Every day it seems that certain stories just demand comment or elaboration. Here are two from today.
Where Does She Get This Stuff
Michelle Bachmann recently announced:
“The ‘Great Society’ has not worked and it’s put us into the modern welfare state,” she said. “If you look at China, they don’t have food stamps. If you look at China, they’re in a very different situation. They save for their own retirement security…They don’t have the modern welfare state and China’s growing. And so what I would do is look at the programs that LBJ gave us with the Great Society and they’d be gone.”
A couple of problems with this statement are immediately apparent. First, Bachmann is praising an avowedly communist country for not being a welfare state. Secondly, Bachmann has repeatedly praised Medicare, a major part of Johnson’s “Great Society.” Finally, let’s look at urban salaries in China. At the top of the pay scale, an engineer earns 2,243 yuan per month, the equivalent of 353.00 dollars. A baker, a profession near the bottom of the pay scale makes 676 yuan per month, the equivalent of 106.41 dollars. Near the middle of the scale, a fireman is paid 1,166 yuan per month or 183.54 dollars. While the cost of living in China is still low compared to western countries it is rising as China becomes more industrialized and few are able to save significant amounts for the future.
An aspect of Chinese life of which Bachmann would approve is that, due to global financial crisis and falling commodities prices, the government has been forced to offer more subsidies and provide more advanced technology and improved public services to help farmers. Sounds a bit like “New Deal” thinking to me.
Is Waterboarding Torture? That Depends On Who Is Doing It
President Barack Obama says the interrogation technique known as waterboarding constitutes torturing, disputing Republican presidential candidates who say they would reinstate the practice.
Obama called waterboarding “torture” and said it was “contrary to America’s traditions” during a news conference at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
From Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog
http://bobcesca.com/
While the practice of waterboarding has been around practically forever, it first found it’s way into media in 1901 and the United States formally accused Japan of torturing Chinese prisoners by in 1941. From the early1930s, the newspapers that covered waterboarding at all almost always referred to it as torture. A Harvard study of four major newspapers: The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, revealed that prior to 2004, The New York Times called waterbording torture in 44 of 54 (81.5 percent) articles. The Los Angeles Times did so in 26 of 27 (96.3 percent) articles. On the other hand, after 2004,when the first stories about abuses at Abu Ghraib were released, The New York Times called waterboarding torture or suggested it was torture in only 2 of 143 (1.4 percent) articles while The Los Angeles Times did so in just 3 of 63 of articles (4.8 percent). The Wall Street Journal described waterboarding torture in a mere 1 of 63 articles (1.6 percent). USA Today never called waterboarding torture.
Interestingly, during the same time, 2004 to 2008, in The New York Times, 28 of 33 (85.8) stories that dealt with a country other than the United States using waterboarding called it torture or implied it was torture. The Los Angeles Times characterized the practice as torture in of 21 of 23 (91.3%) of it’s stories when another country was the violator.
In their recent debate only two Republican candidates for president, Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman, stated their opposition to waterboarding. Rep Paul said, “It’s illegal under international law and under our law. . . It’s also immoral.” Huntsman flatly stated, “Waterboarding is torture.” Food for thought while you consider your vote.