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Philly Saves Homes!

By on Oct 1, 2008 in Politics

Here’s a good article in the NYT about a program in Philly that is saving 80% of foreclosed homes. Just because this blog is called “Rebecca Rants and Raves …” (I do way more ranting than raving though don’t I?), I’ll throw in a rant for good measure: “Ms. McGrath, a nursing assistant, said she had refinanced her $64,000 loan at 9.75 percent to help pay medical bills. She had expected to pay $1,406 a month, but from the start of the loan she was presented with bills of $1,886, which she could not afford.” Let me just reiterate for the zillionth time – We need Universal Single Payer Healthcare. NOW! (Note that the “single payer” part is key). Think I’m alone? The majority of physicians support universal single payer health care. (Otherwise known as ‘Canadian Style’ – seriously, when else can you...

Rebecca’s Bailout Plan ™

By on Sep 30, 2008 in Politics

This might be the only time I will say this: Thank you, thank you House Republicans for voting ‘No’ to Bush’s bullshit “bailout my friends and leave the american people with the debt” plan. I just got a new issue of the nation with their bailout plan. I haven’t read it yet so I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this topic later. If you haven’t yet, take a glance at Nader on the Bailout and Kucinich’s “Main Street Recovery Plan.” I, also, saw Paul Krugman on Keith Olberman tonight and he had some good points that found their way here. First, let’s start with what’s bad: Buying bank’s bad assets. Um, would you buy a house that was ruined by Katrina? No. It’s absurd. Giving Bush 700 Billion (or 350 Billion now and 350 Billion later unless you explicitly vote No) to do whatever the fuck he wants....

Understanding Science …

By on Sep 30, 2008 in Politics

I think most competent, intelligent people would agree that our society – mostly fueled by right wing fundamentalist Christians and/or oil execs – is seeing a major assault on science. I would argue that this is more pervasive than even the standard anti-climate change conservatives; it is perpetrated by our poor education system as well as left wing radical animal rights activists, a lazy, profit drive media, and others. My views on that are for another post but the point is that it is clear that there are many misunderstandings about how science works. So here is an incomplete list of things I’d like to see more widely understood about science: 1. Yes, science is based on “theories” but those theories are upheld by consensus among experts in the field. How do you know if a theory, climate change for example, has passed the test? A good rule of thumb is...