings of our illustrious candidates and documents the bullshit. They're not partisan; they expose as many of Kerry's camp's lies as they do Bush's. It's a very edifying source of information.
What I find appalling is that NONE OF THIS SHOWS UP IN THE NEWS!!! NEWS!!! YOU KNOW! NEW STUFF!
It seems to me that, not picking on Dan in particular, news folks are not doing their job of critical thinking. Where are the Woodwards and Bernsteins, and more importantly, the Ben Bradlees to uncover the bullshit and to publish it?
In any case, I'm off this beat until the elections are over. Then, if Bush wins, I may be publishing from some place like Canada or Ireland or someplace where I can watch the self-destruction from afar...
As always, be appalled...
make up your minds
One day the economy is growing, the next it's not. I wish some of these reporters would actually take the time to do some research instead of just writing down what some partisan told them.
Geez. I'm getting dizzy.
Today is a "being poor sucks and it's not getting better" day. These seem more reasonable to me than "the economy is great! our tax strategies are working!" days. I know people who are un- and underemployed. I know how hard it was for me to find a job 6 months ago. I know I got lucky, and if I were looking again today, it would be hellish out there.
Let's just all admit that the economy sucks, spending money in Iraq is not helping, and cutting taxes for the rich really doesn't do much except give the rich more money to play tennis with. "Nice shot, Bitsy!"
Greenspan Urges Pension Benefit Cuts
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday that the country will face "abrupt and painful" choices if Congress does not move quickly to trim the Social Security and Medicare benefits that have been promised to the baby boom generation.
Economy Grows at 2.8% Rate in the Spring
The U.S. economy, struggling under the weight of a bloated trade deficit, grew at a relatively modest 2.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter, a slower pace of expansion than previously thought.
Ahold Sees U.S. Retail Profits Fall
Dutch food retailer Royal Ahold NV said income from its U.S. retail operations plunged 30 percent in the second quarter, blaming sluggish performance at Giant Food and Stop & Shop Stores, its two biggest American chains.
More Americans Were Uninsured and Poor in 2003, Census Finds
But somehow it took until just a few weeks ago for Bush to stop saying things like "We're turning the corner"
Bush speech drops 'turning the corner'
aaaaaaaaaaaaa
I'm not sure. I may have used that title before. But, as Martha Stewart would say, it's sooooooooo appropriate.
I just have one appalling item to post today. As you can all probably tell, the first thing I read is the NYT. I'm not trying to inform anyone of anything subtle, because anyone can read the tTimes, I just note the things that come together to horrify me and make me throw the paper down in disgust (except that I read it electronically, and there's only so swiftly you can close a window to make it seem like disgust...)
Anyway, here's today's whopper. It's an editorial from the Times. Not even an Op Ed piece... And I'm going to print the whole thing, 'cos I don't ever want to lose the content of this one...
Holding the Pentagon Accountable: For Religious Bigotry
The first reports sounded like an over-the-top satire of the Bush Pentagon: the deputy secretary of defense for intelligence - the ranking general charged with the hunt for Osama bin Laden - was parading in uniform to Christian pulpits, preaching that God had put George Bush in the White House and that Islamic terrorists will only be defeated "if we come at them in the name of Jesus." But now a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23 churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the terrorists because "he wants to destroy us as a Christian army."
It was stunning last fall, after the general's lapse into brimstone bigotry became public, when Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, far from disturbed, praised General Boykin for an "outstanding record" and kept him at the highly sensitive intelligence post during the inquiry. Now it is simply mind-boggling that Pentagon reports suggest the general may survive with only a reprimand for having failed to clear his remarks in advance.
General Boykin has to be removed from his current job. He has become a national embarrassment, not to mention a walking contradiction of President Bush's own policy statement that the fight against terror is bias-free and not a crusade against Islam. (General Boykin preached of a 1993 fight against a Muslim warlord in Somalia: "I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol.")
The sense of offense among Islamic Americans is already deep. Removal of the preacher-general should be a no-brainer, however much the president's campaign generals might fear offending the Christian right voting bloc.
so long....
no, not "so long" as in "see ya"... It's just been so long since I wrote on this one.
The news is so incredibly appalling lately that I don't even know where to start. The whole Swift Boat Veterans for Lobotomies thing has me and everyone I know amazed. I mean, if you're gonna lie, find one that's not so freakin' obvious, ok? Like everyone else?
Articles come out every day in the papers that sound like Watergate blurbs, and what's worse is that both sides are competing at being ignorami.
Bush Campaign's Top Outside Lawyer Resigns
By JIM RUTENBERG and KATE ZERNIKE 12:57 PM ET
An election lawyer for President Bush also has been advising a veterans group running TV ads against John Kerry. [ed. note: I can almost hear the tick tick of the wire printer from the last few minutes of "All the President's Men"...]
Cleland Attempts Delivery of Protest Letter
Letter to Bush Signed by 9 Democratic Senators Protesting Anti-Kerry Swift Boat Ads [ed. note: at least they didn't kick over his wheelchair...]
CONSTITUTIONAL FORK New York Judge Rules City Can Ban Protestors From Park By CHRISTINE HAUSER 4:42 PM ETA State Supreme Court judge ruled today that New York City can ban protesters from using the Great Lawn in Central Park.
Reports Show a Mixed View of Economy
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's factories saw orders for costly manufactured goods in July post the biggest gain in four months. New-homes sales, meanwhile, slid, according to a pair of reports that offered a mixed picture of economic activity.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that orders for durables goods -- big-ticket items expected to last at least three years -- rose 1.7 percent in July from the previous month -- lifted by stronger demand for goods including airplanes, machinery and communications equipment. [ed. note: Hm.... Airplanes? Machinery? Communications equipment? War? Hm...]
Abu Ghraib Report: Abuse Panel Says Rules on Inmates Need Overhaul
No... Really?
Rumsfeld's War Plan Shares the Blame
By Thomas E. Ricks
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's leadership of the Pentagon has been weighed by a jury of his peers and found somewhat wanting.
A report by a blue-ribbon panel he appointed to review the military establishment's role in creating and handling detainee abuse problems at Abu Ghraib prison said that the Iraq war plan he played a key role in shaping helped create the conditions that led to the scandal.
Report: Prisoner Abuses Due to Human Failings
Intelligence Policies Not Cause of Abu Ghraib Misconduct, Pentagon Investigation Says
By Thomas E. Ricks
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
The latest Pentagon investigation of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal found that more than two dozen military intelligence soldiers were involved in the abuses, but said that most of the errant behavior was not the result of official policies and did not occur in the course of gathering intelligence. [ed. note: FORK FORK FORK!! Fox! Henhouse! helloooooo! Do we expect Pentagon investigators to say, "hey... y'know? I think we suck. I think we're terrible people, and we should all be put in jail. Here. Handcuff me right now and drag me to the Hague..." Yeah.]
Cheney Breaks With the Boss Wednesday
Aug 25, 2004; 12:04 PM
What is Vice President Cheney trying to do, get himself dumped off the Republican ticket? [this is appalling because I don't want to have any reason to feel the tiniest sense of compassion for this man... Luckily, I can let myself believe that he has a more disingenuous agenda.]
on the DNA front... accidents...
Minn. Frog Found With 5 Legs, 23 Toes
Some Experts Disturbed By Discovery
A 9-year-old Minnesota girl found a five-legged frog with 23 toes near Stewartville, Minn., according to a report. [ed. note: other experts are ok with this?]
and purposeful...
Building Better Bodies
fork, fork, forkety fork fork.
They're all forks today because I have a sinus headache, and that's what it feels like.
the giant political machine FORK
F.B.I. Goes Knocking for Political Troublemakers
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
The F.B.I. has been questioning demonstrators in an effort to forestall violent protests at the Republican convention.
Herbert: Suppress the Vote?
he big story out of Florida over the weekend was the tragic devastation caused by Hurricane Charley. But there's another story from Florida that deserves our attention.
State police officers have gone into the homes of elderly black voters in Orlando and interrogated them as part of an odd "investigation" that has frightened many voters, intimidated elderly volunteers and thrown a chill over efforts to get out the black vote in November.
The giant Patriot FORK
Detention of British Travelers Brings New Policy
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: August 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 - One by one, the British travelers recounted their dizzying experiences upon arriving at American airports: One man was detained and denied the opportunity to call his wife and lawyer. One woman was handcuffed and another was placed in ankle cuffs that she complained were too tight
The Giant Environmental FORK combined with the Giant Economic FORK
Polluted Sites Could Face Shortage of Cleanup Money
By FELICITY BARRINGER
Published: August 16, 2004
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 - With about six weeks left in the federal government's fiscal year, dozens of Superfund sites that are eligible for cleanup money are likely to be granted nothing or a fraction of what their managers say is needed because of a budget shortfall that could exceed $250 million, according to a survey by the Democratic staff of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Huge rise in brain diseases...
Scientists alarmed as number of cases triples in 20 years
Juliette Jowit, Sunday August 15, 2004
The numbers of sufferers of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease, have soared across the West in less than 20 years, scientists have discovered.
The alarming rise, which includes figures showing rates of dementia have trebled in men, has been linked to rises in levels of pesticides, industrial effluents, domestic waste, car exhausts and other pollutants, says a report in the journal Public Health.
And even a Giant No Child Left Behind FORK
Headaches grow as class sizes shrink
BY STEVE HARRISON
To prepare for the start of school today, the Broward School District made an unusual purchase: dozens of five-foot partitions, the type usually found in office buildings.
The dividers are earmarked for about a dozen schools where this year, some single classrooms will host two classes and two teachers. Hundreds of returning students will find themselves and their classmates squeezed into half a classroom, with only a flimsy barrier separating them from a different class.
Schools feeling growing pains as enrollment swells in Texas
As many students return to the classroom today, Texas is living up to its reputation for bigness, with nearly 1 million new students added in little more than a decade. To keep up with the population boom, many of the 26 school districts in Harris County are enlarging schools or building new ones.
Second Amendment FORK (Those 5 year olds are damn scary at night...)
5-year-old accidentally shot by stepdad
Stepfather says he fired the shot after mistaking her for a burglar
By MIKE GLENN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
A Houston man shot and killed his 5-year-old stepdaughter early Sunday after mistaking her for a burglar in their northeast Houston home, police said.
Oh, hell, the US is violating everyone's privacy, the UK might as well get in on the act. Mind you, this is under the guise of "good-doing"...
Government plans to 'track' criminals' children
Press AssociationMonday August 16, 2004 The government is planning to monitor and offer support to the children of offenders to ensure they do not follow their parents into a life of crime.
Under the proposals, the children of criminals will be 'tracked' from birth to their teenage years in a bid to prevent them joining their parents in jail.
Finally, some evidence of sense in the US...
The uneasy Republicans
By Hugh Sykes BBC, United States
The US presidential candidates have been arguing about it. The American media talk constantly about it. And the opinion polls have been asking voters about it.
Bush risks alienating his natural constituencyBut just how much will the war in Iraq affect the November elections? Hugh Sykes found evidence that, with mounting US casualties, the answer could be "quite a lot".
And, from the freedom files, this is just food for thought.
http://bugmenot.com/register.php
Finally, because I just got my copy in the mail, a section of mediabistro's daily list of appalling media news...
WAPO'S ADMISSION NOT ENOUGH?
Greg Mitchell: The Iraq "mea culpa," via Howard Kurtz, contained more excuses than admission of mistakes. And, crucially, no promise of corrective action. Indianapolis Star: The media's duty is to ensure all sides get their due, writes Dennis Ryerson. Al Jazeera: There has been a remarkable lack of investigative reporting and insightful editorial criticism of U.S. actions in Iraq from the illustrious home of Bernstein and Woodward, writes Bill Henderson.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/columns/pressingissues_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000612630
http://www.indystar.com/articles/6/170311-7756-021.html
http://www.aljazeerah.info/Opinion%20editorials/2004%20opinions/August/16%20o/All%20the%20Truth%20By%20Bill%20Henderson.htm
