n2doc
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Another Anecdotal Story
I have a good friend whom I have known for over 30 years. He was a teacher at the school I went to, although I didn't have a class from him. We got to know each other through a club he was mentoring. Anyway, he is one of the most sensitive, philosophical, and uncompromising people I have ever met. We have had many a great conversation about music, art, religion, politics, you name it. He has refused to vote all these years because politicians inevitably disappoint him with their compromises and selling out to big money.
Last weekend I spoke with him. He lives in California. He registered to vote solely to vote for Bernie. He has loved Sanders since the 70's, and back in the late 70's considered moving with his family to Vermont. He ended up not doing so, but Bernie's run has re-kindled my friend's participation in Politics. That's how much Bernie moves people.
538 Sacrifices Integrity to Go After Sanders on Independents
by Jim Naureckas
I used to be an admirer of Nate Silver and his empirical approach to covering elections. Not that the horserace ought to be the center of campaign journalism, but since media are going to focus on predicting who’s going to win, it seemed like Silver was approaching it as public opinion research rather than tea-leaf reading. When he left his perch at the New York Times to launch 538 as a freestanding enterprise, I wished him well in his pursuit of journalism that was based on testable information rather than on the opinions of powerful people.
My first hint that all was not right in Silverland was when he confidently declared, despite Donald Trump’s high poll ratings in 2015, that he would not be the Republican nominee (538, 8/11/15): “Our emphatic prediction is simply that Trump will not win the nomination.” Polling more than a year before the election famously doesn’t mean much, but this is a reason to not make predictions, not to predict that the opposite of the polls will happen. But not making predictions is hard to do if you’re in the prediction business, and so in the absence of useful data Silver and his crew substituted their own punditry–with embarrassing results.
As this campaign has gone along, it seems to me that the 538 crew have at times gone beyond the realm of punditry into the realm of hackery—that is, not just treating their own opinions as though they were objective data, but spinning the data so that it conforms to their opinions.
more
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/05/29/538-sacrifices-integrity-go-after-sanders-independents
Man taken off of transplant list due to lack of insurance
PORTLAND, Maine —A man in need of a kidney was denied a transplant due to his age.
Thiwat Thiwat discovered that his kidneys were failing during his senior year at Deering High School four years ago.
Thiwat was a member of the school’s 2013 state championship team, but a year later, he found out that his immune system attacked his kidneys.
His kidneys are now only functioning at 1 percent.
He’s enrolled in college full-time and also has a part-time job. He was relying on Mainecare, but was recently cut off when he turned 21.
Thiwat is no longer qualifies for the kidney donation list because he doesn’t have health insurance.
more
http://www.wmtw.com/news/man-in-need-of-kidney-denied-transplant/39764878
Pakistani men can beat wives 'lightly,' Islamic council says
The leader of a Pakistani Islamic council has proposed a bill that allows husbands to "lightly beat" their wives as a form of discipline.
In the 75-page proposal, Mohammad Khan Sheerani suggests a light beating is acceptable should the need arise to punish a woman. The proposal bans forceful beating, saying only a small stick is necessary to instill fear.
The Council of Islamic Ideology is a powerful constitutional body that advises the Pakistani legislature whether laws are in line with the teachings of Islam.
Its proposed bill is seen as a response to the rejected Punjab Women Protection bill for abused women. The council shunned it as "un-Islamic" and wrote its own bill, which includes the recommendation for the light beating.
more
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/28/asia/pakistan-women-light-beating/
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