Day: April 2, 2012

With the proviso that we don't yet actually know how they will vote, Steve Benan notes:

"When analysts expected a 7-2 or 8-1 ruling in support of the administration, they weren't just picking numbers out of thin air; this was a reasonable estimate based on everything we know about the court, the law, and these justices.

So why do the predictions look ridiculous? Because the legal community — analysts, scholars, journalists, attorneys, former clerks — appear to have wildly overestimated the extent to which conservative justices give a damn about precedent, the facts of the case, the court's traditions and respect for restraint, lower-court rulings, the integrity of the institution, and the justices' avoidance of activism.

Pretty much. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Predictions vs. expectations at the Supreme Court
The week after the health care drama at the Supreme Court, some on the right are so confident about the outcome, they see no reason to delay the taunting. They'll engage in some pre-decision chest-thu…

Dear Black Community, when Rush expresses concern over the harm of something, he's quite probably actually concerned, but not for your sake. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Limbaugh On Trayvon Martin: ‘This Story Is Doing More Harm To The Black Community Than Anything Else’
This afternoon, right-wing radio host Rush Limabugh said that the tragic death of Trayvon Martin — which has outraged millions inside and outside of the African-American community — is “doing more har…

Very cool map of the US with, in each state, the top ten surnames. #ddtb

Embedded Link

NGM Blog Central – What's in a Surname? – National Geographic Magazine – NGM.com

So Frontier Airlines had been serving warm chocolate chips to all passengers as part of their longer flights (e.g., California to Denver) since their merger with Midwest Airlines (which was about the only thing from Midwest Airlines that anyone appreciated). No more.

Which, I guess, is fine, except the Frontier folks dance around themselves trying to make taking our cookies away sound like a good thing.

'"We've been in an ongoing review of our catering program and are looking to make some new and exciting changes in the coming months," said Frontier spokeswoman Lindsey Carpenter.'

Okay, you want to save money? Fine. Calling it "new and exciting"? I call bullshit.

'"During that review, it was determined that the cookie did not align with either the perception or the financial reality of a low-cost carrier," Carpenter added. "We were the only domestic low-cost carrier offering a free perishable snack."'

But people perceive "low-cost carrier" based on, well, "low cost." Adding cookies to the mix makes it, "Hey, my ticket didn't cost much, but I got a free, warm, chocolate chip cookie … score!"

As opposed to those "new and exciting changes":

_"Instead, Frontier will offer free Pepperidge Farms Goldfish crackers and Barnum's animal crackers for Ascent, Summit, Classic and Classic Plus customers.
Unaccompanied minors also will get the complimentary crackers, but not passengers flying in economy class – which also is part of Siegel's plan to reward those who pay more for their tickets. The crackers also will be available for purchase for $1."_

Now that sounds like a low-cost carrier … and one that is less pleasant to fly on, unless I pay more than that low cost. Smooth move, Frontier. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Frontier Airlines to discontinue complimentary chocolate chip cookies after April – The Denver Post
Complimentary warm chocolate chip cookies – a legacy of now-departed Midwest Airlines – will vanish from Frontier Airlines flights by the end of the month.

Yeah, that's not good news. Still time to make up for it, but it wouldn't surprise me to see word about water restrictions coming out real soon now. #ddtb

Embedded Link

CSU: 98% of Colorado under drought conditions – The Denver Post
 Climatologists at Colorado State University are confirming what many Coloradans already suspect — almost the entire state is consumed by drought.

I think the chances of the US getting rid of the penny are infinitisimal (like the value of the penny). Any attempt will be taken as The Gubbiment Trying to Steal Our Money (If It Were Good Enough for Abe Lincoln, It's Good Enough for Me!), and result in Tea Party protests and arguments about Mass Compulsory Penny Divestiture and SCOTUS cases and mass hysteria. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Freakonomics » Canada Kills Its Penny; Can We Please Be Next?
In part because of rising prices for the metals it's made of, it actually costs 1.6 cents to produce every penny. The government estimates it loses $11 million a year producing and distributing th…

Wait, you mean Rick Santorum either lied or was grossly mistaken about one of his "facts"? I'm shocked, shocked to find doltitude here!

(As the article notes, of the ten UC schools, the only one that doesn't include American History courses and undergraduate coursework in same is the Medical School at UC San Francisco.)

But don't let those facts hit you in the butt on the way out, Rick. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Santorum Claims California Universities Don’t Teach American History (Updated)
Rick Santorum has previously called colleges “indoctrination mills” that make students liberal and Godless, and labeled President Obama a “snob” for wanting kids to get educated. “Oh, I understand why…

Really? Really? Any arrest (according to the Conservative 4+1 on the Supreme Court) can lead to a strip search? No need for justifiable concern, probable cause, reason to think they may be hiding a file that they'll slip to a compatriot inside to let him cut through the bars of the cell and escape? Just … strip search as SOP?

Yup. SCOTUS-approved.

'According to opinions in the lower courts, people may be strip-searched after arrests for violating a leash law, driving without a license and failing to pay child support. Citing examples from briefs submitted to the Supreme Court, Justice Breyer wrote that people have been subjected to “the humiliation of a visual strip-search” after being arrested for driving with a noisy muffler, failing to use a turn signal and riding a bicycle without an audible bell. A nun was strip-searched, he wrote, after an arrest for trespassing during an antiwar demonstration. So were victims of sexual assaults and women who were menstruating.'

But at least they had good, solid, evidence-driven thinking behind their decision.

'Justice Kennedy responded that “people detained for minor offenses can turn out to be the most devious and dangerous criminals.” He noted that Timothy McVeigh, later put to death for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, was first arrested for driving without a license plate. “One of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks was stopped and ticketed for speeding just two days before hijacking Flight 93,” Justice Kennedy added.'

Yes, and surely a strip search would have avoided both the OKC bombing and 911!

The particular case involved a man arrested after his wife was pulled over for speeding, based on incorrect info that he had unpaid fines. Yes, truly a terrorist in the making!

So, thanks, Conservative 4+1, for lumping all arrestees, regardless of the charges, in as being suspected mass murderers and "devious and dangerous criminals." Perhaps we should just tase them all into submission, too, just to be on the safe side. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Justices Approve Strip-Searches for Any Offense
The court ruled that people arrested for any offense, however minor, may be forced to strip before being jailed even if there is no suspicion of contraband.

I can't imagine why anyone would oppose requiring changes of title be recorded with counties and that foreclosing lenders actually be able to demonstrate that they have the ownership right to do so. Apparently Colorado has an appallingly lax set of laws in this area, and bill fix that died in a GOP-controlled committee.

'Opponents of House Bill 1156 who helped kill it in a Republican-controlled committee March 13 said the initiative could push lenders from the market. "Our one concern is that nothing hurt lending in Colorado," said Don Childears, president of the Colorado Bankers Association. "We're not jumping to a conclusion that it's automatically bad and have organizations against it tomorrow. But we're aggressively thinking through its impact."'

Ah, I get it — if lenders have to follow decent business practices and actually prove they own the title to property they are foreclosing on, it might "hurt lending."

If they are lending without having to maintain paperwork about it, maybe that's the kind of lending we should hurt.

Fortunately, the bill is being resurrected as a ballot measure. I'll be curious to see how the bankers and GOP make an argument against it in public. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Failed bill on foreclosure filing in Colorado may get second chance on November ballot – The Denver Post
Undaunted that legislators killed a bill requiring that lenders prove their right to foreclose on a home, backers of the failed proposal have filed it as a ballot initiative with a harder approach: Fo…

Google+: Reshared 1 times

I'm glad she's no longer on the road (and she's okay with that), but it's a remarkable mileage (and maintenance log) for her and her car. #ddtb

Reshared post from +Jeff Zimmerman

Forced to Pull Over Forever….

Embedded Link

Florida woman, 93, reaches end of the road after 576,000 miles in her 1964 Mercury
The end of the road is here for Rachel Veitch's beloved Chariot.

… but these kind of shenanigans aren't the way to good government.

"Sen. David Vitter undermined public trust when he blocked a raise for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unless he issued more deep-water exploratory drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill, the Senate ethics committee said in a letter released Friday. The committee called the Louisiana Republican's actions unprecedented but spared him charges of rules violations because no guidance had been issued on such a tactic."

In other words, Vitter wanted Salazar to take actions, not based on the law or his professional judgment or even the direction of his boss (the president), but because it would cost him money to do so (or in order to get more money). Some would call that blackmail. Others would call it bribery. The Senate Ethics Committee called it an undermining of public trust.

Vitter calls it fair game.

_'In a statement Friday, Vitter said the committee had validated his action by dismissing the complaint and that he was glad he had "killed Ken Salazar's salary increase—he has completely failed us on energy policy."

"And I'll absolutely place a hold on any raise for him in the future," Vitter said.'_

The committee says that, now that there is guidance from them, Vitter will be liable to ethics charges in the future if he repeats it, bombast notwithstanding. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Ethics panel: Sen. Vitter undermined public trust – The Denver Post
WASHINGTON—Sen. David Vitter undermined public trust when he blocked a raise for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unless he issued more deep-water exploratory drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico afte…

During the recent Birth Control Coverage Kerfuffle, what was left unstated in the question of whether Church-owned or -controlled hospitals should be required to provide contraceptive care (etc.) for women was what the overall impact was.

This article notes how much of our nation's medical care (and governmental medical spending) is routed through Catholic (and Adventist and Baptist) hospitals — which continue to grow and merge and acquire other hospitals, expanding their religious restrictions on what is theologically acceptable, not just regarding contraception and abortion, but "new technologies, end-of-life care choices, vaccination, risk reduction counseling, and even access to scientific information."

And while metro areas like Denver might have a variety of options (if you are, in fact, aware of what care is or is not religiously available at a hospital when you check in), smaller cities and rural areas may have only one hospital with necessary facilities within a reasonable distance. And if that hospital is providing services restricted by religious doctrine, then that effects everyone, regardless of their own religious beliefs.

As the author puts it: 'As you read, consider: “When religion collides with your medical care, who should decide what is right for you?”' The answer as current law continues to put it, seems to be, "Whoever owns the place." #ddtb

Embedded Link

Molecules to Medicine: When Religion Collides with Medical Care: Who Decides What Is Right for You? | Guest Blog, Scientific American Blog Network
The recent presidential candidate debates, fights over insurance coverage for contraceptives, and the Virginia and Texas legislatures’ imposition of intrusive, unnecessary ultrasounds prior to any abo…

Google+: Reshared 1 times

But heaven forefend we call it "terrorism." #ddtb

Reshared post from +Talking Points Memo

Embedded Link

Homemade Bomb Explodes At Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Office
A small, homemade bomb exploded outside a Planned Parenthood office in Wisconsin on Sunday night, prompting federal and local investigators to launch a hunt for the person who put it there.

Possibly too little, too late, though a lot of stores are doing the same thing. I'm not a huge seafood fan, so my interest isn't just gustatory here. Unsustainable fishing impacts not just those species, but everything else in the ocean. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Whole Foods to stop sale of unsustainable seafood – The Denver Post
ALBANY, N.Y.—Whole Foods Market said Friday that it will stop selling fish caught from depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods, a move that comes as supermarkets nationwide try to mak…

New Plant Select flowers for the Front Range. Some nice ones here.

Botanic Garden spring plant sale is 11-12 May. Marking my calendar. #ddtb

Embedded Link

New plants for gardeners to fall in love with – The Denver Post
Gardeners, get ready to fall in love. Again. Whether youre a seasoned gardener or just getting ready to plant your first flowerbed, there are dozens of new plants waiting to entice you this season.

Hey, we have Bali Cherries in our new landscaping for the front yard. They're already blooming and looking great.

Our unseasonably warm March also led to our apricot tree not only blooming but thriving, with nascent fruit already visible. Hopefully the next couple days of cooler weather will not throw a kink into that. #ddtb

Embedded Link

Tough trees that thrive on Front Range – The Denver Post
Colorado west from the Kansas border is a prairie mostly as nature intended it — vast swaths of grass, wildflowers and cactus punctuated by cottonwoods every now and again.

Yes, many thanks to Donald Trump for adding to the number of kids who will not get needed vaccines, thus increasing the chances that they and others around them will catch preventable diseases that can cripple or kill. All based on debunked science and bad use of health statistics.

Hey, didn't he endorse a presidential candidate recently? #ddtb

Reshared post from +David Badash

How many kids will now not get the vaccines they need, just like Bachmann's HPV vaccine attacks…

Embedded Link

Donald Trump’s Latest Paranoid Conspiracy Theory: Vaccines Cause Autism
Donald Trump’s latest paranoid conspiracy theory rant is that vaccines cause autism in children.

One of the fun things of last week's trip to California was actually doing some home improvement on Jim & Ginger's house, in exchange for fifteen years of work they've helped with on our place.

In this case, we assisted in turning a huge mess of cables back behind their office desks into something that's fairly managed and manageable — pulling the desks back a foot, mounting stuff to the walls, adding hatches to the space, and adding a bookshelf as well.

Fun time. We didn't get everything quite complete, but it's about 90% there, and I have faith that Jim (unlike me) will get the last bits finished so we can ooh and aah over them in June. #ddtb

In album K Office Project (8 photos)

Power bars all mounted, and items plugged across them, nice and neat (a bit more bundling up of cables to be expected). Next step will be a set of 1-ft deep hinged doors across the gap with holes for the cables to come up through (the doors allowing future access to the space behind).