Wednesday Reads

Posted: April 4, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 34 Comments

Good morning, news junkies! I’m filling in for Minkoff Minx this morning since she’s going in for the big surgery today (and sending her big big hugs!)

Perusing memeorandum just now, I found headlines like, “Fox’s Heather Childers Tweets: Did Obama Campaign Threaten To Kill Chelsea Clinton?” Let’s just say that I am particularly unimpressed with the latest “buzz.” So, I’m going to highlight a few stories that have garnered less attention but definitely caught mine over the past few days:

  •  ‘Overdiagnosis’ of breast cancer may be higher than thought. [CNN] Or, as Jezebel sums it up:

So what exactly are we supposed to do about this? Well, mainly just be informed, which is medicalese for “be freaked out with no way to help yourself.” It’s clearly a problem, but there is no clear solution. If you take a more macro view, theoretically we ought to stop screening women so early (unless they have a family history of breast cancer), and we ought to be less aggressive in treating certain breast cancers. But that idea obviously becomes problematic when you try to practice caution on any given individual.

  • This next one is a story here in Houston that started out ‘maddening’ and has taken a turn for ‘inspiring’ in a power-to-the-people sort of way… From my local ABC affiliate… Homeless feeding ordinance protestors stage ‘feed-in’ in front of Houston City Hall [abc13.com]:

HOUSTON (KTRK) — A proposal to regulate the way Houstonians feed the homeless has sparked a backlash among homeless advocates.

The city of Houston is scheduled to vote on the ordnance on Wednesday. It’s already been watered down since it was first introduced but some people are still unhappy and that’s why they protested on Tuesday.

In front of City Hall Tuesday, the homeless lined up for lunch. Sponsors called it a “feed-in” to protest a proposed ordinance that would regulate homeless feedings.

  • I love this magazine (and I know Dr. Dakinikat does too!), so this last one warmed my heart… Anthropologists love Scientific American [SciAm]:

Claude Lévi-Strauss, one of the founders of Anthropology, said, among else, this in his 1977 Massey Lecture:

Let me start with a personal confession. There is a magazine which I read faithfully each month from the first line to the last, even though I don’t understand all of it; it is the Scientific American. I am extremely eager to be as informed as possible of everything that takes place in modern science and its new developments.

Alright, I’m keeping it super short today because the kitties will NOT let me type. They want their cuddles and their breakfast (wet food for all the wet-food-for-cat enthusiasts out there!) So please help a Wonk out and share your reads+rants in the comments, y’all. And, have a terrific Wednesday!

Lazy Caturday

Posted: March 31, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 40 Comments

Good morning, news junkies… I’m sort of figuring out how to do a photo bomb more space-efficiently, and I’m not particularly fond of the “slideshow” feature on wordpress… so I’m trying out the “gallery” feature instead. I’ve only used it a couple times before, so let’s see how this works out! (If you’re familiar with the slideshow format and prefer that over this, let me know…!)

Oh, and… it’s still my birthday week. So the link dump (following the Lily+Rue photo spree) is gonna be really paltry this Saturday! Enjoy the less-homework like recommended reading while it lasts… 😉

Click on thumbnails to view photos:

Super shrinked Linkage (any puns, unfortunate):

Today (March 31) in Women’s History:

  • Event: 03-31-1776, Abigail Adams wrote her husband when he was in Philadlphia helping plan the Declaration of Independence:
    “Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could… If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”

Okay, before I go, I have a question for the Cat Peeps segment of our Sky Dancing population (I’m pretty sure that segment is upwards of 80% of our community… 😉 )… Anyhow, here’s the q: How do I get Lily to eat her dental treats? She won’t bite! Rue is eating all of them! (Alas, ’twas the same story with the pill pockets…) Is there something else I can use/apply on Lily besides dental treats? I’m talking to her vet, too, of course! Just want all the help I can get.

Alrighty, guys! I’m gonna wrap this baby up and turn the soapbox over to y’all… what’s on your Read+Rant list this Saturday?

Mitt Romney’s San Diego Home Will Have Car Elevators

Posted: March 27, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , , , , | 16 Comments

Politico reports on the Romney’s planned home renovations:

At https://www.fencingdirect.com/products/category/vinyl-pvc-fence, they proposed California beach house, the cars will have their own separate elevator.

There’s also a planned outdoor shower and a 3,600-square foot basement — a room with more floor space than the existing home’s entire living quarters.

Those are just some of the amenities planned for the massive renovation of the Romneys’ home in the tony La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, according to plans on file with the city.

A project this ambitious comes with another feature you don’t always find with the typical fixer-upper: its own lobbyist, hired by Romney to push the plan through the approval process.

The Secret Service and the Romney campaign begged Politico not to publish the architectural drawings.


FLASHBACK:


This is an open thread.

Blueprint For Accountability, Long Overdue

Posted: March 24, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: #Occupy and We are the 99 percent!, Banksters, Blueprint for Accountability, corporatism, corruption, ethics, just because, Rule of Law | 21 Comments

Mark your calendars for this Tuesday, March 27th, 7:00 pm [EST].  Why?  The Culture Project will be running another of its Town Hall discussions, a live stream production from Georgetown University.  Stellar participants include:  Eliot Spitzer, Matt Taibbi, Dylan Ratigan, Ron Suskind, Van Jones, Heather McGhee and Jessie LaGreca.  See brief bio background here.

The discussion topic?  It’s all in the title—accountability, the very essence of a sound democracy, yet sadly, an ingredient we’ve seen purposely, repeatedly ignored and shunned by government and corporate leaders alike.

Occupy Wall St. brought public attention to the problem—the yawning divide between the 1% and everyone else.  Now, the hard work begins: how do we, public and private citizens alike, steer ourselves back to the premise that the Rule of Law is essential and applies to everyone.  How do we make our demands felt inside a broken, corrupt system, where our vote is compromised by big money, our voices drowned in the sludge of corporate and financial interests?

The plan or blueprint needs fresh dialogue, new ideas.

What precisely is the Culture Project? you might be asking. From the site:

CULTURE PROJECT is dedicated to addressing critical human rights issues by creating and supporting artistic work that amplifies marginalized voices. By fostering innovative collaboration between human rights organizations and artists, we aim to inspire and impact public dialogue and policy, encouraging democratic participation in the most urgent matters of our time.

The Accountability series is a slight departure from what the group has done before—programs addressing human rights issues.  But in a sense all of our rights are at peril, as is self-evident in the on-going Presidential campaign rhetoric.

The first of the series was launched with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in a discussion on torture and the War on Terror.  Subsequent presentations featured Robert Kennedy, Jr. ,who spoke to the continuing diminishment of American values and Cornell West last September spoke on the 40th Anniversary of the Attica Prison Rebellion.

I wasn’t aware of these programs.  Hattip to Alternet for bringing me up to speed and alerting readers about the program scheduled for Tuesday night

This is another example of networking getting the message out and a live stream presentation made available, reaching a far wider audience than would normally be the case.

Personally, I’m a great fan of Eliot Spitzer.  Despite his past personal problems, I think he has a true gift in explaining the financial/legal shenanigans that Wall St. adopted and continues to practice as business as usual. All at the expense of the American public.  Dylan Ratigan has his own MSNBC TV show, Monday through Friday.  He’s a former financial guy himself and has a book out “Greedy Bastards,” which has spent weeks and weeks on the NY Best Seller’s List. He’s been screaming daily about the country’s breakdown, the systemic corruption and lawlessness pervading everything—the financial sector, education, healthcare, energy, etc. Matt Taibbi writes for the Rolling Stone and has been equally merciless in calling the TBTF’s out for the highway robbers they were and continue to be.  Add the other voices on the panel and I suspect the conversation will be lively and worth the 2-hour investment of time.

Live stream program will be found here.

Should be an interesting, informative night.  Let the brainstorming begin!

Introducing…Caturday Reads

Posted: March 24, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: just because | 44 Comments

Did someone say "Ikea" and "assemble"? Look at how fast my delivery cats are out the door ( "...those cats were fast as lightning...") Photo: L+R, yesterday.

Morning, news junkies!

A tentative solution to my blogger tardiness:

  • Saturday link dump interspersed with Lily+Rue kitty photos
  • Photo bomb at the end of “Caturday” post as time allows
  • Hillary Sundaes at least once or twice a month!

I hope this works out better. I miss y’all bigtime! And, hope to be back to participating in the comments more.

Linkage is super short today! But, I hope adequate to get the morning conversation ball rolling…

  • I so would have rather had a Governor Kay Bailey than a Guv. Goodhair: “Breaking ranks with her party, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison on Thursday urged Gov. Rick Perry — her erstwhile gubernatorial rival — to work with the Obama administration to keep federal money flowing to the Women’s Health Program, which has been caught in a crossfire between the state and the feds over state support for Planned Parenthood.” [Source: Texas Tribune]
  • Mysterious Chinese Fossils May Be New Human Species [Live Science]
  • Orphaned Owlets Raised by a Friendly Park Keeper [6 Pictures] [Terribly Cute]

    L+R, Tuesday. "Naptime is so over"

  • I love the Dogs Against Mitt Romney / #IRideInside movement, and I love this video! Be sure to click on that if you need a pick-me-up.
  • Don’t think I’ll have time for the Hillary post this Sunday, so I’ll end with Hill… and Kirsten Gillibrand! Kirsten says Hillary should run in 2016 [Buzzfeed]…I say IF Hillary runs, then we all know who I am voting, campaigning, and volunteering my ass off for. However, barring a sudden conversion from Hillary on the question of her future in electoral politics, I personally say… Gillibrand 2016!

Ok, that’s all I got for now! Maybe I’ll throw in some more links and kitty pics in the comments if I get time later in the morning/day. YOUR TURN, Sky Dancers! What’s on your read+rant+recommend list this lovely Caturday?

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