Wednesday, April 22, 2009
News The Morning News
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 8:15 AM
Not a Hopeful Forecast for the Economy: Freddie Mac CFO found dead in apparent suicide.
The Hits Just Keep Coming: More on U.S. torture.
Turbulence: Boeing posts 50% decline in first quarter profit.
Is the Pope Jewish? "Will cops' big bust really fix Belltown's crack problem?"
Don't Fence Me In: Hilariously named Minuteman bigot to run against McCain for Senate.
It's Earth Day: Obama and Limbaugh celebrate.
Beneath the Surface: Boston's alleged Craigslist Killer might have collected victims' panties.
Business Is a Science: McDonald's up, Yahoo up, Morgan Stanley down, AT&T up.
Tough Booty: "Prosecutors say teen pirate was brazen ringleader."
But First, A Geography Lesson: 75% of Jewish Israelis want to join the European Union.
There Is No God: "Therapy cat stabbed at Washington church rehab center."
Dateline: Diepsloot: South Africa votes today. Also: Diepsloot!
And Now, Your Daily Muppet:
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2
On that earth day piece you link to, one of the commenters suggested we send Rush all of our plastic bags. I think this suggestion has some merit.
Also, Rush thinks that the plastic bag benefitted our daily life in " multitudinous ways"....but how? What benefit does a plastic bag have over a paper bag, when all you do is load groceries into a hummer and pull into your garage, where your butler takes them and puts them away?
Also, Rush thinks that the plastic bag benefitted our daily life in " multitudinous ways"....but how? What benefit does a plastic bag have over a paper bag, when all you do is load groceries into a hummer and pull into your garage, where your butler takes them and puts them away?
3
@2: A plastic bag can be reused after it gets wet. Also you can grab about four to six plastic bags of groceries bringing them into the house whereas you can only bring in one or two paper bags of groceries.
This morning I will celebrate Earth Day by driving my Hummer to work listening to Rush.
This morning I will celebrate Earth Day by driving my Hummer to work listening to Rush.
5
their names are statler and waldorf?! all these years i thought they were just called the grumpy old hecklers.
6
@3: I can carry way more than 2 paper bags, and they fit more stuff than a plastic bag....so yeah.
Also, unless you are in a rainstorm, paper bags will hold up pretty good, just get your stuff double bagged. And why not use reusable bags? They are easier to carry and won't tear (which plastic bags have been known to do).
Also, unless you are in a rainstorm, paper bags will hold up pretty good, just get your stuff double bagged. And why not use reusable bags? They are easier to carry and won't tear (which plastic bags have been known to do).
7
Plastic bags require a hell of a lot less energy to produce. I'll be heading to the grocery store in a little while, and it'll be "plastic" for me!
And oh, by the way, not wanting illegal immigrants swarming across the border hardly makes you a bigot. Saying that it does might make you an asshole, though.
And oh, by the way, not wanting illegal immigrants swarming across the border hardly makes you a bigot. Saying that it does might make you an asshole, though.
8
After they bring your groceries home plastic bags are useful for a multitude of things. Keep using them. Reusing is a step above recycling on the spectrum of earth friendly virtues.
9
McCain is a decent guy but a crummy Republican who's heroic military career has carried him far beyond his talents (a Republican version of Max Cleland)
No Republicans I know are choked up that he lost, he wouldn't be missed in the Senate.
No Republicans I know are choked up that he lost, he wouldn't be missed in the Senate.
10
Not to side with Rush, but in this one case....
Plastic bags are more useful and durable than paper, and yes, you can carry a lot more in them, thanks to their handles. Paper bag handles come off if you overload. And a paper bag minus one handle is worthless for carrying; but plastic bags almost never lose their handles. I'm speaking as someone who used to regularly carry home 20-odd plastic bags of groceries, stopping periodically to let blood flow back into my fingers. I've also been caught in many downpours.
Plastic bags are also reusable in more ways than paper ones, though paper ones do have some value there. We throw our trash into plastic bags (and have a can specially designed to fit them), and our food waste into paper (since the paper can go right in there with it).
Plastic bags are more useful and durable than paper, and yes, you can carry a lot more in them, thanks to their handles. Paper bag handles come off if you overload. And a paper bag minus one handle is worthless for carrying; but plastic bags almost never lose their handles. I'm speaking as someone who used to regularly carry home 20-odd plastic bags of groceries, stopping periodically to let blood flow back into my fingers. I've also been caught in many downpours.
Plastic bags are also reusable in more ways than paper ones, though paper ones do have some value there. We throw our trash into plastic bags (and have a can specially designed to fit them), and our food waste into paper (since the paper can go right in there with it).
11
@7&8: No one is saying they aren't useful, cause if they weren't we probably wouldn't use them. We all understand the role they have played, how to reuse them, blah blah blah. The point is that their usefulness does not = their waste factor. Even if you reuse the bag, 5 times, where will it end up? And how long will it take to decompose?
Shit, I got plastic bags last night because I forgot my reusable ones and didn't think to say paper. But all in all, we should not have them anymore. We know better. Just like CFC's or lead paint. Yeah, lead paint is super cheap and works really well, but WHY CAN'T WE USE IT THEN?!?! Or Oil based paint? Is that the green conspiricy too? Or asbestos. Or freon. Shit the list goes on and on of things that are cheap and useful but seriously harmful so we don't use them anymore.
Shit, I got plastic bags last night because I forgot my reusable ones and didn't think to say paper. But all in all, we should not have them anymore. We know better. Just like CFC's or lead paint. Yeah, lead paint is super cheap and works really well, but WHY CAN'T WE USE IT THEN?!?! Or Oil based paint? Is that the green conspiricy too? Or asbestos. Or freon. Shit the list goes on and on of things that are cheap and useful but seriously harmful so we don't use them anymore.
12
Often conventional wisdom turns out to be wrong.
This is especially true in the enviromental movement where greens claim moral superiority to anyone who disagrees with them and conflicts over matters of science quickly are perverted into battles over 'ethics'.
Expect to see many (more)green dogmas drop by the way as Science finally is heard- (such as "Glogal Warming is now the Global Clinate Crisis and the debunking of assumptions about how enviroment friendly mercury filled florescent bulbs are...)
Often conventional wisdom turns out to be wrong.
This is especially true in the enviromental movement where greens claim moral superiority to anyone who disagrees with them and conflicts over matters of science quickly are perverted into battles over 'ethics'.
Expect to see many (more)green dogmas drop by the way as Science finally is heard- (such as "Glogal Warming is now the Global Clinate Crisis and the debunking of assumptions about how enviroment friendly mercury filled florescent bulbs are...)
13
@12: They re-named global warming to better explain what happens. The warming part was a misnomer from the start. But that doesn't change that it exists.
And mecury is highly toxic for humans, so the environmental reasons for it may not be as bad, but it still will fucking kill you in even small exposure.
So do you have any actual examples of something that the green movement said was bad and was not bad? What "science" are you talking about? Links please?
And mecury is highly toxic for humans, so the environmental reasons for it may not be as bad, but it still will fucking kill you in even small exposure.
So do you have any actual examples of something that the green movement said was bad and was not bad? What "science" are you talking about? Links please?
14
@10,
Come on, Fnarf. The majority of Americans do not reuse their plastic bags or recycle them; they just throw the things in the fucking trash or better yet on the street so the bag can inevitably get stuck in a tree.
Continuing with what Monique said, lead paint wouldn't be such a big deal if people repainted frequently enough to keep the paint from chipping and if everyone was conscientious enough to remove it safely. But they don't and they aren't, therefore lead paint has been banned.
Come on, Fnarf. The majority of Americans do not reuse their plastic bags or recycle them; they just throw the things in the fucking trash or better yet on the street so the bag can inevitably get stuck in a tree.
Continuing with what Monique said, lead paint wouldn't be such a big deal if people repainted frequently enough to keep the paint from chipping and if everyone was conscientious enough to remove it safely. But they don't and they aren't, therefore lead paint has been banned.
15
I'm surprised Chris Simcox hasn't shown up in comments to call you an "effeminate coward" yet.
http://www.blogdenovo.org/archives/00030…
Or maybe he's learned in the last several years to use a sockpuppet named "Nobody in Particular."
http://www.blogdenovo.org/archives/00030…
Or maybe he's learned in the last several years to use a sockpuppet named "Nobody in Particular."
16
@11, I have sad news: paper bags don't decompose either, if they end up in the landfill. NOTHING decomposes in the landfill. Newspapers are better preserved in a landfill for fifty years than they would be in your house.
Of course, paper bags can be recycled, which almost always means being bundled and shipped to China. And paper bags can go in the food waste, if you recycle your food waste. There are always tradeoffs, and nothing is clearcut. Paper bags probably DO use more energy, too, though precise calculations are impossible. And paper forests have environmental consequences themselves.
If only being virtuous was so easy. I reuse every single bag, paper or plastic, that comes into my house at least once (unless I rip it). But then, I am perfect in every way. Oh, wait, I'm about to drive to work. Damnit!
Of course, paper bags can be recycled, which almost always means being bundled and shipped to China. And paper bags can go in the food waste, if you recycle your food waste. There are always tradeoffs, and nothing is clearcut. Paper bags probably DO use more energy, too, though precise calculations are impossible. And paper forests have environmental consequences themselves.
If only being virtuous was so easy. I reuse every single bag, paper or plastic, that comes into my house at least once (unless I rip it). But then, I am perfect in every way. Oh, wait, I'm about to drive to work. Damnit!
17
@15: Maybe it's because I didn't use his name in the post to ignite his Google alert. So here goes: Chris Simcox Chris Simcox Chris Simcox. Just like Beetlejuice!
19
@Fnarf: But plastic bags use OIL and we need plastic for many, many other thing than fucking bags to carry shit in the rain/groceries. Also, plastic over time causes more harm to the environment then paper. And then there is this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_isl…
and more specifically this: Density of neustonic plastics
So regardless, paper is the better choice for many, many reasons. And like I said, I get it that they are useful, but so is freon. Why are we trying to ban third world countries from using something that actually helped propel us into a world power? Talk about something that had an amazingly awesome effect on our economy and standard of living. Why doesn't Rush celebrate that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_isl…
and more specifically this: Density of neustonic plastics
So regardless, paper is the better choice for many, many reasons. And like I said, I get it that they are useful, but so is freon. Why are we trying to ban third world countries from using something that actually helped propel us into a world power? Talk about something that had an amazingly awesome effect on our economy and standard of living. Why doesn't Rush celebrate that?
21
I just want to point out that in "Live From New York," Tom Shales quotes one of the SNL cast members talking about Milton Berle's hosting on SNL. Evidently, he liked to whip his cock out, and he was hung like a HORSE.
23
Global Warming is really global climate change - increased variation in global and local temperature shifts, and alteration in weather patterns.
Which means global warming can result in you freezing in July when the conveyor belt in the ocean shuts down.
Which means global warming can result in you freezing in July when the conveyor belt in the ocean shuts down.
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