Mother Nature is so badass and exceeds the wildest imaginations of Hollywood action and disaster movies. Lightening storm meets volcano eruption in Chile. Result? Mass evacuation and this photo:
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Mildred Loving passed away on May 2, 2008 at the age of 68. She played a seminal role in the civil rights movement and reforms of the 1960s. Loving was an African American woman whose marriage to her white husband resulted in the seminal Loving v. Virginia decision in which the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Virginia's anti-miscegenation law, which banned interracial marriages, was unconstitutional. What I didn't know but learned from the Times's informative obituary (a must read) was the following:
Mrs. Loving stopped giving interviews, but last year issued a statement on the 40th anniversary of the announcement of the Supreme Court ruling, urging that gay men and lesbians be allowed to marry.
Read rest here.
An old Taiwanese man was promised a stripper at his funeral if he lived to be at least 100 years old. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 103 (dying en route to the voting booth), but not for naught as the stripper promise that all boys wish for was granted.
His son, Cai Ruigong, told the newspaper that he had paid more than $170 for the stripper to dance around the coffin at the funeral."He would travel around the island with his friends to see these [strip] shows," Ruigong said.
According to reports, the exotic dancer performance at the funeral lasted 10 minutes.
Kaizar, the Associate Editor over at Newstrust.net (an awesome site for any news whore or...whoever just wants to be an informed citizen), brought to my attention an interesting Atlantic Monthly piece, the current feature on Newstrust, about the release of Patti Solis Doyle from the Hillary Clinton campaign team. Read this denouncement from the article:
Rather than punish Solis Doyle or raise questions about her fitness to lead, Clinton chose her to manage the presidential campaign for reasons that should now be obvious: above all, Clinton prizes loyalty and discipline, and Solis Doyle demonstrated both traits, if little else. This suggests to me that for all the emphasis Clinton has placed on executive leadership in this campaign, her own approach is a lot closer to the current president’s than her supporters might like to admit.
Ironic that the man spinning, or rather used to spin for Bush and Co. as both a Fox News "journalist" and Bush's press secretary is himself a casualty of the fucked upness of our country's current health care and retirement system:
Snow has also been a chief spokesman for the Bush administration's domestic agenda, forced to argue continually that the typical American is doing just fine, and bravely pushing the unpopular elements of Bush's vaunted "ownership society": privatizing Social Security, eliminating defined-benefit pensions in favor of 401(k)s; and replacing insurance with health savings accounts, high-deductible policies, and other consumer-driven health-care initiatives.And yet Snow's own life in many ways symbolizes the downside of the ownership society—and suggests how much a government role in health and retirement benefits is necessary.
When Snow came to the White House after several years at the Fox News Channel, it was clear that he had relied entirely on others to save for his retirement. Snow conceded: "As a matter of fact, I was even too dopey to get in on a 401(k). So there is actually no Fox pension. The only media pension I have is through AFTRA [a union]." Even though his employer provided a 401(k) and would have matched contributions, and even though he was earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, Snow had not shown either the interest or financial capability to manage his own retirement benefits.
As part of his press secretary job, Snow had to spin economic news to make it seem as if the typical American was doing well in an economy in which gains have been distributed unevenly. A report issued by the Census Bureau last month showed that median household income, at $48,201, hasn't budged since 1999. Snow admitted to feeling pinched on his salary of $168,000, which is about 3.5 times the median U.S. income. "We took out a loan when I came to the White House, and that loan is now gone," he said. "So I'm going to have to pay the bills."
I don't feel bad for this guy--I'm sure someone in his rolodex will hook him up with a sweet six-figure sinecure position. Fuck you, Snow.
I was kind of stoked today to find a first edition paper back copy of Gideon's Trumpet (I lost a newer edition during my transition from college to...non-college) by Anthony Lewis from one of those street book vendors. He wanted two bucks, but I talked him down to one. High five people, can I get a high five? This book recounts how Clarence Earl Gideon a fifty-one-year-old white inmate "...who had been in and out of prison much of his life" with a "...wrinkled, prematurely aged face, a voice and hands that trembled, a frail body, white hair," and despite his 8th grade level education, challenged the system and brought a landmark case before the Supreme Court. The Court in a slam dunk decision led by Justice Hugo Black ultimately ruled that his right to counsel and his due process as provided by the Sixth and Fourteenth amendments respectively was violated when he was denied access to an attorney by the state of Florida (Why does Florida always seem to rob poor people of their rights?).
In our current political climate in all three branches of government I can't help but wonder how this case would be construed by politicians, the White House, and how the SCOTUS would decide Gideon's case.
Anyway, if you want a break from whatever you are reading then check out Gideon's Trumpet and edumacate yourself.
Disclaimer aside (1), I saw this front page article on the Times and thought, "Woa! That teacher is hot!"
Rebecca Rheinheimer, YOU are an American hero.
1. Disclaimer: Being raised with a parent who was an incredibly dedicated teacher in a public school, I understand what a difficult and stressful profession that is and I always empathize greatly whenever I come across anyone who is an educator, particularly in public schools. Moreover, I'm aware of the shortage of qualified and experienced teachers in this country. I personally believe that is one of the most unexcusable problems in the US, because it demonstrates that behind all the moral rhetoric in this country about 'never leaving a child behind,' the sad truth is that when time comes to put their money where their mouth is, the tax paying public, politicians, and officials aren't willing to step up. And that is a travesty because it IS a problem that CAN be rectified.
Strippers at club Deja Vu in Nashville help police crack a counterfeit ring (1).
1. "Ring" is typically used to describe a group or collection of people, but that word is applied liberally here.
Update: Just to clarify for those confused, the screenshot below is an after image. To see what he looked like before his surgery check out the videos linked in this entry.
Arnold Schwarngsznager wishes, just wishes he had a tumor as rockin' as this local Chinese man. This event occured last month but somehow passed beneath my radar.
With tumors on his face and head that would make even the most compassionate of souls like Mother Teresa say "Damn B! What is that?!" Huang Chuncai, 31 bravely underwent a potentially life ending surgery to get part of his 33 pound tumor removed. Yep, not only is it a tumor, but it's 33 pounds of it, too.
The operation was a success--but in yet another example demonstrating that God, if s/he exists, has a twisted sense of humor--as a result of the removal of some of the tumor, he has now lost his balance and cannot walk properly, which was one of the central reasons given by the doctor leading to the decision to operate in the first place (aside from the fact HE HAS ELEPHONIC TUMORS ALL OVER HIS ENTIRE FUCKING FACE). As I've learned recently, some guys have all the luck and for others, life sometimes just ain't fair.
Anyway, here's the video with uber tumor survivor (Say that 10 times fast in a row). And Angelina Jolie's really taking her interest in the nonwhites of the world to another level because here's a YouTube clip of her comforting Huang Chuncai.
[Er, thanks Munira?]
I've always been fascinated by the notion that we may all just be a simulation running in some advanced being's computer. Or rather, even that computer's simulation's simulation. The Times has a great article on this. An Oxford professor Nick Bostrum has advanced a theory that it's more likely than NOT that we are all just a computer simulation not unlike say, all the various iterations of Sim video games or World of Warcraft: we're not biological at all, but rather just a series of bits and digital zits. Bostrum contends that advanced human civilization will have the computing power that enables them to recreate ancient or past civilizations virtually, including fully functioning digital individuals. The length of time it takes humans to achieve this amount of computer power is irrelevant.
If civilization survived long enough to reach that stage, and if the posthumans were to run lots of simulations for research purposes or entertainment, then the number of virtual ancestors they created would be vastly greater than the number of real ancestors.
There would be no way for any of these ancestors to know for sure whether they were virtual or real, because the sights and feelings they’d experience would be indistinguishable. But since there would be so many more virtual ancestors, any individual could figure that the odds made it nearly certain that he or she was living in a virtual world.
The math and the logic are inexorable once you assume that lots of simulations are being run.
Woa. There are obvious critiques, whch the article covers, but it also illuminates an answer, if tongue in cheek, to one of the great questions in life: Why does God allow bad things to happen?
How could God allow so much evil in the world? For the same reason there are plagues and earthquakes and battles in games like World of Warcraft. Peace is boring, Dude.
To read more click here.
Update: BoingBoing has more on this.
Fergettabout Iran, North Korea, or Taiwan. Is the next catalyst for a world war over the Arctic Circle region around the North Pole, which happens to be a combustible mixture of being both a potentially oil and other natural resource rich area that also has indistinct and debated borders?
Five countries — Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and the United States — have Arctic Ocean coastlines and, under international convention, have rights to economic zones within 200 miles of their shores. Denmark has sent its own scientific expeditions to study the opposite end of the ocean-spanning ridge and to seek proof that it is torn from the continental shelf north of Greenland, which is a Danish territory.
If I were Canada I'd totally watch my back. Our country, sweet ol' US of A with our Lady Liberty and apple pie, does some crazy things for a lil' sugah, or rather oil.
I was reading a recent article about Google's purchase of an email management company Postini for $625 million in cash, natch and the concluding sentence, quoted below, made my brain explode and my bank account totally jealous:
Shares of Google rose $3.16 Monday, to $542.56. Early in the day, the stock reached a record of $548.74.
I mean, I knew Google's stock was very high, but I didn't think it was $548.75 high! That's astronomical.
Hm, my headline makes no sense, but this one should: President Bush Commutes I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's Prison Term.
The only thing that surprised me is that this farcical administration didn't wait until July 4, Independence Day to initiate this. They would have done it without a hint of irony. I'd laugh except for the fact that it's indisputably evident now that this is one of the most disastrous administrations in our modern American history in terms of both foreign AND domestic policies and leadership.
In the grand scheme of Bush's fuck ups--Iraq, Guantanomo, Katrina to name a few of the Big Ones--this is a hiccup (Although who knows?--the break-in of the Democratic National Headquarters initially appeared to be a hiccup as well...), a punctuation in the lengthy story of how not to run what was and could be a great country. What's particularly galling to me here is that in his statement outlining his reason to commute he states, "...I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive."
He concluded that the prison sentence was excessive? Excuse me, sir, but you are the very last person to able to determine what constitutes excessive and not. It is clear that Bush may be the most disconnected from reality individual on this planet, and this includes the isolated tribes of the Andaman islands.
Lately I've been asking myself--Are we as an American society so fractured and divided that, even if among our country's gutless leaders a Joseph Welch stepped forward, the proverbial audience today would not erupt into a unified applause as the gallery did for Welch soon after he pointedly asked McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
I don't know, but I'm going to stick around because I know the light is at the end of the tunnel in 2008. Or so I hope.
In Related News
Go read Philip Roth's "The Plot Against America."
Update: And what about Bush's pardon and commuting trend during his presidency?
I've been reading the Supreme Court's decision rejecting Seattle's and Louisville's modest attempt to promote racial diversity and integration within their school district as unconstitutional. Many pundits have noted this, but I can't go without mentioning how horrifyingly ironic (a "cruel irony" as Justice Stevens charges in his dissent) it is that the majority decision cites in part to justify itself the groundbreaking Brown v. Board of Education decision overturning segregation in schools. This should be disheartening to all Americans, but I know that really it's sad for mainly "Liberals."
However, Conservatives should also disagree with this Court's decision--issues of race aside--because federalism (balancing of federal powers with that of state and local prerogative) has been trumped by the Conservatives' horror of horrors, judicial activism.
These are my summary thoughts for the moment.
News that a spoiler for the upcoming and final chapter in the Harry Potter story was released by "Gabriel," a hacker who sneaked onto the Harry Potter's publishing companies computers is all over the Internets as well as the MSM (Mainstream News Media for those that skipped out on Mass Media taught at every. university.), including MSNBC and the New York Times--Okay, it's on their "blog," BUT it is on their website's front top page--prime real estate--as of this writing. Of course bloggers--this one included as evident by my discussion of it here-- apparently are nearly having a bukakkesque reaction to this "news." Side note: Do NOT google "bukakkesque" or any other spelling variation while at work, around your parents or siblings or your priest. The cynic in me thinks that this spoiler release is a great "viral" marketing ploy, as if this boy wizard doesn't get enough press or buzz as it is. If not and Gabriel, the hacker messenger angel, is telling the truth, then either way the publisher and the author, as well as the author's sycophant team of lawyers and advisers win either way by keeping this book at the top of the new cycle and as well as the topic du jour of the proverbial water cooler, no small feat in today's ADD environment. Whatever it is, chalk up this "story" as yet another piece of hard hitting "soft news." Who do I fault though? I don't find myself writing about how the Republicans in the Senate blocked a measure that would have had the Big Oil companies pay higher taxes that would apply towards renewable energy funding nor about the fact 14 US soldiers, along with an Iraqi interpreter as well as three local civilians were killed today in Iraq.
"Yea, yea, now where's the link to the fuckin spoiler?" you're probably wondering.
Well, if you want to read the potential spoiler and save yourself the $29.99, click here.
Make a ninja mask with just any ol' t-shirt (although I would recomment a black t-shirt for proper ninja effect--a tie dye mask would look a bit odd).
Update: I wrote a lengthy diatribe on my soapbox here awhile back on the false appropriation of nerdom--a kingdom that I've been a loyal subject for as long as I remember--by those who've never actually been a nerd.
Only a true nerd would 1) surf the appropriate websites that unearth gems like the ninja link above, and 2) feel compelled to actually see if it works. The result? 100 percent success...100 percent success that these photos will eventually come back to haunt me in the future. It's alright. How many people when they eventually meet their end can say "Yea, I lived life: I once turned a t-shirt into a ninja mask?"
I'm surprised the camera could even capture me, er this ninja in this photo because...ninjas are super fast, secretive and also, generally avoid the flash of a camera.
Less well known are the hipster ninjas.
This is truly what horrifying nightmares are made of--not just nighmares, but HORRIFYING ones.
What began as a faint popping turned into ear ache for Jesse Courtney from Albany in the state of Oregon.Jesse's mother, Diane Courtney, said her son insisted he kept hearing a faint popping in his ear - "like Rice Krispies''.
"They were walking on my eardrums,'' Jesse said, according to the Associated Press.
Dr David Irvine said it looked like the boy had something in his ear when he examined him.
When he irrigated the ear, the first spider came out, dead. The other spider took a second dousing before it emerged, still alive. Both were about the size of a pencil eraser.
Jesse has kept the spiders as a souvenir.
Nasty.
Last week, channeling his inner Mr. Rogers (RIP), Senator and Presidential hopeful John McCain--trying to put a positive spin to put it lightly on the violence in Iraq--stated that things in Iraq are safer than the biased and liberal MSM makes it out to be:
On Monday morning's Bill Bennett's Morning in America radio show, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said that there were parts of Baghdad where he and the host could go for a walk.
And what about that recent leisurely stroll McCain took in Iraq to demonstrate his point that some parts of Iraq are no different than Main Street, USA ? Oh, along with reporters obviously, he was also accompanied by:
100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.
The man ROLLS DEEP. That's quite an entourage. And along with the bulletproof vest he was wearing, even 50 Cent was impressed.
(Via) The composition of this photo of a Jewish settler pushing back against a seemingly excessive phalanx of security officers is rather remarkable.
Snarky comment: Why don't the security guys just walk around her?