February 8, 2011 · 8:34 pm

Opinion: Will Clamshell Packaging Ever Change?

I hate this stuff…

You know it’s bad when they make special “clamshell openers” you can buy for $10 at Bed Bath and Beyond.

From David Fagan at AOL….

Think about it: Have you ever met a single person who didn’t launch into a five-minute tirade when asked to comment on the subject of clamshell packaging? You know, the annoying, seemingly indestructible material that protects, say, a flash drive better than the Army protects Fort Knox and is responsible for thousands of emergency room visits every year?

Maybe you haven’t heard of “wrap rage,” but you’ve probably felt it when trying to open seemingly impenetrable clamshell packaging of toys and electronics.

Yet, even though almost everyone on the planet hates them with a passion usually reserved for ex-spouses, and the folks at Amazon.com get so many complaints about them they actually have a guy who specializes in handling only clamshell complainers, it certainly seems most companies just don’t care.

And, even if they did, the manufacturers of the packaging apparently share the same ambivalence, as only a handful of companies have changed the way they ship and package their products since clamshells were introduced more than a decade ago.

Yet the hospital visits keep climbing.

After nearly severing my carotid artery trying to open a new Bluetooth ear piece, I decided to try and find out why this scourge of the consumer electronics world just won’t go away. After all, no matter how many benefits this type of packaging might provide to a company, they can’t outweigh the cries of the huddled, bleeding masses … can they?

Here are the top three reasons we’ll never get rid of clamshell packaging:

More:   Opinion: Will Clamshell Packaging Ever Change?.

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February 8, 2011 · 8:03 pm

Glenn Beck: Should Fox Toss Him Out of the Coop?

If only….

I keep hoping people will get wise to him or he would self-destruct, but I never thought it would be over something like the Egyptian protests..

From David Corn at AOL Politics Daily:

For years, Beck has pitched various conspiracy theories with a rather predictable thrust: The left is out to take over and/or destroy the United States. (The relationship between assuming control of the country and scheming its decimation has always been a bit fuzzy.) And his targets have been sinister lefty outfits that are not household names: the Tides Foundation, ACORN, and others. As long as Beck stuck to this classic tale — secret commies undermining this great land of ours — he wasn’t much of a problem to most conservatives and his patrons at Fox. Sure, some conservative commentators (such as David Frum) derided Beck. But Beck was more like the crazy uncle in the attic who could be ignored. And Fox News could bank the revenue Beck generated without worry. Good ratings forgive much.

But only so much.

The Egypt uprising has raised the stakes for Beck — and Fox. In the past two weeks, Beck has viewed events in Egypt through his own rather warped filter. He claims that the rebellion is not about the people, not about democracy. Instead, he says, it’s a move by radical Islamists to take over Egypt, as part of a larger plan to install a caliphate that stretches from the Middle East through Europe and toward the United States. And he contends that “uber-leftists” and Islamic extremists are “plotting together” toward this end. Last week on his radio show, he declared, “Groups from the hard-core socialist and communist left and extreme Islam will work together because they are both a common enemy of Israel and the Jew. . . . Islam wants a caliphate. Communists want a communist new world order. They’ll work together, and they’ll destabilize. Because they both want chaos.”

Austin Powers, anyone? But it gets better. This grand cabal also includes . . . the Establishment. Beck points out that Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush refrained from bombing “ancient Babylon” during their respective wars against Iraq. “Why?” he asks. “Because the Bible tells us that that is the seat right there of power of a global evil empire,” meaning that Islamic caliphate. Bush father and son each wanted to preserve the heart of a radical Islam caliphate? That seems to be what Beck is saying.

via Glenn Beck: Should Fox Toss Him Out of the Coop?.

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February 8, 2011 · 7:31 pm

The Real Reagan – Salon.com

I’m continuing my information campaign to prevent the canonization of St Ronnie of Beverly Hills…

I’m just trying to do my little bit to share the truth the Corporate Media wants to ignore…

From Salon.com

By 1992, three years after he left the White House, Ronald Reagan was anything but a beloved former president. As a painful recession gripped the country, the public came to see the Reagan years — which featured a massive defense buildup, soaring deficits and even a stock market crash in 1987 — as the source of their economic woes. Running for president that year, Bill Clinton promised to enact a clean break from the “failed policies of Reagan and Bush.” As Reagan prepared to speak at the Republican National Convention in August, a Gallup poll found that just 46 percent of Americans had a favorable view of him. By contrast, Jimmy Carter, the man Reagan had defeated in a 44-state rout in 1980, was viewed favorably by 63 percent of the American public. The Reagan presidency stood in something approaching disrepute.

Today, though, you’d never know any of this happened. In the two decades since it bottomed out, Reagan’s image has been resurrected, thanks largely to a relentless campaign from conservative activists. Will Bunch, who writes for the Philadelphia Daily News and is a senior fellow at Media Matters, chronicled Reagan’s image makeover — and the reality of his record as president — in his 2008 book “Tear Down This Myth.” We spoke with him recently about how the myth of Reagan has taken hold, and whether there’s any truth to it.

More:   The Real Reagan – Salon.com.

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February 8, 2011 · 7:29 pm

4 Things Our Government Should Stop Wasting Money On | | AlterNet

Interesting article…if everyone is going to focus on cutting spending during a shakey economic recovery- not the brightest thing to do- they should at least focus on the right places to cut…

A Tea Party-infused GOP is calling for major cuts to federal spending. But for most Republicans, the newfound concern with deficits is demonstrably cynical. Just look at the deafening silence from the Right that greeted the $1.2 trillion (and growing) deficit that President Bush ran up. Conservative fearmongering is mostly an excuse to plunder the safety net. “The idea that somehow we’re going to be Greece is just flat out silly,” says Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic Policy Research. “Basically, it’s a cheap scare tactic to force austerity.”

Though catastrophic prophesies of a government gone bankrupt are paper tigers, there are still plenty of things progressives would like to see cut: a sprawling defense budget that funds two wars and hundreds of military bases world-wide; a criminal justice system that spends billions to lock up millions of (too often black) Americans; and corporate welfare in the form of subsidies for oil and gas companies, and for industrial agriculture. Harmful government spending is a much bigger problem than wasteful government spending. Positive social spending is all too scarce, and constantly under pressure.

via 4 Things Our Government Should Stop Wasting Money On | | AlterNet.

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February 8, 2011 · 6:37 pm

Junk food diet linked to lower IQ | Raw Story

Interesting….

And of course French and British “junk” food is not as bad as American junk…

PARIS – Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind.

The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eight and a half.

Parents of the children were asked to fill out questionnaires that, among other things, detailed the kind of food and drink their children consumed.

Three dietary patterns emerged: one was high in processed fats and sugar; then there was a “traditional” diet high in meat and vegetables; and finally a “health-conscious” diet with lots of salad, fruit and vegetables, pasta and rice.

When the children were eight and a half, their IQ was measured using a standard tool called the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.

 

Of the 4,000 children for which there were complete data, there was a significant difference in IQ among those who had had the “processed” as opposed to the “health-conscious” diets in early childhood.

The 20 percent of children who ate the most processed food had an average IQ of 101 points, compared with 106 for the 20 percent of children who ate the most “health-conscious” food.

“It’s a very small difference, it’s not a vast difference,” said one of the authors, Pauline Emmett of the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol.

“But it does make them less able to cope with education, less able to cope with some of the things in life.”

via Junk food diet linked to lower IQ | Raw Story.

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February 8, 2011 · 6:19 pm

“Crazy Chicks Are Hot?” 8 Messed-Up Portrayals of Women Going Insane in Film | | AlterNet

Interesting article…

I really did not like “Black Swan”, but a lot of people seemed to disagree.

Including the folks at the Academy Awards.  But I lost all respect for them when they gave Best Picture to that Lifetime TV Movie “Crash” over  “Brokeback Mountain.”

They seem to love to watch girls kiss, but not boys.  That upholds my belief that Hollywood has been stuck in the 9th grade for the past decade or so…

Everyone loves to watch a hot babe going batshit crazy. At least that’s what the astronomical success of Black Swan would have you believe, the film in which Darren Aronofsky casts his misogynist gaze upon Natalie Portman, gorgeous and coming completely undone, for what is essentially a two-hour snuff film.

Last week, Newsweek’s Ramin Setoodeh wrote a piece exploring the phenomenon of the insane woman on celluloid, and how American society not only seems to thirst for such depictions but rewards them with box office paychecks and critical accolades. His unspoken conclusion, which he craftily writes around: it’s a one-two combo of schadenfreude and titillation. “In most crazy-chick flicks,” Setoodeh writes, “the female protagonist doesn’t just lose her mind; she loses her clothes. And sometimes she loses her sexual orientation as well.”

He interviewed several actresses who’ve recently portrayed crazy women, including Black Swan’s Mila Kunis — whose own brand of insane, propped up against Portman’s paranoia, is devious manipulation — and Leighton Meester, who portrays a stalker college student in the upcoming film The Roommate. Setoodeh points out the sexism and general ookiness of audiences’ attraction to this type of character, quoting a 26-year-old videogame designer who says, “I can’t think of a crazy girl who isn’t hot.” But he never gets past the basic concepts that seem to drive the psychology behind such desire. Sexist portrayals of women as dangerous and unhinged are statistically inaccurate. Men are three times more likely to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorders, men are more likely to be stalkers, and men are up to 10 times more likely to commit violent crime. In a kind of mass-gaslighting, the crazy-chick film meme is simply untrue.

While there are feminist portrayals of women gone awry from societal pressures — Frances, Splendor in the Grass, The Yellow Wallpaper — there are far more films that erroneously glamorize the crazy chick. Notably, several of them are clear and direct influences for Aronofsky’s hateful take on Black Swan. [Spoilers.]

via “Crazy Chicks Are Hot?” 8 Messed-Up Portrayals of Women Going Insane in Film | | AlterNet.

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February 8, 2011 · 8:16 am

Everyday Brits Are in Revolt Against Wealthy Tax Cheats — Can We Do That Here?

If only….

From AlterNet…

Instead of the fake populism of the Tea Party, there is a movement based on real populism. It shows that there is an alternative to making the poor and the middle class pay for a crisis caused by the rich. It shifts the national conversation. Instead of letting the government cut our services and increase our taxes, the people demand that it cut the endless and lavish aid for the rich and make them pay the massive sums they dodge in taxes.

This may sound like a fantasy—but it has all happened. The name of this parallel universe is Britain. As recently as this past fall, people here were asking the same questions liberal Americans have been glumly contemplating: Why is everyone being so passive? Why are we letting ourselves be ripped off? Why are people staying in their homes watching their flat-screens while our politicians strip away services so they can fatten the superrich even more?

And then twelve ordinary citizens—a nurse, a firefighter, a student, a TV researcher and others—met in a pub in London one night and realized they were asking the wrong questions. “We had spent all this energy asking why it wasn’t happening,” says Tom Philips, a 23-year-old nurse who was there that night, “and then we suddenly said, That’s what everybody else is saying too. Why don’t we just do it? Why don’t we just start? If we do it, maybe everybody will stop asking why it isn’t happening and join in. It’s a bit like that Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams. We thought, If you build it, they will come.”

via Vision: Everyday Brits Are in Revolt Against Wealthy Tax Cheats — Can We Do That Here? | Tea Party and the Right | AlterNet.

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February 8, 2011 · 7:54 am

Chapter 48: Myrtle Beach Days | My Southern Gothic Life

There’s a new post up on my “Southern Gothic Life” Blog…

Here is an excerpt and a link to the full post:

One of the other key advantages the Sub Debs offered was a poorly chaperoned beach trip to Myrtle Beach every summer.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was the destination of choice for summer fun for almost everyone in Danville and when the teenage girls left on these trips, you can be sure the teenage boys were right behind them.

Sometimes, I think half the city of Danville just packed up and went there all at the same time…usually the first two weeks of August when the Mill closed down for vacation.

I haven’t been to Myrtle Beach in 30 years.  I frankly have no desire to ever go again.  But there was a time we all thought it was the most amusing place on earth.

MORE:   Chapter 48: Myrtle Beach Days | My Southern Gothic Life.

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February 7, 2011 · 8:26 pm

10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan

A little more on the truth about the Reagan Presidency….

How soon people forget and how easily their memories are manipulated by the Corporate Media….

From ThinkProgress.org

ThinkProgress has compiled a list of the top 10 things conservatives rarely mention when talking about President Reagan:

1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.

2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.

3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.

4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously.

MORE:   ThinkProgress » Blog Archive » 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan.

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February 7, 2011 · 8:18 pm

Daily Kos: States that spent stimulus on repairs and public transportation created more jobs than other states

And there are still some people who say the stimulus didn’t work…

I keep saying it:  Infrastructure spending= more jobs= more tax revenue= more spending and product demands

Despite evidence showing that spending on public transportation and road and bridge repairs produces far more jobs and does so faster than new construction, most states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations “squandered” their federal stimulus money in this regard. Overall, according to a report from Smart Growth America, they spent 1.7 percent of the $26.6 billion they received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed two years ago on public transportation, where expenditures generate the most jobs. At the same time, they spent 33.5 percent on new construction, which produces the least number of jobs.

SGA found that every $1 billion spent on highway projects yielded 2.4 million job hours; every $1 billion spent on public transportation projects yielded 4.2 million job hours.

Specifically, the report states, public transportation and bridge and road repairs created 31 percent more jobs per dollar than new construction of roads and bridges, while repair work on roads and bridges generated 16 percent more per dollar than new construction. Fixing existing infrastructure generates a higher investment return than new construction because it “prevents the need for reconstruction later, which costs 4 to 14 times as much … [and] keeps existing communities vibrant. Neglecting existing places whil building new infrastructure drives growth out and means the public ends up buying two of everything.” One reason that new construction generates fewer jobs per dollar is that so much of such dollars are spent on acquiring real estate, which produces no jobs.

via Daily Kos: States that spent stimulus on repairs and public transportation created more jobs than other states.

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