Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A Mental Disorder?
Today, on some old dude's pickup, I saw a bumper sticker that read:
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder
He also had a POW/MIA sticker, which seemed to me to be a greater indicator of mental disorder, to think that there would still be American soldiers being held prisoner in Vietnam some 40 years after the end of the war. . . but that's not the point. The point is Liberalism? A mental disorder? Really? In what way?
Is it a mental disorder to think that the US government, a singularly powerful entity, might be able to be a force for some good in people's lives? Is that crazy?
Or maybe it's a sign of mental disorder to believe that people should not have different rights depending on whether or not they acknowledge the awesomeness of boobies. Is it sane to think that I should have more rights than my friends who don't think that boobies are any big deal?
Or maybe you have to be mentally ill to care about the air we breathe and the water we drink?
Do you have to be a bit nutty to think that providing all of our young folks with a decent education is a good idea?
Do you have to be a little disturbed to think that the type of healthcare system that works just fine in Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Sweden, The Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, Norway and England might work well here?
I wouldn't think so. Those all seem like fairly reasonable positions, ones on which some folks might disagree, but we ought to be able to discuss reasonably. But we will never be able to have a reasonable discussion as long as a large segment of society believes that holding the opposing viewpoint is a "Mental Disorder." And there is an entire industry dedicated to convincing these folks of just that.
We're screwed.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
How to tell when you've gotten too close to your kitty
When your kitty spends more time at second base than Chase Utley, you've probably gotten too close.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Why do I have to go to Al-Jazeera to read this?
Why the hell is this not a big story in the American press?
Oh, right, because they're awful.
Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists
Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause.
Dahr Jamail Last Modified: 20 Apr 2012 15:57
New Orleans, LA - "The fishermen have never seen anything like this," Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. "And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."
Dr Cowan, with Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences started hearing about fish with sores and lesions from fishermen in November 2010.
. . . Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp - and interviewees' fingers point towards BP's oil pollution disaster as being the cause.
Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts, commercial fishers from Barataria, Louisiana, are finding eyeless shrimp.
"At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these," Kuhns told Al Jazeera while showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.
According to Kuhns, at least 50 per cent of the shrimp caught in that period in Barataria Bay, a popular shrimping area that was heavily impacted by BP's oil and dispersants, were eyeless. Kuhns added: "Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets."
We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don't have their usual spikes … they look like they've been burned off by chemicals."
"I've seen the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out," Ladner told Al Jazeera. "The shrimp are immune compromised. We are finding shrimp with tumors on their heads, and are seeing this everyday."
While on a shrimp boat in Mobile Bay with Sidney Schwartz, the fourth-generation fisherman said that he had seen shrimp with defects on their gills, and "their shells missing around their gills and head".
"We've fished here all our lives and have never seen anything like this," he added.
Ladner has also seen crates of blue crabs, all of which were lacking at least one of their claws.
Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs "with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they've been dead for a week".
You can read all about it here: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html
But not at CNN or Associated Press.
I had screenshots to prove it, but this post wouldn't publish with them for some reason.
Oh, right, because they're awful.
Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists
Eyeless shrimp and fish with lesions are becoming common, with BP oil pollution believed to be the likely cause.
Dahr Jamail Last Modified: 20 Apr 2012 15:57
New Orleans, LA - "The fishermen have never seen anything like this," Dr Jim Cowan told Al Jazeera. "And in my 20 years working on red snapper, looking at somewhere between 20 and 30,000 fish, I've never seen anything like this either."
Dr Cowan, with Louisiana State University's Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences started hearing about fish with sores and lesions from fishermen in November 2010.
. . . Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp - and interviewees' fingers point towards BP's oil pollution disaster as being the cause.
Tracy Kuhns and her husband Mike Roberts, commercial fishers from Barataria, Louisiana, are finding eyeless shrimp.
"At the height of the last white shrimp season, in September, one of our friends caught 400 pounds of these," Kuhns told Al Jazeera while showing a sample of the eyeless shrimp.
According to Kuhns, at least 50 per cent of the shrimp caught in that period in Barataria Bay, a popular shrimping area that was heavily impacted by BP's oil and dispersants, were eyeless. Kuhns added: "Disturbingly, not only do the shrimp lack eyes, they even lack eye sockets."
We are also finding eyeless crabs, crabs with their shells soft instead of hard, full grown crabs that are one-fifth their normal size, clawless crabs, and crabs with shells that don't have their usual spikes … they look like they've been burned off by chemicals."
"I've seen the brown shrimp catch drop by two-thirds, and so far the white shrimp have been wiped out," Ladner told Al Jazeera. "The shrimp are immune compromised. We are finding shrimp with tumors on their heads, and are seeing this everyday."
While on a shrimp boat in Mobile Bay with Sidney Schwartz, the fourth-generation fisherman said that he had seen shrimp with defects on their gills, and "their shells missing around their gills and head".
"We've fished here all our lives and have never seen anything like this," he added.
Ladner has also seen crates of blue crabs, all of which were lacking at least one of their claws.
Darla Rooks, a lifelong fisherperson from Port Sulfur, Louisiana, told Al Jazeera she is finding crabs "with holes in their shells, shells with all the points burned off so all the spikes on their shells and claws are gone, misshapen shells, and crabs that are dying from within … they are still alive, but you open them up and they smell like they've been dead for a week".
You can read all about it here: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html
But not at CNN or Associated Press.
I had screenshots to prove it, but this post wouldn't publish with them for some reason.
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