ProJoSoxBlog: Red Sox World Series ring offered on eBay
Monday, April 23, 2007
Why Virginia Tech Happened
Because the obviously psychotic Cho wasn't committed. Because our mental health system was systematically dismantled in the 1970s. Read this important article by Dr. Jonathan Kellerman (yes, the author).
Dr. Jonathan Kellerman, WSJ: A DANGER TO SOCIETY
Bedlam Revisited
Why the Virginia Tech shooter was not committed.
Chimpeachment Takes A Step Forward
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
-- Lao Tzu (although often wrongly attributed to Confucius)
Reuters: Vermont senate adopts resolution to impeach Bush
VTImpeach.com home page
Guardian (uk): Vermont Senate: Impeach the President
Bee Colony Collapse
What's causing the collapse of the honeybee colonies? The theories include genetically-engineered corn, predators, cellphones, and the stress of being corporately farmed. When I read that genetically-modified corn contains a neurotoxin (brain cell killer) that kills honeybees, I thought 'bingo'. Monsanto has killed the honeybees. It all makes sense now. They'll probably manufacture some new chemical to sell us to replace the honeybees.
Brendan Calling: Bees: Closer to Home
The disappearance of the bees hits New Jersey
Quotes from a Newark Star-Ledger article:
[Beekeeper] Tassot and his wife believe they know why their bees have disappeared.
“We have suspicions about pesticides,” he said. “We noticed most of the dead hives are close to cornfields. … And when we asked other beekeepers what was the principle crop near their hives, they said corn, corn, corn.”
Simone, of Morris Township, agrees. “When I spoke with other beekeepers they say all their hives with heavy losses are near cornfields.”
Many farmers in the United States and around the world rely on genetically engineered corn to survive the assault of crop-killing insects. The seeds are coated with a systemic pesticide that is essentially built into the corn as it grows.
One of the chief chemicals used is a neurotoxin called imidacloprid, which is manufactured by the German company Bayer CropScience. Imidacloprid works by blocking a pathway in insect brains that results in an accumulation of a neurotransmitter which, in insects, leads to paralysis and death.
At sublethal doses, however, imidacloprid is toxic to honeybees. In a 2001 article in the Journal of Pesticide Reform, German scientist Eric Zeisstoff wrote that his research “indicated that bees affected by imidacloprid suffer problems with orientation. Bees with a particular level of imidacloprid contamination at 500 meters from the colony did not return to the hive at all.”
der Spiegel(Germany): Are GM Crops Killing Bees?
Independent (uk): Are mobile phones wiping out our bees?
Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees
High Country News: The Silence of the Bees
wikipedia: Colony Collapse Disorder
Oh. My. God.
I turn on the TV this morning and there is racist Michael Smerconish -- shaved head Philadelphia radio shock jock -- sitting in Imus's studio. Out with the old white male racist, in with the new white male racist! Those black and female faces on MSBNC in the days following the ouster of Imus were just token window dressing. Now we're back to GE's favorite form of news: conservative shock jock.
Smerconish's guest is the mad Camille Paglia, who is nervously babbling that our education system is failing boys and that we should allow them to go straight into factory jobs. Factory jobs? What factory jobs? What parallel universe does she live in?
The only good thing about having Paglia on television is that she talks so fast you can't understand her. And she's such a period piece. She announces that she's a Madonna feminist. Does that mean she is going to Africa to adopt a baby? Sheesh.
I read on dailykos last week that the major corporate media was encouraged to take control of the news by Karl Rove in 1999. I guess Rover was very persuasive.
dailykos: Rove Met With Jack Welch in '99 to Create Media Cartel. W/Poll
Patricia Goldsmith, Smirking Chimp: Restore Fairness, Return to Reality
[] As Rep. Louise Slaughter said in a 2004 interview with Bill Moyers, after fairness was defeated,
AM radio rose. It wasn't even gradual, Bill. I mean, almost immediately. And I should point out to you that when we tried to reinstate [the fairness doctrine] again in '93, one of the reasons we couldn't was that Rush Limbaugh had organized this massive uprising against it, calling it "The Hush Rush Law."
Slaughter goes on to explain that the law wouldn't have hushed Rush-that would take more than an act of Congress, I'm afraid-but it would have mandated that time be given to people who represent other sides of any issue discussed by Limbaugh. The same is true for Hannity, O'Reilly, and even Imus. They just wouldn't have the airwaves all to themselves the way they do now.
[]
[I]n 1999 Karl Rove reached out to GE Chairman and CEO Jack Welch, promising radical deregulation for the broadcast industry (GE is the parent company of NBC). This fit right in with some of Welch's thoughts and ambitions. He had long felt that the news division at NBC wasn't living up to its full profit potential. According to a a must-read article, "The Media Cover-up of the Gore Victory Part Four: Democracy, General Electric Style," by David Podvin and Carolyn Kay, that conversation led to some important changes:Toward that end, Welch said that he would finally deal with a longstanding grievance of his: the ludicrous idea that news organizations should be allowed to operate in conflict with the best interests of the corporations that own them.
. . . The new dimension that Welch introduced was the concept that mainstream media should aggressively advance the political agenda of the corporations that own it. He did not see any difference between corporate journalism and corporate manufacturing or corporate service industries. . . .
In general, he saw corporate news organizations as untapped political resources that should be freed from the burden of objectivity.
. . .
He began to aggressively, but very discreetly, evangelize the gospel of corporate media as a corporate lobbying tool.
. . .
Welch told associates that he enlisted two members of the GE board to assist him in shaping the coverage of the election by other news organizations. . . . They quietly encouraged the executives of the mainstream media organizations to rethink the relationship between news divisions and business organizations.
And a cartel is born. A cartel can be a group of corporations within one industry who meet to set prices.
So, MSNBC, owned by
Barroid Hits #740
ABCNews: Giants Top D'backs; Bonds Hits No. 740
Barry Bonds Moves Within 15 of Homer King Hank Aaron As the Giants Down the Diamondbacks 2-1
"Ruth did it on hot dogs and Beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?" was a sign held up by Philadelpha fans in May 2006.
Wisely, Hank Aaron wants nothing to do with steroid cheater Barroid.
WaPo: Aaron Won't Attend If Bonds Breaks Record
I'm with these fans:
Found this great photo on Chappy's League.
Barry Bonds Moves Within 15 of Homer King Hank Aaron As the Giants Down the Diamondbacks 2-1
"Ruth did it on hot dogs and Beer. Aaron did it with class. How did YOU do it?" was a sign held up by Philadelpha fans in May 2006.
Wisely, Hank Aaron wants nothing to do with steroid cheater Barroid.
WaPo: Aaron Won't Attend If Bonds Breaks Record
I'm with these fans:
Found this great photo on Chappy's League.
Sweep
Didn't you just love A-Fraud weakly grounding out to end the game? Papelbon rules.
SI.com: Friendly Fenway
Red Sox cap sweep of Yankees by playing long ball
Boston Globe: Game photos
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Like Water For.....Crisco?
Big Food has petitioned the FDA to allow them to sell vegetable fats and oils and pass it off as real chocolate, which is made with cocoa butter. Mmmm, a big bar of Crisco. You can submit an e-comment to the FDA in opposition to this travesty (click on submit your comments and look for this docket number: 2007P-0085). Save chocolate!
Here's the comment I submitted to the FDA:
Keep chocolate as it is, made of cocoa and cocoa butter. I do not want another false adulterated product passed off as the real thing. Plus, I do not think any research has been done on the nutritional implications of replacing a natural, satisfying ingredient -- cocoa butter -- with vegetable fats and oils. We've already seen the disastrous results of substituting high-fructose corn syrup for sugar. Don't add to the obesity epidemic, and don't take away my real chocolate. Do not adopt these regulations. Keep chocolate real.
LATimes: Hands off my chocolate, FDA!
The FDA may allow Big Chocolate to pass off a waxy substitute as the real thing.
sisyphus shrugged: save chocolate!
Suburban Guerrilla: Oh no!
Don'tMessWithOurChocolate.com
FDA docket No. 2007P-0085: Adopt Regulations of General Applicability to all Food Standards that would Permit, within Stated Boundaries, Deviations from the Requirements of the Individual Food Standards of Identity
Like Water for Chocolate (novel)
wikipedia: Chocolate
Physiological effects
Pleasure of consuming
Part of the pleasure of eating chocolate is due to the fact that its melting point is slightly below human body temperature: it melts in the mouth. Chocolate intake has been linked with release of serotonin in the brain, which produces feelings of pleasure.[13] A study reported on the BBC indicated that melting chocolate in one's mouth produced an increase in brain activity and heart rate that was more intense than that associated with passionate kissing, and also lasted four times as long after the activity had ended.[14] Research has shown that heroin addicts tend to have an increased liking for chocolate; this may be because it triggers dopamine release in the brain's reinforcement systems[15] — an effect, albeit a legal one, similar to that of opiates.
Potential health benefits and risks
Recent studies have suggested that cocoa or dark chocolate may possess certain beneficial effects on human health. Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of the flavonoids epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardioprotective properties. Cocoa possesses a significant antioxidant action, protecting against LDL oxidation, perhaps more than other polyphenol antioxidant-rich foods and beverages. Processing cocoa with alkali destroys most of the flavonoids.[16] Some studies have also observed a modest reduction in blood pressure and flow-mediated dilation after consuming approximately 100g of dark chocolate daily. There has even been a fad diet, named "Chocolate diet", that emphasizes eating chocolate and cocoa powder in capsules. However, consuming milk chocolate or white chocolate, or drinking milk with dark chocolate, appears largely to negate the health benefit.[17] Chocolate is also a calorie-rich food with a high fat content, so daily intake of chocolate also requires reducing caloric intake of other foods.
Two-thirds of the fat in chocolate comes in the forms of a saturated fat called stearic acid and a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid. However, unlike other saturated fats, stearic acid does not raise levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream.[18] Consuming relatively large amounts of dark chocolate and cocoa does not seem to raise serum LDL cholesterol levels; some studies even find that it could lower them[19].
[]
Studies suggest a specially formulated type of cocoa may boost brain function and delay decline as people age.[21]
White House Correspondents' Dinner
Who got him out of the crypt?
I didn't see it but Editor & Publisher says Rich Little laid an egg. Atrios says this was the only funny part, a David Letterman Top 10 List:
From Oliver Willis, the funniest White House Correspondents' Dinner routine evah, Steven Colbert rocking Bush's world:
Update: Oh, and Sheryl Crow and Laurie David used the WHCD to try to talk to Karl Rove about global warming. You can guess how that turned out.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Headline of the Day: All Your Mariano Rivera Are Belong To Us
Surviving Grady: All Your Mariano Rivera Are Belong To Us
Take that, all my Yankee-loving relatives.
'Parliamentary Inquiry, Mr. Speaker: Does Whining Come Out of My Time?'
Barney Frank kills a Republican procedural tactic with wit and humor. Watch and enjoy.
Karl Rove Running Justice Department
The Bush political team has been running the Justice Department as their own political witchhunting organization. Karl Rove's little minions are calling US Attorneys right and left. No wonder there were so many investigations of Democrats, and so few investigations of corrupt Republicans (of 309 politicians investigated by US Attorneys 2000-2006, 262 were Democrats, 37 Republicans, 10 Independents)
Need proof of this? Look at the chart Rhode Island Senator (and former US Attorney) Sheldon Whitehouse used in his questioning of Alberto "Mini-Chimperor" Gonzales. The US Attorneys are supposed to be independent. Under Bill Clinton, there were only four people who were allowed to contact US Attorneys regarding cases: the President, the Vice President, the White House Counsel, and the Deputy White House Counsel. No one else was allowed to contact US Attorneys.
Under the Bush Administration, 447 officials -- mostly staff -- are allowed to contact US Attorneys; as ThinkProgress points out, that is a 10,325 % increase. 417loyal Bushies White House officials (many working from their RNC email accounts, I suspect) and 30 loyal Bushies Department of Justice officials were allowed direct contact with US Attorneys.
The corruption of this administration is unparalleled.
dailykos: "The Chart" is the smoking gun of WH/DOJ political Influence
Need proof of this? Look at the chart Rhode Island Senator (and former US Attorney) Sheldon Whitehouse used in his questioning of Alberto "Mini-Chimperor" Gonzales. The US Attorneys are supposed to be independent. Under Bill Clinton, there were only four people who were allowed to contact US Attorneys regarding cases: the President, the Vice President, the White House Counsel, and the Deputy White House Counsel. No one else was allowed to contact US Attorneys.
Under the Bush Administration, 447 officials -- mostly staff -- are allowed to contact US Attorneys; as ThinkProgress points out, that is a 10,325 % increase. 417
The corruption of this administration is unparalleled.
dailykos: "The Chart" is the smoking gun of WH/DOJ political Influence
Friday, April 20, 2007
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same 2.0
The local Boston talk radio station that carried Don Imus's radio show, 96.9 WTTK, is looking for another show for the Imus time slot.
And what new voice are they considering? Of course they're not considering a new voice. They're not considering a woman's voice. They're not considering a black voice. They're looking backwards to an old voice, an old pair of voices with their own long, sad history of racist and sexist comments.
BostonHerald: 96.9 eyes ‘Dennis & Callahan’ for Imus slot
"Dennis and Callahan" is a local sports radio station which is most famous for a September, 2003 bit in which they compared an escaped gorilla to a poor black kid bussed out to suburban schools. Classy:
METCO Controversy
On September 29, 2003, during a segment called 'headlines', where they read and comment about current news stories, Callahan and his morning co-host John Dennis made what were taken to be racially insensitive remarks while discussing a story about an escaped gorilla.[3] The gorilla had escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo and had been recaptured at a bus stop. According to newspaper articles, the exchange allegedly was: [4]Callahan: "They caught him at a bus stop, right -- he was like waiting to catch a bus out of town."
Dennis: "Yeah, yeah -- he's a METCO gorilla."
Callahan: "Heading out to Lexington."
Dennis: "Exactly."
METCO is a state program that buses inner-city Boston students to nearby suburban schools. Many perceived the comments to be comparing poor, mostly African-American children to gorillas. WEEI general manager Tom Baker suspended both hosts for two days, then extended the suspension to two weeks after the Blue Cross-Blue Shield (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts) pulled $27,000 in ads and in turn donated that money to METCO (another report alleged that Blue Cross increased its advertising by $27,000 one week later [5]). Dunkin' Donuts responded by ceasing all advertising that involved the voices of John Dennis or Gerry Callahan. [6] Both hosts apologized and were sent to sensitivity training.
Are they sexist? I've certainly always thought so, from the fact that they very rarely have women on their program and never cover women's sports. According to the blog 'The Starting Five', during the Imus controversy (I didn't hear it myself) Dennis and Callahan claimed the Rutgers women's basketball team were guilty of extortion, and that they were anything but victims because they certainly had hip hop songs like 50 Cent on their iPods. Well, thousands of iPod owners probably have offensive lyrics on their iPods. Does that mean national TV/radio hosts can attack them with impunity, with racist and sexist taunts? Apparently Dennis and Callahan think so. And they're in line to get the Imus slot.
We may be having a national conversation on racism and sexism, but the guys in the suits filling the airwaves aren't listening.
The Challenge of the Super-Duper Friends
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
I turn on the TV this morning to see whether Abu Gonzales has had the good sense to resign yet. (Silly me! He is an idiot and will never resign. Bush will never leave Iraq. Gonzales will never resign.)
On MSNBC, David Gregory is now hosting the morning show. He is interviewing Tim Russert. Stretch and LilRuss.
So do I have this right? Don Imus lost his job because he made offensive sexist and racist remarks, and now his show has been replaced by his old white male guests?
When we come back, David Gregory will be joined by Dr. Keith Ablow. The following hour, Mary Matalin. Then Mike Barnicle. White men and a white woman who was one of Imus's regular guests.
What happened to all those new faces we saw on TV last week discussing the demise of Imus?
John McCain, Rockin and a-reelin
Today John McCain answered a question about Iran by singing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran," to the tune of the Beach Boys' song "Barbara Ann." And he wonders why he's tanking in the polls. He should be singing The Beatles "I'm A Loser:" And so it's true, pride comes before a fall.
I'm a loser
I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be
Of all the love I have won or have lost
there is one love I should never have crossed
She was a girl in a million, my friend
I should have known she would win in the end
I'm a loser
And I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be
Although I laugh and I act like a clown
Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown
My tears are falling like rain from the sky
Is it for her or myself that I cry
I'm a loser
And I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be
What have I done to deserve such a fate
I realize I have left it too late
And so it's true, pride comes before a fall
I'm telling you so that you won't lose all
I'm a loser
And I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Courtney Prince Smeared
Courtney Prince, the former New York Ranger dancer/skater/cheerleader, is being slimed by Madison Square Garden. MSG has filed a third motion for summary judgment (having lost the first two) and has filed "hundreds of pages of documents" (according to the New York Daily News) characterizing Prince as "a mentally ill pervert" (the Daily News take) and claiming that, according to MSG attorney Melissa Rodriguez, "she suffered from bipolar disorder, a classic symptom of which is hypersexuality." (a direct quote from MSG attorney Rodriguez according to the Daily News.)
Defendants in sexual harassment cases always attack the character of the accuser. Any hint of sexuality on the part of a victim of sexual harassment is suddenly a sin. Easy enough in this case: The Rangers cheerleaders are hired to flaunt their sexuality. Look at the tight outfits!
If the defendant can't find sex, they call her crazy. MSG has just combined both tactics here. She's crazy and hypersexual. And Prince, who was paid $150 per game by MSG, is being attacked with the opinion of a doctor who charges hundreds of dollars per hour for his time. Isn't it ironic?
I was curious about the attorney named as representing Madison Square Garden in the Daily News article, Melissa Rodriguez. I think it's Melissa C. Rodriguez of Morgan, Lewis. (I didn't find any definite corroboration of this, but Morgan, Lewis represents Madison Square Garden in the Isaiah Thomas/Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment lawsuit (pdf link, p. 12), and Morgan, Lewis is one of the large national firms that represents employers.)
Kind of a come hither photo for a law firm bio, no? People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Rodriguez is a fifth year lawyer with an impressive pedigree (Yale, Columbia Law), but not a lot of experience to be the lead lawyer in a high-profile case. I wonder if she is the lead attorney on the case? Or is she just being used to put out the smear so the big name partner who is handling the case doesn't have to get his/her hands dirty? Is MSG using a woman (and a minority) as window dressing? I handled many sex discrimination cases where young female lawyers were included on the defense team for that very reason.
Anyway, this sounds like typical defense smear tactics, overreaching included. Did you see the movie The Insider? It was the story of the witness, Jeffrey Wigand, who brought down Big Tobacco by revealing how they had covered up scientific research for years. Brown & Williamson had compiled a 500-page dossier of Wigand's alleged misdeeds; it was mostly BS. I suspect MSG complaints about Prince are much the same.
Isn't it funny how MSG promoted Prince to be captain of the Ranger cheerleaders after she'd been there a year, but now she's a hypersexual crazy person? Funny how that happens.
NYDailyNews: Rangers cheerleader sex-crazed, say attorneys
deadspin: MSG Pulling No Punches In Dance Skater Lawsuit
Opinion [on Summary Judgment motions], Prince v. Madison Square Garden, et al., April 10, 2006 [pdf file] [or view here in HTML format]
NYMagazineDailyIntelligencer: Hungry Cheerleader Claims Harassment Over Tater Tots
Red Sox Fans Do It With Pizza and Beer
I'm back after a (fortunately) brief foray into a parallel universe where the only available computer is a paperweight. I actually read a book! Missed this awesome pizza-throwing incident at a recent Red Sox game.
Sawx fan hit with pizza -- short version
Sawx fan hit with pizza -- long NESN version, much giggling by RemDawg and Don Orsillo
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