Bush Issues "Thankfulness List"
"My fellow Americans, let's be thankful for global warming, because as these winter months approach, it makes the world such a nice, toasty place.
"Let's be thankful for all of the food on our tables, unless some of it is from China.
"Let's be thankful that Pakistan will have free and fair elections, and maybe someday we will, too.
"Let's be thankful for the iPhone, except for those losers who actually paid full price for it.
"Let's be grateful that I didn't take out a subprime mortgage on the White House like Mr. Cheney told me to.
"Let's be thankful that nuclear weapons haven't fallen into the hands of the wrong people, like Nancy Pelosi or Rosie O'Donnell.
"Let's be thankful that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's writers are on strike, and hopefully will stay that way for the rest of my term in office.
"Let's be thankful that even though my approval numbers are falling, they're still higher than my grades at Yale.
"Let's be thankful that Osama bin Laden dyed his hair in his last video, because that made him look really gay.
"Let's be thankful for Guitar Hero III, which really helps you get through those long Cabinet meetings when they're going on and on about the economy.
"Let's be thankful that our military commanders have nothing bad to say about the war in Iraq until after they're retired.
"Let's be thankful that in nine months it will be August and then I can go on summer vacation again.
"And finally, my fellow Americans, let's be thankful that, even though Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, I'm still a lock for the Nobel War Prize."
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Satire: Bush Issues "Thankfulness List"
From Andy Borowitz over at HuffPo.
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Satire: Americans Enjoying Thanksgiving Tradition Of Sitting Around At Airport
From The Onion News Network:
Americans Enjoying Thanksgiving Tradition Of Sitting Around At Airport
Americans Enjoying Thanksgiving Tradition Of Sitting Around At Airport
Thanksgiving is a time for far-flung family members to reunite with each other and share in holiday cheer at the airport.
Americans Enjoying Thanksgiving Tradition Of Sitting Around At Airport
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Monday, November 19, 2007
Thanksgiving recipes: Delicious options for healthy eating
From the Mayo Clinic, some healthier holiday recipes.
Create a healthy Thanksgiving Day menu with these Thanksgiving recipes.
Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family, friends, good health and great food. This year, instead of serving the old standbys — turkey smothered in gravy, candied yams, buttered corn and pumpkin pie — try healthier recipes.
The following healthy Thanksgiving recipes have all of the taste, but less fat, calories and sodium. So serve up new options for a fresh approach to healthy eating this Thanksgiving.
Starter recipes
Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing recipes
Potatoes and healthy sides
Salad recipes
Bread and muffin recipes
Healthy dessert recipes
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Speedlinking 11/19/07
Quote of the day:
"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. Now I'm beginning to believe it."
~ Clarence Darrow
Image of the day:
BODY
~ 4 Directions to a Kick-Ass Back -- "The Fortress believes there are four fundamental directions a weight must be pulled or lifted in order to build a kick-ass back. He calls it his Directional Back Training Principle and it has nothing to do with North and South."
~ Information Overload? -- "We've reached a point where a lack of information is not the problem - it's a lack of filtering that information. You have to almost practice selective ignorance. At this point there is so much information available – that you need to filter out at least as much as you take on board."
~ Busted! The 20 Worst Foods in America -- "Restaurants don't want you to know the truth. So we picked through the glop to identify the meals you should never order."
~ Small Lifestyle Changes Combat Obesity in Children and their Families -- "Pediatricians at the University of Colorado at Denver have shown that very small changes in lifestyle can help stem the epidemic of obesity in North American children."
~ Talking Turkey: MayoClinic.com Highlights Healthy Holiday Cooking -- "Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family, friends, good health and great food. This year, instead of serving the old, not-so-healthy standbys -- turkey smothered in gravy, candied yams, buttered corn and pumpkin pie -- try healthier Thanksgiving recipes from MayoClinic.com."
~ Managing Diabetes With Exercise -- "Are you doing what it takes to handle or prevent diabetes?"
~ Vitamin D may curb type 2 diabetes risk -- "During a 17-year follow-up of roughly 4,000 men and women, researchers found that individuals with higher blood levels of vitamin D had a 40 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with lower levels of this vitamin." There's no clear cause and effect here, but Vitamin D is starting to look ever more crucial to health.
~ Eating for Stress Reduction -- "Women’s Health Magazine has a new article on foods that help to reduce stress. I was very excited to read their article on this topic because so many people are suffering from stress and reach to food for comfort - especially during the holidays." These are much healthier than the usual choices of chocolate, baked goods, or ice cream.
PSYCHE/SELF
~ Does Depression Shrink Your Brain? -- "A new brain imaging method could help provide answers to this phenomenon."
~ Philosophical Counseling Dictionary - A Glossary for Counselors & Practitioners -- A handy little list of terms taken from dictionary.com.
~ Practicing Zen Meditation In Psychotherapists. Controlled Study Suggest It Matters -- "All therapists direct their attention in some manner during psychotherapy. A special form of directing attention, 'mindfulness', is recommended."
~ Slumber Reruns: As We Sleep, Our Brains Rehash Events of the Day -- "Your brain doesn't take a rest when you do. While you slept last night, regions of your brain may well have been going over the events of the previous day in a process that could be related to consolidating memories, a team of researchers at the University of Arizona (U.A.) in Tucson says. In fact, the review may be taking place at several times the speed, by which the experiences took place when you were alert."
~ The growth cone -- "The remarkable specificity of neuronal connectivity depends on accurate axon pathfinding during development. Pathfinding involves the detection of guidance cues in the environment by the growth cone, a motile chemotactic structure at the leading tip of the extending axon."
~ 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Develop Persistence -- "Persistence is essential. In fact, persistence is one of the most important characteristics successful people share in common. There is no other way to succeed but by developing persistence in our life, and here I’d like to share seven ways to develop it."
~ One Choice Too Many -- "American life is flooded with too many choices."
~ Becoming Self-Taught -- "[I]f you stop to think about it, much of what you know how to do you’ve picked up on your own. But we rarely think about the process of becoming self-taught. This is too bad, because often we shy away from things we don’t know how to do without stopping to think about how we might learn it — in many cases, fairly easily.
~ Don’t let your “hot buttons” spoil your chances -- "Everyone has “hot buttons.” They’re your tender spots, the places where you’re most sensitive, the points where you get irritated, or hurt, or angry, and have to respond. The trick to preventing them from messing up your day is awareness: The more aware you are of what rattles the bars of your cage, the more you’ll be able to catch yourself before you do any damage." It's all about mindfulness.
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ 10 Ways YOU Can Fight Fascism Around the World -- "Let’s begin by shaking off bad language—we tend to discuss politics using old metaphors, which are useless today and actually make understanding the problem more difficult. There is no Left and Right, there is no “inside the system” because none of us are “outside” of it, there is no change “from the bottom up” because there is no “top” to bring the change to."
~ Art and Elitism: A Form of Pattern Recognition -- "So the question is, to what extent are we truly judging the merit of the work of art, and to what extent are we just using our pattern-recognition skills"
~ Deepak Chopra: "I'm Rich. I Have a Gun. Please Be My Friend." -- "Recently the term "smart power" has been surfacing more and more in discussions of America's role in the world. The basic idea is that "hard power" and "soft power" need to be balanced in an intelligent way when dealing with other countries. Hard power means military and economic strength. Soft power means exerting influence through diplomacy, making friends for America and its way of life. At present, most observers would say that we are far from exerting smart power."
~ War on Iraq: Four Years Later, Many Iraqis Still Lack Reliable Water, Electricity -- "Most of Northern Iraq without electricity; 7 out of 10 Iraqis now lack steady supply of clean water."
~ Snapshot of America -- "Nine TIME photographers fan out across America to capture a typical day in our lives."
~ GOP Strategists Worry About Clinton Strength -- "Carefully keeping track of Hillary Clinton's campaign from day to day, senior Republican strategists and White House officials are increasingly concerned that she will be a very formidable candidate in next year's presidential election."
~ Court Clears Musharraf's Rule -- "A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term - this time solely as a civilian president." Democracy my ass.
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Bangladesh Cyclone Death Toll Tops 3,100 -- "Officials say death toll could reach 10,000. Reaching survivors is difficult."
~ Emissions Growth Must End in 7 Years, UN Warns -- "The world will have to end its growth of carbon emissions within seven years and become mostly free of carbon-emitting technologies in about four decades to avoid killing as many as a quarter of the planet's species from global warming...."
~ Amazon Sells Own Gadget to Boost E-Books -- "Amazon.com Inc. is hoping to invigorate a nascent market for electronic books by introducing its own e-book reader with free wireless connectivity."
~ Evolutionary Biology Research On Plant Shows Significance Of Maternal Effects -- "Plants grown in the same setting as their maternal plant performed almost 3.5 times better than those raised in a different environment -- indicating that maternal plants give cues to their offspring that help them adapt to their environmental conditions."
~ Noah's flood may have pushed Euro-farming -- "The flood thought to be behind the biblical tale of Noah and his ark may have jump-started European agriculture, a British-Australian study showed."
~ Magnetic nanoparticles detect and remove harmful bacteria -- "Researchers in Ohio report the development of magnetic nanoparticles that show promise for quickly detecting and eliminating E. coli, anthrax, and other harmful bacteria. In laboratory studies, the nanoparticles helped detect a strain of E. coli within five minutes and removed 88 percent of the target bacteria, the scientists say."
~ 'Time-sharing' Tropical Birds Key To Evolutionary Mystery -- "Whereas most birds are sole proprietors of their nests, some tropical species "time share" together -- a discovery that helps clear up a 150-year-old evolutionary mystery, says a biology professor."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST BLOGS
~ NEW INTEGRAL BLOG -- Integral News and Views -- "An integral view holds that everyone has part of the truth, but some perspectives are deeper or more complete than others - and ultimately all aspects of our experience and our world fit together in a way that makes sense. This group blog aims to explore accessible and practical integral perspectives for people who are interested in getting beyond fragmented worldviews, who desire intimacy with all that they are, and who wish to help the world, themselves, and others evolve and thrive in a mutually beneficial and sustainable manner. We invite you to send in material for possible inclusion in the blog, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us. If you wish to make a donation to this project it would be gratefully appreciated."
~ Mindfulness and AD/HD -- "An interesting story about the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) and their work on Mindfulness and AD/HD. The gist of the story is the use of Mindfulness practice as a way to help those with AD/HD enhance their ability to pay attention and monitor their emotional states. Key to the medical understanding is the need to practice throughout your everyday life."
~ The New Economy of Nature -- "At the end of the twentieth century, more than three million people were dying every year of diseases spread by water, and another one billion were at risk, lacking access to water suitable to drink. The problem isn't limited to developing countries."
~ Forging a more spiritual path -- "Richard John is the former executive director of the Shambhala Centre in Halifax, now one of 30 special teachers called acharyas, whose work is to teach Buddhism and meditation practice and the Shambhala Path wherever they can."
~ An engrossing exploration of mind and happiness -- "The Fifth Global Conference on Buddhism (GCB5) gathers some of the world’s foremost meditation practitioners and Dharma teachers to share experiences in transforming the mind to achieve happiness."
~ The Radical Spirituality of Generation X, Part 18: From Hollywood to the Holy Woods -- "Now, I live on the holy banks of Mother Ganges, in Rishikesh, India. I sit each evening as the sun's last rays dance off Her waters, a child’s soft, dirty arms wrapped around my neck, dozens of others vying for my hand, finger, or a place on my lap."
~ Metamorphosis of Narcissus & The Omega Point -- "The evolving crises pose enormous downside risks, but what are the upside possibilities which might emerge out of these crises? It is in times of war or crises of survival that humans find themselves able to rise above personal preoccupations and egocentric thinking and to consider the ways in which humankind as a whole might rise above crises in common purpose and common effort."
"When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. Now I'm beginning to believe it."
~ Clarence Darrow
Image of the day:
BODY
~ 4 Directions to a Kick-Ass Back -- "The Fortress believes there are four fundamental directions a weight must be pulled or lifted in order to build a kick-ass back. He calls it his Directional Back Training Principle and it has nothing to do with North and South."
~ Information Overload? -- "We've reached a point where a lack of information is not the problem - it's a lack of filtering that information. You have to almost practice selective ignorance. At this point there is so much information available – that you need to filter out at least as much as you take on board."
~ Busted! The 20 Worst Foods in America -- "Restaurants don't want you to know the truth. So we picked through the glop to identify the meals you should never order."
~ Small Lifestyle Changes Combat Obesity in Children and their Families -- "Pediatricians at the University of Colorado at Denver have shown that very small changes in lifestyle can help stem the epidemic of obesity in North American children."
~ Talking Turkey: MayoClinic.com Highlights Healthy Holiday Cooking -- "Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for family, friends, good health and great food. This year, instead of serving the old, not-so-healthy standbys -- turkey smothered in gravy, candied yams, buttered corn and pumpkin pie -- try healthier Thanksgiving recipes from MayoClinic.com."
~ Managing Diabetes With Exercise -- "Are you doing what it takes to handle or prevent diabetes?"
~ Vitamin D may curb type 2 diabetes risk -- "During a 17-year follow-up of roughly 4,000 men and women, researchers found that individuals with higher blood levels of vitamin D had a 40 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with lower levels of this vitamin." There's no clear cause and effect here, but Vitamin D is starting to look ever more crucial to health.
~ Eating for Stress Reduction -- "Women’s Health Magazine has a new article on foods that help to reduce stress. I was very excited to read their article on this topic because so many people are suffering from stress and reach to food for comfort - especially during the holidays." These are much healthier than the usual choices of chocolate, baked goods, or ice cream.
PSYCHE/SELF
~ Does Depression Shrink Your Brain? -- "A new brain imaging method could help provide answers to this phenomenon."
~ Philosophical Counseling Dictionary - A Glossary for Counselors & Practitioners -- A handy little list of terms taken from dictionary.com.
~ Practicing Zen Meditation In Psychotherapists. Controlled Study Suggest It Matters -- "All therapists direct their attention in some manner during psychotherapy. A special form of directing attention, 'mindfulness', is recommended."
~ Slumber Reruns: As We Sleep, Our Brains Rehash Events of the Day -- "Your brain doesn't take a rest when you do. While you slept last night, regions of your brain may well have been going over the events of the previous day in a process that could be related to consolidating memories, a team of researchers at the University of Arizona (U.A.) in Tucson says. In fact, the review may be taking place at several times the speed, by which the experiences took place when you were alert."
~ The growth cone -- "The remarkable specificity of neuronal connectivity depends on accurate axon pathfinding during development. Pathfinding involves the detection of guidance cues in the environment by the growth cone, a motile chemotactic structure at the leading tip of the extending axon."
~ 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Develop Persistence -- "Persistence is essential. In fact, persistence is one of the most important characteristics successful people share in common. There is no other way to succeed but by developing persistence in our life, and here I’d like to share seven ways to develop it."
~ One Choice Too Many -- "American life is flooded with too many choices."
~ Becoming Self-Taught -- "[I]f you stop to think about it, much of what you know how to do you’ve picked up on your own. But we rarely think about the process of becoming self-taught. This is too bad, because often we shy away from things we don’t know how to do without stopping to think about how we might learn it — in many cases, fairly easily.
~ Don’t let your “hot buttons” spoil your chances -- "Everyone has “hot buttons.” They’re your tender spots, the places where you’re most sensitive, the points where you get irritated, or hurt, or angry, and have to respond. The trick to preventing them from messing up your day is awareness: The more aware you are of what rattles the bars of your cage, the more you’ll be able to catch yourself before you do any damage." It's all about mindfulness.
CULTURE/POLITICS
~ 10 Ways YOU Can Fight Fascism Around the World -- "Let’s begin by shaking off bad language—we tend to discuss politics using old metaphors, which are useless today and actually make understanding the problem more difficult. There is no Left and Right, there is no “inside the system” because none of us are “outside” of it, there is no change “from the bottom up” because there is no “top” to bring the change to."
~ Art and Elitism: A Form of Pattern Recognition -- "So the question is, to what extent are we truly judging the merit of the work of art, and to what extent are we just using our pattern-recognition skills"
~ Deepak Chopra: "I'm Rich. I Have a Gun. Please Be My Friend." -- "Recently the term "smart power" has been surfacing more and more in discussions of America's role in the world. The basic idea is that "hard power" and "soft power" need to be balanced in an intelligent way when dealing with other countries. Hard power means military and economic strength. Soft power means exerting influence through diplomacy, making friends for America and its way of life. At present, most observers would say that we are far from exerting smart power."
~ War on Iraq: Four Years Later, Many Iraqis Still Lack Reliable Water, Electricity -- "Most of Northern Iraq without electricity; 7 out of 10 Iraqis now lack steady supply of clean water."
~ Snapshot of America -- "Nine TIME photographers fan out across America to capture a typical day in our lives."
~ GOP Strategists Worry About Clinton Strength -- "Carefully keeping track of Hillary Clinton's campaign from day to day, senior Republican strategists and White House officials are increasingly concerned that she will be a very formidable candidate in next year's presidential election."
~ Court Clears Musharraf's Rule -- "A Supreme Court hand-picked by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf swiftly dismissed legal challenges to his continued rule on Monday, opening the way for him to serve another five-year term - this time solely as a civilian president." Democracy my ass.
HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Bangladesh Cyclone Death Toll Tops 3,100 -- "Officials say death toll could reach 10,000. Reaching survivors is difficult."
~ Emissions Growth Must End in 7 Years, UN Warns -- "The world will have to end its growth of carbon emissions within seven years and become mostly free of carbon-emitting technologies in about four decades to avoid killing as many as a quarter of the planet's species from global warming...."
~ Amazon Sells Own Gadget to Boost E-Books -- "Amazon.com Inc. is hoping to invigorate a nascent market for electronic books by introducing its own e-book reader with free wireless connectivity."
~ Evolutionary Biology Research On Plant Shows Significance Of Maternal Effects -- "Plants grown in the same setting as their maternal plant performed almost 3.5 times better than those raised in a different environment -- indicating that maternal plants give cues to their offspring that help them adapt to their environmental conditions."
~ Noah's flood may have pushed Euro-farming -- "The flood thought to be behind the biblical tale of Noah and his ark may have jump-started European agriculture, a British-Australian study showed."
~ Magnetic nanoparticles detect and remove harmful bacteria -- "Researchers in Ohio report the development of magnetic nanoparticles that show promise for quickly detecting and eliminating E. coli, anthrax, and other harmful bacteria. In laboratory studies, the nanoparticles helped detect a strain of E. coli within five minutes and removed 88 percent of the target bacteria, the scientists say."
~ 'Time-sharing' Tropical Birds Key To Evolutionary Mystery -- "Whereas most birds are sole proprietors of their nests, some tropical species "time share" together -- a discovery that helps clear up a 150-year-old evolutionary mystery, says a biology professor."
INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST BLOGS
~ NEW INTEGRAL BLOG -- Integral News and Views -- "An integral view holds that everyone has part of the truth, but some perspectives are deeper or more complete than others - and ultimately all aspects of our experience and our world fit together in a way that makes sense. This group blog aims to explore accessible and practical integral perspectives for people who are interested in getting beyond fragmented worldviews, who desire intimacy with all that they are, and who wish to help the world, themselves, and others evolve and thrive in a mutually beneficial and sustainable manner. We invite you to send in material for possible inclusion in the blog, and if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us. If you wish to make a donation to this project it would be gratefully appreciated."
~ Mindfulness and AD/HD -- "An interesting story about the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center (MARC) and their work on Mindfulness and AD/HD. The gist of the story is the use of Mindfulness practice as a way to help those with AD/HD enhance their ability to pay attention and monitor their emotional states. Key to the medical understanding is the need to practice throughout your everyday life."
~ The New Economy of Nature -- "At the end of the twentieth century, more than three million people were dying every year of diseases spread by water, and another one billion were at risk, lacking access to water suitable to drink. The problem isn't limited to developing countries."
~ Forging a more spiritual path -- "Richard John is the former executive director of the Shambhala Centre in Halifax, now one of 30 special teachers called acharyas, whose work is to teach Buddhism and meditation practice and the Shambhala Path wherever they can."
~ An engrossing exploration of mind and happiness -- "The Fifth Global Conference on Buddhism (GCB5) gathers some of the world’s foremost meditation practitioners and Dharma teachers to share experiences in transforming the mind to achieve happiness."
~ The Radical Spirituality of Generation X, Part 18: From Hollywood to the Holy Woods -- "Now, I live on the holy banks of Mother Ganges, in Rishikesh, India. I sit each evening as the sun's last rays dance off Her waters, a child’s soft, dirty arms wrapped around my neck, dozens of others vying for my hand, finger, or a place on my lap."
~ Metamorphosis of Narcissus & The Omega Point -- "The evolving crises pose enormous downside risks, but what are the upside possibilities which might emerge out of these crises? It is in times of war or crises of survival that humans find themselves able to rise above personal preoccupations and egocentric thinking and to consider the ways in which humankind as a whole might rise above crises in common purpose and common effort."
Tags:
Daily Om: Returning To Creative Dreams
Today's Daily Om is a good reminder that we are never too old to reclaim creative dreams we set aside in the past. reclaiming these dreams and ambitions can help revitalize our lives.
Return And Reclaim
Returning To Creative Dreams
As children, many of us entertained fantasies or even goals of being an actor, singer, dancer, artist, or musician. In some cases, we received enough encouragement to develop our abilities in those creative arenas, but somewhere along the way we stopped. This stopping may have been due to circumstances beyond our control or to our own unconscious acts of self-sabotage. Being creative can be scary in a world that seems to value logic over imagination and practicality over dreaming. We can forgive ourselves for shutting down or turning our attention away from our inner artist, but perhaps we can also take steps to reclaim our dreams.
In certain times and places, developing a creative ability was considered an important part of being a well-rounded human being. It was not necessary to be a professional or a masterly genius, because the act of creativity was valued in and of itself. It gifts are manifold—from the sheer pleasure of allowing our imaginations free reign to sharing and enjoying the fruits of our labor. Children share drawings and songs freely, without self-consciousness, and there is no reason why we cannot do the same thing. You may already be remembering some lost form of expression, such as making jewelry or writing songs. Your soul may be responding with an energetic lift as it feels its way back to a time when it was allowed to express itself freely. Your brain, on the other hand, may be throwing up obstacles, like the idea that you are too old or do not have the time.
The truth is, you are not too old, and if you have time to pick up a pen, you have time to make a doodle or write a haiku. Recognize that the obstacles you find before you have arisen from a place of fear and that they will wane in power every time you do something creative. Each creative act takes you deeper into a realm of beauty and magic, a realm that you have every right to return to and reclaim.
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American Music Awards
If, like me, you were watching the New England Patriots beat up the hapless Buffalo Bills last night, and missed the American Music Awards, Reuters is here to save the day.
By the way, New England looks like it might well be the best team in NFL history. Just a thought.
And the winners were . . . .
By the way, New England looks like it might well be the best team in NFL history. Just a thought.
And the winners were . . . .
POP ROCK
Favorite male artist - Justin Timberlake
Favorite female artist - Fergie
Favorite band, duo or group - Nickelback
Favorite album - Daughtry "Daughtry"
COUNTRY
Favorite male artist - Tim McGraw
Favorite female artist - Carrie Underwood
Favorite band, duo or group - Rascal Flatts
Favorite album - Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts"
SOUL/RHYTHM AND BLUES
Favorite male artist - Akon
Favorite female artist - Rihanna
Favorite album - Justin Timberlake "FutureSex/LoveSounds"
RAP/HIP-HOP
Favorite male artist - T.I.
Favorite band, duo or group - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Favorite album - T.I. "T.I. vs. T.I.P."
ADULT CONTEMPORARY
Favorite artist - Daughtry
LATIN
Favorite artist - Jennifer Lopez
ALTERNATIVE ROCK
Favorite artist - Linkin Park
CONTEMPORARY INSPIRATIONAL
Favorite artist - Casting Crowns
SOUNDTRACKS
Favorite album - "High School Musical 2"
BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST
Daughtry
TEXT-IN AWARD
Carrie Underwood
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Satire: U.S. Postal Service Destroyed By Four Reckless Teens In Car
From The Onion:
U.S. Postal Service Destroyed By Four Reckless Teens In Car
WASHINGTON—Millions of Americans and thousands of federal employees awoke Monday to find the national mail service in disarray after a group of rowdy teens on a joyride reportedly destroyed up to 90 percent of the postal service's nationwide infrastructure with a baseball bat.
Enlarge ImageNew York's famed post office was reduced to rubble after one of the teens got an especially good whack in on it.
Citing more than $45 billion in damages from the late-night escapade, the United States Postal Service has suspended all mail delivery and requested relief aid to rebuild more than 650 demolished post offices. The agency is also seeking supplemental funding to clean up the letters, packages, and crushed Budweiser can the teens left in their wake.
"These hooligans have absolutely no respect for property, fellow residents, or their country," Postmaster General John E. Potter said as he picked up pieces of the USPS headquarters that had flown across the street and into a neighboring yard. "This is the third postal service I've had to replace this year."
According to police documents, Potter told investigators he was working late at his office Sunday night when, around 11:30 p.m., he heard the sound of a loud muffler and rock music coming from outside USPS headquarters. Potter said he ran outside to see what was happening, but by the time he arrived the teens were speeding off down a gravel road, giving him only enough time to throw a crab apple at the departing car, which he described as "a rusted-out old Buick."
Authorities have thus far not been able to identify the teens responsible, who remain at large and in serious trouble.
"It's those Murphy twins and their no-good friend Tim Strougle," Potter said while shaking a broom. "What they did was destruction of property, plain and simple. Those kids should know better than to tamper with a federal mail service agency—it's a felony."
Potter went on to argue that the irresponsible teens should have to personally pay the rebuilding costs of his agency's infrastructure, a punishment he believes would "teach them a lesson they won't soon forget."
Added Potter, "Someone's going to have to spend a whole day digging a new hole for that foundation."
Enlarge ImagePostmaster General John Potter cleans up the capital in the aftermath of the teens' joyride.
Though FBI agents assigned to investigate the nationwide act of vandalism would not comment on any potential leads, they did disclose that the task force has ruled out a number of suspects, including those two Anderson boys from just up on Hoyt Road.
"Sure, they've gotten into trouble in the past, but [their father] Dave [Anderson] set them straight after the shenanigans they pulled last Halloween," said Special Agent Brian Richards, who told reporters the FBI was enlisting the help of municipal law- enforcement agencies and snoopy neighbors from across the country in the investigation. "Nor do we have reason to believe that Shane and Lance McMurray were involved in this terrible crime. They're good boys. Mowed my lawn last summer."
Tampa resident Eric Thompson, 39, was one of countless American citizens outraged by the night of teenage mischief.
"I just don't get it," said Thompson, standing in front of his broken local postal branch. "Why would someone want to ruin a perfectly good post office? Don't they have anything better to do? If this is what kids today do for fun, I don't know what to tell you."
Added Thompson: "Now I'm not going to get my magazines until who knows when."
While many Americans remain convinced that whichever local teens are responsible should be punished to the full extent of the law, some feel the public is overreacting.
"Everyone's getting all riled up over nothing," Attorney General Michael Mukasey said. "The U.S. Postal Service got a little banged up—so what? We did the same thing when we were younger."
"Who knows, maybe old man Barrington ran over the damn things," Mukasey added. "He shouldn't even have a license anymore, he's so darn nearsighted. I wouldn't be surprised if he knocked over all those buildings and didn't even realize he did it."
On Tuesday, the USPS announced they have begun taking extreme measures to prevent further destruction of federal property. As part of the new strategy, beginning next month security officers will take posts in the bushes surrounding USPS facilities in all major cities, and a select number of new offices will be reinforced by constructing a smaller office inside a large post office and filling the middle portion with cement.
"I can't wait for one of those punks to take a swing at one of our mail centers after that," Potter said.
According to FBI records, the destruction of the U.S. Postal Service was the most significant incident of rampaging teens since the entire U.S. Air Force was keyed during the homecoming in 1998.
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Sunday, November 18, 2007
Dalai Lama Quote of the Week
Dalai Lama Quote of the Week from Snow Lion Publications:
There is a Buddhist practice in which one imagines giving joy and the source of all joy to other people, thereby removing all their suffering. Though of course we cannot change their situation, I do feel that in some cases, through a genuine sense of caring and compassion, through our sharing in their plight, our attitude can help alleviate their suffering, if only mentally. However, the main point of this practice is to increase our inner strength and courage.I have chosen a few lines that I feel would be acceptable to people of all faiths, and even to those with no spiritual belief. When reading these lines, if you are a religious practitioner, you can reflect upon the divine form that you worship. Then, while reciting these verses, make the commitment to enhance your spiritual values. If you are not religious, you can reflect upon the fact that, fundamentally, all beings are equal to you in their wish for happiness and their desire to overcome suffering. Recognizing this, you make a pledge to develop a good heart. It is most important that we have a warm heart. As long as we are part of human society, it is very important to be a kind, warm-hearted person.May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find new hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.
May the frightened cease to be afraid,
And those bound be free.
May the weak find power,
And may their hearts join in friendship.
~ From An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life by the Dalai Lama, edited by Nicholas Vreeland, afterword by Khyongla Rato and Richard Gere.
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Dover Trial - Intelligent Design Get's It's Day In Court
I just watched this excellent episode of Nova. This show should be required viewing in every high school "civics" class in the country. It not only dismantles any foundation for intelligent design as science (a side benefit), more importantly, it shows what can happen in a community when authoritarian mythic religion clashes with rational science.
From a legal point of view, the lawyers fighting against intelligent design were able to find the "missing link" between creationism and ID that proves ID is just a repackaging of creationism. The manuscript of Of Pandas and People was revised following a 1987 ruling that banned creationism from the science curriculum. There is an actual manuscript where creationist is sloppily replaced with design theory, resulting in cdesign theoryists -- there were other similar examples as well. This was the smoking bomb in the case, proving that ID was simply a way to try to evade the legal ruling against creationism.
I have nothing against healthy religion -- in fact, I believe that religion is a vital and important element of human experience -- but fundamentalist religion is unhealthy. It is a closed system, unwilling to acknowledge any truths but its own. Healthy religion is not a closed system, and it can be open to new information. In this respect, Catholicism is healthier than many Protestant faiths because it can admit the truth of evolution without abandoning its faith.
I don't think the Dover trial is the end of the battle. The closer this nation gets to shifting its center of gravity out of mythic, authoritarian religion and into a more rationalist worldview, the more militantly those who cling to those older beliefs will fight for them. The battle will most certainly be political and legal, but as Jesus Camp proves, it could also be violent.
Since I can't find the Nova show online yet, here is a pretty good look at the trial from the BBC (the Nova episode is better).
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
From a legal point of view, the lawyers fighting against intelligent design were able to find the "missing link" between creationism and ID that proves ID is just a repackaging of creationism. The manuscript of Of Pandas and People was revised following a 1987 ruling that banned creationism from the science curriculum. There is an actual manuscript where creationist is sloppily replaced with design theory, resulting in cdesign theoryists -- there were other similar examples as well. This was the smoking bomb in the case, proving that ID was simply a way to try to evade the legal ruling against creationism.
I have nothing against healthy religion -- in fact, I believe that religion is a vital and important element of human experience -- but fundamentalist religion is unhealthy. It is a closed system, unwilling to acknowledge any truths but its own. Healthy religion is not a closed system, and it can be open to new information. In this respect, Catholicism is healthier than many Protestant faiths because it can admit the truth of evolution without abandoning its faith.
I don't think the Dover trial is the end of the battle. The closer this nation gets to shifting its center of gravity out of mythic, authoritarian religion and into a more rationalist worldview, the more militantly those who cling to those older beliefs will fight for them. The battle will most certainly be political and legal, but as Jesus Camp proves, it could also be violent.
Since I can't find the Nova show online yet, here is a pretty good look at the trial from the BBC (the Nova episode is better).
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Part Four:
Part Five:
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Daily Dharma: Becoming
Yesterday's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:
BecomingBecoming, which results from clinging, involves the idea of having or being something more satisfying than at present. We want to become a very good meditator, or we want to become spiritual, or more learned. We have all sorts of ideas but are all bound up with wanting to become, because we are not satisfied with what we are. Often we do not even pay attention to what we are now, but just know that something is lacking. Instead of trying to realize what we are and investigating where the difficulty actually lies, we just dream of becoming something else. When we have become something or someone else, we can be just as dissatisfied as before.
~ Ayya Khema, When the Iron Eagle Flies; from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
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The Latest Unified Theory of Everything Using the E8 Lattice
I posted about this last week, but this cool video does a great job of explaining the theory.
Quote from the post:
via videosift.com
Quote from the post:
By analysing the most elegant and intricate pattern known to mathematics [the 248 point E8 lattice], [Garret] Lisi has uncovered a relationship underlying all the universe's particles and forces, including gravity - or so he hopes. Lee Smolin at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, describes Lisi's work as "fabulous". "It is one of the most compelling unification models I've seen in many, many years," he says.
-The New Scientist
Garret Lisi's preprint
The New Scientist's article
via videosift.com
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Debussy: Cello Sonata
Music for a Sunday morning. Gendron and Ivaldi play Debussy's Cello Sonata.
Debussy: Cello Sonata - Part 1
Debussy: Cello Sonata - Part 2
Debussy: Cello Sonata - Part 1
Debussy: Cello Sonata - Part 2
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Posted November 19, 2007 | 10:34 AM (EST)