Wednesday, August 29, 2007
The island of Manhattan is one of the top agricultural areas in the continental United States. Yeah, Manhattan, the one in New York. Who knew?
Posted 3:41 PM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Perhaps they are all NOT growing mushrooms in the abandoned subway tunnels (they always have them in the movies), or sewers or subterreanean caverns.
Our duly appointed guardians of free markets are just hedging their bets and protecting us from a cascading collapse in the price of mushrooms which is linked to the prices in other salad and pizza ingredients which are in turn linked to the flour/wheat markets which in turn are linked to the fertilizer (oh yeah, finally at the critital level) which in turn feeds the legislative process. See it's all good.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
And the state of the union today? Martha Reeves (and the Vandellas, let's not forget the Vandellas) said it best way back in 1965. "Nowhere to run to, baby. Nowhere to hide." (FYI: 30Mb wav file) George Orwell couldn't have put it better.
Posted 2:33 PM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Remember when The Rolling Stone used to be something? I remember it as the first nationally distributed counterculture mag. John Lenon on the cover! Hunter Thompson baby! In the book Six Days of the Condor the protagonist delivers his expose to, you guessed it, The Rolling Stone! (In the movie adaptation Three days of the Condor Robert Redford delivers it to the NY Times. What was up with that?). Then, alas, The Rolling Stone turned to shit. All Britney all the time. Makeup tips. Bummer.
Hey! Maybe it's back! Mmm.. probably not, but it's a start!
Posted 12:40 PM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- Did you read the whole article? Ok, then you're ready for this. (FYI: 36Mb wav file)
First read, then listen. No cheating!
Post a Comment- Do I GOTTA read the WHOLE thing? It's too LOOOOOONG! I gotta go hang with my buds! I gotta watch a real important program tonight! I don't wanna! Geeze. Five whole pages! All that political stuff can't be important.
More to the point - how can we put those contractors right out of business and into jail? Why don't the frustrated and threatened military ratings and civilian tools threaten the bosses back? If lawlessness and accountability is so thin, won't the same tactics work both ways? After all, greed is not at the base of Maslow's pyramid.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
"The government's terrorist screening database flagged Americans and foreigners as suspected terrorists almost 20,000 times last year. But only a small fraction of those questioned were arrested or denied entry into the United States, raising concerns among critics about privacy and the list's effectiveness.
A range of state, local and federal agencies as well as U.S. embassies overseas rely on the database to pinpoint terrorism suspects, who can be identified at borders or even during routine traffic stops. The database consolidates a dozen government watch lists, as well as a growing amount of information from various sources, including airline passenger data. The government said it was planning to expand the data-sharing to private-sector groups with a "substantial bearing on homeland security," though officials would not be more specific."
Posted 12:06 PM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- No, really, be very very afraid:
"But private sector groups partaking in the partnership would likely need special exemption from federal law to function in the most uninhibited fashion, the council members said. These groups of leaders would be self-organized bodies and remain independent of government control."
Post a Comment- How wrong does something have to be before it is either dismantled or ignored? But then again, nuclear (excuse me "nucular") weapons are still with us.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Creation Museum "goes far beyond mere science. It doesn't elevate man's intellect by using science to "prove" Scripture. Instead, God's Word is placed first and human reason is last!"
Their graphic proudly announces "Now open 7 days a week!!" Umm... well... hows about: "God says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day Is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your Son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates." Exodus 20:8-10.
Click around here for a while. These are the people who elected our fearless leader. (Warning: Not safe for those with a brain bigger than a peanut. Avoid liquids when reading as said liquids could possibly shoot out your nose.)
Posted 4:21 PM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- Extra Added Attraction (though you can't see it there anymore):
"The man picked to play Adam by a museum based on the Bible's version of Earth's history led quite a different life outside the Garden of Eden, flaunting his sexual exploits online and modeling for a line of clothing with an explicit mascot.
Registration records show that Eric Linden, who portrays Adam taking his first breath in a film at the newly opened Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., owns a graphic Web site called Bedroom Acrobat. He has been pictured there, smiling alongside a drag queen, in a T-shirt brandishing the site's sexually suggestive logo.
Linden, a graphic designer, model, and actor who grew up in Columbus, Ohio, also sells clothing for SFX International, whose initials appear on clothing to spell "SEX" from afar and serve as an abbreviation for its mascot, who promotes "free love," "pleasure," and "thrillz."
The museum's operators, informed Thursday by the Associated Press of Linden's online appearances, acted swiftly to suspend airing of the 40-second video in which he appeared."
Post a Comment- You are correct. Liquid shot out my nose. I especially like the fact that they show dinosaur (product of evolutionary theory and scientific reconstruction) pictures throughout the site. Reminds one of the good old days when the 8th and 9th century Catholics strove to graft pagan and polytheist schema by redefinition.
Baratunde Thurston, a columnist on The Huffington Post:
"Bush's strategery in this case, as with global warming, evolution and other facts, depends on creating doubt. He said things like:
1. "Now, I know some people doubt the universal appeal of liberty, or worry that the Middle East isn't ready for it."
2. "Others believe that America's presence is destabilizing, and that if the United States would just leave a place like Iraq those who kill our troops or target civilians would no longer threaten us."
3. "Here at home, some can argue our withdrawal from Vietnam carried no price to American credibility, but the terrorists see things differently."
4. "Three decades later, there is a legitimate debate about how we got into the Vietnam War and how we left."
No, there isn't. This is a complex literary device known as "bullshit," which is employed all too often by people who don't know what they're talking about. I, too, can invoke the tree hugging, ape-descending, freedom-hating "some" and "others" to create a "legitimate" debate where none legitimately exists. Watch me work my magic:"
Posted 8:45 AM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- The title of the linked article did not finish the tautology. In truth, the statement should read "Iraq is to Vietnam as Dubya is to Nixon." Venal (check), paranoid (check), clannish (check), self-centered (check), closed-minded (check). Dubya happens to have the teflonish self-assurance of the Morally Right that is a hallmark of shallow-mindedness. Thinkers are prone to self-checking and afterthought (Jimmy Carter). Puppets are never in doubt (Ronald Reagan). Truman wasn't that bright, but he knew it, and accepted the criticism without letting it overwhelm him. The curent administration lives above the tree line, in rarified air where it takes maximum effort just to survive. Nothing grows above bush height in the icy windswept wastes.
Post a Comment- For those not Andy (another public service from your RBT):
tautology:
1. needless repetition of an idea, esp. in words other than those of the immediate context, without imparting additional force or clearness, as in "widow woman."
2. an instance of such repetition.
3. Logic.
a. a compound propositional form all of whose instances are true, as "A or not A."
b. an instance of such a form, as "This candidate will win or will not win."
Friday, August 24, 2007
No no no, just let the other homes burn. Not mine though. I'm different.
Posted 12:25 PM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- Different means "rich". Major league baseball chimes in: Show me the money baby!
Post a Comment- Every old is new again. AIG is acting just as all the old English Fire Insurance companies. Companies dispatched fire fighters to structures bearing their 'shield'/ 'fire marks'. "The early English fire insurance companies originally used fire marks to identify properties they insured because each insurance company had its own fire brigade. These private insurance brigades only fought fires on properties identified by their employers' mark or badge. In England, the insurance companies originated before the firefighting companies." Fire Marks - a Good Story. "In America, it was the reverse - the volunteer fire companies were in existence before the first fire insurance company was organized. They fought fires whether or not a building displayed a fire mark."
So when DID the Tories take over AIG?
I've never considered myself a "news junkie". To me that term implies someone who's constantly tuned into news channels. Y'know, CNN and such. But that takes cable TV, something I gave up a long time ago. And CNN? Well, let's just say that from what I read it ain't what it used to be.
I do pay attention to news though. In the evening I eat my dinner at 6:00pm while watching the local news, have dessert to the half hour national news, then pick up the PBS News Hour out of Akron which runs from 7:00 to 8:00pm here. After that it's a library DVD or book.
My morning starts off with the local newspaper and, on Wednesdays and Sundays, the Plain Dealer, both of which I read cover to cover. Then I hit the NY Times website. From there, time allowing, I'd hit the Washington Post and Christian Science Monitor sites. Whew! Sounds like a lot but I got good at finding what I thought important so it didn't really take that long. Over the last month or two my mornings have changed a bit. After the NY Times I now hit the Huffington Post, an on line news resource that's starting to become the most relevant thing I browse each day. Good reporting, good columnists.
What I especially learned from there today:
Shameless: Bush's Bogus History Lesson,
Fox Attacks: Iran, and
NY Times: Republicans Will Use "Elaborate Dirty Trick" to Steal White House.
Give it a try!
Posted 8:49 AM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
- P.S. Other good news sites:
The BBC
and, dare I say(?)
Aljazeera
Funny thing. The first time I tried to view the Aljazeera site it took a VERY long time to connect. Paranoid? Me? Yeah, maybe.
Post a Comment- P.P.S. A cool quote I read somewhere (and I'm paraphrasing): "The US media covers the missile taking off, Aljazeera covers where it lands."
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The best way to look for a job today is on line right? Umm.. maybe not. I've sent about a dozen resumes out through four different job sites to what I think are legitimate employers and have yet to get a response. I do get lots of email though. For example:
"Make thousands of dollars per week by using your home computer." Yeah, right.
"to good to be true" offers: The one fairly consistent thing about them is that they mention a high starting salary in the initial contact email. No employer would start out negotiations this way. I did some research on one and found 10 different state BBB warnings about them as well as notice of a fraud suit by the NY State Attorney General. These guys use LOTS of aliases; different personal names, company names, business profiles and URLs. Their goal is to get as much personal information about you as they can con you into providing then selling that to direct marketers and spammers.
One highly publicized job site I didn't register on was "Monster.com". Lucky me.
In conclusion: The hell with it. I'm spending the rest of my depleted funds on lottery tickets. (Ok ok Niki, and dog food. Now stop whining.)
Posted 8:51 AM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- The is to have nothing, want nothing and be worth nothing then you do as please because you've got nothing to lose, Grasshopper.
- I spent two bucks on a "MegaMillions" ticket for last nights drawing. First time I've done that in years. Didn't get a single number.
Hmm... How much do you get paid for giving blood these days? Can dogs get paid for giving blood? (Ouch! Stop it! I'm kidding! Bad girl!)
Post a Comment- Here's another (longer and a bit less techy) report of the Monster.com debacle.
Friday, August 17, 2007
"They know when you've been sleeping, they know when you're awake, they know if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake..."
Posted 8:04 AM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- From an ABC News article:
"Former East Germany's Ministry for State Security, known as the Stasi, was the most comprehensive internal security operation of the Cold War.
The Stasi used a widespread network of informants to spy on the country's 16 million people, and secret files were kept on up to 6 million East German citizens, almost one-third of the entire population.
The agency monitored all phone calls from the West, censored the mail; barely any organization in East Germany escaped infiltration.
Many East Germans were persuaded or forced to spy on their own spouses, relatives and friends. Torture was an accepted method of gaining information from potential subversives, and the agency was authorized to keep tens of thousands of secret files on anyone it judged to be a threat."
Sing along with me: "..And we thought it couldn't happen here."
- Aren't these forms of behavior (in individuals) usually treated with psychotropic drugs in insurance-supported institutions? But it must be OK if the Government does it, since they can get away with it. Maybe if I had a 1000-year lifespan, I would be more patient and philosophical about waiting for inevitable change to sweep things away. But for now - welcome to the fishbowl. Be human but don't deviate from the local temporal "norm".
- There's more. "Behavior Detection Officers."
- 1984, Part 1, chapter 7:
"If there was hope, it must lie in the proles, because only there in those swarming disregarded masses, 85 per cent of the population of Oceania, could the force to destroy the Party ever be generated. The Party could not be overthrown from within. Its enemies, if it had any enemies, had no way of coming together or even of identifying one another. Even if the legendary Brotherhood existed, as just possibly it might, it was inconceivable that its members could ever assemble in larger numbers than twos and threes. Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflexion of the voice, at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it? And yet-!"
We're the proles baby.
Post a Comment- Hey, why don't they have "driving detection officers" who study what the twitchy lane changes, the sudden acceleration surges, the no-signal-in-your-face incursions mean? With the amount of bogus pseudo security being thrown at an insoluble problem, the highways could be better. Or maybe the highways are the only places left where those driven insane by air travel can express feelings?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Dear Terrorists,
From this point on you can just sit back and watch. We''ll take it the rest of the way ourselves.
Pentagon Paid $999,798 to Ship Two 19-Cent Washers to Texas.
Yours truly,
An uninsured American whose house is on the verge of a sheriffs sale to satisfy emergency medical bills
Posted 3:49 PM by whatley (3) comments
Comments:
- P.S. What is happening today was forecast a long time ago by Dwight Eisenhower. I've read a bit about his presidency (and think he made a mistake or two here and there, especially about civil rights) but he really stood up in his final address to the nation. He warned us about the "military industrial complex", a term he coined. Who besides him would know better? Here's what he said:
""We must never let the weight of this combination endanger
our liberties or democratic processes."
My letter to Dwight:
Dear Dwight,
Oops, we forgot.
No, no, this is better:
Dear Dwight,
You didn't live in TV time. We're too busy watching "Survivor" to think about much at all.
Sorry.
- NO! NO! TOO MUCH! I would almost prefer the system used in the rest of the world in which the regime in power steals fiercely to their own pockets and retire to a life of ease and hired militia security in Argentina. At least that gives us specific targets for hatred, unlike the miasmic "Military-Industrial Complex" which includes the guy next door who puts 19-cent washers in teeny bags for shipping, and the guy who drives the UPS truck.
Post a Comment- And speaking of terror, I found a transcript of the PBS TV series American Experience titled Vietnam Online. Of special interest is the 1945 segment that shows how Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh were providing intelligence about the Japanese in Indochina. The US OSS provided aid and began training just as the War in the Pacific ended. Then the US, France, Britain and China agreed to disarm the Japanese by dividing Indochina - China above the 16th parallel and the British in the South. Ho Chi Minh appealed to Truman for help in assuring an independent and united country, but was ignored. It was blindly downhill from there.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Remember the "September Report" by General Petraeus? Y'know, the one Bush (or to be more accurate, whatever neocon team manages him these days) said to wait for?
From the LA Times: Despite Bush's repeated statements that the report will reflect evaluations by Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, administration officials said it would actually be written by the White House, with inputs from officials throughout the government.How much more can we take? These people have 17 months left! Plenty of time to start a war with Iran.
Posted 5:03 PM by whatley (3) comments
Comments:
- Update: Now they're trying to avoid having Petraeus and Crocker speak in public at all. From The Washington Post:
"Senior congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has proposed limiting the much-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill next month of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker to a private congressional briefing, suggesting instead that the Bush administration's progress report on the Iraq war should be delivered to Congress by the secretaries of state and defense."
Post a Comment- These guys are going to get their ass handed to them by Congressional Republicans if they pull any weird shit the September report given the time and political capital they have invested in urging the patience to wait for it. It has been sold as General Petraeus' report by everyone from the top down. These guys have to get re-elected in 12 months Bush doesn't. Cornered rats will eat their own kind.
Bush can bomb Iran but he can't pursue a war there because he has no troops to use. If he bombs population centers the U.N. and NATO will turn on him. If he bombs nuclear or military targets the Iranian and Syrian Armies will invade Iraq while the Turks take the opportunity to munch up the Kurds in the north.
None of which includes the very real possibility of the Kurds commencing a complete ethnic cleansing of Sunni's from Mosul, Kirkuk and everything that connects them after yesterday's bombing. The Kurdish Peshmerga are the best trained and (American) equipped military units in Iraq. If they break away from U.S. control all bets are off in the north.
Have a nice day!
Friday, August 10, 2007
hey ...
anyone have Linda Weiss phone number?
if you can, email to jeichenlaub@vtext.com or call me 300.289.5185
40th HS reunion tomorrow and wasn't sure I'd be in OH, but I am and will even be in Elyria tomorrow ... wonder of wonders ..... thanks
Posted 5:22 PM by jeichenlaub (2) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- thanks.
I reached LW and we met at the reunion. AHHHHHHH.... the joy and power of social networking !!!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Let the censorship begin!
A fuller account here.
Posted 8:05 AM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- My country is, you see,
A land of Censory.
Say anything.
And if it's overheard,
Any discouraged word,
All critics will be interred
under freedom's sting.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Okay. So I suppose in the spirit of disclosure of life's disappointments - I must share that I have decided to leave the big(ger) paycheck job I have held for the last 6 months and return to my old job serving the disadvantaged (poor, illegal immigrants, substance abusers, prosititutes, just plain messed up and confused) pregnant or newly delivered clients in beautiful Palm Beach County. Suffice it to say, I will prefer their company to the pseudo concerned corporate wannabes I had to put a suit on for. I am still counting all the lessons I learned.
But, most importantly - I am taking 2 weeks with my family to go sit on the Gulf Coast on a beach on Captiva. Marc and I - kids and their friends ranging from 17 to 25 in age and one silly golden retriever. and 4 cases of St. Pauli Girl.
Ralph, I will try to get to Doc Ford's with a mangled copy of Sanibel Flats. Who knows, I may get a signature for you.
I thought I was going with a laptop, but, alas, the old employer took that back. I will have to muddle through.
See you all later.
Posted 7:11 PM by Terri S (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- You took a lot less time to come to that conclusion than did I, and they had to fire me to wake me up. Giving up sucking-cess leads to satisfaction (I hope). Women seem to make these tough transitions better than do men. I feel better overall, but worry overmuch about my old(er) age health and finances. COBRA ran out in July and private health insurance is approaching $400 per month, plus a whopping out-of-pocket before they start to contribute. Fortunately, next month will be the last car payment, so some of it offsets.
"Life, and I don't suppose I'm the first to make this comparison, is a disease: sexually transmitted, and invariably fatal." Per Neil Gaiman, in "Death Talks About Life".
Posted 9:43 AM by Andy (0) comments
Comments:
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
'Puters. Tools of the devil. And that's on their good days. What brings me to this conclusion you ask? (Ok, you didn't ask. So what. You wanna make somethin' of it?)
Getting a feel for my mood here are you? Good. Empathize all you want, you're still scum. And I hate you. I hate everybody and everything with a passion that only a 99 degree relative heat index can bring out in me. I Especially hate 'puters (though people with AC are a close, a very close, second). My laptop is being reclaimed by the company I last worked for. Why? Because they own it. The nerve of some people. I hate them.
So, anyway, I had to buy a new 'puter and now I have to transfer two years of stuff from one to the other. Links, emails, passwords, files, configurations. Fuck, what a hassle. At least I have a dog to kick. Oops, maybe I don't. She's hiding out somewhere. Smart dog.
Posted 5:01 PM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
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