Friday, 2 April 2010
The RNC fugs up again...
The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone-sex line offering "live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl who will do anything you want for just $2.99 per minute."
At the bottom of a piece designed to resemble a census form, a toll-free number is listed next to the national party's address.
A voter in Minnesota received the mailer and called the number intending to complain about the attempt to raise money with a form that looks like a government document.
But the Minnesotan was instead directed to a second toll-free number that greets callers as "sexy guy" before offering them the chance to talk with "real local students, housewives and working girls from all over the country."
The individual then forwarded the mail piece to the voter's congressman, a Democrat, who shared it with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
A spokesman for the RNC declined to say how many copies of the census-style mailer were sent out.
"The number in question was a typographical error by a vendor used on this particular mailer — using 1-800 instead of 202," said RNC Communications Director Doug Heye.
Heye e-mailed different direct-mail pieces that included the correct RNC phone number, writing: "This is an isolated incident and will not be repeated in the future."
He said the vendor responsible for the mistake "will not be used for the foreseeable future."
AUDIO: HERE
AUDIO: HERE
Ben Smith @'Politico'
Information is beautiful: war games
Who really spends the most on their armed forces?
Info is beautiful: defence budgets Photograph: David McCandless
Amid confusion over the rise in defence cuts, I was surprised to learn that the UK has one of the biggest military budgets in the world - nearly £40bn ($60 bn) in 2008.
But I was less surprised to see who had the biggest.
Info is beautiful: war chests. Graphic: David McCandless
Yep, the United States spent a staggering $607bn (£402 bn) on defence in 2008. Currently engaged in what will likely be the longest ground war in US history in Afghanistan. Harbourer of thousands of nuclear weapons. 1.5m soldiers. Fleets of aircrafts, bombs and seemingly endless amounts of military technology.
Here's that bloated military budget in context.
Info is beautiful: the US military budget. Graphic: David McCandless
The defence budgets of the other top nine countries can be neatly accommodated inside the US budget.
So the US is an aggressive, war-mongeringing military machine, right? And the numbers prove it.
But is that true? Is that the whole picture?
Military units
First of all, the enormity of the US military budget is not just down to a powerful military-industrial complex. America is a rich country.
In fact, it's vastly rich. So its budget is bound to dwarf the others.
Info is beautiful: defence budgets compared. Graphic: David McCandless
(This is a reworking of an image from the blog ASecondHandConjecture.com)
It doesn't seem fair to not factor in the wealth of a country when assessing its military budget.
So, if you take military budgets as a proportion of each country's GDP, a very different picture emerges.
Info is beautiful: the biggest spenders. Graphic: David McCandless
The US is knocked down into 8th place by such nations as Jordan, Burundi and Georgia. The UK plunges to 29th.
Why are these other nations spending so much on their military?
• Myanmar (Burma) is a military dictatorship, so that must bias their budgets a little.
• Jordan occupies a critical geographic position in the Middle East and has major investment in its military from the US, UK and France. In return, it deploys large peace-keeping forces across the world.
• The former soviet republic of Georgia was invaded by Russia in 2008. Relations remain extremely tense.
• Saudi Arabia spends heavily on its air force and military capabilities. Why is not clear.
The stories behind Kyrgyzstan, Burundi and Oman's spending are also not clear. (If you have any ideas, please let us know).
Soldiers
A country's military investment is not just dollars and cents. It's also about soldiers and infantry.
When it comes to sheer number of soldiers, you can guess the result.
Info is beautiful: active forces. Graphic: David McCandless
But, as ever, using whole numbers creates a skewed picture. China obviously has a huge population. Their army is bound to be huge.
If you adjust the parameters to a proportional view, the image shifts dramatically.
Info is beautiful: proportional forces. Graphic: David McCandless
North Korea tops the league with the most militarised population, while China plummets to a staggering 164th in the world league table.
The US barely scrapes the top 50. The UK's armed forces look tiny.
This re-ordering creates some surprises too. Israel and Iraq you could perhaps predict. But Eritrea and Djibouti?
All soldiers
To give the fullest picture of armed forces, reservists, civilian and paramilitary should also be included.
This again gives a different picture and perhaps a more revealing one. One that suggests combat readiness, primed forces and perhaps paranoia too? Who's expecting to be invaded?
Info is beautiful: total armed forces. Graphic: David McCandless
Here again, when all the numbers are added up, the US infantry is ranked a lowly 61st for size in the world.
So is the US an "aggressive, war-mongering military machine" obsessed with spending on defence and plumping up its armed forces? Perhaps, the numbers say, not.
David McCandless @'The Guardian'
International Workers of the World
The eight hour working day is the fault of these grizzled veterans of union organizing. The Haymarket bombing of May 4th, 1886, was the first inauguration by fire for many into the ideas which coalesced into the charter for the International Workers of the World, bringing union solidarity and the fight for the worker to Chicago. A bomb was thrown at police breaking up the convention and no clear fugitive has materialized for the incident; still 7 men hung from the gallows for the crime of fighting for the working class. Their names were Albert Parsons, August Spies, Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, George Engel, Adolph Fischer and Louis Lingg. The belief in solidarity and anarchism alone was enough to convict and execute these men.
There is a rich and storied history to the IWW, and though it is a shadow of the organization it once was. Red-card carrying Wobblies like myself still walk our concrete jungle, fighting toward a general strike to place the means of production in the hands of the worker.
I'd like to draw your attention to a folk singer and nearly life long wobblie, Utah Phillips. Only two shows may be found up at sugarmegs for the fellow, but Mystic Theater is worth a listen. Comedy and folk songs mixed in with the poetry of resistance.
Now, more than ever, is the time to rise up in solidarity with your fellow workers across the globe. Newer mechanisms for control are developed everyday, with the battle of "net neutrality" heating up, the government making attempts at shutting down Wiki-Leaks, and media outlets consolidated into independent or multinational corporate blocs.
Don't forget to celebrate the sacrifices made by our fellow workers this coming May Day, May 1st. Have an on the job slow down if you can't get the day off. Talk to your fellow workers about what you can do to improve conditions in your place of employment. Educate yourself about the varied struggles of the working class world wide. Remember your history; don't forget there's always another day, and another fight.
I'll leave you with the words of Lucy Parsons, an early member of the IWW and the wife of one of the Haymarket martyrs, "Never be deceived that the rich will permit you to vote away their wealth."
@'IWW'
Moscow blames US for 'heroin tsunami' sweeping Russia
Production in Afghanistan has risen nearly 50 fold and in Russia the result is an epidemic of heroin abuse.
Russia now has around 2.5m heroin addicts and at least 30,000 of them will die this year.
The Russian authorities accuse the United States of helping the drug suppliers by refusing to destroy opium crops in Afghanistan.
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from the Siberian city of Novo-kusnetsk.
@'BBC'
@'BBC'
Forget Taxing Marijuana; The Real Money's In Cocaine
A Harvard economist has estimated how much money states would raise by legalizing and taxing marijuana and cocaine.
In a podcast a while back, Harvard's Jeffrey Miron told us that his estimates for what California would bring in from taxing marijuana are much smaller than some of the numbers that are floating around out there (including a $1.4 billion estimate from state officials).
Since that interview, Miron has come out with a paper estimating, among other things, potential tax revenues from cocaine and marijuana.
It turns out the big tax money is in cocaine.
Sure, legalizing marijuana is highly unlikely and legalizing cocaine isn't even on the table in mainstream politics. Still, it's interesting to know what the numbers would be -- particularly when they're coming from a Harvard economist.
Here's a table that shows Miron's estimates for the annual tax revenues each state would get from marijuana and cocaine. (The figures are in millions; for more details, see the explanation and links after the table.)
| State | Marijuana | Cocaine |
| Alabama | 25.59 | 80.54 |
| Alaska | 6.53 | 16.28 |
| Arizona | 41.91 | 177.67 |
| Arkansas | 19.87 | 54.49 |
| California | 201.74 | 767.73 |
| Colorado | 46.97 | 133.74 |
| Connecticut | 22.57 | 72.53 |
| Delaware | 6.07 | 18.76 |
| Florida | 142.05 | 362.34 |
| Georgia | 86.75 | 213.96 |
| Hawaii | 10.09 | 21.59 |
| Idaho | 11.73 | 22.66 |
| Illinois | 83.98 | 263.93 |
| Indiana | 43.44 | 120.04 |
| Iowa | 18.72 | 45.94 |
| Kansas | 16.69 | 53.95 |
| Kentucky | 28.05 | 77.79 |
| Louisiana | 30.02 | 97.43 |
| Maine | 6.64 | 25.46 |
| Maryland | 37.68 | 113.79 |
| Massachusetts | 44.94 | 167 |
| Michigan | 69.04 | 174.55 |
| Minnesota | 45.43 | 102.31 |
| Mississippi | 19.67 | 41.17 |
| Missouri | 54.99 | 111.28 |
| Montana | 7.94 | 19.29 |
| Nebraska | 13.87 | 29.13 |
| Nevada | 13.97 | 53.19 |
| New Hampshire | 9.03 | 29.18 |
| New Jersey | 74.6 | 140.31 |
| New Mexico | 11.92 | 47.42 |
| New York | 136.81 | 464.05 |
| North Carolina | 87.88 | 191.04 |
| North Dakota | 4.02 | 9.54 |
| Ohio | 88.7 | 248.79 |
| Oklahoma | 29.23 | 58.23 |
| Oregon | 24.09 | 76.88 |
| Pennsylvania | 73.73 | 211.85 |
| Rhode Island | 7.75 | 37.12 |
| South Carolina | 26.29 | 79.71 |
| South Dakota | 7.28 | 11.96 |
| Tennessee | 39.94 | 146.9 |
| Texas | 270.39 | 483.02 |
| Utah | 16.34 | 53.16 |
| Vermont | 3.67 | 15.86 |
| Virginia | 53.35 | 175.63 |
| Washington | 35.76 | 143.55 |
| West Virginia | 8.97 | 36.65 |
| Wisconsin | 61.12 | 114.16 |
| Wyoming | 3.72 | 11.26 |
| DC | 4.82 | 25.94 |
| Total | 2,138.47 | 6,234.11 |
On top of state revenues, Miron estimates that a federal taxes would amount to $4.28 billion for marijuana and $12.47 billion for cocaine.
Miron figures taxes on the drugs would be comparable to taxes on alcohol and tobacco. His estimates for how many people in each state use marijuana and cocaine are based on a government survey. (He notes that the number of users would likely rise if the drugs were legalized, but his estimates don't account for this.) He estimates that if marijuana and cocaine were legalized, their prices would fall by 50% and 80%, respectively. The research was funded by the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation; here's the foundation's take on drug policy.
As my Spanish friend Ana says:
"Why is the internet special?,” he asked, saying the net was “just a communication and distribution platform”...but it is not HIS (or another politicians) communication and distribution platform. This is the key, not ethical issues.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Because...
Public Enemy
The Enemy Assault Vehicle Mixx
I first heard this on The Ghost's show on 3RRR here in Melbourne way back and Stephen very kindly put it on a tape for me back then...was probably my most played track on my Walkman over the years!
Get it
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