This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

It was on this day in 1788 that Wolfgang Mozart completed his Symphony number 40 in g minor (K550). In the late 1780’s with his fortunes falling and in need of income moved from central Vienna to a suburb. While he had more space for his family his expenses still increased an he was borrowing money from friends. It was felt that he was suffering from deep depression but it was at this time that he wrote not only Symphony number 40 but also the last of the three Da Ponte operas, Così fan tutte.

 285 – Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler.

306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.

864 – The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings.

1139 – Battle of Ourique: The independence of Portugal from the Kingdom of Leon declared after the Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques. He then becomes Afonso I, King of Portugal, after calling the first assembly of the estates-general of Portugal at Lamego, where he is given the Crown from the Bishop of Bragança, to confirm the independence.

1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.

1536 – Sebastian de Belalcazar on his search of El Dorado founds the city of Santiago de Cali.

1538 – The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.

1547 – Henry II of France is crowned.

1567 – Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.

1593 – Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.

1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.

1722 – The Three Years War begins along the Maine and Massachusetts border.

1755 – British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians. Thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England. Some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick.

1758 – Seven Years’ War: the island battery at Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia is silenced and all French warships are destroyed or taken.

1759 – French and Indian War: in Western New York, British forces capture Fort Niagara from the French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouille.

1788 – Wolfgang Mozart completes his Symphony number 40 in g minor (K550).

1792 – The Brunswick Manifesto is issued to the population of Paris promising vengeance if the French Royal Family is harmed.

1795 – The first stone of the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct is laid.

1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).

1799 – At Aboukir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.

1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Lundy’s Lane – reinforcements arrive near Niagara Falls for General Riall’s British and Canadian forces and a bloody, all-night battle with Jacob Brown’s Americans commences at 18.00; the Americans retreat to Fort Erie.

1824 – Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua.

1837 – The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone on 25 July 1837 between Euston and Camden Town in London.

1853 – Joaquin Murietta, the famous Californio bandit known as “Robin Hood of El Dorado”, is killed.

1861 – American Civil War: the Crittenden-Johnson Resolution is passed by the U.S. Congress stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.

1866 – The U.S. Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army (commonly called “5-star general”). Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to be promoted to this rank.

1868 – Wyoming becomes a United States territory.

1869 – The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869).

1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.

1898 – The United States invasion of Puerto Rico begins with U.S. troops led by General Nelson Miles landing at harbor of Guanica, Puerto Rico (The land invasion, proper, began that day: Sea-based bombardment and shelling of the capital city of San Juan had been occurring since May 1898).

1907 – Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan.

1908 – Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.

1909 – Louis Bleriot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from (Calais to Dover) in 37 minutes.

1915 – RFC Captain Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British military aviator to earn the Victoria Cross, for defeating three German two-seat observation aircraft in one day, over the Western Front.

1917 – Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a “temporary” measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).

1920 – Telecommunications: the first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place.

1920 – France captures Damascus.

1925 – Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established.

1934 – The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.

1940 – General Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and makes surrender illegal.

1942 – Norwegian Manifesto calls for nonviolent resistance to the Nazis.

1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by his own Italian Grand Council and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.

1944 – World War II: Operation Spring – one of the bloodiest days for the First Canadian Army during the war: 1,500 casualties, including 500 killed.

1946 – Operation Crossroads: an atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini atoll.

1946 – At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team.

1948 – The Australian cricket team sets a world record for the highest successful run-chase in Test cricket history in the Fourth Test against England.

1952 – The U.S. non-incorporated colonial territory of Puerto Rico adopts a “constitution” of local-limited powers, approved by the United States Congress in contravention of then-current International Law.

1956 – 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.

1957 – Republic of Tunisia proclaimed.

1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.

1961 – In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.

1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric as he plugs in at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music.

1969 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start of the “Vietnamization” of the war.

1973 – Soviet Mars 5 space probe launched.

1978 – Louise Brown, the world’s first “test tube baby” is born.

1979 – Another section of the Sinai peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt.

1984 – Salyut 7 Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.

1993 – Israel launches a massive attack against terrorist forces in Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call Seven-Day War.

1994 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948.

1995 – A gas bottle explodes in Saint Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight are killed and 80 wounded.

2000 – Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground.

2007 – Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first woman president.

( – promoted by ek hornbeck)

In 1984, photojournalist Steve McCurry was in an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan. He followed the sound of voices to a tent where he found a group of girls. “I noticed this one little girl off to the side that had his incredible set of eyes that seemed almost haunted – or very piercing,” he tells NPR’s Audie Cornish.

McCurry snapped a picture that ended up on the cover of National Geographic’s June 1985 issue. “The Afghan Girl” became one of the magazine’s most widely recognized photographs – and one of the century’s most iconic. To get that shot, McCurry used a type of film that has become iconic in its own right: Kodachrome.

The film, known for its rich saturation and archival durability of its slides, was discontinued last year to the dismay of photographers worldwide. But Kodak gave the last roll ever produced to McCurry. He has just processed that coveted roll at Dwayne’s Photo Service in Parsons, Kan. – the last remaining location that processes the once-popular slide film.

The pictures that are on the last roll of Kodachrome will become the subject of a “National Geographic” documentary.

I have fond memories of my 35mm Yashika and Canon cameras.

And, as would be fitting, a song for the memorial.

(2 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Crossposted at Daily Kos and Docudharma

12

PLEASE READ THIS: There are another 25-30 editorial cartoons and videos in the comments section of this diary over on Daily Kos.

Check them out.

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Marshall Ramsey, Comics.com (Clarion Ledger, Jackson, MS)

Rick McKee, Augusta Chronicle (GA), Buy this cartoon

Jeff Stahler, Comics.com (Columbus Dispatch)

Ken Catalino, Nationally Syndicated Cartoonist, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

INTRODUCTION

As relieved as residents of the Gulf Coast region were, I’m sure, to hear that the oil leak had been temporarily stopped, editorial cartoonists were decidedly unimpressed by British Petroleum’s actions. Enormous environmental damage has been done to the Gulf Coast ecosystems and it will take a very long time to undo it.  

Paul the Octopus by Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant, Buy this cartoon

:: ::

Englehart states the obvious on his paper’s blog

The damage already has been done.  It has ruined the water for years to come; whole areas of the coast have been destroyed.  A way of life in the bordering states will have to change somehow.  To what, I don’t know.

Whining by Clay Jones, Freelance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA), Buy this cartoon

:: ::

Jones makes a sarcastic comment on his blog, fully aware that it will take years (if not decades) before ecosystems and life around the Gulf of Mexico will be restored to its pre-spill levels, if at all!

Now that the leak is capped, maybe all the fine BP executives can get their lives back.

:: ::

Fox News by Jimmy Margulies, New Jersey Record, Buy this cartoon

Discrimination has to do with one’s behavior and can be countered by enacting laws that level the playing field for people of all races in this country.  Racism, on the other hand, can sometimes be hard to decipher and pinpoint as it emanates from less-transparent beliefs and attitudes.  Rogers punctures a fairly common belief among certain whites that in order to not appear nor act racist, all they have to do is say that they know some people of color.  By invoking this “some of my best friends are black” defense, it might pacify a few people but such phony shows of concern did not impress the NAACP as it called upon leaders of the Tea Party to condemn racist elements within its ranks

Rob Rogers, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Black Tea

The Tea Party folks are upset because the NAACP asked them to reign in some of their more racist members.  Seems like a fair request, especially to a group of people who have been seen holding signs depicting Obama as Hitler.  Not to mention they are almost exclusively white.

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Bill Day, Comics.com (Memphis Commercial-Appeal)

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Finance Reform by Rob Rogers, Comics.com (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Rogers sees Finance Reform as a step in the right direction and one which he hopes will rein in some of Wall Street’s excesses

Wall Street reform is finally here.  It is about time.  No, I don’t think big government is the answer to all this county’s ills, but after watching deregulation destroy the economy, I am all for government regulation.  And while you’re at it, take back their bonuses.

There were a fairly large number of editorial cartoons late last night and this morning pertaining to the Shirley Sherrod fiasco.  See my comments in the last section of this diary just above the diary poll. Hope you like this week’s edition.  Thanks.

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SPECIAL COMMENT

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Borrow a Page from Harry Truman’s Playbook, Mr. President

Stein implies on his blog that President Barack Obama ought to borrow a page from President Harry Truman’s 1948 playbook and vigorously defend his administration’s record while giving the Republicans all kinds of hell.  While both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed extension of unemployment benefits in the past couple of days — one signed by President Barack Obama — Stein’s advice is still relevant for the Democratic Party to adopt a get-tough approach towards the Republican Party

Once again, I’m perplexed by the inability of the Senate to do what has always been routine-extend unemployment benefits during a recession.  I’m equally perplexed by the silence from the White House on the issue — Obama should be out there every day demanding that the benefits be extended, and chiding Republicans and recalcitrant Democrats for their inaction, which compounds the cruelty of this deep economic hole we’re in.  Americans should be outraged that our politics have become so dysfunctional that the people who’ve lost their jobs are held hostage to satisfy the electoral aspirations of a few.

The aftermath of World War II was to prove quite messy for governing political parties of two of the major victorious allies.  Not only did Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the Tory Party lose to Clement Attlee’s Labour Party a month before the war had ended in August 1945, demobilization of troops, labor union strikes, and post-war economic conditions in the United States all contributed to President Harry Truman’s approval ratings slipping down to 32% just before the 1946 Congressional Elections. Under Truman, after almost a decade and a half of legislative control, the Democrats lost both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in the 1946 Elections.  

In this 1948 editorial cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman of the Washington Star, Truman seems unfazed by bad polls, negative statements announcing his political demise, or taunting by his opponent, Governor Tom Dewey (R-NY), who most political pundits (including many Democrats) were expecting to see elected as their next president.  There’s something quite attractive about a political leader who exudes calm and quiet confidence.  

Gearing up almost two years later for the 1948 Presidential Election, Truman painted the Republican-controlled 80th Congress as the “Do Nothing” Congress in harshly partisan tones and one which seemed incapable of passing any substantive legislation

The campaign of 1948 was a study in contrasts.  Dewey, as befitted a clear front runner, staged a very subdued campaign, hoping to assure victory by avoiding discussion of troublesome issues.  Truman did the opposite, figuring that he had little to lose.  He embarked on a 31,000-mile train trip across the nation and delivered hundreds of off-the-cuff speeches to crowds that often greeted the president with cries of “Give ’em Hell, Harry!”  And Truman did.  He lambasted the “do-nothing, good-for-nothing” Eightieth Congress for its inaction and hoped that his opponent would be tarnished in the process.

Truman raised the stakes by summoning a special session of Congress in July, proclaiming that he was offering the legislators an opportunity to enact some of the liberal planks they had proposed in the Republican platform.  The results were meager, reinforcing the allegation that Congress did nothing.

At his whistle-stop rallies, Truman spoke out on behalf of civil rights legislation, for repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act and in support of farm aid programs. By trumpeting these issues, the president helped to revive the old New Deal coalition of Southern blacks, labor unionists and farmers.

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Note: There are more editorial cartoons about the 1948 Election in this diary — The Week in Editorial Cartoons – Confronting Racism — that I wrote last year.  Among other issues, it looked at Harry Truman’s decision to desegregate the U.S. Armed Services in 1948.

In any two elections, the political dynamic is never the same as circumstances, the players involved, voter demographics, and a number of other factors change and, thus, the approach to it.  Even so, adopting something like Truman’s winning strategy is a political winner for the Democratic Party.  It is true that unlike 1948, the Democrats control both legislative chambers in 2010 (a non-presidential election year) but it is also clear to almost everyone which side is acting as the obstructionist political party.  It is the know-nothing, do-nothing Republican Party.

In the 1948 Election, taking it to the GOP only enabled Truman to pull off what many political analysts consider to be the greatest upset in American political history. Democrats not only regained control of Congress but Truman defeated heavily-favored Republican nominee Tom Dewey.  In spite of party support being diluted due to defections by members of Strom Thurmond’s States Right Party (Dixiecrats) on the right and Henry Wallace’s Progressive Party on the left (as shown in this 1948 Chicago Tribune editorial cartoon on the right), Truman largely directed his fire towards the GOP.  The Democrats picked 9 seats in the U.S. Senate (54-42 majority) and 75 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives (271-173 majority).

It is indeed time for President Obama and Congressional Democrats to take the gloves off when referring to the Republican Party.  It has become abundantly clear to many on this blog that trying to reach the elusive goal of bipartisanship is not only unachievable but simply foolish. Half-hearted efforts, timidity and equivocation will not fire up nor, importantly, excite the Democratic base.  Drawing sharp contrasts with and initiating an all-out political attack on the “Party of No” could put the GOP on the defensive.

A recent poll showed that 63% of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction.  What can the Democrats do to reverse this trend?  Voters need to be presented with a clear choice among the two parties.  Only by taking an aggressive approach and vigorously defending its record, the Democratic Party can ensure high(er) voter turnout than present trends indicate and, in doing so, achieve some degree of success in this November’s Elections.

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1. Cartoons of the Week

John Sheffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

Fox News Bus by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Jack Ohman, Comics.com (Portland Oregonian)

Sarah Palin – Bard of Wasilla by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Jeff Stahler, Comics.com (Columbus Dispatch)

Jeff Sessions v Elena Kagan by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Tom Toles, Slate – Washington Post and Tony Auth, Slate – Philadelphia Inquirer

(click links to enlarge cartoons)

Joe Heller, Green Bay Press-Gazette, Buy this cartoon

Ruff Day by Nick Anderson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Houston Chronicle

John Sherffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

Steve Benson, Comics.com (Arizona Republic)

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2. Is the Worst Over for People of the Gulf Region?

In the face of mounting and (largely) irrefutable scientific evidence that Climate Change poses a very serious and permanent threat to the planet’s well-being, Stein cautions us that in a society with blind faith in miracles that new and improved technology can seemingly perform, there is one thing lacking: common sense and political will.  Technology, by itself, is no substitute for human judgment and cannot protect us from our own failings.  Technology is, he tells us, a means to an end; those seeing it as an end in itself do so at their own peril

It’s becoming increasingly clear that global warming is real, and that human activity does have a profound effect on the global environment.  Remember the recent dustup over the veracity of climate change experts, in which emails seemed to show that some scientists were doctoring the results?  Two independent analyses have absolved them completely, and confirmed that the scientific findings of accelerated global warming are indeed accurate.  

The only people left who still believe that climate change is a hoax are those who don’t want to pay the price of cleaning up their businesses and their political allies (and the gullible citizens they continue to manipulate).  Yet we dither, as the damage mounts, and reaches a point at which it is irreversible.  We continue to believe that new technologies will somehow bail us out at the eleventh hour.  We also believed that the space shuttle wouldn’t fail.  And that our understanding of the economy, aided by number-crunching super computers, had become so sophisticated that the markets were immune to risk.  And we believed that oil drilling was safe, that the technology was so advanced that something like the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico was highly improbable, if not impossible.

Global Warming by John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Marshall Ramsey, Comics.com (Clarion Ledger, Jackson, MS)

Energy Independence Day by Mike Keefe, Denver Post, Buy this cartoon

Marshall Ramsey, Comics.com (Clarion Ledger, Jackson, MS)

Matt Bors, Comics.com (Idiot Box)

Plug the Hole by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

BP Stops Oil Leak by Dave Granlund, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

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3. The Shirley Sherrod Affair: Shame on FOX News and Their Racist Allies

Conservative Blogger Andrew Breitbart Simpson by RJ Matson, New York Observer, Buy this cartoon

Victory! by Clay Bennett, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Rob Rogers, Comics.com (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com, Buy this cartoon

Shirley Sherrod by Bob Englehart, Hartford Courant, Buy this cartoon

Signe Wilkinson, Comics.com (Philadelphia Daily News)

Tony Auth, Slate – Phildelphia Inquirer

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Teachable moment by Nick Anderson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Houston Chronicle

Reality Bites by Tom Toles, Slate – Washington Post

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Conservatives won the racism battle this week, because they embarrassed the White House with the Shirley Sherrod firing and apology.  The issue of conservative media embarrassing themselves is not even a question, because they are past embarrassment.  So another short-term victory for you at the expense of long-term damage to everyone else.

— Toles writes on his blog that for the time being, conservatives may feel giddy for embarrassing the White House but it may not really help their cause in the long-term

Stuart Carlson, Washington Post – Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Bruce Plante, Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

Jeff Danziger, Slate – New York Times Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

MIke Luckovich, Comics.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Pat Oliphant, Slate – Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

Mike Keefe, Denver Post, Buy this cartoon

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4. Tea Party Racism

Lowe simply cannot understand why elected Republican members of Congress rail against the evils of Big Government while drawing a pretty good salary and not to mention the enormous perks that come with the office.  Hypocrisy, thy name is the Republican Party!

It does seem ironic that these politicians are jumping on the Tea Party bandwagon in hopes they’ll get reelected and be able to spend two more years mismanaging the same Evil Empire against which they rail.  If I had a job with their salary, perks, and benefits, I wouldn’t want to leave it, either.  Sure beats taking your chances in the private sector.

Small government is for the little people, not elected cheeses, particularly if along with the job comes a tidy staff allowance to hire lackeys who can handle the nuts and bolts, thereby leaving you free to demagogue your pet issues.

The new caucus members had better hope that their tri-corned constituents never find out the full extent of those benefits they pull down-the free gym membership, the more-than-generous pension, the health care, the travel allowance, the taxpayer-financed self-serving puff piece mailings, to name only those I’ve heard of.

They might just find themselves on the wrong end of a pitchfork.

Mike Thompson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Detroit Free Press

Rex Babin, Sacramento Bee, Buy this cartoon

House Fire by Nick Anderson, Comics.com, see reader comments in the Houston Chronicle

Clay Jones, Freelance-Star (Fredericksburg, VA), Buy this cartoon

Mark Williams Drives the Tea Party Express Bus by Chris Britt, Comics.com, see reader comments in the State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)

Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon

Tea Party Racist? by Chan Lowe, Comics.com, read Lowe’s blog entry commenting on this cartoon in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mike Thompson, Comics.com, see cartoon animation in the Detroit Free Press

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5. The Bard of Wasilla: To Tweet or Not to Tweet…

Ground Zero Mosque by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon

Signe Wilkinson, Comics.com (Philadelphia Daily News)

Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Buy this cartoon

Palin Refudiates by Dan Wasserman, Comics.com (Boston Globe)

Language of Palin by Nate Beeler, Washington Examiner, Buy this cartoon

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6. Michael Steele and His Wingnut Friends

Michael Steele by Bruce Plante, see reader comments in Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

John Sherffius, Comics.com (Boulder Daily Camera)

Tea Party Racist Elements by John Cole, Scranton Times-Tribune, Buy this cartoon

Glenn Beck Saves Jesus by Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune, Buy this cartoon

WisconSIN by Matt Bors, Comics.com (Idiot Box)

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Bors writes on his blog about hypocritical beliefs held by many like Pagels in the GOP

A few blogs turned up evidence of a fringe candidate named Ernest J Pagels, Jr., who is running for the Senate in Wisconsin.  The guy doesn’t have a website, but he does have a hard-on for outlawing fun things like porn and being gay.

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7. A Bit of Relief for the Unemployed in a Fragile Economy

Bors has some harsh words for the Republican Party and sees it as indifferent to the plight of the poor and unemployed

Republicans believe we should give tax cuts for the rich and starve — literally starve — the unemployed and poor to motivate them to go get jobs.  You might say that is hyperbole, but I don’t know what else you can call cutting off the only lifeline millions of Americans depend on when there are simply not enough jobs to go around…

John Kenneth Galbraith famously said Conservatism is a philosophy about finding a “superior moral justification for selfishness.”  In this case it’s a selective concern for the deficit that masks their contempt for the poor.  This is the party Americans will vote for in November.

Stuart Carlson, Slate – Universal Press Syndicate

(click link to enlarge cartoon)

The Unemployed Living Like Kings by Bruce Plante, see the large number of reader comments in Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

Out Of Power Point by RJ Matson, Roll Call, Buy this cartoon

Retirement is for Losers by Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World, see reader comments in Salon magazine

(click this link to enlarge cartoon)

Deficit Hawks by Tim Eagan, Deep Cover, Buy this cartoon

Obama and the Stimulus by Bruce Plante, see the large number of reader comments in Tulsa World, Buy this cartoon

Altie Cartoonist Matt Bors didn’t draw it but posted this cartoon on his blog

(click this link to enlarge cartoon)

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This cartoon was pulled from the AAEC site earlier today. I believe “Keynesian” is the word he was going for here.

I suppose “Canzian” could be the economic theory based on stocking up on canned goods when you can’t find a goddamn job because the American populace is too dumb to support unemployment benefits, let alone Google a simple term.

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8. Financial Reform: An Obama Administration Achievement

Bruce Beattie, Comics.com (Daytona Beach News-Journal)

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9. Final Thoughts

Finally, will the Bard of Wasilla let us know why the ignorant around her are so angry?  I await her tweets.

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A Note About the Diary Poll

Some of you may think that R.J. Matson is being unusually harsh in portraying President Barack Obama as cowering under his desk because of potentially negative television coverage on Fox News.  All presidents get the accolades for successes and blame for failures in their administrations.  That goes without saying.

Truth be told, as disingenuous and, yes, racist as Fox News’ behavior was in this sorry episode, this was nothing short of a train wreck for the White House.  To be sure, President Obama didn’t make the decision to fire Shirley Sherrod but he was served rather poorly by his lieutenants at both the U.S.D.A and at the White House.

Have we, as a political party, forgotten the poisonous and destructive role that Fox News has repeatedly played in this country’s politics for well over a decade?  From its coverage of the Clinton Impeachment to the Florida Recount, Texas Redistricting, California Recall Election, and on through the years, FOX has never — and will never in the future — cast the Democratic Party in a positive light. Why did we think it would do so now? Should it not have rung serious alarm bells at the White House when they first heard of Andrew Breitbart’s phony attempt to counter charges of racism by the NAACP and malign a decent and loyal employee?  Whatever happened to those finely-tuned political antennae that the 2008 Obama Campaign was famously known for only a couple of years ago?

As Congressman Paul Hodes wrote in his diary — Weak Knees — we need to fight back hard

The firing of Sherrod over what turned out to be a heavily (and deceptively) edited video of her remarks is the latest example.  When the far right bulldozes, too many of us buckle.

Democrats need to stop panicking every time we find the right-wing media in our face. The only way to beat back the misinformation they spread is by calling them out and holding them accountable – not caving to pressure from their echo chambers.

We have no excuse for not fully understanding what the far-right is capable of in terms of hateful and deceitful rhetoric.  From Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh to Andrew Breitbart – they’ve shown us time and again exactly how willing they are to distort the truth.

:: ::

David Horsey, see reader comments in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (editorial cartoon on right)

More to the point, what I am interested in learning from you is your opinion of future responses by the Obama Administration to such displays of thuggery by its political opponents.  Will it — and Congressional Democrats — learn the right lessons and toughen their spines in the future?

Remember to take the diary poll.

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Feast or famine?  Fortunately I’ll be distracted most of the evening by one of Doose’s follies and with any luck at all won’t lack for amusement until tomorrow’s victory lap around the Champs Elysees.

If you’re not able to escape the Hypnotoad here is the best of a scurvy lot-

• AMC– One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest x 2 followed by The Shining.  Evidently it’s Nicholson night.
• Comedy– Without a Paddle (for Robot Chicken fans)
• ESPN– Kroger 200
• E!– Evan Almighty
• ABC Family– Ratatouille
• Food– Chopped marathon
• FX– The Bourne Identity
• Oxygen– Ocean’s Thirteen x 3
• SciFi– Silent Hill
• TBS– Hitch
• Turner Classic– Black Orpheus, Cabin In The Sky
• Discovery– More Odd Couple Survival
• TLC– Cake Boss marathon
• Travel– Man v. Food marathon
• USA– Hairspray

Later-

• ABC Family– Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
• FX– Man on Fire
• TBS– Jerry Maguire
• Turner Classic– A Raisin in the Sun
• VH1– Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Boondocks tonight, Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf B. and Mr. Medicinal.  GitS SAC: 2nd Gig– Nuclear Power and This Side of Justice

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Gulf oil spill operations resuming after storm weakens

by Alex Ogle, AFP

46 mins ago

2 Storm system moves toward Gulf of Mexico spill area

by Alex Ogle, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 3:06 am ET

3 Two US soldiers missing in Afghanistan: NATO

by Lynne O’Donnell, AFP

15 mins ago

4 European governments relieved by bank stress tests

AFP

2 hrs 19 mins ago

5 Seven European banks fail financial stress test

AFP

Sat Jul 24, 6:03 am ET

6 Contador set to win toughest Tour yet

by Justin Davis, AFP

1 hr 6 mins ago

7 Contador virtually seals third yellow jersey triumph

by Justin Davis, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 12:14 pm ET

8 US committed to Afghan war: Mullen

by Dan De Luce, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 12:56 pm ET

9 US Admiral Mullen visits Pakistan amid militant concerns

by Dan De Luce, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 4:27 am ET

10 Overjoyed Vettel on pole for German Grand Prix

by Gordon Howard, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 12:19 pm ET

11 US Senate deals blow to global climate talks

by Shaun Tandon and Emmanuel Parisse, AFP

Sat Jul 24, 4:13 am ET

12 One week delay seen in BP relief well drilling

By Anna Driver, Reuters

2 hrs 51 mins ago

13 Scottish official sought at U.S. Lockerbie hearing

Reuters

1 hr 28 mins ago

14 Key rig alarm disabled before blast: rig worker

By Chris Baltimore and Alyson Zepeda, Reuters

Sat Jul 24, 6:43 am ET

15 Focus shifts to EU banks to scrape test pass

By Steve Slater and Edward Taylor, Reuters

Sat Jul 24, 9:07 am ET

16 Ships head back to oil spill as storm breezes by

By DAVID DISHNEAU and HARRY R. WEBER, Associated Press Writers

2 hrs 56 mins ago

17 Obama and oil spill: Lessons from corporate world

By DANIEL WAGNER and CHRIS RUGABER, Associated Press Writers

Sat Jul 24, 9:48 am ET

18 Despite oil, baby turtles being released to Gulf

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 58 mins ago

19 For oyster clan, just another disaster in a series

By SHARON COHEN, AP National Writer

32 mins ago

20 Obama urges liberals to ‘keep up the fight’

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, AP Political Writer

1 hr 3 mins ago

21 Gadget makers forced to look at links to Congo war

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer

Sat Jul 24, 12:48 pm ET

22 Dying faces, body bags: How trauma hits a US unit

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

Sat Jul 24, 12:15 pm ET

23 Contador locks up Tour title in next-to-last stage

By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer

Sat Jul 24, 1:02 pm ET

24 Rangel ethics charges create headache for allies

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

Sat Jul 24, 7:09 am ET

25 Democrats face unsavory choices in Rangel case

By LARRY MARGASAK and LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writers

Sat Jul 24, 1:37 am ET

26 Gen. McChrystal retires in military ceremony

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

Sat Jul 24, 7:55 am ET

27 Ousted ag official unsure about returning to work

By BRENT KALLESTAD and MERRILL HARTSON, Associated Press Writers

Sat Jul 24, 3:55 am ET

28 Va. senator calls for ending diversity programs

By BOB LEWIS, AP Political Writer

Fri Jul 23, 11:32 pm ET

29 Calif. town outraged to learn of officials’ pay

By JOHN ROGERS, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 23, 11:28 pm ET

30 First steps toward arms trade treaty

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 23, 11:26 pm ET

31 2 killed in explosion near Pittsburgh-area well

By JOE MANDAK, Associated Press Writer

Fri Jul 23, 10:08 pm ET

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

Eggplant is at its best in the summer months, which, as luck would have it, is also when backyard grills start seeing regular use. It’s a wonderful coincidence, because eggplants love smoke. The vegetable’s flesh absorbs the flavor from the grill as easily as it does olive oil.

snip

When you grill eggplant, you don’t need much olive oil – none if you’re grilling whole eggplants, just enough to lightly brush the slices if your dish calls for sliced eggplant.

If you live in an apartment and want to make some of this week’s dishes, I recommend using a panini grill for sliced eggplants. If you’re grilling whole eggplants, seek out smaller varieties, like narrow Japanese eggplants and some Mediterranean varieties, which don’t take so long to soften all the way through.

Darker skin doesn’t mean melanoma immunity

(Reuters Health) – Melanoma is on the rise among certain groups of dark-skinned Floridians, new research shows.

And while it’s not clear why from the current study, the study does provide an important take home message, according to Dr. Robert S. Kirsner of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine: “Just because you have darker skin pigmentation, whether you’re Hispanic or black, does not make you immune to skin cancer,” he told Reuters Health.

Medicare drug benefit boosts use of heart failure meds

(Reuters Health) – The Medicare drug benefit may be helping more older Americans with heart failure get the medications recommended for controlling the disease, a new study finds.

The study, of nearly 7,000 older heart failure patients in one large insurance plan, found that the number of filled prescriptions for standard heart failure medications increased after the Medicare drug benefit kicked in in 2006.

The biggest increase was seen among seniors who had previously lacked any form of drug coverage.

Study: Insulin Pump Better Than Injections

July 21, 2010 — Encouraging research raises new hopes that a long awaited “artificial pancreas” to treat patients with type 1 diabetes could be available in the U.S. within the next few years, experts say.

In the largest and longest study ever of an insulin pump with a continuous glucose sensor, patients who used the device achieved better control of their blood sugar than patients taking insulin injections.

Those in the study who used the insulin pump marketed by medical device maker Medtronic Inc., had to adjust their insulin levels manually, just as patients who give themselves insulin injections do.

But Medtronic and other companies are working on a closed-loop system — often referred to as an artificial pancreas — which will continuously monitor blood sugar levels and adjust insulin delivery automatically.

Study raises hope for safer diabetes drugs

(Reuters) – A new understanding of the link between diabetes and obesity may help drug companies design safer versions of treatments like GlaxoSmithKline’s Avandia, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The researchers had believed Avandia and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co’s Actos work by stimulating a protein known as PPAR-gamma. Now the team thinks the drugs also act on the insulin resistance that diabetics develop through a different route.

Experts identify three culprits for gluten allergy

(Reuters) – Researchers have identified three fragments in gluten that appear to trigger a disorder in people who are allergic to the wheat protein.

The findings, published on Thursday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, may lead to a more targeted cure instead of what sufferers practice now — life-long abstinence from food containing gluten, such as cereal, pasta, cookies and beer.

“If you can (narrow down) the toxicity of an allergen to a few components, that enables you to make a highly targeted therapy in a way that you no longer need to target the whole immune system,” said researcher Robert Anderson of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Victoria, Australia.

Adults born in famine show higher pre-diabetes risk

(Reuters Health) – Middle-aged adults born at the height of China’s famine in the 1950s and 60s may have a greater risk of abnormally high blood sugar than those born just a few years earlier or later, a new study finds.

The findings, reported in the journal Diabetes, support the theory that nutrition and growth during fetal development may affect the odds of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

Previous studies, for example, have found a relationship between low birth weight and higher diabetes risk in adulthood in both developed and developing countries, said Dr. Frank B. Hu, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the senior researcher on the study.

Glaucoma patients struggle with applying eyedrops

(Reuters Health) – People in most need of sight-preserving eyedrops may be the least successful in landing the therapy in their eyes, suggests a new study.

Buildup of internal eye pressure is one of the main causes of the vision damage associated with glaucoma, a potentially blinding disease that affects more than 4 million Americans, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation. Standard treatment relies on self-administering pressure-lowering eyedrops.

Torn ACL May Heal Without Surgery

July 21, 2010 — Many patients with a torn ACL — the ligament that stabilizes the knee — may avoid surgery by delaying the operation and first giving physical therapy a try.

One of the most feared sports and work injuries is a torn anterior cruciate ligament or ACL. It’s the tough piece of tissue that keeps the knee from bending sideways when you plant your foot and pivot.

Nobody is exactly sure of the best way to treat a torn ACL. Yet every year, at least 200,000 Americans undergo ACL reconstruction, in which the ACL is restored with tendon grafts. Most patients undergo this surgery soon after their injury.

But that may not be the best strategy for everyone, suggests a clinical trial by physiotherapist Richard B. Frobell, PhD, of Sweden’s Lund University, and colleagues.

Zinc sprays dull sense of smell in some users

(Reuters Health) – Homeopathic zinc nasal sprays don’t fight colds, and they probably cause some people to lose their sense of smell, the authors of a new analysis conclude.

“Increased Food and Drug Administration oversight of homeopathic medications is needed to monitor the safety of these popular remedies,” Drs. Terence M. Davidson and Wendy Smith of the University of California, San Diego, and the Veterans Affairs San Diego Health System write in the July issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery

Combat injuries may cause epilepsy years later

(Reuters Health) – Soldiers may develop epilepsy from a head injury as many as 30 years down the road, hints a new study of Vietnam veterans.

Post-traumatic epilepsy, as the seizure disorder is known, is common after brain injuries sustained in battle.

“Soldiers have more severe injuries than what commonly occurs in the civilian populations,” Dr. L. James Willmore, who was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.

FDA warns Abbott on blood sugar monitors

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned Abbott Laboratories’ diabetes care unit about manufacturing problems at its Alameda, California plant, a letter released Tuesday said.

In a letter dated July 2, FDA said its inspectors found Abbott’s Freestyle and Navigator blood glucose monitoring products were adulterated and not conforming with codes for good quality system manufacturing practices.

“The letter relates to our corrective and preventative measures and some of our internal validation and documentation procedures,” Abbott spokesman Greg Miley said.

The warning does not affect the availability of those products, he said.

FDA Panel: Avastin Not for Breast Cancer

uly 20, 2010 — Avastin is not helpful in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, and the drug’s approval for this use should be withdrawn.

That’s the verdict of an FDA advisory panel, whose 12-1 vote urges the FDA to remove breast cancer from the list of approved uses of the Genentech drug. The vote is specific to breast cancer and does not affect Avastin’s approval for the treatment of colon, lung, brain, or kidney cancer.

Against the advice of a previous advisory committee, the FDA in 2008 gave Avastin “accelerated approval” for the treatment of spreading breast cancer, in combination with chemotherapy. As a condition of that approval, Genentech agreed to conduct two new clinical trials.

Those trials showed no evidence that Avastin offered an overall benefit to breast cancer patients. In contrast, the drug added significantly to the side effects of chemotherapy.

Whooping Cough Epidemic Hits California

July 21, 2010 — Six infants have died in California in what looks like the state’s worst whooping cough epidemic in 50 years.

To date, the CDC says South Carolina is the only other state where whooping cough cases have exceeded the “epidemic threshold” — a statistical measure that means there are significantly more cases than usual for the time of year.

After declaring an official epidemic of pertussis, the medical term for whooping cough, California health officials announced a broadened vaccination campaign for teens and adults of all ages. Anyone who comes into contact with babies is particularly urged to get the vaccine — even pregnant women and the elderly.

“Teens and adults should be vaccinated, especially anyone who is going to have contact with infants who are too young for vaccinations,” CDC epidemiologist Stacey Martin, MSc, tells WebMD. “Those California deaths were all in infants less than 3 months old. They don’t have the benefit of vaccination yet, so we have to vaccinate around them.”

Early, rural-based HIV care offers hope in Africa

(Reuters) – Treating HIV patients in remote areas of Africa soon after they are infected and using community care teams instead of doctors can cut costs and help people live longer than those treated later, a charity said Thursday.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said research in Mozambique and in Lesotho, where 23 percent of adults have HIV, suggested implementing early treatment cut death rates and made it easier for patients to keep taking their drugs.

“Treating people before they get very sick is better for the individual, better for the community and actually lessens the burden on the health system,” Helen Bygrave, a doctor working with MSF in Lesotho, told an AIDS conference in Vienna.

Circumcision could halt 4 mln new African HIV cases

(Reuters) – More than 4 million new HIV infections could be prevented in eastern and southern Africa by 2025 if male circumcision rates were increased to 80 percent, researchers said on Tuesday.

Expanding circumcision services to 80 percent of adult and newborn males in the region would also save $20.2 billion in HIV-related health costs between 2009 and 2025, they said.

“With global resources spread thin, we must focus on expanding proven and cost-effective methods like male circumcision to prevent HIV transmission,” Krishna Jafa, an HIV expert at health aid group Population Services International (PSI), said at an AIDS conference in Vienna.

J&J AIDS drug shows promise

(Reuters) – Two pivotal trials of a Johnson & Johnson experimental HIV drug found it worked as well as an existing drug, with fewer side effects but also with nearly twice as many patients failing to respond to treatment.

The drug, rilpivirine or TMC278, is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) being developed for use in combination therapy for treating the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS.

J&J already has a deal with U.S. biotech company Gilead Sciences to develop a single pill combining rilpivirine with Truvada, a drug containing Gilead’s tenofovir and emtricitabine.

WHO still monitoring H1N1 pandemic: spokesman

(Reuters) – The World Health Organization’s emergency committee will not meet this week to review data on the H1N1 swine flu pandemic nor will it declare for now an end to the pandemic, a WHO spokesman said.

“There is no EC (emergency committee) this week. We are still monitoring and seeing how the virus behaves in the rest of the southern hemisphere winter,” WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl told Reuters.

Bloomberg News, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported late on Monday that the emergency committee intended to convene as early as Tuesday to review data and declare an end to the pandemic which officially began in June 2009.

Moderate Coffee Drinking OK in Pregnancy

July 21, 2010 — Many pregnant women cut out caffeine the minute they find out they are expecting because of fears that their daily coffee may increase their risk for miscarriage or preterm birth.

But a new position statement issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) should put some of their fears to rest. The group states that moderate caffeine intake — less than 200 milligrams a day — won’t increase their risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.

The same cannot be said for higher amounts of caffeine, the group states in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

“For years, women have been getting mixed messages about whether or not they should have any caffeine during pregnancy,” says William H. Barth Jr., MD, chair of ACOG’s committee on obstetric practice, in a news release. “After a review of the scientific evidence to date, daily moderate caffeine consumption doesn’t appear to have any major impact in causing miscarriage or preterm birth.”

New Guidelines for Women With Prior Cesareans

July 21, 2010 — Many women who have had a cesarean section  delivery — and some who have had two C-sections — can safely attempt to deliver vaginally, according to updated guidelines on vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC, issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

”What is new are a couple of key things,” says William A. Grobman, MD, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and a co-author of the updated guidelines.

Under the new guidelines, women with two previous cesareans and no previous vaginal delivery, women expecting twins, and women with an unknown type of scar from the previous C-sections are now considered reasonable candidates for vaginal delivery, updating guidelines on the topic issued in 2004 and 2006.

“In the times since those guidelines [were issued], new information was available,” Grobman tells WebMD, including two large and scientifically sound studies about VBAC.

Cleaning Products Linked to Breast Cancer?

July 20, 2010 — Frequent use of household cleaning products may boost breast cancer risk, according to a new study that drew criticism from medical experts and the cleaning industry.

Air fresheners and products to control mold and mildew were particularly linked, says researcher Julia Brody, PhD, executive director of the Silent Spring Institute in Newton, Mass., who led the study.

It is published in the journal Environmental Health.

The study is believed to be the first published report linking household cleaning products and breast cancer risk. “Many laboratory studies led us to be concerned about particular compounds in cleaning products and air fresheners,” Brody tells WebMD.

No link seen between coffee, prostate cancer risk

(Reuters Health) – Men who enjoy their morning cup of coffee can drink a little easier. A new research review finds that java lovers appear no more likely to develop prostate cancer than other men.

In an analysis of a dozen studies on coffee intake and prostate cancer risk, researchers found no strong evidence linking the beverage to either an increased or decreased risk of the disease.

The findings, published in the medical journal BJU International, add to the conflicting body of research on coffee and cancer risk.

Most Kids With ADHD Take Medication

July 20, 2010 — More than 80% of children who are diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder take prescription medications at some point to treat their symptoms, according to a new nationwide survey of parents by Consumer Reports Health.

Among the survey’s major findings:

   * 67% of parents identify drug therapy as being beneficial, while 45% feel that switching their kids to schools better suited to help ADHD kids helps considerably.

   * More than half of the children whose parents were questioned had tried two or more medications in the past three years.

   * 37% of parents say having a learning specialist or tutor work with the child helps “a lot.”

   * 35% of parents say providing structure by maintaining a schedule of activities helps “a lot.”

Benefit confirmed in “bubble boy” treatment

(Reuters) – A 10-year study of nine boys born without the ability to ward off germs has found that gene therapy is an effective long-term treatment, but it carries a price: four of them developed leukemia.

The technique is designed to help boys with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency disease, or SCID, a rare mutation that prevents the body from making mature T cells or natural killer cells, which are vital tools for fighting infections.

Without a bone marrow transplant, which works best with a matching donor, such “bubble babies” have to live in germ-free environments and usually die within a year. Doctors hope gene therapy will work when no donor is available.

States Cut Aid to the Homebound

A couple of decades back, people who think about how we care for older Americans – and who noticed how many more of them there were, and how much longer they were living – sounded the alarm about the way the United States was spending Medicaid dollars.

The issue: the great majority of those dollars were being spent to maintain elders in nursing homes, the places they don’t want to be. Only a sliver of this federal and state money was helping to support low-income seniors at home, where they do want to be.

Ecstasy May Ease PTSD Symptoms

July 20, 2010 — The street drug known as ecstasy may play a role in treating severe posttraumatic stress disorder  (PTSD) when used in conjunction with intensive therapy in a very controlled setting, according to preliminary new research in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

When used in this manner, MDMA, also known as ecstasy, was so effective that 80% of participants had resolution of their PTSD symptoms after the end of the trial. And some participants who had been unable to work because of their symptoms were able to rejoin the workforce. The new work was funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit group based in Santa Cruz, Calif., that studies the use of psychedelic drugs and marijuana in difficult-to-treat conditions.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs after a traumatic event. It is marked by persistent thoughts and fears of the event, flashbacks, and sleeplessness. Some people with PTSD withdraw from society as a result of these debilitating symptoms.

Meat lovers may pack on the pounds over time

Reuters Health) – Being a little less carnivorous may help you stay slim, a study in hundreds of thousands of Europeans suggests.

Dr. Anne-Claire Vergnaud of Imperial College London in the UK and her colleagues found that people who ate more meat gained more weight over 5 years than those who ate less meat, but the same amount of calories.

“Our results suggest that a decrease in meat consumption may improve weight management,” they wrote in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Heart risk factors less common in fish lovers

(Reuters Health) – Middle-aged and older men who eat fish every day are less likely than infrequent fish eaters to develop a collection of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and stroke, a new study suggests.

Whether a fishy diet itself is the reason for the benefit is not clear from the findings.

But, the researchers say, the results are in line with studies showing that omega-3 fatty acids — found most abundantly in oily fish like salmon, mackerel and albacore tuna — may have heart benefits.

Autistic kids grow normally despite limited diet

(Reuters Health) – Children with autism tend to be picky eaters, but a new study suggests that their growth may not be impaired because of it.

The study, which followed 79 UK children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and nearly 13,000 autism-free children to the age of 7, found that although children with ASDs were more often rated as picky eaters by their parents, their average intake of calories and major nutrients was similar to their peers’.

Moreover, there were no differences in the two groups’ weight and height attainment, researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

Pitchers More Prone to Baseball Injuries

July 20, 2010 — Baseball may be a funny game, as former Major Leaguer Joe Garagiola once wrote, but it’s also fraught with the risk of injury, especially for pitchers, a new study finds.

Researchers who studied data for the 2002-2008 seasons say pitchers suffered significantly higher injury rates for upper and lower extremity injuries than fielders.

According to the study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Providence, R.I., pitchers spent a greater proportion of days on the disability list, 62.4%, compared to 37.6% for fielders.

The study also says that fielders as well as pitchers spent significantly more days on the disabled list for upper extremity injuries than for the lower extremities.

Fish eaters show lower risk of age-related eye disease

(Reuters Health) – Older adults who eat fatty fish at least once a week may have a lower risk of serious vision loss from age-related macular degeneration, a new study suggests.

The findings, reported in the journal Ophthalmology, do not prove that eating fish cuts the risk of developing the advanced stages of age-related macular degeneration, or AMD.

“Punting the Pundits“ is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Paul Krugman: Addicted to Bush

For a couple of years, it was the love that dared not speak his name. In 2008, Republican candidates hardly ever mentioned the president still sitting in the White House. After the election, the G.O.P. did its best to shout down all talk about how we got into the mess we’re in, insisting that we needed to look forward, not back. And many in the news media played along, acting as if it was somehow uncouth for Democrats even to mention the Bush era and its legacy.

The truth, however, is that the only problem Republicans ever had with George W. Bush was his low approval rating. They always loved his policies and his governing style – and they want them back. In recent weeks, G.O.P. leaders have come out for a complete return to the Bush agenda, including tax breaks for the rich and financial deregulation. They’ve even resurrected the plan to cut future Social Security benefits.

Bob Herbert: Thrown to the Wolves

The Shirley Sherrod story tells us so much about ourselves, and none of it is pretty. The most obvious and shameful fact is that the Obama administration, which runs from race issues the way thoroughbreds bolt from the starting gate, did not offer this woman anything resembling fair or respectful treatment before firing and publicly humiliating her.

Moving with the swiftness of fanatics on a hanging jury, big shots in the administration and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News came to exactly the same conclusion: Shirley Sherrod had to go – immediately! No time for facts. No time for justice.

What we have here is power run amok. Ms. Sherrod was not even called into an office to be fired face to face. She got the shocking news in her car. “They called me twice,” she told The Associated Press. “The last time, they asked me to pull over to the side of the road and submit my resignation on my BlackBerry, and that’s what I did.”

Doyle McManus: Bloated intelligence apparatus is not too smart

The director of national intelligence should be given more authority to coordinate overlapping agencies, while their budget should be trimmed

The U.S. government’s intelligence agencies are out of control again.

Not in the old, rogue-elephant sense of covert operatives running private wars.

Not even in the bureaucratic sense of spending money in unauthorized ways or launching programs Congress didn’t know about.

This time, the loss of control happened in plain sight, with full approval from on high.

Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. intelligence spending has more than doubled. The country’s 16 major intelligence agencies are poorly coordinated and often duplicate one another’s work. And the White House and Congress have failed to exercise firm control over the proliferation of intelligence-gathering efforts.

The Washington Post cataloged the problem in a comprehensive series of articles this week. Reporter Dana Priest and data squirrel William M. Arkin reported that more than 1,200 government agencies or offices and almost 2,000 outside contractors are involved in counter-terrorism activities, spending almost $75 billion producing about 50,000 intelligence reports each year, far more than the government can effectively digest.

Kathleen Parker: Journolist flap shows a destructive ‘gotcha’ mentality

The current Journolist controversy  that has the blogosphere heaving sparks and Washington even more self-absorbed than usual is weak tea — a tempest in Barbie’s teacup.

At least as concerns the so-called conspiracy itself.

As a larger lesson about the way we search and destroy each other in the political/media world, there may be something darker brewing.

For the millions who have no idea what I’m talking about, a brief history: Journolist was an e-mail list (Internetspeak for watering hole) where liberal-leaning journalists gathered to kvetch.

Started by prodigal blogger Ezra Klein for a few friends, it grew in numbers and popularity, attracting a few mainstream luminaries (Joe Klein of Time magazine) along the way. But mostly it was a consortium of far lesser-known folks (academics, mid- to low-level producers, etc.) who enjoyed the camaraderie of the like-minded.

In the conservative world, we call such people Fox News. (Just kidding, guys, but really.)

Howard Kurtz: Getting the message on Journolist’s controversial postings

To conservatives, it is a pulling back of the curtain to expose the media’s mendacity.

To liberals, it is a selective sliming based on e-mails that were supposed to remain private.

But there is no getting around the fact that some of these messages, culled from the members-only discussion group Journolist, are embarrassing. They show liberal commentators appearing to cooperate in an effort to hammer out the shrewdest talking points against the Republicans — including, in one case, a suggestion for accusing random conservatives of being racist.

Glen Greenwald: Why has the Post series created so little reaction?

Remember how The Washington Post spent three days documenting on its front page that we basically live under a vast Secret Government — composed of military and intelligence agencies and the largest corporations — so sprawling and unaccountable that nobody even knows what it does?  This public/private Secret Government spies, detains, interrogates, and even wages wars in the dark, while sucking up untold hundreds of billions of dollars every year for the private corporations which run it.  Has any investigative series ever caused less of a ripple than this one?  After a one-day spate of television appearances for Dana Priest and William Arkin — most of which predictably focused on the bureaucratic waste they raised along with whether the Post had Endangered the Nation by writing about all of this — the story faded blissfully into the ether, never to be heard from again, easily subsumed by the Andrew Breitbart and Journolist sagas.  

Joan Walsh: The civil rights heroism of Charles Sherrod

Andrew Breitbart sure picked the wrong people to symbolize black “racism.” Taylor Branch and Clay Carson weigh in

People who care about civil rights and racial reconciliation may eventually thank Andrew Breitbart for bringing Shirley Sherrod the global attention she deserves. Really. Her message of racial healing, her insight that the forces of wealth and injustice have always pit “the haves and the have-nots” against each other, whatever their race, is exactly what’s missing in today’s Beltway debates about race. What’s even more amazing, but almost completely unexplored in this controversy, is the historic civil rights leadership role of her husband, Charles Sherrod, an early leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, who served on the front lines of the nonviolent civil rights movement in the early 1960s.