June 12, 2009 archive

And We Were Never At War With Laos!!

Or were we, Shhhhhhhhhhh…………!!

On thursday, 6.11.09, I caught a short report about one of the legacies, more like the left over WMD’s, of our Wars and Occupations and their destructive power years later, and how we just walk away unconcerned and certainly uncaring, it’s now their problem, move onto the next War of Choice by the few, seeking their wants of power, wealth and glory in their sorry lives.

This report was on the NPR show, out of Boston, from WBUR’s Here and Now: Feeling the Pain in Laos, and was about a BBC journalist Jill McGivering reporting from Laos.

Docudharma Times friday June 12

“if Mr. Obama signs into law

a ‘public option,’ government-run insurance program

as part of health-care reform

we won’t be able to undo the damage.”

Karl “Super Genius” Rove Ha Ha Ha




Friday’s Headlines:

Taking the pulse of extremist groups

Innocent grandmother – or suicide bombing mastermind?

Ahmadinejad challenger demands access to polls as Iran election gets under way

Surrendering Tamils were massacred by Sri Lankan army, says rights group

Pyongyang puts the squeeze on its enemy

Mladic: The most wanted man in Europe

Italian politicians accuse Colonel Gaddafi of human rights abuses

Foreigners are the real pirates, says former Somali fisherman

Sudan ‘allows aid agencies back’

As Iran Votes, Talk of a Sea Change

NEWS ANALYSIS

By ROBERT F. WORTH

Published: June 12, 2009


TEHRAN – Iranians went to the polls Friday to elect a new president after an unusually intense campaign which saw the hard-line incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, seemingly thrown onto the defensive. Opposition leaders said they expected a huge turnout, with many reformists who sat out the last vote in 2005 saying they will take part this time.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s main opponent is Mir Hussein Moussavi, a moderate who has mobilized huge crowds of his backers in Tehran and other large cities.

The official IRNA news agency reported long lines outside polling stations before they opened at 8 a.m. local time. State-run television showed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, casting his vote under the gaze of local and foreign media.

Kim Jong who? Japanese TV station has egg on its moon face

TV Asahi claimed to have an exclusive photo of Kim Jong Il’s youngest son and heir apparent. Turned out to be a construction worker in South Korea.

By John M. Glionna and Ju-min Park

June 12, 2009


Reporting from Seoul — The photograph was considered a journalistic coup, a recent image of the elusive 26-year-old son of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, who has reportedly been named the next leader of the secretive state.

The Internet snapshot released by a Tokyo television station purportedly showed an adult Kim Jong Un — whose last known photo was taken at age 12 — as a spitting image of his notorious father, right down to the moon face, coiffed hair and oversize sunglasses.

Trouble was, it wasn’t the younger Kim at all, but a pudgy 40-year-old South Korean construction worker who also operates a website for fortunetellers. He says he is baffled as to how the Japanese got hold of his Internet image.

USA

Obama Bows on Settling Detainees

Administration Gives Up on Bringing Cleared Inmates to U.S., Officials Say

By Peter Finn and Sandhya Somashekhar

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, June 12, 2009


The Obama administration has all but abandoned plans to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees who have been cleared for release to live in the United States, administration officials said yesterday, a decision that reflects bipartisan congressional opposition to admitting such prisoners but complicates efforts to persuade European allies to accept them.

Four Uighur detainees, Chinese Muslims who were incarcerated at the U.S. military prison in Cuba for more than seven years, arrived early yesterday in Bermuda, where they will become foreign guest workers.

Muse in the Morning

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Muse in the Morning

Do not follow the ideas of others,

but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.

Your body and mind will become clear

and you will realize the unity of all things.

–Dogen Zenji

Phenomena XX: Belief


Etching

A Question of Relevance

I don’t worry about

whether or not

there exists

some omniscient

omnipresent

omnipotent being

who may or may not

be a creator

It’s a deal I made

back in the day

when I discovered folks

parsing people’s lives

as worthy

or not

If a god exists

why would it need

Tinkerbellian

belief from me?

How arrogant

would I have to be

to assume

some god

cares about my life

enough to keep a ledger?

So I don’t.

That deal that I made

is that I will live my life

doing as much

as I can

that is right, fair and just

as far as I can tell

If a god exists

that is enough

If no god exists

it is still enough

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 20, 2008

Hummer Headed For A Marxist Doom?

I’m still absorbing the news that the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd, one of the giant industrial corporations that characterize present-day Chinese “socialism,” has purchased the Hummer brand from General Motors as the latter shuffles down the path blazed long ago by Studebaker and American Motors.

The Hummer is of course the vehicle sensible people love to hate: ugly, heavy, dangerous, gas-guzzling, polluting, military (in roughly the same sense as camouflage footsie pajamas) and a big fat macho fraud–the damn thing is built on a regular GM SUV chassis, just like a plain old Chevy Colorado.

The psychological makeup of Hummer purchasers has been looked into more deeply, most succinctly by Ruben Bolling, the crackerjack creator of the Tom the Dancing Bug comic. (Won’t embed for some reason–view his hysterical dis of Hummer owners here.]

I, however, have an even more theoretical speculation on the fate of the Hummer, based on the old Marxist precept that changes in people’s consciousness tend to trail changes in material conditions. Let me draw first a brief analogy-when I spent a little time in West Africa in the early ’80s, I met a couple of young guys, Komi and Kasimir, who were adherents of voudon (a/k/a voodoo). We talked about the belief system and they turned out to be followers of a particular fetiche or deity, which forbade them to eat anything cooked in a metal vessel or with metal utensils.

Kasimir and Komi told me of one the most dreaded of the voudon cults, whose fetiche was connected with smallpox, Its adherents would paint their faces white on sacred occasions and were feared for their ability to call disease down on enemies. Now this was only a decade since scientists and medical personnel had finally eradicated the disease in its last strongholds in Africa, so I asked if this group was still as feared as it had used to be. They both thought and said no, actually it was not as powerful and its fetiche not seen to be as deadly. Changes in consciousness trail changes in material conditions!

Back to the Hummer. The military’s HumVee was a star of the last substantial victory for the US military, Operation Desert Storm, the 1991 Gulf War. The Arnold Schwarzeneggers of the US felt uncontrollable lust and a civilian version was soon forthcoming, and became a GM product by 1998.

9/11-fueled war fever sent sales soaring even higher–for a while. But by early 2004 they were declining precipitously. I rather doubt that it was due to sudden environmental concerns among its target audience. I think what happened is that fairly early in the occupation of Iraq, it became clear that this mighty war wagon could be taken out by a couple of Baghdad teenagers with a big artillery round and a garage door opener. Whether people thought about it consciously or not, IEDs had taken the bloom off the rose.

I don’t know what Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company management is thinking. I can’t see a big Hummer comeback in the US and the contribution they’d make to China’s already horrific pollution boggles the mind. Indications are they plan to market these vehicular plug-uglies more heavily in developing nation markets. I can only say I hope they take a richly deserved bath on this venture.



Crossposted from Fire on the Mountain.

Healthcare: The Big Issue, The Big Test for Obama

I want to try to take buhdy’s essay, “Obama uses his Loud Voice on Health Care” one step further into activism.  So often on this blog, we ask, “But what can we do?”  I want to offer an answer to this question.

We must get Obama’s back on this issue.  In massive, massive numbers, with really loud voices, we must get behind him and push, massively, loudly, strongly.  I want every person on this blog to reach out to friends, family, e lists, and every contact we have to move folks in the direction of REAL healthcare reform.

Buhdy correctly identifies this as the defining issue.  This is the issue Obama wishes to succeed.  If he can win on healthcare reform, if we can keep his back on healthcare reform so that he can win, then we will have a solid basis for further progressive successes in the future.  

Please continue beyond the fold—

Late Night Karaoke

Every Time You…..

Starvation, Suicide, Torture, Not Terrorism, Is Guantanamo Legacy

From almost the moment that Camp X-Ray opened, prisoners embarked on hunger strikes as the only means available to protest about the conditions of their detention: specifically, their day-to-day treatment, the treatment of the Koran, and the crushing uncertainty of their fate, as they remained imprisoned without charge and without trial, with the ever-present possibility that they would be held for the rest of their lives.

Andy Worthington has released the results of an important investigation he undertook on treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo, Guantanamo’s Hidden History: Shocking Statistics Of Starvation (PDF) (his article introducing it is here).

A New Global Approach to Attacking Hunger

Crossposted to Motley Moose

Watch our Secretary of State enunciate President Obama and his administration’s new approach to tackle global hunger. Thank you President Obama and Madame Secretary.

Two Battles to Fight (Update)

The first battle that needs to be fought is against Democratic politicians who have been bought off by corporations.

Democratic politician’s are now floating a “compromise” on the public health option; a “health co-op.”  It’s a far cry better than requiring, by law, people to have health insurance and claiming that it cures the problem of health care so expensive the people couldn’t afford in the first place.

The second battle that needs to be fought is against the media that continue to refuse to hold Republican politicians, pundits, and supporters accountable for their lies, rhetoric and hatred-filled screeds.  This means that if you live in a Republican state, then look at your local and state newspapers and see if they are holding your politician’s accountable or not.

My local newspaper is The State, based in Columbia, South Carolina.  As we are aware, South Carolina has long been a bastion for the GOP and its Republican politicians.  In looking over the articles run by The State in its politics section, you find the burning question asked “S.C. GOP needs a bigger closet?“, which reports that maybe there are more gay/lesbian politicians in South Carolina than formerly known.

Let’s look at these two battlegrounds…  

 

Health Care Series 20090611: Acetaminophen Concerns

THURSDAY NIGHT IS HEALTH CARE CHANGE NIGHT, a weekly Health Care Series (cross-posted at ePluribus Media. I have been invited to contribute this installment. I originally was going to post about high fructose corn sweetener, but between the time of the invitation and now FDA came out with a new warning about acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is one of the most widely used pain and fever relievers in the United States. Much of the widespread use has to do with the fact that it causes less stomach upset and GI bleeding than aspirin or ibuprofen. It is not linked to Reye Syndrome as is aspirin, making it a good choice for children and teens with flu. Another very large reason for widespread use is heavy marketing.

However, acetaminophen has a very dark side.  According to CDC, right at half of all cases of acute liver failure (ALF) in the United States is directly caused by acetaminophen.  I will not be as geeky in this post as I normally am in my regular Sunday evening series, Pique the Geek, where we try to delve fairly deeply into the science of various topics.  However, some scientific and historical background is necessary to understand the process of liver toxicity produced by this material.In 1887 a drug called phenacetin was first marketed for fever and pain. It is actually made from acetaminophen and is metabolized in the body to it.  It was withdrawn from the United States market in 1983 due to concerns over carcinogenicity.  However, acetaminophen had already replaced it in a large share of the market.  The reason that phenacetin was used for so long had to do with sloppy research in the early 20th century.

Acetaminophen was first introduced in 1953 by Winthrop, but in 1955 McNeil began marketing Tylenol Children’s Elixir, and the Tylenol brand is still probably the most widely recognized brand name in the United States.  Now it outsells aspirin, and I believe this is a dangerous situation.

All medications are eliminated from the body, mostly as metabolites of the parent drug.  The major site of metabolism is the great chemical factory of the body, the liver.  There are three major pathways, two of them harmless.  The first one is addition of glucuronic acid (a sugar derivative) in the liver, producing a metabolite that is nontoxic and is eliminated by the kidneys.  It is thought that, in MOST people, about 40% of the drug is eliminated that way.

A second pathway, also harmless, is addition of sulfate in the liver, forming a water soluble metabolite that is carried away by the liver.  In MOST people this accounts for around 20% to 40% of the total load.

The third pathway, accounting for about 15% of drug clearance, involves the cytochrome P450 set of liver enzymes (the ones that are increased by drinking alcohol).  A toxic intermediate called NAPQI is formed, and that is cleared by combination with the natural antioxidant glutathione and eliminated by the kidneys.  Here is where the problem arises.

NAPQI is highly reactive and combines with the lipids in liver cell membranes, killing the cells.  When combined with gluatathione, it becomes nontoxic, but glutathione is essential for liver protection from the thousands of other reactive oxidizing agents that it processes constantly.  Reduction of glutathione thus also damages the liver, since it is not available to protect the liver from other bad actors.

In most people, the recommended dose of acetaminophen does not cause any outward sign of trouble.  However, there are behaviors that increase sensitivity towards toxicity.  As mentioned before, moderate to heavy alcohol intake induces the very enzyme that is responsible for the “bad” pathway, so drinkers are naturally more susceptible.  Besides, alcohol in large doses is a liver toxin in its own right, so that is a double whammy.

Another risk factor is fasting and low protein diets.  Since glutathione is derived from protein, restriction of protein intake reduces its availability, thus decreasing its protective effect on the liver.

A third risk factor may be caffeine.  Some fairly recent work is consistent with the hypothesis that caffeine induces a liver enzyme that also causes the production NAPQI, presumably Cytochrome P450.  Now this is problematic for a couple of reasons.  First, many folks drink a lot of coffee.  Second, caffeine is often added to painkiller medications to increase their potency.  Some of these combinations include acetaminophen.

There are also other drugs that induce these enzymes, particularly anticonvulsants.  The barbiturates are potent inducers, and a few combination products contain a barbiturate, a narcotic, and acetaminophen.

In most normal people with no other risk factors, four grams of acetaminophen will show up on liver function tests after a few days for about a third of the population.  Well, four grams a day is the maximum recommended dose for Tylenol Extra Strength products according to the Tylenol website.  So, recommended doses affect liver function in one third of people with no other risk factors.  This is not good.

Six grams a day for two days can cause significant liver function disturbances in normal (that is, no other risk factor) individuals.  Now, I know a lot of folks who have the attitude, “if two tablets will help, three will help more.”  Here is how we start getting into trouble.

What are Progressive Values?

Progressive Values?

Howard Dean – Fairness, Responsibility …



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

What does the Democratic Party stand for?

Howard Dean lists these “Core Values” of the Democratic Party

1) Fairness and Equal Rights for all

2) Strength and Toughness

3) Fiscal Responsibility

These are demonstrated by providing Health Care for all.

Dean stresses the urgent need for us to express these values, on an emotional level, and not just in Policy Statements.

“People vote on their Values — NOT on Position Papers!”

“Dead Indian Creek” & Cultural Hegemony

Why say “Dead Warrior Creek,” when racism fuels cultural hegemony so well?


Source

The official name now is Dead Warrior Lake, ending for some a controversy over the lake’s name that has been going on for almost a decade.

– snip –

The first settlers in the area came up with the name after discovering a Cheyenne burial site. Cottonwoods that lined the creek made for a perfect burial site near the tribe’s winter camp.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Load more