December 24, 2008

on earth

Live in rooms full of light.
-- Aulus Cornelius Celsus (ca. 25 BC—ca. 50)





December 19, 2008

storm

Knowing yourself as That
In which the worlds rise and fall
Like waves in the ocean,
Why do you run about so wretchedly?


~ Ashtavakra Gita 3:3

From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom


December 16, 2008

an "enterprising" idea

Paying down the deficit with whizzing shoes
By Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, December 15, 2008

A Saudi reportedly has offered $10 million for just one of the shoes thrown at President Bush in Iraq. That got me thinking. The journalist who threw the shoes no longer possesses them, of course, but hopefully some member of the White House staff picked them up and will do a deal with the Saudi buyer. The second one could be put on Ebay to defray the White House travel costs.

But that got me thinking. The Times article about the Saudi offer says that the shoe-thrower is a hero around Iraq, and indeed in much of the Arab world. That suggests that the resale market for shoes thrown at Mr. Bush is fairly deep. And in this difficult economic environment, can we as a nation overlook any way of raising money?

Couldn’t we trot out Mr. Bush before a series of, er, unfriendly audiences, with a White house aide then designated to collect the shoes and auction them off? (To protect Mr. Bush, we could insist that attendees wear only slippers, but in any case he seems to have excellent reflexes and is a pretty good sport.) My own research suggests that a three-week presidential tour of the Islamic world, Latin America and Western Europe would generate a considerable number of flying shoes. Even if there are diminishing returns and we can sell them for an average of only $3 million each, that could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Treasury. If a Saudi will pay $10 million for a single shoe that missed the president, consider the income-earning potential of a pair of slippers that actually grazed a presidential ear, perhaps autographed by him as well? Given that a lame-duck president doesn’t have much else to do, Mr. Bush might as well spend his final weeks raising money to pay for a fiscal stimulus, and the United States might capitalize on his global unpopularity.

December 3, 2008

312 million years

Ancient insect imprint found in Massachusetts
By Gene Emery, Reuters, December 3, 2008

U.S. researchers say they have discovered what appears to be the oldest imprint of a prehistoric insect, made while the dragonfly-like creature was still alive.

The imprint found at a rocky outcrop near a large shopping center in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, is believed to have been made by an insect about three inches long as it stood on mud some 312 million years ago.

"It's not a dragonfly but picture a dragonfly-like body. We're looking at something related, maybe a mayfly. They have the same body plan," said the discoverer, Richard Knecht, a geology student at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

The fossilized remains of a wing that may have belonged to the same species were uncovered two weeks ago. . . .

~ Full story here

November 30, 2008

awakened

An act of meditation is actually an act of faith -- of faith in your spirit, in your own potential. Faith is the basis of meditation. Not of faith in something outside you -- a metaphysical buddha, an unattainable ideal, or someone else's words. The faith is in yourself, in your own "buddha-nature." You too can be a buddha, an awakened being that lives and responds in a wise, creative, and compassionate way.

~ Martine Batchelor, "Meditation for Life"

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November 26, 2008

$7.8 trillion. That's $7.8 TRILLION.


Any attempt to comprehend the current economic situation in the United States requires a willing suspension of disbelief never even remotely imagined by science fiction writers. The size and scope of the federal government's bailout numbers are genuinely frightening. The U.S. Treasury's eagerness to print money on this scale cannot be sustained without causing massive harm to U.S. taxpayers in the years ahead.

This is the horrific mess that George Bush and his incompetent goons have left behind for Barack Obama. Sure, there's delicious (but disturbing) irony in seeing the wholesale socialization of America's economy occur during the watch of "free market," laissez faire Republican hypocrites, but there's no joy in seeing the comeuppance of greedy GOP jerks. Everyone is now doomed to suffer the terrible consequences of the the New Gilded Age of the Bush era.




Michael Ramirez / Creator's Syndicate


U.S. Details $800 Billion Loan Plans
By Edmund L. Andrews, The New York Times, November 26, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve and the Treasury announced $800 billion in new lending programs . . . sending a message that they would print as much money as needed to revive the nation’s crippled banking system.

The gargantuan efforts — one to finance loans for consumers, and a bigger one to push down home mortgage rates — were the latest but probably not the last of the federal government’s initiatives to absorb the shocks that began with losses on subprime mortgages and have spread to every corner of the economy.

In the last year, the government has assumed about $7.8 trillion in direct and indirect financial obligations. That is equal to about half the size of the nation’s entire economy and far eclipses the $700 billion that Congress authorized for the Treasury’s financial rescue plan.

Those obligations include about $1.4 trillion that has already been committed to loans, capital infusions to banks and the rescues of firms like Bear Stearns and the American International Group, the troubled insurance conglomerate. But they also include additional trillions in government guarantees on mortgages, bank deposits, commercial loans and money market funds. . . .

The long-term risks are enormous but difficult to estimate. They begin with the danger of a new surge of inflation, at least after the economy comes out of its current downturn. Beyond that, taxpayers will have to pick up the losses from loans that default or guarantees that have to be made good.

But the most troublesome unknowns are how the maze of protections for investors and consumers will change economic and political behavior in the future. . . .

~ Full story here

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November 7, 2008

mist

Body impermanent like spring mist;
mind insubstantial like empty sky;
thoughts unestablished like breezes in space.
Think about these three points over and over.


-Adept Godrakpa, "Hermit of Go Cliffs"

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October 29, 2008

ivy.covered.

Brands in a League of Their Own
by Barry Silverstein, BrandChannel.com, October 27, 2008 issue

The Ivies are renowned for their history, reputation, quality, and selectivity. While average consumers may not be able to name every one of the eight “Ivy League” schools, they know exactly the type of institution to which the term refers. (For the record, the schools are, in alphabetical order, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.)

The Ivy League is a collection of schools along the east coast of the United States that are among the country’s oldest. They are also at the pinnacle of the competitive admissions scale. While “Ivy” refers to the plant that adorns the buildings on some of the campuses, the famous label actually resulted from the fact that these schools competed with each other in the same athletic conference. A sports writer coined the term “Ivy League” in the 1930s, and it remained as the name associated with the schools. Only years later did these competitors think of themselves truly as a collective force.

From a branding perspective, cooperation turned out to be a strategically wise move. Over the years, Ivy League has taken on a meaning far beyond its original intention. Now the term connotes an exceptional education, prestige, and business connections that virtually guarantee career success. While other colleges and universities may be of equal or even better quality, they can never achieve the perceived status of the Ivy League. To demonstrate the point, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), two outstanding universities in their own right, are sometimes referred to as the “Ivy Plus” schools.

But the brand image is not always positive. The Ivy League is perceived by some to smack of elitism. That perception would not be entirely erroneous. Malcolm Gladwell wrote in The New Yorker in 2005 that Ivy League admission directors “are in the luxury-brand-management business, and ‘The Chosen,’ in the end, is a testament to just how well the brand managers in Cambridge, New Haven, and Princeton have done their job in the past seventy-five years.”

A 2007 BusinessWeek article entitled “The Dangerous Wealth of the Ivy League” reports that “… the wealth gap between the Ivies and everyone else has never been wider. The $5.7 billion in investment gains generated by Harvard’s endowment for the year ended June 30 exceeded the total endowment assets of all but six U.S. universities…” . . .

While the eight schools are privileged to be part of the Ivy League, each must also pay close to attention to its individual brand. Sometimes that brand may need refurbishing, as was the case with Cornell. Several years ago, a group of students became concerned about the university’s “country cousin” status in the Ivy League. According to an article in The New York Times (“Cornell’s Worried Image Makers Wrap Themselves in Ivy,” April 22, 2006), the students felt Cornell was underappreciated. They formed a committee, “making it their mission to press the university into marketing and branding itself more aggressively.”

The result of the student push was the abandonment of the university’s modern logo—the word CORNELL in contemporary type on a red background—in favor of using the traditional school crest. “The committee also persuaded the bookstore to stock a line of vintage hats and sweatshirts that decidedly emphasize Cornell’s Ivy League roots,” said the Times article. The university’s website was revamped to be “more traditional and more elegant.” As one student put it, the image committee confirmed that “we are an Ivy League school, and it’s O.K. to be an Ivy League school.” . . .

~ Full aricle here

October 17, 2008

how many canaries in the mine do we need?

Report: Arctic temperatures at record highs
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Science Writer, via USA Today, October 16, 2008

Autumn temperatures in the Arctic are at record levels, the Arctic Ocean is getting warmer and less salty as sea ice melts, and reindeer herds appear to be declining, researchers reported Thursday.

"Obviously, the planet is interconnected, so what happens in the Arctic does matter" to the rest of the world, Jackie Richter-Menge of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, N.H., said in releasing the third annual Arctic Report Card.

The report, compiled by 46 scientists from 10 countries, looks at a variety of conditions in the Arctic.

The region has long been expected to be among the first areas to show impacts from global warming, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says is largely a result of human activities adding carbon dioxide and other gases to the atmosphere.

"Changes in the Arctic show a domino effect from multiple causes more clearly than in other regions," said James Overland, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. "It's a sensitive system and often reflects changes in relatively fast and dramatic ways."

For example, autumn air temperatures in the Arctic are at a record 9 degrees above normal.

The report noted that 2007 was the warmest year on record the Arctic, leading to a record loss of sea ice. This year's sea ice melt was second only to 2007. . . .

~ Full story here

October 14, 2008

how to vote with your wallet

Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants
By Tommy McCall, The New York Times, October 14, 2008

Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years. So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole? Well, here’s an experiment: imagine that during these years you had to invest exclusively under either Democratic or Republican administrations. How would you have fared?

As of Friday [10/10/2008], a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index* would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican presidents only, although that would be $51,211 if we exclude Herbert Hoover’s presidency during the Great Depression. Invested under Democratic presidents only, $10,000 would have grown to $300,671 at a compound rate of 8.9 percent over nearly 40 years.





click on image to enlarge

~ copyright The New York Times 2008

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October 12, 2008

the self

Those who dwell on and long for sense-pleasure
Are born in a world of separateness.

But let them realize they are the Self
And all separateness will fall away.


~ Mundaka Upanishad

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October 2, 2008

the politics of destruction

Amazon forest destruction speeding up, officials say
Associated Press via CNN, October 2, 2008

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- The Amazon is being deforested more than three times as fast as last year, Brazilian officials said Monday, acknowledging a sharp reversal after three years of declines in the deforestation rate.

Brazil's Environment Minister Carlos Minc said upcoming nationwide elections are partly to blame, with mayors in the Amazon region turning a blind eye to illegal logging in hopes of gaining votes locally.

Non-government environmentalists blame the global spike in food prices for encouraging soy farmers and cattle ranchers to clear land for crops and grazing.

Elections no doubt play a part, but "the tendency of deforestation rising is deeply related to the fact that food prices are going up," said Paulo Adario, who coordinates Greenpeace's Amazon campaign.

"When you have elections, the appetite of authorities to enforce laws is reduced," Adario said. "But the federal government has to step in and do its job." . . .

~ Complete story here

September 30, 2008

connectedness. and conduct.

My call for a spiritual revolution is thus not a call for a religious revolution. Nor is it a reference to a way of life that is somehow other-worldly, still less to something magical or mysterious. Rather, it is a call for a radical re-orientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self towards concern for the wider community of beings with whom we are connected, and for conduct which recognizes others’ interests alongside our own.

-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama


September 29, 2008

50. million. years.

The hills are alive? How islands came to rise atop the Himalayas
Dan Vergano, USA Today, September 29, 2008

Home to hundreds of the world's loftiest mountains, including Everest, the Himalayas take their name from a Sanskrit word meaning "the Abode of Snow." But parts of these lofty mountains were once sun-kissed isles glistening in a now-vanished sea.
That's according to an upcoming study that highlights this geological reminder of impermanence on Earth.

"The islands are actually tipped on their sides," says the University of Houston's Shuhab Khan, lead author of the study scheduled for release in the October Geological Society of America Bulletin. "So you can walk — it's incredible — from the bedrock to the seafloor sediment of these islands."

What scraped the islands off the seafloor and lifted them up to the top of northern Pakistan was the collision between the continental crusts of India and Asia. Khan and his colleagues show the collision that built the Himalayas came 50 million years ago in their analysis, which ties together satellite maps, field geology, mineralogy, chemistry and magnetic dating data from the Kohistan-Ladakh bloc, the one-time archipelago dating to the time of the dinosaurs.

The collision of India with Asia continues to this day, with the Indian subcontinent essentially diving beneath the Asian one, lifting up the Tibetan plateau. Geologists have long agreed the Kohistan bloc islands represent the contact point between the two continents, but until now they weren't certain how they made their journey to the Himalayas. . . .

~ Complete story here

September 28, 2008

Liar Liar

Here are "The Twelve Lies of Sarah Palin" posted by Andrew Sullivan at "The Daily Dish" (at The Atlantic.com). Andrew makes clear that "these are not hyperbolic claims or rhetorical excess. They are assertions of fact that are demonstrably untrue and remain uncorrected."


. . . for the record, let it be known that the candidate for vice-president for the GOP is a compulsive, repetitive, demonstrable liar. If you follow the links, here is the proof. I repeat: proof:

- She has lied about the Bridge To Nowhere. She ran for office favoring it, wore a sweatshirt defending it, and only gave it up when the federal congress, Senator McCain in particular, went ballistic. She kept the money anyway and favors funding Don Young's Way, at twice the cost of the original bridge.
- She has lied about her firing of the town librarian and police chief of Wasilla, Alaska.
- She has lied about pressure on Alaska's public safety commissioner to fire her ex-brother-in-law.
- She has lied about her previous statements on climate change.
- She has lied about Alaska's contribution to America's oil and gas production.
- She has lied about when she asked her daughters for their permission for her to run for vice-president.
- She has lied about the actual progress in constructing a natural gas pipeline from Alaska.
- She has lied about Obama's position on habeas corpus.
- She has lied about her alleged tolerance of homosexuality.
- She has lied about the use or non-use of a TelePrompter at the St Paul convention.
- She has lied about her alleged pay-cut as mayor of Wasilla.
- She has lied about what Alaska's state scientists concluded about the health of the polar bear population in Alaska.

You cannot trust a word she says. On anything.


(Thanks to Gabriel at Modern Fabulousity)





Chan Lowe / South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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September 24, 2008

not simply "clever"

They’re ‘passionate’ about punctuation
By Phil Kloer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 24, 2008

Today is National Punctuation Day, the day set aside to lament bad punctuation and celebrate the good. As usual, there will be the traditional parades, rallies, walk-a-thons, TV specials, speeches by the presidential candidates and fireworks at dusk.

But amid all that hoopla, take a quiet moment to salute those unsung heroes who are always on the “lookout” for “misplaced” quotation marks. You can find them chuckling over them on the Internet at The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks (http://www.quotation-marks.blogspot.com/) or cavorting in the Facebook group Quotation Mark “Hunters.”

“People don’t think that punctuation means things, so they just throw it in there,” says Bethany Keeley, a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia who runs the blog.

“Most of the time people are using the quotes to draw attention to something,” she adds. And the abusers seem unaware that putting words in quotes usually signifies irony or some sort of wink.

On the blog, people submit “photos” of signs in which the quote marks make no sense and are, in fact, sometimes mocking the very words they hoped to “emphasize.”

Thus the high school banner exhorting the basketball team to do its “best,” or the sign welcoming visitors to “Historic” Fort Meade. A woman in the Facebook group said her mother made her a wedding album and captioned a photo “Here comes ‘the Bride’.” . . .

So on National Punctuation Day, while others ponder the slackening of “standards” of the serial comma or the maddening misuse of the apostrophe in “its,” the “crusade” against unnecessary quotation marks goes on.

Learn more about National Punctuation Day and the people behind it. At http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/.

~ Complete story here

September 23, 2008

a message from Henry Clay Frick


The facts about conservative Republicans:


When they're given free reign of the markets, they're Freidmanite-free-enterprise deregulationists. When their avaricious corruption and greed result in massive losses, they're dedicated socialists. And whenever they draw a breath, they're hypocrites. Need proof? Look around you.




Chan Lowe / South Florida Sun-Sentinel




Nick Anderson / Houston Chronicle




Steve Greenberg / Ventura County Star

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September 21, 2008

the great mandala



Sherffius / Boulder Camera
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September 19, 2008

a noble soul

A superior being does not render evil for evil. Never harm the wicked or the good or even criminals meeting death. A noble soul is always compassionate, even toward those who enjoy injuring others or who are actually committing cruel deeds -- for who is without fault?

~ The Rāmāyaṇa (रामायण)




Linteau représentant un épisode du Ramayana: ici, l'alliance de Rama et de son frère Laksamana avec le singe Sugriva. Cambodge, province de Battambang, Vat Baset, style du Baphuon, 11ème siècle. Grès.Musée Guimet, Paris.

~ Photo here

just try putting lipstick on this

It was Sarah Palin's own idea to compare herself with a pit bull. So it's certainly "fair game" to expose the ruthlessness and brutality that she not only espouses but supports. Should have been more careful what you wish for, Palin.




Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

September 17, 2008

it's hard out there for a pimp


Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune



Ed Stein / Rocky Mountain News

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September 13, 2008

pre-solar

There is surely a piece of divinity in us, something that was before the elements, and owes no homage unto the sun.

-- Sir Thomas Browne (1605 - 1682)

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September 12, 2008

Bump me, Father

Yet another reason to trust and admire the Catholic Church.


Priest at U of I is arrested on drug charges
Associated Press, September 12, 2008

URBANA, Ill. — A Catholic priest on the University of Illinois campus has been suspended after being charged with selling cocaine from his church office and rectory.

The priest, the Rev. Christopher Layden, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of delivery of less than 1 gram of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a church and one count of possession with intent to deliver 1 to 15 grams of cocaine near a church.

His defense attorney, Mark Lipton, told the court Layden wanted to waive a preliminary hearing and entered the pleas.

Police said Layden, 33, was arrested Wednesday at St. John's Catholic Newman Center. They say investigators found 3 grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

The Catholic Diocese of Peoria said that before the arrest, officials never suspected drug use. . . .

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September 10, 2008

A Post-American World

So much for the endurance of American imperialism


Reduced Dominance Is Predicted for U.S.
Analyst Previews Report to Next President

By Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus, Washington Post, September 10, 2008

An intelligence forecast being prepared for the next president on future global risks envisions a steady decline in U.S. dominance in the coming decades, as the world is reshaped by globalization, battered by climate change, and destabilized by regional upheavals over shortages of food, water and energy.

The report, previewed in a speech by Thomas Fingar, the U.S. intelligence community's top analyst, also concludes that the one key area of continued U.S. superiority -- military power -- will "be the least significant" asset in the increasingly competitive world of the future, because "nobody is going to attack us with massive conventional force."

Fingar's remarks last week were based on a partially completed "Global Trends 2025" report that assesses how international events could affect the United States in the next 15 to 17 years. Speaking at a conference of intelligence professionals in Orlando, Fingar gave an overview of key findings that he said will be presented to the next occupant of the White House early in the new year.

"The U.S. will remain the preeminent power, but that American dominance will be much diminished," Fingar said, according to a transcript of the speech. He saw U.S. leadership eroding "at an accelerating pace" in "political, economic and arguably, cultural arenas."

The 2025 report will lay out what Fingar called the "dynamics, the dimensions, the drivers" that will shape the world for the next administration and beyond. . . .

As described by Fingar, the intelligence community's long-term outlook has darkened somewhat since the last report in 2004, which also focused on the impact of globalization but was more upbeat about its consequences for the United States. The new view is in line with that of prominent economists and other global thinkers who have argued that America's influence is shrinking as economic powerhouses such as China assert themselves on the global stage. The trend is described in the new book "The Post-American World," in which author Fareed Zakaria writes that the shift is not about the "decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." . . .

~ Complete story here
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August 30, 2008

“To refrain from imitation is the best revenge.”



Giant, Bulging-Eyed Roman Emperor Statue Found
National Geographic News, August 27, 2008

An "exquisitely carved" statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius—with heavy-lidded, bulging eyes and a feathery beard—has been discovered in western Turkey, archaeologists announced.

The Turkish and Belgian team were not entirely surprised to find the sculpture of the Roman leader and philosopher, who ruled from A.D. 161 to 180, in Roman-era baths in the ancient city of Sagalassos.

That's because a rich repository of artifacts from the second century A.D. had already been unearthed at the baths, including the 2007 discovery of a colossal statue of the emperor Hadrian. . . .

~ Complete story here

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August 26, 2008

attraction


Moo North: Cows Sense Earth's Magnetism
by Nell Greenfieldboyce, All Things Considered, NPR Radio, August 25, 2008

A new study suggests that cows sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it to line up their bodies so they face either north or south when grazing or resting.

The discovery was made by a team led by Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany. "I think the really amazing thing is that hunters and herdsmen and farmers didn't notice it," Burda says. . . .

Eventually, his team used Google Earth to look at more than 8,500 cows, over 300 pastures all around the world, according to a report in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

By analyzing the images, the team found that cows tend to face either magnetic north or south when grazing or resting.

"Most of them actually align in a north-south direction," says Burda, and this held true regardless of where the sun was, or how the wind blew. . . .

~ Complete story here
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August 25, 2008

"haven't we had enough?"


Huffington, Silverstein to Ambush GOP Convention
Will Unveil Bus-Shelter Ads on Popular Routes in Twin Cities
Posted by Andrew Hampp, Advertising Age -- Campaign Trail, August 22, 2008

The number of protesters at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis/St. Paul in two weeks could total up to 40,000. Add Rich Silverstein and Arianna Huffington to that list.

And Mr. Silverstein, co-founder of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, will be bringing his Cannes Lions-award winning "Haven't We Had Enough?" posters featuring the names, slogans and events that played key roles in all eight years of the Bush administration as submitted by Huffington Post commenters. The ads will appear in 12 bus shelters across the Twin Cities, in an effort that Mr. Silverstein reluctantly describes as ambush marketing.

"I guess it's a little poke in the eye," he allowed. "There's nothing on these posters that is subjective. It's purely what's happened, it's fact. I guess the tagline is subjective, but the information is fact."

The posters are an extension of Mr. Silverstein and his partner Jeff Goodby's efforts to make an impact on the Democratic elections, having unsuccessfully tried to work on specific candidates' campaigns. "We went back to the Democrats so many years ago, and it was really frustrating. The marketers ... I don't believe they'll do anything as impactful as Hal Riney did for the Republicans," he said, pointing to the legendary 1984 Ronald Reagan re-election campaign that proclaimed it "Morning in America." Mr. Silverstein was hard-pressed to pinpoint a moment in the 2008 presidential race that's come close to having the same impact. . . .

~ Complete story here


August 20, 2008

tired institutional thinking


Debatable Choices
By Michel Martin, TheRoot.com

A trio of news veterans will moderate this fall's presidential debates, but who and what do they represent?

Aug. 19, 2008--In case you missed it, earlier this month, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced their picks to moderate the three presidential debates this fall. The chosen: NBC's Tom Brokaw, CBS's Bob Schieffer and PBS's Jim Lehrer.

So, in an election year in which race, gender and generational change have dominated politics and public discourse, the commission decided that these three white men, aged 68, 71 and 74, respectively, are our nation's best choices to question the candidates and represent voter consciousness about the issues? When one—and only one—of the candidates is also a 70-plus-year-old white man?

Don't get it twisted; this is not about hating the players, just the game. The chosen ones are all esteemed journalists and have not only paid their dues but supported a number of younger reporters in their own careers, myself included. No, my criticism is aimed at the tired institutional thinking that automatically defaults to older white men to bring gravitas and credibility to important national events and assumes—wrongly—that the men are somehow free of a perspective shaped by their own life circumstances and life stories.

Think about it. What if the commission, a non-partisan, non-profit group that has sponsored all presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988, had picked three 40-something African Americans to moderate all three debates? No matter how much experience and name recognition those journalists brought with them, people would question whether, as a group, they represent the full range of views and perspectives in the American electorate, and indeed whether such a lineup was fair to both candidates. . . .

~ Complete story here


August 19, 2008

in spite of suffering




Our peace of mind increases in spite of suffering; we become braver and more enterprising; we understand more clearly the difference between what is everlasting and what is not; we learn how to distinguish between what is our duty and what is not. Our pride melts away and we become humble. Our worldly attachments diminish and, likewise, the evil within us diminishes from day to day.

~ Mahatma Gandhi


August 18, 2008

now. only now.



Never upset your mind
With yes and no.
Be quiet.
You are awareness itself.
Live in the happiness
Of your own nature,
Which is happiness itself.


-Ashtavakra Gita 15:19


August 12, 2008

the price of naiveté

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
(And greed is eternal.)



The new age of authoritarianism
By Chrystia Freeland, Financial Times, August 11 2008

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, democracy was on the march and we declared the End of History. Nearly two decades later, a neo-imperialist Russia is at war with Georgia, Communist China is proudly hosting the Olympics, and we find that, instead, we have entered the Age of Authoritarianism.

It is worth recalling how different we thought the future would be in the immediate, happy aftermath of the end of the cold war. Remember Francis Fukuyama’s ringing assertion: “The triumph of the west, of the western idea, is evident first of all in the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives to western liberalism.”

Even in the heady days of 1989, that declaration of universal – and possibly eternal – ideological victory seemed a little hubristic to Professor Fukuyama’s many critics. Yet his essay made such an impact because it captured the enormity, and the enormous benefits, of the change sweeping through the world. Not only was the stifling Soviet – which was really the Russian – suzerainty over central and eastern Europe and central Asia coming to an end but, even more importantly, the very idea of a one-party state, ruthlessly presiding over a centrally planned economy, seemed to be discredited, if not forever, then surely for our lifetimes.

That collapse brought freedom and prosperity to millions of people who had lived under Soviet rule. Moreover, the implosion of Soviet communism inspired hundreds of millions of others around the world to embrace freer markets and demand more responsive governments. The great global economic boom of the past 20 years, which has brought more people out of poverty more quickly than at any other time in human history, would not have been possible had the Soviet way of ordering the world not been discredited first.

Yet today, in much of the world, the spread of freedom is being checked by an authoritarian revanche. That shift has been most obvious in the petro-states, where oil is casting its usual curse. From Latin America to Africa to the Middle East, the black-gold bonanza has given authoritarian regimes the currency to buy off or to repress their subjects. In Russia, oil has fuelled an economic boom that prime minister Vladimir Putin, and some of his foreign admirers, mistakenly attribute to his careful demolition of the chaotic democracy of the 1990s. . . .

Complete essay here

cheesehead. literally.

Further proof that some football players are even more stupid than others


Is Brett a Bad Bet for the Jets?
By Allen Barra, The Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2008

Arriving in New York last Friday, Brett Favre sounded as if he had taken a page from Bull Durham's Nuke LaLoosh. "I'm here for one reason," he told reporters. "I'm here to help the Jets win."

It would have been refreshing if at least one of the worshipful media folk at the press conference had replied, "Well, actually, Brett, you're here because after months of vacillating on your retirement and putting the Packers through hell -- and forcing them into using a valuable draft pick on an extra quarterback because they didn't know whether you'd be playing for them this season -- you tried to bully them into either making you the starter or trading you to a team of your choice. Like a prima donna, you put your own desires ahead of the welfare of the organization to which you professed loyalty. Now you've been dumped on one of the NFL's most desperate franchises because no one else wanted you."

Instead, we're getting gush from a New York media that really ought to know better. Here's the Daily News's Mike Lupica on August 8: "The Jets became a viable franchise [by signing Favre], made you finally notice and talk about them and care about them." As if talking and caring translates into winning football games. And here's CBS's Phil Simms, former New York Giants quarterback and Super Bowl winner: "This is bigger than when Joe Montana left the Forty-Niners to go to Kansas City in 1993."

It would be if Brett Favre were as good as Joe Montana. Mr. Montana won four Super Bowls and was arguably the greatest quarterback in football history; Mr. Favre has won just one Super Bowl and is probably the most overrated, or at the very least overhyped, quarterback in the modern NFL. . . .

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