Come on Raw Story...

Reading Raw Story today I came across the following article:

Detroit family dead after "glitch" led to power shut-off

Falling behind in your bills can be deadly, as the tragic story of a Detroit family shows.

I used to really like Raw Story until I noticed a pattern of bait and switch with regard to their headlines. Frequently I see articles like the one above which may lead someone to believe that the power being shut off killed this family. That an evil corporation is responsible for the deaths.

Reading a bit further into the article, though, you come across the REAL reason for the death:

Vaughn Reed, 46, and his three children, Markeisha, 17, DeMarco, 12, and DeMarte, six, died in the early morning hours of Friday from carbon monoxide emitted by a generator in the basement of the family’s two-story home on Detroit’s west side.

So, this family died because the father took a gas powered generator, which I'm sure had "DO NOT USE INDOORS.", "DO NOT USE IN A CONFINED SPACE" stamped all over it and put it in his basement. He then sealed the windows and ran the generator.

On Thursday night, the family had sealed all the windows to run the air conditioning, the Detroit Free Press reports. By the time the house began to fill with carbon monoxide at around 3 a.m., it was too late.

So basically he duplicated what a suicide does when he runs a hose from his tailpipe into his drivers window and seals himself inside. How is this the fault of the power company? This is blatant stupidity, the inability to read standard warning labels and lack of 6th grade science knowledge.

Is it sad? Yes, very sad, especially that the children died. Is it the fault of the power company? Oh HELL no! So how about it Raw Story? Would you care to start labeling your headlines accurately or is it all about manufactured drama?

Pretty lame.

Estimated 1.4 Billion Dollars for California from Pot Tax

Mr Governor please read this and pay attention. Get this thing passed and you'll see a lot more money than 1.4 Billion from the taxes. Our tourism dollars are going to go through the roof!

Legal pot could generate $1.4B in revenue, tax board says

Calif tax officials: Legal pot would rake in $1.4B

California tax officials have found that a state bill to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol would generate nearly $1.4 billion in revenue.

This is money that we, as residents of California, are owed but which is not being collected by the state. Get a move on!

Swearing Lowers Pain

Cursing to distract myself from pain has always been an effective strategy. Perhaps some other voices will convince my mother.

[BLEEP!] That hurts!

Thankfully, Dr. Richard Stephens and his team at Keele University in the United Kingdom just published a study that says swearing actually has a pain-lessening effect. (See Mom? It’s healthy!) When we swear, we increase our threshold for pain, meaning we can bear it longer and don’t feel it as much. Stephens is not sure why this happens, only that for some reason, “swearing appears to increase our pain tolerance.”

Dr Stephens is unsure as to why this effect takes place but I will take a shot. If you are busy cursing your face off then there is no remaining energy to focus on the pain. Works like a charm.

Republicans Aren't the Enemy of Science?

We'll let this quote from a recent Pew Research Center survey report speak for itself...

Public Praises Science; Scientists Fault Public, Media

Most scientists identify as Democrats (55%), while 32% identify as independents and just 6% say they are Republicans. When the leanings of independents are considered, fully 81% identify as Democrats or lean to the Democratic Party, compared with 12% who either identify as Republicans or lean toward the GOP. Among the public, there are far fewer self-described Democrats (35%) and far more Republicans (23%). Overall, 52% of the public identifies as Democratic or leans Democratic, while 35% identifies as Republican or leans Republican.

Yes you read that right, only 6% of scientists identify as Republican. Pretty clear message that science and conservatism don't mix.

California TV Stations Censor Marijuana Tax Ad

Apparently certain California TV stations think they know what's best for the community and are refusing to show a legal and legitimate political advertisement:

California TV Stations "Just Say No" to Drug Policy Ad

Censorship in California: Marijuana Ad Campaign Rejected by TV Stations

It would appear that marijuana legalization is a legitimate political topic in California, but that's not what a number of the state's major market TV stations think. At least six stations have rejected or ignored the ads. Oakland NBC affiliate KTVU and San Francisco ABC affiliate KGO declined to air the ad, as did San Jose NBC affiliate KNTV. Three Los Angeles stations, KABC, Fox affiliate KTTV, and KTLA also refused to air the ad.

Please take a moment to send a message to these stations and inform them that their censorship is not needed or wanted.

KTVU Oakland - General Manager
KGO San Francisco - Contact Form
KNTV San Jose - Contact Form
KABC Los Angeles - Contact Form
KTTV Los Angeles - Contact Form
KTLA Los Angeles - Station Management

Free Speech in Alabama

A family member in Alabama tipped me off to the following article:

I-20 billboard message 'Imagine No Religion' stirs emotions

It's not surprising that a southern company refused to place the billboard message:

Gaylor said she wanted a billboard near the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, but a billboard company, Lamar Advertising, declined to accept the advertisement. "We got censored by Lamar," Gaylor said.

"It was offensive to me," said Tom Traylor, general manager of Lamar Advertising in Birmingham. "We have the autonomy to decide what's in the best interests of our company and what's offensive. I don't think it was the kind of message we wanted to stand behind.
...
Traylor said the "Imagine No Religion" slogan is unpatriotic. "It flies in the face of how our country was founded," he said.

My problem with this is the choke hold on free speech. If a company owns all the billboards in a certain area and refuses to accept a legally protected advertisement how is this not a restriction on free speech?

An editorial from the Talladega Daily Home does a great job breaking it down in a simple way:

Freedom of speech trumps billboard petition

No matter how many people find the billboard offensive, no matter how many of them sign a petition, the Freethought Association members have every right to express their opinions.

So there is no question here — The Daily Home is not taking any position agreeing with (or disagreeing with) what the sign says — just that it is protected speech under the Constitution.

Very powerful and courageous words from a publication rooted in the deep south. The post is wrapped up nicely as follows:

Since billboards line our highways all over the state, many of them of a religious nature promoting traditional Christian values, such advertisements as the Freethought Association’s must also be allowed.

Removing the sign would not only be a direct violation of the freedoms guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, it would very likely open the door to legal action based on civil rights violations.

Much respect and admiration to the publishers and staff of the Talladega Daily Home for their defense of freedom and expression against negative public opinion.

Stimulus Performing as Expected

Watching The News Hour last night I was fortunate enough to catch Mark Zandi talking about the stimulus. You can listen to an audio recording of the segment here.

I found his comments refreshing as he seemed fairly non-political and well informed. This morning I located Mark's recent analysis (June 22nd, 2009) that explains his position in a bit more detail:

U.S. Fiscal Stimulus Revisited

• The stimulus that became law in February should reach its point of maximum economic benefit this summer.

• Most of the benefit so far comes from checks to state and local governments and expanded unemployment insurance benefits to workers.

• The plan is performing about as expected, but policymakers should be prepared to do more if the economy flags.

During the program last night Congressman Cantor (R - VA) repeatedly stated that the stimulus has failed solely because unemployment numbers have risen higher than expected. This seems to be a disingenuous attempt to criticize the President and the stimulus pack for the simple reason of obstruction but I acknowledge that he is probably doing what is expected of him by his party, if not his constituents.

It was continually pointed out by Congressman Van Hollen (D - MD) that the stimulus is a two year plan making it too early to gauge success. That being said Mr. Zandi's comments indicate that the plan, at this point, seems to be performing as expected regardless of any fear mongering.