[T]his is America, dammit. And in America, when somebody comes for your neighbor, or his bible, or his torah, or his Atheists’ Manifesto, or his Koran, you and I do what our fathers did, and our grandmothers did, and our founders did, you and I speak up.
Let’s make our voices heard.
The text of this Special Comment may be found here.
Photo by Zooey
What a gorgeous day…
By Briseadh na Faire
If only…we cut taxes, then I could keep more of my money.
If only…we eliminate Social Security, then I could choose how to invest for my retirement.
If only…we eliminate all social welfare programs, then I’ll never have to depend on big government to survive.
If only…we put up a big wall between the U.S. and Mexico, with armed guards and predator drones, then people won’t cross the border illegally and take our jobs.
If only…we keep gays from getting married, then they won’t be able to destroy heterosexual marriages.
If only…we prevent all abortions, then we will truly uphold the sanctity of life.
If only…we were all true followers of Christ, i.e. fundamental evangelical Christians, then everyone would submit to His Will.
If only…we stopped taxing Corporations, then they would create more jobs.
If only…we stopped regulating Corporations, then their goods and services would be cheaper.
If only…we eliminated the minimum wage, then Corporations could hire more people.
If only…we eliminated child labor laws, then our kids could help out by earning their own keep.
If only…we eliminated environmental protections, then Corporations could pass those savings onto the consumers.
If only…we eliminated the Estate tax, then when we get rich, we can pass that onto our children and grandchildren.
If only…we invaded Iran, then we would have peace in the Middle East.
If only…we invaded North Korea, then we would have world peace.
If only…we allowed the government to spy on everyone, then we will eliminate terrorism.
If only…we changed the Constitution to prevent citizenship to anyone born here of an illegal alien, we would stop illegal immigration.
If only…we allowed enhanced interrogation techniques to be used on all criminal suspects, then no one would get off on a technicality and we’d all be safer.
If only…everybody could carry a concealed weapon everywhere, we’d all be safer.
If only…we eliminated unemployment benefits, then everyone would get to work.
If only…
If only…
If only…
This is our daily open thread. Y’all know what to do.
The Children's Garden, Oregon Garden
Photo by Zooey
Oregon Garden
Photo by nwmuse
I was perusing a Mother Earth News magazine recently and I came across a letter to the editor regarding top bar bee hives. The author of the letter indicated that he completed building a top bar bee hive in the early evening and that by the next day, a swarm of bees found the bee box and started their colony. How very cool!
You can learn more about bees at the Barefoot Beekeeper.
This is our open thread. Do you have a bee in your bonnet that needs to get out? Then Speak Up!
MsJoanne and I rafted on the Spokane River yesterday, and we had a great time. This video was shot earlier this year, and the river is much higher. They got further down the river than we did.
ROW Adventures was the company whose trip we took. Chris and Georgia were our guides, and they were full of energy and good humor. MsJoanne and I were on our first rafting trip ever, and were in the front of the raft guided by Georgia. Rest assured, even though the river wasn’t as high in as in the video, we got our share of big splashes to the face, as well as being soaked to the skin.
We had two rafts, one in the front, guided by Chris, and one bringing up the rear (ours, guided by Georgia), as well as several kayaks in the middle — lined up like a trail of baby ducklings. One elderly gentleman from Iowa overturned his kayak into the drink twice — once terrifyingly close to a big rock — but managed to keep his glasses on his face, as well as righting his kayak and getting back into the swim of things. Naturally, we cheered.
We got high-centered on a rock only once, and we rocked and rolled while Georgia worked at pushing us off the rock with her paddle. Then we got to cheer on a couple of kayakers who got into the wrong side of some rapids, and finally had to walk their kayaks over the rocks and re-join us on the proper path.
MsJoanne and I agreed that this was the most fun we’d had in a long time, and we both look forward to our next rafting trip.
This is our daily open thread. Feel free to chat away on any topic you wish!
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Who needs a robot when you can have an Android?
The Gummitch-approved Android operating system from Google has taken the lead in smart phone sales, in the midst of a huge surge in the sale of the devices. From a Mac-oriented blog:
Google’s Android has topped Apple’s iOS in worldwide smartphone operating system sales during the fiscal second quarter, analysts announced Thursday. The lapping of the iPhone maker came as smartphones saw a 50 percent jump in second-quarter sales.
Android jumped to 17.2 percent of the worldwide smartphone operating system market, selling 10.6 million units, up from 1.8 percent a year ago with 755.2 thousands units sold. Apple’s iOS, by contrast, showed a smaller increase of market share, up just 1.2 percent from the same period last year, when it stood at 13 percent of the global smartphone operating system market.
In the U.S., the Android platform displaced the RIM OS to become the No. 1 smartphone operating system in the United States, Gartner announced.
“A non-exclusive strategy that produces products selling across many communications service providers, and the backing of so many device manufacturers, which are bringing more attractive devices to market at several different price points, were among the factors that yielded [Android's] growth this quarter,” Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said.
Yesterday I installed a new Android app that: (a) runs a virus scan on all apps before installation; (b) backs up all my contacts, photos, etc. online; and (c) finds my phone if it’s lost. I can go online, tell it to find the phone and it will turn on the phone’s GPS system and track it (it took 30 seconds last night). Or I can have the phone Scream if I have misplaced it. I have not tested this feature in respect of my guest, Ralphie.
This is our Open Thread for the day. Feel free to sneer at smartphones, technology or conservatives. The floor is yours.
Time for a change of pace from our usual offerings. It may be that Kathleen Battle needs no introduction, or you may be in for an enormous treat. No longer an opera singer, she still is an extraordinary talent. The first video is from the soundtrack to House of Flying Daggers, which you should see if you haven’t. Then two incredible voices, one a throat and the other a guitar. More below the fold, and then put up all your crass hipster tunes.
Psst. Also the birthday of Fidel Castro.
The flooding in Pakistan is an unimaginable disaster. 14 million people have been displaced by the raging Indus River. Is this “the flood of the century” or a return to the river’s previous patterns during warmer cycles? And what effect have humans had – not just with the question of Climate Change, but through inappropriate management of previous flooding and deforestation? From the BBC:
The UN estimates that the humanitarian crisis is now larger than the combined effects of the three worst natural disasters to strike in the past decade.
These include the Asian tsunami and the major earthquakes that devastated Kashmir and Haiti.
In China, massive mudslides and in Russia, a continuing heatwave and out-of-control wildfires.
This is our Open Thread.
I can almost not believe it is really her singing. But it is beautiful.
It never stops. For thousands of years still nature will have to cope with the effects of mankind’s hubris. The Chernobyl accident left thousands of humans dead and maimed and nature virtually uninhabitable in the vicinity of the accident site. Now the (man made?) Russian heat wave has caused massive forest- and even worse – peat fires that ravage the country and the crops and have stretched into the most badly contaminated area of Chernobyl and not Chernobyl only. Now what happens? The fires cause material from the scorched earth to be displaced, the extent and range depends on temperature and wind.
As a result of failure on the Chernobyl nuclear power plant a total of six million hectares (ha) of forest lands were polluted by radionuclides. The most polluted forest area covers over 2 million ha in Gomel and Mogilev regions of Byelorussia (Belarus), in Kiev region of the Ukraine and in Bryansk region of the Russian Federation. The main contaminator is caesium-137 (137Cs); in the core zones of contamination strontium-90 (90Sr) and plutonium-239 (239Pu) are found in high concentrations. Radioactive emissions from wildfires occurring in contaminated vegetation represent a high risk for firefighters. In addition populations are affected by radioactive smoke particles transported over long distances.(read more)
The new catastrophe is a stark reminder that a technology which will have detrimental lingering effects for thousands of years, is hardly a good idea to solve immediate military or energy needs.
This is our open thread. Go ahead and tell it like it is.
Well, she bought herself some jail time but at least she didn’t bring a gun.
And then there was the flight attendant:
A US flight attendant has been bailed after he had a row with a passenger on a plane and allegedly fled using the emergency exit slide.
Steven Slater, 39, reportedly became furious with a passenger who opened his overhead locker before the plane had stopped at JFK International Airport.
He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief, trespassing and reckless endangerment. (read more)
I had my anger moments during the last few days, when everything that could went wrong, but I don’t think I’ll make it to the papers or youtube.
This is our open thread. Have your say!
Former Alaskan Senator Ted Steven has died today in a plane crash in Alaska, has been confirmed.
Former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, 86, has died in a plane crash in Alaska, according to his former chief of staff Mitch Rose.
Former Nasa chief Sean O’Keefe was confirmed also to have been aboard the small plane, officials say.
The aircraft is believed to have been carrying nine people.
The National Transportation Safety Board says five people were killed and four survived, with two badly hurt. It remains unclear who the survivors are. (read all)
Also on board was the current director of EADS America O’Keefe. Allegedly Mr O’Keefe and his son have survived the accident. Former Senator Stevens leaves a wife and six children. I am truly sorry for his family as well as for the families of the passengers and crew on board of that plane, who all suffered a terrible loss.
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