first a swine flu perspective, as requested by a commenter. here are a couple of opinions, that may be proven wrong in the near future, and a few tidbits that you may not have picked up among the hysteria.
- this strain of swine flu probably did originate in mexico
- there is probably a tremendous number of people in mexico that are infected and are showing mild symptoms. therefore, the high number deaths there is probably not indicative of an extremely high fatality rate. as in, of the all the people that are infected, only a small proportion of them are dying.
- infection with swine flu can only be confirmed by a lab test. i am not a clinician, but at least one says if you think you have the flu, it's worth a call to your doctor (not necessarily an appointment). however, according to our local health department (seattle): "If you have not traveled to an area where swine flu is occurring in the 7 days before becoming ill and you have not had close contact with an ill person who recently returned from an area where swine flu is occurring, you do not need to seek medical care for swine flu evaluation," but you should contact your doctor for any type of flu if your symptoms are severe (e.g. fever for 3+ days with no explanation, rapidly worsening illness, person is unresponsive and unable to get out of bed, bad sore throat, difficulty breathing, severe cough and/or chest pain).
- not all cases being reported by the media are confirmed. some of them are only suspected. most likely, not all of them will be confirmed, either b/c they are not the new strain or b/c they don't have severe symptoms and it isn't worth a public health's dept's limited time/money to confirm them by lab test. (see here to find about ph dept's limited money, arg)
- in terms of symptoms, what seems to make this strain different is that adults have diarrhea along with their other flu symptoms. this is a preliminary observation though, and may not pan out.
- if you have any type of flu, stay home! and, everyone needs to wash their hands (get through the entire song of the abcs).
- you cannot get swine flu from pork, even if the chinese and russian gov't seem to be saying so by banning US pork.
- there is still a lot to learn about swine flu. here are some great resources that are consistently being updated:
the cdc site
the who site
the nyt tracker
the king county site (a leader in flu prevention)
okay now on the the whiney republicans: wah, why do we have to spend money on flu preparedness... wah, this stuff has nothing to do with national economy... wah, why think long term at all...
republicans blocked funding for flu-preparedness in stimulus package
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Does no one care about higher education anymore?
Over the weekend, the Washington State Legislature passed a biennial budget with a 26% budget cut for the University of Washington. That means that on July 1, over one quarter of the funding the state of Washington has provided to UW annually will no longer exist. As was said in the email sent out to UW students this "is by far the largest reduction in state support to a flagship university by any state in the nation. It takes our state funding level back to where it was more than a decade ago and drops the portion of the state budget dedicated to four-year higher education to an all-time low."
This means that UW students are looking at a tuition increase, many UW employees are going to be laid off, and the educational system is going to suffer dramatically. WTF? After all the hoopla about how the US is falling behind other countries in terms of education and ability to compete in a world economy, let alone WA state schools needing to stay competitive with other Universities around the country, here we are cutting the UW budget by over a quarter? On top of the fact that all of the other 4-year higher education systems in WA also got huge budget cuts. I mean I get that we are in a major financial crisis and have a huge budget deficit (hello 9 billion in WA state alone), but seriously, higher education gets the biggest cut of all? More then any other areas? I don't have a solution for what should have gotten more cuts, and of course no one wants their money to be taken, but I can't help but feel that there should have been a way to spread out the cuts a little more so that UW didn't get such a large one!
Read the Letter the President of UW sent out
This means that UW students are looking at a tuition increase, many UW employees are going to be laid off, and the educational system is going to suffer dramatically. WTF? After all the hoopla about how the US is falling behind other countries in terms of education and ability to compete in a world economy, let alone WA state schools needing to stay competitive with other Universities around the country, here we are cutting the UW budget by over a quarter? On top of the fact that all of the other 4-year higher education systems in WA also got huge budget cuts. I mean I get that we are in a major financial crisis and have a huge budget deficit (hello 9 billion in WA state alone), but seriously, higher education gets the biggest cut of all? More then any other areas? I don't have a solution for what should have gotten more cuts, and of course no one wants their money to be taken, but I can't help but feel that there should have been a way to spread out the cuts a little more so that UW didn't get such a large one!
Read the Letter the President of UW sent out
Monday, April 27, 2009
exploiting rush
although i am following the swine flu epidemic with great interest, so far i think the US response has been good. (ie no complaints yet). while i am watching it unfold, others are following it too...
maybe i didn't realize how much of an idiot rush limbaugh was... aside from complaining that the surgeon general "doesn't even perform surgeon," and blaming nafta for exporting disease to mexico (interesting idea, but biologically plausible in this case? um, no), he claims obama is going to exploit swine flu to his advantage. so, whenever a president (that rush doesn't like) does the right thing in a natural disaster (yes i consider epidemics natural disasters), he is exploiting it, and every time a president (that rush likes) f's up completely in a natural disaster the media is exploiting it? hmmmm, maybe exploiting is actually a good word? as in, "wow the sun's out today. i'm going to exploit the weather and go for a bike ride." how would you use "exploit" with it's new meaning in a sentence, readers?
i know, rush is an easy target, but, damn, a lot of people listen to this man. i can only hope some of them laugh at his stupidity.
HOWEVER, he does bring up one good point (sorta). we need a secretary of health and human services. today is the last day to contact your senators to confirm kathleen sebelius. anti-choice activists are trying to block this confirmation. you can contact your senators through this planned parenthood site, or their websites.
maybe i didn't realize how much of an idiot rush limbaugh was... aside from complaining that the surgeon general "doesn't even perform surgeon," and blaming nafta for exporting disease to mexico (interesting idea, but biologically plausible in this case? um, no), he claims obama is going to exploit swine flu to his advantage. so, whenever a president (that rush doesn't like) does the right thing in a natural disaster (yes i consider epidemics natural disasters), he is exploiting it, and every time a president (that rush likes) f's up completely in a natural disaster the media is exploiting it? hmmmm, maybe exploiting is actually a good word? as in, "wow the sun's out today. i'm going to exploit the weather and go for a bike ride." how would you use "exploit" with it's new meaning in a sentence, readers?
i know, rush is an easy target, but, damn, a lot of people listen to this man. i can only hope some of them laugh at his stupidity.
HOWEVER, he does bring up one good point (sorta). we need a secretary of health and human services. today is the last day to contact your senators to confirm kathleen sebelius. anti-choice activists are trying to block this confirmation. you can contact your senators through this planned parenthood site, or their websites.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Happy 100+ Posts!
This is the week where we here at RUTHERE surpassed our 100th post! These first 100 have been both fun and challenging and at times daunting, but through the support of our fantastic readers we have enjoyed every last second of it. So thank you so much readers for making our first 100 so interesting, and here is to our next 100!
Also, if any of our readers have suggestions for things that they think should be put onto the blog, feel free to email hotpants and hotstuff at rutheregodwtf@gmail.com. Thanks again! Y'all rock!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Are you f-ing serious? Video games that simulate rape???
There is a rape video game, named Rapelay, that has been on the market for some time now in Japan and was recently picked up by Amazon.com and then subsequently dropped after a backlash. The goal of this video game is to rape a mother and her two young daughters. It encourages players to force the virtual woman they rape to have an abortion. It also has a feature allowing several players to team up against individual women. I don't even know how to put into words how amazingly infuriating this is to me.
As someone who has now down a fair amount of research into the connections between media exposure and aggression (yes there is a connection) and exposure to violent sexually explicit media and aggression against women (yes people who consumer violent sexually explicit media are more aggressive to women), the fact that there is a first person video game which basically models for the consumer exactly how to go about raping someone is beyond belief. Have we really come to a point where we need to glorify rape? Is this really what we want people to be sitting in their living rooms doing?
And just for the record, the research on exposure to violent sexually explicit media and aggression against women has found no support for the idea that men get their kicks off by watching/playing and then do not enact. In fact there is support for just the opposite, where men learn how to engage in the behavior and are desensitized to the negative aspects of it, thus feel less reservation about engaging in the behavior. ACK!
Review of Rapelay
Amazon starts carrying it
Amazon stops carrying it
As someone who has now down a fair amount of research into the connections between media exposure and aggression (yes there is a connection) and exposure to violent sexually explicit media and aggression against women (yes people who consumer violent sexually explicit media are more aggressive to women), the fact that there is a first person video game which basically models for the consumer exactly how to go about raping someone is beyond belief. Have we really come to a point where we need to glorify rape? Is this really what we want people to be sitting in their living rooms doing?
And just for the record, the research on exposure to violent sexually explicit media and aggression against women has found no support for the idea that men get their kicks off by watching/playing and then do not enact. In fact there is support for just the opposite, where men learn how to engage in the behavior and are desensitized to the negative aspects of it, thus feel less reservation about engaging in the behavior. ACK!
Review of Rapelay
Amazon starts carrying it
Amazon stops carrying it
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
live simply so others can simply live
happy earth day, readers.
the title "live simply so others can simply live" comes from a t-shirt that i bought in high school. there's a cute panda that goes with the slogan. i still believe it.
some of the most important resources we have are finite and to attempt to live simply is to attempt to leave some of those resources for others humans and other creatures.
on this earth day, with some environmental issues finally creeping in the right direction (e.g. epa finally allowed to report that greenhouse gases are bad for our health), i wanted to give a shout out to the individual efforts that people make to live simply. i heard a commentator on npr remark, that while recycling is often talked about, the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle" should actually be thought of in that order. as in, first attempt to reduce, then reuse and then recycle.
anyway, here are some even more personal shoutouts:
to the Js, for air drying your clothes and not eating land animals (or fishies in JS's case)
to JA, for using cloth diapers
to YA, MC and NI, for still not buying a car and SL for making me think you don't have one since i never see it
to RK, never buying more than you need
to CR, for consistently getting groups outside to remind us how great the nature we have is
....
to my parents, for somehow getting into my head that there are many things more important than material goods
... these are just off the top of my head. please add shout outs in the comments to people you know (or yourself) for doing simple, environmentally-friendly things (and maybe tell us what they are ;) ).
5 suggestions from USN
and the new recycling rules for seattle-ites
the title "live simply so others can simply live" comes from a t-shirt that i bought in high school. there's a cute panda that goes with the slogan. i still believe it.
some of the most important resources we have are finite and to attempt to live simply is to attempt to leave some of those resources for others humans and other creatures.
on this earth day, with some environmental issues finally creeping in the right direction (e.g. epa finally allowed to report that greenhouse gases are bad for our health), i wanted to give a shout out to the individual efforts that people make to live simply. i heard a commentator on npr remark, that while recycling is often talked about, the phrase "reduce, reuse, recycle" should actually be thought of in that order. as in, first attempt to reduce, then reuse and then recycle.
anyway, here are some even more personal shoutouts:
to the Js, for air drying your clothes and not eating land animals (or fishies in JS's case)
to JA, for using cloth diapers
to YA, MC and NI, for still not buying a car and SL for making me think you don't have one since i never see it
to RK, never buying more than you need
to CR, for consistently getting groups outside to remind us how great the nature we have is
....
to my parents, for somehow getting into my head that there are many things more important than material goods
... these are just off the top of my head. please add shout outs in the comments to people you know (or yourself) for doing simple, environmentally-friendly things (and maybe tell us what they are ;) ).
5 suggestions from USN
and the new recycling rules for seattle-ites
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Lets knock the kids out already!
I don't know how they come up with these ideas, but this may be one of the creepiest things I have run across in a long time. A doctor in Boston got paid $1.8 million dollars to create the PediSedate, a combo gaming device and sedation machine. It is meant to keep kids occupied while sedating them with nitrous. It even has a pulse-oximeter to slightly adjust the flow of gas in real time. While this is all fine and good, are you serious? The mask alone may be on the of scariest things I have ever seen. Can you imagine being a kid and having that thing strapped to your face? On top of which, why is it that video games are now the go-to thing for kids. Maybe we should be teaching them that sometimes they have to go through uncomfortable situations to take care of yourself in the long run, or for your future goals. If we are teaching kids that the only way to do things that they don't like is by distracting them, aren't we really doing them a disservice? I mean seriously, look at this thing:
Article about PediSedate
Article about PediSedate
Friday, April 17, 2009
thank goodness for you, readers
so i was a little delinquent in my posts this week (missed one). but, one of our faithful readers sent me a great post idea. so here goes 2 posts with one stone.
hotstuff and i love love love that y'all are reading our blog. we are super happy for the comments we get online and the ones we get in person (aka on gchat). please keep them coming. a couple months ago, there was a lull in readership, during which the hotties consoled ourselves, saying we liked just having the writing practice and having a chance to work through and rant about our ideas. but, we were just making ourselves feel better. what we like most of all is having y'all reading our stuff. hehe.
so now i introduce to you a guest blog entry from a reader who has named herself hotsauce:
I don't know if you guys take requests, but if you do I'd like to make one:
article:
Women at War Face Sexual Assault
I'm not sure why this particular article made me so angry. But it might be because I've got 2009 on my watch and women are still putting up with the same shit my mom and her contemporaries put up with in the 70s. Women are fighting on the front lines of war next to men who simultaneously judge Iraqis as "backward" while sexually assaulting their own fellow soldiers. (I mean, if a woman in uniform who carries weapons and follows orders and trained in the military and signed a contract as a soldier actually qualifies as a "soldier".) What the fuck?
hotstuff and i love love love that y'all are reading our blog. we are super happy for the comments we get online and the ones we get in person (aka on gchat). please keep them coming. a couple months ago, there was a lull in readership, during which the hotties consoled ourselves, saying we liked just having the writing practice and having a chance to work through and rant about our ideas. but, we were just making ourselves feel better. what we like most of all is having y'all reading our stuff. hehe.
so now i introduce to you a guest blog entry from a reader who has named herself hotsauce:
I don't know if you guys take requests, but if you do I'd like to make one:
article:
Women at War Face Sexual Assault
I'm not sure why this particular article made me so angry. But it might be because I've got 2009 on my watch and women are still putting up with the same shit my mom and her contemporaries put up with in the 70s. Women are fighting on the front lines of war next to men who simultaneously judge Iraqis as "backward" while sexually assaulting their own fellow soldiers. (I mean, if a woman in uniform who carries weapons and follows orders and trained in the military and signed a contract as a soldier actually qualifies as a "soldier".) What the fuck?
Fried skin for less breast cancer?
On my way to school every day I pass by a tanning salon named "Desert Sun" (for those of you in Seattle, it is at the corner of Stone Way and 45th). Recently this tanning salon decided that it was necessary to spend money on a banner that says, and I quote, "Vitamin D from UV exposure reduces the risk of breast cancer by 60%". Below is a picture of the salon and the very banner that I am talking about (sorry it is fuzzy, it is through a bus window). So seriously, WTF? First off, studies that talk about Vitamin D from UV exposure are not talking about the kind you get from a tanning bed. Second, what about the greatly increased risk of skin cancer from tanning? Or the plethora of other health risks with tanning beds, like skin fungus from shared beds? I may be wrong about this, but from my understanding, even with just a little sun exposure (like the kind you get from a five minute walk to your house from the bus) you get a lot of Vitamin D. There is no need to put yourself at increased health risks by actually going into a tanning salon and frying the hell out of your skin. Every time I pass this banner it makes my heart cringe. I mean seriously people, WTF?
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
You lost! Suck it up!
The Sentatorial race in Minnesota has been a mess since the night of the election. It was too close to call and there have now been multiple recounts and judge rulings. Finally, on Tuesday after yet another recount, a three judge panel was created to declare a victor. Thus, it was announced that Al Franken (Democrat) had won. But was that the end of it? Of course not! Norm Coleman, the Republican running against Franken, has proclaimed that he again is going to appeal the decision, citing that 4,000 absentee ballets have not been counted. And yes I recognize that all votes should be counted and every voice heard, but seriously, what month are we in? At this rate they are never going to have a Senator.
Additionally, the win has to be certified by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican. Gov. Pawlenty of course has stated that he will not certify anything until all of it is out of the legal system. Which could take at least a couple weeks, if not months. So where does that leave us? The recount led to more votes for Franken, the judges have multiple times ruled that Franken is the winner, and the loser, Coleman, with the help of his buddy Pawlenty, is just dragging his feet and depriving his state of a Sentator. I mean seriously Coleman, maybe it is time to bow out gracefully and let the state's interest come before your own!
Franken has the most votes
Another article on this debacle
Additionally, the win has to be certified by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican. Gov. Pawlenty of course has stated that he will not certify anything until all of it is out of the legal system. Which could take at least a couple weeks, if not months. So where does that leave us? The recount led to more votes for Franken, the judges have multiple times ruled that Franken is the winner, and the loser, Coleman, with the help of his buddy Pawlenty, is just dragging his feet and depriving his state of a Sentator. I mean seriously Coleman, maybe it is time to bow out gracefully and let the state's interest come before your own!
Franken has the most votes
Another article on this debacle
Monday, April 13, 2009
why aren't my taxes going to healthcare, of the universal variety
ok 3 things
1. i'm doing my taxes (you know what those are, i don't have to explain)
2. i just saw sicko, the michael moore movie last night. i loved it (much more than i thought i would)
film trailer on film website
3. i broke my elbow on halloween last fall and am just now getting the round up of medical bills, post insurance assessment... a $13,000 surgery that i have to pay 10% of...
blog post about break with cool xray
why aren't my taxes going towards universal health care? it was heartbreaking for me to watch people from other countries explain to michael moore that they pay nothing for health care procedures. i already knew this, but watching those interviews just made me wish america would grow up already. i would gladly pay the thousand dollars that i'm sending the hospital this year to the gov't instead, if it meant that everyone of us could show up at a hospital without fear of what it was going to cost. i know i'm not alone, but i hope our current administration will fight (and beat) the cowboys, who think everyone should go at it alone, and the free marketeers on this essential issue.
1. i'm doing my taxes (you know what those are, i don't have to explain)
2. i just saw sicko, the michael moore movie last night. i loved it (much more than i thought i would)
film trailer on film website
3. i broke my elbow on halloween last fall and am just now getting the round up of medical bills, post insurance assessment... a $13,000 surgery that i have to pay 10% of...
blog post about break with cool xray
why aren't my taxes going towards universal health care? it was heartbreaking for me to watch people from other countries explain to michael moore that they pay nothing for health care procedures. i already knew this, but watching those interviews just made me wish america would grow up already. i would gladly pay the thousand dollars that i'm sending the hospital this year to the gov't instead, if it meant that everyone of us could show up at a hospital without fear of what it was going to cost. i know i'm not alone, but i hope our current administration will fight (and beat) the cowboys, who think everyone should go at it alone, and the free marketeers on this essential issue.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thank God for good friends and fun rituals!
Just like our wonderful president, a whole group of friends got together last night and celebrate the Seder together. This involved copious amounts of wine, whipping each other with green onions, and lovely roasted beef and lamb (on top of many other very tasty foods). So I just wanted to thank God for giving us many good reasons to get friends together to celebrate a good meal and each others company (and of course the freeing of the Jews)!
Wikipedia article on Seder
Article about Obama's Seder
And for those of you who missed the link to this in the comments of an earlier post:
Robot Seder
Wikipedia article on Seder
Article about Obama's Seder
And for those of you who missed the link to this in the comments of an earlier post:
Robot Seder
Thursday, April 9, 2009
subject: this recession kinda sucks right
to: hotpants's dad (an economic expert)
from: hotpants
date:Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 9:43 AM
subject: this recession kinda sucks right
...the coffee shop i'm working at is filled with only men between late 20s and early 40s. 6 mo ago it would have been mostly moms and their little ones at this hour. there is at least one employed cop. (1 out of 9) they could be "working from home" or this could be an anomaly, but given that at the clinic last night there were at least 3 men who came in who used to have insurance, but don't anymore b/c of being laid off, i'd guess that recession has something to do with this.
-hotpants
(hotpants inserted comment: i thought at 1st i wouldn't blog about this b/c it assumes a bit about the sexes and other things, but my dad talked to me into it...)
to: hotpants
from: hotpants's dad
date: Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 10:09 AM
subject: this recession kinda sucks right
... it would be very good for you to blog something that suggests males are people worthy of the sympathy of all. (hp inserted comment: hey i did just talk about the detroit workers, many of which are male.) Indeed, all you have to do is report what you reported to me. I try very hard to use concrete observation in my classrooms. And, you don't have to give a complete sociological analysis on the biases of your observations either.
I just did a mental calculation about plausible rates of recovery and the fastest rates of recovery would get us close to full employment in 2 1/2 years if recovery started now. Which it hasn't.
(hotpants' comment post-emails: crap that sucks! stay in school if you can!)
from: hotpants
date:Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 9:43 AM
subject: this recession kinda sucks right
...the coffee shop i'm working at is filled with only men between late 20s and early 40s. 6 mo ago it would have been mostly moms and their little ones at this hour. there is at least one employed cop. (1 out of 9) they could be "working from home" or this could be an anomaly, but given that at the clinic last night there were at least 3 men who came in who used to have insurance, but don't anymore b/c of being laid off, i'd guess that recession has something to do with this.
-hotpants
(hotpants inserted comment: i thought at 1st i wouldn't blog about this b/c it assumes a bit about the sexes and other things, but my dad talked to me into it...)
to: hotpants
from: hotpants's dad
date: Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 10:09 AM
subject: this recession kinda sucks right
... it would be very good for you to blog something that suggests males are people worthy of the sympathy of all. (hp inserted comment: hey i did just talk about the detroit workers, many of which are male.) Indeed, all you have to do is report what you reported to me. I try very hard to use concrete observation in my classrooms. And, you don't have to give a complete sociological analysis on the biases of your observations either.
I just did a mental calculation about plausible rates of recovery and the fastest rates of recovery would get us close to full employment in 2 1/2 years if recovery started now. Which it hasn't.
(hotpants' comment post-emails: crap that sucks! stay in school if you can!)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
mmmmmmmm sodium chloride.....
In a recent article in the NYT (and you wonder where we get all of our nifty ideas) I was alerted to the fact that the mayor of NYC (you may know him as Michael Bloomberg) announced that NYC is going to try to pressure the food industry and restaurant chains to cut their use of salt in half over the next decade. While this may seem all in good fun and with health promotion in mind, what the article so astutely points out is that for decades now it has been hypothesized that salt is bad for your health, and yet there has been no definitive answer on this matter.
It even appears that while a reduction in salt intake may be good for some people, like those with high blood pressure, there has been no research indicating that in the general population a reduction in salt actually does anything good, and may in some cases actually be harmful(like in the cited study where heart patients that were randomized to a low sodium diet were more likely to be rehospitalized and die). As Michael Alderman, an expert in hypertension at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, put it, “We have no way of knowing the health effects of eating less salt, yet we’re supposed to forge ahead with this new policy that affects the whole population.”
So really dear, fantastic blog readers, when will all of this sensational idiocy end? Do we really need to outlaw transfats and make policies about the amount of salt in our food? Or should we consider, just for a second, promoting eating in moderation?
NYT Article
It even appears that while a reduction in salt intake may be good for some people, like those with high blood pressure, there has been no research indicating that in the general population a reduction in salt actually does anything good, and may in some cases actually be harmful(like in the cited study where heart patients that were randomized to a low sodium diet were more likely to be rehospitalized and die). As Michael Alderman, an expert in hypertension at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, put it, “We have no way of knowing the health effects of eating less salt, yet we’re supposed to forge ahead with this new policy that affects the whole population.”
So really dear, fantastic blog readers, when will all of this sensational idiocy end? Do we really need to outlaw transfats and make policies about the amount of salt in our food? Or should we consider, just for a second, promoting eating in moderation?
NYT Article
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
did GM really miss the boat that badly?
detroit is an easy target these days, but having finally seen "who killed the electric car?," i'd like to throw a few at that big bull's eye.
i enjoyed this movie. i mean who doesn't love hearing president bartlett (aka martin sheen, the narrator) talking sense again. i only had 2 complaints, 1. i thought the effort to be a little bit balanced was a little too lopsided. (in a direction that i agreed w/, but still...) i think it would have been better if they let their biases be known even more clearly. 2. i would have liked to hear more about the other electric cars' stories, not just the GM. buuut... they had a neat little package of a story for the GM EV and a cute redheaded spokesperson to tell some of it. so i can see why they chose it. readers, what did you think of the film?
ok, enough with the movie reviewing, hotpants! here's the nitty gritty that i got from the film, for those that don't know. the lovely golden state demanded that 10% of vehicles be zero emissions for car companies to be able to sell in their state (a board called CARB did this). yay! for them. electric cars were produced and a lot of people liked them (at least the GM EV). There were wait lists. However, they were not mass-produced for a variety of reasons, and some conspiracy theories (that i might believe...). then cali revoked the policy (at least in part) and the cars were destroyed. every one of the GM EV's was leased, so they recalled them and crushed them. arg!!!! now there are wait lists for hybrid toyatas instead.
i heard two things on the radio relevant to detroit today. one was that jay leno is giving a free concert to several thousand people who had been laid off there recently. the other was a commentator predicting that the prolonged recession will bring "smaller cars and fuller lives." well here's hoping that for laughs, smaller cars and fuller lives for the people in detroit that no longer have jobs thanks, in part, to their bosses' short-sightedness.
the film's website (it's really good and very informative)
GM's response to the movie
i enjoyed this movie. i mean who doesn't love hearing president bartlett (aka martin sheen, the narrator) talking sense again. i only had 2 complaints, 1. i thought the effort to be a little bit balanced was a little too lopsided. (in a direction that i agreed w/, but still...) i think it would have been better if they let their biases be known even more clearly. 2. i would have liked to hear more about the other electric cars' stories, not just the GM. buuut... they had a neat little package of a story for the GM EV and a cute redheaded spokesperson to tell some of it. so i can see why they chose it. readers, what did you think of the film?
ok, enough with the movie reviewing, hotpants! here's the nitty gritty that i got from the film, for those that don't know. the lovely golden state demanded that 10% of vehicles be zero emissions for car companies to be able to sell in their state (a board called CARB did this). yay! for them. electric cars were produced and a lot of people liked them (at least the GM EV). There were wait lists. However, they were not mass-produced for a variety of reasons, and some conspiracy theories (that i might believe...). then cali revoked the policy (at least in part) and the cars were destroyed. every one of the GM EV's was leased, so they recalled them and crushed them. arg!!!! now there are wait lists for hybrid toyatas instead.
i heard two things on the radio relevant to detroit today. one was that jay leno is giving a free concert to several thousand people who had been laid off there recently. the other was a commentator predicting that the prolonged recession will bring "smaller cars and fuller lives." well here's hoping that for laughs, smaller cars and fuller lives for the people in detroit that no longer have jobs thanks, in part, to their bosses' short-sightedness.
the film's website (it's really good and very informative)
GM's response to the movie
Monday, April 6, 2009
Is this really where the wild things are?
It recently came to my attention that one of my all time top ten favorite childhood books, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, is being made into a full length feature film. Not only is it being made into a feature film, but it is also going to be a live action feature film. While I totally love and adore both the director, Spike Jonze, and the screenplay adaptor, Dave Eggers, I have to say that I am a bit sad to see a book that is vividly visualized in my head and via the beautiful illustrations in the book itself being made into a full length live action film. First, because if I go and see the film, which most likely I will, I will now have the images that I have so carefully crafted in my head, replaced with images that are no longer mine but have been purposefully decided by someone else. Additionally, I will now potentially see the actors faces as the characters instead of how I imagined them.
Second, Where the Wild Things Are is a very succinct book with a very specific time frame allotted for the story. To make this short illustrated story into a feature film there will need to be some elaboration as to the background of the characters and the story itself. Is this really what we want? Do we really need to know any more about the characters then what Maurice Sendak decided was needed in the original story? Granted there is potential that this will be done with lots of care and skill, but there is a reason that Maurice Sendak chose to make the story as it is and why it is so successful. Should that really be messed with?
Finally, I have to say that generally I am just kinda sad about all of these great kids books being made into films as of late. I really feel that this takes away some of the creativity and joy from reading these books both as a child and and adult, and really if we are offering children the fancy new sparkly version where they don't actually have to pick up a book and can still get the story, then can we really complain that kids aren't reading as much these days?
IMDB for Where the Wild Things Are
Second, Where the Wild Things Are is a very succinct book with a very specific time frame allotted for the story. To make this short illustrated story into a feature film there will need to be some elaboration as to the background of the characters and the story itself. Is this really what we want? Do we really need to know any more about the characters then what Maurice Sendak decided was needed in the original story? Granted there is potential that this will be done with lots of care and skill, but there is a reason that Maurice Sendak chose to make the story as it is and why it is so successful. Should that really be messed with?
Finally, I have to say that generally I am just kinda sad about all of these great kids books being made into films as of late. I really feel that this takes away some of the creativity and joy from reading these books both as a child and and adult, and really if we are offering children the fancy new sparkly version where they don't actually have to pick up a book and can still get the story, then can we really complain that kids aren't reading as much these days?
IMDB for Where the Wild Things Are
Sunday, April 5, 2009
iowa i love ya, iowa iowa i love ya
seven years ago i spent several hot summer weeks in iowa, measuring corn. i'm not kidding. my brother helped me out too and got a killer sunburn (and chunk of cash). i didn't have great thoughts about iowa then. i preferred to be seattle, despite iowa's beautiful rolling hills. at the time, i was naive enough to think of iowa as clearly too convervative for me to spend time in...
but, what what! this week they proved me wrong. yay!
nyt article about iowa's triumph
but, what what! this week they proved me wrong. yay!
nyt article about iowa's triumph
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Organic Gardening at The White House
I am sure at this point many of you have seen the lovely pictures of the always beautiful Michelle Obama in the new organic garden at The White House. You may at this point be asking yourself, what the heck could hotstuff take issue with an organic garden that little kids get to tend to and some of the food will go to a homeless shelter. And I would say that is a fair question, but then I want you to ask yourself, what exactly are they trying to do with this organic garden? Are they trying to influence the way that people think about food and growing food? Are they jumping onto the idea that the world would be a better place if all of us had our own gardens and made our own food supply while not hurting the environment?
There has been a recent push it seems towards organic gardening as an ideal way to help out our environment, our waistbands, and potentially our wallets, but do any of you know how time consuming it is to take care of an organic garden? let alone deal with pests and fertilizing an organic garden? Is this actually a feasible reality for the majority of people in our country who are working overtime just to keep their electricity on? Is gardening, dare I say it, an option only for the elitist few with the money, time, and land to do it? And with that in mind, should our president really be presenting this as an ideal? Please, I am grappling with this question, and would love to hear what you, our wonderful readers, think about it!
NYT Article on the Garden
There has been a recent push it seems towards organic gardening as an ideal way to help out our environment, our waistbands, and potentially our wallets, but do any of you know how time consuming it is to take care of an organic garden? let alone deal with pests and fertilizing an organic garden? Is this actually a feasible reality for the majority of people in our country who are working overtime just to keep their electricity on? Is gardening, dare I say it, an option only for the elitist few with the money, time, and land to do it? And with that in mind, should our president really be presenting this as an ideal? Please, I am grappling with this question, and would love to hear what you, our wonderful readers, think about it!
NYT Article on the Garden
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
wtf! why did it take so long for this doc to get a nobel prize?
dr. victoria lazoff has been a tireless proponent of women's health and yet the sexist nobel prize committee has totally ignored her influential work. if she wasn't white, i'd say they were racist too.
article about the good doc and her award winning work
article about the good doc and her award winning work
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