INTERESTING TIMES

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/10/feds-poised-to-withdraw-longstanding-warnings-about-dietary-cholesterol/

At least according to the US government.
LOL how long is the lag between science and widespread acceptance?

http://www.salon.com/2014/11/19/house_republicans_just_passed_a_bill_forbidding_scientists_from_advising_the_epa_on_their_own_research/

We are going to see a lot more of this type of nonsense. While people were paying attention to the Keystone debate, the republicans got this passed. Unless it is vetoed, the EPA is going to have industry advocates instead of scientists on their advisory panels. It's a ridiculous fallacy to think that you can't trust scientists to report about science. They are the only ones who KNOW what it means, and are more interested in the truth than in agendas. America is increasingly governed by business for business. People who want clean air, water, and food, beware. People who want the truth: good luck!

I am going to have to take regular media blackouts in order not to be utterly despondent over the state of things now that the repugs have their majority. I am all for libertarian freedoms and fiscal responsibility, but I despise today's anti-science ignoramus repugnican party. May they fall into the holes that they dig! May Obama relish the power of the veto!

Just yesterday I finally stopped ignoring the Middle East and looked up a few things. Like who is Shia and who is Sunni. And who has nukes and where. And what exactly an Islamist is. It was....a useful exercise. Anyone else out there taking an interest in this juncture of history? I'm ready to be educated.

It just seems to me, after one *ok a fraction of one* day of looking into it, that the majority Sunnis in most of the Middle East have been supremely frustrated trying to deal with their less conservative, more secular Shia neighbors. And it seems clear to me that America has at least attempted to enact a separation of church and state, even though those words do not appear in the constitution. It was in the First Amendment to the US Constitution that Congress was to "make no law respecting respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". As wikipedia points out, lots of nations have this idea in their code, and there is a great range of shades of gray in its execution. Here in America we do fairly well, but nowhere near a perfect score. For one thing, the constitution has no control over the states and what local laws might be passed. Which may be how we have gigantic crosses along Interstate 5 in Washington State. Not so different from other places, where religion is supposed to guide personal and political life. Here we seem only able to elect Christian presidents. We like to think that we are above it, but we are surely not.

So I know I am rambling and I will call it quits. If you have an opinion about what is the crux of what is going on--in Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or any other involved party, feel free to comment and tell me! I'm building a mind map.

**Created Syria tag.

I can't seem to get the speech windows to embed currently, but you can find it online if you want to look. It's worth hearing. I just listened to it.

He's trying so hard. Obama is reaching out to all sides, working to encourage Americans of every stripe to admit that we have something in common, to accept that our shared interests can be promoted by our government. He has many good points. Unfortunately, the people who most need to hear this message are guaranteed not to hear him. The easiest way to maintain a dogmatic or extremist position, is to completely avoid all other inputs. It is possible for a person to sit there and hear the sounds of the speech, but to tune out entirely inside, to hear only the internally entrenched brainwashed messages of whatever pundit or preacher has had most impact. If only we could get all Americans, congress included, to admit that there is importance to every geniune concern that comes to the table. At least Obama knows it. He is the most impressive moderate I have yet to witness in the US presidency.

Here's the actual text of the EO. It looks kind of totalitarian on its surface, and the conservative blogosphere is screaming stuff like Obama seizes control over all food, farms, livestock, farm equipment, fertilizer and food production across America!!! But the Hot Air blog breaks it down relative to the old law, and it appears that the changes are really quite minimal. In the name of National Defense Resources Preparedness an assortment of agencies are authorized to do whatever they need to take over the means of production and supply the military. Which they already were.

He's changing his name to Chrysler.

( lyrics by Tom Paxton )

I don't know much about this bill, but I ran across this today: 87% of Wikipedians despise the bill and support a Wikipedia Blackout to protest it. SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, and it goes before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this Thursday, December 15.

I can relate that at the public library in the town of my birth, if you type "finish it" the computer system changes your "sh it" to xxxx. Pain in the A$$. But I have a feeling that's not the kind of censorship that's coming down the pipe on this one. Can anyone give me a primer on what this law would really do? I'd appreciate it.

It would be our second Constitutional Convention. The first one happened back in 1774 when our government system was designed. I think we should do it. We're clearly not getting anywhere letting them have their way, and things are getting desperate.

So, rage against duly elected government is patriotic -- quintessentially American -- whereas rage against multi-national shareholder-accountable corporations is anti-American. OK, gotcha.
--Jon Stewart

A treatment plan that seeks to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong and enhance the quality of life; or therapy that is performed to maintain or prevent deteriorat​ion of a chronic condition is deemed not medically necessary.
--Medicare Guidelines​, Section 2251.3