Head...Desk...repeat...again

No clue who took it, or exactly where, but you know...it doesn't even need a caption.

( h/t to dhonig)

More on tolerance

During the election I had an ongoing series on Conservative/Christian tolerance over on the Progressive Homemakers blog, to counter the idea that Progressives/Liberals were cruel and intolerant and Christians were all hearts and rainbows.

The series continues.

Now, I will not say that Liberals have been kind to Bush or the Republican party these past 8 years. We've made snarky comments:



We've pointed out his shortcomings:



We've disabused his leadership:



We've even called his actions criminal, and called for those actions to be answered:





However, to the best of my knowledge, we never, ever, went this far:



Note to whoever put that on CafePress: The Secret Service has been notified.

(All pictures but that last one, found on and copyright to Northern Sun. Go buy stuff and give them money. I do.)

You cannot have it both ways

I think this is going to become a regular series around here. Post pointing out places where people seem to expect to have it both ways, their cake and eat it too, their half of the world and mine...well, you get the idea.

Here we go.

--------

Our first entry is on early abortion. Very specifically abortions in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, including the Morning After pill.

On the one hand, Conservative Christians and Pro-Lifers, including those in the medical field, claim that life begins at the moment of conception. As soon as sperm meets egg life has begun, and must be cherished. It's alive, it feels pain, it's a miracle. Ending that life is murder.

Unless you're having a miscarriage. In which case those in the medical field, including Conservative Christians and Pro-Lifers, will tell you it's a "chemical pregnancy", an errant bunch of cells, a mistake. It's not alive, it feels no pain, and it can just be flushed away. So not even alive it's not even worth mourning.

You cannot have it both ways.

Either it's a life, which deserves to be mourned like the loss of any other life, and you should be shoveling serious amounts of money at research to reduce the 10-35% of pregnancies that end in miscarriage. Or it's not a life, and someone should be able to remove that clump of cells as easily as they remove any other.

Pick one. You cannot have it both ways.

------

Our second installment today comes to us via the economy.

Anyone else remember the stories over the past few decades, on how American's have a negative savings rate? American's buy everything on credit, spending all their pay and then some. it's disgraceful, it's dangerous, it's simply wrong. American's need to be more frugal, more careful with credit, save for a rainy day. Isn't that what led to the current crisis, people buying houses they couldn't afford, putting all their furnishings on credit cards, then refinancing to pay off the cards, so they could charge more, and so on? Until they couldn't make the payments, then all those mortgages became "toxic waste" and all the banks got nervous and bam, here we are.

Except that not spending money may lead to a deflationary spiral, as shops lower prices to try to get you frugal sorts to please spend something.

In economics, a deflationary spiral is a situation where decreases in price lead to lower production, which in turn leads to lower wages and demand, which leads to further decreases in price. Since reductions in general price level are called deflation, a deflationary spiral is when reductions in price lead to a vicious circle, where a problem exacerbates its own cause. The Great Depression was regarded as a deflationary spiral.

(from Wikipedia)

You cannot have it both ways.

Either we save money, or we spend money. If we're careful with credit, if we're frugal, if we look for bargains and patiently wait for the best price we could put the country into a deflationary spiral. If we max our cards, tap our houses for money, spend more than we can afford, we put the country into a credit crisis.

Pick one. You cannot have it both ways. And while unlike our first option a middle way might be possibly, it's very fine and narrow and I think it's too late to find it anyway.

------

I have no doubt there will be more of these in the future.

Time Management for Anarchists

No really, it's here.

It's about the best, simplest, most straightforward how-to for time management I've seen. It's a short flash animation, so beware the sound effect. Really, just a tidy little thing.

Have fun with it.

The Point

A quote from gracchus, which I think needs more press:

The GOP is run by rich folks, and basically looks after their class interests; low taxes, no estate taxes, helping out business. However, there are not enough rich folks to elect a president, even if you count the toadies, the hangers-on, the wanna-bes and the folks who think they're rich but aren't. So the party has to use the religious right as its actual voters, and this group includes a fair number of folks who AREN'T rich.

To gather this group in, the GOP promises, but doesn't deliver, a return to a simpler age where abortion was done in back allies, gays were closeted family men who could be thrown in jail and the black folks and the Jews knew their place. It's been a 30-year exercise in stringing these folks along. The rich people who pay for the party have neither interest in making good nor incentive; once abortion is made nationally illegal a lot of the religious right probably won't bother turning up to vote.

Think about that last line:

once abortion is made nationally illegal a lot of the religious right probably won't bother turning up to vote.

Really, if you are one of the single-issue voters out there, one who started out not wanting either candidate because neither was firm enough on Row v. Wade, and who then embraced Palin simply because she didn't abort that baby, think about that. If abortion was illegal, would any of the rest matter enough to get you out to vote?

..
..
..

No, abortion will never be illegal in this country. The only way to end it is to end the need for it. With education, birth control availability, financial help for those who want to keep their babies, and both incentives and a serious cultural shift toward adoption as an alternative.

You know, the so-called liberal, socialist agenda.

Thoughts on Grace

No, not that Grace. Although she clearly had the kind of grace I'm referring to.

And not definition #1 either.

Grace

Main Entry:
1grace Listen to the pronunciation of 1grace
Pronunciation:
\ˈgrās\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin gratia favor, charm, thanks, from gratus pleasing, grateful; akin to Sanskrit gṛṇāti he praises
Date:
12th century

1 a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b: a virtue coming from God c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

2 a: approval , favor barchaic : mercy , pardon c: a special favor : privilege d: disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency e: a temporary exemption : reprieve

3 a: a charming or attractive trait or characteristic b: a pleasing appearance or effect : charm c: ease and suppleness of movement or bearing

4—used as a title of address or reference for a duke, a duchess, or an archbishop

5: a short prayer at a meal asking a blessing or giving thanks

6plural capitalized : three sister goddesses in Greek mythology who are the givers of charm and beauty

7: a musical trill, turn, or appoggiatura

8 a: sense of propriety or right b: the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful

synonyms see mercy

That kind of grace. A number of housefrou bloggers have shown such grace in the wake of the election, even while a few have called this a Socialist coup. I have to say, I admire the ones who have show such grace, it is a truly admirable quality.

Sadly, it's one I'm still working on. For now I have to agree with John Aravosis:

After eight years of having Republicans call me an un-American troop-hating fag-loving socialist, after months of John McCain embracing the hate to a level where his own supporters were calling out for Barack Obama to be assassinated, no one is going to be permitted to tell me with a straight face that "oh you know, both sides do it."

Your side was abominable. Your side was hateful. Your side race-baited. Your side gay-baited. Your side lied like we've never seen in recent presidential campaign history. Your side used a tax-cheat who would do better under Obama's tax proposal to be your everyman on the issue of taxes. Your side, in a veiled effort at race-baiting, said Obama doesn't put his country first. Your side had the audacity to call Obama a socialist. Your side suggested he was a Muslim. Your side suggested he was a terrorist. Your side suggested he was Osama bin Laden.

Spare me the crap about how both sides do it. You people are a disgrace, you've been a disgrace for eight long years, and all your hate and lying and venom and vitriol finally bit you in your collective fat ass.

To lying, race-bating and gay-bashing, as the list of negative traits, I have to add bilking the country out of trillions to line the coffers of churches and corporate sycophants, and elevating ignorance and illiterate stupidity to the level of virtues to aspire to. As exemplified by insisting that GW Bush and Sarah Palin, who apparently thought Africa was a country and had trouble identifying the countries in North America, were the kind of leaders you wanted, and wanted to be like. So that would be eight years of lying, race-bating, gay-bashing, swindling and embarrassing us as a nation.

All of which was not only acceptable but so preferable you wanted four more years of it, all because they claimed belief in the same mythology you hold to.

Hopefully I'll have the grace thing worked out by January. I'm trying.

Head...desk...repeat

“We are going to intercede at the site of the statue of the bull on Wall Street to ask God to begin a shift from the bull and bear markets to what we feel will be the ‘Lion’s Market,’ or God’s control over the economic systems."

(h/t to Wonkette by way of Pharyngula)

For commentary I'd like to open this up to a guest blogger

Let's look at this again, shall we?

I was watching the local news tonight, and they had a segment on kidney stones in children. From Johns Hopkins Medical:

Kidney stones in children-considered all but a medical aberration until recently-are now becoming a fairly common condition. It’s a growing and disturbing trend that has pediatricians at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and around the country, sounding the alarm.

However:

While doctors have yet to quantify the precise increase and tease out the factors behind it-better detection devices probably play some role-pediatricians agree that too much salt and too little drinking water in children’s diets are probably the main culprits.

“More and more children with kidney stones are coming to us,” says kidney specialist Alicia Neu, M.D., co-director of the kidney stone clinic at the Children’s Center. “While this is somewhat unexpected, it is not totally surprising given that so many other conditions are on the rise in children due to poor diet, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and obesity to name a few.”

You see, in the US, it's always your fault. Your children should be on a lettuce and water diet and move constantly 12 hours a day, and if not, any illness they encounter is your fault.

Now the segment started by highlighting this problem. From Wikipedia:

The 2008 Chinese milk scandal is a food safety incident in mainland People's Republic of China involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, which had been adulterated with melamine. With mainland China's wide range of export food products, the scandal has affected countries on all continents. By the end of September, an estimated 94,000 victims have been claimed;^[1] four infants have died from kidney stones and other kidney damage.^[2][3] The chemical appeared to have been added to milk in order to cause it to appear to have a higher protein content. The same chemical was also involved in a series of pet food recalls in 2007. In a separate incident, watered-down milk resulted in 13 infant deaths from malnutrition in mainland China in 2004.^[4]

Let me pull a sentence out of that:

By the end of September, an estimated 94,000 victims have been claimed;^[1] four infants have died from kidney stones and other kidney damage.^[2][3]

So when children get kidney stones here, it's all because we're idiots who don't read or listen to the news or to our doctors. All of a sudden our children are eating massive amounts of salty foods, just over the past few years, even though they have been beating us over the head with the idea that our kids eat too much junk and are blowing up like balloons. Parents are all clearly dumb f*cks who just don't listen

But when it happens in Asia, it's the result of contaminated food products.

Again, from Wikipedia:

Chinese protein export contamination was first identified after the wide recall of many brands of cat and dog food starting in March 2007 (the 2007 pet food recalls), and eventually involved the human food supply. The recalls in North America, Europe and South Africa came in response to reports of kidney failure in pets. Initially the recalls were associated with the consumption of mostly wet pet foods made with wheat gluten from a single Chinese company. In the following weeks, several other companies who received the contaminated wheat gluten also voluntarily recalled dozens of pet food brands. One month after the initial recall, contaminated rice protein from a different source in China was also identified as being associated with kidney failure in pets in the United States, while contaminated corn gluten was associated with kidney failure with pets in South Africa.

The Chinese government was initially slow to respond. Both government officials and manufacturers went so far as to deny that vegetable protein was even exported from China and refused for weeks to allow foreign food safety investigators to enter the country.^[1][2] Ultimately, the Chinese government acknowledged that contamination had occurred and arrested the managers of two protein manufacturers identified so far and took other measures to improve food safety and product quality.^[3]

The first and most easily identified contaminant in the vegetable protein is melamine. However, melamine is not considered to be especially dangerous to animals or humans, and so investigators have continued to examine the role of other contaminants found to be present in the proteins, including cyanuric acid. Current research has focused on the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid in causing renal failure. Reports that cyanuric acid may be an independently and potentially widely-used adulterant in China have heightened concerns for both pet and human health.^[4]

If it's not harmful to humans, why were those babies getting sick? Turns out it is harmful to one type of human, babies and young children.

The US FDA said that while in general, food containing melamine below 2.5 parts per million did not raise concerns, its scientists were "currently unable to establish any level of melamine and melamine-related compounds in infant formula that does not raise public health concerns."^[203]

On October 3, 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that up to 2.5 parts per million of melamine was safe for adults, but declined to set a standard for children. The FDA also implied it would not permit the sale of food deliberately adulterated (rather than accidentally contaminated) with melamine.^[33] Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, Chairwoman of the House subcommitee which oversees the Food and Drug Administration subcommittee, said anything less than zero tolerance would not protect consumers.^[34] DeLauro criticised the FDA's "acceptable level for melamine in food" was an insult to consumers, and would give the impression that the FDA was condoning intentional contamination.^[35]

Note the date on that. Not quite a month ago.

And now the problems have been growing

The search widened when some manufacturers reported not using Chinese milk. The Sri Lankan manufacturer of Munchee Lemon Puff biscuits tested positive in Switzerland categorically stated that its milk powder or milk products were sourced only from Australia, Holland and Canada;^[171] similarly, Pokka products without milk or its derivatives from China were found by Vietnamese authorities to be contaminated.^[198]

Baking powder

Malaysian authorities determined that ammonium bicarbonate, not milk, imported from China was the source of contamination at Khong Guan and Khian Guan.^[141] On 19 October, 2008 Taiwanese authorities detected melamine in 469 tons of baking ammonia imported from China. Samples tested showed up to 2,470ppm of melamine.^[199] The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore has ordered importers and retailers to withdraw all Malaysia-made Julie's brand of biscuits taken off their shelves. This was after AVA detected the industrial chemical melamine in 12 Julie's biscuit products imported from Malaysia.

Chicken and eggs

Japanese and South Korean authorities' tests on imported egg powder from China found melamine contamination. Japan found melamine in frozen fried chicken imported from China.^[200] The South Korean supplies were traced to two companies in Dalian.^[201]. On 26 October, Hong Kong authorities discovered 4.7ppm melamine in eggs produced in Dalian.^[29] Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health, York Chow, suspected the melamine came from feed given to the chickens that laid the eggs.^[202][29] On 29 October Hong Kong authorities announced that tests done on eggs imported from Jingshan Pengchang Agricultural Product Co. of China's central Hubei province found an excessive amount of melamine. The melamine concentration for the Jinshan eggs contained melamine of 2.9 parts per million.

On 28 October, 2008 Wal-Mart stores in China also began removing Kekeda brand eggs, produced by Hanwei Group. On 29 October, 2008 the Taiwanese Department of Health said that protein powder imported from China was found to contain 1.90 parts per million (ppm) to 5.03ppm of melamine. This is announced after randomly testing 13 batches of protein powder, six of which were contaminated with melamine. The companies that produced the powder were Jilin Jinyi Egg Products Co Ltd and Dalian Green Snow Egg Product Co, Ltd.

In October 2008, "Select Fresh Brown Eggs" imported to Hong Kong from the Hanwei Group in Dalian in northeastern China, were found to be contaminated with nearly twice the legal limit of melamine. York Chow, the health secretary of Hong Kong, said he thought animal feeds might be the source of the contamination and announced that the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety would henceforward be testing all mainland Chinese pork, farmed fish, animal feed, chicken meat, eggs, and offal products for melamine. ^[55]

Yes, the melamine got into fresh chicken and fresh eggs via contaminated chicken feed. It looks to me like it concentrates up the food chain. They also found it in baking powder. Both of those were found this month.

So, what are we supposed to do, especially if you're like me, trying for a pregnancy in the coming months and wanting to do what's best for your children?

Breastfeed. Then spend a lot more on groceries.

Buy fresh local, for one thing. It doesn't have to be organic, I called Umpqua, our regional dairy and asked them about glutens in their products. All the stuff they use is produced in the US, period. And preferably in Oregon. When you can't buy local buy organic, most of those farmers are smaller, and will answer questions if you call. Produce your own baked goods, breads, cookies, crackers from wheat products you know to be grown and processed in the US. For everything else, follow a gluten free diet. It's a pain, no doubt about it, but people with celiac disease follow it all the time, and they manage. I'll have a couple of links on what to look out for at the end.

Oh yea, isn't the government doing anything about this?

In October 2008, the U.S. FDA issued new methods for the analysis of melamine and cyanuric acid in infant formulations in the Laboratory Information Bulletin No 4421 ^[56]. Similar recommendations have been issued by other authorities, like the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare ^[57], both based on LC MS/MS detection after HILIC separation ^[58]

Funny how that timing works. Note, that just says infant formulas.

Just remember, if you don't have celiac disease, or any other medical reason for avoiding gluten in particular, you can eat wheat and baked good. What you need to do for your children is keep them away from gluten manufactured in China, since melamine contamination appears to be more common than the government or the media is letting on.. Since there's no way to tell from reading labels if the gluten in processed foods came from China, all you can do is avoid it all together.

I don't know what to do about baking powder. But that's a minimal thing in any diet.

Just remember, even if a food product is assembled in the US, it's components may have come from China.

They keep saying parents aren't feeding their children responsibly, well, maybe it's time we did.

-----
Wikipedia links referenced:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chinese_milk_scandal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_protein_export_contamination
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine#Testing_for_melamine_and_cyanuric_acid_in_food


http://www.dietsite.com/dt/Diets/FoodSensitivities/GlutenFreeDiet.asp
http://www.the-gluten-free-chef.com/foods-containing-gluten.html
http://diet.lovetoknow.com/wiki/List_of_Foods_Containing_Gluten

One less spot of hate in the world

Looks like Raani/Janine over at baptisthomeschooling blog has decided to make her blog invitation only. Well, good. That's one less spot of hatred, terrorist support, fear-mongering and rabble-rousing to be found by a search engine.

That people weren't willing to put up with that, I believe, is evidence that humanity has grown beyond the morality of the bible.

At least most of us.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Found at www.ou.edu

Continuing our series on Christians Behaving Badly...

It seems that Sarah Palin doesn't believe in Christian terrorists.

Brian Williams: Back to the notion of terrorists and terrorism, this word has come up in relation to Mr. Ayers -- hanging out with terrorist – domestic terrorists. It is said that it gives it a vaguely post uh 9-11 hint, using that word, that we don’t normally associate with domestic crimes. Are we changing the definition? Are the people who set fire to American cities during the ‘60’s terrorists, under this definition? Is an abortion clinic bomber a terrorist under the definition?

Sarah Palin: There is no question that Bill Ayers via his own admittance was um one who sought to destroy our US Capitol and our Pentagon -- that is a domestic terrorist. There’s no question there. Now others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or um facilities, that uh, it would be unacceptable -- I don’t know if you could use the word terrorist, but its unacceptable and it would not be condoned of course on our watch. I don’t know if what you are asking is if I regret referring to Bill Ayers as an unrepentant domestic terrorist. I don’t regret characterizing him as that.

Brian Williams: I’m just asking what other categories you would put in there. Abortion clinic bombers? Protesters in cities where fires were started, Molotov cocktails, were thrown? People died.

Sarah Palin: I would put in that category of Bill Ayers anyone else who would seek to destroy our United States Capitol and our Pentagon and would seek to destroy innocent Americans.

(h/t to to Ari at Oxtown Gazette)
In her view the only terrorists are:

a) Muslims
b) People who attack the Capitol and the Pentagon

So to her, the following list, compiled by Dave over at Orcinus, doesn't count.




Eric Rudolph:

Eric Robert Rudolph (born September 19, 1966), also known as the Olympic Park Bomber, is an American radical described by the FBI as a terrorist who committed a series of bombings across the southern United States which killed two people and injured at least 150 others.

Rudolph declared that his bombings were part of a guerrilla campaign against abortion and what he describes as "the homosexual agenda." He spent years as the FBI's most wanted criminal fugitive, but was eventually caught. In 2005 Rudolph pleaded guilty to numerous federal and state homicide charges and accepted five consecutive life sentences in exchange for avoiding a trial and the death penalty. Rudolph was connected with the white supremacist Christian Identity movement. Although he has denied that his crimes were religiously or racially motivated, Rudolph has also called himself a Roman Catholic in "the war to end this holocaust" (of abortion).

James Kopp:

James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954) is an American citizen who was convicted in 2003 for the 1998 sniper-style murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian, an Amherst, New York physician who performed abortions. Prior to his capture, Kopp was on the FBI's list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 7, 1999 he had become the 455th fugitive placed on the list by the FBI. He was affiliated with anti-abortion group "The Lambs of Christ." He has been referred to as a terrorist by the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.

The Phineas Priesthood:

Letters left at the scene of an April 1996 bank robbery/clinic bombing in Spokane, Washington, contained Identity propaganda, diatribes against the banking system and were signed with the symbol of the "Phineas Priesthood." [At the time of the robbery, a bomb was set off at a nearby Planned Parenthood clinic as a diversion, with death threats toward abortion providers contained in the note left with that bomb.] The three men arrested, Charles Barbee, Robert Berry and Jay Merrell, were linked to white supremacist and "Identity" groups and were also charged with setting off bombs at a newspaper office and a Planned Parenthood clinic. All three were convicted.

[More here.]



Tim McVeigh:

Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was a United States Army veteran and security guard who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on the second anniversary of the Waco Siege, as revenge against what he considered to be a tyrannical federal government. The bombing killed 168 people, and was the deadliest act of terrorism within the United States prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Buford Furrow:

Buford O'Neal Furrow, Jr. (born November 25, 1961) perpetrated the August 1999 Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting on August 10, 1999, when he attacked a day care center at the North Valley Jewish Community Center. The shooting injured three children, and a receptionist. He also shot dead US Postal Service carrier Joseph Ileto who was Filipino American. Furrow was a member of the white-supremacist group Aryan Nations in 1995.

On January 24, 2001 Furrow pleaded guilty all of the counts against him. In exchange for pleading guilty, Furrow avoided a possible death sentence, but was instead sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to the indictment, Furrow expressed no regrets for any of his crimes.

Yes, apparently because Tim McVey was a Christian, and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was neither the Capitol nor the Pentagon and because he was protesting abortion, his actions were completely acceptable.



I disagree