tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41864153786544888612024-01-28T01:02:36.013-08:00Blended PurplePurplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.comBlogger910125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-52119605379478032612013-01-03T20:50:00.000-08:002013-01-03T21:00:18.187-08:00The Drop in CrimeKevin Drum has an interesting <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/01/lead-crime-link-gasoline?page=1">article</a> out on the spectacular drop in violent crime since the early 1990's and its possible connection with lead. Says the theory: as leaded gas was eliminated, there was a corresponding reduction of pathologies in young people.
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However, throwing about 1% of the population in prison has a way of reducing crime. Having the largest incarceration rate in the world does have an affect, at a huge economic and human cost.
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Part of that surplus labor Marx talked about is swept away, hiding the fact that capitalism is inherently incapable of providing full employment.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-11556291239639192632012-11-07T22:09:00.003-08:002012-11-07T22:16:46.157-08:00Romney Lost Because of Anti-Mormon Bigotry on the RightWell , the previously mentioned alienated evangelicals never showed up. Why ? Because many of them won't vote for a Mormon.
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I should have known this since my ex-boss was a hard-right Baptist, and repeatedly stated a few years ago he would never vote for Romney.
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One could almost call this the Bradley effect of the 2012 election. Romney couldn't hit Mc Cain's numbers, and in fact, wasn't close.
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<i>Some evangelical leaders, worried that Mitt Romney's Mormonism could suppress conservative turnout on Election Day, are intensifying appeals for Christians to vote.
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In poll after poll, evangelicals have overwhelmingly said they would back the Republican presidential nominee despite theological differences with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But what had been thought of as a hypothetical question for American evangelicals for years, Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler said recently, is now a reality with this election and is being tested in a contest that will likely be decided by slim margins.</i>
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<a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/evangelical_leaders_worry_romn.html">1</a>'Evangelical leaders worry Romney's Mormonism could suppress conservative turnout' - APPurplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-60723982320335030262012-11-02T22:43:00.001-07:002012-11-02T22:45:25.759-07:00Polls and the Right (Why Romney is much Closer than it Looks)The last few national elections have seen a mostly unreported trend in initial exit polling. They are almost invariably underestimating Republican voting percentages.
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This is because there is a small but significant chunk of the right that has dropped out of what one could call the mainstream conversation. Their world is Fox and Breitbart, and anyone doing an exit poll is part of the liberal MSM.
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I am guessing that this is also the case in phone polling. If one lives amongst these conservative communities one notices that the degree of alienation is quite profound. Their world is slipping away, or what they imagine was their world.
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This leads me to believe that the election is much, much closer than polls are indicating.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-59851731377072451942012-10-09T22:03:00.002-07:002012-10-09T22:03:21.227-07:00Gaga and Assange<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJaNg363IEulMIAf_qdISN3VU4PObKyok_Q1FRkEuQX0NzsyxMmXqDX4yvgY3g8OO0DlyJ5wJWFwK7iV8V4Ui41yY2sLM0PVM2vTeTmCfLjyyoDPfrX9eDy628D2p-E5CQNqPiH1OUDHC/s1600/together_again.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJaNg363IEulMIAf_qdISN3VU4PObKyok_Q1FRkEuQX0NzsyxMmXqDX4yvgY3g8OO0DlyJ5wJWFwK7iV8V4Ui41yY2sLM0PVM2vTeTmCfLjyyoDPfrX9eDy628D2p-E5CQNqPiH1OUDHC/s400/together_again.jpg" /></a>
Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-20288176158032667872012-10-09T21:51:00.002-07:002012-10-09T21:51:39.489-07:00Presidential ElectionNo great insight, but the presidential election will be decided on turnout. Obama dominates the polls based on registered voters, while Romney is inching ahead in terms of likely voters.
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<br>Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-70404917527589319742012-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:002012-10-07T19:57:05.156-07:00Chavez Wins DecisivelyBut we can expect our bought-and-paid-for media to tell us Venezuela is a deeply divided country.
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A ten point victory in the U.S. is a blowout, in governments that are not obedient it is a sign of crumbling support.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-24357499556623400702012-10-03T20:09:00.000-07:002012-10-03T20:09:05.456-07:00Mitt Compares Obama to His "Boys" ?Did anyone else hear that in the debate ?
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As in, just because you say something a lot (like my boys) doesn't make it true.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-16090856094869865372012-10-03T20:05:00.001-07:002012-10-03T20:05:10.861-07:00If Medicare Is So Great As the two candidates insisted tonight -- then why not extend it to the general population ?Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-89766431751037842882012-10-01T22:05:00.002-07:002012-10-01T22:11:38.037-07:00Some of Fair Trade is NutsAt about :19 in this ad, we catch Michael Franti manually hoeing some coffee plants ! This is pretty much crazy, as I doubt this is the most technologically sophisticated or efficient way to grow coffee. The world cannot feed its population on 17th century technology, not to mention the fact it is utterly back breaking to hoe a field all day. I've done it.
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There's a reason humans have invented tools , i.e. technology, since the beginning of our existence and that is too make life easier. We need to argue for a society where technological progress can benefit the entire population, and not retreat into a luddite distopian utopianism.
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<br><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5jFAUTRXaM0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-59065726871687746802012-09-29T05:36:00.001-07:002012-09-29T05:40:36.449-07:00The Intellectual Underpinnings of the Charter School MovementKIPP's new bumper sticker slogan: Work Hard. Be Nice.
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Translation: SHUT UP (work hard) AND DO WHAT YOU ARE TOLD (be nice).
Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-52768315252849580092012-09-29T05:33:00.001-07:002012-09-29T05:35:28.485-07:00Mumbling Over Student Loan DefaultsNowhere in this article on <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-28/student-loan-defaults-soar-as-government-scrutiny-grow.html">student debt</a> is the obvious mentioned. The federal government could just increase grants to college students or make tuition free. The latter for like 80 billion, a minimal cost in the context of the federal budget.
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Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-70550264095047025312012-09-28T17:03:00.000-07:002012-09-28T17:03:06.802-07:00Akin and MissouriIt looks like Akin is more than competitive in Missouri, which is confirmation of how much of a backwater the state has become. Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-37678308150840188762012-09-25T21:14:00.000-07:002012-09-25T21:16:31.484-07:00On Purple ViolinsJust the fact it's an issue for a school district to ban a purple violin from public performance is a sign of how stupid the country has become. Hardly anyone is aware of the principles of classical music because the highest art they've been to is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. And they then think that is an 'orchestra'.
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Briefly, classical music is about visual conformity so as to put the music first. Even most soloists dress in a rather conservative fashion, and those in the orchestra have very strict dress codes that are in the contract. You will never see a purple violin in a professional classical music concert.
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Have respect for the tradition, for once. And have respect for the concept of a collective unit, not some type of phoney, non-talent based, individualism.
Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-36160178186536816312012-09-23T23:03:00.002-07:002012-09-25T21:15:51.458-07:00Scab RefsI don't know why people aren't calling these NFL refs what they are - scabs, not 'replacements'.
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In every guild profession I've been involved with, the union folks are far more skilled than the non-union.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-46575659915677408142012-09-22T23:40:00.003-07:002012-09-22T23:40:37.281-07:00Our Psychopathic Police <div style="padding-left: 20px;">A Houston police officer shot and killed a one-armed, one-legged man in a wheelchair Saturday inside a group home after police say the double amputee threatened the officer and aggressively waved a metal object that turned out to be a pen.</div>
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<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/houston-officer-kills-double-amputee-wheelchair-222540280.html">1</a>'Houston officer kills double amputee in wheelchair' - ApPurplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-44540648783725551942012-09-22T09:18:00.002-07:002012-09-22T09:23:53.144-07:00Liberal Heaven: Equality (of Misery)Liberal race hustlers must be orgasmic about this. That 'racist' white trash is getting what they deserve.
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<div style="padding-left: 20px;">Michael Marmot, director of the Institute of Health Equity in London, told the New York Times that the decline in life expectancy for poor white women over the five-year period from 2003 to 2008 brought to mind the seven years of falling life expectancy for Russian men after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991...
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The decline for poor white women produced the remarkable result that in 2008 life expectancy for white women without a high school diploma was actually lower than for black women with the same educational level, the first time that such an inversion has been reported in relation to a major indicator of social distress.(1)</div>
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Identity politics is such a disgraceful fucking sham. <br>
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<a href="http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/sep2012/life-s22.shtml">1</a>'Life expectancy falling for the poorest Americans' - WSWSPurplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-18662836465049659542012-09-19T20:30:00.002-07:002012-09-19T20:30:38.132-07:00The Evil MaoUnder Mao, life expectancy in China went from 39 years (worst in the world) to 66 years.
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Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-26855929519519161202012-09-18T20:38:00.000-07:002012-09-19T20:41:48.563-07:00Eating May Kill<div style="padding-left: 20px;">Food is a major source of arsenic in the American diet, as the chemical is still used in feed for poultry and occasionally hogs to prevent disease. Waste from those animals can contaminate fields when it is used as fertilizer.
As a result, arsenic can be found in fruits, vegetables, rice and seafood - all of which are considered healthy. The U.S. government has a federal limit for arsenic in drinking water at 10 parts per billion (ppb).(1)</div>
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But you see this is all about choice. Does eating have a <i>marginal utility</i> greater than the perceived risk of cancer ?
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<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/19/us-usa-rice-arsenic-idUSBRE88I0RR20120919">1</a>'U.S. needs arsenic limits in rice: Consumer Reports" - ReutersPurplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-82631476196167789872012-09-18T20:34:00.000-07:002012-09-19T20:34:17.076-07:00Potshots from the RabbleIf one is a financially comfortable and established blogger, there should be no annoyance at getting potshots from anonymous folks who are not using said potshots to gain money.
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It's just very weird to be banned for being argumentative, but I suppose this is anyone's right.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-83431053877707386102012-09-15T01:04:00.000-07:002012-09-15T01:05:47.470-07:00Monitizing Our Familial Relations<a href="http://delong.typepad.com/">Brad de Long</a>:<div style="padding-left: 20px;">In a non-recourse state like California, the optimal housing strategy is obvious: (i) build good relationships with your children so that you trust them with your assets ...</div>
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A very inspiring vision for society, no doubt. Once upon a time, this kind of craven materialism would have been looked down upon.
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Economics really doesn't have much interest in the complexity of human nature.
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Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-75326017720986179702012-09-11T18:11:00.001-07:002012-09-11T18:12:06.158-07:00Chciago Teachers StrikeAs Doug Henwood <a href="https://twitter.com/DougHenwood">notes</a>, if the Chicago would stop opening charter schools in every strip mall, it would have money to actually do something useful. Economies of scale are practiced by major corporations for a reason.
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OK --in <i>every</i> strip mall might be an exaggeration. But not in Phoenix.
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Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-21260241163708906792012-09-10T23:13:00.001-07:002012-09-10T23:23:21.253-07:00Chicago Teachers StrikeThe teacher's strike in Chicago is legitimate resistance to a proposal that increases hours without a commensurate increase in pay. And of course teachers already log many more hours than what they are officially paid for. That, in and of itself, is a scam perpetuated on the profession. I suppose Rahm's thuggish idea is to fire them all and replace them with Teach for America sycophants.
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Has anyone noticed how much better American education was when teachers were "unaccountable" ?
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The current crop of education reformers and administrators are wholly hostile to the idea of intellectualism. You will never catch these fuckers reading for joy.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-5535304189666398502012-09-08T23:28:00.001-07:002012-09-08T23:28:10.830-07:00Cop LoverWorth restating:
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You should know by now that brave American policemen can kill you for any reason at any time, and nothing will happen to them. Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-31650731245965699672012-09-08T23:15:00.001-07:002012-09-08T23:16:37.572-07:00 Apple StockIf I had $100,000 to spare I would short Apple stock. Its inflated prices based on chic name branding are not going to be competitive over the long-term in overseas markets. Also, its recent attacks on Samsung will do it no favors in Asian political circles which ultimately will play out in the economic arena.
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Apple is a niche company for a certain type of upper middle-class Westerner with extra cash to spare, an interest in specialized software, and the desire to be fashionable in technology as some are in clothing.
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It has no business being the highest valued company in history and this will proven out.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4186415378654488861.post-25234876239169230792012-09-07T23:34:00.000-07:002012-09-08T23:34:52.387-07:00GleeIf you think the high school mindset is very different from your childhood then you should watch Glee. By the way, it's not entirely dismissed even in the ghetto. Kids like it.Purplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15279006503378899442noreply@blogger.com0