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292 Comments
Hey Gene!
I didn’t realize you add stuff to your site so frequently. I’ll be checking more regularly now. Is there really an L. Ron Hubbard movie as described in that article? That’s hilarious. So how are you doing these days? Drop me a line, I haven’t heard from you in a while.
Paul
I don’t think anyone should be critical for what Cristian did. He was just doing his job, and was heroic at that for risking his own life to save another. People should not speak negatively about this tragedy. He is not here to defend himself anymore. I think certain individuals need to start being a little more sensitive to sad situations like this.
I don’t think anyone should be critical for what Cristian did. He was just doing his job, and was heroic at that for risking his own life to save another. People should not speak negatively about this tragedy. He is not here to defend himself anymore. I think certain individuals need to start being a little more sensitive to sad situations like this.
um… yeah… I have no idea what you are talking about, Lori.
Gene, dude. Lighten up. It’s just a comic strip. At least it’s not another Rogaine ad. Also I’m not sure “travesty” is the correct word to be using in the 1st sentence of the Big Dig blog.
It’s only a matter of time before the comics become Rogaine ads. Anyway, I read the comics to get angry… it’s a good way to wake up in the morning
Ya, that is nasty. I’ve been hearing about it and I can’t believe how Seventies it looks. Maybe it’s the picture. But maybe not. It’s not worse than the Stata Center, though.
Gene,
Many thanks for the promotion on your blog. Hope you enjoyed the episode — let’s see how many references to Joyce you were able to catch in one sitting!
Best,
Scott
Oof… Joyce? No English majors here. (I hope you were kidding though!).
It was a good show… ‘course I started watching about 10 minutes in and didn’t quite figure out who all the people were and what they were all doing in the same house. I say the grampa was right! Respect your elders!
It must be hard for Doonesbury to always find new ways to be not funny.
Is that how you spell her first name? It’s funny that a comedian who thinks comedian-politicos are serious to voice that seriousness on a show which was supposed to use the idea of a comedian talking about news and politics as a parody. Or maybe Daily Show, which I can only watch every couple of weeks, now takes itself seriously?
I know you and the rest of the Anderkoo team were Dean folks. I didn’t see much in him — however, one has to admit that if Dean were the presumptuous… er, presumptive nominee, he would be gaining lots of momentum with Iraq continuing to degrade. Kerry really gets nothing from it because he has no position.
Well, there was that one commercial the Daily Show ran when the guest was Richard Clark, and Stewart basically asked the same question. I’d say I get a lot of “news” from the Daily Show that I don’t get from the rest of my “liberal media.”
To be fair, he ended the week very, very nicely:
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2004/db040501.gif
Yeah, nice. But still an excuse not to have to try to be funny. Why does he put in that Family Circus-ish “whew” in the last panel? And since when does the sentimental sigh-comic get you?
You don’t get news from it do you? Opinions are not news.
I guess my feeling is that comics needn’t always be funny, but they should at least be “true.” One reason why I like “Arlo and Janis,” which is rarely laugh-out-loud funny, is that the people in the strip seem real (even if, like today’s, the artist ocassionally breaks his own rules). Likewise with “For Better or for Worse,” whose jokes I find corny but whose story lines are worth following. The problem I have with the more “obvious” strips like Dilbert or Doonesbury is that they usually run off a formula (boss / Bush = evil). The sentimental-ish ending to that week’s Doonesbury (which I agree with you, can seem sappy), focused on family and the relationships among father, mother, and daughter, and didn’t try to force some overdone point about the war. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed with how Darby took “Get Fuzzy” from a really serious, no-punchline beginning to something that really felt like it was trying to inject some humor into something that wasn’t all that funny. (Though maybe that was his point as well).
Sure I get news from it. At least the spin is far more obvious (sometimes painfully so). Jon and the audience are clearly anti-Bush, and so for me at least I feel I can filter the “real” news out from the fake or the spin. (For example, when Jon attacks Bush it’s for his actual policies; when he attacks Kerry it’s because Kerry’s letting down the Dem’s). The Daily Show’s also gotten some really amazing guests, and Jon is quite a sharp interviewer, in part because as a comedian he can ask tough questions. The two recent Republican guests (RNC chairman Gillespie and Bush advisor Karen Hughes) were treated with respect, given a serious airing of their viewpoints, and I felt I got to understand to some degree where they were coming from. Hughes, in fact, scared the crap out of me by just how sharp she was and how she very skillfully reparteed Jon’s barbs (agreeing with Jon for making fun of Kerry’s snowboarding was brilliant in that she twisted his words to fit the Bush message about his waffling). No different than most late-night shows, which you shouldn’t see as hard news, except that I happen to think Jon’s a bit smarter and better-prepared than the other hosts.
Sadly, it turns out I’m part of a large demographic that gets their news from talk shows. I try my best to get different spins on the same news (for a while I was reading the NYT, the WSJ, Businessweek, the New Yorker, and the Boston Globe) but it gets incredibly overwhelming, especially when I try to keep up with my own “professional” news…
You forgot the formula for Family Circus (God/niceness = good).
You’re a professional???
Sometimes, when I’m not blogging at the office!
Er… yeah, except God never shows up on the Family Circus, just some simacrulum [sp?] involving angels or ghosts (are they compatible? if they had a fight, who would win?). Actually the formula for the Family Circus is “Flashback to the Fifties no one really experienced but everyone seems to remember.”
Weren’t at least six soldiers charged back in February, before any of the photos were released? So that’s reassuring within the context of a horrid situation. But of course by “accountability” you probably mean higher-ups, which I agree with. However, I don’t think it should be done artificially. For instance, the calls for Rumsfield to resign, or be fired or impeached, because of this seem to me disingenuous (is there spellcheck on this thing?) if they’re based on him being automatically to blame for this. Maybe he did establish some rule or rules or approach that led to this — but that should be discovered first. It’s not so dissimilar from police abuse scandals, and how one should deal with the police chiefs in that situation. Of course, there could be other reasons for removal that are legitimate, like morale etc., but that’s a separate argument. It also makes me wonder what goes on in our domestic prisons (and whatever does, what worse goes on in many other “civilized” countries). Some of the outrage from Arab governments is a bit hypocritical though, no? What goes on in those countries daily for interrogation and control of citizens we couldn’t fathom… I guess outsiders perpetrating it against them rather than them perpetrating it against themselves does make a difference but we might make this a broader discussion.
On the “spontaneity” of the apology, absolutely. One journalist interviewed by NPR described the Iraqi tribal code of honor (which resembles what I know of the Icelandic Vikings’ I cited in reference to bloodfeuds) and how a face-to-face apology might suffice, but a million dollars thrown from afar will probably be rejected. (Prof. Miller, I think, observed how the appearance of spontaneity boosts the feeling of sincerity). That same journalist also claimed that a majority of the attacks against American (and I guess coalition) soldiers are being done for purposes of tribal revenge for some specific injury (e.g. “collateral damage”), not a generalized, nationalistic or anti-foreign motivation. I’d like to see some evidence of this, but if true, it would indicate that many of the tragedies we are suffering could have been prevented through more “sensitive” training of the occupying forces. (I wished I had taped the interview, but the journalist stated something to the effect that the current uprising coincides with the changing of the guard, and that the new division in charge of Falluja (?) abandoned the previous division’s practice of settling with families of civilian casualities).
My more realist take on Abu Ghraib is that these kinds of things are pretty much an inevitable consequence of war, and should really have been calculated into both the case for/against war as well as the war plans themselves, just as you would calculate casualties. These things can and will happen… the leadership question arises over how well you planned to handle them. This administration seemed bent on calculating only the best-case scenarios (our reception, length of stay, cost of operations, prospects for democracy). As BusinessWeek pointed out when grading Bush’s performance by B-School standards, “It requires no prejudice, however, to spot the contrast between the disorganization in postwar Iraq and the precision of the invasion itself — or the principles that Harvard taught MBAs during Bush’s 1973-75 stay and still holds today.” The administration’s contingency planning for situations like Abu Ghraib seems to be to just tough it out.
There’s definite evidence that the abuse was systemic and intentional. According to Seymour Hersh in this week’s New Yorker, Gen. Sanchez gave 205th Military Intelligence Brigade tactical control over Abu Ghraib. This, Gen. Taguba’s report states:
Essentially, M.I.’s were given a rather hazy command over what should have been a police situation.
Specifically in response to your frat comments, though, I was deeply struck by the statements of soldiers who resisted M.I. pressure to soften up detainees. One M.P. captain showed considerably more judgment than I would have had in the same situation:
Reading between the lines, I would say that MI was relying precisely on the kind of frat-house mentality you’re describing… they just weren’t stupid enough to make it a direct order.
<hr/>
I was thinking of making this a separate post, but I may as well just tack this on: What bothers me the most about what happened in Abu Ghraib is that it represents a strategic failure. Whether the scandal results from mismanagement or from deliberate policy, the most disturbing thing about the whole thing is how poorly the Administration and the Pentagon anticipated and handled the situation. Tragedies like this are the inevitable byproduct of war: there should have been a contingency plan. This is no way to run a war, and it’s no way to make the peace.
The main problem with this situation is that it’s antithetical to our (most recent) stated goals of bringing democracy to Iraq, so either (a) those aren’t really our goals, or (b) we have become incompetent to achieve those goals. Maybe both.
A couple things though — sleep deprivation on its own would not have caused the international uproar going on now (whether or not it would still violate international law and military policy seems in dispute). “Creative” could have been blasting rock music all night in their cells. Again, whether or not this would have been legal or wise, it would not have created this backlash. What I’m saying is their form of “creativity” — stacking nude prisoners, taking posed photos, simulating sexual situations — does not prove or even suggest those specific forms were ordered from above. You’re right, mismanagement created the environment for it. But that’s not the same thing. I’m just objecting to the leap of logic that because the forms of humiliation/torture/abuse were so [fill in the blank, sophisticated, cruel, humiliating] they had to have been directed from above. The quote you include for Hersh’s article actually suggests otherwise.
That’s not to say it absolves anyone from responsibility who was not directly involved. Just to suggest that we have to recognize there is an innate capacity for generic cruelty, a “frat mentality,” in many situations. I don’t think you’re disagreeing above, but rather reworking it as something relied upon by higher-ups. This could be the case, although I don’t think that ambiguous reliance would go very far up.
This is from The New York Times, posted also by Glenn Reynolds at http://www.instapundit.com:
“Physical and sexual abuse of prisoners, similar to what has been uncovered in Iraq, takes place in American prisons with little public knowledge or concern, according to corrections officials, inmates and human rights advocates.
In Pennsylvania and some other states, inmates are routinely stripped in front of other inmates before being moved to a new prison or a new unit within their prison. In Arizona, male inmates at the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix are made to wear women’s pink underwear as a form of humiliation.”
If you’re only making the small point that the media plays up every stereotype of the redneck yokel (even the fact that Lyndie is from West Virginia) and mistakes stereotype for logic, I agree. I also agree that we all have the capacity for evil (as the well-cited Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated), and it’s all to easy to make the MP’s the “Other,” yadda yadda yadda.
My point from the Hersh quote was simply that leaving prisoners in the hands of untrained Reservists with vague instructions to “loosen them up” has predictable results — it’s deliberate negligence, if you will.
He very well might be paranoid and actually believes that satellites are abusing him. Can you imagine how frightening that belief must be?
My point is that these abuses were not the height of a sophisticated cultural attack on Islam — it was frat boys and girls gone wild (and maybe drunk or on drugs). I think that’s important. Maybe it’s a small point, I guess, but you don’t have to make me feel bad about it! I guess I’m still trying to figure out the point of blogging, but isn’t the whole point to make small points?
Once, I was having lunch with our former roommate JB in college and I said that they should just rewrite the constitution altogether. He got up and stormed out. I think that made me feel I should make smaller points.
I agree with that satellite guy.
I thought you made excellent points, Argus, big or small. In particular, I agree with the point that the sexual nature of the humiliations were not necessarily intended as a cultural attack on Islam but rather the product of the frat-mentality, prison-guard mentality, and maybe a few charismatic MPs fascination with sexual violence. The others just followed along, losing their grip on reality and wanting to fit in.
Today’s NY Times quotes Specialist Sivits on why he didn’t report the incidents:
“I was asked not to, and I try to be friends with everyone. I see now where trying to be friends with everyone can cost you.”
Sounds pretty immature and actually kind of pathetic to me. The problem is, that MPs with relatively petty motives will have a much larger impact. Isn’t that how WW1 began? An anarchist shooting an Archduke or something? I’m not really up on my history.
I’m not trying to belittle your point, just separate it from the other possible points. Maybe I should have written, “specific point.”
Thanks for the encouragement. Just making sure I’m not already a bad blogger.
Gene, what an excellent commentary. It should be linked all over the place.
I’d add a question, though: you are using “liberal” and “conservative” in their actual meanings. I think the problem is, focusing on liberals since that’s your discussion, that “liberal” is now seen as the same as “Democrat.” It isn’t. Ideology has been replaced by partisanship on both sides, but I think more so on the left. It’s not about ideas, although the ideas might get in place accidentally — it’s about not getting people elected who are called Republicans.
Also, it’s from two years ago but there is this terrific piece from Ron Rosenbaum, who is ideologically extremely left but grew disgusted with the liberal culture. He talks about different issues but you might be interested:
“Goodbye All that: How the Left Idiocies Drove me to Flee”
http://www.nyobserver.com/pages/story.asp?ID=6435
Well, I’m using “liberal” and “conservative” in their current political meanings, because after all, theoretically we’re all “liberals” (except, perhaps, the Christian factions who don’t believe in the separation of Church and state). My workmate is among the Nader supporters who agrees that “liberal” and “Democrat” are hardly synonyms (though convince the Republicans of that claim).
Hmmm… Rosenbaum’s article is provocative, and it’s exactly the way I feel about the academic / lunatic fringe, but the problem, of course, is that all sides of all issues have their extremists. As a self-identified “liberal” I feel a greater need to call out stupidity in my own camp than in the other side’s — which, truthfully, is perhaps what is at the root of what Rosenbaum and others call the “self-hating” tendencies of leftist Americans.
I think the piece also illustrates the way the Left has unraveled into two constituent camps: the communitarian/socialists and the libertarians (the latter of which Rosenbaum identifies himself with). I wonder whether the pressures of post-9/11 “homeland security” will likewise split the Right apart into its own communitarian/Christian and libertarian camps, or whether the fracture line lies elsewhere. Gay marriage, for example, is an issue that unites libertarians whatever their economic or foreign policy preferences.
I guess what I’m thinking, in terms of terminology, that I get the sense, could be wrong, that most people declaring themselves passionate Democrats or Republicans are like ardent fans who follow a sports team — they get dressed in the colors and face paint, they scream and yell and cry and rage, but there’s not actual an underlying belief system attached. And so, the categories have been splintered from any consistent or coherent or even thoughtful ideologies. Anyway, I know you’ve never rooted for a sports team.
On Rosenbaum, I guess the question is whether the “fringe” left has leaked into the “mainstream” left more than the “fringe” right has leaked into his mainstream. I guess I get the sense it has. As someone who doesn’t identify himself strongly with either side or party, I have to say I’m often in a room of left-leaning folks (after all, most of my time in the last few years has been in New York and Boston) when I feel I can’t say anything that remotely challenges their talking points. I haven’t felt this in right-leaning rooms when I’m diverging from theirs — or rather, maybe I don’t feel they’re as stuck to talking points, an expression I hate. Could this be? Or maybe, again, it’s that I’ve been in Boston and New York so those that are more conservative have to develop an ear for talking and listening while many who group themsleves as liberal can live in an echo chamber, something I guess Rosenbaum points out.
An article by Robert Novak about that same ACU dinner that the New York Times looked at as a sign of conservative strength — Novak finds at least some fault lines: spending and Iraq.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/robertnovak/printrn20040520.shtml
As a sino-American, don’t you feel affinity with the Japanese people? I mean, don’t you eat at McDonalds together?
I think it’s definitely true that a lot of bloggers are people who might otherwise be writers but aren’t, perhaps because of lack of time, commitment, or (let’s face it) skill. It’s smart to scan blogs for potential talent; on the other hand, is there really a shortage of people who want to be professional or semi-professional writers in this world? (Perhaps there is a lack of people with the skill and interest to become lucrative writers).
As you know, I keep 3 blogs, and 2 of them are professionally related, and there is a good chance that I will turn parts of what I write in those 2 into work-related articles — who knows, maybe even a book.
But this blog? Not yet. Not until I settle into some kind of theme that I want to develop (which I have, I just need the willpower to do it!)
I think a TV commentary show is a closer cousin to a blog than a book is.
Two things always bug me on this same topic.
After law school, and reading countless poorly written and thought-out Supreme Court decisions from the last forty or so years (by both liberal and conservative judges), that presumably were not part of some manipulative plan, I find Bush v. Gore more of the same — no better or worse, and certainly no lapse in legal reasoning more than other non-devious decisions. I know law professors go around squawking about it as a ridiculous decision (does Dershowitz count as a law professor?), but I know my con law professor analyzed every decision ever made by the Supreme Court as poorly reasoned and faulty. Many are. Hey, Roe v. Wade, the decision pedestalled by so many, is almost incoherent. So I’m not convinced anything was rigged in Bush v. Gore by ”experts” finding flaws in it. In fact, I read it a long time ago, but it was more consistent than a lot of the textbook cases you read in law school.
Another thing. I HATE when people mention the popular vote as proving Gore “is really our president.” Are you people imbeciles? Even if you are 100% convinced Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, GW, and Scalia got in a room and called down aliens to steal the presidency, the popular vote has nothing to do with anything. READ THE CONSTITUTION! It’s not an accident that the popular vote doesn’t determine the president, it’s the whole point of our federalist system! Arghh! If you want to point out it shows Gore has lots of support, fine. If you want to argue to amend the constitution for elections to be determined by popular vote, fine. Different arguments altogether.
Wait, but isn’t this of-the-moment (if hack-kneed):
Damn you King Features Syndicate!
http://est.rbma.com/content/Beetle_Bailey?date=20040513
Gene,
I was tempted to reply to your post at length, but decided that I will get fired from my job. Like you, i despise both Jacoby and Dowd which is why I dont bother reading them. Since I did not read her article, I can’t in good faith defend her (nor would i want to), but I will, however, defend the right to bring up Florida and the process that led to Bush’s ascendancy to the White house.
I think America often suffers from collective amnesia, pretending things like Florida did not happen; that the illegal purging of black voters was accidental; that asking people for identification instead of having them file voter affidavits, as the law requires, is something that occured by happenstance, etc., etc.
The point of bringing this up, at least for me, is not to revel in a counterfactual Gore presidency. It is to remind voters, and the media, to be more vigilant this time and not to let that happen again. It why I am gratified to see that CNN is actually tring to get a list of the ineligible voters for the upcoming elections. http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/05/28/fla.vote/
Gore winning the popular vote does mean more than just a symbolic victory. it also indicates that the winner has no popular mandate. off the top of my head, i think the other presidents who lost the popular vote to their opponent went on to only serve one term — J.Q. Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison — because they lacked legitimacy. Bush was in the same trajectory before Sept. 11 turned him into a war president. So let us not simply cast aside the significance of having half a million less votes than your opponent.
Even if the media studies show that Bush would have won, wouldn;t it have been better to count the votes? after all, it was the same media who told us that Bush was leading by 4 or 5 percentage points and was going to win in a landslide. I dont have much faith in the predictive value of media studies.
As for Bush v. Gore, of course it was a horrible decision, no matter how you look at it. Even it’s fiercest defenders, such as Charles Fried, could not come up with a reasoned defense for it. While I understand Roe v. Wade, etc. was an important decision, it did not decide any elections. That’s a distinction that cannot be overlooked, we shouldn’t exagerrate our comparisons here. The biggest problem with Bush v. Gore was Scalia’s decision to stop the recount arguing that Bush faced a greater irreparable harm than Gore. Pure political oppurtunism.
Gene, you seem to have a dark view of liberalism. I think these labels are simply not that helpful. You cite a survey that says that more people are proud to say they are conservative than are liberal. However, another poll shows that more people are registered as democrat than are republican. I dont think either side is winning or has won. republicans may be winning the fiscal battle, cutting taxes and deregulatins shit, but it seems to me that democrats are winning on the social front. america is a 50/50 nation and will be for awhile. the 2000 election proved it and the 2004 election will reaffirm that. nobody’s getting more than 51% of the vote, unless of course you run. iwill vote for you.
I agree and concede that keeping the pressure on is important; however, I think “we” need to be clear what the point is. Too many people live in West Wing (the TV show) fantasy-land. Focusing on the negative (Bush sucks) doesn’t help us figure out what it is “we” want to do if we did come back to power.
No, labels aren’t helpful; to some extent, that’s my point. If “liberal” is unhelpful, “Democrat” even less so. I’d rather look at the interests out there to see where they align and where alliances can be broken and reshaped. You do seem to agree with me that libertarianism is on the rise (smaller government all around) even if Ashcroft would have otherwise. So if the Democrats win back the White House in November, I don’t foresee a turnaround on “social justice” (a/k/a redistribution) issues, because that’s not the current trend no matter what the socialist hippies might otherwise wish. And THOSE are the “liberals” I think most need the wake-up call to get with the times and find a new tune for the old lyrics.
Thanks for the endorsement!
Welcome back!
Funny you should notice the unpregnant. Too much time spent in Park Slope, perhaps?
Definitely too much time here. It makes me feel very observant that I noticed it though.
Speaking of “Beetle Bailey”:
http://www.comics.com/comics/monty/archive/images/monty2004305040610.gif
Did you know they use Garfield to teach English to kids in China? See, it’s not all that bad. A fascinating article on the marketing life of Garfield: http://www.slate.com/id/2102299/
Wow. So, my reasons for hating Garfield are confirmed.
Maybe that’s why all my Chinese relatives can only say, “I hate Mondays! I love lasagna!”
That’s sort of nauseating pressure for the kid, isn’t it? I mean, once he figures out what a Rhodes (usually the award of arrogant mediocrity). Or is it meant to be funny?
I do feel you have too much blog stress.
My comment about protests originating from the ACLU was based on this,
http://www.boston-online.com/common/002688.html
not Carpundit’s posting, which I read later.
Sorry if I misinterpreted your statement about the ACLU.
It failed to mention you get free cable TV!
We booked our reservation on line last night. There was no price listed for the trip from Cambridge to Boston Logan Airport. So we booked, price unseen. After emailing the company, I learned that the trip will cost $34. The return trip from the airport is the same + tolls.
This is about $10 more expensive than a traditional cab.
hey,
i agree with you very much. i started a comic strip myself that is very different from the ones i find in newspapers. it’s at http://www.thestrangestguy.com/bullseye , let me know what you think.
Gene-
I feel a new kinship to you! I am a huge Arlo and Janis fan, and I’ve followed the website somewhat fanatically. He lives close to my hometown, so there’s also that connection. Can’t wait to see you guys tonight – we’re really looking forward to the wedding!
Katie
Dear Gene and Rachel:
We want to thank you so much for inviting us to help celebrate with you and your family and friends. We had a great time.
Enjoy your journey together.
Thanks to all of you for coming – we very much enjoyed and appreciated having all of the love of our friends and family at our wedding!
Hey Katie, it was great to see you at the wedding, and I’m psyched that you’re also a huge fan of Jimmy Johnson. Where’s your hometown, and how did you know he lived near there? Isn’t he from Tennessee?
It’s your money to do with as you like. We gave direct to donation as requested, but if I had given you cash I would expect that you and your wife would decide together how you would like to use that money. This is team Anderkoo time!
The definition of the word gift (or one of them, taken from dictionary.com):
1. Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.
A gift cannot be conditional by definition. Regardless of whether the money came with an already included donation… the money was still a gift to you. If it was a gift with a condition that you cannot use it for one use or another then it is not a true gift. I don’t think anyone has that intention. If they donated and gave you cash then that just means that they hope you will not use your gift for something so selfless it doesn’t mean you have to.
So will they feel slighted? Maybe. I guess it’s that same charitable nature that told you to donate the money that makes you not want to offend anyone. So where does this leave you? With the realization that you can’t please everyone….
Well… Don’t ask me for advice b/c I’ll just say to keep it and use it as a little nest egg… you may want to buy something some day for yourselves, like a car, house, business, etc… So, while I agree with the slick gift givers who are attempting to change your focus in the name of your own sake I say that it’s your money do what the fuck pleases you!!!!
Sorry about cursing on your page.
I’m back.
Look at Toe playing the definition game! A natural! How did that tender legal mind escape? Toe – there’s an office down the hall just waiting for you.
Yeah, do with it want you want, but don’t buy a pony.
No comments yet? What kind of computer unsophisticated friends do you have? Glad I at least am competent to view these!
They are beautiful. Strikingly lovely.
We’ll sign on again soon to catch the party!
That’s why ours sleeps 8 – we like to have friends over. Thanks for vaccuuming it.
As requested…
Arlo & Janis is one of my favorite comic strips. I was disappointed to see it missing from this Sunday’s paper. If you need to include ads in the Sunday comics section, please print up an insert rather than pre-empting one of the comics.
I agree.
Got any info on any response to the votes cast for Bush in Ohio that couldn’t have existed–in a precinct in Columbus, where there were 638 voters, Bush got over 4200 votes.
Thanks for any info
Interesting. I have a friend who’s been closely tracking the electoral irregularity issue. I’ll see what he knows on this. (He doesn’t keep a blog himself). Are you a resident of that precinct?
In one precinct, Bush’s tally was supersized by a computer glitch
Friday, November 05, 2004
Jim Woods
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A computer error involving one voting-machine cartridge gave President Bush 3,893 extra votes in a Gahanna precinct.
Franklin County’s unofficial results gave Bush 4,258 votes to Democratic challenger John Kerry’s 260 votes in Precinct 1B, which votes at New Life Church on Stygler Road. Records show only 638 voters cast ballots in that precinct.
Matthew Damschroder, director of the Franklin County Board of Elections, said Bush received 365 votes there.
The remaining 13 voters who cast ballots either voted for other candidates or did not vote for president.
Damschroder said he received some calls yesterday from people who saw the error when reading the list of poll results on the election board’s Web site.
“It’s why the results on election night are unofficial,” Damschroder said.
The error would have been discovered when the official canvass for the election is performed, he said.
Election workers will start certifying the official election results later this month. The final, official tally will be available by the end of the month.
This is what happened, Damschroder said:
Gahanna Precinct 1B has three voting machines. After the polling station closed, the cartridges were taken to a computerized reading station.
When one of the cartridges from the precinct was plugged into a reader, it generated the faulty number.
The reader also recorded zero votes in the race between Arlene Shoemaker and Paula Brooks for county commissioner.
Damschroder said the cartridge was retested yesterday and there were no problems. He couldn’t explain why the computer reader malfunctioned.
When workers checked the cartridge against memory banks in the voting machine yesterday, each showed that 115 people voted for Bush on that machine. With the other two machines, the total for Bush in the precinct added up to 365 votes.
So far, Damschroder said, no other problems have surfaced.
When election workers do the official canvass, all cartridges from voting machines are rechecked
great!
Oh quit your belly aching and do something proactive about it…
http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-41815-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
It even tickles your bicycle fetish at the same time!
I still think bicycles are demons and should not be toyed with! And bike enthusiasts are … well, they’re just silly little girlie men!
And that’s the way it is!
Good read. Well written… A tad depressing… The idea that the humor in peanuts comes from embarresment and the harshness of life is nothing new. It’s an interesting escape device to try and cartoon your own life every day, but it’s a little sad to think that it is necessary to find ways to deal with these things… alas the human condition.
Personally, my favorite thoughts about humor comes from Heinlein in “Stranger in a Strange Land” where the man from Mars has trouble with laughing because it’s extremely hard to tell what is funny and what is sad. Humor is the “wrongness.” The things that are saddest and not-right are actually what makes us laugh.
On cartoons, Schultz was a master. He paved the way for the other greats to take it even a step more direct. His simple and effective devices are still used today by Breathed and McGruder. The idea that a simple conversation of life in 1 to 5 sentences can give us insight into the “wrongness” of our lives and our surroundings is very strong and of course makes us laugh uncontrollably… especially if you read The Boondocks!
http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/
And about that quote! I believe that these people who find the family circus funny are out there and mingling amongst us! Beware them… They have black eyes and only eat gravy!
Just came across your site and I found this entry particularly funny. My husband is unfortunately often on the receiving end of comic strip hatred (he’s been writing Sally Forth ever since Greg Howard stepped down). Some of the vehemence readers have for it is pretty entertaining: http://www.drinkatwork.com/letter.html
Oh, if you’re interested, he has a Web comic that is more his own creation:
http://www.drinkatwork.com/mediumlarge.html
I particularly like this one from earlier in the week:
http://www.drinkatwork.com/medlarge187.gif
Million Dollar Waste of Time
An obvious attempt to strike Oscar gold with the tried and true method of using a political controversy to draw an audience. Usually the movie leans a little to the left… The side that the Academy loves to sit on. hmm… Cider House Rules (which I also thought was crap), Bowling for Columbine (which I loved)… Not to mention the bogus practice by which an actress goes through an extreme physical transformation in order to not only be considered for the acolades of the year but to guarantee that she will win one…. hehe… look at Nicole Kidman… she has a different nose… what an actress!
I personally thought the movie was horrible. The characters felt emotionless to me. Morgan Freeman was the only redeeming thing about that movie. He is the only one who deserves any credit what-so-ever from this waste-of-time piece of garbage. Blah-blah-blah.
I really didn’t get the characters’ relationships. They just fell flat on me. Every character was a cartoonish extreme with no depth (excluding Morgan Freeman)…. I didn’t believe that Maggie’s character would desire to have Clint as a trainer. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t believe that they were close at all. They went through ordeals that would make them close, but I wasn’t buying it. Granted Clint’s character is supposed to be tough-as-nails and an asshole, but I really didn’t get relationship between the two of them. I did feel the connection between him and his first disciple, but not with Maggie. Yes, the script called for them to have that chemistry between them, but it never materialized for me.
Let’s talk about the script… This was a book first. What a shitty book… Nuff said! (I didn’t actually read it I just think the story wasn’t even worth hearing).
I do like your “demonic drive” comment… I didn’t think of that…. so true… That does add some believability to her family.
Part 2 (of long complaining whiningness):
I’m a little confused about the protest of Miss Saigon? They’re protesting stereotypes? I’m sitting here now for minutes trying to remember the musical. The article does a horrible job of reporting this since they never mention exactly what parts have upset these protesters.
It’s the story of Madame Butterfly, which is the story of a wartime romance between a soldier and a prostitute with love, tragedy, and everything in between. It’s the story of two completely different cultures colliding under horrible circumstances (Invasion is the worst way to meet someone). Is it a stereotype to show a Vietnamese person wearing the clothes of their time and place? Is it a stereotype to have an actor speak English with a Vietnamese accent? Is it a stereotype that a Vietnamese prostitute would act like a whore who works hard for her money? I guess these people would have preferred if they added a female Asian American soldier in the production so that you can see the differences are based on physical and cultural boundaries rather than stereotypes of all Asian women? That’s such a load of horse crap to me.
And… one final note… I remember when the musical opened on Broadway… They were not protesting stereotypes… As a matter of fact they were protesting that Tim Rice (I think that’s his name… the one who made that musical with Elton John) who was British was playing an Asian character when there were plenty of Asian actors around who could do just as good of a job…. Which I challenged at the time too… Hell, if you’re going to get that nitpicky then you should only be demanding Native Vietnamese people play the role instead of allowing an American-Vietnamese person, or horrors, allowing a Chinese American person to play the role.
I hate all complainers! <wink> <wink> Oh yeah… and I hated Miss Saigon too!
Oh yeah… Go see Steve Zisou if you want to delve into cartoonish characters that show raw emotion while drawing power and feeling out of you.
—T
hmm.. I forgot to add formatting to my post… sorry
Million Dollar Waste of Time
An obvious attempt to strike Oscar gold with the tried and true method of using a political controversy to draw an audience. Usually the movie leans a little to the left… The side that the Academy loves to sit on. hmm… Cider House Rules (which I also thought was crap), Bowling for Columbine (which I loved)… Not to mention the bogus practice by which an actress goes through an extreme physical transformation in order to not only be considered for the acolades of the year but to guarantee that she will win one…. hehe… look at Nicole Kidman… she has a different nose… what an actress! I personally thought the movie was horrible.
The characters felt emotionless to me. Morgan Freeman was the only redeeming thing about that movie. He is the only one who deserves any credit what-so-ever from this waste-of-time piece of garbage. Blah-blah-blah.
I really didn’t get the characters’ relationships. They just fell flat on me. Every character was a cartoonish extreme with no depth (excluding Morgan Freeman)…. I didn’t believe that Maggie’s character would desire to have Clint as a trainer. It didn’t make sense. I didn’t believe that they were close at all. They went through ordeals that would make them close, but I wasn’t buying it. Granted Clint’s character is supposed to be tough-as-nails and an asshole, but I really didn’t get relationship between the two of them. I did feel the connection between him and his first disciple, but not with Maggie. Yes, the script called for them to have that chemistry between them, but it never materialized for me.
Let’s talk about the script… This was a book first. What a shitty book… Nuff said! (I didn’t actually read it I just think the story wasn’t even worth hearing).
I do like your “demonic drive” comment… I didn’t think of that…. so true… That does add some believability to her family.
Part 2 (of long complaining whiningness): I’m a little confused about the protest of Miss Saigon? They’re protesting stereotypes? I’m sitting here now for minutes trying to remember the musical. The article does a horrible job of reporting this since they never mention exactly what parts have upset these protesters.
It’s the story of Madame Butterfly, which is the story of a wartime romance between a soldier and a prostitute with love, tragedy, and everything in between. It’s the story of two completely different cultures colliding under horrible circumstances (Invasion is the worst way to meet someone). Is it a stereotype to show a Vietnamese person wearing the clothes of their time and place? Is it a stereotype to have an actor speak English with a Vietnamese accent? Is it a stereotype that a Vietnamese prostitute would act like a whore who works hard for her money? I guess these people would have preferred if they added a female Asian American soldier in the production so that you can see the differences are based on physical and cultural boundaries rather than stereotypes of all Asian women? That’s such a load of horse crap to me.
And… one final note… I remember when the musical opened on Broadway… They were not protesting stereotypes… As a matter of fact they were protesting that Tim Rice (I think that’s his name… the one who made that musical with Elton John) who was British was playing an Asian character when there were plenty of Asian actors around who could do just as good of a job…. Which I challenged at the time too… Hell, if you’re going to get that nitpicky then you should only be demanding Native Vietnamese people play the role instead of allowing an American-Vietnamese person, or horrors, allowing a Chinese American person to play the role.
I hate all complainers! <wink> <wink>
Oh yeah… and I hated Miss Saigon too!
Oh yeah… Go see Steve Zisou if you want to delve into cartoonish characters that show raw emotion while drawing power and feeling out of you.
—T
That looks nicer, but why is everything bold when only the title was sposed to be….
Wow! a bike.
Congrats!
mazel tov! i had no idea you hadn’t been sworn in
i saw the gates. it was sort of nothing, not even enough for me to have a problem with it. i guess my main thought was that if nobody had mentioned it, or named it, or hyped it, or if the exact thing had been in some local park somewhere else, it would have barely been noticed — no more than you give particular notice to holiday decorations in a park or some other public area. i guess the pointlessness of it is what makes it get noticed.
Welcome to the Bar!
Did you sign the books?
Based on the comment you left on my blog, I completely agree with your security concerns.
Strange.
Naw, I didn’t sign the books b/c I was totally out of synch. One of the clerks did personally swear me in. It was a bit weird to do that while people (I’m assuming pro se) were sitting around waiting for whatever papers they needed from the SJC (?). I should re-edit the entry to add the security thing to my original blog writeup.
Man, you’re too tasteful. That posed picture definitely needs an arm holding it in place!
You son of a @#$@#$!@! You got to play Settlers of Catan? I got it for Christmas and have no one to play with me! so… what’s the scoop… was it good? How many people did you play with? Did you use random boards or did you just use the one they tell you to start with? What did you think of the rules?
Man, I could care less about crunchy-snow-shoe thingies! I want to know the real data!
The rules look easy enough that I might be able to create a computer networked or Play By E-mail version for us to play with.
Actually, for any friends of Kooooo’s that lives in New York City, here’s a chance to rub in how much cooler it is out here than in stupid-head Boston. We’re going to get a gaming night going where we meet once a week and play settlers of catan and other cool games that he wishes he could play with us. Then he will know… oh yes… He will know the losernessness of loserchussetes and he will understand what it is like to envy those that play games that he wants to play! Yes, we will make him suffer!
MWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! SUFFFFFEEERRRR!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!
The worst thing about this post is that I actually clicked on and read each of those horrid mallard comics.
By the way… Koo, you’ve probably known of this one for a long time, but I just got turned on to it. It’s really good!
http://dwlt.net/tapestry/getfuzzy.rdf
The read problem with reading comics online is that I want it laid out like a newspaper — I want different comics on the same page, not one strip I have to scroll through laboriously.
I was thinking of developing a Firefox plugin that would do this (the problem otherwise being that most syndicate websites don’t allow imgs to be called from other sites). But, who has the time?
You are a fool. I hate the paper. It makes your hands all nasty and dry, it smells like crap, and it’s stupid!
Actually, I like reading strips in my aggregator. I click on today’s post and BAM! A single strip for me to read on a nice white background. Clean, simple, quick, and I never miss them! I also have them all in a nice neat folder so when it’s comic time I can go through them all.
Except for the Boondocks. He doesn’t have a feed so I have to click on a script I wrote that pops open today’s strip without all the advertisements and garbage. I should probably create my own feed from the script I wrote since occasionally forget to run it and miss all of the Ha Has and Chuckle Chuckles.
And that’s not the point anyway. The point is that you need to read Get Fuzzy because it just plain rules! I know I know… not another single man with dog and cat strip… but it’s really good! It’s kind of like Garfield with a brain. I also like that it’s more of a character driven strip than a current-event-poking-fun strip. There are virtually no writers/artists left that can explore humanity and make us laugh like this… kind of like Calvin & Hobbes did….
So back to the original post about crappy Mallard:
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20050220.html
Really? When I follow that RSS feed I get the whole damn page with all the paraphenalia et.al. If you can get JUST the strip, can you then get a way to put an entire day’s worth of different strips?
The Boston Globe picked up Get Fuzzy a few years ago; I think it’s their “newest” strip. The guy’s local (he’s obviously a huge Sox fan) so it’s actually outrageous that he wasn’t picked up earlier. He makes fun of Garfield almost as much as Opus, albeit more obliquely. It’s funny that he actually uses the same formula (mean cat, dumb dog, loser owner) but freshens it up somewhat… mostly, I think, because he stays current on culture and because Satchel’s much more sympathetic than Odie (and Bucky much more outrageous than Garfield).
Matt met him once, I forgot where.
Yes… only the strip comes up. You’re reader is probably pulling the link rather than the data in the feed… Get a better reader…
Try out sharpreader… It doesn’t have tabs, but it’s everything I need….
AARP President Marie Smith Tells Black Leadership “No social Security Crisis…”
Atlanta was the hot spot. Tavis Smiley hosted his annual symposium “The State of the Black Union.” The forum was held at Rev. Eddie Long’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. The program focused on defining the African American Agenda. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition took opportunity to explain to those gathered that the Black Congressional Caucus has in place a ten (10) point plan of action. But regardless of the question of whether or not the agenda set forth by the Caucus is the substance of this group’s covenant the forum did establish that the process will include a community unity.
Today, black leaders voiced a need to advance the community. Freedom was the agenda until 1864. Civil rights, voting rights and access to public accomodations followed from 1864 to 1964. Leveraging the black community’s collective capital appears to be the new covenant.
They voiced a concern that Democrats have taken the black community for granted and the republican party “just takes, using blacks who really have no power to lead.”
The highmark of the event was when the Honorable Louis Farrakhan, Nation of Islam, explained to the group that “regardless of where we have been, we want to advance our people.” He said, ” black children can’t eat at the table of illusion and hypocrisy.” He added, “we can’t focus on the house that denied us access for 400 years.” He closed, “the hell with democrats and republicans.”
These African American leaders, carrying the history and weight of the black experience want group unity. They appear to have found meaning in their individuality and heritage. It’s more than a common skin pigmentation. It has now become a community based on a social phenomenon of systematic and comprehensive forces that only those challenged by a longstanding history of discrimination and violence may understand.
The Need:
The level playing field remains more illusion than reality… Since the start of George W. Bush presidency in January 2000 a general concern in the African American community was voiced that on issues that are of the greatest importance to millions of Americans, the President’s policies are misplaced priorities. The uncertainty continued into 2004 election.
But there’s one truth above all others in second term elections. They are referendums on the incumbent. So as hard as it is to accept, there are other Americans outside the African American community that like the job that George W. Bush is doing. And, with re-election he’s not an asterisk anymore alone among American presidents. That is, riding the votes of 59 million (other)Americans, he’s the president regardless of the fact that majority of African Americans who voted would rather have had the other guy.
So… it’s time to move on. African Americans must put their differences aside. American identity is not a function of birthright but a way of life. The African American community must keep moving toward the America identity it believes is possible. Isn’t democracy great?
Some argue “African American leaders judges America from the utopian standard, never comparing America to anything other but the Garden of Eden (immigrants, for example, are said to compare America to their old country).” But, it has been only forty years since separate water fountains of Jim Crow prohibitions and many Americans would now like to proceed as if the slate is clean and the scale is balanced.
The upward strides of many African Americans into the middle class have given the illusion that race cannot be the barrier that some make it out to be. However, one in four African Americans continue to live below the official poverty line (versus approximately one in nine whites). The optimistic assumption of the 1970s and 1980s was that upwardly mobile African Americans were quietly integrating formerly all-white occupations, businesses, neighborhoods, and social clubs. Black middle- and working-class families were moving out of all-black urban neighborhoods and into the suburbs. But, the one black doctor who lives in an exclusive white suburb and the few African American lawyers who work at a large firm are not representative of the today’s black community. And although most white Americans are also not doctors or lawyers, the lopsided distribution of occupations for whites does favor such professional and managerial jobs, whereas blacks are clustered in the sales and clerical fields.
In short, the inequalities run even deeper than just income. One must compound and exponentiate the current differences over a history of slavery and Jim Crow, and the nearly fourteenfold wealth advantage that whites enjoy over African Americans—regardless of income, education, or occupation—needs little explanation, and add the failure of the education system where African Americans children are the clear victims.
The explanations for economic inequality perceives the American political economy as being fundamentally fair with virtually everyone guaranteed an equal opportunity to compete, work hard, and excel in American schools, labor markets, housing markets, and other American social institutions. However, using wealth as a measure of economic inequality, the same top twenty percent of American households controlled over sixty-eight percent of the net worth of the United States, leaving virtually no wealth in the hands of the bottom twenty percent.
Economic inequality that characterized the United States at its inception continues to influence contemporary institutional practices and American social institutions routinely discriminate against African Americans denying them the means of acquiring human capital (innate individual capacities such as talent and motivation combined with achieved qualities such as educational qualifications and employment experiences). Limited to segregated neighborhoods, educated in inferior schools, and lacking access to the good jobs that are increasingly located in inaccessible suburban neighborhoods, African Americans bear an unfair share of the costs and economic inequality in the United States constitutes economic injustice.
Recurring discrimination in workplaces and elsewhere wastes human capital and seriously restricts and marginalizes its victims. The negative impact of racial animosity and discrimination includes a sense of threat at work or elsewhere, lowered self-esteem, rage at mistreatment, depression, the development of defensive tactics, a reduction in desire for normal interaction, and other psychological problems. The costs of racial animosity and discrimination extends well beyond the individual to families and communities. While many African Americans may have managed to overcome discrimination, their struggle will take a toll in their personal health or on the ability to maximize contributions to the larger society.
Discussion:
Are some blacks becoming a “black bourgeoisie?”
Are some blacks controlling the wealth and power within the black community and turning its back on its own people?
Are many members of black America adopting the values, standards and ideals of the white middle class, and are trying to distance themselves from the black poor?
In the 1960s, federal entitlement programs, civil rights legislation, equal opportunity statutes and affirmative action programs broke the open barriers of legal segregation. The path to universities and corporations for some blacks was now wide open. More blacks than ever did what their parents only dreamed of – they fled blighted inner-city areas in droves. The new frontier, business where the dollar is made and where significant wealth and resources are at stake.
But, is there a widening rift between the black haves and the black have-nots that has been blurred by racism, ignored by blacks and hidden from white society?
Is black wealth, like white wealth, now concentrated in fewer hands?
A study by the Harvard Civil Rights Project, shows progress toward school desegregation peaked in late 1980s. That is a half-century after the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of American education, schools are almost as segregated as they were when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The report said that a massive migration of black families toward the suburbs is producing “hundreds of new segregated and unequal schools and frustrating the dream of middle-class minority families.” According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test report, by the 12th grade, on average, black students (in the United States) are four years behind those who are white or Asain.
The “NAEP” test report not only average scores for each racial or ethnic group; they also place each individual test-taker in one of four different “achievement levels.” The bottom is labeled below basic, which is reserved for students unable to display even “partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills.” In five of the seven subjects tested, a majority of black twelfth graders perform Below Basic. In math, the figure is almost seven out of ten, in science more than three out of four.
While this gap may not be hidden from public, black republicans have been inhibited from describing the problem in its full dimensions. But closing the skills gap is the answer to real racial equality in American society.
What, in fact, are black republicans doing with what they aggregate?
Access to positions of power and prestige – and to well-paying jobs in general – are limited because blacks typically leave high school with an eighth-grade education. The status of blacks today is different than it was a half century ago, when almost 90 percent of blacks lived in poverty. By now more than 40 percent of blacks describe themselves as middle class, and a third live in suburbs. College attendance rates are as high although a high percentage drop out before getting a four-year degree. African-Americans are CEOs and occupy lofty positions in the federal government. But all is not well.
The most discouraging news of all is that which has been barely discussed by black leaders: the appalling racial gap in academic achievement in the K-12 years. Without an education, black children are slaves to the world they live in. Fifty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education decision struck down legalized school segregation to give equal educational access to African Americans and other minorities. But, today’s major American educational issue still involves race.
Blacks have no choice but to prepare its young. At least three black men ascended in the aftermath of civil rights movement to become CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and an additional 275 or more senior black executives are now no less than three steps away from the CEO. They’ve attended the nation’s most prestigious schools, learned how to navigate the highest reaches of the systems, and they have thrived. But, for all their great wealth and enormous resources, it appears most sucessful blacks remain absent from the struggle of educating our young. Recently, Kmart Holding Corp. chose Aylwin Lewis to improve the giant retailer’s image and operation. Lewis joins Stanley O’Neal of Merrill Lynch, Richard Parsons of Time Warner, Ken Chenault of American Express and Franklin Raines of Fannie Mae as the only African American chief executives heading top publicly trading companies in the U.S.
Corporations today say they do look to a talent pool largely comprising minorities and women for their senior and middle managers. But the level of education and the caliber of schools blacks attended are not equal, and the competition for market share is so ferocious that companies must recruit the best talent.
George W. Bush appealed to Americans’ best instincts when he declared that no child should be left behind.
But?
All agree that every child in America should have the same opportunity to reach his or her full potential regardless of the color of skin, gender or the income level of the child’s parents. The president’s plan has set up millions of vulnerable kids for failure, leaving black youth with another dose of mostly symbolic politics. The education reform accountability system based on annual testing in grades three through eight that financially sanctions schools that do not show quick improvement, will do a great deal of additional damage to the children in America’s most-troubled public schools. It is wrong to expect schools to succeed virtually overnight when so little is done to attack inequalities in education.
How can he expect the poorest children, who face every disadvantage, to do as well as those who have every advantage?
Given Bush’s spending priorities there is little left to finance his efforts to leave no child behind. Further, by the time students enter the third grade, when the Bush testing plan would kick in, much already has been determined about whether individual children will succeed or struggle academically.
America’s schools must be accountable to the children being educated in them and to their parents. But making high-stakes annual tests the sole determinant for students and their schools, and imposing major costs on those who fail, is counterproductive.
In closing, assessment should measure, not drive, education reform. Why force schools to spend thousands on consultants to teach test-taking strategies instead of substantive learning? The magic that can happen between a creative teacher and engaged students is too often lost in schools driven by test preparation.
WANT TO PARTICIPATE AT THE BOSTON DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL?
Whether you want to race individually or with your company or with your friends, Living Root Dragon Boat, Inc. will help you race at the Boston Dragon Boat Festival on June 11-12, 2005! Be a part of an adrenaline-filled race!
Whether you have prior dragon boat experience or not, whether you want to paddle, steer or drum for a team, whether you want to race for fun or be ultra-competitive, we will assist you with our network of affiliated dragon boat teams in Boston!
Swimming ability is not required! All equipment including boats, life jackets and paddles will be provided by the Boston Dragon Boat Festival!
Participation through Living Root Dragon Boat, Inc. is $50 per person or $700 to register a team of 18 people (including 16 paddlers, 1 steerer, 1 drummer).
You will receive training through a combination of the coaching staff of the Boston Dragon Boat Festival as well as the coaching staff of Living Root Dragon boat, Inc.
Don’t hesitate! Sign up today and contact Bob Lee for more information at Bob.Lee@livingroot.org or visit http://www.livingroot.org!
Koooooo, you’re killing my life… no more… no more I tell you… I know you hate this crap, but I hate it too… please, I beg of you… we know zippy is a bad strip… please spare us…
Actually, zippy is a horrible strip… How do you constantly feel compelled to read it to make sure that it is bad?
Doesn’t work in NY. We have apts on apts on apts on apts on apts and they’re all mad expensive! But then again, everyone wants to live in NY because we rule and Boston drools!
Doesn’t work in NY. We have apts on apts on apts on apts on apts and they’re all mad expensive! But then again, everyone wants to live in NY because we rule and Boston drools!
This is actually quite funny, although involuntarily. Tinsley only gets aware of the Fillmore parody by Emails from alert readers, months after Stewart’s book is #1 on the bestsellerlists … and then he either is too stupid too understand the core principle of parody, or more likely he (possibbly correctly) assumes that his readers are dumb enough to join in into his faked outrage. This is as revealing as the parody in Stewart’s book. Amazing.
What’s more is that he managed to milk that one satire (which, honestly, is probably the best exposure he’s ever gotten) for 3 strips. And he gave Jon quite an inappropriately large hook nose.
that sounds like a great idea to me. you get more comics printed bigger. can’t be bad.
They had one of those tourist balloons in Baltimore and a dozen people got caught in it for a couple of hours in a windstorm. It hasn’t flown since and now the city wants something else in its place.
Actually, yesterday one of my coworkers tried to take her family up the balloon, and they had the entire operation on hold because people were apparently screaming their heads off after the wind picked up. Guess tethered hot air-ballooning can be pretty scary, maybe scarier than free-floating.
Living Root Dragon Boat in Boston seeks men and women to race in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Saturday September 10, 2005 and in Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday September 17, 2005. No prior experience necessary. For more information, visit http://www.livingroot.org.
that’s the sad fact about comic strips. they date faster than any other media. humor and illustrative style are usually best in context of time. although watterson’s strip ages better than most.
true enough, though i think my comment was focusing in particular on the strips that were devoted to contemporary concerns like television or current events. “Little Nemo” feels fresh today despite some changes of idiom and dress because its topics were pure fantasy. Then again, strips like “The Family Circus” will never be contemporary even if they are still being drawn (to use the word generously) today because their creators have been asleep since 1963. Similarly, strips that attempt to be “timeless” often fail because they trade in cheap universals like political cynicism.
Then again, going back to what you say about the medium itself — comics began as a form of political satire, so the ones that stay closest to their roots are the ones most likely to be dated (though they have great historical value).
I heard about “Random Families” but just belatedly read it (March2006) I lived in NY in 1980.
Great book, I wish LeBlanc had included photos – as a writer she would likely resent the idea.
But she talks about photos a lot in the book, & I know how important photos are to (especially) poor people.
Hey your blog looks different, or is it just really early… you forgot to mention in this post that you’re not good at remembering anyone’s names to begin with and that’s why you need rachel, to tell you people’s names as you encounter them… by the way i looved pirates of the carib 2
I thought of you today when All Things Considered was doing a feature on the Amorphophallus titanum (which is about to bloom in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden).
http://www.bbg.org/vis2/2006/titan/history-and-botany-of-the-titan-arum/
It’s ready to bloom on your birthday or close enough!
Wikipedia actually does a nice job on such things, often giving info that wouldn’t be found elsewhere. I guess it depends on the topic — there wouldn’t be too many people trying to taint a page about Fox Trot, I’d guess. Anyway, maybe my love for comic strips when young has screwed me up, as I myself never quite feel like I correctly pass from one life phase to the next.
Or you could get a Mac
what dose “belfry arch” mean, is it a part of the church?
What exactly are you complaining about? If you’re looking for a pre-made invitation idea of course it’s going to be the same as what’s offered to other people. If you’re not “imaginativley crippled” you should be able to use the papers they offer to make your own unique design. P.S. doesn’t claim to offer individual personalized invitations and there are plenty of smaller companies out there that do.
hello Gene,
I’m actually leaving a comment for your wife rachel. We were classmates at Davidson from class of 97. Just wanted to say hi and reconnect. Please pass my regards on to her. I did read the article on NY Times, didn’t realize it was a counter argument to Sunday Globe.
His name is Stephan Pastis, not Sebastian Pastis
Thank you for the review. You do seem to be the first on this.
I think you are right about the bluetooth being a useful addition.
What I would also like for the complete picture is to have a mouse built into the keyboard, just like the laptop does. I prefer the IBM nipple style myself, but the pad style would do. That would allow not to have to move the hand at all and navigate that much faster.
Greetings from someone who has been waiting for 3 years for such a keyboard
Since you don’t make any special mention, I guess you are using Windows. If you had a Mac, you would probably complaining about the position of the alt keys
I’ll probably buy this one but I think they would make a much better business if they cared more about full-compatibility with Macs and if they didn’t charge 40 USD for a piece of cable!
Alexandre, I think what you want is the original Kinesis Evolution keyboard. You still might be able to get one off eBay, but they are very expensive!
JR: I’ll need to update the post again, but one complaint I’ve recently developed about this keyboard is that the placement of extra keys to the left really screw up my ability to find the left Ctrl, Shift, Tab keys. I find that I’m reaching for the end of the keyboard and hit the “special” keys by accident. That’s a design problem!
Hi!
Couple of questions for you. Is the Kenesis Freestyle VIP steady when tilted at the max? (I mean really steady) Also, I have been looking for an ergo keyboard that I could take the palm rests off and use a gel wrist rest instead – would this be possible? My wrist rest is about 1 inch thick. I cannot imagine why none of the companies don’t use a thin solid gel cushion on their palm rests or at least offer it as an option.
Hello,
I didn’t even know that a keyboard like this was coming out. It does look a little bit more ergonomical done. I am over a normal keyboard now and it does appear that my shoulders are coming in more which is putting more tension on my back. I notice some problems that may come with this new keyboard. The keyboard is connected by a cord and it may lose connectivity if a wire between the two becomes loose. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this keyboard works out for you and that review. Great job on posting a new technology that I haven’t seen.
The cord between the two halves of the keyboard seems pretty sturdy, and I’m not terribly concerned about it breaking, any more than the cord between the keyboard and the computer! But, it’s a good opportunity to plug the idea of BLUETOOTH KINESIS FREESTYLE! Let’s see one!
I am planning on getting that same keyboard, but the wire connecting the two halves may distract me. I do love the idea and the design though. Well probably my only problem now is the price… it’s too steep for me.
Joe, I have no idea what makes a keyboard so expensive. I guess it must be the combined power of mass production, mass marketing, and mass logistics. I’ve found that these things keep their value on Ebay — so I don’t know what to advise except to hope that it really catches on so the price can go down. I have to say that at under $100, this is the cheapest REAL ergonomic keyboard I’ve seen.
I find it strange that they needed that cable in the middle to begin with. They could have duplicated KB electronics on both halves, and have each half connect to the PC with its own USB cable. I guess they thought it would have looked kinda hacky, and didn’t want to give people other ideas. Namely, that you can just buy 2 cheap small USB keyboards, and position them anyway you like. This is an extreme example:
http://thecraftstudio.com/bcboy/keyboard.html
You don’t have to go to such lengths – 2 or more USB keyboards will do the same job just fine.
When you bring up target demographic, I wonder if these younger generations that have over-inflated egos also care about privacy in the same way. Those of us blogging our lives and sharing photos on Facebook… are we the ones who would care about these filters? Presumably the buyers of these things are businesspeople who are working on company spreadsheets or something. Or, as you suggest, wannabes who wish they were doing something others might care to spy on.
What kind of consulting is it?
From the looks of the website, looks like relationship consulting within the internals of an organization. But what is it actually called?
To the best of my knowledge, Common Impact’s technical consulting involves a strategic analysis of the nonprofit’s needs, then matching in-kind resources from the private sector (a/k/a volunteers) to meet those needs. So I don’t think CI does direct implementation. (My previous organization had applied for assistance from CI).
CI also recently merged with another organization that provides marketing help, but I’m not really familiar with that side at all.
I’d like Kinesis to develop a portable ADVANTAGE keyboard – the one with the ‘wells’ for your hands – that can be used with a laptop more easily thatn carrying around the big keyboard.
Any possibility of developing this?
There is definetly a housing bubble, also the foreclosure market is boomning, as reported by http://www.foreclosureconnections.com/
Hey, nice review. It assisted in purchasing my own. Actually, what really sealed the deal is that Kinesis is just a 30 minute or so drive away, so I got to try it and their other keyboards there before. I’m actually typing on my own now
Apparently the reason for the 20 inch costing $40 more is that they have to do that custom, by hand, I think.
I agree with KC, though, it’d be cool to buy half keyboards without the interconnect. Would be good for the chair-mount hacks.
I’m quite glad that it’s not wireless, though – batteries in input devices just suck.
What’s the Kinesis office like — they don’t actually manufacture there, do they? As for the 20″ connection I guess I meant that they should make that the standard so it won’t cost $40 more.
From my communication with them, they indicate that wireless would jack up the price another $100… so probably not worth it until they can mass manufacture.
Two separate USB cords, that however is a very good idea!
Their office is pretty nice, though not very large – one section of a building shared with many others. They definitely don’t manufacture there
All of their computers had the contoured keyboards, so they definitely eat their own dogfood. Their ’showroom’ is pretty good – has most of the products and such. I was able to try the contoured keyboard, which was pretty interesting. I got the idea that the freestyle is considered to be somewhat of a compromise between normal design and ergonomic design, whereas the contoured is the ‘real deal’. To a regular keyboard the freestyle is far superior though, and at a decent price. I like the feel of the board – it’s pretty responsive.
Yeah, a longer connection standard would be nice. 20″ would be pretty long, though, and for normal use would probably get in the way. Two connectors is probably the way to go. I wonder how well all the operating systems would do with multiple keyboards. One thing that’s very nice about the Freestyle and probably the other kinesis keyboards is that they are driverless, with the specific intent of cross-platform compatibility. I was amazed when all the hotkeys worked in linux (though I’ll probably rebind them to other tasks
)
Hi, Gene:
Would you mind sending me a current e-mail address for Rachel? I tried to send a message to her Harvard account, and it was bounced back to me. I’m going to be in Boston next week for a CLE, and I would love to see you guys if you’re available. My e-mail address is:
jgrover@maynardcooper.com
Thanks!
Jessica
Gene — This sounds like a complete nightmare. Look forward to seeing you when you finally arrive!
Sounds like a long lesson in the discipline of Aceptance!
My secret to long flights: two of those inflatable U-shaped neck pillows they sell for $5 at most airports. One (about half inflated is for the lumbar/lower) back), the other fully inflated to prevent bobble-necking while sleeping the flight away.
From here, the trip can only get better. Looking forward to hearing about State of Play.
RWM
Glad to hear you made it safely. It makes my weekly flight misadventures seem downright delightful. Take care.
I am a bit concerned about the key quality since this keyboard seems to use a membrane switch. If you have time, can you please help me by performing an experiment? I would like to know when a key is registered during the key press. Is it at the bottom? Or is it somewhere in the middle?
Thanks in advance!
Maverick, it’s hard to tell where the keypress is registered, as the keys are difficult to partially depress. However, it does seem that the key registers before it “hits bottom,” although very close to it.
I don’t think this is responsive to your question, but the keys feel very high-quality to my hands, and I’m used to the famous IBM “clicky-keys” board.
Hey dude, nice way for surviving the strip. Total mileage for today was ~5, in about 45 minutes. Hmmm…not bad really… But what about going to a spa?
Great Point! Your thoughts on forgiveness are the most promising thoughts I have heard in a long time on the Irag war. We get nowhere pointing fingers and finding fault.
To Maverick: the key feel is wonderful. I had a GoldTouch for about 2 days, and it kept missing certain keys, such as the ‘y’. The Freestyle has no such problems.
To Alexandre: try the Contour RollerMouse Pro. It sits where a wrist rest would, and I use it with my thumbs without moving my hands at all, no problems.
To Gene: Great review, and I love the doorstops. I ordered mine with the 20″ cable & VIP kit. However, I can’t use the VIP kit, since the VIP kit requires the handrests to be in place, and the RollerMouse is right under my keyboard.
For future product, maybe a usb cord per half, and a usb hub built-in? Connect PC-Left-Right-Mouse, maybe daisy-chain in a 3rd-party keypad?
Cheers,
-Jim
have you ever considered that red and rover seemed to parallel calvin & hobbes, albeit with more schmaltz? it seemed like an ill-timed, feeble attempt to fill in a gap that was left when calvin & hobbes was discontinued. what it lacked in flair and originality, it tried to make up in cheap jabs to people’s sentiments, which apparently it couldn’t do very well even despite the growing trend of sensationalism. i second the globe’s decision.
‘Tis a most sad thing that R&R is back on the Globe comics page due to reader unrest. (Probably, like, 10 letters to the editor).
Until Mallard covered Ed Kennedy’s opposition to the windmills, this Bush despising blue state liberal never would have believed he would agree with the duck. I still don’t quite agree : Mallard has been too easy on the SOB. I live 3 miles too far south for my opinion of TK to matter, any more than does my opinion of Trent “Ole Strom sure would’ve kep’ them niggers in their place” Lot.
Larry Bulgier
haha Wow, I was in Vegas just a month ago and was talking with a friend about how fun it could be to go for an early morning jog down the strip. Fun to hear the results of one such run!
It’s always best to get a minimum of 2-3 references before agreeing to anything for that amount of money. Oh well, live and learn…
hi…
Nathan here.Nice attempt for runners.Keep it on.
I am so sick of hearing the media’s coverage of the horse race, rather than learning more about the horse.
Eunice
It may take more than the opinion of one journalist to change the way campaigns are covered. But at least it is a start.
This made Tobey think of this article, which considers storytelling as a crucial part of family court in particular…
http://www.slate.com/id/2177971/pagenum/all/#page_start
“There is pretty much nothing a family court can give the Darren Macks and the Mazoltuv Borukhovas that would satisfy them. But that makes it all the more vital that they at least have the opportunity to tell their stories…”
We actually had to find a dessert yesterday on Christmas day, and found a Turkish place that was open (for baklava(sp?)). And we passed a falafel place that was open. I wonder whether kosher restaurants are open on Christmas? If so, why not eat there, if you have any nearby? Of course, that’s not the tradition, which may be reason enough.
We came very close to having Chinese yesterday ourselves. But instead we had leftovers — the big dinner in Rachel’s family tradition is actually Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day.
Anyway, as you found, the competition is getting fiercer, and I think the Chinese restaurants had better get their PR together to keep this market!
Also: I asked Scott about my question (why not eat at a kosher deli, etc.), he says many reform Jewish families look down on kosher food as inferior (an extension of larger alienation between strictly observant Jewish practices and more secular, reform culture).
On the flip side, my understanding is that many Orthodox Jews (contrary to what the woman in North Carolina surmised) try to behave as if December 24/25 is the same as any other day of the year… a different way to “resist” the dominant culture, I guess. So eating out would acknowledge the significance of the date.
(Haven’t confirmed this as a general practice, er, non-practice, tho)
So far I had an impression that going for an early morning jog down the Vegas Strip is sure fun. Thanks for bringing a change in this.
At least your mileage was ~5, in about 45 minutes. I could not have covered even 1 under the above mentioned strip conditions in Vegas.
That’s something my own civ pro professor emphasized heavily — the need to be heard. As the article and the comments suggest, though, listening is a difficult skill that’s hardly intuitive for most people.
Would better listening skills cut down on the number of fathers (and yes it’s mostly fathers) who end up raving mad/angry after losing custody of a child (see the entire fathers’ rights movement)?
Dear Gene Koo,
Your last question is worth while a whole article. We hade the same discussion recently in class with same findings
But I do think it has to do with cultural differences when you look to a country like mine. Just like the language of law is open for those influences.
Many thanks,
GL
http://geld-lenen.welij.nl
The Netherlands
This post is brilliant, and spot on. I particularly like the reference to “fetishized Civil War re-enactments” …
One of the difficult things about these leaders who are reluctant to release the power is that the conversation is too often about, or cast in the perspective of, what happened 30-40 years ago. I might think about their claim to continued leadership differently if they were touting what they did in the 90s or early 00s; or if they were talking about what has changed since the 60s and 70s and adapting their rhetoric to the generations that are coming up right now. However, it seems that the Boomers are planning to rest indefinitely on the laurels of what happened decades ago, and to jealously guard their right to the power – as well as the wealth – they’ve accumulated since then.
Perhaps the most bizarre accusation Boomers have leveled at “youth” is that we’re not out there protesting the war on the streets. Not only is that kind of protest less effective today than during Vietnam because of better counter-measures, but, well, what the heck??? You’re the ones who control the levers of power: why can’t you use that power to get what you want? Or is the Boomer generation a lot less noble than they’d like us to think?
it will be great to see photos
i read ur book and i lived on treatment with my aunt in the basement with roxanne i love the book and i wish so much things would have turned out diffrently i also meet i will say the characters name ceaser his daughter is big and beautiful she looks just like her dad
Washington is almost completely vote by mail these days. Oregon too! Tricia says it takes a bit of the excitement out of election night, but canvasing door-to-door is a whole lot more worth-while.
“oh, you haven’t ballot yet? Who are you voting for? Let me help you fill it out and here’s a stamp.”
Wow, that’s pretty awesome. Kind of the opposite of the voting machine problem. I suppose it also lets people make their decision in somewhat more of a rational frame of mind.
I hate going to the store and not being able to look things up on the Web to see if they’re any good. I wonder if voters feel the same way about candidates.
“One of the worst things for this country is Bill Clinton rumbling around the White House with nothing to do.” – per Mitt in this evening’s Republican debate.
Sounds like a great reason to support Obama!
I can’t remember who I was reading–Mickey Kaus?–said something I think is right: if Hillary prevails as the nominee, and in doing so have destroyed the first viable African American presidential candidate in history, it will be a legacy the Dem. party will never escape and (I’d add) a poison that will sink into the party. I’ve said before something not popular where we live to say, that the Dem. party very methodically practices manipulation of the African American population to ensure their votes but compel a continued victimization and demoralization–this may end up being the ultimate example.
dude, i did limoliner once. GREAT service. internet connection was weak so i used my own EVDO card. cool service overall, but still victim to unpredictable road traffic on NYC’s bridges and tunnels. amtrak will always have buses beat in this regard
I’m having the same issue that you are with my keyboard and computer. At startup, the keyboard is not recongnized when plugged directly in the computer. What was your solution??? Thanks!
MP: The reality is that any coalition of loosely-aligned groups needs to hold that group together through various means, whether you’re talking about American Democrats/Republicans or parties in other nations. (Though Israeli politics is particularly unstable because its system gives few levers for holding those coalitions together). On the other side of the aisle, evangelical Christians have been treated as dependable foot soldiers in much the same way. That’s why, every once in a while, a spirited battle for that constituency — whether intramural or in the final election — is critical for democratic accountability to that particular constituency. (This is sort of a point I made in my senior thesis).
At some point, the coalition falls apart when the only glue holding it together is just meeting each group’s interest, and they’re not willing to compromise to meet a common goal. This seems to be happening right now in the Republican party as Christians begin to realize that financial conservatives have been playing them for fools. (The way Rush attacks Huckabee is far worse than what Bill is doing to Barack).
Catherine5: What operating system are you using? This should automatically work for Windows XP, Vista and Mac. If that’s what you’ve got, then contact tech support — they were able to ship out a replacement that worked for me. (My problem was that the keyboard kind of died after the computer slept or hibernated — not sure if that’s your issue from your description).
now that I’m hooked up with EVDO, I’ve got that covered too. So prolly back to Fung Wah for me!
Haha, sweet, go Obama.
-Daniel
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/seocrimson
If you want unreliable transportation…feel free to take the risk. I was scheduled for 6:15pm bus back on Monday and there was no communication from limoliner that the bus was not running at the time. The only reason why I found out that there was no 6:15pm bus was during my conversation with an attendant on duty on Sunday who told me that 6:15pm on Monday was no longer running and for me to check with the office Monday morning. By the way- this is my 3rd time taking the limoliner and the attendants on the bus are always very nice and friendly so at least i give them credit.
When I called the office in the morning, customer service had no real helpful solutions for me but to take an earlier bus, get a refund or take the next day service at 11:00am. I then requested to speak to the manager and the manager suggested that I take the train home….
Needless to say, I had to rush through my afternoon meetings to take the earlier bus (to return back to NY again at a later time because I could not finish everything in time). It turns out-Gary Messina who is the VP of sales called me to let me know that limoliner forgot to call people about cancellation due to superbowl game distraction (”which is shitty” quote on quote by Gary)and informed me that there was a bunch of people waiting for the bus on Monday night at 6:15pm in NY. I am rather lucky that I was able to find out about the cancellation on my own and make it home…I could have been one of the people standing in the rain waiting for the 6:15pm bus to arrive…
What did the management team suggest as their excellent level of service? 25% off the trip…woohoo~ no consideration for cancellation of my afternoon meetings and causing me inconvenience of rushing through work and feeling stressed that I may not make it home that day. I should have taken acela for the same price and less stress! I don’t recommend limoliner for business travel at all. Now, i have to go back to NY for follow up meeting and that’s a waste of another full day for me because of limoliner’s mistake! I guess that’s the price i have to pay for being stupid enough to rely on limoliner’s management team.
Wow, thanks for sharing that experience… really shitty, to quote Mr. Messina. (Passive aggressive Giants-Patriots tension?). In your shoes I would have taken the refund and the train home, I guess.
In all fairness, Amtrak has also failed to deliver in terms of timeliness enough that I don’t count on them either. The truth is that for reliability, nothing beats Fung Wah in my experience. But it’s definitely a hell of a lot less comfortable.
I really agree, especially about how people like more of Obama the more they see of him… not sure if that’s really true about the other candidates.
I don’t know about the men’s side of things, but I can report that Petites are made for taller people than they used to be.
All these people want to think of themselves as little and cute AND THEY’RE TAKING MY CLOTHES!!!!
I used to be able to just buy Petite pants and be able to wear them. Now hemming is frequently required.
Dockers, in particular, used to be very reliable for me. Then instead of just having a “petite” length they went to “petite short, petite medium, petite long.” The “petite short” are the same as the old “petite” AND THEY’RE VERY HARD TO FIND!
A pox on all their (designers’) houses!
I just read your reply to this – what a good point!
Hillary is about the most non-feminist figure I can think of. She keeps hanging on the coat tails of her former president husband, touting the “successess” of his presidency as her own. Now he has been doing some campaigning for her with lack-luster results. We’ll all be better off with her and her husband’s brand of politicing sail off into the sunset. It’s time for a new way of doing things, as in the grassroots campaign of Obama, putting little reliance on PAC’s. PAC’s are the major culprit of the present lack of activity in Washington today. One special interest is pitted against the other. Decisions being made by who can buy more influence than the other.
It doesn’t matter if its a Bush or a Clinton taking special interest money, the result is the corruption seen in Washington. It makes the public disinterested in the political process; what difference can my vote make when it’s all about the power money buys.
i support you coz only you native american raning as prisdent first time happend good luck and goodbless you i always pray you
References are the name of game….blind trust never works.Always ask ,ask ask……
Yes, you are right their votes will matter. Thank you all for supporting Barack. He is the first democrat that I have voted for. I have also volunteered for his campaign and have loved every minute of it.
Go Vermont!
Hope abides in faith, faith in that which is larger and greater than us. In He who is greater than all our fears and weaknesses. In He who created us. In He who walked in our shoes and knows are emotions and weakness and loves us still and died and was raised for us in our weakness.
I think this is the precise moment where the mass of people who have been following this campaign, and active on the margins, start tuning out–from a storytelling point of view, there are simply too many narratives that got stalled and complicated and it’s one thing to have three acts (the structure of, say, a movie) or five acts (a play or a novel), but ten acts and it just becomes a mess, or a soap opera
Get a life>>> When you comment on something at least get your decades correct. It takes place in the late 60’s or 70’s probably before you were even thought of. If you read the comics strip you would know that he has a crush on Marcia Brady. What comic did it replace? You probably would shoot down Peanuts also. I like this comic and I’m glad that the Washington Post prints it along with other good comics like The Boondocks. You probably have more things to whine about in Boston than one comic strip. Go back to your coffee shop and brood awhile.
I have this keyboard. Once you switch to it, there’s no going back. The joined cable is not a problem at all and doesn’t get in the way. Mine works 100% and is detected easily. The mouse being further away is also not a problem for me.
That being said, I just can’t get used to the non IBM standard layout. 20 years of using keyboards, it’s hard to adjust to having Internet keys on the left side, so the TAB, CAPS, etc, aren’t the last keys on that side. I’m also hitting the Home key sometimes, instead of Backspace; since they are side by side. So for this reason I have ordered the ErgoFlex, which I haven’t tried as of posting this.
The Kinesis is a nicely built keyboard and I think Kinesis is a better company, so I’ll still be recommending the Freestyle.
M
Senator Obama is a miracle, he has come to act as an example. There is no doubt that many head are supporting his endeavours. I humbly support Barack Obama’s candidature 08. Obama will succeed with no doubt.
Gud luck to him
Is it weird that this blog entry is now the number one result for that phrase? Yes, yes it is.
I’m curious about the rudeness by the HC folks. What were they saying?
Can I get one of those O’Bama signs? I’m generally not a fan of St. Patrick’s Day, but I’ll gladly hang that in my window.
me too can I get those O’bamas signs. I want them and am a really fan of St Parrick.
Thanks
Just to be clear, he actually coined the phrase a while back. I bought a Dinosaur comics t-shirt with the phrase last December.
http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=QW-FAILURE&Category_Code=QW
MP: It was less about what they said than how they said it — often very aggressive and in-your-face. I’m sure that Obama supporters have been rude, too, especially on blogs, though as we all know blog behavior can be quite different than face-to-face behavior. I happen to find it unfortunate — and ineffective. (I have a lot more success, when talking with “undecideds,” to talk about my support for Hillary when she ran for NY Senate in 2000 — I was and am a big fan).
Brandy and Harry: I’m afraid I gave away my spare sign already! I’m sure the PA HQ will have plenty as the season has passed. It’s a good excuse to go down there and volunteer
Thank you. I wish that CNN, FOX MSNBC and so many other media outlets would post this thought provoking work on their sites. It is too important to not be read by many.
Again, Thank you
Deanna
A very thoughtful assessment of Senator Obama’s speech outlining his spiritual beliefs. As a recovering alcoholic and drug addict for 33 years (yes, I still go to meetings) I can identify with the spiritual process of having “insight into” as well as “grace” regarding imperfection; recognizing it in myself and others, always telling us we are not God.
Wonderful analysis of Obama’s approach to salvation – his humility is a refreshing change from the leadership we suffer today.
Thank you.
How do you come to the statement that Obama is working out salvation through the process of perfecting the American race experience? I did not hear that in his Tuesday race speech, as excellent as it was. Working toward perfecting the American experience is a concept separate from the work of Salvation through Christ. Christ does the work of Salvation our response is how we love each other. I think Obama gave us a very clear idea of how we are to proceed with reconciling race relations. Messianic he is not but a Christian, living his faith in the Messiah, just as we have faith in the same Messiah. We need to keep him in our prayers for him to continue to draw strength in Christ, leaning not on his own understanding.
As wonderful a leader as he appears to becoming, we need to keep in mind that no one individual, no matter how great a leader, is human needing the same grace & forgiveness for our imperfections from the one whose Resurrection and complete perfection we celebrate this Easter.
I love this analysis.
Thank you so much.
You have uplifted my spirits today.
I agree this needs to be spread far and wide.
This is a post that Christians can understand.
This is truly the most important blog I have read on this topic and I have read at least 50 or more over the past week.
You have said in words, more eloquently than I, what I have been thinking since reading Obama’s speech a few days ago. Thank you.
Bravo.
A cogent and concise essay.
It’s simplified a very complicated set of issues without being trite.
Process-orientation v. results-orientation.
I fall squarely in the first category: the best we can do is try to perfect ourselves and in the process inspire others to do the same.
I personally find the Methodist model as you’ve articulated it to be idolatrous (how can we be so certain of God’s plan?) and hubristic (presuming we know that plan, how can we execute it without at the same time unleashing a pandora’s box of unintended consequences?).
Not to say we should be paralyzed by doubt and timidity, of course, but it’s important to exercise discretion and above all, to admit we got it wrong and be prepared to rectify the situation.
God help us all.
All that I have read here seems to be at the base, a focus upon the activity of the person to generate some sort of “righteousness” in the works accomplished by that person to add to or suppliment the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ as an intergrel part of the Eternal Salvation of of the individual. Am I mistaken in seeing this as an issue or if not, can someone help me understand what this “perfectionism” is all about?
Obama race-baited the Irish and the Polish in his pre Super Tuesday speech (which you can get at the LA Times website). In speaking to Latinos, he said’ what about the Irish and the Polish’.
He is a divisive figure and any Irish person who votes for him, hasn’t done their homework!
ooooh… “What about the Irish and the Polish” that’s divisive stuff, man, you’re right, he’s clearly a racist and it’s all over
I always wondered whether the fetish of home ownership was an American invention. I haven’t witnessed it in visits to other countries, which of course doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere. If it does exist elsewhere, to what extent did American culture influence its emergence?
I suspect in many other parts of the world, families stay much more intact over many generations, and labor mobility is lower, so home ownership might be a non-question. Dunno.
Americans’ unique attitude towards homes, though, is as a consumer item rather than an investment (regardless of the language used). Homes make for pretty lousy investments except for the sheer fact that, until sub-primes came along, your mortgage payments function as a forced savings mechanism. But turn them into consumer items and suddenly even that advantage disappears.
It struck me how in Ohio, 20 percent of Democratic primary voters said that race was a major factor in their decision, and three-quarters of them voted for Clinton. This is more or less overtly racist. That 3/4 of the 20 percent voted for Clinton because of race means there’s very little chance that they did this out of “white pride,” which would be presumably absurd even for a hardened racist to consider since the national political class is almost exclusively white–they voted for her because they wouldn’t vote for the “black guy.” AND they admitted it, whether or not they were realizing they were admitting it (presumably these were two separate questions… was race a major factor? and who did you vote for?–that someone being polled may or may not have connected). Yes, the 1/4 of the 20 percent voted for Obama because of race, but we acknowledge and accept black pride and black solidarity (and other non-majority pride) (…maybe it should be questioned, but that’s a different topic).
If I were Clinton, I would have stood up when I heard these numbers and said “if you voted for me because my opponent is white or if you plan to vote for me because of that, I don’t want your vote. I’d rather lose than win that way.” How could you not?
Instead, I can only think she counted on this, in Ohio and now in PA.
While I don’t doubt that many voters are themselves racially motivated, I’d suggest that some portion of the 20% were second-guessing other voters’ racism — that is, because they think that a black man has no electoral chance with the population-at-large, race is an important factor. It’s very similar to how racial segregation perpetuates itself in American neighborhoods even though most individual homeowners may harbor little racial animosity. Essentially, a collective action problem.
As an Obama supporter, I’d also want to hear Obama do the flip of what you suggested Clinton do: to decry misogyny in the electorate as well.
I hadn’t thought of that before, it’s interesting, but I think probably ascribing too sophisticated an interpretation. If voters are asked by exit pollsters, “did race play a major factor in your decision?” I just don’t think anyone would think “yes it was, I voted for HRC because I think other people would not vote in the general election for BO because of his race.” I think that many people are racially motivated in some places in the country, although I’m not sure how they would describe it themselves. As for misognyny, I just haven’t seen polls that suggest people have voted against HRC because she’s a woman, although I’m sure it happens and I agree if there’s any concrete sign of it BO should denounce it.
I came across your post on HuffPo. Will link to this on the http://www.AsianAmericansforObama.com site. I read the NYT Magazine piece on Levittown this weekend.
Haven’t started making calls to Pennsylvania yet, but it is encouraging that that’s the first call you’ve had like that. In my experience, I haven’t had too many people in prior states bring up Obama’s race. But I have had people shut me down right away–and it’s possible race was a factor in their resistance.
I agree it would be great for Senator Obama to denounce misogynistic and sexist comments–as well as anti-Muslim rhetoric out there.
Really check out the anti-obama coalition by Levittown “Archie Bunkers” – it is more dangerous that you’ve discovered and disrupts democracy. McCain stole Obama’s theme with his “join the team” ads but is his campaign is looking for KKK, green beret operatives and wackos?
They take their orders from Limbaugh/Rove and i.e. create mass chaos through infiltration, ire between Democrats on the ground, undermine vote machines and voting for hillary for increased tension; they hook up on Y/A board with insidious KKK undercover code atatements about advancing threats — right under the noses of innocent posters who don’t know what’s going on.
These “Operation Chaos-ers” are the people that I used to say need to be approached and cultivated because they feel disenfranchised, but they are so fierce now, it may be too late. Keep everyone extra safe along the way and DON’T let THEM know you know; that would be a HUGE mistake because they would revamp which is what I told the campaign. Think carefully first.
Here are only two abbreviated posts:
Question: How is it going with operation chaos Have you signed
up.?
A: i’m in for the long haul !
A: I can’t the Deomocrats already vote here.
Q: Question to all the Vets out there, If you had to mark
Obama, would you hit him with?
Red Smoke
Yellow Smoke
Or Green Smoke.
A: Red Smoke
Q: Red smoke for pick up; yellow smoke to mark
position and green smoke to mark the landing zone.
A: So maybe red smoke so he will be picked up and
taken away never to be seen again.
Maybe you’ll make an exception for Greyhound’s new Boltbus? Starting next Thursday you’ll be able to travel between Boston and NYC for as little as $1 each way, and there is no convenience fee for printing a ticket, because there is no ticket — you just give the driver your confirmation number. Boltbus’ fares supposedly cap out at $25 each way but the most expensive ticket I’ve seen on the site is $15, and I didn’t see many of those — most trips are either $1, $7, $10 or sold out. They also have free wifi on the busses, and power at every seat. (no I don’t work for them, I’m just very excited about going to NYC for $2 round trip
It must be a new trend. Last week I went to a performance at a local coffee house/music hall. I elected to purchase my $20.00 ticket at the door. Them: “Actually, it’s $22.50″
Me: Ummmm…why?
Them: Surcharge
Me: Ummmm…for what?
Them: The cost of printing the tickets
For the record? I was not given a printed ticket. One of my friends who got there before me did receive a ticket. No, it wasn’t the standard ticketmaster ticket, it was a basically a ticket sized piece of paper printed out on regular paper. Perhaps they should see if they can get a better deal at WB Mason?
I hear you. I mean, fine, charge us the three bucks, but just add it into the cost of the ticket. It’s going to need to be printed regardless. I’m sure there’s an extra cost in any format we get our tickets. It’s the same thing with your phone bill. These extra weird charges just offend me. Add it into the overall cost… we’d never know!
Oh well, I still need to take Greyhound until the other bus companies are up and running. Amtrak is still just too expensive!
@ Trudy: Boltbus is partially a “loss leader” marketing scheme; given the high price of gas, there’s no way that’s a sustainable venture. I’ve learned that there’s no free ride: one way that the Lucky Star bus line charges only $15 is by partnering with other small businesses where it regularly makes its obligatory but unnecessary rest stops. It’s also a clever way to segment the market where those who are willing to pay more do so and those who aren’t jump through hoops (a lot like the extra clicks I had to go through to get to my $20, I mean $23, ticket). Still, I’d be interested with your experience with the process.
@ Melissa, I suspect there are laws that regulate this kind of bait-and-switch pricing. Perhaps a call to the Attorney General’s office will give some guidance? Hmmm….
Limerick Bank Rocking the USA with OBAMA Song
Limerick Band Hardy Drew and the Nancy boys have a major internet hit on their hands with .
Following their many appearances on the Podge and Rodge show last year the band have a you tube hit on their hands and have already received invites to perform the song at inauguration parties if Mr O’Bama is elected.
http://www.limerickleader.ie/news/Theres-noone-as-Irish-as.3993492.jp
We have released “theres no one as irish as barack o’bama”
Look at our Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eKZryEAzUg
Hardy Drew AND the Nancy Boys
http://www.hardydrew.com
Look at our coverage
http://www.theirishworld.com/article.asp?SubSection_Id=11&Article_Id=5116
http://www.barack-obama-now.com/blog/?p=165
http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irish-voice/intelligencer/Articles/Intelligencer230208.aspx
http://thelastofthefew.blogspot.com/2008/04/song-of-week-theres-no-one-as-irish-as.html
http://www.theworldwantsobama.org/2008_03_01_archive.html
O’leary, o’reilly, o’hare and o’hara
There’s no one as irish as barrack o’bama
You don’t believe me
I hear you say
But barracks as irish
As was jfk
His granddaddys daddy
Came from Moneygall
A small irish village
Well known to you all
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There’s no one as irish
As Barack O’Bama
He’s as irish as bacon
And cabbage and stew
He’s Hawaiian he’s Kenyan
American too
If he succeeds
And he has a chance
I’m sure our barrack
Will do riverdance
Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There’s no one as irish
As Barack O’Bama
Regards
Ger Corrigan
0035361330994
http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irish-voice/intelligencer/Articles/Intelligencer230208.aspx
read our Irish Voice Coverage in the USA
Look at our Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eKZryEAzUg
Hardy Drew AND the Nancy Boys
http://www.hardydrew.com
Available to perform this inspiring track live
Call
Donny at 0035361377503
00353872315870
We’re from old Ireland
Regards
Ger
A very good idea. You express the reasons very well. I also think of this passage when considering storing up riches -
26(C) Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.(D) Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his(E) span of life?[a]
Eunice, absolutely! Although I don’t think that people should purposefully be foolish about caring for themselves, either. You and I both have retirement accounts, and it would be irresponsible to us and our families not to. But it’s so easy for many of us take the idea of safety too far; pretty soon, acquisition for the sake of security becomes acquisition for the sake of comfort… and luxury… and so on…
“.. inspiring a nation to live differently…” ??? So, how long do you think it will take for Osama to get this country off of gas? His first 2 years? 3? Maybe 7 or 8 if he wins 2 terms? Right now we don’t need someone to teach us how to hug a tree. We need someone who will drill for domestic oil and build refineries. Replacing oil is at least 75 years away.
Tom Best is so incredibly wrong. Domestic drilling won’t help. At all.
Welcome back Gene.
Whoever is president will need to be pushed even further on energy than where they are now. Obama is in the best starting position, however. This gas tax holiday is a big test that McClinton has failed miserably.
Yeah, I’ve seen people jogging on the strip before. You’d have to start very early not only to beat the heat but the sea of walking pedestrians.
An alternative route would be to run along Koval st.
Transportation industries will face increased pressure from higher fuel costs and will need to pass that on. With a business operating in NYC, they will face higher costs of doing business than other areas around the country. I agree that a convenience fee is less palatable, a higher priced ticket.
Yes Baratunde I am agree with you. It won’t help any more. Secondly its true that Mcclinton has failed miserably.
I know that when I lived in Australia home ownership was not a goal of a lot of the people I met. They were more then happy to be renting a home. It is really weird to me the difference in attitudes of them and Americans. I believe it comes with the American dream, you want the nice cars, great vacations and of course the big house. I’m sure most aren’t like that, but who does not want a house?
A change of gear here, I’ve read an article of Michelle Obama in Time magazine in which she was in the cover page. She looked good and regal.
In that article, she mentioned that one of her agenda is to help minorities in their educational dreams:like getting in at Harvard School.My son is a junior at Brooklyn Tech.A very smart child, although,he was not lucky enough to have a good start in his freshman, little better in sophomore years because of once again,sometimes we do get hit of some ” STROKE OF BAD LUCK “if I may allow to say it. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer around those time,got layed off due to company downsizing and went totally broke. My son and I ended up in a family shelter. But my son and I never stop giving up the dream of one day he will go to Harvard for college.His grades are better. at least competitive enough and SAT score as well.I wonder if you may please try to have this message reach Ms. Obama (Future First Lady). I need her help urgently and most especially her advise for my son.Thank you and God bless.
Try to look here and may be you find what do you want:,
The Good usability Site
Super nice forum Two couples this and blogs.law.harvard.edu
I love it.
.
.
Try to look here and may be you find what do you want:,
But cookies are soooo good.
Cookies are EVIL!!!
Passenger beware! I just took a trip on the LimoLiner and had a very bad and very costly experience. When I boarded the bus, I took my wallet out of my zippered tote bag to retrieve my license for the attendant, put it away, then I settled in. My seat tray wasn’t working, so I asked the attendant if I could switch seats. She agreed, but told me I couldn’t move my tote bag (which contained my wallet) myself. She said only she could move my bag, which incidentally wasn’t that big, to the new seat because it is LimoLiner’s policy that a passenger can’t move a bag to another seat when the bus is in transit. This policy didn’t make any sense and the attendant was acting very odd, but I went along with her and moved to a different seat, then she brought my bag over a few minutes later. That was the only time I didn’t have my tote bag in my possession; in fact, I rested my feet on my bag throughout the whole trip. When I stepped off the bus to retrieve my keys, I noticed my wallet was missing. After I checked the contents of my tote bag in my car with no luck, I tried to return to the bus to look for my wallet but the bus was already leaving. The on-call manager (also the CEO) didn’t get back to me until the next afternoon. When he called me back after checking about my wallet, he said the attendant didn’t know anything about my wallet (What a surprise!) and they were not responsible. When I spoke with another LimoLiner attendant at their lot in Framingham, she told me that LimoLiner does not have a policy that a passenger can’t move their bag to a different seat — that that was ridiculous. I guess it was my fault for trusting that LimoLiner has honest employees.
Hm, not sure about this. Hillary’s behavior and strategy in the primaries was pretty atrocious. Here’s a counter perspective from Camille Paglia: “How Hillary Clinton, whose entire career has been tied to her husband’s, has become a feminist idol is beyond me. Everything is mere words and good intentions with her; concrete achievement is oddly irrelevant. There was something chillingly cult-like in the fanatical personal projection onto her of so many women publicly mourning her loss to Obama. It should mortify feminists that Hillary, for her own political purposes, so ruthlessly aroused irrational emotions that make women seem infantile or lunatic, unworthy of the vote.”
Wow, those are beautiful photos. He does pretty good work. I can’t wait to see more photos!
Don’t stop your subscription! The physical paper is so much more satisfying. You don’t get the ads online, and you don’t get many of the stories. I love knowing that my paper is waiting every morning in time for me to take it on the train to work. And nothing beats knowing it’s waiting on Saturday and Sunday. We should be encouraging newspapers, not contributing to their decline.
There is an article actually on the decline of the newspaper in Slate, about why newspapers were so important to social movement and why they’ve been replaced:
By sniffing the bits of social currency an acquaintance had withdrawn from the pages of his daily and was trying to cash—say, a quip about that picture of an egg frying on a city street the paper published; or a comment about a movie review or comic strip; or an opinion about local government based on a piece by a political columnist—the sniffer could learn reams about his social contact.
A recent Associated Press study, “A New Model of News” (PDF), speaks directly to the social currency concept. The news can “be used in a variety of interpersonal situations—to look smart, connect with friends and family and even move up the socio-economic ladder” and “maintain relationships.”
http://www.slate.com/id/2196485/
But wouldn’t television have already become a major source of social currency? Or maybe it has already and then facebook and the rest issued the final blow.
Finally, some recognition of Hillary as the non-feminist that she is. Her success is mostly related to being married to Bill. No wonder she stays that way.
Plastic. Lots and lots of Boston Globe plastic.!
oh ….
http://www.articlek.com/
Your analysis is very relevant.
I just wanted to notice that in the script of the speech it is written : “the fact is that the comments that have been made in the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflects the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really work through — a part of our union that we have yet to perfect”.
But Obama (15:37) makes a lapsus. He says : “(..) a part of our union that we have yet to make perfect”.
See the difference ?
So it may not so obvious, as it sounds, to refer to christian perfection, sometimes
That was just a philosophical remark.
Pascal – Philosopher
Working on a PhD “S. Cavell : politics of perfectionism”
Jesus was a Community Organizer
Pontius Pilate was a Governor
This is a pickle. Right now, there are no good places for comic strips to be published and still make money. For environmental reasons, drop the subscription, then donate directly to the comic strip authors.
Who needs progressive taxation? How about eliminating the trillion dollar annual subsidy for those who have money? When the government borrows money it is subsidizing those who have money to lend. When we have pay as you go Social Security, we have a “pay not to plant” program for saving.
We should be somehow point out that the experience issue has mostly been conceeded by McCain. If he feels Palin is a experienced enough to be VP, then it can be argued that Obama is equally or more qualified to be president. Sounds to me like the arguement is over.
What I don’t understand is women going from supporting Hillary to supporting Sarah. It seems this is because they are both women. They certainly don’t have similar perspectives on the issues.
McCain seems to be talking out of both sides of his mouth. Those who speak for him have a very conservative more guns, more Iraq, etc. sound. Then Mc Cain comes along and talks about how he can bring people togther. His convention made him look like he didn’t have the same tone as his party.
Regarding the opening quote: most organics are already out of the market for people, especially with the rising price of everything else.
Hah, I agree with the first commentator, what a waste.
Wow, vintage. I remember when Calvin & Hobbes use to be so popular (back when I was in middle school), and it has still remained strong to this very day (almost the end of 2008)!
It ended too soon, as all great things do.
First thing is to remember that if you aren’t prepared to walk away from the negotiation you are not negotiating, and Paulson should know this.
The house is surely not just going to take what Paulson says and “hope for the best”. For the House to successfully negotiate they need to have a “walk away” position… and they did and that’s exactly why there was no agreement made.
The Republican party has lost trust in general with Democrats, the House and a growing number of Americans. I’m very hopeful that Obama & Biden will take the presidency and start to rebuild our struggling economy, standing in the world and the country in general.
Pouring $700 Billion into the bailout is insanity in my opinion. That’s enough money to bring water to every city, state and village in the world, it’s enough money to feed and clothe every homeless person on the planet… I’m not saying that a bail out shouldn’t happen at all I’m just saying that 700 Billion seems like a huge over-spend.
Well, she does have a point that there can be no reason other than racism for liberal whites to very much want to be represented by someone who does not continually keep racking up major campaign violations and in fact has spent time incarcerated.
Oh wait … no, scratch that. I can think of a couple reasons.
I am not unsympathetic to Sen. Wilkerson; this article presents several ways of viewing her history of ethical issues as being, quite possible, a product of being heavily scrutinized. This is not my district and therefore it’s not my place to judge who is more or less qualified to represent it.
But the way the old-time elites are playing up the racial issues has my suspicions raised. Especially a lot of the conspiracy-leaning arguments that Chang-Diaz is some kind of Manchurian candidate for more sinister forces.
Gene,
I am so glad you shared such a healthy perspective. I do live in the district, I am Latina and I know both Lydia and both candidates personally. Sonia Chang-Diaz ran a clean and vibrant, grassroots campaign and won, why is it so hard for folks to grasp. She did not use negative tactics but rather focused on her voter contact.
In addition, culture identity is an issue each individual deals with on a personal basis but not one that should scrutinized by others. Sonia Chang-Diaz has been very open about her ethnic background and has not never claimed to be someone she is not. It is offensive, to me as a young voter, to see my elders engage in this type of divisive behavior. My hope is that we can move forward in progress and give new leaders an opportunity to be a part of the political process.
This is really fascinating and moving fast. Everything will be different in organizing in a year.
You go Anderkoo!
I agree. I do not feel race should be paraded as an issue. It is useful in political campaigns to divide and conquer. Some of us see through it but all of us are affected by it nontheless. Wilkerson served he community well, she has had some personal problems, but she does a fantastic job representing her constituants. I think its impressive to see someone function well despite personal problems. This is not a weakness, this is a strength. My only hope is that people, as many of you have on this board, take a balanced approach to evaluation of her competence and not be swayed by unvetted lies and hatred. To deny however, that there may be sinister forces behind the attacks is to stick your head in the sand. Either way, let her accomplishments speak for themselves. Don’t knock her for struggling personally. Anyone at any point may encounter those. Search for yourself. Most of the negative attacks are against Wilkerson not Diaz. The most anyone has said is that Diaz is white. When in American History is it an insult to be considered white? To her supporters point, the candidate should be a candidate for all and not just the non-whites. I believe Wilkerson has been the candidate for all and will continue to be if elected.
“black guy” : I’m not in a position to evaluate either Wilkerson’s nor Chang-Diaz’s qualifications, and even if I were, this is not my district and therefore not my place to say much about either. What bothers me is both the racialization of this contest as well as the reflexive moves some advocates have made to speak “on behalf” of a group based on that group’s race.
I take issue with what appears to be some sort of conspiracy theory brewing around Chang-Diaz and the implication that she’s somehow a “front” for “outside forces” in the district. This is strongly implied by Lydia Lowe, it’s been almost explicitly argued by other Wilkerson supporters, and I’ve read the sentiment in many blogs and discussion groups. These attacks that imply that sinister, unknown, outside forces are “behind” the Chang-Diaz race are disturbingly similar to the underhanded attacks being made on Barack Obama by the McCain campaign. “Who is Barack Obama?” McCain asks, stirring up white supremacist responses. I hope the same dynamic is not playing out in Boston right now.
An economist is lying when he blames “greed”
“I’m sure McCain can go pick up a few more cheap telemarketers to go do all the hard work.”
I like how as the day progressed, more people showed up to watch the spectacle. Sadly, I was out of town when all of this happened… looked like beautiful weather for a block party!
Beautiful pictures…great job
Very interesting breakdown of the hierarchy, especially the diversity between the tiers.
Michael
Check out Tech for Obama: http://www.techforobama.com/
I don’t think I will be voting for Obama after seeing this site: obamaswords . blogspot . com
[ gene's note: OBVIOUS Astroturf site -- nice try, spammer! ]
I was going to point out how difficult Congress makes themselves to track since their site lacks RSS and never has information far enough in advance to really count on your snail mail reaching them in time, but a quick Google found htttp://congress.org where they *do* have that sort of information all nicely compiled. Bonus: you can get lists of what Congress is debating and how your Congress-folks and Senators voted sent to your email.
So I guess someone before me noticed how much Congress was trying to fly under the radar and avoid transparency and decided to make it easy for the public to reach. Now we just need to find a way to get that information out to the less tech-savvy.
interesting blog !
nice article
It was great working side by side with other volunteers who feel passionate about the cause. For first time I experienced the feeling of being part of Obama.
Gowhara zinll Abedin
Thank you
That’s all we need in the white house. The Presidential Pitt Bull.
Wow, what insight…
O_O
I too have been looking at this keyboard. I was looking at the Freestyle VIP and was thinking for using to some velcro or double adhesive and two bookends to create a vertical split keyboard. The cost for these things is about $10 compared to $199 for the Freestyle Ascent.
However, I discovered this 8″ cord limitation also. The long one costs $40 more for about 12″ more wire. I agree that this is too much money. I’m not going to attempt to cut and add more wire myself.
Anyways, I’ve decided to hold off on this purchase because of this.
REMEMBER WORLD WAR 2? who did America & the World turn to in that time when Japan & Germany were murdering millions of people in the world – The WORLD turned to the Americans for help and how did America help win the war against Japan – I’ll tell you who it was, The Big 3 Auto Companies that’s who- FORD – GM & CHRYSLER – they rebuilt and retooled all their factories and plants so that they could build Tanks – and Jeeps and Trucks and Troop Carriers -Boat Guns and Ship Artillery Cannons – and many types of Weapons and other Equipment – Do you think that when World War 3 comes that Japan and other companies will retool their factories to help America –
NO THEY WILL NOT.
After 9/11 in New York, Who was it that gave 10 million dollars each? There was only 3 companies that gave that much and guess what else they gave? They gave Fleets of Cars and Trucks / SUVs’ and Building Spaces – It was the Big 3 –FORD -GM & Chrysler that’s who it was – I’ll tell you who else gave, it was USA Harley Davidson Motorcycles they gave 1 million dollars and a fleet of new Motorcycles for N.Y. Police Department – and with all that giving during one of our nations darkest time- Honda & Toyota and all the other foreign car companies DID NOT GIVE ONE PENNY to the people of the United States of America for 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina. Ford- GM & Chrysler Did. The Big 3 helped Americans thru the bad times and tough times by giving, so we, America should show our support by helping them, by buying their products that in return supports OUR NATION and the AMERICAN PEOPLE who are Patriotic to this GREAT Nation.
Do real Patriotic Americans want to see our U.S. Companies that provides 4-5 million people with daily jobs IN ALL 52 States Fail? and lose their jobs & pensions and retirements – How would you like to have worked for 30 yrs or more busting your back on the assembly lines, and after 30 + yrs have the pains and damages of working so hard every day, Arms and Fingers going numb, and all your joints and legs and backs hurting and can’t sleep due to body pains – Then lose your home, lose your car and all your furniture and belongings? Does America really understand how hard these people work building these vehicles and parts – I really don’t think they understand, maybe the Southern States in the south that are non-union – Oh, and by the way the UAW new Contract states that new hired people only make $14 per hour for the Big 3 – $15 bucks less than the Japanese plants. Japanese workers make $30 per hour, they just have fewer benefits and less people that are retired in the United States – but 10 yrs from now they will be in the same situation as Ford, Gm & Chrysler with more retired workers. Then the playing field will become more even. Now Congress wants to take more from the UAW workers, U.S. Workers only make up 9% of the cost of the cars or trucks, IF, EVERY True American bought a FORD-GM-CHRYSLER vehicle then all the problems would be gone, and the world would be talking about Japans-Korea’s-& Taiwan car makers in trouble, not the BIG 3.
American BIG 3 Car Makers are building World Class Cars for the World, and The BIG 3 will prove it to the World by doing so, Are So-Called Americans- from States that have Foreign car plants so Anti-American that they would choose to let U.S. American jobs fail and go out of business and put around 4-5 million people out of work nation wide, what has become of True Patriotic Americans that support American jobs, by choosing a Car or a Truck or other American made U.S. products from the United States that in return helps the economy in all 52 states. Why have some of our leaders that we voted in
Turned against the American worker – What has happen to our once great leaders that America needs, where are they? We need Leaders that are for the workers – we need Leaders that will bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States of America.
America can not stand for this anymore, We the People of The Untied States of America must fight back against these foreign companies and start manufacturing our own products to sell to the world and provide better jobs and better wages for all of Americans, we must do this not only for ourselves, but we must do this for our children, and our grandchildren and their children for 100’s of years to comes, America must WAKE UP and open it’s eyes to what is happening to American manufacturing jobs, we must act now by supporting All American U.S. companies like FORD–GM & Chrysler.
Americans can pull together and we can be the Super Power of the world that the World knows us as, not all Americans can go to college, that’s just the way things go for many Americans. So, what’s wrong with making a living busting your back in a factory, or on a assembly line making parts or building cars, making a good wage with benefits to have a decent life, with a simple home and a simple life – that’s the American Dream – and WE, as Americans need to believe in that dream again by Buying American Cars and Trucks and other American made products that supports our country The United States of America – not JAPAN – not CHINA – or Mexico or other nations.
In Closing we have to do it for our Children, and our Grand Children and our pensions and their retirements and their pensions and theirs lives, WE must BELIEVE in America – We have to believe in ourselves again by acting on that Hope by buying American made Products.
IN GOD WE TRUST – Michael W. Rucker – UAW assembly line worker for 22 yrs 2009
I have one flash game with barack obama.
http://www.mancare.us/jocuri/jocuri/jocuri-barack-obama/
And now we hope in change?
Viagra or Levitra or maybe Cialis?
After seeing the replay of the “we Are One” concert, I was moved to find the lyrics to “The City of Blinding Lights”. I didn’t know of the song’s use at Obama rallies or its connection to NYC. I am moved by poetry, but not a poet. Thanks for sharing your insights. It meant all that much more.
But couldn’t you argue that the success of the will.i.am/Dylan video came in part because it reduced the core message down to the soundbite “Yes We Can?”
Maybe… though “Yes we can” is the chorus, and in the absence of the lyrics it would have been nothing more than a slogan; it would have lacked emotional punch. (E.g. contrast Deval Patrick’s “Together we can,” or even Obama’s use of “Yes we can” in his 2004 Senatorial race).
In the section excerpted by the song, Obama tells a new story of America (and largely a progressive story — “workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot…”). Once you have heard that story, “Yes we can” does capture the concept, but without hearing (and agreeing with) that story, the phrase is meaningless. I think this is what fueled so much of the cynicism about “empty rhetoric” — they heard only the slogan or disagreed with the story.
Of course, the ability to sum up the concept in a slogan is what gives that speech so much power, and why I think it’s far and away the best one he’s given. In that respect it’s atypical for Obama. I’m not saying that he SHOULDN’T have more catch phrases in his speeches when they serve his purpose, but when it comes to articulating difficult and complex issues like race relations, AVOIDING sound bites, especially now that he has the bully pulpit, plays to his strengths when alternative media exist for people who want to seek out the full story.
Stanley Fish contemplates Obama’s inauguration speech: http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/barack-obamas-prose-style/
I couldn’t put this book down! Very well written. I would LOVE to have seen photos. I hope they are all doing well.
I got hold of a Freestyle last week. The thing that I was most concerned about was the key feel, but I’m very pleased with it. The key action has a slight ‘click’ – more than most membrane keyboards, but not loud like the old IBM Model M buckling springs.
I got the V3 and VIP kits to give me some options. I think I may have to rig something up to lift the back of the keyboard up slightly- I’m used to a slight front-to-back angle.
Overall I’m very pleased- best and most flexible keyboard I’ve owned.
I dont blame you, I have cancelled all my paper subscriptions. RSS subscriptions are much easier, and better for the environment!
James Cape Town Accommodation provider
Nice thought provoking graphic… (i was googling around for mesh network images).
One of the fun things to do with network maps is to shift perspective on them. Networks don’t have an “up” or “down.” The key quesitons of the election is if the connected grassroots (mesh) created their own local teams (Obama had myspace and other social network pages before the campaign organized anything online) and the existance, energy and performance of the local teams (fundraising, volunteer turnout, visability, etc) then altered the stucture of the core tree network.
Was it really all the brilliance of the core team or did the network create and shape the campaign? did the activity of the mesh network dominate the strategy and action?
It would make sense. I think the Obama led team has done a great job with improving the websites that they have touched so far. I think the recovery.gov is a great resource.
I completely agree. Although let’s be honest – the new Obama websites have a long way to go in terms of functionality and even content.
I have to agree. A virtual library would be beneficial for everyone.
It.s nice to finally hear the President speak and not cringe like a soft tyranny.
[GK: This mechanical turk was trying to Google-bomb the phrase "Soft tyranny" using a link to the White House. Nice try, you SEO spam pigs]
i cant believe how much soft tyranny all this spending is
[GK: This mechanical turk was trying to Google-bomb the phrase "Soft tyranny" using a link to the White House. SEO spam pigs]
barack is a soft tyranny plain and simple
mechanical turk spammers are trying link the phrase “soft tyranny” to whitehouse.gov. You SEO scumbags.
I like the online town hall idea.. it is quite the interesting concept!
I read the book Random Family and though the book is basically real in the sense that many families have gone through the same issues, why is there no mention of BETRAYAL on the part of “JESSICA”, blaming one of her friends for stealing something (which in reality was Jessica who stole the item) which lead to an innocent person getting murdered……………..
I agree that Red and Rover seems like an atrocious copy of the retired strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Each day, when I read Red and Rover, I usually find that the comic is a cheap imitation of a better constructed Calvin and Hobbes comic. If you are familiar with both of these comics, I’m sure you will easily pick up the similarities- take a look for yourself. I believe that this is become a bigger issue, as each day Brian Basset rips off another one of Bill Watterson original ideas.
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