The Frustrated Bunny

Technology. Science. Politics. Geek. Etc.

Category: Politics

Politics

S&P’s downgrade of U.S. credit rating in a nutshell

Standard & Poors (S&P), one of three agencies that rate the credit of national governments, downgraded the credit rating of the United States from the highest rating, AAA, to AA+ with a negative outlook. This is the first time in history that this has happened. The U.S. Treasury, upon examining S&P’s analysis that prompted the downgrade, claims that it has found a math error that indicates that the downgrade should not have occurred. S&P rebutted that mathematical calculations are not the only factor in the decision to downgrade. Sovereign credit ratings, also referred to as national credit ratings and bond...

Politics / Random

Governor Perry to organize “day of prayer and fasting” in conjunction with hate group

It’s rare that I title posts as sensationally as I have this one, but this particular story has been pushing my buttons since I woke up this morning. So consider this one of the times where I live up to the “frustrated” part of my blog title. Rick Perry, governor of Texas, has invited the governors of each state to join him at a “day of prayer and fasting” event called “The Response” that is being held in Houston, in partnership with the American Family Association, an organization that describes itself as “a Christian organization promoting the biblical ethic of...

Food / Politics

Do you live in a “food desert”?

The USDA defines a “food desert” as a census block or tract where 500 people and/or 33% of the population is more than a mile from a large/full-sized grocery store (10 miles for non-urban areas). This phenomenon is considered by the USDA as a leading cause of malnourishment and obesity among poor and/or rural populations, as the only regularly accessible food is often in the form of preprocessed items from small convenience stores. Earlier this week, the USDA released an online tool that allows people to visualize what parts of the country are considered food deserts. The tool isn’t perfect–some...

Politics

Bin Laden confirmed killed: Questions and commentary

Not long after my Twitter and Facebook feeds exploded with exclamations about the rumors and then confirmation of the news that Osama bin Laden has been killed by American forces in Pakistan, a series of questions and concerns started rolling in. Some were directed toward me specifically–I’m the go-to “expert” on all things policy and politics for many of my friends and acquaintances (and for once I can honestly say that I do have a piece of paper that confirms that I am in fact more of an expert than most people)–others were questions asked of the internet in general,...

Personal / Politics / Technology

Gasoline prices redux

Back in June 2007, I wrote a blog post about gas prices. At the time, gas was $3.15/gallon. Gas is a little more expensive now (about $3.70-3.80 here in north Texas), but more or less everything I wrote then still holds true, with the possible exception of my really bad jokes. Nonetheless, I’m not planning on writing another post about gas prices until there’s something truly new and different about how everyone is reacting to it, but I felt that in light of the same old panic about $5/gallon gas and a decrease in demand for gas from the same...