March 22, 2013

Kitty's "Meh" to peppy party girl

March 22, 2013

Bowing to Second Amendment Myths

from Consortium News:


Bowing to Second Amendment Myths
March 21, 2013

Even as Democratic leaders propose gun-safety laws – after the slaughter of 20 first-graders in Newtown – they try to sound “reasonable” by genuflecting to the myth of Second Amendment “rights.” But this acceptance of right-wing propaganda is dooming these life-saving initiatives, says Beverly Bandler.

By Beverly Bandler


I sent a message to Vice President Joe Biden after reading an article by Josh Lederman in the Huffington Post, which quoted the Vice President as saying that: “the notion of registering guns crosses a cultural line, noting that unlike cars, which must be registered, guns are explicitly protected by the Constitution.”

But guns are not “explicitly protected by the Constitution.”

I am an ardent Democrat, but frankly, being an active member of the Democratic Party is increasingly frustrating in the extreme. We have so many intelligent, decent and hardworking progressives (real Democrats) in the party, but too frequently the impression left by prominent leaders is that either they are insufficiently educated about the Constitution and U.S. history (and Democratic principles). Or perhaps they have momentary lapses of memory and/or disconnects between brain and lip so typical of politicians with superficial “convictions.” Or maybe they are spinelessly intimidated by the National Rifle Association.

As Mark Twain once said: “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” That the Second Amendment lie perpetrated by the NRA and others has been costly is an understatement. It is time to correct it. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/21/bowing-to-second-amendment-myths/

March 22, 2013

Phil Rockstroh: The Cusp of Ecological Disaster

from Consortium News:


The Cusp of Ecological Disaster
March 22, 2013

In a world where all emotion is translated into a sales pitch and each thought becomes a talking point, the existential question is how to live a life that embraces real emotion and articulates original thinking, a dilemma that poet Phil Rockstroh addresses in this commentary on late-stage capitalism.

By Phil Rockstroh


As a general rule, musicians, artists, and writers, as well as those possessed of an ardor for self-awareness and a commitment to political activism have been advised to avoid a habitual retreat to comfort zones … to take note of the criteria that causes one’s pulse to quicken, brings flop sweat to the brow, causes sphincters to seize up, and delivers mortification to the mind.

In order to quicken imagination and avoid banality, it is imperative to explore the fears that cause one to awaken in the darkest of night to stare bug-eyed at the ceiling until dawn; to embrace discomfort; to shun crackpot complacency; to wander through the teeming polis of the psyche, and, in so doing, to not only stray and mingle among the outcasts, demimonde and mad, but proceed to the locked-down wards of the region’s lunatic asylum, and make an exhausting inquest into the nature of the hopeless cases that have been hidden from public view.

As of late, my darkest thoughts and angst-engendered imaginings have involved the following: The ecological debasement of the earth, the ongoing degradation of daily life within U.S. society, and the attenuated destiny of the individual under the yoke of late-stage, global capitalism.

My ruminations have been, in large measure, engendered and inflamed by the following: On Tuesday, Feb. 26, of this year, a son was born to my wife, Angela and myself. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/22/the-cusp-of-ecological-disaster/

March 22, 2013

San Francisco set to push transit benefits for commuters

(SF Examiner) After fighting to stave off reductions to federal tax breaks for public transit commuters, San Francisco is on the verge of strengthening enforcement of a 4-year-old law that requires larger businesses to offer employees commuter benefits.

The Environment Commission will vote Tuesday on new enforcement regulations, which would create a process for how complaints and investigations would be handled to ensure compliance with the 2009 law.

Last year, Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials lobbied Congress to restore funding for the pretax commuter benefit. The program allows commuters to use pretax dollars to pay for riding public transit. Last year, Congress failed to extend a parity provision in the program and the benefit decreased from an allowable deduction of $230 per month to $125. At the same time, the benefit for parking increased to $240, adjusted for inflation.

But on Jan. 1, the pretax commuter benefit increased to $245 as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2013/03/san-francisco-set-push-transit-benefits-commuters#ixzz2OHWB16RS

March 22, 2013

Bill Moyers Preview: What Has Capitalism Done for Us Lately?

http://vimeo.com/62289906


Preview: What Has Capitalism Done for Us Lately?
March 20, 2013

This week, Sheila Bair, the longtime Republican who served as chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the fiscal meltdown five years ago, joins Bill to talk about American banks’ continuing risky and manipulative practices, their seeming immunity from prosecution, and growing anger from Congress and the public.

Also on the show, Richard Wolff, whose smart, blunt talk about the crisis of capitalism on his first Moyers & Company appearance was so compelling and provocative, we asked him to return. This time, Wolff — who taught economics for 35 years at the University of Massachusetts — dives further into income inequality, analyzing the widening gap between a booming stock market and a population that increasingly lives in poverty. He also takes questions sent in from around the world by our viewers.

Watch a short preview above.


http://billmoyers.com/episode/preview-what-has-capitalism-done-for-us-lately/

March 22, 2013

San Francisco set to push transit benefits for commuters

(SF Examiner) After fighting to stave off reductions to federal tax breaks for public transit commuters, San Francisco is on the verge of strengthening enforcement of a 4-year-old law that requires larger businesses to offer employees commuter benefits.

The Environment Commission will vote Tuesday on new enforcement regulations, which would create a process for how complaints and investigations would be handled to ensure compliance with the 2009 law.

Last year, Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials lobbied Congress to restore funding for the pretax commuter benefit. The program allows commuters to use pretax dollars to pay for riding public transit. Last year, Congress failed to extend a parity provision in the program and the benefit decreased from an allowable deduction of $230 per month to $125. At the same time, the benefit for parking increased to $240, adjusted for inflation.

But on Jan. 1, the pretax commuter benefit increased to $245 as part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/transportation/2013/03/san-francisco-set-push-transit-benefits-commuters#ixzz2OHWB16RS

March 22, 2013

Toddler meals swimming in salt

(CNN) Most packaged meals and snacks marketed to toddlers have more than the recommended amount of sodium per serving, meaning children as young as one are most likely eating far too much salt early in life, according to one of several studies on sodium presented this week.

The studies were presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2013 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.

The findings were alarming to researchers since there is evidence a child's sodium intake is related to the likelihood that he or she will develop hypertension as an adult. Hypertension is a major risk factor of cardiovascular disease and the number-one killer of men and women in the United States.

"The good news is that commercial foods for babies, when they start complimentary feeding from 4 to 12 months ... are relatively low in sodium," explains Joyce Maalouf, the study's lead author and a fellow at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/21/meals-and-snacks-for-toddlers-heavy-in-sodium/

March 22, 2013

I'd like to thank Mary Jane for my election victory.........

Associating with popular individuals -- whether they're celebrities, local leaders or other politicians -- is a key strategy in any political campaign. But in Rep. Jared Polis' (D-Colo.) 2012 reelection effort, that popular entity wasn't a person but a plant: marijuana.

"My campaign headquarters last summer, we shared (a building) with a dispensary,” Polis said while visiting a pot dispensary this week, National Journal reports. "You could see the sign, it was like: 'Marijuana, Jared Polis.' Marijuana outperformed me by 10 points, so it was a great association for me."

Polis spoke about his campaign from the soon-to-be-opened Metropolitan Wellness Center in Washington, D.C. With him were Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Hill staffers, marijuana advocates and center employees. According to National Journal, within months, "certain D.C. residents will be able to come (to the center) to legally choose from more than a dozen strains of medical marijuana, from Master Kush to Blue Dream."

Last year, voters in Colorado and Washington state legalized marijuana use. It remains illegal under federal law, however. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/jared-polis-marijuana-policy_n_2931876.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037

March 22, 2013

Is Toronto’s condo boom causing too much density?

from the Toronto Star:



Is Toronto’s condo boom causing too much density?
Urban density is recognized by planners as the best way to combat sprawl. But is Toronto’s downtown condo boom too much density?

By: Antonia Zerbisias Feature Writer, Published on Fri Mar 22 2013


[font size="1"]GALIT RODAN / For the TORONTO STAR
Toronto's condo boom is supposed to stop urban sprawl, but a growing population is also taxing roads and transit.[/font]


Predrag Kalinic only partly jokes when he says that every time he gets stuck on the Gardiner Expressway, he sees condo dwellers “just three metres away, eating, drinking and making love” in their suites.

“I don’t know what those people were thinking buying those condos,” the independent cabbie says, adding that tourists laugh when they peer into their glass cubbies.

As downtown city blocks become more densely packed, so too have Toronto streets. Which is why the 25-year veteran road warrior, like many taxi drivers in the GTA, doesn’t like otherwise lucrative airport fares to or from Concord CityPlace, that warren of 15-and-counting condo towers bounded by Lakeshore-Spadina-Front-Bathurst.

Flat rate is $53, whether it takes 45 minutes or, more likely, 90 minutes, just because it takes so long to get in and out of the downtown during peak times. ........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/03/22/is_torontos_condo_boom_causing_too_much_density.html

March 22, 2013

Shot, Then Shut Out: Chicago’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods have no access to trauma care

from In These Times:


Shot, Then Shut Out
Chicago’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods have no access to trauma care.

BY Rebecca Burns


The nation finally took notice of Chicago’s epidemic of gun violence after 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was fatally shot January 29. Pendleton was the city’s 42nd victim that month, but her appearance at President Obama’s inauguration just weeks before pushed her death to the center of a national conversation on gun control. Since 2008, more young people have been killed in Chicago than in any other American city—a statistic that has sent city officials in search of solutions to plug loopholes in gun policy and crack down on gang violence.

But Veronica Morris-Moore, 20, a community organizer from Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, believes politicians are looking for solutions in the wrong places. “If they’re not going to talk about the economic violence that causes gun violence, then I’m not interested in the conversation,” she says.

Left out of the gun-control debate, Morris-Moore says, are the poverty and lack of services that plague neighborhoods with high rates of gun violence—including what she calls a “trauma care desert” for gunshot victims on Chicago’s South Side.

Dedicated trauma care units, which are staffed to provide around-the-clock specialty care for victims of shootings, car crashes and other calamities, give victims better odds of survival. But in Chicago and other urban areas across the nation, they’re increasingly in short supply. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://inthesetimes.com/article/14709/shot_then_shut_out/