World Cup 2014

The draw is complete. The US appears to be in the vaunted group of death.
No expectation of the US winning the whole thing (could happen) but always enjoy every match. If want to observe sports competition at it's best the World Cup is where it happens.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/interactive/2013/dec/18/world-cup-2014-draw-strength-of-schedule

Month Day Year Format

Once again the US stands alone. Oh, and the metric system.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/dec/16/why-do-americans-write-the-month-before-the-day

Quote from the Pope

Pope Francis or Argentina speaking out against trickle down economics. He's absolutely right.

"The ideology of Marxism is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don't feel offended," Francis was quoted as saying. Defending his criticism of the "trickle-down" theory of economics, he added: "There was the promise that once the glass had become full it would overflow and the poor would benefit. But what happens is that when it's full to the brim, the glass magically grows, and thus nothing ever comes out for the poor ... I repeat: I did not talk as a specialist but according to the social doctrine of the church. And this does not mean being a Marxist."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/pope-francis-defends-criticism-of-capitalism-not-marxist

Creator of The Wire on Capitalism in the United States

David Simon who gave us "The Wire" comments on the the two Americas and how capitalism is failing us.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/david-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire

Domino's Pizza

Domino's Pizza location fires 24 delivery workers for complaining they are being underpaid.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/09/1261419/-Domino-s-workers-fired-for-complaining-about-being-paid-below-minimum-wage?detail=hide

2013 Movies

List thus far with topmost favored. Anything seen this year qualified.
Saw more than expected this year since had NetFlix available once again.

A Separation
A Kid With a Bike
Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Gravity
I Wish
North By Northwest
The Cabin in the Woods (Horror as intelligent as it comes)
Addams Family Values (Hysterical)
In Bruges
The Raid: Redemption
End of Watch
Looper
5 Broken Cameras

Others:
From Up on Poppy Hill
Pacific Rim (good fun)
Rear Window
Vertigo
An Enemy of the People (1966)
The Croods
Star Trek Into Darkness
Silver Linings Playbook
Oblivion
Life of Pi
The Host (2006)
Samsara (cinematography)

International Test Scores: US Students Lag (as per usual)

US students lagging in international test scores.
Can this be explained away as usual?

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/dec/03/education-stagnation-study-us-teen-students

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/08/1260118/-If-American-students-test-scores-are-a-wake-up-call-what-should-we-wake-up-and-do?detail=hide

60 Minutes Failure: Lara Logan

Lara Logan of CBS News gave a bogus report on Benghazi few weeks ago and has been granted a leave of absence as a result. Apparently, CBS had been marketing the book of the so called British security operative who was at the compound the night of the attacks. Problem is, he was actually at the beach.
Poor biased reporting deserves to be outed. Too bad Fox News prides itself on propaganda.
Comment couple weeks ago on thank goodness for the first amendment. Where would we be if it were considered a crime to lie on the public airwaves.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/01/1259075/-Give-credit-to-CBS

Senate Changes Rules for the Filibuster

GOP abuse of the system results in rule change to usage of the filibuster.
Only applies to Presidential appointments.

"Reid said that of 128 filibusters of nominees in the history of the Senate, half had occurred during the Obama administration."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/harry-reid-senate-rules-republican-filibusters-nominations?commentpage=1

Open-plan Office

Story/Study on open-plan offices.

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/18/open-plan-offices-bad-harvard-business-review

Highly Amusing Comment (from the website, not mine...):
I hate working in an open plan office. Everyone at work seems to fap over it like it's the best thing since sliced bread or discovering the joys of love making. Truth is I hate dealing with other people, and there's always the danger of getting dragged into some dismal corporate activity by some beaming, enthusiastic, annoyingly symetrical 20 something who was just born to be hated. I wish bosses would just wake up and realise that nobody wants to get involved in the corporate environment and just fuck off and leave everyone alone till you decide to lay a load of us off so you can fuck the jobs off to India. Individual space for everyone, fuck the world.

Eliminate Poverty: Government to provide a Basic Income to all Americans

Article in Slate on providing a basic income to all Americans. Could address food and possibly other issues such as housing, healthcare, and utilities. Switzerland has some plans for a broader program, something like 2000 Euros for every citizen per month. Imagine would provide a huge boost to the economy and lower the crime rate significantly.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/11/17/american_basic_income_an_end_to_poverty.html

Life in Prison for Shoplifting

A felony for shoplifting items over $100 and life in prison. Sound reasonable?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/us-prisoners-sentences-life-non-violent-crimes

John Stewart on the ACA

John Stewart on the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare in some circles).
What is so wrong with logic and the truth? When people do lie it destroys their credibility (at least with me).
I'd consider Obama misinformed/selling a program we need so can't hold these misstatements against him.
The others shown however, have absolutely no morals nor ethics.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2013/11/06/jon-stewart-of-the-daily-show-calls-obama-somewhat-dishonest-accuses-opponents-of-lying/?hpid=z3

Kenya's Marathon Runners

Article on how Kenya produces the best marathon runners.
In the history of the marathon, 17 US citizens have run a marathon in under 2:10.
This year 70 runners from Kenya have broken 2:10.
Article goes on to explore if there is a genetic factor involved.
In the end, they determine it is one's endurance of pain as the differentiating factor. When they are teenagers, the Kalenjin undergo a whole series of tests before they enter adulthood. The majority entail enuring high degrees of pain. Their developed ability to tolerate pain makes them able to endure the hardships associated with long distance running. A Kenyan man and woman each won the New York City marathon this weekend.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/11/01/241895965/how-one-kenyan-tribe-produces-the-worlds-best-runners

Paris Bookstores and Amazon

The French government has enacted laws to keep markets competitive so the corporations, namely WalMart, Target, and Amazon, cannot under price small businesses and thus put them out of business.
Why don't we see more of that in the US? Would that be considered the government interfering in a free market?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/10/25/240766585/little-libraires-that-could-french-law-keeps-amazon-at-bay

How Fox News Does Business

Misleading data presented as facts to the general public courtesy of Faux News.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/28/1251247/-One-Fox-News-chart-that-will-mislead-you-about-welfare-and-jobs-in-three-different-ways?detail=hide

Let Children Have More Control Over Their Own Learning

Recent concept and practice of letting children have much more control over their learning.

http://www.wired.com/business/2013/10/free-thinkers/

Is Winning Everything?

Article on parents obsession with winning and impact on the sports their children play. Am coaching soccer now and see parents/coaches who are still focused on winning being everything. Goals of previous league was in was to play for the tie. Measure of success of the league was how many players returned the following season. Teams were formed anew every season by rating players based on previous season.
I've found winning and losing tend to balance out over time. Sometimes you lose all the time, others you win all the time. Maybe all that extra stress/effort exerted may really not make a difference after all. Maybe the real focus should be on having fun.

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/parents-ruin-sports-for-their-kids-by-obsessing-about-winning/280442/

Low US Test Scores Continued

Possible reasons for continued low US test scores are discussed.
Is inequality the reason? Is it the concept of privilege the main reason?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/09/americans-dumb-oecd-study-test-scores

Cancer Drugs Gleevec/Gilvec, Patents, Pharmaceutical Companies

There are some very promising cancer drugs on the market these days (Gleevec/Gilvec for one). They work similar to the AIDs drugs thru misdirection, inhibit the reactions necessary for the cancer to thrive. Big improvement over trying to kill every cancer cell in the body. The big pharmaceuticals are charging astronomical prices for and India has been making generic brands to sell for about 3% of the cost of Gleevec. Thus, the big pharmaceuticals are suing. Money takes precedence of course.

Perhaps a system based on one's income would suffice here. For things we must have, payment would be based on a percentage of one's income. For example, life-saving drugs, everyone pays 5% of their annual income per year.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/01/indian-court-novartis-cancer-patent

http://rt.com/news/cancer-drugs-giants-profits-583/

http://www.propublica.org/article/where-are-the-low-cost-cancer-treatments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imatinib

Republican Monsters

Nice article on the direction of the extremist Republican Party.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/26/ted-cruz-obamacare-budget-showdown

Quote from the comments section:
"Democracy - it's when the loudest people get exactly what they ask for, and everybody else suffers as a result."

The Guantanamo Trap

Some of the military personnel sacrificed for the torture fiascos during Iraq/Afghanistan Wars. Their lives were ruined while the higher ups who set the policy go on book tours.

http://rt.com/shows/documentary/guantanomo-trap-people-change-309/

Acetaminophen

This weekend, This American Life had a good story on acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Appears 150 people die each year from overdoing on Tylenol and the company views this as the cost of doing business. They make enough money off the product, which the FDA has done nothing about, to warrant 150 deaths/lawsuits per year.
Often hear people who have a headache state they need a Tylenol. Think twice!

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/505/use-only-as-directed

Original story on ProPublica:

http://www.propublica.org/article/tylenol-mcneil-fda-kids-dose-of-confusion

More on Gun Rights

Study stating the increased availability of guns leads to increased gun violence. Surprising?
Lot of discussion on mental health. Government funded mental health treatment has supposedly been cut dramatically since Reagan took office. Still, I tend to believe anyone can become mentally ill at any time so blaming the mentally ill and the system is not going to solve the problem. Making such dangerous weapons as available as they are to the masses is the problem. Tend to view about half the population as in need of help and a large percentage of those possess guns. Correlation?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/18/what-not-to-say-after-mass-shooting

Guns for the Blind

I feel safer already. :)
The gun lobby seems able to get anything they want these days.
Why they want them is another question.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/iowa-law-gun-permit-blind-people

Foreclosures and Corporate Criminals

Vietnam Veteran home foreclosed on and made homeless due to $134 unpaid tax bill.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/09/09/how-a-134-tax-bill-got-an-elderly-vietnam-vet-evicted/?hpid=z11

Why buy anything in this country when some corporation can just take it from you whenever they like.

Poor Hiring Practices

Article on how hiring practices are broken today. Paul Solmon does excellent stories for the PBS NewsHour.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/08/ask-the-headhunter-why-americas-employment-system-is-so-broken.html

Corporations and their Abandonment of Community

Article on how US corporations have given up on communities for the sake of stock prices. IBM used to be a cornerstone of many communities in the US. Since about the time Reagan came into office the focus has changed towards worship of the almighty dollar.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/maximizing-shareholder-value-the-goal-that-changed-corporate-america/2013/08/26/26e9ca8e-ed74-11e2-9008-61e94a7ea20d_story.html?hpid=z3

and some accompanying Tom Toles humor:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tom-toles/post/friday-rant-the-other-fast-train-edition/2013/08/15/ec8229b2-05d9-11e3-88d6-d5795fab4637_blog.html

Overworked and Underpaid

Story of an intern working for Merrill Lynch dying after working 72 hours straight.
Reminds me of while working for IBM, we worked mandatory 60-80 hour weeks for almost 2 years as an organization. Our bonus was being served dinner on-site (tins of food). Eventually someone died of a heart attack and management pulled back on the mandatory overtime. The project was cancelled shortly thereafter.
Has been talk of a 4-day work week since I was young. Has never happened and never will as long as the dollar is our god.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/0822/Bank-of-America-intern-a-culture-of-overwork-spans-many-countries

Sugar Study

Tom Toles discusses sugar. Enjoyed the part where he discusses territory.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tom-toles/post/just-a-spoonful-of-fructose-helps-the-medicine-come-back-up/2013/08/14/a9c6981c-050a-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_blog.html

Guantanamo and a history of Wrongs done

John Grisham speaking out on Guantanamo et al.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/12/john-grisham-guantanamo-bay-us-wrong

Elimination of Stop and Go Traffic

Interesting website on how one person can create a positive traffic flow.
I try to drive in such a way that I rarely ever have to hit my brakes.
Can never prevent others from cutting you off but if you move at the flow of traffic things do move more fluidly.

http://trafficwaves.org/

Tokyo

Amazing photography of Tokyo.

http://360gigapixels.com/tokyo-tower-panorama-photo/

Dozier School for Boys

Story which has been whispered about for many years. Still so much unresolved.
Worse than Stand Your Ground?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/07/florida-exhume-remains-dozier-school

Related behavior:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States

Boeing and It's Failed Dreamliner 787

Boeing's demise as represented in the failed next generation Dreamliner 787.
They contracted out the majority of the program to save money but instead encountered a huge cost overrun and shoddy product.
I worked on some validation for one of Boeing's sub-subcontractors for a while. They got hostile when we reported issues. Bad sign for the program.

http://harpers.org/blog/2013/07/boeings-plastic-planes/

Propaganda, Warfare, and the Media

Excellent video on propaganda and misdirection used to promote warfare to the public. How the public is manipulated and misled by governments and various media outlets and organizations.

http://johnpilger.com/videos/the-war-you-dont-see

Abortion Law Sham

North Carolina trying to pass measures similar to the state of Texas to restrict the women's access to reproductive services. Imagine most of the supporters are men. Hopefully, another woman will filibuster this.
Banning Sharia Law also. Do these representatives really believe God is on their side?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/north-carolinas-abortion-law-sham/2013/07/07/21a19b1c-e5a2-11e2-aef3-339619eab080_story.html?hpid=z3

Edward Snowden, NSA, Spin

Glenn Greenwald of the Guardian (very good newspaper) with comments on how the US Government and media minions will attempt to smear his name for informing the public on the illicit behavior by the NSA.
Some members of the press even speculate on whether Greenwald should be arrested for informing the public of probable wrongdoing by our government. Is all part of the spin game to distract the public from the main topic and to focus on the dirt on those involved.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/26/nsa-revelations-response-to-smears

The state of Texas is also trying to ban all abortions and close all clinics for the poor. A Texas State senator from Fort Worth filibustered the bill for 11 hours, being required to stand, not allowed to lean on anything, nor use the restroom for the duration of the filibuster.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/texas-state-senator-wendy-davis-filibusters-her-way-to-democratic-stardom/2013/06/26/aace267c-de85-11e2-b2d4-ea6d8f477a01_story.html?tid=pm_pop

Arctic Sea Ice Death Spiral

Too dark a title? We hope so...

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/05/28/arctic_sea_ice_global_warming_is_melting_more_ice_every_year.html

Tolerance of other Races Worldwide

Map of the world showing which countries are the least/most tolerant of other races.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/15/a-fascinating-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-racially-tolerant-countries/

Climate Change?

Why don't people believe in climate change?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/05/18/scientists-agree-on-climate-change-so-why-doesnt-everyone-else/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/tom-toles/post/my-what-sunken-eyes-you-have/2013/05/20/7b540cf2-c16d-11e2-bfdb-3886a561c1ff_blog.html

Living Wage?

McDonald's workers in New York City stage a one day strike asking for a living wage.
Contrast today's minimum wage with slavery. With slavery, at least people would have food and a place to live. Today, workers have to pay for these things out of their own pocket. What a deal for corporations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/10/america-fast-food-industry-quick-buck

Racism at CPAC

CPAC outrageousness. They never cease to amaze.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/03/15/1729331/cpac-slavery-minority-outreach/

Health Care Prices in the US

Health care prices in the US are the highest in the world. Greed reigns supreme.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/15/why-an-mri-costs-1080-in-america-and-280-in-france/?tid=pm_pop

Graphing the Gun Debate

Excellent resource on gun issue(s).

http://www.propublica.org/article/graphing-the-great-gun-debate

No Child Left Behind

More on the legacy of George Bush. Was it effective?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/09/a-warning-to-college-profs-from-a-high-school-teacher/?tid=pm_pop

Microsoft Surface Pro

Microsoft comes out with a very competitive tablet/notebook. Choose your review.

http://bgr.com/2013/02/05/microsoft-surface-pro-review-316701/?utm_source=featuredposts-widget-main&utm_medium=home

http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/05/microsoft-surface-pro-review/

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6695/microsoft-surface-pro-review

http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/5/3955130/microsoft-surface-pro-review

Gun Violence in the US

An informative article on gun violence in the United States (contrasts with other countries included).

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/gun-violence-in-america-the-13-key-questions-with-13-concise-answers/272727/

Greenland Ice Sheet

Article on the Greenland ice sheet and how it appears to be on it's way to a complete meltdown.
Saw the movie "Chasing Ice" a couple weeks ago and visually displayed the black holes of bacteria described in the article. They were everywhere.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2013/01/look-out-coastal-cities-greenland-melting-fast/4481/

School Security Guards

The National Rifle Association's response to the mowing down of 26 1st graders in Connecticut: Put armed security guards in every school!!! Talk about putting out a fire by throwing gasoline on it.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/18/1180123/-School-s-new-armed-security-guard-forgets-gun-in-school-bathroom?detail=hide

History of the Video Arcade

Spent a good part of my time in the late 70s and early 80s in video arcades.
Started with Space Invaders, then moved on to Defender, Missile Command, Robotron, Xybots.
Guess my affinity was with Williams based games.
Used to play many others: Asteroids, Galaga, Tempest, 1942, Smash TV just to pass the time.
Never got into the shooters, Mario themed games, racing games, nor pinball, albeit they were very popular.
All there seems to be today are shooters and racing games, nothing original anymore.

Intriguing quote from the article. Article implies that the decline of video arcades was a result of parents fears as opposed to at home video games:

"It’s shocking, of course, to realize that the "golden age" of video game arcades lasted just a few, short years, but if we tie it onto the turbulent history of pinball, we’re looking at a much longer, institutional part of our culture which, in the 1980s, began to pass away. Like roller skating rinks and other public spaces "for young people only," our culture seems to have decided that kids are better off when they’re not alone with other kids, and worried parents have been victorious in their mission to rid us of these troublesome spaces for loitering, described by New York City in 1942 as a "menace to the health, safety, and general welfare of the people.""

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/16/3740422/the-life-and-death-of-the-american-arcade-for-amusement-only

http://www.arcadefly.com/
http://www.arcadelocations.net/

Best Countries to be Born In

Not sure this takes into account "The Happiness Index".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/01/07/a-surprising-map-of-the-best-and-worst-countries-to-be-born-into-today/?tid=pm_pop