Third world

To put it another way, out of 168 nations in a Harvard University study last year, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave, leaving the United States in the company of Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

AP via The Arizona Daily Star

Bugs (65 today)

Stay in school

“For the fourth year in a row, Arizona ranks last among the states for its percentage of teens, ages 16 to 19, who have dropped out of school.”

Source: The Arizona Republic

The survey said 12 percent of Arizona kids do not graduate but State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says is closer to 6 percent. How could there be this large of a gap? Don’t they take attendance at school any more?

Congress — conducting the people’s business

In a sign of the changing politics of gun control, the Senate appears poised to pass a top priority of the National Rifle Assn. this week, legislation that would shield the gun industry from lawsuits arising from the misuse of its weapons.

Gun manufacturers have pressed for years for such a law. They argue that it is needed to protect them from lawsuits filed by municipalities or individuals that the industry contends could bankrupt some gun makers. Dozens of such lawsuits are pending across the country.

From a report in the Los Angeles Times

So much for Runaway Jury.

Best line of the day, so far

“That is just pure poopie del pollo!”

Juanita’s, The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., commenting on county commissioners’ campaign finance reports.

Today, July 27

Peggy Fleming is 57 today. Miss Fleming won her gold medal for figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics.

Bobbie Gentry is 61. No yet word on what it was she and Billy Joe threw off the Tallahatchee bridge.

Bugs Bunny made his first featured appearance in a cartoon released on this date in 1940, A Wild Hare. Bugs was modeled on Groucho Marx with a carrot instead of a cigar — and with a Brooklyn accent.

The truce ending the Korean War was signed on this date in 1953. Read the report from The New York Times.

The first U.S. government agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs (which became the Department of State), was established on this date in 1789.

Best line of a year ago today

“I wouldn’t urinate down his throat if his heart was on fire.”

James Carville, referring to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader (quoted by Eric Alterman)

It may be perfectly OK to drink the water

From a surprising article in the Los Angeles Times:

But what he’s uncovered already is surprising, both for the seasoned wilderness traveler as well as the day hiker who stares longingly at a gushing river and wonders whether it’s safe to take a slug. At many trails and backcountry camps throughout California, signs warn visitors off casual sipping. But are the dangers of Giardia lamblia, E. coli, Cryptosporidium and other bugs that wreak intestinal havoc grossly exaggerated?

Derlet thinks so, and his research reveals that the water is much cleaner than most people believe. His findings thrust him into the middle of a long-simmering controversy that’s blatantly at odds with what many state biologists preach and what wilderness classes teach: Purify water before drinking. But is that really necessary? Do those high-priced pumps, chemical disinfectants and elaborate filtration gadgets truly merit a place in the backpack?

…

The available scientific evidence, which is admittedly limited because of the scarcity of funding for testing wilderness water quality, confirms Derlet’s findings. The threat is comparable to the chances of beachgoers being attacked by a shark, according to University of Cincinnati researchers who studied the danger giardia poses to backpackers, namely “an extraordinarily rare event to which the public and the press have seemingly devoted inappropriate attention.”