Steve

WMS

This entry was posted in bush administration Federal Government Health Care on by

Yes, the weapon of mass stupidity bush administration is at it again:

On Monday, President Bush appointed Susan Orr to oversee federal family planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Orr, who is currently directing HHS child welfare programs, was touted by the administration as “highly qualified.”
But a look at Orr’s record shows that her strongest qualifications appear to be her right-wing credentials and endorsement of the Bush administration’s failed abstinence-only policies. Before joining HHS, Orr served as senior director for marriage and family care at the conservative Family Research Council and was an adjunct professor at Pat Robertson’s Regent University.

Another wonderfully Orwellian appointment.
From the perspective of the bushies and some religious sects there is nothing stupid about this. It is exactly the type of appointment that they intended to make from before bush was selected president by the supreme court and have made over and over again.
For the rest of us it is another example of bushidity.
For many it is also yet another sharp example of government waste. As John Cole asks:

…why the hell do we even need this damned office?

A good question!
If the department has any use at all it might be to help educate folks about what it takes to raise a child, encourage them to hold off on having children until they have the resources to raise them and explain over and over how valuable contraception is both in disease prevention and in birth prevention.
I’m not so sure a democratic or progressive administration would properly focus on both these points.

So, either give the money to Planned Parenthood or quit stealing it from us.

Has Artificial Life Been Created?

This entry was posted in Biology Ecology Environment Physiology Science on by

Greg Laden says:

I think it has been created over the last few months but the announcement is delayed for obvious reasons … nobody wants the equivilant of “Cold Fusion” tacked to your resume.

Surely that will get you to follow the read it all link!

You will find this gem and many more cool science oriented posts at the current edition of Tangled Bank hosted by The Other 95%.

Your Camera May Be A Weapon

This entry was posted in Law Enforcement on by

Certainly!
If you are standing within arms reach you could use it as a club. In more desparate straights you could through it at someone at a distance.
This guy would have needed Mr. Fantastic like powers to use his camera as a weapon before he was attacked by police:

When one woman was told to stop recording, she gave the videocamera to Waterhouse. He walked to the edge of the property, climbed up a dirt embankment and continued to record. At one point, he yelled to his friend, “Yes, I got it all on film. They had no right to come on this property.”
He says in the suit that police immediately came after him, and yelled at him “put it down.” Officers moved towards him, and he said, “Don’t come after me.” Waterhouse said seconds later he was shot with a bean bag gun and a Taser and fell to the ground.
Officers wrote in their reports that Waterhouse ran off, they chased and then bean-bagged and Tasered him. One officer wrote, “He had refused to drop the camera which could be used as a weapon.”
Waterhouse was arrested, accused of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. A jury acquitted him of all charges.

Rightfully so!
When you have interactions with police or see police activity film it! It may save you or a fellow human from police misconduct. You have every right to do so:

Earlier this summer Radley Balko penned a compelling column arguing in favor of a citizen’s right to videotape police (the related ITA post and comments can be found here). The evidence supporting such freedom seemingly mounts daily as ordinary citizens videotape police conducting illegal or unethical activities, typically to the citizens’ detriment.

If they are properly serving their employers, you and me, then police officers should have no objection to being filmed.

In a free country any objections they might have are irrelevant.

Update 10/18: Kip’s thoughts on this.


Quote of the Day #3 ~ Education

This entry was posted in Education Literature Quotes on by

…I could not help receiving the impression that I was being cheated out of something. Out of what I knew not, yet I did not believe that twelve years of unrelieved boredom was exactly what the state had in mind for me.
Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee, 1960, page 37 in the 1982 Popular Library Edition

Hmmm, this is probably exactly what the state had/has in mind…

Given the structure of the education school systems in the US those who are not afflicted with boredom must be the small exception.