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

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

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

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

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

the great mandala

Sherffius / Boulder Camera

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

it's hard out there for a pimp

Pat Bagley / Salt Lake Tribune



Ed Stein / Rocky Mountain News

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)

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. . . .

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

“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

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

"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

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

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

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

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. . . .

Complete story here