The Wordsmith's Forge

Cell phone companies have finally agreed to create a new universal charger -- yay!

Universal phone charger standard approved
United Nations body the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) last week approved an energy efficient one-charger-fits-all solution called the Universal Charger Solution (UCS); which is based on a micro-USB standard. This is a move that will please the GSMA which, along with 17 mobile carriers, has been pushing for such a charger to be in place before 2012.</p>

What this means for consumers is that any charger you buy or have shipped with a new phone will work with all other handsets going forward. Not only will that cut down on waste, but will also mean chargers may become an option when buying a phone rather than a necessity. That in turn cuts down on packaging size and shipping weights.

I found these articles today:

Lack of Health Care Led to 17,000 US Child Deaths
Agence France-Presse: "Lack of adequate health care may have contributed to the deaths of some 17,000 US children over the past two decades, according to a study released by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The research, to be published Friday in the Journal of Public Health, was compiled from more than 23 million hospital records from 37 states between 1988 and 2005. The study concluded that children without health insurance are far more likely to succumb to their illnesses than those with medical coverage."

Well, of course. People without money and power are valueless victims to modern American ideals. Poor kids? We are darn near the "nits make lice" level. They're just going to grow up and be criminals, we might as well kill 'em while they're little and avoid the extra expense and risk of hunting them down as adults.

Sometimes this country makes me sick.

Robert Scheer | Lieberman Twists the Knife
Robert Scheer, Truthout: "Is there a more hypocritical figure in American politics than Joe Lieberman? The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any health care reform bill that has a public option - even the version with the 'trigger' compromise accepted by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe - because it might cost money. 'I think that a lot of people may think that the public option is free,' said Lieberman, one of the Senate's big spenders, in a suddenly frugal mood. 'It's not. It's going to cost the taxpayers and people that have health insurance now, and if it doesn't, it's going to add terribly to our national debt.'"

Hey, I know a great way to save the taxpayers money: rescind the socialized medicine that policians currently enjoy. Their perk-filled package of pork is costing us a bundle. My share would probably buy me a cartload of groceries, which would sure do me a lot more good than these weasels are.