gregladen | May 27, 2008Got home from the lake last night happy to see that our neighborhood was spared any significant damage from the big giant storm that engulfed several local communities, including ours. There was very large hail up-stream from us and there are a few big trees down not far from here.
The people really hit were in Hugo, where a twister formed and touched down, doing a very large amount of damage and killing one child.
Ana's sibling (you know Ana, she's running for president) not far from the twiseter saw a giant oak tree sucked into the sky and carried off to oz.
I suspect no tornadoes…
gregladen | May 27, 2008
This is one of the few times you'll see this large of a context provided for the famous "assassination" remarks. What do you think? Interestingly, both right and left in the media are jumping on a similar band wagon...
The Giddy Fox News Reaction:
Having this creepy broad suggest that Hillary was wrong about the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" is just plain strange.
The Keith Oberman Reaction (long):
Clinton's statement later on:
"Earlier today I was discussing the Democratic primary history, and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Senator…
gregladen | May 26, 2008"I don't mind that they work over at the factory, but I don't want one of those lactose intolerant people moving in next door..." or "Some of my best friends are lactose intolerant. But I sure don't want my sister marrying one...."
Say what?
Amused in Vivo, who is VERY COOL, has recently posted some comments on race as an expansion of her comments on race upstream on my blog.
In her post, she made this assertion:
Saying that people of African descent are more prone to lactose intolerance than those of Northern European descent is not racist, because, well, it's true. Right?
Which…
gregladen | May 26, 2008PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
An unwitting passenger arriving at Japan's Narita airport has received 142g of cannabis after a customs test went awry, officials say.
A customs officer hid a package of the banned substance in a side pocket of a randomly chosen suitcase in order to test airport security.
Sniffer dogs failed to detect the cannabis and the officer could not remember which bag he had put it in.
Anyone finding the package has been asked to contact customs officials.
Japanese officials would like the passenger to return their pot as soon as possible. Thank you very much.
[source]
gregladen | May 26, 2008An impromptu collection of sexist commentary or commentary about sexism related to the Democratic Primary race.
Unmasking Sexism In Media Coverage Of Hillary Clinton
Deeply rooted sexism in the US as seen in the campaign coverage of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "hurts us all," Bradley University professor emeritus Barbara Pendleton told the Peoria chapter of the National Organization for Women at a March 8 meeting to commemorate International Women's Day and Women's History Month.
Pendleton, an award winning professor, offered a hard hitting analysis of the sexism in the campaign coverage…
gregladen | May 26, 2008An impromptu collection of racist commentary or commentary about racism related to the Democratic Primary race.
Racist Attacks on Obama Growing More Heated
With the selection of Barack Obama as the first black Democratic nominee for president seeming more possible by the day, racists and white supremacists are posting increasingly ugly and even threatening remarks on the Internet.
...On traditional white supremacist and neo-Nazi sites (for instance, here and here), there are lengthy discussion threads about what would happen if Obama were elected president. Dozens of those posts are…
gregladen | May 26, 2008Well, I hope it was to church, because Ford is the new Motor Car of the Religious Right.
Pharynugla covers this latest example of a right wing yahoo retailer pandering to his god fearing bible humping audience by denigrating atheists. See also this piece at the Underground Believer.
Oh, by the way, do you know what "Ford" stands for?
Found on road, dead.
gregladen | May 25, 2008I've decided to respond to Ana, Larry, and others in a new post rather than in a comment. This is partly because it is easier and more reliable for me to post than to comment under the present conditions. Which in truth are not really conducive to any kind of writing, but here goes.
Ana, yes, I won't say that "feelings have passed" or that my mind has changed about anything. What I will say is that the whole purpose of that post (and this) was to explore what I see as some serious ambiguities. These ambiguities exist, I think, across the campaign process as well as in the minds of any one…
gregladen | May 24, 2008
Now, if you want to see some real technique, check out this video at Living the Scientific Life.
gregladen | May 23, 2008Should (or would?) home schooling families pay a small fee for public library access?
The Allen County Public Library has changed the number of holds available to patrons to five per card. ... The library is a support system to our at-home curriculum. ... The usage of the library hold system to find and retrieve books needed for such curriculums has been a truly valuable resource.
I understand the need to curtail mounting expenses, but the move from an unlimited number of holds to five per card is too drastic. I believe home educators would even pay an annual educator card for the ACPL to…
gregladen | May 23, 2008Carnival of the Liberals #65: Skepticism and Politics is at Neural Gourmet
The Boneyard XX is at Laelaps.
Carnival of Space #55 is at Catholic Sensibility
Medicine 2.0 Carnival # 24 is at My M.D. Journey
gregladen | May 22, 2008The next step is that the Sargent of Arms of the House hunts him down and drags him to the United States Capitol. Apparently they have a room in the basement where they would keep him. (This sort of thing has happened before, but it's been quite a while.)
President Bush has already indirectly indicated that he will protect Rove with "executive privilege."
gregladen | May 22, 2008I'm starting to become a little unnerved by the situation with the Democratic party. I'd like to lay out a couple of questions and arguments for discussion. I'm hoping very much that certain people will chime in on this. You know who you are (like, when you get my email asking you to chime in).
From the beginning, this primary involved gender and race. Obviously. A democrat could actually win this year. So, the giddiness over having a viable female candidate and giddiness over having a viable African American candidate is palpable. But we can see that this giddiness has given way to a…
gregladen | May 22, 2008 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Arthur Conan Doyle will always be remembered for his Sherlock Holmes tales, including four novels and numerous short stories serialized in The Strand and/or published in various collections. However, Doyle was at least as prolific (probably more) in the area of spiritualism, and according to the London Times obituary published at the time of his death on July 7th 1930, he was tired of Holmes and preferred to be remembered for his books on the spooky ghostly stuff. From that obituary:
Sir Arthur claimed to have had conversations with the…
gregladen | May 22, 2008Update on the Ono Law Suit ...
As you most certainly know, Yoko Ono and her two sons have sued the producers of Expelled! for their use without permission of the song Imagine by John Lennon.
Well, it appears as though a ruling from the court is imminent. AP is lubing the shoots with a retrospective summary of the suit.
Ono is not asking that the film be pulled, but rather, that the song she controls the rights to not be used.
At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan this week, the filmmakers' lawyer, Anthony T. Falzone, said that if the judge granted Ono's request for an…
gregladen | May 22, 2008It is on this day, May 22nd, 1825 that the HMS Beagle left Plymouth England on its infamous First Voyage. The Beagle was built at the Woolwich Dockyard (launched 11 May 1820) named after the breed of dog. The Beagle was the first ship to sail under the newly constructed London Bridge. However, as there was no great need for this ship in service, she lay moored in storage until this first voyage some five years after being finished.
The Beagle
The first voyage was rather interesting, as you probably know:
First, she underwent a major operation that converted her from a brig to a barque…