So This Is Health Care Reform?

The Senate has passed its health care bill today. To say it's disappointing is being mild to say the least. This clip says it more than I could.

CLimate Change News From Copenhagen

Via Democracy Now.

Just learned of a new secret agreement that allows unequal limits on per capital carbon emissions. Ths interview covers that, what it could mean, and similar things better than I could.. A lot of food for thought in this piece.

The Clip Says More Than I Could on The Topic

Once in a while something will come across one's radar that just speaks for itself. I was looking at Feministing tonight and found someone posted a clip of actor Patrick Stewart (best known to a lot of people form his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation) speaking to Amnesty International in England on violence against women. This says volumes on a highly sensitive topic. Watch and pay attention.

Holidays 2009 - A Few Thoughts and Some Dates

Well it’s the ..Holiday.. season again and I’m almost guaranteeing that this post is going to piss some people off.

.. ..

I’m talking about the people who like to whine and complain about the whole “War on Christmas” bullshit. While they have a right to their opinion, I wish they’d take into account that other holidays are celebrated this time of year also. When people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas it’s out of respect because you can’t always tell who celebrates which holiday this time of year whether it be due to spiritual/religious conversions, customs of the culture they grew up in, etc. This is why the people who act so damn persecuted when someone says Happy Holidays pisses me off.

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Now as for the Holidays themselves: we know X-Mas Eve and X-Mas is December 24th and 25th. New Years Eve and New Years Day are December 31st and January 1st. However, some holidays change dates (by our calendar anyway) each year. The following are some of those dates according to the Ethnic and Religious Cultural Holidays Page on the KU Medical Center website (though I tried to link to a few sites on the actual holidays themselves)

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NOVEMBER 2009

27 - Eid al-adha (Islamic, Muslim)

.. ..

DECEMBER 2009
6 - St. Nicholas Day(International)....
8 - Bodhi Day - Buddha's Enlightenment(Buddhist)....
11 - 19 - Hanukkah(Jewish)....
12 - Virgin of Guadalupe (....Mexico....)....
13 - Santa Lucia Day (Sweden)....
16-25 - Las Posadas (Mexico)....
18 - Al Hijra - Muslim New Year....
25 - Christmas (Christian, Roman Catholic, International)....
26 - Boxing Day (..Canada.., ....United Kingdom....)....
26 - Kwanzaa (African-American - Dec. 26, 2009 - Jan 1, 2010)....


Some people will be pissed off at me for this, but remember your culture/religion isn’t the only one in this country much less the damn world. Get over yourselves and live your own lives.

Just Checking In - NOW UPDATED

Hey! I know it's been a while but things have been a bit crazy around here. Between getting the 17th anniversary issue done, trying to survive, looking for work, and other obligations I sometimes forget to get my head straight. Add to that coming down with a cold the week of Halloween and you have an idea why I've been a little distracted lately.

On a more serious note, the House passed its health care reform bill. Unfortunately it contains the anti choice Stupak Amendment, which not only keeps abortion care out of the "public option" but could keep it out of private insurance plans as well. While I have strong feelings on this misstep, this article at Pandagon states the case far better than I could. So does this post from Shark Fu.

I'll be trying to post more regularly in the future.

G 20 vs the WTO:

As the G 20 summit gets underway in Pittsburgh, a recent report from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch finds that the push for regulation at these summits may be undermined by binding advancement by the World Trade Center to further advance deregulation.

Read or watch below:



I hope I'm not the only one out there that sees there needs to be massive change, if not abolishment of the WTO. There has to be a way to do it, and we need to take it seriously.

If this doesn't happen, then this ridiculous cycle that led to the current economic shitstorm will only continue downward.

More G 20

Today marks the first day of the G 20 summit and, as expected, protestors are facing adversity. From the use of L RAD (sometimes referred to as a "Sonic gun") and tear gas to National Guard troops and detaining activists before the fact, an overly intense law enforcement presence is in full effect.

Earlier tonight I came across footage of riot cops using sonic weapons and asking the crowd to disperse. I wondered how long it would take before we heard of people trying to disperse meeting up with riot cops blocking a way for people to disperse. I figured it would take a day or two to find out. 5 minutes later a friend sent me a link from Cindy Sheehan's blog confirming just such a thing happened.

Like most people aware of how things go down, I'm angered by this but not surprised. While it is likely the cops were given a green light to crack heads and use force, it can't be 100% proved at this time. I also wonder if some of the overreaction comes from those cops and National Guard troops from elsewhere called to the scene who might not be familiar with the protocol. While I'm willing to consider that as a possibility, I have a sinking feeling there's more than a pillar of truth on the former argument.

As the news trickles in from the system of tubes we all rely way too much on these days, new things will emerge. For now, it's another reason that sometimes the new boss is all too often the same as the old boss. Time will tell what happens next on this.