September 2008 Archives

If I didn't know the sad, sad truth, I'd swear that the crew behind Best In Show and A Mighty Wind had made a political mockumentary.

Sadly, it's real...

Watch CBS Videos Online

They suggested WHAT to Ben & Jerry's?!?!

The Virginia-based nonprofit group sent a letter to company co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday asking them to use human breast milk instead of cow's milk in their products.

PETA said the health of consumers and cows would benefit from the switch.

PETA says that the whole point is that cow's milk is for baby cows, not humans. It's their usual technique of tweaking the media/the public/whoever to make a statement. Not completely sure it works, but whatever.

However, I have thought more about their suggestion, and I realize it deserves further serious consideration. After all...

1. Ice cream is fattening
2. Nursing causes you to lose weight
3. So if you keep pumping and donate the milk to Ben & Jerry's...
4. You can eat more ice cream!

The Chronicle published my letter!

Editor - As Steve Francis demonstrates in his opinion piece ("Prop. 4 - Parents should know," Sept. 22) the backers of Proposition 4 have fear-mongering on their side, but not the facts.

"The well-being of young teens is at stake with negative influences from pop culture, adult advertising and the Internet," he claims. But this proposition won't do a thing to change that.

The facts are: Teen pregnancies are on the decline already, most teenagers do talk to their parents and parental consent laws particularly affect and harm low-income teenagers, who are already unable to turn to their families. Furthermore, in states that have passed similar laws, teens became more likely to have second-trimester abortions.

As the mother of a little girl and future teenager, of course I want to raise her according to my values, which include open and honest communication and not becoming sexually active before adulthood.

However, I fail to see how making a vulnerable teenage girl jump through legal hoops in the middle of a personal crisis - not to mention increasing the number of late-term abortions - is good "family values." Please join me in voting "no" on Proposition 4.

KATHERINE FALK

Oakland

Look what the system of tubes sent me today. I like the nods to Bill Gates and Chelsea FC.

----

From; Mrs. Susan Sweeney
Office Address:
Tower 42,Level 35 25 Old Broad
Street London,
EC2N 1HQ DX: 557 London
United Kingdom


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YOUR WINNING INFORMATION
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To claim your prize contact the paying bank
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DIRECTOR FOREIGN OPERATION DEPARTMENT
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TEL: 234-80-62479487

do keep us posted with your dealing with African Development Bank Group

This email promotion is jointly sponsored by Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and Microsoft corporation owner Bill Gates to promote the use of the internet email facility.
When contacting MR HARVE ASSEH THE Director of PAYING BANK (AFRICAN DEVELOPEMENT BANK) Send The following information below to which will be used to prepare your winning certificate and as well process your payment WITH ADB BANK.


YOUR NAME................................
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(Lottery Agent Coordinator)

Well, this is a bit of an eye-opener...

In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

On Saturday during voter registration, one man, a relatively new citizen shepherding his two children to the supermarket, wearily asked what the heck the point was of voting in California, when the presidential race has pretty much been decided here already. Among my answers (It's still important to participate! It's a good example for your kids!) there was this one: there's other stuff on the ballot that's really important too. Like a ton of annoying ballot initiatives. Same as every damn election in California since I don't know when. So here's the run-down:

Prop. 1A
Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act.
It's a LOT of money at a time when the state is dead broke. On the other hand: it would be nice to be able to take the train to L.A. in a couple of hours - especially if gas is going to be $10/gallon sooner than we think. I'll probably vote for it.

Prop. 2
Standards for Confining Farm Animals. Initiative Statute.
Yeah, I'm voting for this one. Too many horror stories about "downer cows" have turned my stomach. Let's have some standards.

Prop. 3
Children's Hospital Bond Act. Grant Program. Initiative Statute.
I'll probably vote for this one for emotional reasons - I know Children's Hospital in Oakland has literally been a lifesaver.

Prop. 4
Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
HELL NO. See my earlier post on this subject.

Prop. 5
Nonviolent Drug Offenses. Sentencing, Parole and Rehabilitation. Initiative Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 6
Police and Law Enforcement Funding. Criminal Penalties and Laws. Initiative Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 7
Renewable Energy Generation. Initiative Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 8
Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry. Initiative Constitutional Amendment.
HELL NO. I hope this one goes down to a stomping defeat. I'm glad Jerry Brown made them have an honest title for it, anyway. None of this "defending marriage" crap.

Prop. 9
Criminal Justice System. Victims' Rights. Parole. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 10
Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy. Bonds. Initiative Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 11
Redistricting. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.
Need to do my homework.

Prop. 12
Veterans' Bond Act of 2008.
Need to do my homework.

So there you have it. I have lots of studying to do before November!

Then you'll LOVE Proposition 4, the latest version of the parent-consent-before-abortion law that has been on the ballot the last few elections. Apparently, that is one of the "unintended side-effects" of such laws, since the delays caused by the process of getting approval push the abortion into the second term.

This one is pretty much as bad as the previous ones, from what I can tell. Even as a mom of a future teenage girl, I still am voting this one thankyoubuhbyeNO.

Some good information on the (in)effectiveness and harmfulness of such laws from UCSF here...

In the end, it comes down to this:

Recognizing the importance of maintaining adolescents' confidentiality in the healthcare setting while encouraging voluntary family communication, the American Academy of Pediatrics, along with other leading public health and medical professional organizations, has issued the following policy statement:

"Adolescents should be encouraged to involve their parents and other trusted adults in reproductive health care decisions, but this should not be mandated through parental consent or notification laws. The potential risks to adolescents if they are unable to obtain reproductive health services are so compelling that legal barriers and deference to parental involvement should not stand in the way of needed health care for patients who request confidentiality."

I keep reading crap like this:

Last week, the McCain campaign e-mailed supporters to say it was "looking for volunteers who are willing to spend the final 10 days of the campaign helping in a nearby state." But at the San Mateo County branch of the McCain campaign, 300 people turned out last week for its volunteer kickoff event; the turnout was goosed by Palin, organizers said. Now the office is welcoming first-timer campaigners like Phil Lehman, a 63-year-old Foster City resident.

His reason for volunteering: "Sarah."

"There's a realness to her, a believability," Lehman said. "I think she's going to eat Joe Biden's lunch at the (vice presidential) debate."

and this:

I love Palin for her chutzpah, courage, maverickness and her authenticity. As a woman, I want her to be fantastic. I want her to expose the fraudulence of identity politics and show the world that Woman is not just one thing.

Last I checked, "authenticity", "realness" and "believability" != lying your damn ass off" which she does on a regular basis.

This is worth a read too. The woman is a damn control freak secretive vindictive NIGHTMARE.

A thin e-reader designed to display newspapers and magazines? Sign me up! Especially if they start making the New Yorker available this way, so I can switch my dead-tree subscription over.

What do the Enron debacle, the Savings & Loan crisis of the 80s, and the current meltdown have in common?

This is a must-read and should be shared far and wide.

I have just finished reading one of the most un-put-downable reads I've come across in the last few years, and it comes from an unlikely source: Aaron Cometbus of Cometbus zine fame. He devoted issue #51 to a history of bookstores on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.

Doesn't sound all that interesting, you say? Well, when you consider the story encompasses the Free Speech Movement, the Summer of Love, the People's Park protests, riots, teargas, the SLA and Patty Hearst, cigar-chomping bookstore managers who yell at their customer base, a journey to Cuba to volunteer for the Revolution, urban planning gone horribly wrong, and musings on the tension between the hippie old guard and Generation X, plus more wonderfully insider stories and bitchy comments by the author (a cranky fellow, he calls Salman Rushdie a "total ass" and complains of hippies that "they can't live with themselves when the lights are out,") than you can throw a latte at, it turns out to be one hell of a read.

You can find "Loneliness of the Electric Menorah" at independent bookstores and magazine shops around the Bay Area — I found my copy at Issues on Glen in Oakland, but it's also available online. Strongly recommended.

Oh boy. This is our possible next president? He's starting to make Bush look like a friggin' foreign policy genius. And here's the video...

From the "Women for Obama" group:

To help cope with the Chicken Little moments we all have from time to time here are details from Daily Kos about an easy way to reach out to Ohio voters.

1. Get ten postcards from your home state (it's best if the postcards have a picture of your state or town).

2. In two-four sentences, write a specific reason why you support Obama (my reason is that his economic plan makes sense and will help working people). Conclude by reminding people to vote on November 4th.

3. Put a stamp on the postcard (be sure to leave the space for the address blank so that the volunteers in Ohio can address the postcards to undecided Ohio voters).

4. Put all the postcards in an envelope and send them to:
WFO Post Card Campaign
193 E. Rich Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Mail your postcards by September 20th.

This is a quick project that you can accomplish in about an hour, and it's an inexpensive way to support the campaign.

Edited to add: there seem to be ongoing postcard-writing campaigns. Check women.barackobama.com for more information.

This is just bizarre.

Sarah Palin will speak at next week's Jewish-sponsored rally to protest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations.

In addition to Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee and Alaska governor, confirmed speakers include U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), an Iranian dissident, a black minister and Jewish and Israeli leaders, according to a key group organizing the rally, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

"The speakers represent the broad spectrum of American political life," the group's executive vice chairman, Malcolm Hoenlein, told JTA.

Asked if there would be someone from the Obama campaign at the demonstration, Hoenlein noted the presence of Clinton as a leading Democrat and said she accepted the invitation to speak several weeks ago, before the Democratic National Convention.

The rally, part of efforts by Jewish groups to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, will be held at 11:45 a.m. Sept. 22. It is expected to draw thousands of participants to Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations.

Is this supposed to give her "foreign policy bonus points" or something?

In some corners of the Internets, people are talking about Sarah Palin's decisions during her pregnancy: to have an amniocentesis, to keep a baby with Down Syndrome, to travel late in her pregnancy and even after her water broke. As a pro-choice mother, I am all over the map on this one in my reactions.

First of all, in contrast to a lot of people, I don't have trouble believing that a woman who is against abortion would still want to have an amnio. In my own pregnancy, I opted out of the less-risky first-trimester screening and chose to have an amnio myself. My reason for doing so: I knew that the earlier screening had a high rate of false positives (something like 5%-6%, or more than 1 out of 20 pregnancies) and I didn't want to spend two months freaking out that there was something wrong with my baby. Also, looking at the rate of post-amnio miscarriages at the hospital in my area, and given my age at the time (37) I believed that the risk was lower than the benefit. (The risk is apparently very, very low according to a recent study)

At the same time, we also did a genetic screening on ourselves — admittedly something we should have done before I got pregnant.

In any case, I am pro-choice, and had I found out that something was seriously wrong, I very likely would have chosen to have an abortion. But that's me. I have nothing in common with pro-life women, right?

Why would somebody have an amnio if they don't believe in abortions? Well, I suspect women like that share one thing in common with me: they want to know as much as possible, even when the news is bad. Because knowledge can feel like a way of regaining control when you feel powerless. You can prepare yourself for the worst... or start lining up the resources you need.

As a mother of several children already, I imagine Sarah Palin has known for years what I learned a couple years ago from experience: that the first few weeks post-birth hit you like a ton of bricks; that simple tasks can be daunting; that breastfeeding can be really challenging even with a "normal" infant. She also knows that no two babies are alike, and prior experience with one doesn't prepare you to deal with a completely different kid. She also doesn't strike me as a woman who particularly likes surprises. So if you're expecting a special-needs baby, best to know ahead of time so you can martial the resources you need to help him thrive.

So questioning the amnio? I don't.

Questioning many of her other decisions? Oh, you betcha.

First of all, she didn't tell her other kids that their little brother was going to have Down's Syndrome. I think that's really unfair to them, since It's their business too. (Who is going to be taking care of Trig 40 years from now? A lot of the responsibility could very well fall on his siblings.) Also, it's not very honest.

Flying so late in her pregnancy - and even after her water broke? Seems risky and not terribly "pro-life" to me. Had she been honest with the airline, she wouldn't have been allowed to fly. Again, not honest.

Most of all: she CHOOSE to keep Trig, and I admire her for that, if for nothing else (and there's not much to admire about her IMHO). But she doesn't believe other women should be allowed to make their own choices. And it makes her daughter Bristol's choice to keep her own child suspect — after all, how do we know it's really what she wanted, if not all options are on the table?

Anyway, I guess all this makes me yet another second-guesser, questioning another woman's choices. The difference is, I can tsk-tsk all I want, but I can't force her to do anything differently. If Sarah Palin gets her way, though, I'd better pray I don't get pregnant again, because if something goes wrong, I will literally have no choices in the matter.

(P.S., if you want to be really annoyed, check out this article and thread. If pro-lifers really believe pro-choice women "will say anything in order to make sure the annual count of infanticide and child deaths increases every year" they are smoking some really heavy sh*t.)

In answer to the question "why is high-fructose corn syrup bad for you?", there's this study.

ScienceDaily (Aug. 23, 2007) -- Researchers have found new evidence that soft drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may contribute to the development of diabetes, particularly in children. In a laboratory study of commonly consumed carbonated beverages, the scientists found that drinks containing the syrup had high levels of reactive compounds that have been shown by others to have the potential to trigger cell and tissue damage that could cause the disease, which is at epidemic levels.

The reason...

n the current study, Chi-Tang Ho, Ph.D., conducted chemical tests among 11 different carbonated soft drinks containing HFCS. He found 'astonishingly high' levels of reactive carbonyls in those beverages. These undesirable and highly-reactive compounds associated with "unbound" fructose and glucose molecules are believed to cause tissue damage, says Ho, a professor of food science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. By contrast, reactive carbonyls are not present in table sugar, whose fructose and glucose components are "bound" and chemically stable, the researcher notes.

I had some vague idea that the molecules involved were different or something like that, but I couldn't remember the details in any coherent way.

The HFCS industry can, and should, suck it.

That's how I'd describe Tina Fey's channeling of Sarah Palin.

By the way, have I mentioned how much I can't stand Sarah Palin? I will. Repeatedly. What a travesty.