Rook's Rant

Okay, no peace and harmony as of yet. But congratulations to the Saints for winning their first ever appearance in the Super Bowl.

Hey, Vikes, I hope you were taking notes.

I understand there is an incredibly important social event happening today.

Yawn.

Hopefully it will alter our society in a positive, life affirming manner so that we can all live in peace and harmony.

Every so often some information comes to me via the internet that restores my faith in human kind. Today, it is by way of LGM: Mortality Rates Decline During Wars.

First, the mortality rates in question are national mortality rates. The authors of the report look at national death rates and see whether they rise, fall, or fail to change on average when the country is at war. They find a general decline. But this doesn't mean people aren't dying where war is happening. They are. The question is why this isn't resulting in a spike in mortality at the national level. Here's why:

a) Peacetime mortality rates are declining steadily around the globe. This is largely due to the revolution in child survival caused by immunization campaigns. So death rates are already falling, and the question is whether enough people get killed in today's conflicts to reverse that decline. They don't, because...

b) Wars are generally much smaller and more localized than previously, so a conflict breaking out in one province of a country, for example, doesn't necessarily reverse the already steady decline in peacetime mortality rates. At most, it may slow it a bit. (There are exceptions in the data - Rwanda in 1994, for instance.)

c) Today, when wars break out, an influx of humanitarian assistance arrives on the scene to increase life-saving interventions such as vaccinations against the kinds of diseases - malaria, diarrhea, and respiratory infections - that account for the massive death tolls in conflict zones, as well as significant numbers of preventable deaths in peacetime. These additional interventions offset the numbers being killed due to violence in buttressing the overall national survival rate, particularly for children under five. In some cases, they actually cause more people within the country to survive than might have been the case in the absence of the war.

So, despite the ongoing examples set by the Conservative/Republican/Tea Party faction of the human race, it seems we really are evolving.

Roger Ebert posted a link to this youtube by way of Twitter.



Simply amazing.

Master Wheaton has a post with a Charo youtube that is supposedly life changing. Unfortunately, that is simply not the case. What follows is life changing:



I will give Master Wheaton a break, considering his youth.

Me as I walk by the TV playing an updated version of a cartoon I grew up watching:

"George, George, George of the jungle....."

From the Fuskers™ bedroom:

"Watch out for that tree!"

Ah yes. The classics never go out of style.

While the Republican/Conservative movement has relied mostly on the megaphone style of political persuasion, I see the Whisper Campaign as a more effective style of political persuasion for the Democrats/Progressives. Let the Republicans blast away with the few megaphone mouths (Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, et. el.). The Democrats can simply walk softly and whisper quietly to individuals among the masses. You know, do the grassroots thing.

Granted, the Teabagger's movement was a type of grassroots in that the corporate/conservative elites were able to tap the anger of the intellectually ignorant; feeding them misinformation and out right lies. But it only created a squeaking wheel. It did not constitute any huge majority, or even a respectable minority. Instead, it brought together a whole bunch of crazy, that left a poor impression on the general population.

From what I can see, the Republican/Conservative grassroots movements have been an abysmal failure, easily falling short of fund raising as accomplished by comparable progressive movements. And in what is no doubt the greatest irony of all; the Republican/Conservative grassroots rely on funding from individuals comparable to their rich, liberal, villain De jour, George Soros, the man supposedly funding the entire progressive infrastructure.

I just can't help but see the Republican/conservative elites losing power. Not when their efforts include the manipulation of ignorant, intellectually lazy people. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of the human race is not ignorant. If it was, we would still be Neanderthals living a stone age existence.

Sigh. Yes, I understand Rush, Hannity, and Beck might exemplify the modern Neanderthals, but they really are still a minority.

Did not win the lottery. Still can not retire to the life of leisure I have always wanted to become accustomed.

The following is a copy and paste of a Facebook discussion I had with an old friend, with names removed. I would have said to protect the innocent, but you all know that is a lie:

Me

Hi Roger!

10:19am Name Redacted.

Hey how ya doin

10:19am Me

Oh, I'm doin, I'm doin

Getting ready to go to Unity. I have to do consults on the medical floors.

10:20am Name Redacted.

Packers Ya your coment typical viking fan

Work later today myself

10:20am Me

Actually, I gave up on the Vikings after their 4th Super Bowl loss. Never looked back.

I'm just a smart ass

10:21am Name Redacted.

Ya me too

10:21am Me

What? You gave up on the Vikings?

10:21am Name Redacted.

Coming to the meetiong this week ?

No just a smart ass Paker fan all the way

10:22am Me

It's tough, I have to be at work in Red Wing at 1:00 PM, and it is such a long drive

lOL

You know using the word smart and Packer Fan in the same sentence qualifies as an oxymoron

Right up there with Military Intelligence

10:23am Name Redacted.

Ya Ya

10:23am Me

HEhehehehehe

10:24am Name Redacted.

Was born a packer fan didn't have a choice

10:24am Me

Well, I've got to get going, or there will be a doctor or two upset that I am holding up their treatment of patients.

Packer fans are born?

10:24am Name Redacted.

Take Care

10:24am Me

You tool

10:24am Name Redacted.

Hatched ?

10:24am Me

I thought more along the lines of spawned from the cranberry marches of Northwester WI.

10:25am Name Redacted.

That could be Have a great day

10:25am Me

You too.

As of today, a quarter of a century without drugs or alcohol. I am assigned my own firetruck because I am so dry I am a fire hazard.

This has Big Brother written all over it:

(fresnobee.com) SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Witnesses could be charged with a misdemeanor for failing to report violent attacks in California under legislation approved by the state Assembly.

[snip]

Current law requires witnesses to report violent crimes when the victim is younger than 14. Nava's bill expands the requirement to include victims of all ages. Violators would face up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,500.

This takes California one step closer to a police state. And policing morality certainly has never been successful.

Here he is:

Well done on weathering the storm.

(NYT) DETROIT -- The Ford Motor Company earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and said Thursday that it now expected to be profitable in 2010 as well.

The profit for 2009, equal to 86 cents a share, was a swing of $17.5 billion from 2008, when the company lost $14.8 billion. It is Ford's first full-year profit since 2005.

The company ended 2009 with $25.5 billion in cash reserves, nearly twice the $13.4 billion it had at the start of the year.

It also expects positive cash flow and an operating profit in 2010, which is a year sooner than executives had previously said the company would become consistently profitable.

"It really is pivotal and historic," Ford's chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, said on a conference call with analysts and reporters, "that during the worst economic recession in 30 or 40 years, because of the strength of the plan we put in place a few years ago, we were not only able to survive but also to create a foundation that is delivering now profitable growth during that year."

And I am the dumbest politician in the whole wide world.



If he is going to talk like Forest Gump, he could at least make an effort to improve his impersonation. Because, really, he makes Forest look like an intellectual.

And yes, I am aware Forest Gump is a fictional character. I happen to believe it is appropriate to compare the two, because for all intensive purposes, Rudy Giuliani is a fictional leader.

Let me just go on record that for Chris Matthews to say he forgot the President is black actually speaks well for him. I mean, for crying out loud, Matthews is as close to albino as a man can get without actually being albino. As an icon of white, male privilege, you can not get any closer than Matthews. So, to hear him say he forgot President Obama was black somehow speaks volumes about the overall social shift occurring in our country. And, as inarticulate as he was at that moment, he appeared to not mean it in a negative, or derogatory manner.

Bark Bark Woof Woof

I can make a couple of predictions, though: before the speech the pundits will agree that this is The Most Important Speech President Obama Will Ever Deliver and that his presidency, his legacy, and his whole reason for being Hangs In the Balance. After it's over, the Republicans will shake their head sadly and wonder why the president isn't being bipartisan enough, which, according to House Minority Leader John Boehner, means that he's not caving in to the demands of the Republicans. And I am sure that someone will point out that only Time Will Tell how well the speech went... at least until Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Glenn Beck, Charles Krauthammer and the rest of the Villagers can get back to tweeting.

Posted without comment. Well, other then the fact that I stole the entire second graph from MB's post. Because, you see, I am a lazy blogger. Always have been. Damn proud to say so, too.

So there.

Sew buttons on your underwear.

Sigh.

Alright. Alright. I'll stop now.

StarTribune.com

How much is a noble idea worth? A new state law prohibits cities, counties, the state and other "public employers" from buying uniforms or safety equipment made outside the United States. The idea, said the man behind the measure, Rep. Tom Rukavina, is to send a message about protecting American jobs and revenue. An admirable goal, say city officials and the League of Minnesota Cities, but the problem is that cash-strapped local governments have never been in a worse position to devote scarce resources to a philosophical ideal, even if they agree with it.

A law that should have been passed back when NAFTA was first implemented.

Because it made me laugh.



Great ending, too.

Hat Tip P⁶

I have never been a fan of public financing of stadiums. The money should be spent on schools and other worthy social programs. So, I have to say I like what Joe Repya said:

As your next governor, I would agree to public financing of a new Viking stadium only if Ziggy Wilf and the NFL agree to sell a 51% equity of the Vikings to the State of Minnesota with a never to relocate iron clad clause.

Now, do not mistake this post as an endorsement of Joe Repya for Governor. I just like his idea about the Vikes and a new stadium.

Hot Dish Politics

Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann stopped by the state Capitol on Monday to pitch some proposed ground rules for the national debate over health care reform.

 

At a news conference, Bachmann unveiled the "Declaration of Health Care Independence," which will be formally released Wednesday.

 

"We are rejecting politics as usual in Washington D.C. in dealing with this health care issue," said Bachmann, a Republican.

Proposing ground rules at this point in health care reform is like the refs showing up for the game after the clock has run out.

Sometimes there's crazy, which makes sense in a headline grabbing sort of way. Then there is the above move by Bachmann, which is just plain stupid. Dumb ass stupid.

Along the lines of what I said, but cruder and with more humor:
,
Hat tip Dusty

Okay, you managed along most of your bills through congress. However, what you did not do is lead. The President Of The United States needs to lead, not manage. You have safely guided your various agenda bills through the house and senate. At no time did you show courage by taking a risk.

Now, as your closest advisers tell you to move towards the center; as they tell you to become even more dedicated to bi-partisanship; as they whisper to you to be cautious: tell them all to go to helI.

It is time for you to do a 180. They did not like health care reform as negotiated? Then throw the whole damn thing out and demand pure universal health care. Not universal health insurance, or single payer, but national health care.

Stop playing their God damned game, sir. Go out, take charge, set the tone. You have been led. Hell, you allowed yourself to be led. Now, cowboy up. Throw caution to the wind. Push for what you deem to be impossible, take the ridicule and derision and lead this country, Damn It.

I suspect this story might just explain why there has been pressure from congressional critters to delay closing Guantánamo. Some prominent politicians probably have a connection or two with the leadership at the time of his whole fiasco

When President Barack Obama took office last year, he promised to "restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great." Toward that end, the president issued an executive order declaring that the extra-constitutional prison camp at Guantánamo "shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." Obama has failed to fulfill his promise. Some prisoners are being charged with crimes, others released, but the date for closing the camp seems to recede steadily into the future. Furthermore, new evidence now emerging may entangle Obama's young administration with crimes that occurred during the Bush presidency, evidence that suggests the current administration failed to investigate seriously--and may even have continued--a cover-up of the possible homicides of three prisoners at Guantánamo in 2006.

I suspect this is going to bring down several military and political careers when all is said and done.

Hat Tip Hullabaloo.

(KSTP TV) Former Senator Norm Coleman told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Chief Political Reporter Tom Hauser late Sunday he will not be running for governor in 2010.

He will make the official announcement on his Facebook page. He released the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS ahead of the announcement.

"I love Minnesota and I love public service, but this is not the right time for me and my family to conduct a campaign for Governor.

Well, I guess we will not have Norm to kick around anymore. Of course, there is still a federal pen with an open cell waiting for him.

Be very afraid.

God, I am so glad this man is no longer in charge. For eight years all George W. Bush did was cry "Be Afraid." Give him a national microphone, and he resorts right back to crying "Be Afraid."