Hot off the Press: Double dippin' edition

Not only is Terry Branstad collecting a $130,000 salary this year as Iowa's governor, he is pulling in a $50,000 annual pension from IPERS that stems from his previous 26-year public service tenure. Critics are obviously, and rightly, accusing him of double-dipping during a time when he has the state's pension system and 1,500 public jobs in his budget slashing cross-hairs: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110215/NEWS09/110215020/Branstad-earns-salary-plus-pension. It's legal, but oh so wrong.

Internet technicians are baffled and surprised at how easily and completely the Mubarak "government" in Egypt was able to pull the plug on the internet: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/technology/16internet.html.

The UI Sailing Club is opposed to proposed legislation that would eliminate the 10-horsepower limit for boat motors on Lake Macbride. They say lifting the limit would ruin wind sailing, kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boating on the lake by endangering those who do it: http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110216/NEWS01/102160319/1079.

The Iowa City City Council approved a measure banning the possession of firearms on city property: http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110216/NEWS01/102160313/1079.

Why are genetically modified organisms (GMOs) not labeled on our food packages? asks this NYT blogger: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/why-arent-g-m-o-foods-labeled/.

Remember the Gulf oil spill last year? The disaster has slowly and surely been pushed deeper into the papers and people's minds, which means it is time for BP to start whittling down its financial responsibility of the clean-up. Recent damage estimates by Kenneth R. Feinburg, who is overseeing the $20 billion compensation fund for those impacted (he was appointed by BP and approved by Obama), has been criticized for being too optimistic. BP, however, says his estimates are too generous and are now fighting to have its financial responsibility cut: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/us/18bp.html.

Here is a list of the 30 worst (in terms of photo selection and fashion sense) baseball cards of all time: http://acidcow.com/pics/12208-the-30-worst-baseball-cards-of-all-time-30-pics.html.

Lawmakers in Des Moines are training their cross-hairs on non-disabled people who abuse disabled parking spots and permits: http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/02/17/disabled-parking-abuses-get-iowa-lawmakers-attention/. Get this:

there is currently no expiration date on permanent disability parking privileges, even if a person who holds the privileges is deceased.

That is so shocking it is genius. Here's a quick fix: issue yearly permits similar to the registration stickers used on license plates.

On the subject of license plate registration stickers: who was the genius who decided to use black print on a dark blue background for Iowa's 2012 expiration stickers? Retarded.

The Toronto Star reveals that Agent Orange was used extensively in Northern Ontario to combat "weed trees": http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/940243--star-exclusive-agent-orange-soaked-ontario-teens?bn=1.

Ol' Terry Branstad said he will not cut his salary in a gesture of "self-sacrifice." Nope. He is taking every single cent of his salary and pension (see above): http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20110218/NEWS10/102180337/Branstad-won-t-cut-his-salary-to-help-balance-state-s-budget.

Book lovers, like me, are fearful for the future of margin writing — marginalia — in an increasingly digitized world: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/books/21margin.html. Margin writing is something I started doing only a couple years ago, and I have fallen madly in love with it. I need to do it now, and I love this graph from the story:

Studs Terkel, the oral historian, was known to admonish friends who would read his books but leave them free of markings. He told them that reading a book should not be a passive exercise, but rather a raucous conversation.

Converse with a book today.

Interest in blogging has waned for the younger generation, which has shifted toward Twitter and Facebook and their emphasis on single sentence commentary: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html. For those of you who still want to go in depth, The Quiet Man will be here.

Yet another thought provoking column from Paul Krugman: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/opinion/21krugman.html.

Of the nation's 85,000 dams, more than 4,400 are listed as being susceptible to failure: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/science/22dam.html. Repairing them is obviously beyond our current financial means.