black holes and gray matter. in one thousand tangos.

             
Somalian Pirates' achieve their goal

Fisherman in Kenya have reported bumper catches of shark and shellfish because commercial fishing boats from China and Japan have been scared away by pirates. The massive factory trawlers which used to drain their fish stocks have been scared away and that means there is a huge bounty for local fishermen as well as helping to restore the health of the marine eco-system. Now the fishermen are able to catch up to £200 worth of fish per day in an area where the average daily earnings are less than £5.

This was the core reason for the men we call “pirates” to have emerged. Everyone agrees they were ordinary Somalian fishermen who at first took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least wage a ‘tax’ on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia, and they have won a major battle. Good for them.

Radley Balko: Whole Foods

Let me see if I have the logic correct here:

Whole Foods is consistently ranked among the most employee-friendly places to work in the service industry. In fact, Whole Foods treats employees a hell of a lot better than most liberal activist groups do. The company has strict environmental and humane animal treatment standards about how its food is grown and raised. The company buys local. The store near me is hosting a local tasting event for its regional vendors. Last I saw, the company’s lowest wage earners make $13.15 per hour. They also get to vote on what type of health insurance they want. And they all get health insurance. The company is also constantly raising money for various philanthropic causes. When I was there today, they were taking donations for a school lunch program. In short, Whole Foods is everything leftists talk about when they talk about “corporate responsibility.”

And yet lefties want to boycott the company because CEO John Mackey wrote an op-ed that suggests alternatives to single payer health care? It wasn’t even a nasty or mean-spirited op-ed. Mackey didn’t spread misinformation about death panels, call anyone names, or use ad hominem attacks. He put forth actual ideas and policy proposals, many of them tested and proven during his own experience running a large company.

Is this really the state of debate on the left, now? “Agree with us, or we’ll crush you?” (continued…)

Stephen Hawking both British and not dead

stever:

“In perhaps the most amusing effort to discredit President Obama’s plan for nationalized health care - if not the most ridiculous - US financial newspaper Investor’s Business Daily has said that if Stephen Hawking were British, he would be dead.”

The right-wing nutjob who wrote the Investor’s Business Daily editorial did not know that Hawking is a UK citizen who lives in the UK. Furthermore, the writer didn’t know that Hawking has been cared for by the National Health Service for over 40 years. I did wonder how he could have assumed that Hawking is American. Then I read a comment somewhere that pointed out that Hawking’s synthesised voice has an American accent. I’d never heard of the Investor’s Business Daily before, but it must be staffed by idiots.

Oh boy, that was a good laugh.

Top 10 Reasons the U.S. Isn't Getting its Panties in a Bunch over Honduras

1. At the end of the day, the coup is just not as tweetable as Iran.

2. Treating it as a coup is waaaay too trendy. Everybody is doing it.

3. We kinda sorta trained the coup leaders at the School of the Americas so it’s like kinda awkward. Both Honduran coup leader Gen. Romeo Orlando Vásquez Velásquez and Air Force General and coup participant Luis Javier Prince Suazo attended the SOA in 1976 and 1984.

4. Condoning Zelaya’s mustache would set a dangerous precedent, which would have a domino effect that could spread beyond Latin America. The specter of facial hair already haunts the faces of Raul Castro and Lula. Can we really afford to lose another country to a mustached leader?

5. Obama thinks the new Honduran Chancellor, who described him as “That black boy who knows nothing about anything” is critiquing racism through satire.

6. We’re nostalgic and going retro. It’s been a while since the U.S. ignored and/or actively supported a coup in Latin America. Check out the 1950’s timeless classic which started the craze “Guatemala” (1954), the 1960’s hit “The Dominican Republic” (1965), the 1970’s oldie but goodie “Chile” SEPTEMBER 11, 1973, and the 1980’s series “Central America 1980-1989.”

7. It’s still “too soon” to talk about anything but Michael Jackson.

8. Obama may want to use the “Zelaya option” (kidnapping a pajamas-clad national leader and flying him to another country) on Joe Biden.

9. As goes rumor goes, so goes the United States. The coup Leader Roberto Michelett is confident that there are indeed rumors of support from Taiwan and Israel. “Israel and Taiwan have said they support us….I don’t have an official declaration, but that is the rumor I’ve heard… It’s an aspiration I have that all of the countries will be a friend of ours. I have the hope and faith in God that they will come.

10. Restoring democracy after a coup in a country where we have influence, power, and sway would be too easy. We prefer spending time, money and lives bringing democracy to countries that don’t want it, through force and invasion.

- Katie Halper

©2011 Kateoplis