I probably get 80 percent of my news from WCPN and the various programs it airs while I’m driving between students. Yesterday I began to notice a change in the narrative concerning events in Egypt.

In the beginning, reporters referred to the site in Cairo where most of the protests are held as Liberty Square.

The name of the square is actually Tahrir (Liberty in Egyptian), but who could not support protests against a repressive regime in a place named Liberty Square? Tahrir Square? Not so much.

This morning as I was listening to the news at the top of the hour, Liberty cum Tahrir had become the public square.

See the pattern?

Control the narrative and you control the outcome.

From my dad, of course…

When I was born, I was Black,
When I grew up, I was Black,
When I went in the sun, I stayed Black,
When I got cold, I was Black,
When I was scared, I was Black,
When I was sick, I was Black,
And when I die, I’ll still be Black.

Now, you ‘white’ folks…

When you’re born, you’re Pink,
When you grow-up, you’re White,
When you go in the sun, you get Red,
When you’re cold, you turn Blue,
When you’re scared, you’re Yellow,
When you get sick, you’re Green,
When you bruise, you turn Purple ,
And when you die, you look Gray.

So who y’all be callin’ Coloed Folks?

The two most depressing words in the English language are literary fiction. David Hare

Ten rules for writing fiction from The Guardian.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

MYANMAR/BURMA — For an editorial in a major American newspaper, the Washington Post’s:The right way to help Burma’s democracy movement seems pretty weak to me, but then, the Post’s writer is taking a snapshot on Ground Hog day at a decades old problem half the world away, so maybe I’m overly sensitive.

I did like the final paragraphs

Which brings us to the failing policy of the Obama administration, ostensibly a marriage of engagement and targeted sanctions. In practice, engagement has been half-hearted and fruitless – the regime seems uninterested – and sanctions have been allowed to languish. The administration hasn’t added a single name to the Treasury Department’s Burma sanctions list or cracked down on a single bank doing business with the regime – even as the generals sign multibillion-dollar development deals with companies in China, Thailand and elsewhere.

There’s an honest debate to be had about whether sanctions hurt ordinary people more than their rulers. But a focused effort to target the regime and its cronies might leave more room to expand humanitarian aid to the population. Right now, the administration has the worst of all worlds. It’s not influencing events, it’s not helping the people and it’s positioning itself to be blamed nonetheless.

A less honest debate would be one that blames the administration’s lassitude on Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s democracy movement, or argues that sanctions should await a clear pronouncement from her. Though she was recently freed from house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi is not in an easy position; if she did call forthrightly for enhanced sanctions, she would be vilified in the poisonous state-controlled press.

The biggest help the West could give the democracy movement would be to freeze the bank accounts of the nation’s rulers and their relatives, to keep them from stealing more of their nation’s patrimony, and let Aung San Suu Kyi call for relaxation when and if events merit. The opening of a Potemkin parliament wouldn’t qualify as one such event.

We can’t be everywhere at once. Just because I’ve chosen to pick up this particular starfish doesn’t mean that anyone who tries to save a different starfish is bad, just different.

Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.

Previously…

I’ve enjoyed this series for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the way that Travis Saunders has been willing to discuss the flaws and holes in the research and the need to think differently in ways that help to fill in those holes. This is a great example of how science works.

From Obesity Panacea:

However, regardless of the findings of the studies that are currently ongoing, there is a need for many more studies in this emerging field. With this in mind, I thought it would be worth pointing out a number of important issues and possible directions for future research, should anyone feel inclined to take the advice of a lowly grad student working in this area. Here are some of the issues that I feel are important to consider, in no particular order (as always, I’d love to hear other suggestions in the comments!):

Think twice before you define an individual as “sedentary;”

Don’t just ask about sedentary behaviour – measure it directly;

We need more lab-based studies; and

We need a better understanding of the determinants of sedentary behaviour.

From all of this I’m conducting my own experiment. For the month of February I’m spending my coffeehouse time at high-top tables and counters. I’ll let you know what I find.

What I really fear is the attitude that we don’t need libraries, we have Fox News.

An Update from Cuyahoga County Public Library

Cuyahoga County Public Library consistently ranks among the nation’s best and busiest library systems. It has 28 branches that serve 47 communities. In 2010, our customers borrowed more than 20 million items and visited our branches more than 7.6 million times. We have set new usage records for seven consecutive years.

Our Economic Reality

CCPL’s revenue was reduced by nearly $14 million (nearly $5 million in 2009 and nearly $9 million in 2010) due to state budget cuts and lower property tax collections. Additional cuts to state funding are anticipated as Ohio is facing an estimated $8 billion to $10 billion budget deficit.

In these difficult economic times we believe it would be irresponsible to ask taxpayers for additional funding. We are committed to living within our 2.5 mill levy – the lowest library millage in the county.

To address these reductions, our Board of Trustees has had to make tough choices to sustain our operations and reduce our operating costs. We eliminated 41 positions, froze wages in 2010, increased staff contributions to health care premiums and reduced our expenditures in advertising, grounds keeping, supplies, cleaning and travel. We have also cut our materials budget by more than $3 million.

But our 28 branches are open seven days a week. We have not reduced service hours and we are committed to keeping our doors open to provide access to our customers.

Facilities Master Plan

We are proactively preparing for difficult economic times. O ur Board has adopted a long-term financial plan called CARE: A Library for the Future (the Plan) that emphasizes Convenient, Accountable, Relevant and Effective library service. Please be assured that service to taxpayers is our top priority. The Plan exists for one reason – it is the best way to meet the needs of our district with limited resources.

The Plan will reduce our operating expenses over the long-term, by creating a sustainable footprint of library buildings across our service district and replacing our costliest facilities. This will reduce our operating and maintenance costs, resulting in significant savings each year. We are spending resources on this plan now because over the long-term it will ensure that the residents of the 47 communities we serve will continue to have access to excellent library service.

Imagine your community without its extraordinary library.

From my dad, of course…

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, “Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can’t figure out how to get started.”

Her boyfriend asks, “What is it supposed to be when it’s finished?”

The blonde says, “According to the picture on the box, it’s a rooster.”

Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.

She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.

He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, “First of all, no matter what we do, we’re not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster.”

He takes her hand and says, “Second, I want you to relax. Let’s have a nice cup of tea, and then,” he said with a deep sigh, “Let’s put all the Corn Flakes back in the box.”

Never complain of being misunderstood. You can choose to be understood, or you can choose not to. David Hare

Ten rules for writing fiction from The Guardian.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

MYANMAR/BURMA — Ros Atkins World Have Your Say BBC program is one of my favorite shows on public radio — 1 p.m. week days on WCPN — because he takes the man-in-the-street concept global.

On yesterday’s show, Aung San Suu Kyi fielded questions from around the world. In light of protests in North Africa, Suu Kyi response to an Egyptian caller is particularly important:”

I wouldn’t presume to advise you because you seem to know what you want to do and you seem to be going about it the right way. But I do want to remind you to keep a cool head and a strong heart and to never lose hope and to keep on going.”

I think after so many years people have got tired of the military. I think what it showed is that people have much better means of getting in touch with each other and arranging mass public demonstrations. [I’m not] necessarily envious but very interested and we are interested in the parallels in Egypt and the parallels with Burma but the institutions are not exactly the same. I think protests are one way of bringing about change but not necessarily the best way.”

I can’t say that I wish what was happening in Egypt was happening in Burma. But I am very, very interested and I sympathise with all those people who want freedom anywhere in the world. We want people to get the freedom that they deserve. I want them to succeed in what they are trying to achieve. As for the President leaving I think it depends on the situation in the country. I think if the situation has been such that there’s no other way then surely they have take whatever opportunities they get.”

What an amazing woman.

Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.

It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.

WHEN THE OLIGARCHY GATHERS… The American Secret Service sweats bullets when the federal government gathers each January to hear the President’s State of the Union address. Our enemies could do serious damage if they could figure out how to blow up the entire capital building. Keep reading…

WALMART CAN’T UNDERSTAND THIS… As an institution, Walmart is incapable of understanding the wisdom that Tom Peters shares here. Walmart employees are not talent, they are an expense to be minimized in order to maximize share holder value, nothing more. Keep reading…

REMEMBER YOU READ IT HERE FIRST… A little more than a week ago I happily took some flack for my purposefully using the words Pimp and Slut in conjunction with Walmart’s introduction of a makeup line targeted at prepubescent girls. Yesterday I listened to Diane Rehm interview Peggy Orenstein. Keep reading…

HOW COME WE NEVER GET AN APOLOGY…? We’ve written stories here before about how products, such as milk, are priced incorrectly and how dis-satisfied customers have been forced to go to great lengths to get their money refunded, let alone get an actual apology from management. Keep reading…

PAUL KRUGMAN ON THE WALMART DECADE… Yes, I’m biased. I read Paul Krugman’s New York Times columns, not to be confused with those of Charles Krauthammer which I don’t read, because I consider his economic analysis to be honest. This week he took a look at Walmart on the millennium cusp. Keep reading…

WAL-LUST SPEWS ACROSS SAN DIEGO… The long battle between San Diego and Walmart is all but over as the city council prepares to repeal a law requiring big-box retailers to evaluate their effect on local businesses and years of pent up Wal-lust is set to impregnate the city with no less than 12 stores. Keep reading…

LEARN WHAT IT MEANS BEFORE YOU USE IT… I predict, based on the gobbledygook used by Walmart CEO Mike Duke last week while speaking at Davos, a marked use of the the differential calculus term inflection point over the coming months by business people who never made it past Trigonometry. Keep reading…

OH…! NOW I UNDERSTAND…! South African blogger Hurricane Vanessa makes the story of Walmart’s tween-targeted line of cosmetics, featuring an anti-aging formula — makes sense: the move is all about aging, former tween stars Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. How did I miss this? Keep reading…

Previously…

From Obesity Panacea:

For example, a recently published study in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that the amount of commercial television (e.g. television with advertisements) that children watch before the age of 6 is associated with increased body weight 5 years down the road, even after adjustment for other important variables including physical activity, socio-economic status and mother’s BMI. In contrast, watching non-commercial television (DVD’s or TV programs without commercials) showed no association with body weight. The data was self-reported, but nonetheless these are pretty interesting findings, and suggest that television commercials are likely an important mechanism linking screen time with obesity risk. Similarly, it has also been reported that each hour of daily television watching in children is associated with an increased consumption of 167 calories per day, mainly through increased consumption of high calorie, low nutrient foods (e.g. the foods most commonly advertised on television).

How many years did it takes us to get cigarette commercials off the television?

And then I found this fascinating:

Other research has shown that scientists increase their food intake (especially their intake of fatty foods) while preparing grant applications, in comparison to other periods of less intense mental work. How is this possible? Mental work requires glucose, which may influence blood sugar levels and therefore appetite. And stressful situations such as grant applications may also increase stress hormone levels, which are also known to influence hunger and food intake. This research suggests that engaging in sedentary behaviours may not just put us in situations making over-consumption more likely – they may actually result in physiological changes that increase hunger and make us seek out energy dense foods.

So there is a connection between computer programming and serious junk food?

Via Filibustery…

From my dad, of course…

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation’s history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House.

The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there.

When he retired from office in 1952, his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 [actually $112.56 per month or $1,350.72, see comment below. JH] a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an ‘allowance’ and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year..

After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them.

When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, “You don’t want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it’s not for sale.”

Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, “I don’t consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise.”

As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food.

Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, “My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference!”

I say dig him up and clone him!

Never go to a TV personality festival masquerading as a literary festival. David Hare

Ten rules for writing fiction from The Guardian.

Found in my electronic chapbook.

MYANMAR/BURMA — The first meaningless action for Myanmar’s faux Parliament will be to select the president of Myanmar.

From Mizzima:

Five parliamentary representatives including current Prime Minister Thein Sein and retired Lieutenant General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo have been nominated for the two positions of vice president in Burma’s new government.

Current PM Thein Sein in leadership race. Photo : Mizzima
The nomination process was carried out Tuesday in the Union Parliament, the joint sitting of the National Parliament and People’s Parliament.

The People’s Parliament nominated Thein Sein , the chief of the Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Saw Thein Aung from the Phalon-Sawaw Democratic Party.

The representatives from the military nominated Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, the Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council.

The National Parliament nominated USDP’s lawmaker Sai Mawk Kham, the chairman of the Shan State Literature and Culture Committee, and Dr. Aye Maung from Rakhine National Development Party.

The president and the two vice presidents will be elected on Thursday.

What, they couldn’t find enough deck chairs?

Do what you can to make this a good morning, Myanmar.