Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: "Don't Come Around Here No More." The original MTV music video can be seen here.
The Vapors: "Turning Japanese." I have, a number of times, bought albums on the strength of a single song and ended up liking most of the album. When, years later, I hear the artist or group described as a "one hit wonder," I'm surprised. The vapors are one such group; they deserved more popularity than they received from this single.
I have mixed feelings about this topic, many of them indescribable. I am sad, awed, frustrated, hopeful, optimistic, cynical, and many other emotional states, over the events and repercussions of that day of disaster, a startling eight years ago already. Rather than go on, I'll just link a few pieces that have moved me today.
The Big Picture, as always, rises to a momentous occasion with a photogallery from 9/11/01 to 9/11/09.
Sheril Kirshenbaum lets a single picture poignantly speak for her at The Intersection.
Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast asks a profoundly important question that I hadn't considered before: what should we be teaching students about 9/11? Given the differences in perspective in this country, and the fact that this year's high school seniors were just beginning fourth grade that year, this is a fascinating idea to ponder. It will be only a few years before we have young adults who were too young to remember the day.
And finally, BrianR at Clastic Detritus sharply reminded me that no matter how remote one was, and how set on a schedule, the immediacy of communications brought the whole country to a halt that day.
So whatever your own personal reactions to that or this day may be, I hope this is one issue over which we can set aside our differences, take a moment to reflect and offer our quiet wishes for the lost souls, our sympathy and condolences to their loved ones, and renew the feelings— universal in the aftermath— that we could and would work together to strengthen our country, and ensure that such an event might never happen again.
As many people have noted, it was a gross breach of house rules for Joe Wilson to direct his outburst at anyone, in the context of a Congressional meeting, will such a tone and vehemence. However, I hadn't seen this rule pointed out before:
To another political analyst, it's the nature of the accusation -- an elected official calling the president a liar -- that is not only a serious breach (accusations of lying are forbidden under House rules) but also extremely rare in politics.
Interesting. My first reaction was that this was sort of unreasonable in that sometimes lies need to be pointed out. Then I realized that there were alternatives that said the same thing without quite using the same words. For example:
The respected gentleman is clearly having difficulty distinguishing his dark fantasies from reality. He may wish to take a time out and reconsider his statement.
Facts can be difficult things, unless you choose to ignore them, as so many have in this debate.
I had been under the impression that the use of hallucinogens was strongly frowned upon on the House floor, but I appear to be mistaken.
I have little training in psychopathology, and it would be inappropriate for me to speculate on the roots of those previous remarks.
There are times when the revelation of the facts in all their rawness may cause one to pause and reconsider. This is not one of those times.
The International Space Station will be visible again from Corvallis tonight:In the screen capture above, ISS is the object's name, 08:59:03 PM is the time it will rise above the horizon (but not ground clutter like trees, buildings and hills), W is the direction in which it will cross the horizon, 09:01:09 is the time it will be highest and brightest (NOT, as I said to Tucker last night, the number of minutes it will be visible), 30 degrees is its maximum elevation in the sky, and -2.2 is its visual magnitude.
And the observers are not lying: it's very bright! Actually I wasn't sure that was what I was seeing, but after I came back in and checked SpaceWeather's satellite tracker, my guess was confirmed. Cool!
Sorry for the sort of fluffy posting today- by which I mean I haven't added much of substance to stuff I've mostly lifted from elsewhere. I'm feeling physically and emotionally crappy. This would have been a good day to simply sleep through.
But I did find a bit of good news. Britain has decided that it is appropriate to apologize for its treatment of Alan Turing, a gay mathematician who was crucial in breaking the German code system during WW II. While the circumstances were horrific, perhaps unforgivable, the sincere statement pleases me. It gives me hope that we, even governments, can learn.
Turing was a quite brilliant mathematician, most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that, without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. He truly was one of those individuals we can point to whose unique contribution helped to turn the tide of war. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of ‘gross indecency’ - in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence - and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison - was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He took his own life just two years later.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Obama's rival for the Oval Office last year, said passing health care reform would be "good for America," but cautioned that the president needs to reach out more to Republicans in order to reach such a compromise.
This has been the only real constant of the debate all year. President Obama showed his willingness to compromise by dropping single-payer as a possibility at the outset. He proceeded to signal possible concessions on a public option, a co-op plan, triggers, medical malpractice, reimbursement rates, eligibility rates. Last night, the president literally borrowed from the McCain/Palin platform in presenting new ideas.
And then there's the other side -- the one whining incessantly for weeks about killing reform and replacing it with a "bipartisan" approach. After six months of debate, can anyone name a single concession Republicans have been willing to make on reform? Literally, one?
Once they understand how it would work, most Americans say they want single payer... but that was off the table from the start. Now, the most sensible republican out there is "disappointed" Obama didn't take the public option off the table too. And McCain thinks the dems need to "reach out." Sure.
I say we take off, and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
It's pretty obvious I'm not going to find any relief from glum political news. Samurai Frog at Electronic Cerebrectomy found a cute, sweet video of Feist singing 1 2 3 4 (Counting to Four) that really cheered me up with its simple innocence and happiness. Time to hang up the computer and head home for the night, on a positive note for once.
is not possible in this country. When a national representative interrupts a president's speech with "You Liar!" there is something seriously wrong. Was there ever a case where a US senator or representative ever interrupted shrub with a similar interjection? I don't recall such an instance, though clearly we might have been better off if someone had called BS on his BS. I have not watched the speech, and I may not; I'll make up my mind as I read reports, and I'll certainly read the transcript when I find a copy. However, what is of interest to me is not so much what Obama said (I think the general outlines of that have been evident), but how he said it, and how various factions reacted. I've just seen evidence that at least one faction has decided to "just say no."
Very cool, startling gif of a trapdoor spider capturing a cricket from Ugly Overload. I also like the author's description of what this metaphorically represents.
Inspired by a post at SVPOW, background photo from here with a bit of photoshoppery... or maybe I should say Paint.nettery. Blooger's scaling has blurred the image a bit; click for slightly bigger, but much sharper.
Click the pic for bigger, visit this page for other size options (one much larger) and technical details, and this page for the press release on the results of this summer's Hubble repair and refurbishing mission. Hat tip to Cosmic Variance for bringing this beautiful imagery to my attention.
While all eyes seem to be on Obama's health care reform speech this evening, and the news has been focused almost entirely on that issue for the last month or more, we can't afford to forget that there are numerous other issues facing us. This shouldn't detract from the health issue, but I do believe that the climate change and energy independence issues— which are in many ways inseparable— are, over the mid to long term, even more important than health care.
The frustrating thing is that we now have a preview of the right's response to any issue that comes up: obfuscation, obstruction, and falsely inflaming passions with lies and innuendo. An article in today's NYT tries to put a happy, optimistic face on the current situation as regards health:
“At this point, there really should be no doubt where the American people stand: the status quo is not acceptable, but neither are any of the proposals we’ve seen from the White House or Democrats in Congress,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said in a statement, adding: “It should be clear by now that the problem isn’t the sales pitch. The problem is what they’re selling.”
Yet Mark McClellan, who ran the Food and Drug Administration and later Medicare under President George W. Bush, said he saw the churning in August as a part of the public’s education, a “necessary step in the process” and not a fatal blow.
With all due respect to McConnell (that would be pretty much none), the problem isn't what the dems are selling, the problem is the lies he's telling the voters. If I stood outside a restaurant and protested them for selling ground up puppies, kittens and babies in their burgers, that restaurant could sue me. Unfortunately, there is no process by which I can sue liars who defame and libel the policy recommendations of my party.
And while I find McClellan's comment interesting, I'm not sure why death panels, socialism, fascism, and pull the plug on Gramma were “necessary step in the process.” Does he honestly think that fewer people give credence to those possibilities now than did in mid-July? I'm very worried that we're going to end up with a "reform" that enriches the insurance and medical industries, provides no better, and perhaps worse, actual health care, and serves neither patients nor doctors.
There are at least a half dozen other issues that are of similar importance to health, and the energy and climate issue is probably more important.
And I'm going to have to watch this circus of freaks go through this same theater over and over in the next few years.
There has to be a Britney Spears punchline there some where. Actually, despite the ambiguity of the headline to American readers, the story is very interesting:
The researchers staked out the cave and spent 22 days observing over two winters. On hearing the bat calls the birds flew slowly along the roof of the cliff where the animals nestled. The birds were recorded killing bats 16 times.
So now we know that to protect yourself from vampires, all you need is a bunch of great tits.
According to meteorologists, the incoming tropical storm could leave as many as 3 million residents every bit as homeless as they've been for the past year or so.
"Those who haven't already lost everything to the housing-market crash are urged to evacuate their homes immediately," said Robert Menken, head meteorologist at the National Weather Bureau. "That should be about 10 or 12 of you. Everyone else, please stay where you are, probably on the couch of some in-law who lives near Atlanta."
Ya know... I was thinking about pointing this out. Did Bush ever quit visiting classrooms? Did he get parental permission slips from each student? Was he greeted by protestors carrying signs with "Stay Away From Our Kids" emblazoned across them?
Will I ever learn to quit asking pointless questions?
A couple of Geobloggers, Silver Fox and Kim, have put up posts on the hummingbird moth over the last few months. A physics blogger I follow, who has a hobby of high-speed photography (rendering the resulting video in slow motion), has put up a lovely video of one of these fascinating insects in action. From Swans on Tea.
Snopes sez this is false. Too bad. Click over to read the second half and the evidence that it's fake.
Paleoanthropology Division Smithsonian Institute 207 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, DC 20078
Dear Sir:
Thank you for your latest submission to the Institute, labeled “211-D, layer seven, next to the clothesline post. Hominid skull.” We have given this specimen a careful and detailed examination, and regret to inform you that we disagree with your theory that it represents “conclusive proof of the presence of Early Man in Charleston County two million years ago.” Rather, it appears that what you have found is the head of a Barbie doll, of the variety one of our staff, who has small children, believes to be the “Malibu Barbie”. It is evident that you have given a great deal of thought to the analysis of this specimen, and you may be quite certain that those of us who are familiar with your prior work in the field were loathe to come to contradiction with your findings. However, we do feel that there are a number of physical attributes of the specimen which might have tipped you off to it’s modern origin:
# 1. The material is molded plastic. Ancient hominid remains are typically fossilized bone.
# 2. The cranial capacity of the specimen is approximately 9 cubic centimeters, well below the threshold of even the earliest identified proto-hominids.
# 3. The dentition pattern evident on the “skull” is more consistent with the common domesticated dog than it is with the “ravenous man-eating Pliocene clams” you speculate roamed the wetlands during that time. This latter finding is certainly one of the most intriguing hypotheses you have submitted in your history with this institution, but the evidence seems to weigh rather heavily against it.
The server has been sporadic here at my favorite coffee shop yesterday and today, and there has been a frustrating amount of time I've been offline. I was able to get some facebook conversation time in last night, but the neighborhood signal is weak and slow. So one of the things I've done this morning is go through some of the pictures I've downloaded onto my hard drive to see if I can come up with captions.So has Obama given his speech yet? Did the world explode? I'm off to find out.
That's Mt. Bachelor, a little bit west of Bend, OR (the peak behind and to the right is South Sister, and you can make out Middle Sister farther to the right, behind the pair of trees). The first snow this "winter" fell yesterday. The snow level was at 7500 feet; the peak itself goes up to a bit over 9000 feet. But we're supposed to be back up to nearly 90 by the weekend; I expect most of the snow will melt off before it goes below freezing for the season.
but I didn't realize that a fair amount of research has been done on it, nor did I realize how effective it is... even against otherwise antibiotic-resistant bugs: cinnamon oil kills bacteria.
Hospitals will henceforth smell like bakeries, but they'll all be shut down, 'cause the fasislamicommie Obama wants everyone to die under his gummint-run antihealth plan.
Damn Typo! If you like snarky, satirical and liberal humor, and you don't read Mock, Paper, Scissors, that counts as a FAIL! 100 fails per semester, and you lose the innernetz.
The U.S. has the best health care system in the world.
Private health insurance companies are more efficient and customer-focused than the government.
Covering the uninsured isn't our problem.
We don't need comprehensive reform now -- we can wait.
I don't need to worry. I have good insurance through my job.
Nice debunking of these myths at OregonLive. I've read a couple of pieces in the last few days claiming the problem isn't that the dems are wrong, or that they have proposed bad ideas, the problem is that in addition to their complete mental and ethical vacuity, the republicans have an astonishing knack at drumming up short, memorable slogans and talking points... "death panels," "pull the plug on Gramma," "government-run health care" and so on.
The editorial piece linked above does a nice job of taking each of the above sentences and making them into slogans by tacking the word "Myth."
He doesn't encourage anyone to read Marx, or Mein Kampf.
He says being educated takes hard work and persistence.
He says it's unlikely that most will grow up to be wealthy rappers or sports stars.
Not once does he tell the kids to strip naked and have gay sex while they're watching the speech.
He doesn't tell them that Christianity is evil, nor encourage anyone to blow up the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, or congress.
No, all we get is insipid platitudes like this:
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
I feel completely let down. Maybe he'll stray from his remarks; one can only hope.
Followup:
Students in the state's largest school district may listen to President Barack Obama's education speech Tuesday morning. Portland Public Schools officials say they will allow teachers and principals to decide what's best for students on the first day of school.
Criminey... go read the speech, seriously! Can you imagine anyone who honestly thinks of themself as an educator wouldn't want that message to get out to kids? And officials will allow principles and teachers to decide? How... magnanimous... of them.
BTW- Who do you all think will be the first wingnut to find a hidden coded message in the text of the speech? The odds on favorite for that kind of lunacy would be Glenn Beck, but then again the one lunatic who pushed the “Republican car dealers is being punished!” nonsense would be a good bet, too, as would that clown who freaked out over dijon mustard. There is just so much quality amateur wingnuttery going on these days that there really is no safe bet anymore.
You can, in fact, make this shit up. But Beck and Co. will still go you one further, and astonish you with their interstellar conclusion leaping.
but it isn't going to happen. She startles and moves away from anything that sounds like running water.
Speaking of which, we've been having steady, but fairly light, rains for the last couple of nights, then occasional light showers during the day. I think the precip is supposed to taper off over the next 24 hours, but it's actually been very pleasant. I love the odors associated with the first fall rains, as the parched ground and vegetation come back to life.
I've been referring to this 2-3 day window as "our fall preview trailer." We'll be back to summery weather by Tuesday; 90's are not unknown in September, but I hope we're done with that range for the year.
Poor, poor conservatives... crying (literally) about the fact their precious little ones might be exposed to the President of the United States encouraging them to study hard and stay in school. If they want to keep their kids home, that's fine by me. As an ex-teacher, I guarantee you that your effect as parents on your kids' attitudes toward education is magnitudes larger than any teacher's. If you want them to wallow in hate, stupidity, ignorance and fear, that's exactly what they'll do. Just one word of warning: as they pass through their teens, they're likely to start rebelling. It's sort of surprising to me how many libs I know who came out of profoundly conservative households. Just keep that in mind, Okay?
From Mock, Paper, Scissors; Tengrain then pointed out what the righties are picturing:
Haven't forgotten the LOLBecks, I've just had other topics that interested me more. I'll be damned if I'm going to give this putz his own tag, but I have been seriously thinking about instituting an "Idiots and Scoundrels" label. However, I do use the "Monsters" label for this guy and his ilk when the latest offense warrants.
Posts
