Rotundus.com

So, I ran across an article this morning entitled U.S. court temporarily reinstates "don't ask-don't tell"

A federal appeals court reversed itself and temporarily reinstated the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the U.S. military but it blocked the Defense Department from investigating or discharging anyone under the policy.

This is

1. Expressly only for a limited time, and
2. The Defense Department is forbidden "from investigating, penalizing or discharging anyone from the military pursuant to the don't ask, don't tell policy"

Given the two points above, can this really be seen as a reinstatement?

Death and Budgets

"This fiscal crisis is about many things, but one of them is our inability to face death — our willingness to spend our nation into bankruptcy to extend life for a few more sickly months. The fiscal crisis is driven largely by health care costs."

S&P warns that chance of downgrading U.S. credit rating is 50 percent

"S&P managing director John Chambers said ... the country must implement a plan to reduce the annual budget deficit by roughly $4 trillion over 10 years, which makes the debt manageable over the long term. The White House and Congress have discussed a plan that big, but negotiations have more recently centered on a smaller deal, at $2 trillion or less."

Israel Bans Boycotts Against the State

Not quite sure what they were thinking - this seems like a terrible idea to me. Foreign Policy seems to be agree that this is likely to reduce the perceived legitimacy of the country as a whole rather than raise the legitimacy of settlements.

Bycatch 22

"As a twisted consequence of overfishing regulations, commercial fishermen have no choice but to catch sea bass, flounder, monkfish, and tuna—and throw them dead back into the sea."

Too Many Public Works Built on Rosy Scenarios: Virginia Postrel

"On average, urban and intercity rail projects run over budget by 45 percent, roads by 20 percent, and bridges and tunnels by 34 percent. ... Promoters of rail and toll-road projects also tend to substantially overstate future use... Rail projects attract only about half the expected passengers, on average, while ... toll roads (including road bridges and tunnels) fall 20 percent short."

Where Sweatshops Are a Dream

"Mr. Obama and the Democrats who favor labor standards in trade agreements mean well, for they intend to fight back at oppressive sweatshops abroad. But while it shocks Americans to hear it, the central challenge in the poorest countries is not that sweatshops exploit too many people, but that they don’t exploit enough. ... Talk to these families in the dump, and a job in a sweatshop is a cherished dream" If sweatshops are better than the alternative for employees, how should you treat their products? How can the Western world remain competitive competing against them without resorting to similar conditions?

The Myth of Inevitable Teen Rebellion

"He sites anthropological research data on teens in 186 preindustrial societies which found that “about 60 percent had no word for ‘adolescence,’ teens spent almost all their time with adults, teens showed almost no signs of psychopathology, and antisocial behavior in young males was completely absent in more than half of these cultures and extremely mild in cultures in which it did occur.”Epstein argues that the angst we see among many teens in the U.S. today is the result of an “artificial extension of childhood” past puberty."

This is what the Egg Farmers of Canada have to say. (You'd figure that they'd really have a vested interest in getting you to throw out old eggs and buy new ones).

Raw shell eggs will keep in the refrigerator without significant quality loss for up to three weeks after the 'Best Before' date.

Woman Faces Jail Time for Planting Organic Vegetable Garden

This seems even crazier than communities banning clothes lines (see trailer for an upcoming documentary campaigning against those laws)

Israel Debates Two-Day Weekends, and Its Lifestyle

For Israel the Friday/Saturday combo seems more workable than Saturday/Sunday, given Muslim views towards Friday and that there's already a half-day Friday as a result of Jewish views on the timing of the start of the Sabbath (sunset the previous day).

"The study, which looked at more than 1,000 couples in long-term, committed relationships from the United States, Brazil, Germany, Japan and Spain, found that frequent kissing, cuddling and caressing were predictors of relationship happiness for men only."

An Unfair Deal: Fair trade is overrated.

lower profitability / income and higher poverty in Nicaragua for fair trade and/or organic suppliers. The situation seems to be reversed in Columbia which the article attributes to better infrastructure.

A quote from Albert Einstein

"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."