Indignant Desert Birds

It's a big mack. Get it?

One of the things I haven’t talked about on this blog is that I’m trying to lose weight. Technically, I’m on a diet; what I’m really trying to do is change the way I eat. It’s harder than it seems. Part of this means that when I’m out with friends and they want to go to McDonalds, I need to find something on that menu…

So: last night I ordered a hamburger, medium fries and a medium drink (Total calories: ~680). The woman then suggested I could get a McDouble Meal for less money (total Calories: 770). I said that no, I’d prefer just the regular burger. Oh! Perhaps I mean the 2 cheeseburger? (Total Calories: ~1000).

The weirdest part of the experience is this: the woman taking my order was trying her hardest to give me a positive experience. What I wanted to do was more costly— and less filling– than what she wanted me to do.

This is the result of a bizarre food scheme we have where consumers are looking to maximize not their health, but rather their total caloric intake– for the least amount of money. The net result is that we get fatter. Not only that: because its the poorest of us who are unable to afford healthier food, fat becomes a class issue. Fun times all around.

Tags: death, famine, human rights by Punning Pundit
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By Ara Rubyan
Cross posted at E Pluribus Unum

“Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.”

— Karl Rove, describing Barack Obama

When I first read about this comment, my immediate reaction was that I couldn’t think of a single country club that would admit a black man named Barack Hussein Obama. Then I thought Rove was doing his usual shtick, i.e., take his greatest weakness and ascribe it to his opponent. In other words, I felt that he was describing George W. Bush at the club, not Obama. Makes much more sense that way, given Bush’s history with alcohol — and his smart mouth. It was much the same technique Rove used to destroy John Kerry’s Vietnam war record in 2004, all but accusing the nominee of being a liar and a coward. All this while Bush was hiding his “war record” in plain sight.

But a commenter at Talking Points Memo unpacked Rove’s comments differently than me and I think he nails it:

The key to the statement is that (in the image) he is with “a beautiful date.” Not Michelle Obama or, in the abstract, his wife, i.e. a wife like Michelle Obama. When you think of a “beautiful date” specifically at a country club, do you picture an African-American woman? Would Rove’s target audience?

Or do you picture him there, a black man, smoking a cigarette indoors at a country club, with a white woman on his arm?

When I thought of this, I got a chill. When you think of Obama’s vulnerability, I think the primaries showed that race remains a real and very serious obstacle, particularly with white Americans over 50. When you think of where we are with racism in this country, I think its a pretty safe bet that the final freak-out factor to overcome may be black men dating white women, in particular, one’s daughter.

If I were a completely amoral Republican operative, I’d try to find some white women that Obama dated before Michelle and get them into the public’s stream of consciousness anyway I could. Its a tactic so vile I don’t even like speculating about it, but if you want to be ready for the worst, I think Rove just tipped his hand at where they plan to go.

In all fairness, I have to ask if there is (or isn’t) the analogous scenario that an “amoral Democratic operative” could spring on McCain? Remember, in order for it to work, it has to resonate at the emotional level and be absolutely radioactive in the extreme. It has to address a fundamental fear that the electorate has about McCain.

Tags: conservative, election08, games, human rights, politics by arubyan
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The thing about healthcare is that there are many, many ways of doing it. Ours is about the worst. I mean, maybe not the worst possible, but certainly the worst we’re likely to see and still have a whole ton of very competent doctors. (In order to get worse, you pretty much have to be Cuba.)

How do we improve? Well, you’d want minimum care standards. And a dedicated funding stream. The idea is that it should be paid for by the government so that it’s not paid for by an employer– and so that you don’t lose care if you lose your job. After all, in this country, cancer is the number on cause of bankruptcy.

What would make the system perfect? Well, I’m not wild about the idea of the government running the health care system– I do like the idea of private actors competing for customers. Ezra Klein has more: part 1, part 2, and part 3

Maniakes: I’d love to get your take on this…

Tags: death, human rights by Punning Pundit
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32 Days ago the California Supreme Court looked at our State’s constitution and found enough protections for gays within that document that any restrictions on the rights of gays would have to meet “Strict Scrutiny” tests. legislative Bans on marriage did not meet that test and were therefore illegal. At 5:01pm, PDT, the paperwork was handed out, and about a nanosecond later, the first legalizable ceremonies took place.

It is fascinating to me the ways that human beings want to get married. The forms of marriage differ across time and culture, but the fact of it is universal. A society such as ours should have the broadest, most inclusive terms possible. Allowing more people, more couples to formalize their roots within the community makes us all that much better off.

For too long man kept apart what the gods had joined. Yesterday we began correcting that mistake.

Tags: human rights by Punning Pundit
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I don’t know which emotion is stronger: Happiness that it’s back, or anger that it was ever gone.

Before today, the President reserved to himself the right to declare an individual an “Enemy Combatant”, and for those classes of people, he opined that they could be held– forever– without charges being filed.

The court today held that a plain reading of “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” means that Congress must find that either a state is seceding, or has been invaded, or else Habeas Corpus cannot be suspended.

Let’s be clear: if we think someone is a terrorist, we can still hold them long enough to put them on trial, and if they are convicted we can treat them– fairly harshly under military law. If they’re innocent, however, we’ll let them go.

It’s only just.

Tags: death, human rights, politics by Punning Pundit
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I was listening to this song by the floblots, and had never heard of Anne Braden. Naturally wikipedia was able to help…

If this is accurate, an American was thrown in jail for selling his house to another American. Power was used to maintain injustice. I am always and forever terrified of being on the wrong side of power– and so for that reason I’ve always been _very_ supportive of free speech.

The problem comes when people who have no interest in discussion seek to drown out the voices of those who do. Speech is then used against itself to the edification of no one. For a free-speech fetishist like myself, this presents a problem: how do I keep a conversation moving when the trolls show up– without destroying the right of a troll to speak. After all: the person may not be a troll, but merely have (true) ideas I find repugnant. What if I am on the wrong side of history?

One solution which presents itself is disemvoweling. “Offending” comments are still there, and if there is truth, it will shine through. But no one will struggle to read asshole comments. I think it’s a good compromise. If there is a better idea, please let me know in the comments…

(updated within 30min. of posting. For clarity)

Tags: free speech, human rights, politics by Punning Pundit
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