Magpie

Saturday, October 15, 2005

No comment.

From the October 14 radio program from right-wing commentator Neal Boortz. He's responding to recent reports that Homeland Security employees may have leaked information about a terror threat against New York subways days before any warning was given to the general public.

OK, now here's the story. And it says, "The Homeland Security Department launched internal probes yesterday into whether its officials tipped off friends and relatives to a possible subway terror plot days before average New Yorkers were alerted." So the real gripe here is that it seems that some wealthy people got notified of the terror plot before the great unwashed, before the others. Now, the Daily News in New York has a headline: "Rich got terror tip." Rich got terror tip. OK, let's get logical about this, folks. Let's play logic with this. This is as it should be. OK? If we are faced with disaster in this country — let me ask you this, OK? You just be logical. Get all of the emotion out of this. Get all of the emotion out of this. But if we are faced with a disaster in this country, which group do we want to save? The rich or the poor? Now, if you have time, save as many people as you can. But if you have to set some priorities, where do you go? The rich or the poor? OK? Who is a drag on society? The rich or the poor? Who provide the jobs out there? The rich or the poor? Who fuels — you know, which group fuels our economy? Drives industry? The rich or the poor? Now if you — all of a sudden, somebody walks up to you and says, "Hey, Boortz listener. You're gonna have a — you have to make a choice. You're going to — we're gonna move you to another country. And you're just gonna have to make your way in this other country. We have a choice of two countries for you. In this country, people achieve a lot and they are wealthy because of their hard work. In this country, people don't achieve squat. They sit around all the time waiting for somebody else to take care of them. They have children they can't afford. They're uneducated. They can barely read. And the high point of their day is Entertainment Tonight on TV. Which country do you want to live in? The country of the high achievers, or the country of sheep, the country of followers?" You know what you're gonna do. I don't see what the big problem is. I just don't. I mean, if you — who do I want to save first? The rich.

You can listen to an audio clip of Boortz's full comments if you go here.

Via Media Matters.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:50 PM | Get permalink

Friday, October 14, 2005

The last word on the Iraqi referendum.

Iraqis will begin voting on the proposed constitution in a matter of hours. In Baghdad, Riverbend stayed up until almost daybreak to give us her final thoughts on the constitution.

The referendum is only hours away and the final version of the constitution still hasn?t reached many people. Areas with a Sunni majority are complaining that there aren't polling stations for kilometers around — many of these people don't have cars and even if they did, what good would it do while there's a curfew until Sunday? Polling stations should be easily accessible in every area.

This is like déjà vu from January when people in Mosul and other Sunni areas complained that they didn't have centers to vote in or that their ballot boxes never made it to the counting stations.

American media is trying to make it sound like Sunnis have suddenly been mollified with the changes made in a flurry of covert meetings these last few days, but the reality is that the only Sunni party openly supporting the constitution is the Iraqi Islamic Party which represents a very, very small percentage of Sunnis.

Most educated Iraqis want to vote against the constitution. This makes the fact that Iraqis abroad aren't being allowed to vote this time around worrisome. Why was it vital for them to vote for a temporary government back in January but it's not necessary for them to contribute to this referendum which will presumably decide a permanent constitution for generations and generations of Iraqis? Could it be that the current Iranian inclined government knew that many Iraqis abroad didn't like the constitution because of federalism, women's rights, and the mention of no laws to be placed which contradict Islam?

Via Baghdad Burning.

| | Posted by Magpie at 7:25 PM | Get permalink

Of 'teflon' presidents and 'blockbuster' interviews.

An economist who writes a column for a major newspaper in New York [Paul Krugman, perhaps?] has some interesting thoughts about why a politician who is as indecisive and unimaginative as our Dear Leader was able to benefit from press deference for such a long time — especially after 9/11 and during the first months of after the invasion of Iraq.

Right now, with the Bush administration in meltdown on multiple issues, we're hearing a lot about President Bush's personal failings. But what happened to the commanding figure of yore, the heroic leader in the war on terror? The answer, of course, is that the commanding figure never existed: Mr. Bush is the same man he always was. All the character flaws that are now fodder for late-night humor were fully visible, for those willing to see them, during the 2000 campaign.

And President Bush the great leader is far from the only fictional character, bearing no resemblance to the real man, created by media images....

[The] news business places great weight on "up close and personal" interviews with important people, largely because they're hard to get but also because they play well with the public. But such interviews are rarely revealing. The fact is that most people — myself included — are pretty bad at using personal impressions to judge character. Psychologists find, for example, that most people do little better than chance in distinguishing liars from truth-tellers.

More broadly, the big problem with political reporting based on character portraits is that there are no rules, no way for a reporter to be proved wrong. If a reporter tells you about the steely resolve of a politician who turns out to be ineffectual and unwilling to make hard choices, you've been misled, but not in a way that requires a formal correction.

And that makes it all too easy for coverage to be shaped by what reporters feel they can safely say, rather than what they actually think or know. Now that Mr. Bush's approval ratings are in the 30's, we're hearing about his coldness and bad temper, about how aides are afraid to tell him bad news. Does anyone think that journalists have only just discovered these personal characteristics?

Googling hint: Good results can be obtained by searching Google Groups using the obvious search terms, but using the advanced features to limit the search to the past few days.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:31 PM | Get permalink

Abstinence makes the heart ...

Well, it makes the heart tell the brain to think a bit harder the next time, as Mikhaela explains:

Not tonight, honey

[© 2005 Mikhaela B. Reid]
Check out the rest of the cartoon here.

There's a whole lot more of Mikhaela's political cartoons here.

More: For a different take on the same subject, check out this Ted Rall cartoon.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:04 PM | Get permalink

Never — NEVER — mess with a librarian.

'Cause librarians know how to find stuff.

How a Florida librarian located the scum who kept sending junk faxes and made them pay.

Then I made a motion to merge all the cases into one hearing (as 10 copies of everything had gone out with the same date and time on them) the judge thought this was just spiffy, as it would save the Court time. I moved for treble damages and noted that their failure to show up after being properly served was contempt for the process and for the Court itself. I figured it would fail and I?d simply get default judgments X 10/ Well it worked. I asked for no stay of the execution beyond statutory requirements and was given that as well.

I figured as the nasty faxers would contact me in the interim, as there is a waiting period before judgments can be enforced. Well they never did. I guess they thought I was joking around.

So Monday I took my paperwork and a check for $800 to the sheriff and asked that they execute the judgment against the company. I asked that they seize a Cessna 340, a Lexus, and cash assets of the defendant. So the sheriff stamped and stapled and filed and collated the paperwork. Today I found out that they have seized the aircraft the corporation owns and will sell it at public auction next month.

Via LISNews.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:11 PM | Get permalink

We're not an economist.

Hell, we don't even play an economist on the internet.

Cpi_september_05

But when we went looking for details on the new US economic figures that the feds released today, we knew that something had to be up when the news stories either told us to ignore the man behind the curtain [this NY Times story, for example] or simply rendered the figures incoherent to the average human being [as in this USA Today story]. Even we can see that real wages have dropped substantially over the last year, and that consumer prices are shooting up at the highest rate since 1980.

So what's really up with the economy?

Given that we're not, as we said, an economist, we figured that the best course of action was to go looking for an economist. Sadly, General Glut seems to be on hiatus and Paul Krugman hasn't had time to turn out a column on the new figures. [And Krugman's locked behind the NY Times' pay firewall, too.] After checking in with a few more blogging economists, none of whom had posted on the economic figures, we located some figures and a brief comment over at Calculated Risk:

Fun CPI numbers (over last 12 months):

All items 4.69%
Energy 35.14% 8% of CPI
Medical Care 3.93% 6.1% of CPI
Food 2.52% 14.3% of CPI
Shelter 1.95% 32.7% of CPI

Thank goodness shelter (the largest component in the index) is holding CPI down.

This helps a bit, but it doesn't really tell us why we shouldn't be worrying about that huge spike in energy costs. And since the low shelter figure could be explained by the bust of the housing bubble, we're not sure why that number ought to make us less nervous about the economy.

Luckily, Calculated Risk also referred us on to another blogger: financial market strategist Barry Ritholtz, who blogs at The Big Picture. Ritholtz is slightly less relaxed about the new figures:

So let me make sure I understand this: U.S. consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 25 years, and that is somehow a positive for the economy and/or the markets?

Puh-leeze.

Let's drill down into this nonsense before it costs too many people too much money (although Darwin might suggest that we allow the terminally dumb to starve themselves to death so as not to pass along their fool BLS-believin' genes).

So our first instinct was right: There's nothing in today's US economic figures that should make any of us rest easy. In fact, says Ritholtz, the combination of rising prices and dropping wages shown in the new numbers is particularly bad news. You can read his full post here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:00 AM | Get permalink

Bits & pieces.

More from our rambles around the web:

Marijuana might make your brain grow. Seriously. [news@nature.com]
With some help from Mark Fiore, the prez brings us some graduate-level training in how to stay on message — regardless of any interference from reality. [SF Chronicle]

[© 2005 Mark Fiore]
An appeals court in New York has ruled that that, despite the couple's civil union, a Vermont man cannot sue a Manhattan hospital for malpractice in the death of his partner. According to the court, granting that right would be a tacit approval of same-sex marriage. A vaguely positive note is that the judges were divided 3-2 on the case, which may be a good sign for similar suits in the future. [AP]
Remember how the honchos at the National Park Service decided that creationist books should be sold at Grand Canyon National Park? Well, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility that the same lot of Dubya appointees has implemented a political screening process for use when filling top civil service positions, including park superintendents and chief rangers. [MoJo Blog]
Despite the clichés, at least one person has found a way to make a living herding cats. [Village Voice]

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:02 AM | Get permalink

Stop the presses! Impending victory for women's rights in Saudi Arabia!

Saudi king Abdullah says that Saudi women will be able to drive — someday, but not any time soon.

"I believe strongly in the rights of women, my mother is a woman, my sister is a woman, my daughter is a woman, my wife is a woman," he said.

[A stunningly brilliant observation, worthy of our own Dear Leader.]

"I believe the day will come when women drive," the king said in his first television interview since acceding to the Saudi throne after the death of his half-brother King Fahd on 1 August....

"The issue will require patience," he said. "In time, I believe it will be possible. And I believe patience is a virtue."

Magpie will keep you informed of breaking developments on this story, so remember to check back in with us. Around 2015.

Via Aljazeera.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

'Different things altogether.'

While poking around the web earlier, we found a wonderful site called Folkstreams, just full of films about about US folk and roots culture. All of them are by independent filmmakers. All of them are hard to find. And all of them can be viewed for free via the web.

Given that we're a slave to our fiddle [which, we assure you, treats us very badly], we zeroed in on Folkstreams' selection of films about music, and the very first one we viewed was a real gem. Called 'New England Fiddles,' it was made in 1983 by John Bishop and Nicholas Hawes, and it features six fiddlers playing in various styles: Ron West (Yankee), Paddy Cronnin [Irish], Ben Guillemette and Wilfred Guillette [Quebecois], Harold Luce [Yankee], Gerry Robichaud [Maritime], and Joe Cormier [Cape Breton]. The playing is excellent, and the filmmakers manage to give a good sense of each fiddler as a person and as a musician.

Fiddler Paddy Cronin

Irish fiddler Paddy Cronin c. 1983 [Image: John Bishop]
We were particularly fond of Paddy Cronin's segment, which features part of his version of 'Lord Gordon.'

Paddy Cronin: All the old fiddlers in Ireland, you know, used to sit around the fire and play away. It was good music. The folk music of any country is better than what they, the other things, you know. When the music goes modern, it's not so good, you know, takes a lot of the music out of it.

If you don't have a musician for a fiddler, forget him; he might as well leave it there, because you just cna't do it. He's going to be mechanical, and a mechanic and a musician are different things altogether.

There's more info on 'New England Fiddles' [including a transcript and photos] here.

The main Folkstreams web page is here.

Via Librarians' Internet Index.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Just as we'd thought.

Remember that 'Al-Qaeda master plan' that the Pentagon released the day after Dubya gave his most recent Big Speech on Iraq? The one that contained the group's alleged plan for a fundamentalist Islamic empire extending from Spain to Indonesia? When the 'master plan' surfaced, we suggested that the timing of the document's release was rather convenient in terms of the Dubya adminstration's political needs, and that a reasonable person would have to doubt whether the document was really what the Pentagon claimed.

Well, today the BBC is reporting that al-Qaeda in Iraq says that the document is a fake. Of course, al-Qaeda has about as much regard for the truth as Dubya's administration, so we have to take their denial of the document's authenticity with several grains of salt.

But we bet that, this time, al-Qaeda is telling the truth.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:19 PM | Get permalink

Dubya shows his support for the troops.

You know that the prez is in some kind of political trouble whenever he decides to visit with the military. With polls showing his approval ratings in the toilet, it wasn't any surprise to us to see Dubya doing a hastily arranged Q&A with servicemembers currently in Iraq.

Another Dubya photo-op

Dubya using US soldiers as props for his photo-op. [Photo: White House/Paul Morse]
The problem is that the prez's conversation with those soldiers on the big screen was about as real as anything on Hollywood's big screen: The whole exchange was just another one of Dubya's carefully scripted and choreographed photo-ops.

Not only were the soldiers carefully pre-selected to prevent any comments that might require the president to deviate from script, but check this out:

Before it began, a Pentagon official coached the troops, telling them the president planned to ask questions on three topics: The overall security in Iraq, how they were preparing for the vote on Saturday and how much progress had been made in the training of Iraqi troops.

Allison Barber, a Pentagon official, said Bush would ask them specifically, "In the last 10 months, what kind of progress have we seen?"

She asked who was prepared to answer the question. "Master Sgt. Lombardo," one said.

After Bush asked just that question, Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo responded: "Over the past 10 months, the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces are improving ... They continue to develop and grow into a sustainable force."

The prez won't go to the funerals of the servicemembers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but he has no problem with bringing in a bunch of them to use as the backdrop for another of his cynical attempts to prop up his sagging approval rating.

Via AP.

More: You'll find additional details of the staging in this more recent AP story.

Still more: NPR has posted audio of part of the rehearsal for the 'conversation' here.

Part of today's White House press briefing with Scott McClellan dealt with the scripting issue. Editor & Publisher has excerpted the relevant portion here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:42 PM | Get permalink

Public health be damned.

Despite urgings to allow the production of generic versions of its antiviral medication, Tamiflu, Swiss drug maker Roche refuses to allow any other companies to manufacture one of the only drugs that can reduce the severity of the flu virus.

"Roche ... fully intends to remain the sole manufacturer of Tamiflu," said company spokesman Terry Hurley.

Roche has resisted calls to allow generics, despite the fact that it is not capable of producing the amount of Tamiflu that the US would need in the event of a flu pandemic — let alone supply any of the rest of the world. For this reason, UN secretary general Kofi Anan has asked Roche to allow other companies to produce the drug — and hinted that the UN would take action to force such a decision if the company didn't do so willingly. [Anan is worried about a repetition of the situation that occurred with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, when companies that produced expensive retrovirals and other drugs refused for years to allow cheaper generic versions to be manufactured. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people may have died needlessly.]

In refusing to allow generics, Roche has cited the complexity of the process of producing Tamiflu and the three-year lag time it feels would be necessary for other companies to go into production. [See this earlier post for more details.] Roche has also cited the usual argument of big pharmacy: Any reduction in its profits would affect its ability to do the expensive research and testing needed to develop new drugs. [These assertions have been disputed by Taiwanese scientists, who say that they know how to produce Tamiflu and can shorten the production process.]

In the case of Tamiflu, however, Roche's argument holds no water at all. Tamiflu was actually developed by Gilead Sciences, who sold the rights to the drug in 1996. Roche paid no development costs — it has merely raked in profits for the last 10 years. Public health blog Effect Measure has a very interesting post on this part of the story, which you can read here.

Via SF Chronicle.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 PM | Get permalink

Why did Dubya pick Harriet Miers?: Another view.

Fafblog got hold of the prez and asked him:

FAFBLOG: Now, how'd you make the pick?

BUSH: I just looked around an' picked the most qualified justice I could find. There was the coffee mug, the stapler, an' Harriet Miers, and in the end I just had to go with the candidate I felt was the strongest.

FB: Wow, and that was your "World's Best President" mug, too!

BUSH: It was a tough call, let me tellya. But don't count that coffee mug out forever - it's gotta lotta smart ideas about eminent domain.

The rest of this, uh, revealing interview is here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:51 AM | Get permalink

More bits & pieces.

Interesting stuff just keeps turning up out there on the web:

Dubya's approval ratings keep going further into the toilet. A new Newsweek/Wall Street Journal poll shows that only 39 percent of those surveyed think the prez is doing a good job. Even more worrying for Republicans is that 48 percent of poll respondents want to see a Democratic Congress elected next year; only 39 percent want to see the GOP keep control. This is the biggest spread since the poll started asking the question in the mid-1990s. [MSNBC]
Climatologists say that 2005 is shaping up to be the world's hottest year on record. Despite the fact that his continues a 25-year warming trend, we expect that Dubya's scientific 'experts' will tell us that more study is needed.
An odd-looking beaked dinosaur is going on exhibit at Chicago's Field Museum. Take our advice: You wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum. [Chicago Sun-Times]
The Syrian foreign minister has reportedly committed suicide, only days before the release of a UN report into the assassination of former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri. It's expected that the report will implicate high Syrian officials in the kiling, which sparked public outrage that forced an end to Syria's occupation of Lebanon. [UK Guardian]
UN officials are warning that a measles epidemic could hit the survivors of the South Asia earthquake. According to the World Health Organization, the collapse of the devastated region's health system makes it vital that children be vaccinated against the disase as soon as possible. [The Scotsman]

| | Posted by Magpie at 5:11 AM | Get permalink

You knew this was coming, didn't you?

It's an open secret that the reason why the US Food and Drug Adminstration hasn't approved the non-prescription sale of emergency contraception for women ['Plan B'] has way more to do with politics and religion than with science. [See earlier posts here , here, and here, for example.] Now, however, a report from the Government Accountability Office confirms that the FDA's refusal to allow easier access to Plan B was 'highly unusual.' According to the report, high-level FDA officials intervened in the decision, and that decision was apparently made months before it was announced to the public.

Critics of the FDA's May 2004 decision, and of a subsequent postponing of any decision making this August, have accused the agency of giving in to political pressure from social conservatives opposed to the application. While an FDA advisory panel overwhelmingly supported the proposal in late 2003 on scientific grounds and the agency's medical reviewers were similarly convinced it should be approved, the agency's top leaders have said it could not be approved because of outstanding questions about whether it should be available to young girls, and if not, how to keep it from them.

When Steven Galson, then-acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, announced the rejection, he said the decision was his own, had been recently made and was based on scientific concerns. The GAO report, however, indicates the decision was solidified months earlier and that other top officials were involved in the decision....

The draft GAO report indicates that Galson voiced concerns in FDA meetings about how easier availability of Plan B would effect sexual behavior by girls. [Emphasis added]

We don't think any further comment is needed.

Via Washington Post.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:54 AM | Get permalink

You can stop worrying about this winter's heating bill.

If you're in the US, you're undoubtedly aware that hurricanes Katrina and Rita seriously damaged the oil and natural gas industry infrastructure. Because of that damage, the feds had estimated that increased prices for natural gas and fuel oil would raise the average heating bill this winter by 71 percent.

But worry no more! New figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicated that winter heating bills should 'only' go up 62 percent.

Don't you feel better now?

Via Reuters.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:11 AM | Get permalink

Why did Dubya choose Harriet Miers?

Let's ask the prez himself. Here's his response to a press question on Wednesday:

Q Thank you, Mr. President. Why do people in this White House feel it's necessary to tell your supporters that Harriet Miers attends a very conservative Christian church? Is that your strategy to repair the divide that has developed among conservatives over her nominee?

PRESIDENT BUSH: People ask me why I picked Harriet Miers. They want to know Harriet Miers' background; they want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion. Part of it has to do with the fact that she was a pioneer woman and a trailblazer in the law in Texas. I remind people that Harriet Miers is one of the -- has been rated consistently one of the top 50 women lawyers in the United States. She's eminently qualified for the job. And she has got a judicial philosophy that I appreciate.... [Emphasis added]

Whoa there! Did Dubya just put Miers' religious beliefs on equal footing with the other reasons he chose her for the high court?

Maybe Dubya's chief press hack, Scott Mc Clellan can clear things up. [We realize that McClellan is sometimes hard to understand, so — strictly as a public service — we've had our crack team of translators attempt to figure out what his answers really mean.]

Q Scott, the President has said that religion was part of Harriet Miers' life, and the White House's outreaching has mentioned the fact that she does go to this conservative Christian church --

MR. McCLELLAN: Outreaching -- reaching out.

[Translation: I was hoping you hadn't heard what the president said earlier.]

Q Reaching out, outreaching. No such efforts were made, not to this extent, anyway, in terms of Chief Justice Roberts. No one in the White House even mentioned his religion, as best we can tell. Why is this case --

MR. McCLELLAN: In terms of outreach?

Q In terms of talking about his religion --

MR. McCLELLAN: I think it's well-known that he is a person of faith, as well.

[Translation: I can't hear you! Neener-neener!]

Q I know, but it was never -- it never was brought up at this podium, and the President never mentioned it.

MR. McCLELLAN: Where have I brought up Harriet Miers' religion at this podium?

[Translation: Maybe if i just ignore the question, you'll stop.]

Q Do you think Harriet Miers' religion is being emphasized more by this administration than Chief Justice Roberts' was?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Harriet Miers is a person of faith. She recognizes, however, that a person's religion or personal views have no role when it comes to making decisions as a judge. A judge should make decisions based on our constitution and our laws. That's the role of a judge. A judge should look at the facts and apply the law. And that's just like Judge Roberts. He recognized that, as well, that someone's ideology or religion has no role to play when it comes to making decisions on our nation's highest court. That's what the American people expect.

[Translation: We've made sure that we nominated someone that has almost no public record, so how do you know for sure that i'm lying right now?]

I think when you're talking about our outreach, or reaching out, we do reach out to a lot of people. And Harriet Miers is not someone who has sought the limelight. So there are a lot of Americans who are just beginning to get to know who she is. And we're confident that, as they do, they will see what the President has known for some time now, which is that she will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice. But what we emphasize in the outreach to people we talk to is that she has the qualifications and experience and judicial philosophy that is needed on our nation's highest court. The President appointed her, or nominated her, because she is eminently well-qualified to serve on our nation's highest court. We should be looking at a nominee's record and that nominee's qualifications and their judicial temperament. She is someone who believes in strictly interpreting our Constitution and our laws. And that's why the President selected her.

[Translation: Maybe if I pretend that the president didn't say anything about religion, you'll forget about it.]

Q So if her personal views and ideology have no bearing on --

MR. McCLELLAN: You just had your question.

[Translation: If you're going to insist on an answer, I'm going to try to embarrass you in front of the rest of the White House press corps.]

Q -- the judicial decision --

MR. McCLELLAN: You're taking away from others.

[Translation: Bad reporter! BAD!]

Q -- what relevance does it play in a conversation between Karl Rove and James Dobson? Why would he bring it up, even?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you're being very selective in what you're talking about from the conversation, because I know what Karl emphasized in that conversation is her qualifications and her background, and her judicial philosophy.

[Translation: I sure hope you didn't notice that I've sidestepped the question of whether Rove talked about Miers' religious views.]

Q Also that she's a member of a very conservative church.

MR. McCLELLAN: That she is a person of faith. She is someone who attends church on a regular basis. And people want to know who she is. They want to know her qualifications, they want to know her background, they want to know her experience. And that's all part of reaching out to people to gain support for her nomination.

[Translation: Damn! You did notice! I better go back to more of that nonsense about 'reaching out.']

Q But in the context of the conversation between the President's Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor and the head of a very conservative Christian organization, it sounds like code.

MR. McCLELLAN: John, what Karl emphasized in that conversation is that she is someone that has the qualifications and experience and the judicial philosophy that the American people want to see on our nation's highest court. And that's why the President selected her.

[Translation: I'm the president's press secretary and I don't have to answer no stinkin' questions, gringo!]

Then again, maybe McClellan won't clear anything up. Oh well.

More: This USA Today article looks at the reaction to Dubya's comment about how Miers' religious beliefs figured into his decision to nominate her.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:52 AM | Get permalink

Bits & pieces.

More early-AM web trawling:

We don't want any of that government health care nonsense here in the USA. Nosirree. We like things just the way they are, thank you very much. [NY Times]
Did the Chinese invent the noodle? Or did Italians invent pasta first? The discovery of 4000-year-old noodles in China seems to answer the question rather conclusively. [BBC]

Neolithic Chinese noodles [Photo: Nature/KBK Teo/E Minoux et al]
Given how badly Hurricane Katrina damaged the economy of the US Gulf Coast, you'd think that the feds would be handing out reconstruction contracts to companies in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, wouldn't you? Think again. Out of the first US$ 2 billion worth of reconstruction contracts, 90 percent of them went to businesses outside those three states.

So much for using the reconstruction effort to help restart the region's economy, eh? [Washington Post]
The bird flu strain that's been killing Turkish turkeys is definitely the deadly H5N1 strain responsible for human deaths in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, avian flu has also been confirmed among wild birds in Romania, but it's not yet known which strain is present. As a precaution, however, the European Union has banned the import of Romanian live birds and poultry products. [BBC]
The Security and Exchange Commission has ordered US Senate majority leader Bill Frist to turn over more personal records and documents. This apparently means that the SEC is stepping up its investigation into why Frist sold all of his and his family's stock in health care company HCA only days before the stock tanked. This follows reports earlier in the week that Frist made tens of thousands of dollars on the sale of HCA stock held by a partnership controlled by his brother. [Washington Post]

| | Posted by Magpie at 2:03 AM | Get permalink

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Dry days in the Amazon rain forest.

It's the worst drought in 40 years, with water levels in some rivers 15 meters [49 feet] lower than normal. According to researchers, the probable culprit is rising temperatures in the North Atlantic, which may be caused by global warming.

Low water on the Amazon

A boat makes tries to make its way through a section of the Amazon River suffering from lower water levels near Uricurituba, in northern Brazil, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. [Photo: AP/A Critica/Euzivaldo Queiroz]
The unusually dry weather has taken everyone — including scientists by surprise. Usually, droughts in the region are associated with El Niño, which periodically warms the southern Pacific and wreaks weather havoc world-wide. But this year hasn't seen an El Niño form. What scientists have detected, however, is a warming of the surface temperatures in the North Atlantic — warming which was responsible for this year's numerous severe hurricanes. The low pressure systems that result from this warming cause high pressure in areas further south, such as the Amazon basin. These high pressure systems tend to have fewer rainclouds and, obviously, drop less rain.

The Amazon Basin shows wide seasonal variation in rainfall, [Paul Lefebvre of the Woods Hole Research Center in the US] points out. But with the wet season not due to begin until December, local communities are fearful that the current lack of water may harm fish supplies and increase the risk of disease.

Drought in the Amazon could also stunt tree growth and make the forest more susceptible to burning — both of which could have global implications for climate.

Studies by Lefebvre's colleagues show that drought conditions can cut the amount that trees grow by a quarter, which would in theory prevent the forest's ability to soak up carbon.

If this happens, the Amazon could conceivably become a carbon 'source', pumping out carbon dioxide faster than it can absorb it, Lefebvre says. More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could raise world temperatures even further, making droughts even more damaging in the future.

Forest burning, often used to remove insect pests or encourage grass growth for grazing animals, could also fall into a similar vicious cycle, Lefebvre says. "Fire damage sets up a process where the forest becomes more susceptible to the next burn," he says. Local governments have tried to limit the number of burning permits issued, but many people are too poor to afford them, and so ignore the regulations.

The ultimate fear is that the Amazon forest — often touted as an invaluable piece of armour against climate change — could become part of the problem rather than a key element of the solution. Droughts make it more likely that it will become a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, rather than mopping them up.

"From hearing what people are saying, I'm quite alarmed," Lefebvre admits. "It's an interesting time to be studying this, but it's not good news."

Via news@nature.com.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:56 PM | Get permalink

An obvious failure of our imagination.

About a month ago, we posted about a rather distressing toy, the Playmobil Security Checkpoint.

What's in that bag?

At the time, we worried about the message this sort of a toy sends to kids.

It turns out that we should have given some thought as to what sort of message the toy sends to adults.

Wipe that smile off your face!

You'll find the rest of the sordid tale here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:29 AM | Get permalink

We love it when someone gets right to the point.

New Orleans blogger Diane Deeds on Dubya's latest visit:

The resident is a few miles from me right now, hanging out with the homeless at our Habitat for Humanity headquarters. When a local official said we weren't anywhere close to being rid of all the trash, he wasn't kidding.

Via DED Space.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:01 AM | Get permalink

Ooooooh, shiny!

We have to admit it: Saturn's moon system is filled with so many shiny things we can't just pick one. A week or so ago, we took a look at weird little Hyperion. This time, we have a striking image of Tethys.

Saturn's moon Tethys

Tethys as captured by the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 32,300 km/20,000 mi. [Image: Nasa/JPL/Space Science Institute]

This view of the surface of Saturn's moon Tethys, taken during Cassini's close approach to the moon on Sept. 24, 2005, reveals an icy land of steep cliffs. The view is of the southernmost extent of Ithaca Chasma, in a region not seen by NASA's Voyager spacecraft.

The ridges around Ithaca Chasma have been thoroughly hammered by impacts. This appearance suggests that Ithaca Chasma as a whole is very old.

There is brighter material in the floors of many craters on Tethys. That's the opposite situation from Saturn's oddly tumbling moon Hyperion, where dark material is concentrated in the bottoms of many craters.

You can look at a much larger version of the image above if you go here.

NASA has more about Cassini's Tethys fly-by here.

Via Astronomy Picture of the Day.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Sometimes we're amazed by what the mainstream press doesn't consider significant.

For example, the fact that 20 US states allow the shackling of women prisoners during labor and delivery. And the fact that California just enacted a law to forbid this practice.

A.B. 478 makes it illegal to deny inmates prenatal and postpartum care, including access to vitamins and a basic dental cleaning, and bans the shackling of women during labor, delivery, and recovery. These inmates typically give birth in a locked hospital ward with armed guards-measures that are more than adequate to protect public safety or to prevent escape.

"The United Nations has established minimum rules for treatment of prisoners and California has not been following them," stated [Assemblymember Sally Lieber, the law's author].... "It is inconceivable in this day and age, that human beings would be shackled while giving birth."

The full text of AB 478 is here.

Via Medical News Today.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Bits & pieces.

The stuff that's piqued our interest early this morning:

These days, the most common news story about US independent bookstores involves one that's going out of business. That's why it's so good to see that a Bay Area institution, Kepler's Books in Palo Alto, has risen from the grave. [SF Chronicle]
At Asia Times, Syed Saleem Shahzad has an interesting, if a bit disjointed, article about the possible economic and political fallout of the south Asia earthquake.
We wanted to post about the latest discoveries in Indonesia of more remains of Homo floresiensis, the small humans often called 'hobbits,' but the report at Science is behind their pay firewall. Luckily, science writer Carl Zimmer has a subscription, and he's passed on some of the info. He also brings us up to speed on current state of the scientific argument over whether H. floresiensis is truly a distinct human species. [The Loom]
In a piece of good news for residents of the Crescent City, the US Army Corps of Engineers says that New Orleans is finally pumped out. [AP]
The US government has issued its annual report on human rights in China, which found no improvement over the last year. The report criticized the Chinese government for limiting freedom of expression and the political and religious rights of its citizens.

China views the report as meddling with its internal affairs and, in tit-for-tat fashion, issues its own report on human rights in the US — which always makes for interesting reading. We should be seeing the Chinese report soon. [Reuters]

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The Harriet Miers nomination, redux.

From Scott Bateman's sketchbook:

Why not?

[© 2005 Scott Bateman]

[If you're missing the reference to Paula Abdul, go here.]

You can look at more of Bateman's cartoons here.

| | Posted by Magpie at 2:32 PM | Get permalink

The threat to the Republic.

Out of the mouth of Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney:

"They want to bring down our government, bring down our entire economy. They want to put in place a huge theocracy."

That sounds pretty accurate, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, the right-wing GOP governor and possible 2008 presidential candidate is talking about fundamentalist Islamic terrorists, not about Dubya's administration and the US religious right.

Via Boston Globe.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:28 PM | Get permalink

Racism, pure and simple.

Today's LA Times reports on how black churches have been excluded from participation in the Red Cross' programs to aid Katrina survivors in Atlanta.

When the Rev. Timothy McDonald arrived at a Red Cross shelter to serve baked chicken, collard greens and macaroni and cheese to hurricane evacuees, a Red Cross volunteer told him they could not accept his food.

McDonald, shocked and disappointed, approached a man who was serving food and asked him what group he was with.

"I'm with God," the man said.

"So am I," McDonald replied. "What organization are you with?"

"We're with the Southern Baptists," the man said, explaining that the Southern Baptist Convention has a partnership with the American Red Cross. McDonald's First Iconium Baptist Church, a modest African American church in east Atlanta, does not.

"That's the reason they didn't want my chicken," said McDonald, pounding his fist on the pulpit. He is chair of African American Ministers in Action, an advocacy group representing 5,000 clergy in 20 states....

McDonald ? who is on the board of the Red Cross' Metropolitan Atlanta chapter ? says he does not know a single black church that has an arrangement with the Red Cross. As he has struggled to meet FEMA and Red Cross officials, he said, he has gradually realized that he is an outsider despite his connections.

"Black ministers have not been allowed in the door," he said. "Our eyes have been opened too."

The Rev. Darryl Winston, pastor of the Church of Greater Works in south Atlanta and president of the Greater American Ministerial Assn., said many in his community had offered to volunteer with the Red Cross but had not been contacted by the organization.

"The Red Cross has the money," he said, "but the Red Cross simply does not have the grass-roots connections."

Sadly, the story of how the mainly white-run Red Cross somehow 'forgot' to build relationships with Atlanta's black community is an old one. Similar stories can be found in almost any city in the US — only the name of the organization and the community of color that was excluded differ.

Just as sadly, the response of the Red Cross and FEMA to the problems in Atlanta are typical. First, the Red Cross:

A spokesman for the Red Cross acknowledged that the organization needed to build its presence in poor black neighborhoods.

"This is something that has opened a lot of people's eyes," said Bill Reynolds, spokesman for the Red Cross' Metropolitan Atlanta chapter. "There should be Red Cross resources right there in those communities. But it goes both ways. This is a great lesson that should be learned by everyone, not just the Red Cross."

Exactly how long have those poor black neighborhoods been there? Did the Red Cross not know about them because they dropped from the sky last week? Or has the Red Cross just not been comfortable dealing with poor blacks or their leaders? Or maybe the Red Cross didn't think those neighborhoods were 'important enough' to deal with?

Part of the way institutional racism shows up in white organizations is that they wait for people of color to contact them — ignoring the fact that communities of color have a long history of being deemed irrelevant by white-run organizations. That history doesn't exactly make people of color believe that knocking on the door of a group like the Red Cross will bring much in the way of results. As a result, they often don't knock — which, of course, allows white-run organizations to say that they'd be happy to serve the needs of people of color if 'those people' would just let them know what's needed.

And now for FEMA's response to the problems in Atlanta:

A spokeswoman for FEMA — which does not contract directly with nonprofit organizations — said the agency was attempting to educate people about its role.

"FEMA is not necessarily the clearinghouse for everyone," the spokeswoman said. "State and local governments decide who they choose to work with. We don't make those decisions."

Another manifestation of institutionalized racism is: 'Not our problem.' In other words, the white-run organization would be oh-so-happy to help out, but the problem brought to them by a community of color isn't in their bailiwick. It needs to be solved through channels, following proper procedures. FEMA's response here is a classic example of this kind of racism: FEMA would love to help, but they just can't. Even if the problem isn't in its purview formally, however, FEMA has lots of informal power that it can wield to get the Red Cross to change its act in Atlanta. But FEMA isn't going to do this because of the Dubya administration's need for political support from right-wingers in Atlanta, few of whom care whether the Red Cross helps black Americans.

While we're happy that the LA Times reported on how race is being a factor in how hurricane relief is being handed out in Atlanta, we wish that they'd put white racism more at center of the story, instead of tacitly accepting the claims of the Red Cross and FEMA that the problems resulted from an 'oversight.'

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:39 PM | Get permalink

Robert Fisk on terrorism and Iraq.

During the US-led invasion of Iraq and the early days of the occupation, one of the reporters most often cited in blogs like this one was Robert Fisk of the UK Independent. Fisk was one of the first reporters to dispute the various rationales put forward for toppling the Saddam Hussein government and, for a while, almost the only journalist who consistently pointed to the incompentence and corruption that marked the occupation. Fisk isn't cited much any more, largely because the Independent put him behind a pay firewall, making access to his reports too expensive for most bloggers. [Are we seeing the future of the NY Times' Paul Krugman here?] Nonetheless, his reporting is still as sharp — and controversial — as ever, and it's a shame it's not more widely read outside the UK.

About a week ago, Fisk was interviewed by ABC [Australia] journalist Tony Jones for the program Lateline. Here's part of that interview:

TONY JONES: Alright. Let's go to the burning issue of the day, which is Iraq. How do you see that ending? I know that one of your — in one of your recent interviews, you've essentially said the only way it can end is for a new government to be dually constituted in Iraq and for them to basically force the Western troops out.

ROBERT FISK: Well, look, the equation in Iraq is this: The Americans must leave. The Americans will leave. But the Americans can't leave. That's the equation that turns sand into blood. How do you get a situation where you have an Iraqi state which runs itself, but which doesn't feel it is living under occupation, which it is. There are 135,000 American troops there. We both know that if the national export of Iraq was asparagus or carrots, they wouldn't be there. It's because it's an oil state. We wouldn't have again there if asparaguses were the national export. The reality is that we have vast numbers of Western troops in a Muslim country with total anarchy, except in the far north in the Kurdish areas, and we can't stop the anarchy or produce security. We are having Wal-Mart suicide bombers. I mean, it is worse than you are making it out to be. I remember when the Hezbollah were fighting Israelis in southern Lebanon, it was one a month, then with the Palestinians and the Israelis, it was one a week, and now it is seven a day. I mean, I don't know where they come from — Saudi Arabia, if you want to say literally — but how do you deal with this? The Americans can't control Iraq. The British can't control Iraq. Look at the pictures we saw the other day from Basra. Certainly the Australians are having to protect Japanese in Iraq. We have here a hell of a disaster and it needs to be brought under control. Instead of that, what are we doing? We say things are getting better. The path to freedom is opening. More democracy is coming. I remember Bush saying, "Very soon the Arab states will all want to imitate Iraq". No they won't.

TONY JONES: You tell us your view on how to make things better, how time prove the situation which is clearly deteriorating day by day?

ROBERT FISK: Well, that's an admission. Look, the first thing that must happen is - the first thing that will happen is that the Americans will talk to the insurgents. In small scale ways, they already are. In places like Mosul, you are finding a marine sergeant talking to a local guy saying "We won't do our patrols tonight if you don't mortar us". That's how it begins. The real problem for the Americans is how you make the connection. You know in the Algerian war when the French were trying to get away from Algeria, they constantly looked for mediators. (Speaks French) Turns out the French murdered most of them so they couldn't find a way out. But with the Americans, they need to find a way of negotiating with the resistance, insurgents, call them what you will, so they could find an avenue out. It is actually my belief, after a lot of work on the subject, there is a faction of the insurgents within the present Iraqi government. The Americans can do it within the structure of democracy that was set up by the elections that took place on January 30th this year, which I was present for in Baghdad. If that can happen, if we can have a narrative dialogue between the Americans and some of those who are involved in resisting violently the presence of foreign troops, then we can see the beginning of some kind of structure by which the Americans can get out and the government of Iraq can say, "We would like all foreign troops to leave by January 23rd", you name the day. At which point the Americans can say, "We have victory — democratic government. We can leave." They go. It will not produce the government we want. It will not produce human rights. It will not produce protection for women, I'm sorry to say. But it will end up with a government that has a kind of insurgency, fragile partly democratically elected government, authority. It certainly is not what I would like to see in Iraq. It's not what you would like, but it's probably the only way out at the moment.

You can read a full transcript of the interview here at the ABC [Australia] website.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:13 PM | Get permalink

Hey kids!

Let's watch a filmstrip! [Flash req'd.]

Our Dear Leader

Not at all subtle, but definitely fun.

[For those of you too young to remember filmstrips, you might want to listen to this radio piece from the NPR archives.]

Via This Modern World.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:10 AM | Get permalink

Chinese activist found alive.

Sunday, we posted about how Chinese political activist Lu Banglie had disappeared after being beaten by thugs, and he was feared dead. The assailants were attempting to keep Lu from reaching the village of Taishi, where he was helping local people attempt to force corrupt local officials out of office.

Today, the UK Guardian reports that Lu has resurfaced at a hospital in his home town in Hubei province, hundreds of miles away. He says that he was driven to Hubei after his assailants left him unconscious near the side of a road.

Chinese authorities claim that no violence occurred at Taishi, and that Lu faked being dead. Lu says they are not telling the truth about what happened:

"Five to six of them [the thugs] pulled my hair and punched me in the head. They kicked my legs and body for a couple of minutes. Then I passed out. Some people splashed water on me which brought me round, then I passed out again.... When I came around, I was too nauseous to eat. My body aches all over and my head hurts."

Lu's supporters say they are considering taking legal action against his assailants.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:01 AM | Get permalink

Public health or drug company profits?

Tamiflu is one of two anti-viral drugs that could help reduce the severity of avian flu infections, should a pandemic occur. Only one company makes it — Roche — but its production capacity is far too small to provide the doses of Tamiflu needed for the US, let alone for any other country. Given this bottleneck, Roche is under increasing pressure to allow other companies to produce generic versions of Tamiflu.

Some of the pressure is coming from the UN, where Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the world body will 'not allow intellectual property to get into the way of access of the poor to medication... [In] this situation, we will take the measures to make sure poor and rich have access to the medication and the vaccine required. And the decision should be taken ahead of time so that we don't have to quibble about it when the critical and the crisis moment arrive."

Roche is resisting the call for generics, saying that the production process for Tamiflu is a dangerous and complicated 12-month process, and that it would any generic drug producer three years to gear up for the task. That view, however, is not shared by everyone:

Dr. Kou Hsu-sung, the director general of Taiwan's Center for Disease Control, was even more critical, saying that Taiwanese scientists knew how to make Tamiflu and were trying to balance respect for Roche's intellectual property with Taiwan's national security.

"We are disappointed that W.H.O. refused to press Roche to make it a generic in a situation like this," he said.

Dr. Kuo said Tuesday morning that Roche was overstating the difficulty of Tamiflu production and that Taiwanese government scientists had devised a way to begin mass production quickly.

"Within a couple months, we can do that if we solve the problem" of patent protection, he said, adding that Taiwan was consulting lawyers and considering whether to offer compensation if it produced the drug without permission.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the main drug industry lobbying group in the US, opposes such unilateral moves, making the usual argument that drug companies make whenever someone talks about any policy that would cut into industry profits: Lower profits reduce drug companies' incentive to develop new drugs.

We'll see which of the above views wins out if a highly contagious form of avian flu crosses from birds to humans.

Via NY Times.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 AM | Get permalink

Monday, October 10, 2005

Why aren't we hearing more about this?

Workplace health & safety blog Confined Space has a very interesting post on the risks that avian flu poses to poultry workers — and, in particular, how North Carolina workers are getting no help or assistance from their employers or from state health authorities.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:39 PM | Get permalink

No comment needed.

Here's most of a post from The Corpuscle:

Wait... didn't all New Yorkers get at least one of these in their mailbox last week?

Dear Potential Victim of Impending Terrorist Attack:

We here at al-Qaeda know how many widespread-death-and-destruction options you have in today's dangerous world so we would like to take a moment just to thank you for choosing to live in New York City, one of our prime metropolitan targets. Your faceless death is important to us! Once again, thank you for choosing New York City.

al-Qaeda
Terror Distribution Division

And then a day or two later:

Dear Pending National Hero:

We here at the Military-Industrial-Political Complex know how many dying-in-the-name-of-freedom options you have in today's dangerous world so we would like to take a moment just to thank you for choosing to live in New York City, one of our prime promotional event venues. Your heroic death is important to us! Once again, thank you for choosing New York City.

Military-Industrial-Political Complex
Horror Marketing Division

Parenthetically, I do think they might have chosen separate direct-mail houses.

Via Making Light.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:33 PM | Get permalink

Sending aid to south Asia.

We finally found an amazingly comprehensive list of relief agencies that are helping the survivors of the earthquake in south Asia. All you have to do is find the one you like and click a link.

More. And here's another one-stop aid site.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:11 PM | Get permalink

Just a question.

If the US can get eight helicopters from Afghanistan to earthquake-ravaged Pakistan in less than two days, how come it took so much longer for the feds to get aid to the Gulf coast?

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:04 PM | Get permalink

Banana republic?

It sure looks like it to us.

We finally got around to watching this video of last week's US House vote on GOP-backed energy bill full of environmental rollbacks and giveaways to energy companies. What started out as a five-minute vote extended to almost 50 minutes so that Republican leaders could twist enough arms to assure the bill's passage. [If the five-minute limit had been adhered to, the bill would have failed.]

The video makes it overwhelmingly clear what Dubya's administration really thinks of democracy.

Via Think Progress.

| | Posted by Magpie at 2:49 PM | Get permalink

Bits & pieces.

Stuff that's caught our attention this morning:

A liquified natural gas [LNG] terminal proposed for the mouth of the St Croix River are dividing residents on the US and Canada sides. In Maine, many members of the Passamaquoddy tribe and people in depressed riverside towns are anxious for the jobs that the terminal would bring. Many in the wealthy Canadian tourist town on the river's New Brunswick side oppose the terminal, mainly for environmental reasons. While the Toronto Star article focuses on the ecomoic differences between the US and Canadian sides of the river, the real story seems to be how Irving Oil is manipulating those differences to get the LNG terminal it wants.
A major fire in London has destroyed a warehouse containing most of Aardman Animations' props and sets. This includes the entire history of the company's projects up through Chicken Run, including the sets and props for most of the 'Wallace and Gromit' films. [BBC]
The Financial Times reports that Dubya's administration is shopping around for someone to replace Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. This comes amidst US charges that Syria is failing to keep terrorist from crossing its border with Iraq.

"They are tasking inside and outside the administration with finding an alternative. They would like to find someone to give them a soft landing," said a former official who asked not to be named. "They would probably accept a military figure but it would be very hard to identify someone to step in and work with the US."
Authorities have began slaughtering poultry at farms near a village in western Turkey after the country's first confirmed case of avian flu was reported at a turkey farm in the area. [Aljazeera] Meanwhile, the European Union has banned the import of all birds from Turkey in order to help prevent the spread of the virus. [Reuters]
A switch away from traditional remedies to the use of Viagra may help save certain threatened species. Body parts from rhinos, seals, and reindeer have been used as remedies for male impotence. Some studies show that the import of such materials into Asian countries has decreased since Viagra and similar drugs came onto the market in the late 1990s. [news@nature.com]
The Boston Globe reports on one of New Orleans' big post-hurricane problems: How to deal with over 200 thousand water damaged and abandoned vehicles that are littering the city's roadways.

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:05 PM | Get permalink

Anti-flu drugs can't substitute for planning to handle a flu pandemic.

That's the message of epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, who warns that current attempts to stockpile antiviral drugs and increase vaccine production are creating a false sense of security. Once the H5N1 flu virus can be transmitted easily from person to person, Osterholm says, it will move too fast for drugs and vaccines to be much help. Instead of hoping that prevention will do the job, governments should be planning for how a pandemic will be handled once it gets going.

"We have had a pandemic flu plan as a planning process since 1976," said Osterholm. "Nobody has completed it. It been one of the most long-standing incompleted processes in Washington. Nobody wants to believe that modern medical science can't handle something."

But it cannot, said Osterholm, who has seen the current U.S. flu plan. The plan has not been published yet but leaked versions suggest the country has done little to prepare for an H5N1 pandemic.

Osterholm and other experts have long been complaining that there are not sufficient hospital beds, equipment or trained workers to cope with a major epidemic.

"The one thing I worry desperately about it is the impact of overreliance on neuraminidase inhibitors [Tamiflu and Relenza]," he said....

They work to reduce the severity of annual influenza and may prevent infection if used at the right time. Tests suggest they also work against H5N1, but no one knows how well....

"Now people are saying whoever has the most Tamiflu wins," Osterholm said. "I worry so much that Tamiflu is a surrogate for protection."

Even after current orders are filled, the US will have treatment courses of Tamiflu for only 4.3 million people. Experts, however, say that as many as 90 million people would need Tamiflu if an avian flu epidemic occurred.

Via Reuters.

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 PM | Get permalink

Sunday, October 9, 2005

The velvet glove comes off.

And the iron fist of China's repressive political system has come down hard on a democracy activist.

Lu Banglie is missing after being beaten seriously — and perhaps killed — by a mob, apparently while Chinese police stood by. The beating occurred while Lu was on the way to Taishi, a village in Guangdong province. He was accompanied by several other people, including Benjamin Joffe-Walt, the Shanghai correspondent for the UK Guardian. Lu has not been seen since the beating and his present condition and whereabouts are unknown.

Lu is a delegate to the legislatures in Hubei province, elected without support of the ruling Communist party [CCP]. He's also an election specialist and a leader in a movement to eject corrupt officials from office in China's rural areas.

Mr Lu ... had been in the area on the outskirts of Guangzhou city since August, encouraging residents to vote out officials accused of corruption.

With Taishi seen as a symbol of the movement for peasant rights, this was an increasingly dangerous activity. Several academics, lawyers and human rights campaigners have been arrested by police and threatened by a mob that villagers say has been hired to keep visitors away. Several journalists who have entered the area have been detained or beaten, most recently last Friday, when correspondents for Radio France and the South China Morning Post were assaulted.

In Saturday's attack, Joffe-Walt said the car was stopped on a road outside Taishi by a group of about five police, five soldiers and as many as 50 people in plain clothes. The uniformed men soon left and then the mob set upon Mr Lu, dragging him out of the car and kicking him unconscious. They continued the assault for several minutes after he lost consciousness. "I was convinced he was dead and thought they were going to do the same to us," said Joffe-Walt. But he, his assistant and their driver escaped with being roughed up.

The three were taken to Wuyutou town hall for questioning, leaving Mr Lu behind. The Guardian has been unable to confirm what happened to Mr Lu. Locals are too frightened to talk to foreign journalists, but several have risked retribution to call intermediaries. According to one source, Taishi has been in mourning since they saw a police car - rather than an ambulance - take away Mr Lu's body.

Wuyutou police said they had received reports that Lu Banglie had been taken to hospital, but that he had been released and was "fine". The three nearest hospitals said that no one had been admitted yesterday.

The attack on Lu took place as a the CCP meets in Beijing to consider how to deal with rising unrest in China's rural areas. As the Guardian points out, human rights activists and foreign governments will be looking to see how the Chinese government responds to Lu's beating.

You can read background on the political struggle in Taishi and rural China in this Knight Ridder article.

Via UK Guardian and Reuters.

| | Posted by Magpie at 4:45 PM | Get permalink

The Plame investigation: Who's nervous now?

The White House, it appears.

Over at Daily Kos, Hunter lays out a very good argument for believing that the White House is already doing spin on possible indictments of administration officials as the investigation into the leak to the press of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity approaches its end.

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:02 PM | Get permalink

One weird hurricane.

We headed off to the National Hurricane Center to see what was up in the Atlantic and Caribbean, given that hurricane season isn't anywhere near over. And we found something weird: Hurricane Vincent.

Weird Hurricane Vince

[Map: NOAA/NWS]
The map below above gives you an idea of what's up: Instead of forming in the western Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico, this storm is churning away close to Madeira, off the coast of Africa.

And it's not just this magpie who thinks that Vince is weird. Check out what the NWS meteorologist says at the opening of the current discussion:

IF IT LOOKS LIKE A HURRICANE... IT PROBABLY IS... DESPITE ITS ENVIRONMENT AND UNUSUAL LOCATION.

This 'looks like a hurricane' is heading for Spain and Portugal, by the way.

While you can't attribute any particular storm, or even a particular hurricane season, to global warming, you can still wonder what's going on when the season with the most named storms spawns something like Vince. Especially after last year, which saw the first known hurricane in the south Atlantic plow into Brazil.

| | Posted by Magpie at 2:27 PM | Get permalink

'Now I was the one in chains.'

In September 1983, we posted about James Yee, a Chinese-American army chaplain — a Muslim chaplain, to be exact — at the Guantanamo prison camp. Yee had just been arrested on charges of sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage and failure to obey a general order. We wondered at the time whether Yee would turn out to be innocent, victim of a railroading of another Chinese American, Dr. Wen Ho Lee, who was falsely charged with espionage for supposedly downloading secret nuclear information and giving it to the Chinese. As we'd guessed, it did turn out that Yee was innocent, a fact which the Army was forced to admit reluctantly.

Yee has written a book about his experiences as a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo, and about his arrest and time in a military prison, part of which appears in this article. In the book, Yee argues points out that his treatment by the US military was not unique: All Muslim service members at Guantanamo were spied upon and subjected to anti-Muslim prejudice. Yee believes that this prejudice, and the fact that he stood up for the religious rights of Guantanamo prisoners, was the reason for his arrest.

Here's an excerpt.

Captain Jason Orlich, an army reservist who had taught in a Catholic school before arriving in Guantanamo to take charge of intelligence and security for detention operations, sat in my briefing on his first day and asked: ?Is he on our side or is he on the enemy?s side?? As I was to discover much
later from court documents, he made it his mission to keep an eye on me. Nor was I the only one under suspicion: Muslim colleagues ? all loyal Americans ? were spied on and bugged.

When I got together with other Muslim personnel on the base, our conversation routinely turned to what appeared to be open religious hostility.

Ahmad al-Halabi, a young airman who helped me with the detainees? library of religious books, told me that he had been given a copy of a CD widely circulated by the troopers. Among the images on it was a phoney Playboy cover showing Muslim women in provocative dress and poses, and another depicting Muslim men engaged in anal sex during prayer. He suspected that the disc had originated in the security section headed by Orlich, who appeared in several photographs on the disc.

All of us on the base knew that, like the detainees, we were likely to be under surveillance wherever we were. Watch what you?re saying, soldiers would joke, because the ?secret squirrels? are listening. We never knew exactly who they were, but the government agencies represented on the island included the FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Army Counterintelligence and the CIA. Nothing was off limits. Our e-mails were read, our telephone calls were monitored and everything we said had the potential of being overheard.

I had a feeling that our Muslim Friday prayers, attended by about 40 in a small room at the chapel complex of the camp, were under surveillance. Men in khakis and polo shirts ? the common uniform of the FBI and CIA ? would stand just outside, watching to see who came and went. I sometimes asked if they wanted to join us but they always declined, offering no explanation of their presence. A translator confirmed that a man sitting outside was an FBI agent he had worked with in interrogations.

You can read the rest of the article here.

Via UK Sunday Times.

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:18 AM | Get permalink

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.

Who's the most incompetent one of all?

You don't have to guess hard to know who's number one on this list of 15 worst hacks in Dubya's administration. Even knowing that the prez has hired folks like former FEMA head David Brown, the banality of the people on the list is still stunning:

9: Hal Stratton
Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission

A former state representative and attorney general in New Mexico, Hal Stratton never asked for his current job, protecting American citizens from such dangers as lead-laced toy jewelry and flammable Halloween costumes. Instead, the former geology major who went on to co-chair the local Lawyers for Bush during the 2000 campaign initially wanted a job in the Interior Department. "That didn't work out," he told the Albuquerque Journal, "but I told them, 'Don't count me out' ... and they came up with this." "This" being the not-unimportant position of deciding which of 15,000 types of consumer products pose a health risk and might need to be recalled. Shortly before Stratton's confirmation hearing, Senator Ron Wyden expressed concern that Stratton "has no demonstrable track record on public safety." (Bill Clinton's cpsc chief, Ann Brown, spent 20 years as a consumer advocate and served as vice president of the Consumer Federation of America.) But now he does have a track record: rare public hearings and a paucity of new safety regulations, as well as regular (often industry-sponsored) travels to such destinations as China, Costa Rica, Belgium, Spain, and Mexico. But at least Stratton won't let personal bias influence him: Despite saying that he wouldn't let his own daughters play with water yo-yos--rubber toys that are outlawed in several countries because of concerns that children could be strangled by them--he refused to ban them in the United States. [...]

3: Rear Admiral Cristina Beato
Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Department of Health and Human Services

In June 2004, Cristina Beato admitted to her hometown newspaper that she hadn't paid much attention to the details of her resumé. That's too bad, because those silly little details seem to have stalled her confirmation for assistant secretary for health for over two years now. Beato said she earned a master's of public health in occupational medicine from the University of Wisconsin (but the university doesn't even offer that degree). She claimed to be "one of the principal leaders who revolutionized medical education in American universities by implementing the Problem Based learning curriculum" (but the curriculum was developed while Beato was still a medical student). She listed "medical attaché" to the American Embassy in Turkey as a job she held in 1986 (but that position didn't exist until 1995). She also boasted that she had "established" the University of New Mexico's occupational health clinic (but the clinic existed before she was hired, and there was even another medical director before her). For her part, Beato has offered a simple explanation: English is her third language, after French and her native Spanish, and sometimes the language barrier is just too much to handle. How does one say "pants on fire" in Spanish?

Via New Republic.

| | Posted by Magpie at 7:44 AM | Get permalink