You've been had. You've been took. You've been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok. - Malcolm X Fear not. - God
An insightful body of analysis holds that sudden catastrophes, like earthquakes, fires and great storms, bring people together. They pitch in, cooperate, and ignore the economic and social divisions that previously held them apart. But drought is different. It is gradual and drawn out. An earthquake shudders
... by Walter Brasch Tucked between the New Hampshire primary and Ground Hog Day, and directly competing against an NFL playoff game, was Saturday's annual Miss America pageant. Although the headquarters is still near Atlantic City, where it originated in 1921, the pageant-don't call it a beauty contest-h
Today I ushered the old year out by participating in the Portland Christmas Bird Count, an annual count of the birds seen in the winter in the United States. The count runs from December 15th to January 5th and different communities throughout the US pull toge
... by Walter Brasch If the first year gross anatomy class at the Penn State Hershey medical school needs spare body parts to study, they can visit the cloak room of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. That's where most of the legislators left their spines. The House voted 124–69, Dec. 13, to sen
The other day a friend and I went to Office Depot to pick up an external Seagate hard disk to use for her backups. When we got there, the only disks available were 1TB or greater - much more expensive than she was willing to pay right now and the sales guy didn't know when they would get more of the smaller disks in sto
... by Walter Brasch They buried Bouldergrass today. The cause of death was listed as "media-induced health." Bouldergrass had begun his health crusade more than a decade ago when he began reading more than the sports pages of his local newspaper, subscribed to his first magazine, and decided TV news coul
I've been reading a great book called The Big Thirst about water and what it takes to have clean drinking water available 24x7. I plan to do a full review of this book soon, but it seemed in light of this subject appropriate to
... by Walter Brasch "O.K., class, we have a few minutes at the end of today's lecture about how the godless Communists created evolution to try to destroy the decent loyal patriotic capitalist society of America. Any questions? Yes, Billy Bob." "Mr. Jim Bob, I heard about this thing called a person. What
... by Walter Brasch "Got any idea how to make a frozen daiquiri?" Saturday. 6 a.m. A question no one else would have asked at that hour. I knew it had to be Marshbaum, my faux-friend foil. "Too early to be drinking," I mumbled, then hung up. The phone rang again. "It's not for me," said M
... by Walter Brasch Newspaper columnist Ann Coulter, spreading the lies of the extreme right wing, called the Occupy Wall Street protestors, "tattooed, body-pierced, sunken-chested 19-year-olds getting in fights with the police for fun." She claimed the protestors, now in the thousands in New York, are "directio
... by Walter Brasch Parents demanded it be banned. School superintendents placed it in restricted sections of their libraries. It is the most challenged book four of the past five years, according to the American Library Association (ALA). "It" is a 32-page illustrated children's book,
A few years ago I read The Big Year by Mark Obmascik, a funny book about three guys who were locked into a contest about who would see the most birds in North America during one year. It's now been made into a movie with Steve Martin and I'
This is an excellent presentation on what scientists can do to build more trust in the public. Science and the Public: W
... by Walter Brasch A former managing editor for the online newspaper, OpEdNews, has sued the city of Philadelphia and eight of its police officers for violating her Constitutional rights. Cheryl Biren-Wright, Pennsauken, N.J., charges the defendants with violating her 1st, 4th, and 14th amendment rights
Read also the excellent post at Climate Progress where I found this video.
Video streaming by Ustream With all our focus on the extreme weather events in the United States this summer, we've lost sight of how extreme it has been around the world. This is a sobering presentation that shows what is happ
... by Walter Brasch [EDITOR'S NOTE: Walter Brasch has written dozens of columns, human interest stories, and investigative articles about 9/11 and its effects. He was one of the first to write about the PATRIOT Act violating civil liberties and parts of the Constitution. He was one of the first, using extensi
Recently, when President Obama was interviewed by Scholastic News, he told the interviewer (a school child) that one of the most important challenges the youth of today will face is that of global warming. A
This video does a nice job of explaining why the nation is troubled by debt: (h/t The Big Picture)
... by Walter Brasch With the nation's unemployment rate hovering about 10 percent, recent high school graduates are escaping reality by going to college, and college grads are avoiding reality by entering grad school. The result is that it now takes an M.A. to become a shift manager at a fast food restaurant.
When Obama talks about jobs lately, he mentions the idea of patent reform. But what does he mean exactly? Just last month, This American Life had a show about how broken our patent system is which I wrote about
... by Walter Brasch You have a credit card with a $25,000 limit. Because you have a good job, you only have $6,000 on the card, and routinely pay the monthly statement and a little extra on the principal. But then you decide you need a 52-inch high-def LCD TV screen to go into your "man cave," an
This is a very thought-provoking TED talk:
... by Walter Brasch After significant compromise with the recalcitrant Republicans who want to continue to give the wealthy tax advantages while cutting significant social programs, President Obama has finally taken a stand on debt ceiling negotiations. However, in labor, wildlife management, and the environment
Jared Bernstein wrote "What's Wrong with the Economy, Part 3: Where Have All the Startups Gone?" in which he provided three possible hypotheses: It may be financialization--the b
... by Walter Brasch “If it bleeds, it leads” is local TV’s aphorism that dictates its belief that fires, car crashes, and shootings lead off the nightly newscast. These stories, of course, are more “visual” and easier to cover than poverty, worker exploitation, and the health care crisis. But,
... by Walter Brasch A controversial Supreme Court decision less than two years ago could have the unintended consequence of significantly reducing the government's 46-year campaign against cigarettes. In a 5–4 decision, largely along political lines, the Supreme Court ruled in
Most likely. This is an excellent description from a New Hampshire State Rep describing how corporate America is writing the laws that govern your state. June 25 — To the Editor:
... by Valerie Burch Mohammed Uddin lived in New York City for 15 out of his 41 years. Back in Bangladesh, he wouldn't be able to get the life-sustaining heart medication he takes daily for a rare form of severe hypertension called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. On the tarmac at Harrisburg International Airport
Paul Krugman and Robin Wells have a very interesting book review in the New York Review of Books for Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of