U.K. considering MSM donors (not journalists)

According to Blood: An Epic History…, gay people were among the best blood donors before the AIDS epidemic.  Many donation centers were located in large cities’ gay areas, which inadvertently worsened the plague.  The time is approaching when the US will have to work out a smarter risk calculation than NO  (via AABB update):

Survey: 77% of MSM willing to donate blood in the U.K.
An online survey showed that 77% of men who have had sex with men in the U.K. would give blood if there were no nationwide ban against them donating. Yusef Azad, director of policy and campaigns at National AIDS Trust, said the organization is working with authorities to re-evaluate the donation ban considering that MSM could represent 2.3 million more donors every year, as indicated by the survey.  PinkNews.co.uk (U.K.) (1/27)

Aberdeen laboratories developing new way to spread deferrals

Factory farms, corporate inspectors, and blood products – what ever could go wrong with this?

IKOR aims to use hemoglobin from cattle as its raw material to develop blood replacement products for injured soldiers, Tye said. The goal is to heal their wounds more quickly and effectively, partly because the products can help deliver oxygen to the wound.The cattle byproducts would come from packing plants, where much of the blood from cattle goes to waste as the animals are processed.

via Aberdeen laboratories developing new blood replacement products | argusleader.com | Argus Leader.

Austin newspaper puts Veterans’ homelessness on frontpage

Good on ‘em for reporting on this sorry situation.  IAVA is quoted.

And the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization says it’s concerned about another trend: Recent veterans are ending up on the streets faster than veterans of other conflicts. Most Vietnam veterans didn't wind up homeless for five to 10 years after that war, yet some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are becoming homeless within 18 months of coming home, according to the VA.

Advocates hope an array of services and programs will help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans avoid the fate that befell tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans, who had few resources to help them avoid homelessness.

via More troops returning from urban warfare to battle homelessness.

Puppy of War

It's just cute

‘Stars and Stripes’ Starts Delivery to Troops in Haiti

DoD PAO types (I’m one, I know) love to point out that “Stars and Stripes” and “ArmyTimes” are not official publications, because they occasionally run stories contrary to what the services want.  I think they do a good job and that, in the main, are very friendly to the Pentagon.  Some things you just can’t hardly sugarcoat (all the euphemisms for “enhanced interrogation” aside).  Kudos to the Stars and Stripes for getting a piece of home into the hands of our troops toiling in Haiti:  via Overcoming Daunting Logistics, ‘Stars and Stripes’ Starts Delivery to Troops in Haiti.

“Stars and Stripes has not only a proud tradition but a mandate to be sure that we provide a newspaper wherever soldiers are,” Senior Managing Editor Howard Witt said in a telephone interview Friday. “The main places we go now obviously is Iraq and Afghanistan, but as soon as it was apparent there was going to be a massive deployment to Haiti, our distribution and circulation people were trying to figure out how to get on the island.”

TWN – Obama Freeze Forfeits America’s Future

I think that Steve Clemon’s analysis of the SOTU comes the closest to what I felt.  Sounds good – but you haven’t done what you already had the chance to do.  This may be the more important note that he’s made this week

“Barack Obama’s plan to unveil tonight a non-defense discretionary spending freeze for the next three years will essentially forfeit America’s growth future to China.

via Obama Freeze Forfeits America’s Future – The Washington Note.

Mock arty dual on the Korean coast

Gonna be a slow weekend in downtown Tongduchon:

SEOUL, South Korea – North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire along their disputed western sea border on Wednesday, an official said, escalating tensions on the divided peninsula.

via 2 Koreas fire artillery along coast – North Korea- msnbc.com.

Puppy Tweets to come

Oh boy – of course I want one.  Reminds me of Kliban’s dog language translator where all the dogs are running around barking, then, when you turn the translator on, it shows them all saying “Hey”, ”Hey”,”Hey”,”Hey”,”Hey”,”Hey”.  This might be bigger than the iTablet.

or not:

Puppy Tweets is a plastic tag with a sound and motion sensor that you attach to your pet's dog collar and connect its USB receiver to your computer. Then you create a Twitter account for your dog and enjoy updates all day from Sparky or whatever its name is on your computer or smartphone.

via Mattel takes innovation to the dogs with its Puppy Tweets – Jan. 21, 2010.

Lies, damn lies, and torture lies

And there ya go:

Well, it’s official now: John Kiriakou, the former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn’t know what he was talking about.

via CIA Man Retracts Claim on Waterboarding | Foreign Policy.

The only ones with any credibility left in this mess are the few FBI and military interrogators that have come forward to note how worthless torture is, how worthless or absent the information that past admin nuts trumpeted, and how worthless our credibility will be until we bring these sadists to justice.

Farmers’ Insurance reaps profits after treating customers like fertilizer

Ahhh – business-friendly Texas.  Who cares about those dumbass homeowners anyway.  (via Chris Turner)

“The Texas Department of Insurance is failing to protect consumers by allowing Farmers to pocket these overcharges instead of returning the money to policyholders,” said Alex Winslow of Texas Watch. “This is a gimmick for Farmers to claim they are lowering rates. … Farmers should never have been allowed to charge rates this high.”

Winslow said the situation is a “perfect example” of why the Legislature should require that insurance rates be approved before they take effect.

“Instead of homeowners having to pay excessive rates and the commissioner coming in on the back end to straighten things out, we should have a system where the insurance company has to get approval before it raises rates,” he said.

Under current law, an auto or home insurer can raise rates immediately after notifying the insurance department.

via Farmers Insurance, state agree to cut ‘excessive’ rate hike | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News.