Have you ever visited Cyber Cemetery in Texas? What an amazing place. It's where old government reports go to be forgotten and die.
There are some very interesting reports buried alive in this cemetery. And we paid for them. There's probably no greater waste of time and money than being appointed to a government task force. Before I realized that the report had to have been completed according to its charge or law, I looked for Obamacare (zero) and then tried Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (zero). There is a Citizens' Health Care Working Group Final Recommendations dated 2006 commissioned in 2005. Could be a blue print for the overblown, bloated Obamacare 2,300 page bill that no one in Congress read but passed in March 2010.
The 2001 Social Security Commission, a big issue for President Bush, has many buried reports in this cemetery. The 9/11 attacks sort of bumped that off the domestic agenda.
Then after browsing by date, I saw that there was only one report completed in 2009. Considering the number of programs, regulations, and committee reports railroaded through the Obama Administration I thought that a bit light, but perhaps the librarians are behind in their cataloging. Need some ARRA money, maybe.
That final report was the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act and because none of the links did anything but loop and lie, I went into the WaPo archives which announced it's final report. It seems that 60,500 (approximate number) men are raped in prison each year, some on very short mild sentences and very young, but who are so traumatized they don't report it. Happens in the homosexual community too, but again, most male on male rapes are not reported.
So it appears that something else needs to come out of the closet, gay violence. For every gay man who is harrassed, teased, or taunted as reported in the media, there must be hundreds who are physically and sexually assaulted by other gays with no consequences and no publicity.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011
It's going around--a joke about depression
This has been making the rounds at least since August, but I just got it today from Bill.
WHY I AM DEPRESSED......
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."
Nearly 75 years ago (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."
Now Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels, and mortgaged the Promised Land!
I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc. . . I called Lifeline.
Got a call center in Pakistan. I told them I was suicidal.
They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.
WHY I AM DEPRESSED......
Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."
Nearly 75 years ago (when Welfare was introduced) Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."
Now Obama has stolen your shovel, taxed your asses, raised the price of Camels, and mortgaged the Promised Land!
I was so depressed last night thinking about Health Care Plans, the economy, the wars, lost jobs, savings, Social Security, retirement funds, etc. . . I called Lifeline.
Got a call center in Pakistan. I told them I was suicidal.
They got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck.
Labels:
humor
Addressing the authors of Addressing food insecurity
This is the letter I wrote to the authors of "Addressing Food Insecurity; Freedom from Want, Freedom From Fear," JAMA, Dec. 1, 2010, Vol 304, No. 21, pp. 2405-06. They press all the hot buttons--a reference to FDR, the vision of hungry children, statistics pulled from the air, and citing the American Dietetic Association, and the United Nations declaration of human rights, but not the real causes of hunger.
Dr. Samuel Bitton, MD
Cohen Children's Medical Center of NY
Dr. Jesse Roth, MD
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
of The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New Hyde Park and Manhasset, New York
Dear Doctors Bitton and Roth:
"Food insecurity" is a buzz word I wish the government hadn't developed (2006) to expand the definition of hunger to include reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet or a disrupted eating pattern. Also, your launch paragraph's reference to FDR who lengthened the Great Depression with numerous social programs (now being imitated by President Obama in a variety of take-overs, stimulus packages and bail-outs), is telling. His "freedom from fear" has expanded to Americans fearing the expansion of our government with little hope of being freed from that fear.
But let's address hunger. The number one cause for poverty and hunger among children is their unmarried mother who hasn't completed her education before having babies. Or you could put the responsibility on men instead of women--lack of the biological father in the home--serial boyfriends and sugar daddies don't count, nor does Uncle Sam as a step-father. Keep in mind, this term was developed during the boom economy when the USDA was running out of truly hungry people! Now with government extended unemployment, there are people in food lines who never expected to be there. Then if we look at other causes of low income which could result in "reduced quality, variety and desirability" of the diet, you'll see that the graph for income pretty closely overlays the graph for IQ. Unless you plan to physically remove all children from households where the parents range below a certain IQ level, I think you'll need to rethink your plan to have doctors screen for the "negative health consequences" of nutritionally poor choices.
We could save billions of USDA dollars a year with a simple accessible van service (staffed by the people we remove from USDA SNAP positions) to drive people without transportation to a super market. We don't need elaborate systems of farmers' markets brought into the inner city, or even more school feeding programs. Many people of limited means simply can't get to a well stocked grocery to buy basic goods--10 lbs of potatoes, peppers, green beans, a gallon or two of milk, bread, flour, sugar, fruit juice, eggs, etc. Have you ever tried lugging home a gallon of milk on a bus? I know my plan would cause a lot of unemployment in the USDA funded programs both government and non-profit who live on ever-expanding government grants, but maybe they could go back to college and become doctors.
Dr. Samuel Bitton, MD
Cohen Children's Medical Center of NY
Dr. Jesse Roth, MD
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
of The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New Hyde Park and Manhasset, New York
Dear Doctors Bitton and Roth:
"Food insecurity" is a buzz word I wish the government hadn't developed (2006) to expand the definition of hunger to include reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet or a disrupted eating pattern. Also, your launch paragraph's reference to FDR who lengthened the Great Depression with numerous social programs (now being imitated by President Obama in a variety of take-overs, stimulus packages and bail-outs), is telling. His "freedom from fear" has expanded to Americans fearing the expansion of our government with little hope of being freed from that fear.
But let's address hunger. The number one cause for poverty and hunger among children is their unmarried mother who hasn't completed her education before having babies. Or you could put the responsibility on men instead of women--lack of the biological father in the home--serial boyfriends and sugar daddies don't count, nor does Uncle Sam as a step-father. Keep in mind, this term was developed during the boom economy when the USDA was running out of truly hungry people! Now with government extended unemployment, there are people in food lines who never expected to be there. Then if we look at other causes of low income which could result in "reduced quality, variety and desirability" of the diet, you'll see that the graph for income pretty closely overlays the graph for IQ. Unless you plan to physically remove all children from households where the parents range below a certain IQ level, I think you'll need to rethink your plan to have doctors screen for the "negative health consequences" of nutritionally poor choices.
We could save billions of USDA dollars a year with a simple accessible van service (staffed by the people we remove from USDA SNAP positions) to drive people without transportation to a super market. We don't need elaborate systems of farmers' markets brought into the inner city, or even more school feeding programs. Many people of limited means simply can't get to a well stocked grocery to buy basic goods--10 lbs of potatoes, peppers, green beans, a gallon or two of milk, bread, flour, sugar, fruit juice, eggs, etc. Have you ever tried lugging home a gallon of milk on a bus? I know my plan would cause a lot of unemployment in the USDA funded programs both government and non-profit who live on ever-expanding government grants, but maybe they could go back to college and become doctors.
Labels:
federal government,
food insecurity,
hunger,
JAMA,
SNAP,
USDA
Food insecurity--a buzz word for government waste
The December 1, 2010 JAMA has a commentary by two MDs on "Addressing food insecurity; freedom from want, freedom from fear," beginning with an appeal of the four freedoms of Franklin Roosevelt (4 term president who extended the Great Depression and took us into WWII). The four freedoms were made famous by Norman Rockwell's paintings for Saturday Evening Post in 1943. The authors, with no citation and apparently very young, claim that the number of underfed Americans, aka "food insecurity," is on the increase.* Let's set aside for a moment that term, which is so squishy it might as well be a pool of quicksand. Two of the four freedoms, freedom from hunger and freedom from fear, if they haven't been achieved through the market, will never be achieved under our present hyper-regulated economy.
First, "hunger" must continue in order to support a massive government bureaucracy that was created at the end of WWII to maintain prices for farmers who had geared up to support the war effort. Before that, hunger was very much a local problem handled at the town and county level or by charitable organizations. Second, FDR's interference in the economy in the 1930s, beginning with extending some of Hoover's social policies, made the Great Depression worse. It's bizarre that Bernanke and Obama and their economic clutch of advisors think more of a bad thing is better, and they are just continuing a failed solution that didn't work then, and won't work now. Third, we'll hardly get rid of fear because over half of the American public fears the encroaching, nanny state government, most specifically losing their representation in Congress to either an over-bearing law making Supreme Court, or an overarching Presidency who just appoints whoevery he wants without confirmation or election to put in place a wide variety of regulations affecting the environment, the economy, the education system, the health-care system, or social behavior. Now that is REAL FEAR! It's much more substantial than lack of calories or fresh fruits and vegetables.
I have some Great Depression balanced and nutritious ideas for today's "food insecure." First, eat at home; second, learn some basic cook skills.
**This term was introduced in 2006 by the USDA to indicate reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet, or disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake. No hunger is necessary for this term to apply.
First, "hunger" must continue in order to support a massive government bureaucracy that was created at the end of WWII to maintain prices for farmers who had geared up to support the war effort. Before that, hunger was very much a local problem handled at the town and county level or by charitable organizations. Second, FDR's interference in the economy in the 1930s, beginning with extending some of Hoover's social policies, made the Great Depression worse. It's bizarre that Bernanke and Obama and their economic clutch of advisors think more of a bad thing is better, and they are just continuing a failed solution that didn't work then, and won't work now. Third, we'll hardly get rid of fear because over half of the American public fears the encroaching, nanny state government, most specifically losing their representation in Congress to either an over-bearing law making Supreme Court, or an overarching Presidency who just appoints whoevery he wants without confirmation or election to put in place a wide variety of regulations affecting the environment, the economy, the education system, the health-care system, or social behavior. Now that is REAL FEAR! It's much more substantial than lack of calories or fresh fruits and vegetables.
I have some Great Depression balanced and nutritious ideas for today's "food insecure." First, eat at home; second, learn some basic cook skills.
Red beans and rice
navy beans cooked all day with a soup bone
Macaroni and cheese
Scalloped potatoes
Cooked oatmeal with raisins
Bread pudding
Water instead of soft drinks
A mess of greens--collard, turnip, kale, etc. as a side dish
Labels:
FDR,
Great Depression,
hunger,
USDA
Sunday, January 02, 2011
What Muslims in Britain are saying about killing Christians in Egypt
At least 21 people attending a Christian Mass were killed and 79 injured when a bomb exploded outside an Alexandria church in the first hour of the New Year, Egyptian officials said.
The blast struck Coptic worshipers as they exited the Qidiseen, or saints, church just after a New Year's Eve Mass in the eastern section of Alexandria, the ancient city along Egypt's Mediterranean coast. LA Times
This ain't pretty, folks. Hold your nose. Link.
copts are a disgusting people who worship a skinny anonymous jew nailed to a cross
May Allah guide all those whom we have failed to convert the last 1400 years or have them all kill each other for us or make the Muslims do it with valid excuse ameen, and may Allah protect the weak amongst the muslims.
The blast struck Coptic worshipers as they exited the Qidiseen, or saints, church just after a New Year's Eve Mass in the eastern section of Alexandria, the ancient city along Egypt's Mediterranean coast. LA Times
This ain't pretty, folks. Hold your nose. Link.
copts are a disgusting people who worship a skinny anonymous jew nailed to a cross
May Allah guide all those whom we have failed to convert the last 1400 years or have them all kill each other for us or make the Muslims do it with valid excuse ameen, and may Allah protect the weak amongst the muslims.
Labels:
Christians,
Egypt,
Islam,
Muslims,
terrorism
Christmas and Western Civilization -- what it really means
Christmas does a lot for the non-Christian, too, and it's not just a boost to the economy or lovely art and music.
"The celebration of Christmas has been a powerful teacher of the dignity of the human person. For Christians, Christmas is the feast of the Incarnation—the celebration of the moment when God became a man in order to live among men. It shows that God thought of human beings as worthy of being saved, and that he sought to save them by taking on humanity in a perfected form, thus opening the way to their own perfection. Christian belief in the Incarnation is thus inseparable from belief in the objective, and even transcendent, value of the human race as a whole, and of each human person as an individual.
Belief in the Incarnation further implies a certain egalitarianism that has also been important to Western Civilization. According to Christian teaching, all are sinners, and none can claim to be fundamentally superior to others in this important respect. Conversely, and more positively, God wanted to save all people, of all ranks, from their sins and to open the way to a lofty destiny for them all. Thus the Christian understanding of the Incarnation has been important in fostering the West’s sense that, whatever social order may require in terms of hierarchy and rank, there is an irreducible moral equality of all human beings: all are owed a certain respect, even the lowliest among us."
Christmas and Western Civilization « Public Discourse
"The celebration of Christmas has been a powerful teacher of the dignity of the human person. For Christians, Christmas is the feast of the Incarnation—the celebration of the moment when God became a man in order to live among men. It shows that God thought of human beings as worthy of being saved, and that he sought to save them by taking on humanity in a perfected form, thus opening the way to their own perfection. Christian belief in the Incarnation is thus inseparable from belief in the objective, and even transcendent, value of the human race as a whole, and of each human person as an individual.
Belief in the Incarnation further implies a certain egalitarianism that has also been important to Western Civilization. According to Christian teaching, all are sinners, and none can claim to be fundamentally superior to others in this important respect. Conversely, and more positively, God wanted to save all people, of all ranks, from their sins and to open the way to a lofty destiny for them all. Thus the Christian understanding of the Incarnation has been important in fostering the West’s sense that, whatever social order may require in terms of hierarchy and rank, there is an irreducible moral equality of all human beings: all are owed a certain respect, even the lowliest among us."
Christmas and Western Civilization « Public Discourse
Labels:
Christmas
Basic Economics--Thomas Sowell
No charts, graphs, and just plain English. New revised edition. How is wealth created? (Hint: not by government). The housing bust began the current melt down. Politicians created this by interferring and changing the rules (more home ownership, more affordable housing). Stimulus and bailouts in both the Bush and Obama administrations created boondoggles and didn't help the economy. Lending went down when money was given to banks. GM bailout? Bernanke's QE-2 (printing money)? What was he thinking? Bush tax cuts extension are an acknowledgement by Obama that his policies have failed--that cuts are superior to handing out money for stimulating the economy. All spending begins in the House--Clinton had a Republican Congress, so he can't take any credit for that era's tax policy or deficit reduction. 17% of GDP to health care. Americans chose much of that spending, so how can the government say it's wrong for us to have less waiting time, nicer hospitals, and more available drugs? We pay more and get more says Sowell--it's that simple. People buy what they want. If you're a Swede and you want more or better or faster, you can leave the country to get it, but you won't get it there. About 50% of our health care is already socialized--Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP--is this a good system or is there corruption and graft that could be reduced?
Watch the interview with Thomas Sowell.
Watch the interview with Thomas Sowell.
Labels:
economics,
Thomas Sowell
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Toxic reusable bags
My primary concern about all these "reusable bags" was they all bear the "Made in China" tag, and I thought it really strange with all the hullabalu about the environment why the greenies thought China's coal fired factories were so much cleaner than ours. It didn't occur to me that they might have toxic material, but why not after toxic paint on toys and toxic ingredients in pet food? A true greenie would sew her own from cotton grown in the USA. Plus these things can get really scummy after a few uses especially if the meat or dairy leaks.
Shoppers shrug off fears about toxic reusable bags | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
Shoppers shrug off fears about toxic reusable bags | The Daily Caller - Breaking News, Opinion, Research, and Entertainment
Global warming causes blizzards theory of book sales
"In the two months, in just two months President Bush's “Decision Points” memoir has sold almost as many copies as President Clinton’s “My Life” sold in two years." What has happened she asks Alex Pareene, of Salone.
Unfortunately, Norah O'Donnell of MSNBC is interviewing an idiot who apparently doesn't realize that Amazon and B&N were selling books online in 2004. And he apparently can't grasp that President Obama has made the patriotic Bush look extremely good for Americans hungering for a few crumbs of approval.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/01/msnbc-bushs-book-popular-because-he-was-so-hated#ixzz19oCgF5xC
Unfortunately, Norah O'Donnell of MSNBC is interviewing an idiot who apparently doesn't realize that Amazon and B&N were selling books online in 2004. And he apparently can't grasp that President Obama has made the patriotic Bush look extremely good for Americans hungering for a few crumbs of approval.
Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/01/01/msnbc-bushs-book-popular-because-he-was-so-hated#ixzz19oCgF5xC
Labels:
book sales,
MSNBC,
Norah O'Donnell,
President George W. Bush
Happy New Year 1884
"By 1883, Mount Morris [College] had entered a very difficult period. Leadership of the college was crippled by [President] Stein's sudden departure and [D.L.]Miller's lack of academic training. The college also faced a financial crisis, one which was so critical that negotiations were begun for the sale of the property to the Studebaker wagon manufacturing company. However, this move created concern and anger among students and the citizens of the town, resulting in the boards search for a president and another financial commitment to assure the college's future. J.G. Royer, superintendent of schools at Monticello, Indiana and founder of the Burnett's Creek Normal School, came to Mount Morris, invested heavily of his own funds in the college, and accepted the presidency of the institution. He served for the next twenty years as president of Mount Morris College and placed it on a firm foundation."
Mt. Morris the town (college closed in 1932) needs such a financial angel to rescue it today.
Labels:
J. G. Royer,
Mt. Morris College,
Studebaker Brothers
Friday, December 31, 2010
Is it you or is it WalMart?
Twenty two million Americans have diabetes. Logan Co. WV has the highest rate of type 2 diabetes in the country and their WalMart sells more snack cakes than any WalMart in the World! Whose responsibility is it to consume fewer snack cakes for this at risk population group? The people purchasing and eating or the WalMart stocking and selling?
If you are a liberal (why are you reading this blog) you probably change the question to something about should WalMart be allowed to shut down Mom and Pop stores, or does WalMart cover its part time employees with insurance. If you're a conservative, you just say, it's the individual's responsibility to control her diet.
But to complicate this even further, worldwide 330 million people have diabetes, and most don't live anywhere near a WalMart. So whose fault is that?
If you are a liberal (why are you reading this blog) you probably change the question to something about should WalMart be allowed to shut down Mom and Pop stores, or does WalMart cover its part time employees with insurance. If you're a conservative, you just say, it's the individual's responsibility to control her diet.
But to complicate this even further, worldwide 330 million people have diabetes, and most don't live anywhere near a WalMart. So whose fault is that?
Labels:
diabetes,
personal responsibility,
WalMart
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Shopping when she had no money
I was at Macy's today to exchange a gift. Because I needed to try on the dress after the clerk determined the price, I lost my place in line. When I came back I was behind a woman with 8-10 garments--sweaters, tops and whatever you call the long thingy you wear over leggings. Her total came to about $100, which I would say was a great deal considering the quantity she bought. "I don't think I've ever bought that much at one time," I commented to her. She laughed. "You should see what I buy when I have money!" She gave me her card--she was a real estate agent. Wish I could see what she was going to take out of her closet.
Labels:
fashion,
real estate,
shopping
JAMA seeking articles on terrorism
According to today's Wall St. Journal, Islamic terrorists have been engaged in their annual tradition of blowing up Christian churches. "An attack by a radical Muslim sect on two churches in northern Nigeria killed six people on Christmas Eve. On the Philippines' Jolo Island, home to al Qaeda-linked terrorists, a chapel bombing during Christmas Mass injured 11." You'll remember last year's wealthy, educated Christmas bomber from Nigeria who came close to blowing up Detroit and was on the terror watch-list. Somali terrorists are threatening Barack Obama if he doesn't embrace Islam, so I'm sure scenes of his Christmas worship in Hawaii will not make them happy. Athens and Denmark are under attack by Islamic extremists.
JAMA is going to specifically include terrorism in its special theme issue on violence due August 11, 2011 for the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2010. Since they are encouraging any article on the health effects of terrorism as well as any topic related to violence, war, civil conflict, and human rights abuses, I sure we'll have a mixed bag of anti-American, anti-free market articles, most supported by our tax dollars through government health grants.
Terrorist attacks, according to JAMA, target civilians and that has mental health effects on the community. However, remember that any such focus has political implications since one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, as in Turks and Armenians, Serbs and Albanians, the Catholic and Protestant Irish and Russians and Chechens. So perhaps a narrower focus on what's on our mind at this time in our history--Islamic terrorism--might be appropriate?
Henninger: Popes, Atheists and Freedom - WSJ.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wealthy-quiet-unassuming-the-christmas-day-bomb-suspect-1851090.html
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/28/radical-nigerian-muslim-group-claims-terror-attacks/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/27/somali-islamist-insurgents-threaten-attack-627018837/
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,737115,00.html
JAMA is going to specifically include terrorism in its special theme issue on violence due August 11, 2011 for the 10 year anniversary of the terrorist attack of September 11, 2010. Since they are encouraging any article on the health effects of terrorism as well as any topic related to violence, war, civil conflict, and human rights abuses, I sure we'll have a mixed bag of anti-American, anti-free market articles, most supported by our tax dollars through government health grants.
Terrorist attacks, according to JAMA, target civilians and that has mental health effects on the community. However, remember that any such focus has political implications since one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, as in Turks and Armenians, Serbs and Albanians, the Catholic and Protestant Irish and Russians and Chechens. So perhaps a narrower focus on what's on our mind at this time in our history--Islamic terrorism--might be appropriate?
Henninger: Popes, Atheists and Freedom - WSJ.com
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/wealthy-quiet-unassuming-the-christmas-day-bomb-suspect-1851090.html
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/28/radical-nigerian-muslim-group-claims-terror-attacks/
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/27/somali-islamist-insurgents-threaten-attack-627018837/
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,737115,00.html
Labels:
9/11,
Christmas,
global terrorism,
JAMA
Inalienable moral and legal right to life comes before health
Eli Y. Adashi, MD, MS
Brown University
272 George St.
Providence RI 02906
Re: The right to health as the unheralded narrative of Health Care Reform, JAMA, December 15, 2010, p. 2639
Dear Dr. Adashi,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
I suppose you could stretch "Life" to include health care, but then you'd first need "life," and have to include the "right to life" as one of those rights too, and until you do, all the UN global health care standards, government regulations, and universal reforms fall flat. Once a baby is chopped up or burned alive and dropped into the trash, all the health standards in all the acts, panels, conferences and world organizations won't make a bit of difference.
Norma Bruce
Faculty Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Brown University
272 George St.
Providence RI 02906
Re: The right to health as the unheralded narrative of Health Care Reform, JAMA, December 15, 2010, p. 2639
Dear Dr. Adashi,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
I suppose you could stretch "Life" to include health care, but then you'd first need "life," and have to include the "right to life" as one of those rights too, and until you do, all the UN global health care standards, government regulations, and universal reforms fall flat. Once a baby is chopped up or burned alive and dropped into the trash, all the health standards in all the acts, panels, conferences and world organizations won't make a bit of difference.
Norma Bruce
Faculty Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Twenty years later has anything changed?
In 1990 I attended a pre-conference meeting for a White House Conference on Libraries, and I wrote in my notes (and I was a liberal then):
- ". . .libraries will be killed off too if they don't put the brakes on seeing themselves as the social change agent for the nation, believing: they can correct what the churches did wrong; they can teach what the schools didn't; they can prevent what the social workers missed; and stop what the government couldn't. . . Librarians will do more good in the long run if they leave Mapplethorp to the cultural arts commissions and instead see to it that a child can check out material on photography to become the best photographer she can be."
Labels:
1990s,
librarians
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
More unintended consequences caused by Congress
Last night's Glenn Beck program was a rerun of some features he's done on American history and the treatment of minorities and aliens, primarily by Democrats. Woodrow Wilson and the reinstatement of segregation in government employment and the military, aka, Jim Crow; Andrew Jackson and the forceable relocation of American Indians; FDR and the internment of Japanese, German and Italian Americans in camps.
And I just came across a little known problem dealing with minorities and Democrats during the FDR years that I'd never heard of: The Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934, named for two Democrats in Congress, Maryland Senator Millard E. Tydings and Alabama Representative John McDuffie. It provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution for a 10-year "transitional period" which became the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines before the granting of Philippine independence, during which the US would maintain military forces in the Philippines.
Furthermore, during this period the American President was granted the power to call into military service all military forces of the Philippine government. The act permitted the maintenance of US naval bases, within this region, for two years after independence.
The act reclassified all Filipinos that were living in the United States as aliens for the purposes of immigration to America. Filipinos were no longer allowed to work legally in the US, and a quota of 50 immigrants per year was established."
Sounds to me like the Filipinos lost much more than they gained on this one, particularly if they were already living and working in the U.S. or the Territory of Hawaii, and needed to send money home to their families.
And I just came across a little known problem dealing with minorities and Democrats during the FDR years that I'd never heard of: The Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934, named for two Democrats in Congress, Maryland Senator Millard E. Tydings and Alabama Representative John McDuffie. It provided for the drafting and guidelines of a Constitution for a 10-year "transitional period" which became the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines before the granting of Philippine independence, during which the US would maintain military forces in the Philippines.
Furthermore, during this period the American President was granted the power to call into military service all military forces of the Philippine government. The act permitted the maintenance of US naval bases, within this region, for two years after independence.
The act reclassified all Filipinos that were living in the United States as aliens for the purposes of immigration to America. Filipinos were no longer allowed to work legally in the US, and a quota of 50 immigrants per year was established."
Sounds to me like the Filipinos lost much more than they gained on this one, particularly if they were already living and working in the U.S. or the Territory of Hawaii, and needed to send money home to their families.
Labels:
1930s,
Congress,
illegal aliens,
Philippines,
unintended consequences
The Honolulu Record
is/was a Communist newspaper published in Hawaii. Frank Davis, President Obama's mentor and friend of his grandparents, wrote for this paper because he was a Communist. However, tracking down links to the archives is a bit iffy--they seem to be "broken." But I did finally get one to work--the archives at the University Of Hawaii, Center for Labor Education & Research.
I thought Communists, at least the CPUSA, had tired of hiding and were now out in the open, after first removing any mention of themselves from current history books--published since the mid-90s, at least. This description of the Honolulu Record is an example of a cleaned up summary of a political system that managed to murder about 70,000,000 people in the 20th century, and the first to go are often their own party comrades with whom they squabble, put on trial, then shoot or send to a gulag.
I thought Communists, at least the CPUSA, had tired of hiding and were now out in the open, after first removing any mention of themselves from current history books--published since the mid-90s, at least. This description of the Honolulu Record is an example of a cleaned up summary of a political system that managed to murder about 70,000,000 people in the 20th century, and the first to go are often their own party comrades with whom they squabble, put on trial, then shoot or send to a gulag.
- "In 1948, Koji Ariyoshi, a social activist, published a labor focused newspaper called the Honolulu Record. Founded on social change, Koji wanted to present another view on local and world issues, especially issues that affected the working class people of Hawaii."
Monday, December 27, 2010
The House of the People
"This will be the fight of 2011: the unelected central planning “experts” of the Obama Administration versus the newly elected House of Representatives and state and local governments. The people are not powerless. Congress still has the power of the purse and can withhold funding for implementing Obamacare or writing global warming regulations. There is also the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to review and overrule regulations issued by government agencies. State and local governments can also thwart the federal administrative state by asserting their rights whenever possible. We can return power from Washington back to the people. Saying good-bye to the 111th Congress is a great first step." Morning Bell
Not sure the newbie Republicans are strong enough to lasso and hog-tie the Obama goons, but we'll see. It's worth a try.
Not sure the newbie Republicans are strong enough to lasso and hog-tie the Obama goons, but we'll see. It's worth a try.
Third world children are America's lab rats
Parul Christian, DrPH
Center for Human Nutrition
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe St
Room W2041
Baltimore, MD 21205
Dear Dr. Christian,
Today I read the account of your research done on Nepalese children in the Dec 22/29, 2010 issue of JAMA.
My first pregnancy was in 1961 and I received prenatal vitamins containing iron, and I believe the need for folic acid has been known and added to prenatal vitamins since before 1990. For some years it has been known that the relationship between zinc and iron is iffy, with the benefits of each perhaps cancelling the other.
Why is it ethical to experiment on third world children when we already know the benefits of prenatal supplements, and have known for 50 years or more? The control group will remain behind the supplement group for the rest of their lives. Just looking through other studies on the interaction of zinc and iron, I see Bloomberg is supporting research on poor children in other countries. So was that the real point of this research, to show that zinc is not useful as a supplement?
Norma Bruce
Faculty Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Center for Human Nutrition
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N. Wolfe St
Room W2041
Baltimore, MD 21205
Dear Dr. Christian,
Today I read the account of your research done on Nepalese children in the Dec 22/29, 2010 issue of JAMA.
My first pregnancy was in 1961 and I received prenatal vitamins containing iron, and I believe the need for folic acid has been known and added to prenatal vitamins since before 1990. For some years it has been known that the relationship between zinc and iron is iffy, with the benefits of each perhaps cancelling the other.
Why is it ethical to experiment on third world children when we already know the benefits of prenatal supplements, and have known for 50 years or more? The control group will remain behind the supplement group for the rest of their lives. Just looking through other studies on the interaction of zinc and iron, I see Bloomberg is supporting research on poor children in other countries. So was that the real point of this research, to show that zinc is not useful as a supplement?
Norma Bruce
Faculty Emeritus
The Ohio State University
Parul Christian, Dr. P.H., of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues conducted a study to assess intellectual and motor functioning in a group of 676 children, aged 7 to 9 years in June 2007-April 2009, who had been born to women in 4 of 5 groups of a community-based, randomized controlled trial of prenatal micronutrient supplementation conducted between 1999 and 2001 in rural Nepal. Study children were also in the placebo group of a subsequent preschool iron and zinc supplementation trial. Women whose children were followed up had been randomly assigned to receive daily iron/folic acid, iron/folic acid/zinc, or multiple micronutrients containing these plus 11 other micronutrients, all with vitamin A, vs. a control group of vitamin A alone from early pregnancy through 3 months postpartum. These children did not receive additional micronutrient supplementation other than biannual vitamin A supplementation. Through various tests, intellectual (including memory and reasoning), executive (such as processing speed) and motor function (such as manual dexterity and balance) were assessed.
The researchers found that maternal prenatal supplementation with iron and folic acid was positively associated with general intellectual ability, some aspects of executive function, and motor function, including fine motor control, in offspring in a rural area where iron deficiency is prevalent. In general, the differences in test scores between the other intervention groups and controls were not statistically significant.
http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2010j/1221.dtl#3
The researchers found that maternal prenatal supplementation with iron and folic acid was positively associated with general intellectual ability, some aspects of executive function, and motor function, including fine motor control, in offspring in a rural area where iron deficiency is prevalent. In general, the differences in test scores between the other intervention groups and controls were not statistically significant.
http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2010j/1221.dtl#3
Labels:
children,
JAMA,
nutrition,
pregnancy,
supplements,
third world countries
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Dear Mom and Dad, December 22, 1980
1980 has not been one of my healthier years. I went to the doctor today and had chest x-rays and blood tests. My chest is clear, viral bronchitis, he says, and gave me an antibiotic to keep it from becoming pneumonia. I get my glasses in a week, and that will be a relief. If life begins at 40, I'm in trouble.
We received your Christmas packages safely, and they've been put under the tree, to be felt, shaken and poked by two eager kids. We've been reading the nice Advent book and calendar Joanne gave us at breakfast.
We went to a tree farm this year and cut our tree. I wouldn't say it is quite like the TV commercials, but it was fun. There was a roaring fire at the barn, and lots of jolly people around.
We've had a few holiday get togethers. A neighbor had an open house, and the art league had a pot luck dinner, and the AIA had a reception (but I was sick) and the office party is tomorrow, but I may not be able to go. It will be a lovely affair--dinner at the hotel in the Ohio Village, a 19th century reconstructed village which is a nice tourist attraction. They have carolers in costume and everything is deorated like the last century.
Sure wish my mommy was here to make me tapioca pudding.
We received your Christmas packages safely, and they've been put under the tree, to be felt, shaken and poked by two eager kids. We've been reading the nice Advent book and calendar Joanne gave us at breakfast.
We went to a tree farm this year and cut our tree. I wouldn't say it is quite like the TV commercials, but it was fun. There was a roaring fire at the barn, and lots of jolly people around.
We've had a few holiday get togethers. A neighbor had an open house, and the art league had a pot luck dinner, and the AIA had a reception (but I was sick) and the office party is tomorrow, but I may not be able to go. It will be a lovely affair--dinner at the hotel in the Ohio Village, a 19th century reconstructed village which is a nice tourist attraction. They have carolers in costume and everything is deorated like the last century.
Sure wish my mommy was here to make me tapioca pudding.
Labels:
1980s,
Christmas letters,
family memories,
letters,
parents
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