Tasty Treats from Diggapedia PuPu Platter

Clearing out the In Box:

·         Remember the great crusade form the Bush Administration that was going to bring Democracy to the Middle East?  Specifically, Bush and his neocons were high fiving themselves for overthrowing Saddam Hussein and establishing ‘free and fair’ elections.  It’s too early to say how things will turn out, but I have to wonder if the new bosses are any better than the last boss.  The Shia dominated government has already started purging its Sunni members and now the militant Islamic Shia leaders of the government’s Interior Ministry have tacitly supported roaming death squads who operate out of the Shia ruled enclave of Bayaa as they set out to beaten and kill emo-teenagers: male and female long haired teenagers who wear tight western jeans and listen to western music.  To date over a dozen teenager shave been stoned to death and others have been beaten.  No wonder the Kurds keep to themselves in the north. 

·         Is the US economic recovery going on the real deal or another flash in the pan that will be snuffed out like in 2011?  I think this recovery, albeit a mild one, is for real, and it will survive the adverse impacts from the spike in energy prices.  What could hobble the recovery more than anything else is Congress, especially the Republican controlled House urging austerity measures before the recovery is self-sustaining.  Keep an eye on housing stabilization, it will be a better indicator than oil prices.

·         Florida, Arizona, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Virginia have all been in the news recently as Republican controlled state houses continue their Keeping Up with the Nut Jobs.  Between the assaults on immigrants, women’s healthcare, and same sex rights, these states have pivoted so far to the right some of us got whiplash.  Well, we can add good ole Utah to the mix.  Yes that bastion of Mormonism, is in the process of banning Utah school teachers from teaching sex education classes including instructions in contraception and homosexuality.  To sum up the cause I give you Stuart Reid (R-Ogden): “To replace the parent in the school setting is wrongheaded.  We have no idea what their (sex-ed teachers) morals are, we have  no ideas what their values are, yet we turn our children over to them to instruct them in the most sensitive sexual activities in their lives.”  What are you REALLY afraid of Senator?

·         You won’t hear this on Fox News: America is imported 10% or 1million less barrels per day of oil in 2011 versus 2010.

·         According the London telegraph, the US Seal Tem Six may have done Osama bin Laden favor.  It seems the world’s most dangerous and wanted terrorist spent the last few months of his life holed up in Abbottabad with three feuding wives, eight children, five grandchildren, and ten bored assistants.   And I thought Bill Henrickson had it bad.

·         The downside of high unemployment is too many poorly educated white males with too much time on their hands.  According to the Southern Poverty law Center there are now 1,274 self-described ‘patriot’ white militia groups operating in the U.S.  That’s up from 149 in 2008.  Oh and Newt thinks we should worry about Sharia law taking over here? 

·         The 5,300 year old mummified Tyrolean Iceman found in 1991 has been yielding significant scientific results.  Based on genome science, researchers believe the Iceman suffered from cavities, bad knees, and heart disease, though it was an arrow through the heart that killed him.  He was also lactose intolerant, all of which is meaningless to creationists who are trying to figure out if he was a contractor on Noah’s Ark or if he was friends with Goliath.