The Atlantic: Simpler Taxes.
”It is little wonder that the vast majority of the poorest families must pay a tax preparer to claim these benefits.” My old man used to step down from his usual attorney duties to do taxes for a set of minority cleaning ladies in Princeton. For a pittance. As much as he supported progressive taxation, he felt the implementation was designed to keep revenue high on the backs of the poor and did what he could to personally remedy the situation in his circle of influence.
Washington Post: Illegal immigration to U.S. down almost 67% since 2000, report says.
Hmmm. No mention of the unrestrained drug wars along the border, making illegal immigration that much more dangerous a proposition.
Spiegel Online: Will Russia’s Bloggers Survive Censorship Push?
”With so many of their media sources controlled by the state or government-friendly oligarchs, Russians have turned to their bloggers to keep informed and give voice to their grievances and concerns. But many of those in power are now seeking to impose rigid limits on online freedom.” The internet’s like water ... it finds the nooks and crannies, and escapes most political control structures.
WyoFile: A Legacy of Prejudice: Lawsuits, Failed Pacts Tell Ugly Story.
”Whites here may have legitimate concerns about the quasi-independent state on their borders, such as issues relating to law-enforcement jurisdiction or water rights. But that doesn’t explain the bigotry that often seems a holdover from another time: the high-school sports fans mocking Indian players as ‘prairie niggers,’ for example, or the white civic leader, subsequently elected to the county commission, declaring in a private meeting, ‘I hate goddamn Indians,’ to cite examples from the voting rights trial.” Many think the ‘wild West’ is a part of the past. Live out here for a while, you’ll realize it’s alive and well — and not the fantasy perpetrated on us kids through “Bonanza” and “Gunsmoke.”
BBC News: Iranian insults against Bruni ‘unacceptable’.
“On Tuesday, Kayhan, which acts as a mouthpiece for Iran’s conservative Islamic leadership, reiterated its attack, adding that the Italian-born French first lady deserved to die for supporting her.” Once supposes France will turn a jaundiced eye on further nuclear program developments from Iran, both in direct relations and via the U.N.
BBC News: Assessing America’s ‘imperial adventure’ in Iraq.
”Whatever happens here for the next decade, the Americans will get the blame - unless of course Iraq becomes peaceful and prosperous, in which case no-one will thank them. That is the usual fate of an occupying force.” Which is also why the once-recognizable Republican Party insisted that we weren’t the world’s police force, and that it wasn’t America’s place to go around nation-building.
The Atlantic: Flashcard series, 9 Ways to Fix Social Security.
Hopefully Congress isn’t as toothless as the illustration. Better to head off problems now; everyone’s been saying they would do something ... noone has. Makes ya want to kick ‘em right in their ‘lockbox.’
SF New Mexican: Rosetta Stone releases Navajo language software.
”For native English speakers, for example, learning Navajo is less about the words and more about rearranging the sentence structure and putting the verb last.” That being said, knowing Latin will help you out then. Verbs at the end!
Washington Monthly: College Dropout Factories.
rc3.org: Government regulations and freedom.
Read the quote.
NPR: Taliban Spokesman Suggests It May Attack Aid Workers In Pakistan’s Flood Zone.
”In an interview with The Associated Press, Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, suggested militants may attack humanitarian workers in flood-ravaged country.” They obviously don’t want any gratitude to build up over US aid. The devastation’s bad enough, but forcing aid workers to have to watch their backs ...
SacBee, The Frame: Hurricane Katrina five years later.
A series of then-and-nows, and more.
Spiegel.DE: Famous Chestnut: Anne Frank’s Tree Topples in High Wind.
Macroadvisers: Conflict with Iran: Economic Consequences of Alternative Scenarios.
For those who think war will help our economic crisis.
Wall Street Journal: An Airline Magazine That Makes Travelers Want to Pull the Rip Cord.
”In the seat pocket in front of you on Safi, you will find an article on Kabul heroin addicts, photos of bullet-pocked tourist sites and ads for mine-resistant sport-utility vehicles.” Don’t sugar-coat things, now.
365/233.
These young ladies from the Haida Nation were selling some incredible cedar woven baskets, and posed for me. The craftsmanship level pegs the top of the range this year ... if you haven’t been to Indian Market in a while, get yourselves over there. We spent more time than usual because of exceptional worksmanship on baskets, weavings, pottery, jewelry ... so much incredible creative work. Inspirational. Don’t miss it.
BBC News: Winston Churchill’s Battle of Britain ‘Few’ remembered.
Seventy years since The Battle of Britain. Thank you for your heroism, chaps. Even us Yanks don’t forget.
Denver Post, Plog: Last American combat brigade leaves Iraq.
Goes all the way back. Image 2 strikes me as even more historical; how very like mechanized Conestoga wagons. I wonder if they circle ‘em when under bombardment.
In These Times: Jailed Hikers: the Untold Story.
A bit different than what we’ve generally heard.
FT.com: US matches Indian call centre costs.
”Call centre workers are becoming as cheap to hire in the US as they are in India, according to the head of the country’s largest business process outsourcing company. High unemployment levels have driven down wages for some low-skilled outsourcing services in some parts of the US, particularly among the Hispanic population.” India may choose to outsource here. Ironic.
Obit Magazine: The Commanding Allure of Patricia Neal.
Peaceful Tomorrows: 9/11 Families Applaud President Obama’s Support of Religious Freedom.
The media’s covering one widow and her right-wing organization as if they speak for all ‘9/11 widows’; the bulk of 9/11 families support the community center.
ProPublica: Experts: Argue All You Want, Mosque Project on Firm Legal Ground.
“Focus for a moment on basic rule of law: 45 Park Place is located in a C6-4 zoning classification (’General Central Commercial’) where houses of worship are allowed ‘as of right.’ Assuming that this particular proposed house of worship meets the setback, height, and bulk requirements of the Lower Manhattan special zoning district, the city’s denial of a zoning compliance permit would be flagrantly ultra vires: Building inspectors, after all, cannot simply fabricate a new ‘honor-the-9/11-dead” zoning district on the spot’.”
The Smart Set: Dictating a Masterpiece.
”… earlier writers, such as Milton, Dostoevsky and Henry James used the first form of voice recognition software—women. Before stenography and then typing provided an entry into the workplace for thousands of women, handwritten transcription was an intimate exchange and was often unpaid work done by an author’s female family members.” Reminds me of a young lady in one of my high school classes who we dubbed “The Stenographer” because she seemed to write down every single word our teachers said.
