tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40009762011-04-21T21:49:24.163-07:00WampumProgressive Politics, Indian Issues, and Autism AdvocacyMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comBlogger3331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2004258102003-06-14T16:39:00.000-07:002003-06-14T16:43:10.000-07:00If you've come to the old Wampum, you will get this update. If you head to the new Wampum, which is lost in the belly of a Verisign DNS snafu, you'll come up with some error message.
The new Wampum, when its DNS finally resolves, will be posting an update on our present and future status. For all of those who have expressed such warm and kind support, I hope the update will be heartening. ForMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003384232003-05-25T05:32:00.000-07:002003-05-25T05:32:19.630-07:00Today is the day...
Most of the bugs are worked out over on the new site, so I guess there's no good reason to keep double posting.
Update your bookmarks!
Wampum has formally moved to:
wampum.wabanaki.net
Old Wampum archives will remain on Blogspot until I can figure out how to move them without mangling them, as I did yesterday. [Note to self: Don't attempt complicated technical MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003369082003-05-24T11:55:00.000-07:002003-05-24T15:36:06.000-07:00Krugman explains it all
If you're at all the neophyte econoholic I am, deflation is one of those concepts you sort of grasp, but know there's a whole lot more you don't get. Fortunately, that's where Professor Krugman comes in. In his latest column, he not only tackles deflation, but cues us in on the dangers of a good old fashion, but little known concern:
The particular type of quagmire to MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003328482003-05-23T09:11:00.000-07:002003-05-23T12:39:10.000-07:00Moving the lodge!
I can't believe it, I finally figured it out. Movable Type, that is. I'll be posting on both sites until I'm sure I've got it down, as well as getting all my archives moved over. But my new home is..(drumroll, please)...
wampum.wabanaki.net
Wabanaki.net is one of the few Indian-owned and operated hosting sites, so it'll be great to be back on rez again.
(note: I'm MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003315652003-05-23T04:31:00.000-07:002003-05-23T08:02:10.000-07:00Whodda thought?
While doing my early morning deja vu research, I ran across this column that I thought too good not to post all by itself:
QUEEN ELIZABETH AND THE BUSH BLACK SHEEP
Donnie Radcliffe, Washington Post
Column: WASHINGTON WAYS
May 21, 1991
The Queen of England got two George Bushes for the price of one when she arrived at the White House last Tuesday. What she didn't know was MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003300502003-05-22T17:15:00.000-07:002003-05-23T06:59:07.000-07:00I'll see you on that vote, and raise you one cake...
Atrios, challenging W to a winner take all (votes) wager, writes:
The Bush administration is claiming that there will average 306,000 net new jobs per month over the next 18 month. If that happens, I promise to vote for him. Now, what will he promise if it doesn't?I thought about putting up all kinds of pretty charts and graphs, but you know, MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003287862003-05-22T12:18:00.000-07:002003-05-23T08:14:10.000-07:00And it's not even Flashback Friday yet
I realize that Josh Bolten has been lurking around the West Wing for the first few years of Bush Deux, where his duties ran towards secretly developing the Office of Homeland Security, intervening with the Treasury Department for Enron, and figuring out how to sell steel tariffs.
But this move shines a spotlight on a man known to jealously guard his, andMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003265172003-05-22T05:43:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:37:29.000-07:00Unemployment claims on the way up again
After two weeks where the number appeared to be on the decrease, new jobless were up sharply again in this morning's report:
In the week ending May 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 428,000, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 421,000. The 4-week moving average was 433,000, a decrease of 7,750 MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003221682003-05-21T08:17:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:35:50.000-07:00Rats deserting a sinking ship?
Something to wish for, but somehow I doubt that is the case:
Whitman, E.P.A. Administrator, Submits Resignation
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 21, 2003
WASHINGTON -- Christie Whitman, who has often been at odds with the White House over environmental issues, submitted her resignation Wednesday as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Whitman said MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003170952003-05-20T09:03:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:40:24.000-07:00Republican cannibals
Give the Republican Party controlling power over all three branches of the federal government, and do they restrict their attacks to Congressional Democrats?
No. They begin to eat their own.
First, they use the radical Club For Growth to hammer fiscally-moderate Senators Snowe and Voinovich over their opposition to Bush's tax cut debt increase plan, painting them as MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003166322003-05-20T07:39:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:34:28.000-07:00Coming out of the MMR closet
At some point today, in the peer-reviewed medical journal, International Pediatrics (published by Miami Children’s Hospital) the article described in the following abstract will appear (link via Schafer Autism Report):
Title: Pediatric MMR Vaccination Safety
Authors: Dr Mark R. Geier and David A. Geier
Journal: International Pediatrics
A new study MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003130852003-05-19T13:40:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:43:30.000-07:00Monday blog powwow
Frank, at I Protest, points his readers to an Alternet article on recent changes in federal voting laws which require personal identification, including photo or SSN, to be checked by the voting officials prior to a person entering a booth. Fraught with possibilities for abuse or mishandling, 2004 throughout the nation could make Florida in 2000 look like a picnic.
And MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003113102003-05-19T08:14:00.000-07:002003-05-24T13:45:12.000-07:00Maine - 1, Big Pharma - 0
Maine Wins Case Over Prescription Drugs
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:40 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Monday gave a green light to a novel state program to force drug manufacturers to lower prices on prescription drugs, but warned that the program may not survive further court challenges.
The ruling was a defeat for drug makers who claimed MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003075142003-05-18T08:26:00.000-07:002003-05-18T08:26:13.260-07:00Blogginxed again
Whenever I play with my blogroll these days, Blogger strikes back a day or two later and deletes at least half of my links. This has happened three times now. I don't know whether to rebuild it, or just wait until I get MT finished. Please don't feel dissed if you've disappeared from my sidebar.MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003071822003-05-18T05:55:00.000-07:002003-05-19T05:10:38.000-07:00Republican Presidents = Jobs, right?
Wrong.
Last week, jobless benefits, while down slightly to 417K, rang in for the 14th straight week over the benchmark 400K which indicates weakness in the employment sector. Since Republicans like to argue that they are the pro-business and thus pro-growth party, I thought it time to actually check the record.
Although not in the prettiest format, the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002995062003-05-16T08:48:00.000-07:002003-05-16T12:03:27.000-07:00Flashback Friday once more
Things were relatively low key this week in 1991 - the Queen was in town, and took up much of the print.
THE RECESSION THEY IGNORED
David S. Broder, Washington Post
May 15, 1991
It has taken an uncommonly long time for official Washington to wake up to the fact that the American economy is in rotten shape. But finally that uncomfortable truth is beginning to dawnMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2003005702003-05-16T08:02:00.000-07:002003-05-16T08:02:44.000-07:00More troubling economic news
Consumer Price Stall Ups Deflation Fears
Fri May 16, 2003 10:26 AM ET
By Eric Burroughs
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Consumer prices excluding energy and food eked ahead at the slowest year-over-year pace in 37 years in April, while the once robust housing market cooled during the month, according to government data that fanned fears of the danger of deflation.
The core MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002959332003-05-15T09:26:00.000-07:002003-05-15T10:13:56.000-07:00Inch up another notch on the pain index
U.S. bankruptcies rise to record high
Thu May 15, 2003 11:00 AM ET
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. bankruptcy filings rose to a record high in the 12-month period ending March 31, U.S. court officials said on Thursday, as the weak economy hurt personal finances.
Bankruptcies rose to 1.61 million from 1.5 million in the 12-month period ended March MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002956932003-05-15T08:41:00.000-07:002003-05-15T08:45:39.000-07:00More on increasing autism rates
Yesterday, I posted a chart from the follow-up report on autism to the California Legislature which indicated that over 1/3 of all autism cases were in children born between 1992 and 1998. Before I shared my own ideas regarding the surge in cases, I asked for readers opinions. I also found that Ross over at the Bloviator was posting on the subject, and MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002950212003-05-15T06:58:00.000-07:002003-05-15T06:58:17.220-07:00Forget Bush I deja vu, we're now in a Reagan time warp...
At least according to Reuter's:
Industrial Production Fell 0.5 Percent
Thu May 15, 2003 09:16 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. industrial production fell for a second straight month in April, according to a Federal Reserve report released on Thursday, as American factories operated at their slowest pace since Ronald Reagan was in theMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002947362003-05-15T05:47:00.000-07:002003-05-15T06:25:19.000-07:00New jobless claims down for second week
In the week ending May 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 417,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 430,000. The 4-week moving average was 439,750, a decrease of 7,500 from the previous week's revised average of 447,250.
[source: doleta.comOf course, expect that number to be revised upwards MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002899762003-05-14T08:11:00.000-07:002003-05-14T08:11:48.953-07:00A hint of a spine from Senate Dems?
A vertabra or two is all we ask. Tell us this is just the beginning:
Congress raised the debt limit by $450 billion last year, and Democrats made it clear today that they intended to use every future request for an increase to criticize the administration's economic policies. They unveiled a new "debt clock" today that measures the size of the national debtMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002894342003-05-14T06:48:00.000-07:002003-05-14T06:50:36.000-07:00Ouch
After the War, shoppers are sure to come out in droves, right? Wrong.
Retail Sales Ease Unexpectedly in April
Wed May 14, 2003 08:30 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in April with sales excluding autos posting their biggest drop since September 2001, the government said on Wednesday, raising questions about eagerness of American consumers to shop.
Some MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002890092003-05-14T05:11:00.000-07:002003-05-14T06:06:03.000-07:00More on the new California Autism report
The entire report, entitled Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Changes In The California Caseload An Update: 1999 Through 2002 is now available online in .pdf format. There's a lot in the report to discuss, which I probably will do over the next few days.
One visual in particular, however, struck me to the extent that I felt compelled to share it as soon as MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002888052003-05-14T04:02:00.000-07:002003-05-14T04:06:53.000-07:00Texas Republicans play dirty with the Bees
What's the old saying? When you can't beat 'em....intimidate their families?
The state officers who are in charge of rounding up the runaway lawmakers, meanwhile, were accused Tuesday by some Democrats and their relatives of heavy-handed tactics .
"Once our wives tell them they don't know where we are, that should be the end of it and once they know MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002876312003-05-13T19:39:00.000-07:002003-05-13T19:41:10.000-07:00The rose tinting in those glasses is beginning to fade
Ever so slightly.
First, there's the realization you've been duped. As long as there's no real harm done, the critique remains on simmer. But there are now cracks in the foundation; how long before they become deep fissures?
Poll finds about half of Americans believe Bush overestimated Iraqi weapons
Tuesday, May 13, 2003
Associated MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002872202003-05-13T17:22:00.000-07:002003-05-13T18:28:50.000-07:00New autism report out from California
And it's not at all good. Not unexpected, at least for those of us who have suspected that autism is in fact reaching "epidemic" proportions, but bad news nonetheless.
Report: Calif. autism rate has doubled in four years
Beth Fouhy
Associated Press
May 13, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO - The number of children with autism in California has nearly doubled in the last MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002856292003-05-13T11:45:00.000-07:002003-05-13T11:46:58.000-07:00The other Powell sits poised to strike
And his target is not Iraq, but your access to information.
F.C.C. Prepares to Loosen Rules on Media Ownership
By STEPHEN LABATON
WASHINGTON, May 12 — The government proposed the most significant overhaul of its media ownership rules in a generation today, including a change that would allow television networks to own enough local stations to reach 90 MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002854542003-05-13T11:16:00.000-07:002003-05-13T11:18:06.000-07:00Fax the Bees!
Okay, so they're actually now being called the Killer "Ds", but I'm still wedded to the old '79 name. But if you'd like to show your support for the Bees or the Ds, here's the contact info for the hotel where at least 50 of the swarm have congregated:
The Ardmore Holiday Inn's telephone number is (580) 223-7130. They receive faxes on the same line as voice.
Send a fax MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002835832003-05-13T06:07:00.000-07:002003-05-13T13:26:18.000-07:00The Killer Bees migrate north
Missing Lawmakers Turn Up In Oklahoma
Lawmakers Say They Plan To Resume Work Sessions Tuesday
Updated: 8:30 a.m. EDT May 13, 2003
ARDMORE, Okla. -- They wore jeans and baseball caps, but Texas House Democrats say their day in Oklahoma wasn't fun and games as they skipped the state legislative session and brought the House to a standstill.
About 59 Democrat MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002785882003-05-12T08:23:00.000-07:002003-05-12T08:36:30.000-07:00Return of the Killer Bees
Sounds like a bad B-movie...(yes, there's a pun there.)
However, Congressional Democrats should head to Texas this week to get a lesson in playing hardball. Thing is, there may not be many Texas Democrats to teach them.
But that is exactly the point.
Report: House Democrats plan to break quorum
Associated Press
Monday, May 12, 2003
SAN ANTONIO — A group of Texas MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002775062003-05-12T05:01:00.000-07:002003-05-12T07:18:45.000-07:00And the Red states get bluer over increasing unemployment
Over the weekend on the Daily Kos, RonK, filling in for Kos, took a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the 2004 Senate races, and other related state politics concerns for Democrats. Within comments, I pointed to the graph I drew last month, looking at how specific state unemployment levels could conceivably impact a close MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002728012003-05-10T16:58:00.000-07:002003-05-10T17:09:14.000-07:00Light blogging ahead (at least this weekend)...
Next week is Kikas, the Planting Moon. The weather here in Maine has been rather cold and wet so far this spring, so I haven't been able to do much preparation. Since today was absolutely gorgeous, I scampered off to my favorite equipment rental (no joke, they know my voice when I phone) to pick up a Pony for the weekend. Mother's Day, MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002684362003-05-09T11:41:00.000-07:002003-05-09T11:56:31.000-07:00Mastercard quote of the day
Here are some facts on judicial nominations.
The number of Bush circuit court nominees the Senate has confirmed: 22.
The number of Bush nominees confirmed to the district courts: 101.
The number of Bush judicial nominees currently being filibustered: 2.
The claim that Democrats are being obstructionist: priceless. And laughable.
-- E.J. Dionne Jr [via TheMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002671152003-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:002003-05-09T09:37:48.000-07:00The Ghost
A work of fiction?
Chapter I.
I've been haunted by a ghost named David recently. He first appeared a few days back, while I was driving alone to the grocery store. Next, he showed up while I was showering. Then, anytime I had a few minutes of down time in my hectic daily schedule, he was there. Now, he's not even that considerate; he's edging in on my activities, while I make MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002663082003-05-09T05:36:00.000-07:002003-05-09T05:37:50.000-07:00Flashback Friday for the second week of May, 1991
NEW FOCUS ON BUSH:
IMAGE OF INVINCIBILITY IN '92 BEGINS TO FADE
Curtis Wilkie, Boston Globe
May 9, 1991
President Bush's aura of invincibility in 1992 has begun to dissolve.
The most recent and talked-about political vulnerability came with news that Bush had been hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat -- and the resulting visions of a MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002643182003-05-08T16:52:00.000-07:002003-05-08T17:36:44.000-07:00Mainely here or there
The Amistad comes to Portland!
Well, sort of. Actually, it's a replica of the (in)famous 1830's slave vessel appropriated by the African captives it was transporting for sale into slavery. It docked in Portland harbor on Tuesday, and will be available for boarding and tours through next week.
Speaking of visiting Portland...Howard Dean did this week. Some people went. MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002628952003-05-08T12:10:00.000-07:002003-05-08T12:19:51.000-07:00More fun with unemployment numbers
In the past months that I've been playing with unemployment numbers, both the overall rate and unemployment compensation claims, a few things have nagged at me; one was the number of people who were unemployed, yet did not qualify for unemployment insurance. In my state, there are a number of reasons, besides the obvious one of being fired for cause: If an MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002609412003-05-08T06:38:00.000-07:002003-05-08T09:46:18.000-07:00So what is the real story here?
New Claims for Jobless Benefits Decline
Unemployment Claims Remain High
Number of new jobless claims dips
New claims for jobless benefits still point to sluggish labor market
I guess it depends upon who is writing your headlines. Actually, all the above refer to the same AP article by by Jeannine Aversa:
WASHINGTON (AP)--Fewer workers sought unemployment MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002568032003-05-07T11:26:00.000-07:002003-05-07T11:26:07.416-07:00A rebellion of Mainiacs brewing?
I thought Bush was trying to gain the votes of moderate Senators with his strong-arm tactics, including personal visits to their home states and ads equating them with those...cheese-eating, Bush-obstructing, Saddam-loving French.
It appears that he may be losing at least one, my junior Senator, Susan Collins of Maine.
Collins demanded that Republican leaders MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002553542003-05-07T07:30:00.000-07:002003-05-07T07:30:52.713-07:00Quick, it's time set fire to an oil field...or two
Papers Show Expanded Halliburton Iraq Role
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, May 6 (AP) — An emergency contract the Bush administration gave to Halliburton to extinguish Iraqi oil fires also gave the company a more lucrative role in helping repair the country's oil system, documents showed today.
Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002494302003-05-06T07:40:00.000-07:002003-05-06T09:07:48.000-07:00Proof that a little knowledge may lead to...
...more misinformation.
This past weekend, I wrote on the subject of Asperger's and autism, having come across an incendiary and erroneous post on the same subject. Silver Rights has followed up with another misrepresentation of fact: "It is an [sic] a tragedy that anyone's child has autism. However, I believe we hear a lot more about the ailment MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002486642003-05-06T05:14:00.000-07:002003-05-06T05:17:12.000-07:00More underreported [negative] poll numbers
I've only found a few news articles which reference this Harris Interactive poll released yesterday (and it's not available on the Harris website yet), but, once again, the news is not good for Bush's $726,000,000,000 tax cut.
The Harris Poll of 2,179 adults, taken April 17-23, showed deeper skepticism in the public:
* Only about one in five, 22 MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002483752003-05-06T03:16:00.000-07:002003-05-06T03:16:48.506-07:00Alabama Dems seem to know how to play the game
Perhaps some Congressional legislators need to pay attention.
Yesterday, I wrote on Bush's ballot dilemma. The GOP has found itself caught in between the Olympics and filing deadlines in a number of states in regards to the timing of its national convention, where it nominates its presidential candidate. One assumes that will be George W. Bush. MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002452622003-05-05T11:17:00.000-07:002003-05-05T11:56:51.000-07:00Filibuster? What's that again?
The Senate has just finished debating the merit of yet another of Bush's conservative judicial nominees. This time, its Ohio Supreme Court Justice Deborah Cook to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. As PFAW have stated in their opposition to this nominee:
As reflected by the cases discussed below, in her tenure as a state court judge, Justice Cook has taken MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002440612003-05-05T07:48:00.000-07:002003-05-05T07:55:22.000-07:00From the Duh!-bya file
Even landing on an aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego might not win you a single vote in California, in you're not on the ballot!
I knew about Alabama, but not California.
Bush faces write-in fate in some states
May 1, 2003
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- First came the news that Alabama officials might have to put President Bush on the ballot as a write-in candidate. It MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002356132003-05-03T04:54:00.000-07:002003-05-04T12:40:38.000-07:00Spectrum Syndromes
We live in a world of spectra; from skintone to age to religious beliefs. Our world is a vastly diverse one, and most of us believe we are all better for it. And while we don't consciously think of everything around us falling on one form of spectrum or another, just about any action, thought, attribute, etc., can be viewed subjectively. Well, at least, that's what PoMos MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002329932003-05-02T08:39:00.000-07:002003-05-02T10:40:15.000-07:00It's spreading... (and I'm not talking about SARS...)
Keep repeating the deja vu mantra. It's catching on. From the final paragraph of today's NYTimes analysis of the job-creation potential of the proposed $726,000,000,000 Bush tax cut:
In the short term, even if everything goes the administration's way, the economy's performance could still fall short of what Americans became accustomed to inMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002319142003-05-02T06:05:00.000-07:002003-05-02T07:29:19.000-07:00So, what's the real unemployment number?
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the April unemployment figures. The rate, which had decreased from its high of 6.0% in December to 5.7% in January, due to a shell game "change in statistical calculations", crept up to 5.8 in March, and returned to 6.0% in April.
But a number of questions have been raised recently on exactly what MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002317902003-05-02T05:41:00.000-07:002003-05-02T05:41:26.440-07:00I called it...
The unemployment rate rose to 6.0 percent in April, and nonfarm payroll employment edged down by 48,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S.Department of Labor reported today. In April, job losses continued in manufacturing, some travel-related industries, and department stores.
The number of unemployed persons increased to 8.8 million in April, and the unemployment rate MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002298612003-05-02T02:34:00.000-07:002003-05-02T05:54:57.000-07:00Flashback Friday
And, not surprisingly, the focus in 1991 turned from the war with Iraq to...the Economy!
JOBLESS CLAIMS HIT 500,000 FOR 2D CONSECUTIVE WEEK
Associated Press
May 3, 1991
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits hit the half-million mark again in April as the ranks of those seeking help rose for the second consecutive week, the governmentMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002285022003-05-01T11:11:00.000-07:002003-05-01T11:39:00.000-07:00One scoop, or two?
U.S. April ISM Manufacturing Index Falls to 45.4
By Carlos Torres
Washington, May 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. manufacturing contracted in April the most since October 2001 as new orders and employment declined, evidence that factories were slow to respond to the easing of tensions with Iraq.
The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index dropped to 45.4 last month MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002273922003-05-01T08:13:00.000-07:002003-05-01T08:24:32.000-07:00An Emerging Democratic Majority...redux
Some heartening news for Democrats. Personally, I like these guys as they, like me, are obsessed with pulling trends out of raw data.
Deciphering the Democrats' Debacle
By Ruy Teixeira, Washington Monthly
May 1, 2003
Last year, John Judis and I published a book entitled "The Emerging Democratic Majority," which argued that a series of economic, MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002266032003-05-01T05:49:00.000-07:002003-05-01T06:28:46.000-07:00New Jobless Claims worse than expected...again
I thought perhaps there would be some honest-to-goodness positive economic news today (versus that which is merely spun as good news) as the newly-refunded Mass Layoff Report for March showed the 10th consecutive month that the number of initial claims declined. Since most recently laid-off workers get some form of severance, or have unused MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002231722003-04-30T11:41:00.000-07:002003-04-30T11:41:41.563-07:00Slow blogging ahead...
Posting will be light in the next day to two. I really need to spend some uninterrupted time on It's Still the Economy, Stupid, especially since it's no longer just mine to neglect. Also, Wampum will be migrating to a new home eventually, as soon as I get a better handle on Movable Type. For now, I've got my banner up, but nothing else. That needs to change if I ever MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002213812003-04-30T06:54:00.000-07:002003-04-30T08:37:59.000-07:00A Senator's job is what again?
Bush judicial pick approved, but barely
April 30, 2003
BY CARL WEISER
WASHINGTON--Defying a throng of blind, deaf and disabled activists, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed a controversial nominee for a court one step below the Supreme Court.
The 52-41 vote for Jeffrey Sutton came almost two years after the lawyer from Columbus, Ohio, was nominated by President MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002168322003-04-29T09:54:00.000-07:002003-04-29T09:54:05.110-07:00Deja-Vu Syndrome is spreading in the media
It's now taken hold of at least one polling organizations.
The latest CBS poll was very interesting, mostly mirroring last week's USA TodayCNN/Gallup poll. But the fact that pollsters are now asking these questions indicates they too are increasingly aware of the similarities between 1991 and 2003. Here is the last segment reported by CBS.com:
MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002154752003-04-29T06:18:00.000-07:002003-04-29T06:18:58.726-07:00Forget the So-called-liberal-media: It's the Pollyanna Press now
The irony of it all. In a rare occurrence, an Administration release actually offered an honest assessment of a negative economic report:
The Employment Cost Index for total compensation rose 1.3 percent from December 2002 to March 2003, following a 0.7 percent gain from September to December 2002, seasonally adjusted, the BureauMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002134962003-04-29T03:25:00.000-07:002003-04-29T06:56:23.000-07:00Nationwide Call-In Day: Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Use the toll-free Congressional switchboard at 1-800-839-5276
Today is the day, a National Call-In Day for two issues critical to disabled individuals and special needs children: The Senate votes today on the nomination of Jeffrey Sutton, and the House votes tomorrow on the re-authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002117962003-04-28T12:16:00.000-07:002003-04-28T12:20:31.000-07:00More on the missing CNN poll
Yesterday, I wrote about last week's USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll which mysteriously was never reported by CNN on its website. Leah A., in comments, reminded me that Howard Kurtz was a CNN employee as the host of Reliable Sources. I was intrigued because Kurtz, in the Post, was one of the handful of journalists who discussed the poll in print last week. However, whenMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002109122003-04-28T09:33:00.000-07:002003-04-28T09:33:20.526-07:00Quote of the day
Who said this during Sunday's line-up?
"What I'm trying to figure (is) why these conservatives are pushing the bigger and bigger tax cuts when, traditionally, conservatives have been opposed to deficits."
"If we get these big deficits, then the pressure will be on to strangle the spending, to strangle what is called the 'wasteful social spending,' whether it's Medicare or MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002103132003-04-28T07:59:00.000-07:002003-04-28T07:59:33.430-07:00Always read the fine print
So when I took my morning jaunt over to the Yahoo! Economic Calendar to get a quick update on this morning latest releases, I saw that the Commerce Department had put out March's "Personal Spending" numbers, and although they were up 0.4%, they were lower than the 0.6% that "the Market" was expecting. I moused on over to the Times, where I was somewhat surprised to MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002098072003-04-28T06:28:00.000-07:002003-04-28T06:37:56.000-07:00Eat your veggies? Maybe not...
I have to admit that the headline, "Advocacy group finds contaminant in lettuce", caught my eye this morning due to the fact that, after four bedrest pregnancies in six years and subsequent added baby weight, I'm eating a lot of lettuce these days. But I really wasn't prepared for the implications when I opened the Boston Globe to read:
State and federal MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002059782003-04-27T07:25:00.000-07:002003-04-27T07:31:19.000-07:00Don't blink now! A new not-so-favorable poll!
This morning, while I was Googling news to get a sense of where American sentiment currently stands on Bush's tax cut plan, I ran across this bit in Deb Price's informational piece in this morning's Detroit News:
[A]s a USA Today/CNN poll released Friday shows, Americans' No. 1 concern is the economy. The poll's findings are cause for alarm for the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002039182003-04-26T12:43:00.000-07:002003-04-26T12:43:22.210-07:00Judges matter
This is one reason why appointments to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals are so important:
Appeals court halts work of trust fund master
Friday, April 25, 2003
A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily suspended a court investigator whose work on the Indian trust fund led to the imposition of contempt sanctions on two Bush administration officials.
In a short order, the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2002028652003-04-26T05:40:00.000-07:002003-04-26T07:20:37.000-07:00Some thoughts on "Enlighten Me" Syndrome
Bean, now on "staff" over at Alas, A Blog, included these paragraphs in her latest post on feminism and pro-feminists:
When a man comes up to me and professes feminism, a lot of times, what it has meant is, "I want to be a better human being, and since you are a feminist woman, I'm going to dump it all at your feet and ask you to be responsible for my MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001983702003-04-25T07:00:00.000-07:002003-04-25T08:42:44.000-07:00Flashback Friday yet once again
BUSH'S FISCAL FEARS
Rowland Evans, Robert Novak, Creators Syndicate Inc.
April 24, 1991
President Bush spent nearly an hour last week reassuring six uneasy conservative Republican members of Congress but in doing so also exposed fiscal fears that are immobilizing his economic strategy.
The lawmakers were reassured by the president's continued support for a MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001927902003-04-24T05:59:00.000-07:002003-04-24T06:00:18.000-07:00Jobless claims up again
More bad unemployment news:
Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected
April 24, 2003
By REUTERS
Filed at 8:40 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans lining up for state unemployment benefits last week climbed more than expected to the highest level in over a year, the government said on Thursday, suggesting a deteriorating labor market.
First-time joblessMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001889352003-04-23T11:00:00.000-07:002003-04-23T11:00:49.093-07:00Senator Snowe, proud RINO
While I was busy flouting the stupidity of the Club For Growth attacks on my senior Senator, Olympia Snowe, I missed an even bigger story regarding the moderate Republican from Maine. Fortunately, the ever vigilant Lisa English of Ruminate This caught the scoop on Ms. Snowe's efforts to delay the FCC decision on new media rules.MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001869612003-04-23T05:28:00.000-07:002003-04-23T16:29:49.000-07:00Whose family values?
While I wholeheartedly agree that all civil-rights minded Americans should publicly flay Rick Santorum for his remarks against gays, there was a whole 'nother barrel of fish he opened up in his April 7th interview with the Washington Post's Lara Lakes Jordan which Democrats and Progressives should soundly address:
"The basic liberal philosophy is materialistic, is MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001835472003-04-22T12:04:00.000-07:002003-05-12T04:51:49.000-07:00Singin' the Red State Unemployment Blues
I've been thinking a lot about the unemployment rate, but not only the big picture, but what it might mean in the nitty-gritty of election strategy next year. For that, I think one needs to look more intently at the state-by-state unemployment levels, particularly in relation to where they were when George Bush II took office in January 2001.
For the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001822422003-04-22T08:07:00.000-07:002003-04-22T08:07:24.573-07:00Pssst...Over here...A story on Norton's, er, Lott's criminal behavior
The Democrats have such an amazing issue with which to throttle the Administration, and yet time and again they pass up the opportunity to use it. I guess the American Indian community should tie John Lott to the story somehow, and perhaps then it would be fair game. Here's more fodder in case anyone might have the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001786302003-04-21T14:42:00.000-07:002003-04-21T14:38:52.000-07:00More on the lead thread
A number of blogs have picked up Kevin Drum of Calpundit's lead football and run with it. Both Dwight Meredith of PLA and JD over at the fledgling Silver Rights have posted their thoughts and recommendations on the subject of childhood lead poisoning.
It is a topic with which I am far too familiar. My youngest son, Jonah, was lead poisoned at 15 months. We own a MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001764432003-04-21T08:04:00.000-07:002003-04-21T08:04:51.000-07:00Whence the War's Windfall?
Leading Economic Indicators Drop
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:03 a.m. ET
New York (AP) -- A key indicator of future U.S. economic activity fell 0.2 percent in March, the Conference Board said Monday.
The Index of Leading Economic Indicators measures where the overall U.S. economy is headed in the next three to six months. It stood at 100 in 1996, its base yearMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001757562003-04-21T05:43:00.000-07:002003-04-21T15:26:09.000-07:00And this is supposed to be a slur?
The neo-cons Club For Growth recently released to political ads, lambasting moderate Republican Senators Olympia Snowe of Maine and George Voinovich of Ohio for not supporting Bush's $726 billion tax cut. The Senators, heralded as "Franco-Republicans" by the CFG, are compared to French president Chirac in their willingness to stand in the way of the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001702272003-04-19T09:38:00.000-07:002003-06-14T14:13:35.000-07:00Saturday...around the blogs...you'd think it was the 4th of...
Oops, got a little carried away there.
My favorite quote of the week. Teresa Nielsen Hayden of MakingLight on the recently discovered species, bleeding-heart freepers:
(There’s a new one: bleeding-heart freepers. They didn’t care about the Iraqi people last week and they won’t care about them next week. It’s just their football MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001695772003-04-19T04:58:00.000-07:002003-04-19T04:55:46.000-07:00No, this is not a post from 1991
But it is from one of my favorite "deja vu" sources, the Boston Globe:
Poll says economy is top US concern
By Diego Ibarguen, Knight Ridder
4/19/2003
WASHINGTON -- For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the American people are more concerned about the nation's economic woes than about terrorism, war, or Iraq, a poll suggests.
The poll, MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001685852003-04-18T18:34:00.000-07:002003-04-18T18:34:55.393-07:00Bloglight Zone
So Blogger is screwing with my template: At least a half dozen or so of my links on my blogroll disappeared. Very Strange.MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001659092003-04-18T06:02:00.000-07:002003-04-18T18:14:19.000-07:00Flashback Friday once again
RELIEF GROUPS SAY THAT IRAQ FACES WIDESPREAD FAMINE, EPIDEMICS
April 17, 1991
Stephen Kurkjian, Boston Globe
WASHINGTON -- Millions of other Iraqis inside that bomb-shattered country will soon face suffering equal to, or perhaps greater than, that of the Kurdish refugees, two international relief organizations predicted yesterday.
The International Committee of the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001638522003-04-17T15:34:00.000-07:002003-04-17T15:34:36.466-07:00Yay!
For a couple of months now, I've been feeling almost silly, banging my "deja vu" drum all by my lonesome. But I figured, sooner or later, others would pick up the beat. That day has come.
(via Ruminate This)
MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001612402003-04-17T07:29:00.000-07:002003-04-17T07:34:47.000-07:00Cheese-eating Republicans surrender over "scalping" issue
More proof Republican "big tent" words only offer cover for an inherently bigoted core. Of course, it will mostly go unnoticed by the media et al.
Republicans remove cartoon from Web site tribe deemed offensive
The Associated Press
Published 04/16/2003
MADISON, Wis. - The state Republican Party dropped a cartoon from a Web site MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001608392003-04-17T06:14:00.000-07:002003-04-17T06:18:30.000-07:00Jobless claims increase markedly
This is not good news at all.
Jobless Claims Surge to 442, 000 Last Week
By Reuters
Filed at 8:55 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More Americans than expected signed up for state unemployment benefits last week, reflecting increased layoffs in the auto industry as the world's richest economy limped forward, a government report on Thursday showed.
First-time MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001561032003-04-17T05:07:00.000-07:002003-04-17T06:06:26.000-07:00The Administration discovers its artsy side...
A growing number of weblogs, especially Body and Soul, Making Light, and even Instapundit, have expressed their outrage, dismay and in some cases, exculpation over the pillaging of the Iraqi National Museum. Although I discussed it in passing a few days back, I suspect friends who know me as an archaeologist, not a parent of autistic children or aMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001505542003-04-15T08:23:00.000-07:002003-04-15T10:43:30.000-07:00They've screwed in the lightbulb, but haven't yet flipped the switch...
You know how frustrating it can be when you read an article which steps up to the base, pulls back its bat, sees the ball fly right through the zone, but then fails to swing. Well, Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder succeeded in introducing me to that feeling once again in their report on newly released poll numbers. After a MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001499722003-04-15T06:55:00.000-07:002003-04-15T07:32:58.000-07:00Industrial production slumps
More bad economic news from the Federal Reserve:
Industrial production fell 0.5 percent in March and is now estimated to have edged down 0.1 percent in February. Manufacturing output declined 0.2 percent in March, but excluding motor vehicles and parts, it was little changed for the second consecutive month. Output at utilities fell 4.1 percent after having MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001467572003-04-14T14:10:00.000-07:002003-04-14T14:48:37.000-07:00Shiny happy people spending...(maybe)
Since this article came out last week, I've been ruminating on some points:
Confidence Rising, Consumers Begin to Spend More Money
By KENNETH N. GILPIN
In the first encouraging news about the American economy in weeks, two reports released today showed that consumers are not only spending more money than they did in the depth of winter, but that they are MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001453262003-04-14T09:50:00.000-07:002003-04-14T10:00:20.000-07:00Out of the frying pan...
And into the fire.
The stories percolating from of Iraq of anarchy and destruction in the wake of US invasion leave one to wonder if, despite Saddam's brutal government's demise, if it was in fact worth it. Hospitals and schools looted for incubators and children's desks. Government offices and courthouses razed with all of their contents. Baghdad's world famous IraqMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001356762003-04-11T16:37:00.000-07:002003-04-11T18:22:47.000-07:00Memories lost, now found.
I was up in the attic this afternoon, to climb the 80 year-old+ wooden ladder that allows the only access to our roof. The forecast was for rain. Heavy rain, and I noticed when I pulled into the driveway yesterday that a part of the roof looked "askew" (there is no real way to explain it - the house is a 1913 American Foursquare with a hip-roof which at one time MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001284012003-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:002003-04-11T09:05:22.000-07:00Flashback Friday once again
PLIGHT OF THE KURDS: WHAT SHOULD US DO? A WAY THAT WON'T END TURMOIL BUT WILL SAVE LIVES
April 12, 1991
H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe
Wars have a way of ending in moral ambiguity, political uncertainty and, sometimes, betrayal. The French and the British betrayed the Arabs who followed T.E. Lawrence's call for a revolt in the desert during the First World War. The MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001321172003-04-11T06:08:00.000-07:002003-04-11T06:12:55.000-07:00Ouch
This BLS alert just arrived in my box this morning (you can sign up for BLS press release via email here):
The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods advanced 1.5 percent in March, seasonally adjusted, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. This increase followed a 1.0-percent gain in February and a 1.6-percent rise in January. At the earlier MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001286682003-04-10T12:55:00.000-07:002003-04-11T05:09:43.000-07:00It really is a recycled war...
...right down to the OP-ED pages...
PROPAGANDA PRISONERS
David Nyhan, Globe Staff
April 11, 1991
If our generals are ever tempted to re-fight the last war, they'll have to go it alone -- because the American press wants no part of it. We know when we're licked.
As with the air war which flattened Iraq's infrastructure, and the ground war which thumped the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001266282003-04-10T07:33:00.000-07:002003-04-10T07:33:22.503-07:00And they were actually stunned?
The New York Times finally reports the obvious:
The majority leader, Bill Frist of Tennessee, and other lawmakers arrived at work today expecting the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee to adopt the compromise, which tries to shield vaccine makers from lawsuits while expanding the rights of parents of injured children to bring claims before a MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001230932003-04-09T14:07:00.000-07:002003-04-09T14:18:39.000-07:00The new straw man germ
In November, Frist, Armey and the Republican screw-autistic-kids-cabal claimed that they had to attach the "Eli Lilly Liability Protection Amendment" onto the Homeland Security Bill so that vaccine manufacturers wouldn't be afraid to produce the smallpox and anthrax vaccines needed to protect us from Osama bin Hussein's terrorist hoards. Even when confronted with the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001223712003-04-09T11:58:00.000-07:002003-04-09T11:58:31.246-07:00Just the facts, Ma'am
Quite a few times in the past, I've railed against journalists who seem to have no problem slipping their own biases into their reporting, but can't even get basic facts straight. Take for instance, vaccines and Thimerosal. In the US, most childhood vaccines no longer contain the mercury-based preservative, and in fact, some never did. That was due to the fact that they MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001215572003-04-09T09:50:00.000-07:002003-04-09T10:49:03.000-07:00Oh, Joe, say it isn't so...
Apparently bloggers aren't the only ones these days who have a problem crediting their sources.
This morning, I was Googling news on the CC TLD .iq, as my spouse had been interviewed by a journalist yesterday in regards to the status of the Iraqi top level domain. I was particularly interested when I ran across this article on the website of the British The RegisterMBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001205562003-04-09T07:25:00.000-07:002003-04-09T13:12:06.000-07:00Good news on the Frist bill front
Just got off the phone with Senator Edwards' office. No quorum in committee, ergo, no markup.
We live to fight another day.
[Update: Spoke too soon.]
According to the AP (see above post on the article's author), "Democrats said the postponement had more to do with objections lodged at the last minute by two of the four major manufacturers of vaccines."
MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001199892003-04-09T05:42:00.000-07:002003-04-09T05:49:57.000-07:00My son, the budding paleontologist
Me [laying out today's clothes]: Sam, what's this? (fully expecting "dinosaur")
Sam: It's a triceratops.
Me: (speechless)
This, from a boy who was not speaking when he turned 3.
In the interest of full disclosure, it was actually a skeleton of a triceratops. Must have inherited his mom's love of bones.MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001197292003-04-09T04:24:00.000-07:002003-04-09T04:28:17.000-07:00Will the Kiddie Kevorkian get his way?
I know that I'm emotionally invested in this issue, but the obvious arrogance and indifference exhibited by Senator Frist over this issue makes me see at least a dozen shades of red.
The Senate Wednesday may strike a deal on how to handle hundreds of suits by parents who believe a common vaccine additive caused a wave of autism during the 1990s when the MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001176782003-04-08T16:18:00.000-07:002003-04-08T16:18:31.890-07:00How not to make blogging more respected....
Not to mention harm your own reputation.
I'm not about to knock a man when he's down, particularly when there's a pile on happening already. But, there's a lesson here for bloggers, old time gurus and neophytes alike. Credit your work. Always. Not only does it undermine anything and everything else that you've written when you plagiarize (or are MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4000976.post-2001156812003-04-08T10:02:00.000-07:002003-04-08T10:02:28.743-07:00Thug Marine recruit watch
Do we have to unequivocally "support our troops" when we're sending guys like this to Iraq?
Three Green Bay Teens Get Jail Time For Beating Autistic Classmate
Three Green Bay teens were convicted Monday of beating up a 15-year-old disabled classmate in October.
Cole Young, Shawn Quayle and Justin Bower, all 18, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor party to the crimes of MBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13432834379399508509noreply@blogger.com