March 2011
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McCain Praises Egyptian Revolution →
So it’s a virus that only attacks al Qaeda? That’s pretty ingenious, and the only way to think of this as anything other than an ill-timed an opportunistic flip-flop. They think we’re not paying attention, that we’ll accept that Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia. (Next week, we’ll explore why he didn’t use the term “refudiation”.)
...
February 2011
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“Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after a horrific...”
– Charles Ferguson, director of “Inside Job,” in accepting that film’s Oscar for Best Documentary Democracy Now! | Headlines for February 28, 2011
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“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
– Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy (1828-1910)
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Charitable solicitation FAIL
I just received an urgent appeal for funds from a nonprofit, addressed to
Dear Unsupported global dynamic element: index=1, parameter=first_name,
Whoops? Someone asleep at the switch of digital fundraising? Such are the times in which we live
Glenn Beck's attacks on Frances Fox Piven
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Misery Islands →
Here it’s cold, and raining on top of existing snow and ice. It was probably a day like today for which Salem’s Misery Islands were named.
…In the 1620s, shipbuilder Captain Robert Moulton became stranded for three miserable days during a winter storm, and it was from his ordeal that the Islands’ names supposedly arose.
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“It’s the birthday of chemist and writer Linus Pauling… born in Portland,...”
– The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor, 2/28/11
Ahmed Zewail, who is featured in the film “Nobelity” holds the Linus Pauling chair. The film features a still photo of the two of them walking together.
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“The highest of wisdom is continual cheerfulness: such a state, like the region...”
– Michel de Montaigne, b. 1533, considered by many to be the creator of the personal essay The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor 2/28/11
Feb. 28, 2011: The Writer's Almanac →
Monday’s Poem: : “You and I” by Jonathan Potter, from House of Words. Monday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of novelist Colum McCann, born in Dublin, Ireland (1965). He’s the author of Let the…
Moon and Venus closest together on morning of... →
Our sky chart shows the waning crescent moon and the brightest planet Venus for about an hour before sunrise on March 1.
We’re showing mid-northern latitudes, like those in the…
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A public school teacher, a tea party activist, and a CEO are sitting at a table with a plate of a dozen cookies in the middle of it. The CEO takes 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, “Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie.” (via a FB friend)
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Mix your own NPR podcast! →
Now that’s a cool tool!
mix your own podcast
Use this tool to build a custom podcast of various topics, musicians, personalities and NPR programs. [Help]
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Ignore Sarah Palin Week! (2/27-3/5) | LeftAction →
Don’t forget to celebrate!
We’ve tried debating her, arguing with her, boycotting her, voting against her, and yet… she keeps coming back. Much like a vampire or a nasty fungus.
So for just one week, we’re going to try something new: Ignoring her.
That’s right — February 27-March 5 is officially, “Ignore Sarah Palin Week.” For just one...
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Mr. Social Media Misses the Memo
Imagine my surprise when today I went to UUCiA for the “Paths to God: An Appreciation of Hinduism” service, and discovered a single set of footsteps leading to the door, on which there was a sign that read that the service was cancelled. Apparently I missed the memo, which came in my e-mail. I do read e-mail, I just didn’t this morning, at least not before digging out. Well, if I...
Feb. 27, 2011: The Writer's Almanac →
Sunday’s Poem: “Passage” by Marilyn Donnelly, from Coda. Sunday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1872 that the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened to the public in Manhattan. Its first home was…
Moon and Venus in southeast before sunrise... →
If it’s clear in the wee hours before sunrise on February 28, there’s no way that you can miss the waning crescent moon and the dazzling planet Venus in the east or southeast sky. After all,…
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Arizona Legislator Beats His Girlfriend, Can't Be... →
pantslessprogressive:
Scott Bundgaard, R-Peoria, the majority leader of the Arizona state Senate, was briefly taken into custody with marks on his body Saturday, indicating he had been involved in a fight, an act of domestic violence, Phoenix police officers said.
When officers arrived, they said that Bundgaard and his passenger, Aubry Ballard, were both showing marks of a physical...
Feb. 26, 2011: The Writer's Almanac →
Saturday’s Poem: : “Inventory” by Dorothy Parker, from The Poetry and Short Stories of Dorothy Parker. Saturday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of novelist Siri Hustvedt, born in Northfield,…
Epsilon Aurigae, the Charioteer’s distant and... →
Bright object in the west after sunset is Jupiter
At early evening, look up high for the brilliant star Capella, the brightest in the constellation Auriga the Charioteer. Close to Capella,…
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WatchThis interview with Vincent Harding was very compelling, and this story was riveting. I teach about the Mississippi Freedom Summer in my social movements classes, and stories like this promise to make those considerations spring to life.
beingblog:
You’ll Never Hear Kumbaya the Same Way Again
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
There are a few moments from behind the glass that stop me dead in my...
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Being Blog: A Force More Powerful →
beingblog:
by Margaret Benefiel, guest contributor
Children watch fish in the reflection of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at a park in Thrissur, India on International Non-Violence Day. (photo: Ragesh Vasudevan/Flickr)
In the midst of the American discussions of violence and civility in…
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Unitarian Universalists and Jewish Voice for...
please forward… Unitarian-Universalist Dilemmas As UUs of different backgrounds, how do we engage with issues on Israel and Palestine? Explore this challenging topic with other UUs and noted physician, author and longtime activist Dr. Alice Rothchild Saturday, March 5, 2011, 11:30 am – 3:00 pm The First Parish in Waltham - UU, Inc. 50 Church Street, Waltham, MA 02452 Recently back...
Backward! Union-Busting Wisconsin Style
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Robert Reich: The Republican Shakedown →
Robert Reich argues cogently that we can’t make “progress” politically or economically while the elephant in the room of deepening inequality. Democrats will lose so long as they allow the political system to be used to concentrate wealth at the top. This shows how important constraining the discourse is to political control. As long as some topics are “off the table”...
MacBook Pro is a Mobile Video Lab
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Google Declares War on Content Farms
"Paths to God" an Appreciation of Hinduism
Feb. 25, 2011: The Writer's Almanac →
Friday’s Poem: “The Best Thing I Did” by Ron Padgett, from How Long. Friday’s Literary Notes: It’s the birthday of novelist, essayist, and short-story writer Joy Williams, born in Chelmsford,…
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what’s at stake in wisconsin →
icancstructures:
In an op-ed published in the Raleigh-based paper, the Newsobserver, sociology Ph.D student Amanda Gengler provides insight into what is at stake in the current political struggle in…
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Oil Prices Climb Again - Wall Street Is Mixed -... →
Libya: sweet light crude oil; bitter population, heavy-handed and crude dictator, slippery US “diplomacy.”
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
A Roundup of Today's Defense of Collective...
Obama's DOMA Reversal
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“I don’t practice as a Catholic anymore. It’s so hard to reconcile what the men...”
– —Marie Collins, a 64-year-old Dubliner who was abused by a hospital chaplain, Rev. Paul McGennis, when she was 13, as quoted in The New York Times Magazine article “The Irish Affliction.”
Two decades later, she confided in another parish priest about what happened. He suggested it was her fault...
listening to "Bossa Nova in concert {Bossa Cuca... →
I know I’m jumping the gun by a few days, but winter here has been such that I’m really looking forward to spring, & the waters of March.
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WatchFour minutes into it, and I’ve heard my Dad’s impromptu songbook.
salon:
Every No. 1 single — as one single track Be prepared for 75 minutes of musical bliss
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“Love is brightest in the dark.”
– —Katara, a Waterbender, recites this inscription during “The Cave of Two Lovers” episode of The Last Airbender.
OK. I’ll admit it. My two sons have sucked me in to watching this absolutely riveting cartoon series from the Nickelodeon network. Netflix paired with AppleTV is a dangerous combination.
...
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Watchousia:
“A R E N ‘T W E H U M A N A S W E L L ?”
Feb 22, 2011. Rally for Libyans, Austin Texas
-A Moroccan whose family is in Libya expresses frustration at the lack of awareness, action, and mobilization concerning the plight of besieged civilians. He does not know if his family is alive.
The demonstration was a heartening show of support, but a sobering reminder of just what’s at...
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“So they wanna cut everything from family care to prenatal care to child...”
– JON STEWART, on the GOP’s wholesale attack on women, women’s health programs, reproductive rights and, again, women, on The Daily Show (via inothernews)
Feb. 24, 2011: The Writer's Almanac →
Thursday’s Poem: “Art Sanctuary” by Nikki Giovanni, from Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea. Thursday’s Literary Notes: It was on this day in 1913 that the Armory Show opened in New York City, the first…
Moon by Scorpion’s Heart before dawn February 25 →
Friday morning – an hour or two before sunrise – the moon will shine quite close to the heart star of the constellation Scorpius. Find the rather fat waning crescent moon in the south to…
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Walker Gets Wikileaked →
By now you’ve probably heard the news about how a reporter for the Buffalo Beast called Republican Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin, pretending to be David Koch, the billionaire financier of many…
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: Judge Upholds Health-Care Reform →
liberal-lad:
A third federal judge upheld President Obama’s health-care overhaul on Tuesday, tossing out a challenge of the law’s mandate that all Americans hold insurance. The judge, on the D.C. circuit, becomes the third Democrat-appointed jurist to uphold the controversial law; two Republican-appointed…
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Reporter poses as Koch brother, prank calls Scott... →
How many “Rs” in overreach? How many ways to delegitimize yourself?
WEDNESDAY, FEB 23, 2011 11:07 ET
Scott Walker thinks he’s talking to David Koch. In fact, it was a journalist from the Buffalo Beast. Listen in full VIDEO
BY ADAM CLARK ESTES The Buffalo Beast
A gonzo reporter from an alt-weekly in Buffalo, New York, just got Scott Walker to tell all on Tuesday. Posing as...
