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Category: Society Page 59 of 69

Universal Healthcare = Terrorists Have Won

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On July 6, 2007

In Society

Don’t believe me?  Then let these folks educate you:

  • New York Sun tells us that national healthcare brought all these scary terrorists to British shores.
  • MSNBC helps illuminate the fact that universal healthcare doesn’t just result in “foreign born medical practitioners, but *foreign* born”  (cue ominous music)
  • And reliable old Fox News helps us understand that the NHS is a “breeding ground for terror” (I think Strep is a close second, though.)

Last time I was in an NHS facility, they took a needle or three to my big toe.  I’ll call my doctor on Monday to schedule an MRI to make sure that they didn’t implant some nefarious sleeper device.  It was 1987, but they’re sneaky bastards, you know.  Never can be too careful.  Credit to TPM for keeping us abreast of the latest healthcare threats.

Sly Stone: Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

By

On July 4, 2007

In Personal, Society

If you want me to stay
I’ll be around today
To be available for you to see
I’m about to go
And then you’ll know
For me to stay here I’ve got to be me

– If You Want Me to Stay, Sly & The Family Stone

I don’t write about music much, because . . . well . . . I can’t.  Just never have found the words to capture what it is that grabs me about a song, composition, or artist.  So I’ll just leave it at this, for now: if I were packing my bags for the Desert Island Permanent Vacation, I’d be sure to include the entire works of Sly & the Family Stone.   It’s not just a soundtrack of my life thing – it’s a brilliant music thing.  Which brings me to the next part:  the reason that we’ve got that brilliant music -  Sly Stone.

He’s not dead, you know.  His appearance at the Grammy’s last year probably reminded a few people of that.  For the most part, though, I think he’s rather widely assumed to be dead.  Most of the best stars of his time are, right?  Well, this Vanity Fair interview (!!!) reminds us that he’s not.    For the most part, I’ve very little use for celebrity.  I don’t care who Tom Cruise is keeping in his basement, and please god get the pictures of Britney away from me.  But there are still a few public figures I’d really like to know more about.  Sly is one of them.  From the interview:

Sly Stone is my favorite of the rock-era recluses, and, really, the only big one left. Syd Barrett, the architect of Pink Floyd’s entrancingly loopy early sound, passed away last summer at the age of 60, having resisted all entreaties to explain himself or sing again. Brian Wilson, the fragile visionary behind the Beach Boys, has been gently coaxed out of his shell by his friends and acolytes, and now performs and schmoozes regularly. He doesn’t count as a recluse anymore. But Sly has remained elusive—still with us, yet seemingly content to do without us.

Content to do without us.  See why I like this guy?

I start the interview in earnest with the most obvious question: “Why have you chosen to come back now?”

At this, he grins. “‘Cause it’s kind of boring at home sometimes.”

Read it.  And then cross your fingers that he’s going to alleviate that boredom in front of us.

What’s next, rain dances?

By

On July 2, 2007

In Society

I dropped the Alabama bashing the minute I left Georgia (because really, what fun is it if they can’t hear you?), but this is just too good not to share:

With the state’s weather forecasters not delivering much-needed rain, Gov. Bob Riley on Thursday turned to a higher power. The governor issued a proclamation calling for a week of prayer for rain, beginning Saturday.

Riley encouraged Alabamians to pray “individually and in their houses of worship.”

“Throughout our history, Alabamians have turned in prayer to God to humbly ask for his blessings and to hold us steady during times of difficulty,” Riley said. “This drought is without question a time of great difficulty.”

Mississippi, you might yet move out of 50th place. God willing, of course.

We’re trading our Constitution in for protection from *these* idiots?

By

On June 30, 2007

In Politics, Society

I’m told that there’s been breathless coverage of the failed bombing attempts in London over the past 24 hours, and I can see that it’s going to exponentially ratchet up with the mostly-failed attempt in Glasgow today. A few cars, cans of gasoline, and a whole lot of stupidity. Now, I’m not complaining about that bit – in fact, I quite prefer my terrorists to be rather stupid. Makes us all safer, really. But to hear the US government, security industry, and news networks over the past six years, you’d think we were facing Dr. Evil with frickin’ sharks with frickin’ lasers on their heads everywhere we turned.

But we’re not.

And they’re idiots.

So why can’t we treat them like idiots?

(Update: Apparently Atrios & Larry Johnson were thinking this, too.)

Dismantling Brown v. Board of Education: A Start in Understanding It

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On June 28, 2007

In Law, Policy, Society

If you’re interested in understanding what actually happened in today’s Supreme Court decisions on school desegregation, I highly recommend reading this discussion at Slate.  It’s a conversation between three people.  First, there is Dahlia Lithwick, a reporter who regularly covers the Supreme Court.  I’ve grown from a detractor into a fan, over the years.  I think she does a good job of translating the language of the Court into something that is meaningful to the public at large.  Her regular partner in these discussions is Walter Dellinger, an actively practicing appellate lawyer with a resume that would make a Chief Justice blush.  I’ve always been terribly impressed with his explanations of Supreme Court decisions, and Slate is lucky to have such insightful analysis on its pages.  Finally, in the interests of balance, they’ve brought in Stuart Taylor, a conservative writer who generally concurred with the Court’s actions.  I think some of his analysis is a bit simplistic, but it’s an honest contribution to the conversation.  Do check it out.

More Like This

By

On June 28, 2007

In Society

Through sheer accident, Hardball was just on my television.  And, for the past 15 minutes, we’ve seen a (relatively) intelligent and  uninterrupted debate on the existence of God between Al Sharpton and Christopher Hitchens.  It was something of a rehash of their original debate, but still far more intelligent than anything I’ve seen on a cable news show in a very long time.

If they can’t refine petroleum . . .

By

On June 27, 2007

In Society

Perhaps I’m being a bit flippant, but if Iran can’t figure out how to refine petroleum – and is paying for it with riots – I’m not sure I can bring myself to worrying about its ability to enrich uranium.

Whither China

By

On June 27, 2007

In Policy, Society

Still in ChinaThere’s a great discussion going on over at TPMCafe on the new book, Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power Is Transforming the World. Andrew Cleary summarizes the discussion for those who haven’t been following it.

I don’t see China as the second (third? fourth?) wave of the Red Scare, but I do think that it’s very much worth paying attention to. In my view, it embodies capitalism (as practised) at its most brutal, and that those of us who think capitalism provides a good path forward need to consider many of the tough issues raised in doing business with China. If IP standards are important enough to be internationally observed, why not labor standards? Why is China making so much progress in Africa? Did China’s bid to control the Panama Canal threaten the US? Check out the book and jump in, if you like.

Picture taken from the Bund, on my 2004 trip to Shanghai. More photos from that trip here.

“Pillow talk matters.”

By

On June 25, 2007

In Politics, Society

That’s what John Aravosis says on his post noting Elizabeth Edward’s support of gay marriage. While I’m not sure I entirely agree with his predictions, I think Aravosis makes some excellent points when he says:

I want my civil rights, I don’t want to be on the receiving end of constant triangulation. Mrs. Edwards will be a force for good, at least as it concerns the civil and human rights of gay and lesbian Americans. As much as I like the man, I can’t say the same about Mr. Clinton. He’s going to be advising Hillary to throw us under the bus. That doesn’t mean Hillary will, but her top two advisers have a history of legislative gay-bashing for political gain. That’s of legitimate concern.

For a number of reasons, I don’t think Bill Clinton would urge repeating his appalling DOMA behavior. That said, I like Elizabeth Edwards more than any of the 2008 spouses (and many of the candidates themselves).

An EFF Victory: Broadcast Treaty in Tatters

By

On June 23, 2007

In Distribution, Society

On the right, under “Act”, you’ll see a link to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.  Why?  They’re working their asses off protecting freedoms and ideas you didn’t even know were important.  For example, they just achieved a significant measure of victory in getting rid of the ridiculous Broadcast Treaty.  What’s that? As Cory Doctorow puts it:

The broadcast treaty creates a copyright-like “broadcast right,” for the entities that make works available. So while copyright goes to the people who create things, broadcast rights go to people who have no creative contribution at all. Here’s how it would work: say you recorded some TV to use in your classroom. Copyright lets you do this — copyright is limited by fair use. But the broadcast right would stop you — you’d need to navigate a different and disjointed set of exceptions to broadcast rights, or the broadcaster could sue you.

That’s right.  No show-and-discuss newscasts in the classroom.  No playing of CC-licensed symphonies taped from the radio.  And what did the EFF and its allies do?

When we started going to the World Intellectual Property Organization, we had no idea how we would manage it. There is no constitution to appeal to there. They control the venue and call the shots. But we went in and blogged the negotiations (the first ever look inside the sausage factory of a UN treaty negotiation), bringing unparalleled transparency to the negotiations. We rallied dozens of other organizations to come to Geneva. We argued. We posted guards over our position papers when someone started to throw them in the bathrooms and hide them behind the plants (first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you — then you win!). We slashdotted them. We wrote them letters. We went all over the world and talked to librarians, activists, and hackers. We proposed a better treaty that would limit copyright around the world and give rights to archivists, educators and disabled people to use and preserve creative works.

We kicked ass.

And we won. (For now.)

Generations ahead are better off for this.  They’re fighting the good fight.  Even if next to no one understands that.

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