November 2009
“In fact, there has been only one top-nation that ever avoided the addiction to...”
– David Brin
“I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain...”
– Stephen Jay Gould
“The next election cycle will not be kind to Democrats. This is not only because...”
– Rogue Columnist
“Part of the problem with end-times theology is that western people have defined...”
– Diana Butler Bass
No names, no links: Writers give themselves a pass... →
The always insightful jayrosen with an excellent post about linkless denunciations of a nameless “information wants to be free” crowd.
“Celebrities who come from humble backgrounds are held up as proof that anyone...”
– Chris Hedges
“If you’re looking for a job right now, your prospects are terrible. There are...”
– Paul Krugman
“…we tend to fall in love with our ideas more than actually doing something with...”
– eugene cho
What do you want to see in a jobs program? →
Here is what I would like to see:
Cancel all State and Federal offshore outsourced contracts. Bring those jobs back.
Immediate freeze on all guest worker Visas.
Mandatory Expansion of Nursing Schools with above market value Professor Salaries. Students must be permanent residents, U.S. citizens.
Efficient Direct Jobs program based on what has worked and been the most successful in the past....
“It’s impossible to find a more perfectly representative face for the...”
– Glenn Greenwald
“What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send...”
– Michael Moore
“Our wars, even though they’re destroying our economy, are making a lot of people...”
– Jeff Huber
“I don’t know what happened to the future. It’s as if we have lost...”
– Michael Chabon
The U.S. Can't Manufacture the Kindle and That's a... →
So why does it matter if the Kindle can’t be manufactured in the U.S.?
One reason is importing products like the Kindle will contribute to the U.S. trade deficit. Manufactured goods, especially high tech products, have a high value-add. I suppose we can export soybeans and oranges, but it takes a lot of soybeans and oranges to pay for a Kindle. But a more substantive cause for concern is...
“It’s staggering really that modern American Christianism supports wealth...”
– Andrew Sullivan
“…the Declaration does claim that abortion, homosexuality and the...”
– slacktivist
“The progressive brand is being burnt to the ground by Obama, this Congress and...”
– Ian Welsh
“Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned.”
– Mark Twain
“Sociopaths, in their own best interests, knowingly promote over-performing...”
– The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to “The Office”
Is global warming unstoppable? →
In a provocative new study, a University of Utah scientist argues that rising carbon dioxide emissions — the major cause of global warming — cannot be stabilized unless the world’s economy collapses or society builds the equivalent of one new nuclear power plant each day.
“Wikipedia contains facts about facts. It’s a collection of facts from...”
– Seth Godin
Have you read any on The List?
100 Notable Books of 2009
Since I rarely read fiction (and the few titles I do consume are typically of the fantasy/science fiction genre, which don’t appear to be well represented in this list), a big fat zero on that side of the slate.
And though I am a prodigious reader — completing at least 3 or 4 books per week — I can only claim one off the nonfiction half of the list — Robert...
“What’s more, buying any e-book reader now is a gamble. Every model has...”
– Farhad Manjoo
Grim reaper's role in climate change denial →
In 1973 the cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker proposed that the fear of death drives us to protect ourselves with ”vital lies” or ”the armour of character”. We defend ourselves from the ultimate terror by engaging in immortality projects, which boost our self-esteem and grant us meaning that extends beyond death.
More than 300 studies conducted in 15 countries appear...
“Bush, the “read-my-lips-no-new-taxes” president, did not need to raise taxes as...”
– Abuse of the Social Security Trust Fund Began in the 1980s
“So here we have a country that used to have oil which has now run out of the...”
– Dubai’s Fantasy Island Gamble in the Persian Gulf Comes to an Ugly End
“In his recent book, Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert cleverly and comically...”
– The Law of Attraction: Science, Faith, and the Cult of Positive Thought
“The orthodox attempt to explain the divinity of Jesus in terms of an inherent...”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
27-inch 3.06GHz iMac Ordered
Thanks for all the feedback in response to my Mac replacement dilemma.
A tough call, but I opted for the 2560x1440 27 inch iMac goodness.
Here is what it boiled down to:
Have access to a work MacBook Pro already, a 3+ year old machine, just like the personal MacBook Pro slotted for replacement. My work requisition for a new machine was denied, but it’s still serviceable and can...
National Day of Listening →
On the day after Thanksgiving, set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. You can interview anyone you choose: an older relative, a friend, a teacher, or someone from the neighborhood.
15" MacBook Pro or 27" iMac?
Why?
MBP would plug into ~7 year old ACD that might not have much life left (or perhaps it does) and also a need for another special adapter.
The War Tax Is For Real, And Here’s The... →
“Unprecedented problems produce unprecedented resolutions. It is as easy to...”
– Fred Branfman
Brain scanner can tell a Dali from a Picasso →
PATTERNS in brain activity can be used to determine whether someone is looking at a surrealist landscape by Salvador Dali or the cubist lines of Pablo Picasso.
“Just for a second, think about the influence, buying power, network and track...”
– Seth Godin
The Geographic Gap →
Of 237 countries and territories in the world, the 4 largest newsgathering and distribution companies that supply the world with 90% of news do not cover 116 of them. These 116 countries or territories contain 4 billion people over half the world. 63 of these media-ignored countries and territories are desperately poor.
Willing to Pay a Fee for Access to News Articles? →
As I’ve been perusing online since the time when the Mosaic browser ruled the web, I continue to be astonished at the recycling of this meme about the tragedy of noble newspaper guardians going extinct at the expense of gluttonous online readers taking for free what print subscribers previously paid fees to receive. Inevitably, the discussion meanders into solution space speculation —...
“I start with the view that a suburban town is a community and not just type of...”
– John Robb
The Right Speech Barack Obama Won't Give on... →
“The media (are) giving an equal seat at the table to a lot of non-qualified...”
– Julio Betancourt
The bankruptcy of Dubai - in every sense →
Dubai is finally financially bankrupt – but it has been morally bankrupt all along. The idea that Dubai is an oasis of freedom on the Arabian peninsular is one of the great lies of our time. Yes, it has Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts and the Gucci styles, but beneath these accoutrements, there is a dictatorship built by slaves.
If you go there with your eyes open – as I did earlier this year –...
“Our society has developed a knack for portraying work as a curse and the need to...”
– Patricia Romeo