I know pretty much everyone has noticed that weird things tend to happen in Florida. There is just some kind of crazy in the water there. This one made me laugh a little.Ex-wife becomes a man; ex-husband seeks end to alimony - CNN.com Do not miss the part about the ex-wife's new name. It just shows what can happen when you get to pick your own name.
I must admit that I am a bit fascinated by the issues in the White House regarding the fired US Attorneys and all the cover up. But, it is a lot to keep up with. Here is a good summary: Where the fingers are pointing in the Bush administration meltdown. - By Paul Gottschling and Dahlia Lithwick - Slate Magazine
Although I do not understand all of the legal intricacies of the situation, it is just another example of the failures in the Bush White House and the dishonesty that is rampant. It is a shame that we all have to see these things play out. It would be better if it never happened. It would be better if we did not have to see Harriet Miers and Karl Rove saying they will speak to Congress, but not on the record and not under oath. It just makes it look like they have something to hide. The whole lot of them are acting like spoiled children who have gotten caught and are trying to cover it up.
This article is an entertaining look into the Hong Kong horse racing scene: A Mystery at Hong Kong Horse Racing Track - New York Times. They take racing, particularly the gambling part of it, very seriously around here. I agree with the authorities that it was probably gamblers trying to fix the race. It doesn't really seem like much of an act of terrorism.
Happy Valley is where Wes and I lived when we first moved to Hong Kong. We were about 2 blocks away from the racecourse.
India Made Easy - New York Times
Wes and I are hopeful that we will manage to make a trip to India later this year. It is fun to read about it and think of these things - particularly while at work. It isn't that work is not big fun times, but sometimes it gets a little slow (as in boring, not as in not busy) so it is nice to have something to look forward to.
Child's death raises concerns about psychiatric drugs - CNN.com
How did the doctors, the teachers and everyone else involved in this child's life let this get so far? The parents are clearly guilty of neglect at the very least, if not their daughter's murder. This is an appalling situation. I am just disgusted.
The "excuse" that the lawyers have given that the parents were simply not smart enough to understand what was wrong with their child or how to appropriately administer her medication tells me that maybe they should not have been able to care for their child. If they admit they were not capable, why was there not someone there to help them?
It sort of makes the idea that people should be licensed to have children sound almost plausible. If not, then there should be a much more solid framework in place to protect children if we will let them stay with parents who are admittedly unfit. I just don't know what the right solution is. There must be something that can be done to prevent this kind of situation.
This article on AlterNet covers a part of the New York counter culture of freegans - primarily how they manage to eat completely out of the trash. It is a great idea and I am glad people are doing it. It is absolutely shameful the amount of food that is wasted. If you are not willing to dumpster dive for your food, then maybe you should focus on making sure there is less food in the dumpster.
One of the people interviewed in the article is on "rent strike" - I can't really get on board with that idea. It would be one thing if she had indicated specific reasons for the strike - such as the landlord not fixing things in the apartment or other grievances - but the impression is very much that she just doesn't feel like paying rent so she isn't. This does not seem to be an appropriate response to society. In fact, it just seems like trying to get free rent and naming a cause as the reason.
...maybe next year. The team did really well, but suffered a heart-breaking loss in the last 3.1/2.o seconds to Memphis. I saw the last few seconds of the game - it was so close!! But, I think we can make it next year. I will hold on the dream.
There are a few articles on AlterNet about the growing personal debt in American society (see here and here). Both are based on or related to the film Maxed Out by James Scurlock. They remind us that the culture has shifted such that we no longer think it is a problem to live with ever-increasing debt - even the government has taken on that attitude. It is dangerous because the slope is steep whenever anything bad happens.
I do not understand how people can live this way. Other than major purchases or emergencies, there is no reason to not live within their means for most Americans (I make an exception here for the working poor who cannot pay day to day expenses with what they earn). Taking on debt for things that are not necessities should just not be an option in the world of the personal budget. Members of the middle class should take a hard look at what they are getting for all this extra debt and realize that they probably do not need 90% of it. So why do they spend? I do not understand. Maybe personal finance classes should be mandatory in all high schools - teaching kids how to budget and the consequences of debt. I can't think of a better way to try to stop this phenomenon than education.
On a side note, I saw a program on getting out of debt on TV yesterday. It was from Canada. On it, the interest rate on pay-day loans was 59%!! How can this kind of usury be legal? How can anyone break that kind of cycle? It is crazy.
An article in the NY Times discusses a new study coming out Tuesday on the benefits of coated stents for people suffering from chest pain. It is interesting to see how the decisions on procedures develop, particularly the indication that some older therapies may be more beneficial to patients.
The NY Times reported today on a man and his wife in New York who are spending a year making "No Impact". That is, they are shopping for organic food grown locally, not making any trash and not using any carbon-fueled transportation. Of course, he is a writer and a documentary is being made of the experiment. This is clearly a way for him to have a book to sell - he is also documenting the experience in a blog. His motivation was for financial gains and not to help the planet. I have no real problem with it - it is his business what he does for a living.
Overall, though, the experiment is a good reminder that we should try to take steps in our everyday life to reduce the damage that we do to the planet. Of course, it is impractical to try to have no impact. It would be a serious challenge for most of the population to strategically locate themselves within walking or biking distance of where we work and shop for food. Less impact is a more realistic goal.
In the spirit of lowering our impact, check out some of the blogs listed in the article: noimpactman.com, treehugger.com, sfcompact.blogspot.com, 100milediet.org.
Additional note: The noimpactman blog indicates that he "finally snapped"...I feel that "finally got a book deal" would be more accurate. I guess that would seem somehow less compelling.
This time, the answer is the Southern Baptist leadership. "Surely not!" you may be thinking to yourself. Surely leadership of a Christian organization realizes that Christ taught us to do unto others and love our enemies. Alas, your thinking would be wrong (if this is what you were thinking). Your thinking would be right if you thought there was a chance that the Southern Baptist leadership has completely gone off the deep end and lost all traces of a connection with the actually teachings of Christ (for real this time).
Let's start with the basics: earlier this week, the NAE condemned the torture of suspected terrorists. To quote the Ethics Daily article:
The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement denouncing "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" to those detained in the U.S.-led "war on terror."
"When torture is employed by a state, that act communicates to the world and to one's own people that human lives are not sacred, that they are not reflections of the Creator, that they are expendable, exploitable, and disposable, and that their intrinsic value can be overridden by utilitarian arguments that trump that value," said an 18-page declaration produced by Evangelicals for Human Rights. "These are claims that no one who confesses Christ as Lord can accept."
Of course, this announcement falls into the "about darn time" category. I would have expected that any sane human being, Christian or not, would read that announcement and not think twice about it. It should not even be a question as to whether Christians are for or against torture.
But, the Southern Baptists could not let it go by. Instead, Daniel Heimbach, professor of Christian ethics at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, last week in Baptist Press termed an NAE-endorsed anti-torture statement "a moral travesty managing not only to confuse but to harm genuine evangelical witness in the culture." (see article here). What?!? A moral travesty to denounce torture? That can't be right. Maybe he was misquoted. Nope - follow the link and you can read the article straight from the horse's as...mouth. And so, the insanity is out in public for all to see. Way to proclaim the love of Christ.
I cannot say much more about this. I am speechless at the thought that this could actually be the Southern Baptist position - protorture. The follow up article on Ethics Daily sums it up better than I could. Everyone should read it. And pray for the Southern Baptists.
Texas A&M has made it to the sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. This is a big achievement, particularly considering how pathetic the team was when I was in school just a (relatively) short while ago. I will continue to root for the team.
While looking around on YouTube today, I found some fun and interesting clips.
1. The earth-shattering revelation that athletes do not take the hardest majors or the toughest classes. In their defense, when I was in school I tutored a variety of athletes (including some football players) who were non-ag majors and were taking challenging classes.
2. The Aggie Band - just because they are always fun to watch.
Gig 'em Aggies!!
It is sad that someone would ever need perinatal hospice, but it is good to know that the people who need it have somewhere to turn. This was an interesting, although sad, article in the New York Times.
I love to travel. I was lucky enough to marry someone who also likes to travel [Wes - this is as close as you are getting to a post entitled "Husbands - aren't they great?"]
As you may be aware, we maintain a blog of our travels. We have had the opportunity to see some great countries in Asia over the past couple of years and will also be spending some time in Europe this year. Today, Wes decided to make a separate website dedicated to trip planning - wesandannette.com (it will take 24 hours to actually be available on-line - check back if you do not see it). Feel free to jump on and let us know what you think of our upcoming plans. For now, only our Scotland trip is reflected in detail.
The growing income disparities in the US may not have been all bad. The income inequality has been matched by growth in leisure time disparity where the lower income class comes out on top. Have a read of the article for a bit of a different perspective on things.
I thought it might be nice to take a little break from the seriousness of the world with some poetry. Enjoy.
Ah, Houston. The school district evidently runs one of the largest merit-based programs for teachers in the nation. They accidentally paid out $75,000 to much due to an error that paid part-time teachers as full-time teachers (see full article here). Naturally, the school district has asked for the money back. They offered to deduct it from future paychecks at one time or over 10 checks. This seems a perfectly reasonable way to deal with accidentally paying people money they did not deserve in the first place.
However, the teachers' union has been against merit based pay from the beginning. So, they are responding in an exceptionally juvenile manner. Ms. Fallon, the president of the teachers' union, said“If it’s the district’s error, then the district should bear the loss.” This is ridiculous. It was a mistake and the teachers in question should let them take the pay back. I recall an event where this happened when I was working in Houston - a friend mistakenly received a bonus which was taken back on her next paycheck (no 10 paycheck option) - so her next paycheck was $1. Still, she was paid what she earned and did not even question.
The broader issue in this discussion, of course, is merit-based pay for teachers. I think it could be an important step in improving the education system in the US. I understand that it is difficult to determine the efficacy of teachers without tying the results to test scores, which I think would be a mistake. But, the discussion should be how to determine merit and not to take the position of the teachers union that there should be no merit-based compensation. Most jobs with salaried position incentivize workers to excel with merit-based compensation. Why should teachers be any different? I would not want the education of America's children be left to teachers who do not want to be evaluated based on their merit. What are they worried about?
There are a lot of people in the world that I would like to shake until they stop being stupid. Some would require more shaking than others. One such person is Representative Nathan Deal (R - GA) - quoted in a NYT article today. Mr. Deal was one of the writers of legislation that required proof of citizenship for people to receive Medicaid treatment, resulting in thousands of people, mostly children, unable to receive benefits because they do not have an original passport or birth certificate. When questioned, Mr. Deal is quoted as saying that the requirement “has saved taxpayers money.” Well, no duh. Even less taxpayers money would be spent if we just cut off those freeloading children altogether. [The article indicates that he would recommend expanding the requirement to the Children's Health Insurance Program.] But, ultimately that is not really the point of the program. The point is to efficiently get care to those who need it.
It seems to me that this misguided new rule, supposedly intended to keep illegal immigrants from stealing our medical care, is just another way to cut back services to the poor without openly stating the intention. There were already rules in place that precluded illegal immigrants from getting Medicaid - it was left to the states to decide how and when to enforce and ask for proof. The new policy does not take into account that most poor people aren't heading to Europe for their vacations and thus do not have their passport handy at all times. Nor do they generally have the $10 to $30 laying around to get a new copy of a birth certificate. Instead, they will skip care because they do not have the necessary documents or the means to obtain them.
I encourage you to read the whole article to see the statistics from several states of the impact of this rule. It is appalling.
I am a firm believer that everyone should give what they can to help those in need - whether it is money, donations of food or clothing, or giving up their own time. However, I think it is equally important to make sure that we know where our money or gifts are going. There are several websites which provide information on charities to help with investigation, including Give.org and CharityNavigator.org.
I also recommend checking out the Top 10 Best Practices of Savvy Donors and this article for some information to consider on abuses to avoid. For some additional insight, check out the blog of the Charity Navigator president.
As you may have gathered from my lack of posts this week, it has been a crazy week (although I did work from home on Tuesday). Hopefully, I will be able to get back on the horse and let you know what I thought of the various happenings this week.
This is an interesting article that addresses the struggles that women still face in American society. We have the right to vote and have been accepted in the workplace, but all things are not yet equal. I do not agree with the all of the author's suggested solutions, but it is a good topic to think about.
Here is a good article that examines the organic food industry and Whole Foods in particular - "Is Whole Foods Wholesome?"
Apparently, the US government. But, we all know that by now. There is no shortage of stories about the wide variety of steps the Bush administration takes to justify its clearly flawed policy. I read an article on Slate, "Abuseless", today that reminded me of the blatant hypocrisy of the administration as well as the terrible effects of torture.
In short, the current phase of the Jose Padilla case is determining whether Padilla is competent to stand trial. The defense position is that the torture he endured has broken him to such an extent that he cannot assist in his own defense. The government's position is that the torture (which they do not deny) had no impact on his mental state. To quote from one of the psychological evaluations: "He does believe that he is being persecuted by the government, and he does demonstrate some paranoia about the government, but this does not appear to be delusional."
Evidently, the government feels that it is not only morally acceptable to torture human beings, but will go so far as to make the argument that it has no impact on their mental state. If that is the case, then why torture them in the first place? Disregarding all of the moral and legal objections to torture, if it does not break down the subject's mental state, isn't it just a waste of time and energy? It seems that the only possible argument for torture (that it gets results) is shot out of the water here (presuming it had any validity in the first place). How can the prosecutors stand in front of the court and make this argument? How can Bush lay claim to the name of Christianity when these acts are carried out in his name? It boggles the mind.
