Skeptic's Notebook

Jun 02 2012 ∞
“” In Uganda, corruption often arises out of desperation. In America, more typically, its wellsprings are greed, pure and simple. And it’s hard to decide which is the more dismaying, the more disfiguring, the more disgusting.
— The Dark Money Shakedown | Lawrence Weschler | Mother Jones | 01 November 2011
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Jun 01 2012 ∞
“” Chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer are problems that we associate with rich countries, while infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS are more commonly seen as the problems afflicting the poor. But 80 percent of global deaths from chronic diseases occur in low-income and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular disease in low- and middle-income countries killed more than twice as many people in 2001 as did AIDS, malaria, and TB combined.
— The High Cost of Heart Disease and Cancer | Bjørn Lomborg | Slate | 30 April 2012
May 29 2012 ∞
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May 25 2012 ∞
“” [W]e’re just not into sacrifices any longer, unless it’s the other person, preferably poor, minority or immigrant.
— Memorial Day | Jon Talton | Rogue Columnist | 25 May 2012
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“” We fight undeclared wars without asking for sacrifice from the general population. When these conflicts result in high debt and deficits, a potential majority of “consumers” will vote for a party that proposes solving the fiscal problem by eliminating help for the poor, privatizing Social Security, eradicating Medicare, selling the public schools to the highest sleazy bidder, generally shredding the social compact and destroying the commons. It’s easy to “support the troops” or let wars paid for by borrowed money from the Red Chinese drag on for years, when you don’t have any skin in the game. That skin includes even paying attention. What are our aims in these wars? In this massive Military-Industrial Complex?
— Memorial Day | Jon Talton | Rogue Columnist | 25 May 2012
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May 21 2012 ∞
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Eclipse, seen through the smoke of the wildfires near Sunset Point, just north of Phoenix, Arizona.

(Source: ikenbot)

May 16 2012 ∞
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(via Photographer Harry Litchman’s sunrise image transforms grey Montana mountain into glowing orange beacon | Mail Online)

May 15 2012 ∞
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maddieonthings:

Maddie, the English Coonhound

(via betweenthewoodsandthewater)

May 13 2012 ∞
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May 11 2012 ∞
“” In other words, JP Morgan Chase, entirely without any help from the government has lost, in this one set of transactions, five times the amount they claim financial regulation is costing them.
— Barnie Frank piles on. HT Peter Thal Larsen.

(Source: ftalphaville)

May 06 2012 ∞
“” In the 1990s the NYPD got back in the crime  prevention  game: Drug dealers were pushed indoors, and crack receded in general. Also, police focused on quality-of-life issues, the so-called “broken windows.” At the same time more than one million foreign immigrants moved to New York City. Whether due to a strong work ethic, fear of deportation, traditional family values, or having the desire and means to emigrate in the first place, immigrants (nationwide and in New York City) have lower rates of crime and incarceration than native-born Americans.
— Peter Moskos, In Defense of Flogging
Apr 25 2012 ∞
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Stunning.

Why don’t Americans walk more? The crisis of pedestrianism. - Slate Magazine

Apr 24 2012 ∞
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Post-deployment accidents by the numbers The following statistics compare the driving records of servicemembers in the six months after returning from a deployment against their records for the six months before deploying.

  • 13 percent: Increase in at-fault accidents for all servicemembers.
  • 23 percent: Increase in accidents for soldiers, the highest of any service.
  • 25 percent: Increase in accidents for servicemembers under 22 years old.
  • 27 percent: Increase in accidents for servicemembers with two deployments.
  • 36 percent: Increase in accidents for servicemembers with three or more deployments.

Source: USAA Driving Safety Report 2012
— Report: Car accidents more common after deployments - Stripes - Independent U.S. military news from Iraq, Afghanistan and bases worldwide
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