Just a Recap of Sorts

Losing easy access to the Internet sometimes makes me feel like I've dropped off the face of the planet. On the other hand, there's a whole other world out there; free of "news," free of soundbites and talking points; free. I'd advise you to go be free sometime in the next few days. It's good for the soul.

I'm working on a few deeper issues for some upcoming blogs but in the meantime, here are some continuing story follow-ups as well as some interesting things to read:



Is Organic Food Really Healthier?

"In the late 1990s, researcher Anne-Marie Mayer looked at data gathered by the British government from the 1930s to the 1980s on the mineral contents of 20 raw fruits and vegetables. She found that levels of calcium, magnesium, copper, and sodium in vegetables, and of magnesium, iron, copper, and potassium in fruit had dropped significantly."

"....researchers at the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania were seeing a tradeoff between use of synthetic fertilizers and food nutrient values in the Institute's Farming System Trial (FST). The FST is the longest-running side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional farming systems in the US."




Pope Ignores the War, Gets Free Pass on Sex Abuse


"While still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- the Vatican office that once ran the Inquisition. In that capacity he sent a letter in May 2001 to all Catholic bishops throwing a curtain of secrecy over the widespread sexual abuse by clergy, warning the bishops of severe penalties, including excommunication for breaching "pontifical secrets."

"Lawyers acting for the sexually abused accused Ratzinger of "clear obstruction of justice."

"Very few American bishops have been disciplined. And when Bernard Cardinal Law was run out of Boston for failing to protect children from predator priests, he was given a cushy sinecure in Rome; many believe he should be behind bars.

"In an interview with the Catholic News Service in 2002, Ratzinger branded media coverage of the pedophilia scandal "a planned campaign ... intentional, manipulated, a desire to discredit the church."

"It is nice that the Pope has now changed his tune. Nicer still for him, he found himself mostly in the congenial atmosphere of Washington, where very few powerful miscreants are held accountable."

Climate Change May Put 'World at War': "Climate change could cause global conflicts as large as the two world wars but lasting for centuries unless the problem is controlled, a leading defence think tank has warned."

It's not "save the planet" or "save the Earth" or even "save the climate;" it's Save Humanity. Really. The planet, the Earth, the climate - they will all go on without us. It's ourselves we should really be worried about.



Arctic Ice Melting Fast in Summer Sun: Ummm...see above. "New Arctic sea ice is now so perilously thin on average that it melts under the sunshine of clear summer skies it once could survive, American researchers conclude in a study published today."



One would think that the "greatest country in the world" wouldn't have this problem: " For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women." What with our bridges collapsing, high infant mortality rates, being the biggest spender on missiles, guns, and bombs, invading sovereign nations, and lacking health care for its citizens...maybe we aren't so "great" after all?



This is a good blog-summary of a lot of things I've been talking about lately.



Pssst....Do Something!




You and me, the American citizen and taxpayer, (aka: the U.S. Government) shouldn't be giving money to bail out airlines or give huge subsidies to oil companies. No. Give that money to people who are really doing something to help our society, like this man, the Segway inventor who just invented a water regenerator.

"Happy" Tax Day

Today is the day that most of us pay our taxes. What exactly does all this money we're shelling out go for? Let's see: some of it goes to pay members of Congress and the Executive branch a salary, free travel for government business (including golf trips), as well as lifetime health care.

However, in 2007, nearly 40% of every dollar went towards military spending. Remember, that war over there in Iraq? Yeah, well, there are some solid people who are brave enough to stand up in the face of adversity and declare that killing people to settle differences and achieve peace doesn't work. Knowing full well that it's our tax money that pays for these wars, they have decided to stop paying the portion of their taxes that go for war.

This morning on Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman interviews a Portland, Oregon couple who have not paid for war in 30 years. You can read the transcript here.


According to Goodman, "the total amount allocated for the Iraq war through fiscal year 2008 is more than $520 billion." The questions us Americans should be asking are: how many bridges could be brought out of "deficiency" ratings with that money? how many children could we feed and give health care to with that money? how many of our roads could we fix with $520 billion? how many schools could we buy new books and gym equipment for?

It'll be a great day when schools get ALL the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.

And don't give me this crap about "protecting America." Again: Iraq did NOTHING to us and had NO weapons of mass destruction. Al Qaeda was NOT in Iraq until AFTER we invaded that sovereign country. All we're doing is making more enemies, killing innocent civilians, pissing more people off, and giving people good reason to hate us. I miss Ron Paul.



Also in today's tax news: Fewer Large Corporations Audited by IRS (but more smaller ones are)



As a Cardinal, he did nothing. While he has chosen to meet with President Bush, he has chosen to not meet with people who were sexually abused by priests. Yet, the Pope says he is "deeply ashamed" over sexual abuse in the Catholic church. Oh really? Words do nothing to fix the problem of Church officials moving known child molesters to another parish. How about a little more action Mr. Pope?

"Jason Berry, a New Orleans writer who first drew national attention to clergy sex abuse in the 1980s, said the root of the problem is that the Vatican doesn’t punish bishops who shelter offenders. "Until the church creates a genuine system of justice to redress these wrongs the abuse crisis will continue...""




A very good argument for doing something about global overpopulation?

"Oshiya, or "pusher", is an informal Japanese term for a worker who stands on the platform of a railway station during the morning and evening rush hours, and pushes people onto the train. This video is a good example of just how crowded it gets on Japanese trains." Watch here.