It Either Kills You Or It's Good For You

I’m still here, but I don’t feel any healthier since I started blogging. First they said it would kill you, now they say it’s good for you. I’m inclined to believe the later, otherwise why are there so many bloggers out there? Wouldn't they all be dead?

From Blogging--It's Good for You by Jessica Wapner:

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

Read the rest here.

For me there is no more stressful experience than George W. Bush being president.

Will The United States Be Next?

There are protests in Europe concerning high oil prices. Will the protests spread to the United States? My guess is no. We are too lazy and apathetic.

From Europe fuel protests spread wider:

Fuel protests triggered by rising oil prices have spread to more countries across Europe, with thousands of fishermen on strike.

Union leaders said Portugal's entire coastal fleet stayed in port on Friday, while in Spain, 7,000 fishermen held protests at the agriculture ministry.

French fishermen have been protesting for weeks, with Belgian and Italian colleagues also involved.

UK and Dutch lorry drivers held similar protests earlier this week.

The strike reflects anger at the rising cost of fuel, with oil prices above $130 (83.40 euros; £65.80) a barrel.

Trade unions say the cost of diesel has become prohibitively high, after rising 300% over the past five years.

Read the rest here.

Greedy Immoral Bastards

You would think that the United States would agree with the other 111 countries around the world that think that cluster bombs are bad. Who are the real terrorists of the world? What is wrong with the United States? Greedy, immoral bastards, that’s what we are. The United States is not civilized, it is barbaric. We say we are the good guys but we really aren't.

From Countries agree cluster bomb ban:

More than 100 countries attending a conference in Dublin, Ireland formally adopted a treaty Friday to ban cluster bombs -- a large, unreliable and inaccurate weapon that often affects civilians long after the end of armed conflict.

The countries agreed never to use cluster munitions or the explosive bomblets they contain, and they also agreed never to develop, acquire, retain or transfer cluster munitions, according to the official treaty document.

The 111 countries attending the two-week meeting agreed to the treaty Wednesday but formally signed it Friday.

The countries said they are "deeply concerned" about civilians suffering the long-term effects of cluster bombs.

Some of the biggest makers and users of cluster bombs cited by human rights groups -- such as the United States, Russia, China and Israel -- were not involved in the talks and did not sign the accord. Organizers expressed hope that those nations would nevertheless be pressured into compliance.

Laos is the most affected country. Millions of bomblets dropped during the Vietnam War continue to kill civilians more than three decades later.

Read more here.

Oh yea, I almost forgot: God Damn America. (“for killing innocent people”)

Bush Bashers

If I was George W. Bush I would have resigned out of shame a long time ago.

From Not Everyone Is Hailing the Chief at This Commencement by Dan Eggen:

President Bush was probably expecting a warm welcome at Furman University, a small Baptist-rooted school in Greenville, S.C., where he is delivering the commencement address on Saturday.

It hasn't quite turned out that way.

More than 200 faculty members and students signed a letter this month criticizing the Bush administration's policies on the Iraq war, secret interrogations, the environment and other issues. The letter says that although it would ordinarily be "an honor" to host a president, "these are not ordinary circumstances."

"We are ashamed of these actions of this administration," the letter reads, after listing objections to Bush. "Because we love this country and the ideals it stands for, we accept our civic responsibility to speak out against these actions that violate American values."

Read the rest here.

Two hundred against Bush, but five hundred for him. I don’t understand how anyone can be pro Bush. The times they are a-crazy.

Electronic Paper

From Working Knowledge: Inside the Kindle E-Book Reader by Stuart F. Brown:

More and more people are gazing at electronic-book readers—lightweight slates about the size of a thin paper­back that can store up to 200 downloaded books. Although prior generations fizzled, Sony’s Reader, introduced in 2006, and Amazon’s Kindle, which debuted last year, are both selling well. The key difference is the screen.

Read the rest here.

No! No! No!

I am tired of reading things like this:

From Atheist group members object to City Council meeting prayers:

"I, for one, am sick and tired of the vocal minority," said Councilman Doug Thomason, who said he is a Methodist. "I'm no religious fanatic, but this country was founded on Christian principles, and we've gone so far away from that that it's mind-boggling.

This country was not founded on Christian principles, it was founded on Enlightenment principles. We are not a Christian nation. We are an “everything” (as in all religions or no religion) nation.

Perhaps President Bush Should Still Be In School

From Bush says country must not lose its nerve in Iraq by Ben Feller:

President Bush said Wednesday that rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan is proving difficult as the wars rage on, and "we're learning as we go."

And they say that Barack Obama lacks experience. At least he was smart enough to say we shouldn’t invade Iraq.

Something Must Be Wrong With Me Today

I usually disagree with Glenn Beck, in fact I think he’s an insensitive jerk. However, he has written an opinion article that I think I mostly agree with. I have read it carefully, trying to find some hidden meaning. So far nothing comes to me. Something must be wrong with me today if I find myself agreeing with Glenn Beck.

From Commentary: Slavery alive and well in US by Glenn Beck:

"Jobs Americans just won't do."

I can't stand that line, but more importantly, I don't even understand it.

Americans spend months at a time at sea fishing for crab or drilling for oil; two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Americans clean bathrooms, subway stations and crime scenes. Americans man toll booths, pave roads, embalm bodies and inspect sewers. Yet people really expect us to believe that they won't pick strawberries or oranges?

It just doesn't add up.

I’m in complete agreement with this. No argument from me about this.

Mr. Beck then says:

I know this will come as a huge shock to those who only like to hurl insults, but I think we should be issuing more work visas, more student visas, and more green cards. And I think we should cut the red tape and bureaucracy that's constantly blocking the front door.

Again, something I agree with. In the past I’ve called Mr. Beck a moron and a self-centered jerk. Am I missing something here? Is Beck talking in code or something?

This part from Beck confuses me:

So why don't they just hire Americans instead? Good question. Her answer? "This is a hard job."

I find it pretty hard to believe that there aren't a few college students who wouldn't want to drive around California and work outdoors all summer, but let's assume that's true. Let's even assume that none of the other 1.1 million Californians who were unemployed as of April are interested in the job either. Isn't anyone wondering why?

Well I'm not a labor consultant, but I am a thinker. Maybe the problem isn't that the job they're offering is "too hard," maybe it's that the wages they're offering are "too low."

No one paints the undersides of bridges for fun, they do it for the money. That's how capitalism works.

How capitalism does NOT work is when we collectively look the other way as companies exploit illegal labor for their own benefit.

The unspoken truth is that these businesses don't hire illegal aliens because they can't find American workers, they hire illegal aliens because they don't want American workers. And it has nothing to do with wages.

Illegal aliens mean no workers comp claims, no age, race or sex discrimination lawsuits, no healthcare premiums, no unions, and no demands for raises, vacations or bigger offices. In fact, illegal immigrants are the perfect employees because they're not employees at all; they're corporate slaves.

How can Mr. Beck quickly go from wages being “too low” to “it has nothing to do with wages”? I agree with everything Beck says about unions, healthcare premiums, etc. However, I think that wages are still a part of the equation here.

Next Mr. Beck writes:

Economist Dr. Thomas Sowell once said "Blacks were not enslaved because they were black, but because they were available." Can't the exact same thing be said for illegal aliens? They're available and we're allowing them to be exploited in the name of cheap groceries.

The Sowell quote is one of the stupidest things I have ever read. Blacks were enslaved because they were thought of as sub-human and ignorant. Blacks were not available, they had to be shipped in on slave ships.

I’m not sure what Mr. Beck means by this:

The problem with the debate over illegal immigration right now is that special interests have been successful in making us think with our hearts instead of our brains. We've been persuaded to believe that real compassion can only be achieved by following their agenda. But look where that's gotten us. And more importantly, look where that's gotten the people they're supposedly trying to help.

Perhaps this is where I am unable to decipher the code.

You can read more here.

Unbelievably High Gas Prices

Whenever I think about high gas prices I think of how much lower the price of oil was before George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq. I don’t think the rise in the cost of oil since then is a coincidence, but I’m no expert.

From I'm no expert, but ... by Don Kuehn:

The media and the public appear to be slow in grasping the reason behind today's unbelievably high gas prices. Now, I'm no expert but, it seems fairly simple: Oil is priced on world markets in U.S. dollars, and there hasn't been a weaker dollar in recent history.

The Bush administration's monetary policies, the seeming incompetence of Secretary Henry Paulson at the Treasury Department and the tinkering of the Federal Reserve have combined to wrench most of the buying power out of the greenback. There has even been speculation that commodity traders could consider dumping the dollar and switching to the euro as the basis for pricing crude oil. What a blow that would be to American economic supremacy and prestige around the world.

Oil cost around $3 a barrel in 1970, and the dollar was strong. Then OPEC began manipulating oil prices by controlling supply. Sure, there were spikes in prices—a peak at about $38 in the early 1980s dropped to under $10 in 1997. Oil "soared" to $30 before dropping sharply after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks ($18 a barrel), according to the Energy Information Administration.

But since then, throughout the Bush administration, oil has climbed steadily until recently going through the roof, surpassing $113 a barrel. And the dollar has slumped.

Read the rest here.

The Crucifix In Quebec

From Oh, Canada!: Quebec Politicians Cling To Crucifix After Diversity Report by Joseph L. Conn:

On the whole, Canadians seem pretty well behaved. So during a vacation visit to Montreal last weekend, I was surprised to find the province of Quebec in the middle of a church-state brouhaha.

According to the Montreal Gazette, a special commission assigned to look into issues of religious liberty, minority rights and immigration had come out with a startling recommendation. In the interests of what the authors called “open secularism,” the report recommended the removal of the crucifix prominently displayed over the speaker’s chair in the National Assembly.

The proposal was only one of 37 recommendations from McGill University philosopher Charles Taylor and University of Quebec sociologist Gerard Bouchard. But it sparked an intense emotional response.

Read more here.

The U.S. Ranks Right Up There With China And Russia

Way to go United States. As a violator of human rights we rank right up there with China and Russia. Can you say “We’re number one!”? Well maybe not number one when it comes to human rights violations, but we should be ashamed of ourselves for being mentioned at all.

From China, Russia, U.S. focus of human rights report:

Human rights and freedom of the press in China, the detention of terrorist suspects by the United States and Russia's treatment of political dissent are the focus of scrutiny in Amnesty International's annual report, released Wednesday, which looks at the state of human rights around the world.

As it has in previous annual reports, Amnesty criticized the detention of hundreds of foreign nationals at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

"The USA must close Guantanamo detention camp and secret detention centers, prosecute the detainees under fair trial standards or release them, and unequivocally reject the use of torture and ill-treatment," Amnesty said.

The group noted that Guantanamo detainees are held indefinitely, most of them without charge and without recourse to U.S. courts. Most detainees there are held in isolation in maximum-security facilities, heightening concerns for their physical and mental health, Amnesty said.

In fact, more is written on the United States than any other country listed in the report. Asked about that at a press conference Tuesday, Khan said, "We certainly devote a lot of time to Sudan, to China, to Zimbabwe and other countries. But we look to the U.S. to provide leadership around the world. Governments around the world look to the United States as a role model for their own behavior."

Read more here.

We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us

Does George W. Bush have any sense of what irony is? His words so often sound like he is referring to himself when he is in fact referring to those he considers to be our enemies.

From Bush compares Iraq, Afghan wars to World War II:

President Bush told the 2008 graduating class at the U.S. Air Force Academy on Wednesday that the "only way America could lose the war on terror is if we defeat ourselves."

Speaking on a cloudy day at Falcon Stadium, the president compared the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to America's earlier conflicts, particularly World War II.

"Our nation is once again contending with an ideology that seeks to sow anger, hatred and despair: the ideology of Islamic extremism," he said.

"In today's struggle, we are once again facing evil men who despise freedom and despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.”

Read the rest here.

It seems to me he could have just as easily said: "Our nation is once again contending with an ideology that seeks to sow anger, hatred and despair: the ideology of Bush extremism."

And it seems to me that any Iraqi could easily say: "In today's struggle, we are once again facing evil men who despise freedom and despise Iraq and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.”

Actually I’m not sure what Bush is talking about when he says “… and despise America and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.” It seems like he is talking about America’s violent rule. A slip of the tongue on Bush’s part?

John Hagee Is Freakin' Nuts

Hagee - God Will Unleash Terrorists on U.S. for Israel Policy:

What kind of god would care about giving up land for peace? I can not find any reference in Joel 3:2 about “Any nation that tries to get Israel to divide my land, I will bring it into judgment.” Why does Hagee believe in a god that would side with terrorists, for Christ's sake?

John McCain scares the hell out of me.

"The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder"

If there was any justice it would happen.

From State and Local Prosecutors Can Take Down Bush by David Swanson:

Former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's new book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" is not just a particularly good addition to the ten-foot high stack of rants against Bush's crimes and abuses of power. It's also an argument that state and local prosecutors have the necessary jurisdiction to try Bush for murder and for conspiracy to commit murder, at least once he's out of office.

This is not a scheme based on some harebrained theory that Bush faked the suicide of a former staffer. In fact, this scheme is based on nothing more than universally accepted facts. Bush chose to send US troops into Iraq. He did not do so in self-defense or as a last resort or under an international mandate, but rather went out of his way to concoct false motives for war and to rush its launching. By sending troops into war, Bush was knowingly and needlessly but certainly condemning some of them to death. The Iraqis who killed those soldiers in predictable and legally justifiable defense of their country fall into the legal category of "third-party innocent agent." This does not mean they are innocent, but rather that their actions do nothing to lessen the guilt of George W. Bush as murderer of those soldiers. Bugliosi calls this the "vicarious liability rule of conspiracy."

Read the rest here.

Rolling Eyes

I’m so confused. I thought President Bush was against negotiating and “appeasement.” I thought President Bush was not supposed to be a flip-flopper. I just don’t know what to make of this news.

From Mid-Level Official Steered U.S. Shift On North Korea by Glenn Kessler:

Early in President Bush's second term, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice convened a series of strategy sessions on how to persuade North Korea to surrender its nuclear weapons programs. One key official, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill, remained largely silent, four participants said, except to pipe up periodically with the same refrain.

"If you just let me go to Pyongyang, I'll get you a deal," the career Foreign Service officer said, prompting others to roll their eyes and move on.

In the twilight of the Bush presidency, the nuclear agreement that Hill has tirelessly pursued over the past three years has emerged as Bush's best hope for a lasting foreign policy success. In the process, Hill has become the public face of an extraordinary 180-degree policy shift on North Korea, from confrontation to accommodation.

Read the rest here.

Just Because It's Lots Of Fun

Jimmie And Stevie Ray Vaughan:

The Atheism Tapes

In 2003 Jonathan Miller began filming Atheism - A Rough History Of Disbelief. Several months ago I saw this series broadcast on PBS. I found it to be quite interesting. It was originally produced for the BBC. Mr. Miller had much more material than was originally broadcast on that series. More of it can now be seen on The Atheism Tapes. The Atheism Tapes features six 30-minute programs spread across two discs. Unfortunately Atheism - A Rough History Of Disbelief is not available on DVD.

From Atheism Tapes by Chris Neilson:

The Atheism Tapes spends only a few minutes on the well-worn arguments against God. These are handled by the British philosopher Colin McGinn, while Miller and he are kicked back on his overstuffed couch in his New York apartment. McGinn goes through the No-Evidence Argument, or as Bertrand Russell put it, why there's no more reason to believe in the God of Abraham than the Greek Gods (or to give it a more modern twist, the Flying Spaghetti Monster). After detailing that, McGinn makes short work of the medieval Ontological Argument for God (In short, God is perfect. Existence is more perfect than non-existance, therefore God must exist), before settling on the problem of evil which many regard as the strongest argument against belief in a loving God.

McGinn, like British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and American physicist Steven Weinberg embraces the antitheist label. "Antitheism is opposition to theism. I am an antitheist, because I believe that religion is harmful in human life. So I am an antitheist. I'm not just an atheist . . . . I'm actively opposed to it", McGinn exclaims.

Read the rest of the review here.

Heck Of A Job Bushie

Do we really need more proof that George W. Bush is the most incompetent human being on the face of the planet? Every day it seems we have more proof. After all this time, could there be any more heartbreaking news about the aftermath of Katrina? Unfortunately, yes. Again I ask the question, can we impeach him now? What more will it take? Can’t we stop him before he does more harm? PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!!! I’m down on my knees and begging! If there ever was a president that deserved to be impeached, it is George W. Bush!!!

From Children in Katrina trailers may face lifelong ailments by John Moreno Gonzales:

The anguish of Hurricane Katrina should have ended for Gina Bouffanie and her daughter when they left their FEMA trailer. But with each hospital visit and each labored breath her child takes, the young mother fears it has just begun.

"It's just the sickness. I can't get rid of it. It just keeps coming back," said Bouffanie, 27, who was pregnant with her now 15-month-old daughter, Lexi, while living in the trailer. "I'm just like, `Oh God, I wish like this would stop.' If I had known it would get her sick, I wouldn't have stayed in the trailer for so long."

The girl, diagnosed with severe asthma, must inhale medicine from a breathing device.

Doctors cannot conclusively link her asthma to the trailer. But they fear she is among tens of thousands of youngsters who may face lifelong health problems because the temporary housing supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency contained formaldehyde fumes up to five times the safe level.

Read the rest here.

This Is Weird

In one Spanish village they like to take great risks in order to ward off something that doesn't exist.

From Spanish village holds baby jump:

Grown men have been leaping over rows of babies in the north Spanish village of Castrillo de Murcia in an annual rite meant to ward off the Devil.

Jumpers dressed as the Colacho, a character representing the Devil, bounded over clusters of bemused infants laid out on mattresses.

Nobody appeared to get hurt in this year's festive event.

Castrillo, near Burgos, has been holding the event since 1620 to mark the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi.

Read the rest here.

Genuine Madmen And Non-Crazy People

From The Appeasement Paradox by Matthew Yglesias:

That's all fine, but the premise of the appeasement frame is that we're dealing with hardcore irrational ideologues who'll stop at nothing to destroy us. Adolf Hitler actually was such a man and, not coincidentally, he wasn't particularly interested in acquiring the international prestige and legitimacy associated with a sit-down with English politicians -- he wanted a giant war. In general, the right wants us to believe that world history is littered with countries whose rulers, like Hitler, will stop at nothing short of world-domination but who also spend their evenings fondly dreaming of the chance at a White House photo-op. But that’s absurd. One shouldn’t, of course, strike a bad bargain with a foreign country just because you held a meeting, but to fear that the very act of holding a meeting is a blow to the national interest is silly. Genuine madmen aren’t going to care what “signal” we’re sending, and non-crazy people can be productively bargained with.

War and conflict are incredibly costly and destructive. Wise statesmen recognize the negative-sum nature of relating to foreigners primarily by blowing them up. Moreover, it's usually possible to reach agreements with even very bad people that both sides deem preferable to fighting. In refusing to even contemplate negotiations, conservatives are being flatly irrational, spurning offers of a half a loaf for no real reason.

They're acting, in short, like the demonic foreigners of their own anti-appeasement rhetoric, impervious to objective reality and hell-bent on total victory no matter what the cost or how dim the prospects of success.

Read more here.

Supporting Our Troops The John McCain Way

My thought on this Memorial Day. Most politicians m