Author Archives: Bon the Geek

Job Creation: Quality VS. Quantity

Posted on March 11, 2012 | 1 Comment

Right now, everyone is talking about job creation.  It seems every candidate has a theory or plan to create more jobs.  However, it’s not all about numbers.  There is the issue of quality vs. quantity, and improvements that protect people while adding jobs.

I’ve gotten messages from Zandar readers, asking if I know I’ve linked to one certain news article a number of times.  Yes, I know.  I just think it’s terribly important, and reveals a largely overlooked issue facing working Americans.  I’m taking about when Senate Republicans unanimously voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act.  Their chief concern was the burden it would put on businesses.

Collins argued that the bill would place undue burden on small business, and “impose increased costs and restrictions on small businesses in an already difficult economic climate.”

“Many business groups oppose this legislation, including the National Federation of Independent Businesses, our nation’s largest small business advocacy group, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,” Collins said.

Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Bon the Geek, Lady Bits, Political Shenanigans, Teabilly and GOP Mendacity

Tagged , ,

Miracle Baby Still Doing Just Fine

Posted on March 10, 2012 | 2 Comments

I remember reading the original story, and sniffling then.  I was so grateful that I stumbled upon the follow-up, because happy tears are a good thing.

It all started with every parent’s nightmare.  A mother knew her babies were in danger when they came early (even for twins).  Then, in what must have been a surreal moment of anguish, doctors came and told her that her son had died, and there was nothing more that could be done.  They put his body in her arms so she could say goodbye.

“I wanted to meet him and to hold him and for him to know us,” Kate Ogg told Ann Curry in her interview. “If he was on his way out of the world, we wanted for him to know who his parents were and to know that we loved him before he died.”

But then something surprising happened.  He began to move.  Nurses told her this was reflex, and should not be misinterpreted as signs of life.  Then he opened his eyes.  Then he began to breathe regularly, and took milk.  Her son is still with them, and is just as healthy as his sister. Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Bon the Geek, Musings

Tagged

Santorum Calls Obama A Snob, Makes A Perfect Santorum Of Himself

Posted on February 26, 2012 | 8 Comments

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum lit into President Obama at a Americans for Prosperity Tea Party event in Troy, Michigan over his advocacy for higher learning. “President Obama once said he wants everybody in America to go to college,” Santorum sniped. “What a snob!”

The crowd responded favorably to the former Pennsylvania Senator’s remarks, applauding and cheering to his putdown of the president.

“Not all folks are gifted in the same way. Some people have incredible gifts with their hands!” Santorum added. “There are good decent men and women who go out and work hard every day and put their skills to test that aren’t taught by some liberal college professor trying to indoctrinate them. Oh, I understand why he wants you to go to college. He wants to remake you in his image. I want to create jobs so people can remake their children into their image, not his.”

Obama wants everyone to have the ability to go to college if they wish.  That doesn’t make him a snob, that means he wants to empower the people, give them the tools to accomplish their goals.  Only a twit like Santorum can try to twist that into a bad thing.  Unless you believe those “liberal professors” might try to “indoctrinate” people with some facts.  We are reminded again that education is the enemy of those who prey on the ignorant.

Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 8 Comments

Posted in Bon the Geek, Election 2012? Oy vey!, The Frothman Cometh, What the Crap!?

Tagged , , , ,

Stop The Abortion Stupidity

Posted on February 7, 2012 | 7 Comments

Kansas lawmakers have six days to decide if it’s okay for doctors to lie to women who may consider abortion if they knew the truth.

Yeah, roll that around and digest it for a minute, I know I had to. The proposed changes would prevent women from suing doctors for malpractice if they withhold information that they feel might make the woman consider abortion as a viable procedure. A woman would have no rights to claim malpractice if her doctor didn’t mention birth defects that the doctor feels may cause her to consider abortion. A woman would have no say in court if she suffered damage to her body from a condition her doctor neglected to mention because in their opinion it might cause her to consider abortion.

The bill includes several other cheap shots and punitive measures aimed at women considering abortion, including hearing the heartbeat and removing tax deductions for “abortion related” health insurance coverage. Those are another topic for another post, a rant about how laws can punish people for taking advantage of a protected medical procedure. My main concern here is the idea that it could ever be right to hold back the truth between doctor and patient.

In a constant erosion of women’s rights, the GOP is now trying to intrude on the relationship between a patient and her doctor. They’ve resorted to telling outright lies, as well.
Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 7 Comments

Posted in Body/Health Shenanigans, Bon the Geek, Lady Bits, Legal Shenanigans, War on Women, What the Crap!?

Tagged , , , , , ,

New Mobile Model Is (Gasp) Fair To The Consumer

Posted on February 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

Tucows has announced a new mobile phone service. It is affiliated with Sprint but requires a different device (why there is no help there from Sprint I do not know). I have not read a full analysis or the technical nitty gritty, nor have I seen a performance reading. Let me start off by saying this is not carved in stone and there may be facts that change how it sounds so far. However, the few things I do know are pretty interesting, and may have a real impact on how mobile service works in the future.

For starters, you pay full price for your phone. That sounds cringe-worthy but the reality is that mobile companies are already moving to that. T-Mobile’s “value plans” give a superior monthly rate but customers pay a downpayment on phones and eventually the full amount through installment payments. Verizon and AT&T have made changes with how customers get phones, none of those changes to the benefit of the consumer. Anyway, the days of free phones will inevitably end. It was okay when phones were basic, but as they have developed into mini-computers it just isn’t practical. Those who don’t use a power phone won’t have to pay for one, so in the end it really works well for the people who have paid higher rates to offset the cost of high end devices that other users are taking advantage of.

But here’s where it gets cool.
Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Bon the Geek

Tagged ,

Women Sterilized Against Their Will Offered A Pittance

Posted on January 15, 2012 | 6 Comments

Just recently, women who were sterilized against their will were awarded $50,000 apiece. Maybe. There’s still a lot that can go wrong, the money is not guaranteed. They were sterilized simply because a board decided they were of unsuitable stock to reproduce. A woman who wanted a family is deprived of that dream and after decades she gets an insulting check? Hell, smokers get more for suicidal behavior. Some of these women were sterilized fifty years ago, is the pain of sterility not even worth a grand a year? Let’s take a quick look at why they were selected for sterilization. For being poor. For being black. For being “willful” or having come from undesirable families. A room full of men sat in judgment on whether certain women should be allowed to conceive. And in the case of over seven thousand women, they decided they were not. By whose authority? The states who allowed this owe a hell of a lot more than $50,000. These women’s lives were forever changed against their will on false pretenses. They get a pittance and a half-assed acknowledgement instead of the apology and promise of a better future for women. Instead, all but maybe 2,000 have died without knowing even this humble victory. Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Body/Health Shenanigans, Bon the Geek, Criminally Stupid, War on Women

Tagged , , ,

A Picture Worth A Thousand Insults

Posted on January 14, 2012 | 5 Comments

A recent spoof of a painting of Marie Antoinette takes a cheap shot at Michelle Obama. That in itself is disturbing. In this case, the altered portrait isn’t just sexist, it’s racist as hell. It’s disrespectful on every level. Maybe they don’t know their history, but Michelle Obama couldn’t be more different than Antoinette. Not that those pesky facts usually get in the way.

latimes.com

Remarks have been made about Michelle Obama’s appearance. What the hell? First of all, how can they be so cheerfully incorrect? She is fit and toned and slender, as anyone with eyes can determine for themselves. Or, as our own Ian Boudreau (@iboudreau) said on Twitter yesterday morning: Rush Limbaugh apparently likes to imply that Michelle Obama is “fat.” And people believe him. I don’t understand how this works. Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 5 Comments

Posted in Bon the Geek, Now That's Some Racist Bullsh*t, War on Women, What the Crap!?

Tagged , , , ,

Paying It Forward: You’re Doing It Right

Posted on January 9, 2012 | 4 Comments

Johnston was in pharmacy school and unsure if he was going to be able to finish. He had taken a year off to work and build up funds to continue when a family friend gave him $200. In 1949 that was quite a chunk of change. She told Johnston to finish his schooling and “pay it back for someone else” down the road.

And boy, did he ever.

Johnston grew up in a time when luxuries were few, and admits he was greatly affected by growing up in the times of the Great Depression. He obviously did not come from a wealthy family or he wouldn’t have been struggling to pay for his school, but he has clear memories of his mother feeding migrant workers and packing them to-go meals. Johnston says his mother, while not a wealthy woman, understood we have an obligation to help those trying to find work and better themselves.

Johnston finished school and decided to build a fund to keep his promise. He saved $80,000 and then began to invest it. He never dipped into the money, sustaining himself on his pharmacist wages. He continued to grow the fund, and eventually it reached a flat million dollars.
Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 4 Comments

Posted in Bon the Geek, Do The Right Thing

Tagged ,

Rick Perry Okays Abortion To Save Mother’s Life

Posted on December 29, 2011 | 5 Comments

bitterrootwire.com

Rick Perry has decided he would allow women to have abortions if their life was in danger. Isn’t that nice of him?

There are a few misconceptions about abortion that never quite go away. I’m going to start with the smaller ones and work my way up. First, let’s talk about who the pro-choice people really are. We aren’t baby murderers. We don’t rejoice in abortions, we do not cackle at the moon with glee when one is performed. We simply say that there is no blanket solution that fits every situation, which means by logical default the choice should lie with the individual. We believe our bodies belong to us, not to self-righteous jackasses like Rick Perry. The feeble and slow-witted fall for the shell game where a woman’s rights to make medical choices is trumped by personal beliefs and religious doctrine. Those who are unable to see the difference between their own moral line and a person’s right to choose for themselves are not intelligent enough to make choices for millions of women.

The other argument from pro-lifers is that “they” (meaning pro-choice) won the right for women to have abortions. “We” didn’t win squat. What happened is the courts realized they do not have jurisdiction to force a woman to carry a child against her will. When something so personal is at stake, and knowing pregnancies can come about through so many ways from comical to criminal, there is no single answer. Therefore, the only acceptable conclusion is to allow people to choose for themselves on a case by case basis. Punishing women who take advantage of their legally protected options is disgusting and a totally accurate portrait of spite and evil. The word chickenshit also comes to mind.
Continue reading →

TumblrShare

→ 5 Comments

Posted in Body/Health Shenanigans, Bon the Geek, Lady Bits, Legal Shenanigans, Political Shenanigans, War on Women

Tagged , , , ,