October 2010
5 tags
Late Night: Stop Whining, Liberals! | Firedoglake →
Blue Texan, they never invite me to any focus groups either.
OK, let’s try this Team Obama.
I know you’re obviously doing focus groups on this stuff somewhere, but I’ve got to tell you. I’m your target customer and trust me — you’re badly missing the mark.
Just so we’re clear, here are a few examples of messages that don’t appeal to me at all.
“Wake up!”
“Get over it.”
“Get in gear,...
listening to "Wake Me Up When September Ends -... →
How about six hours afterwards?
listening to "Michael Franti →
“I remember, in the days when we were one heart / No need to defend / I just wrap my arms around you / Don’t give up this song is for you.”
listening to "Michael Franti New Song Gloria Vogue... →
“We are looking for the same thing / We are trying to survive.” An anthem for mutual aid.
September 2010
What bright star flashes red and green in... →
Every year in late September and early October, we get questions from people who see a bright star twinkling with red and green flashes, low in the northeastern sky. Capella is a golden star when…
Sep. 30, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Thursday’s Poem: “Film Noir” by Nicholas Christopher, from A Short History of the Island of Butterflies. Thursday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of the poet laureate of the United States: W.S….
6 tags
“The city of Cambridge has stretched its views on parking tickets. Last week,...”
– Erica Rodefer ”Cambridge Institutes Yoga Parking Tickets” | Yoga Buzz | Yoga Blog | Yoga Journal September 29, 2010 6:11 AM
Om Namah the-fine-ugh?
Doesn’t calm come from within? Will there be a backlash if it is imposed from without? Would people violating parking...
5 tags
“Clive Crook, columnist for the Financial Times, urges President Obama to...”
– Robert Borosage The Myth of the Spurned “Centre” | OurFuture.org 9/28/10
How do you spell al dente? Crook’s argument’s cooked.
5 tags
Tumblr Staff: Queues at capacity →
This explains why I have had difficulty with queues, and why my queued posts are currently not publishing. Guess I’ll have to pull a Smith-Barney and do it the old-fashioned way. But I know that the wait has a good purpose.
staff:
Later this week we’re pushing a complete overhaul of the Queue feature with some killer new functionality.
In the meantime though, the existing queue service...
8 tags
Star-hop from Great Square to Andromeda galaxy →
The Great Square of Pegasus is a great jumping off point for finding the Andromeda galaxy, otherwise known as M31. The Great Square sparkles over your eastern horizon at early evening, then travels…
Sep. 29, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Wednesday’s Poem: “Clara: In the Post Office” by Linda Hasselstrom, from, Roadkill. Wednesday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1650 — that’s 360 years ago — that the first documented dating…
11 tags
“…I just have to mention, we have a famous Minnesotan who wrote Three Cups of...”
– Colleen Rowley, former FBI special agent and whistleblower based in Minnesota. She was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2002. “FBI Raids Homes of Antiwar and Pro-Palestinian Activists in Chicago and Minneapolis” Democracy Now!, 9/27/10
9 tags
A passport to survival
Read and heed! The Maldives, a low-lying country in the Indian Ocean, is facing rising sea levels which could literally wipe it off the map. To support the Global Work Party, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed is personally installing solar panels on his home—just one of over 4500 events in 173 countries. What will you be doing on 10/10/10? www.350.org/101010 Dear friends,...
6 tags
“Tired of bleak political news? Here is an optimistic scenario of what just might...”
– Robert Kuttner: “The Optimistic Scenario for Election Day”
Kindly turn out on November 2, and prove Bob right? Don’t “wait for random gifts from the political gods of Republican moral hypocrisy.” Don’t let a Scott Brown happen.
How to find the loneliest star →
Which star is loneliest? Most people would say the answer is Fomalhaut, a bright star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish.
The coming month or so is the best time to see…
Sep. 28, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Tuesday’s Poem: “Scorcher” by George Bilgere. Tuesday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1928 that Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming peered into a petri dish at his basement laboratory…
listening to "Hugh Masekela - Grazing In The... →
After the last song, I had to hear that sweet horn and envision everyone safe in the herd today. May gentle breezes blow through your day.
listening to " →
Talking in class last nite about social structural causes of conflict & personal experiences. “Time is ticking away” 8 Goals Away: http://bit.ly/UNMDG
7 tags
“Whether the talks persist or break down, one thing is clear: Palestinians...”
– Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of the U..S Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and a former analyst in Middle East affairs at Congressional Research Service “On Israeli ‘moratorium,’ U.S. has taken sides” - USATODAY.com 9/23/10
How to see the Summer Triangle in autumn →
The Summer Triangle consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Vega in the constellation Lyra, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, and Altair in the constellation…
Sep. 27, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Monday’s Poem: The Return of Odysseus” by George Bilgere. Monday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, born in Leith, Edinburgh, in 1958. He’s best known for his first…
listening to "Michael Franti →
A little ditty for friendship. “I watch the stars with a million other people…” #soundofsunshine
3 tags
“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is...”
– Nelson Mandela
3 tags
Robert Reich: The Super Rich Get Richer, Everyone... →
robertreich:
The super-rich got even wealthier this year, and yet most of them are paying even fewer taxes to support the eduction, job training, and job creation of the rest of us. According to Forbes magazine’s annual survey, just released, the combined net worth of the 400 richest Americans climbed 8%…
7 tags
Robert Reich: Republican Economics as Social... →
GOP reasserts the history of failure, fuzzy math.
robertreich:
John Boehner, the Republican House leader who will become Speaker if Democrats lose control of the House in the upcoming midterms, recently offered his solution to the current economic crisis: “Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmer, liquidate real estate. It will purge the…
7 tags
6 tags
The freedom of limitless possibilities.
...
10 tags
“On Thursday, House Republicans released their “Pledge to America,” supposedly...”
– Paul Krugman, Op-Ed Columnist - “Downhill With the G.O.P.” - NYTimes.com 9/23/10
5 tags
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
– Arthur C. Clarke (via airport)
5 tags
“On the point we make in this preamble to our pledge, is that we are not going to...”
– John Boehner, R-OH, 9/23/10 Daily Kos: Jon Stewart blows away GOP’s Pledge to America! Thank you for clearing that up. That really makes the choice simple between the same GOP pursuits (one could hardly call them policies) that got us here in the first place, and some intelligent effort...
The first point of Aries marks March equinox point →
In ancient times, the March equinox sun shone in front of the rather small constellation Aries the Ram. You can find this constellation ascending in the east around 9 to 10 p.m. tonight, the Ram’s…
Sep. 26, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Sunday’s Poem: “News From the Garage” by Noel Peattie, from The Testimony of Doves. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It’s the anniversary of the day that poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning…
family ties and trees →
Defining a family has legal significance, of course, for matters such as taxes or employee benefits, but this question is even more complex when trying to understand how people think about what…
Look for daytime moon after sunrise September... →
Sylvia wrote, When is the best time to see the moon in the sky during daylight hours?
Sylvia, it’s easier to see a daytime moon when the moon is fairly far from the sun in the sky. When would that…
Sep. 25, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Saturday’s Poem: “Lester Tells of Wanda and the Big Snow” by Paul Zimmer, from Crossing to Sunlight Revisited. Saturday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of novelist and short-story writer William…
Harvest moon, Jupiter still out dusk to dawn... →
If you live at mid or far northern latitudes, the Harvest Moon and the blazing planet Jupiter will shine from dusk till dawn for yet another night. That’s in spite of the fact that the full moon has…
8 tags
“Awesome research by the Daily Show staff in exposing just how the GOP’s...”
– BruinKId Daily Kos: Jon Stewart blows away GOP’s Pledge to America!
Having to set up battered voter shelters does not make for “…a smaller, lest costly, and more accountable government in our nation’s capitol.”
4 tags
2 tags
Sep. 24, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Friday’s Poem: “Complaint” by William Carlos Williams, from Selected Poems. Friday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1630 that the city of Boston was founded, just 10 years after the Mayflower…
3 tags
Kinda New At Life: Start saying it. Start saying... →
What once was spooky, due to fearmongering, is now reality.
southpol:
New Healthcare rights, thanks to the Democrats. Not the GOP. THE DEMOCRATS.
Major new health reform benefits take effect today to help keep health insurance companies accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more health care choices, and enhance the quality of health…
4 tags
“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
– Albert Einstein (via reluctantbuddha) (via icancstructures)
8 tags
“Is not impermanence the very fragrance of our days?”
– Rainer Maria Rilke Transcript | A Wild Love For the World with Joanna Macy [Being, from APM]
2 tags
Harvest Moon, Jupiter, equinox on September 23 →
The Harvest Moon and the blazing planet Jupiter shine all night long tonight to commemorate the first full night of the autumn season. By common practice, we use the September equinox to mark the…
Sep. 23, 2010: The Writer's Almanac →
Thursday’s Poem: “The Woodcutter Changes His Mind” by David Budbill, from While We’ve Still Got Feet: New Poems. Thursday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of American novelist John Knowles, born…
8 tags
4 tags
What happened to the ‘E’…in Tumbulaah?...
City Whitening →
As the 5-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Salon‘s Matt Davis examined the New Orleans of today. Unlike much of the nation, New Orleans has recently being going…
