Friday, December 9, 2011

Things to Know - 9 December





1.  There is something very morally disgusting about the subject in this article (disposing of US Troop remains in a landfill).  Ultimately it is not that the ashes are mingled with discarded yard debris and general waste products, but the shame by which unclaimed body parts are just part of the business of making war.  Personally, I am a cremation, no afterlife kind of guy, and probably should not care much,  But, I do.  I care about the cavalier attitude that has inured the military bureaucracy in how it respects human life being thrown into an other crumby and dumb war:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/air-force-dumped-ashes-of-more-troops-in-va-landfill-than-acknowledged/2011/12/07/gIQAT8ybdO_print.html

2.  Remember those ads on TV by ANGA, where they gloss over or do not mention the harm done by fracking to our drinking water tables?  Well. let's see them wiggle out of this?
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FRACKING_GROUNDWATER_POLLUTION?SITE=VAWAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

3. There is someone else, by the name of Thom Hartmann,  who has some text and video on things you should know:

http://www.truth-out.org/print/10158

4.  The other people who stand on the stage with Porkie chime in with their assessment of his character:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-supporters-ex-colleagues-attack-gingrichs-leadership-vanity/2011/12/08/gIQAfS4YgO_story.html

5.  It really is difficult to take Gingrich as a serious candidate.  He's just performing, like a former aging pop star, now relegated to casino lounges and county fairs, and instead of selling CDs at the back of the venue, he's selling books instead.  He's an insult to serious politicking:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gingrichs-book-selling-efforts-test-law/2011/12/06/gIQAtPqYfO_print.html

6.  Not to be overlooked, David Brooks has something to say about Leroy Newton Gingrich.  A bit of praise, but ends in pointing out his character flaws:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/opinion/brooks-the-gingrich-tragedy.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

7.  Paul Krugman on Romney, his record at Bain, the wealthy, and the obligation of the 1%:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/opinion/krugman-all-the-gops-gekkos.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  Boyle Heights, in Los Angeles, is a rich cultural and historical part of the city.  Hector Tobar paints a picture in words:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar-20111209,0,1817494.column

9  This is for all those naysayers who claim that climate change ("global warming") is a hoax, or is not a man-made problem:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-climate-20111209,0,3206861,print.story



--
Juan Matute


"What I say is that, if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent sort of fellow."
       -- A.A. Milne
"It takes only one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can't remember if it's the thirteenth or the fourteenth."
       -- George Burns
"The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling."
       -- Paula Poundstone
"When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other."
       -- Eric Hoffer
"We are an impossibility in an impossible universe."
       -- Ray Bradbury


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