Saturday, March 31, 2007
What's up with Garrison Keillor?
Reading a friend of mine's blog, I noticed that Garrison Keillor was trying to be funny but didn't do a very kind job of it. Sometimes humor hurts, but it would be interesting to dissect what he says here. Basically, he's saying that we have enough problems with people getting married and having children, then divorced, and remarried, having children again, etc, so that extended families are getting to be too much to handle for Christmas get-togethers etc. And therefore, if gays and lesbians were able to get state-sanctioned legal marriages, it'd just get worse. Of course, he doesn't mention in his piece that he's been married three times with kids from two.
lyrics: Some song from the movie "Kinky Boots." We found it in a Netflix sleeve on the street while walking in Hayes Valley.
colors: red and pink with sequins
mood: melancholy
chant/prayer/mantra: okay, good.
pax hominibus,
joel
lyrics: Some song from the movie "Kinky Boots." We found it in a Netflix sleeve on the street while walking in Hayes Valley.
colors: red and pink with sequins
mood: melancholy
chant/prayer/mantra: okay, good.
pax hominibus,
joel
Ethanol, and other combustible fuels, making me angry
I am mad as heck about so much government money and effort and planning going to get yet another combustible fuel for internal combustion engines.
Can't we kill the internal combustion engine soon? We have other PROVEN electrical engine technologies that could be charged with electricity from much more efficient power plants, using either fossil fuels, nuclear, or other alternative fuels. Or we could just charge straight from solar on our rooftops.
INSTEAD, the people in the energy industry are clinging desperately to the idea that you and I be going to the pump somewhere to get fuel from them, and burn it in an outdated automobile.
End of Post.
chant/prayer/mantra: Straighten up and fly right.
pax hominibus,
joel
Can't we kill the internal combustion engine soon? We have other PROVEN electrical engine technologies that could be charged with electricity from much more efficient power plants, using either fossil fuels, nuclear, or other alternative fuels. Or we could just charge straight from solar on our rooftops.
INSTEAD, the people in the energy industry are clinging desperately to the idea that you and I be going to the pump somewhere to get fuel from them, and burn it in an outdated automobile.
End of Post.
chant/prayer/mantra: Straighten up and fly right.
pax hominibus,
joel
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Advice from Newt Gingrich
OK, I got to here because of one of the links in my previous post about desalinization, happening to mention Newt Gingrich saying "I do want to warn you that if the Left wins, and you come up with a virtually free water desalinization, you will not be able to use it. Because first of all, it will mean you are taking water out of the ocean. Second, if you were to suddenly have enough water to make the entire Mojave Desert bloom, the desert tortoise would be endangered. And for you to suggest saving the Sahel so that all the people in Chad, Mauritania, Niger, could all of the sudden have a decent living at the risk of in some way affecting the Saharan Sand Flea, I don’t think you could pass the EPA regulatory requirements for what the environmental outcome will be. And so just the fact that you want to help human beings will be seen as a sign that you have an anthropomorphic view of the planet in which all you care about is people and you don’t realize that the planet likes being desert and has actually been trying to desertify for the last 50 years, and you are interfering with the natural order all of which will be exacerbated by the global warming period which will increase the amount of water in the oceans which you could use for desalinization except that it would be inappropriate because after all by then you could have a lot of water in Antarctica so if only you were being reasonable you wouldn't come up with these new scientific breakthroughs and Al Gore’s next book will say that you personally are the greatest threat to human happiness on the planet."
His outlook is very bleak, and untrusting, and biased beyond recognition, but still, I decided to burn time listening to where someone like him could be coming from. Man, he is slick.
Anyway, a couple of things here actually are some good take-away advice, and many of the things he said are just, um, "spin" would be a nice word for it. It's nice that he actually mentions he got a call from Sean Hannity while he was on vacation. That gave me a bit of a handle for understanding him a bit better. The parts I found useful are in bold. The parts that are just fugly are in red. Truthy things, that provide new insight to me, are in green.
I. Always talk personally first, historically second, and politically last.
1. What're you gonna do for me? Are you gonna make my life better?
Ideology is a process of thought designed to produce better results/
We came up out of an ideological movement that was then transformed by a hollywood actor who had formerly been an FDR democrat.
Practice every day: personal, historical, political. .... When the hole gets deep enough, quit digging.
II. seven things very important that nobody really talks about. Discipline yourself to not spend more than half yr time on standard politics, ideology, etc, and spend the other half trying to learn some new things.
Notion that two Americas: Elite America of a remarkably small number of ppl who set the terms by which wash and state caps operate: editorial boards, newsrooms, tenured faculty, left wing intellectuals, trial lawyers, union leaders, hollywood elite.
91% of all Americans support the right to say "one nation under God" Even on the Berkeley faculty, you have a majority.
85% Rasmussen, 84% Zogby believe English should be the language of govt. Elites disagree even though the Hispanics are part of that 84%.
stick to the core values of this country, and you'll have a natural majority.
understand your core values, and how to explain them, and put them into context.
tempted to run by prospect of 7-10 dialogs next fall with hillary.
problem of iraq, very simple. its a mess. wrong policy and we've gone off a cliff. doesn't mean we should withdraw. i never defend the mess in iraq. everybody who believes that defeat is an easy alternative needs to explain the consequences of defeat. we have tried weakness once before under jimmy carter, a 444 day hostage crisis in iran, american embassy burned in pakistan , american embassador killed in afghanistan, soviet forces invade afghanistan, proxy forces from cuba, mozambique, angola, nicaragua and el salvador, soviets financing a million person demonstration in europe, ppl forget how much anti-americanism there was when ronald reagan was defending freedom and defeating the soviet empire. so we've tried weakness. so we've tried weakness at home with liberalism... it got us 13% inflation, 22% interest rates. some of you are old enough when you had to know the last number of yr car tag to know which days you could sit in line to buy gasoline... the carter administration had messed up. so we've done all this.
the debate has to be over iraq in context. [joel adds, "context," or "framing the debate"? the north korean bomb, the iran nuclear weapons program, public statements about defeating america by chavez. tell me in that context why a policy of weakness and defeat is a clever next step. i think we're in a hard place -- as hard a place as lincoln in 1862, or FDR in 1942. sooner or later we're going to have to beat these people. rabin understood that the key to making peace with the arabs was to being able to stop the iranians. so the baker-hamilton commmision said "why don't we invite the iranians in to help us out with the arabs?" like saying "if only adolph hitler had been friendlier, munich wouldn't've been nearly as bad." ["so you don't trust these people not to hurt us? can they trust us not to hurt them? seems we have already hurt them." this is a serious moment in american history, and at some point down the road we run a real risk of losing two or three cities to nuclear weapons. and i think its a lot better to act now before we lose a city than to wake up an appoint a new 911 commission saying "gee, why didn't we know?" thank you very much. [amazing how he says "we better watch it or we're gonna get nuked. thank you very much." directly back to back, and then is done with the speech. THAT's how to play on ppl's fears.]
pax hominibus,
joel
His outlook is very bleak, and untrusting, and biased beyond recognition, but still, I decided to burn time listening to where someone like him could be coming from. Man, he is slick.
Anyway, a couple of things here actually are some good take-away advice, and many of the things he said are just, um, "spin" would be a nice word for it. It's nice that he actually mentions he got a call from Sean Hannity while he was on vacation. That gave me a bit of a handle for understanding him a bit better. The parts I found useful are in bold. The parts that are just fugly are in red. Truthy things, that provide new insight to me, are in green.
I. Always talk personally first, historically second, and politically last.
1. What're you gonna do for me? Are you gonna make my life better?
Ideology is a process of thought designed to produce better results/
We came up out of an ideological movement that was then transformed by a hollywood actor who had formerly been an FDR democrat.
Practice every day: personal, historical, political. .... When the hole gets deep enough, quit digging.
II. seven things very important that nobody really talks about. Discipline yourself to not spend more than half yr time on standard politics, ideology, etc, and spend the other half trying to learn some new things.
Notion that two Americas: Elite America of a remarkably small number of ppl who set the terms by which wash and state caps operate: editorial boards, newsrooms, tenured faculty, left wing intellectuals, trial lawyers, union leaders, hollywood elite.
91% of all Americans support the right to say "one nation under God" Even on the Berkeley faculty, you have a majority.
85% Rasmussen, 84% Zogby believe English should be the language of govt. Elites disagree even though the Hispanics are part of that 84%.
stick to the core values of this country, and you'll have a natural majority.
understand your core values, and how to explain them, and put them into context.
tempted to run by prospect of 7-10 dialogs next fall with hillary.
problem of iraq, very simple. its a mess. wrong policy and we've gone off a cliff. doesn't mean we should withdraw. i never defend the mess in iraq. everybody who believes that defeat is an easy alternative needs to explain the consequences of defeat. we have tried weakness once before under jimmy carter, a 444 day hostage crisis in iran, american embassy burned in pakistan , american embassador killed in afghanistan, soviet forces invade afghanistan, proxy forces from cuba, mozambique, angola, nicaragua and el salvador, soviets financing a million person demonstration in europe, ppl forget how much anti-americanism there was when ronald reagan was defending freedom and defeating the soviet empire. so we've tried weakness. so we've tried weakness at home with liberalism... it got us 13% inflation, 22% interest rates. some of you are old enough when you had to know the last number of yr car tag to know which days you could sit in line to buy gasoline... the carter administration had messed up. so we've done all this.
the debate has to be over iraq in context. [joel adds, "context," or "framing the debate"? the north korean bomb, the iran nuclear weapons program, public statements about defeating america by chavez. tell me in that context why a policy of weakness and defeat is a clever next step. i think we're in a hard place -- as hard a place as lincoln in 1862, or FDR in 1942. sooner or later we're going to have to beat these people. rabin understood that the key to making peace with the arabs was to being able to stop the iranians. so the baker-hamilton commmision said "why don't we invite the iranians in to help us out with the arabs?" like saying "if only adolph hitler had been friendlier, munich wouldn't've been nearly as bad." ["so you don't trust these people not to hurt us? can they trust us not to hurt them? seems we have already hurt them." this is a serious moment in american history, and at some point down the road we run a real risk of losing two or three cities to nuclear weapons. and i think its a lot better to act now before we lose a city than to wake up an appoint a new 911 commission saying "gee, why didn't we know?" thank you very much. [amazing how he says "we better watch it or we're gonna get nuked. thank you very much." directly back to back, and then is done with the speech. THAT's how to play on ppl's fears.]
pax hominibus,
joel
Water: The world becoming prepared for things to come?
Hi.
This article appears to be likely the least biased and most on-target, regarding global warming and its impact. It breaks down the amount that global warming is likely to happen over time, and how much each icy area of the world will likely melt, and then contribute to sea-level rises as the temperatures go up.
It seems that a few of the big ramifications of this are:
1. Flooding of ALL oceanside cities, towns, villages, and recreational areas
2. More water where there used to be ice means MORE absorption of heat from the sun
3. Less glacial run-off, combined with more brakish/salt water invading into fresh water lakes and inland seas will mean less drinking water
4. Everyone will be sad about the devastation we've wrought upon ourselves. It's hard to fully realize the potential magnitude to our shared psyche at present. Although maybe people will just get used to it, like they've gotten used to buying water in bottles and not trusting tap water. IOW, "Oh, another city getting flooded by the ocean? Tell me when there's news..." (I do earnestly hope that doesn't happen.)
So what must we do?
Regarding #1, we should be planning on either: A) Following the example of the Netherlands and learn to make some really sound levees that will withstand the predicted rises (note: these levees should be built with green-friendly/electric earthmoving machines, so we don't further contribute to greenhouse gasses in the process; or B) Building intentionally-designed cities that are efficient, socially-oriented, and Earth-friendly. They should be built several meters up from sea-level. They should be nodally-designed, with several mini-downtowns within each city, where there is a train/maglev stop, a good grocery store, and homes/condos surrounding each node with a radius of ~1 mile (2km). All of the other usual city stuff -- parks, industry, entertainment centers, etc -- gets distributed around.
For #2, to mitigate these effects, we need to pay attention to that Inconvenient Truth movie, and make the carbon-dioxide creation changes happen at levels that only government and large industry can make happen. Individuals can try to make change happen for themselves, but that only goes so far, especially in an economic system that doesn't reward, even penalizes, people for doing the right thing. That said, it's important for individuals to do so. Large industry and government need to make electric cars, solar power, and electric trains a reality AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The sooner these changes are made, the less we'll be behind the eightball come trouble-time. To try and reverse some of the effects of the absorption, we need to figure out ways to A) Reflect more sunlight as it comes into the atmosphere, before it even has a chance to warm the earth (this will unfortunately add to global dimming, and may decrease the performance of solar electrical systems, so some smart minds should figure out impact analyses before something like this would happen.) Perhaps this could be as simple as causing more cloud cover, so we'll have more mostly-cloudy days, or it could involve something more. B) PLANT MORE TREES THAN ARE BEING CUT DOWN! Significantly more for the next few decades. C) This one is outlandish, but could there be a way to exhaust heat from the Earth, in some manner similar to how a refrigerator does? When/if we have one or more space elevators, could a system do that? D) Change away from fossil fuels ASAP. Not only do they contribute to global warming and pollution, but what if we find out 100 or 200 years from now that we could've used petroleum for some other use other than internal combustion engines in cars and power plants? This means any/all alternative fuels -- solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, even nuclear for a while (I really don't like nuclear power, but it beats out fossil fuels.)
For #3, we need to work on A) Conservation -- shorter showers, less flushing and more efficient waste-disposal, better-designed faucets (with digital presets for flow amount, pattern, and temperatures), and more efficient use of water in industrial production processes; B) Desalinization, made more efficient with newer processes, either in large-scale operations, or preferrably on a smaller-scale for communities or domestic households; C) Acknowledgement of water as a publicly-shared commodity. And for Christ's sake, stop already with the water being sold by private companies in plastic water bottles! If water is in short-supply, it will only hinder goodwill and add fuel to the fire of avarice for those given the privilege to control it, were that control to be private, rather than public. I am so not-excited/uneager about having water wars. :| and D) get our population down. The world's population is about triple what it should be. When our population gets down to 2 billion people (hopefully the EASY way, not this HARD way or this HARD way), we will put much less demand on the Earth, and will be able to share the plenitude, instead of fighting over scarcity. If there are enough resources on Earth for 3-4 billion people, if we have more people, we scramble. If we have less, we share in prosperity.
For #4, I pray in my heart of hearts that a crisis like this is what will bring us together. Generations just being born into the 21st century may scorn the generations of the 20th century or they may forgive us, but they will need to come together, commiserate and provide answers and care for each other. What is it like when humanity awakens and realizes its psychological problem, and the issues of understanding who and what WE really are, and where we need to work on humanity's development of self? I'd sure like to be in on that counselling session.
lyrics: Theme from Katamari Damacy. (I'm too busy to play it right now, but not too busy not to think about it.) Moo!
colors: green, blue, brown, white - colors of the Earth from the sky
mood: preparative
chant/prayer/mantra: let peace reign o'er the day.
pax hominibus,
joel
This article appears to be likely the least biased and most on-target, regarding global warming and its impact. It breaks down the amount that global warming is likely to happen over time, and how much each icy area of the world will likely melt, and then contribute to sea-level rises as the temperatures go up.
It seems that a few of the big ramifications of this are:
1. Flooding of ALL oceanside cities, towns, villages, and recreational areas
2. More water where there used to be ice means MORE absorption of heat from the sun
3. Less glacial run-off, combined with more brakish/salt water invading into fresh water lakes and inland seas will mean less drinking water
4. Everyone will be sad about the devastation we've wrought upon ourselves. It's hard to fully realize the potential magnitude to our shared psyche at present. Although maybe people will just get used to it, like they've gotten used to buying water in bottles and not trusting tap water. IOW, "Oh, another city getting flooded by the ocean? Tell me when there's news..." (I do earnestly hope that doesn't happen.)
So what must we do?
Regarding #1, we should be planning on either: A) Following the example of the Netherlands and learn to make some really sound levees that will withstand the predicted rises (note: these levees should be built with green-friendly/electric earthmoving machines, so we don't further contribute to greenhouse gasses in the process; or B) Building intentionally-designed cities that are efficient, socially-oriented, and Earth-friendly. They should be built several meters up from sea-level. They should be nodally-designed, with several mini-downtowns within each city, where there is a train/maglev stop, a good grocery store, and homes/condos surrounding each node with a radius of ~1 mile (2km). All of the other usual city stuff -- parks, industry, entertainment centers, etc -- gets distributed around.
For #2, to mitigate these effects, we need to pay attention to that Inconvenient Truth movie, and make the carbon-dioxide creation changes happen at levels that only government and large industry can make happen. Individuals can try to make change happen for themselves, but that only goes so far, especially in an economic system that doesn't reward, even penalizes, people for doing the right thing. That said, it's important for individuals to do so. Large industry and government need to make electric cars, solar power, and electric trains a reality AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The sooner these changes are made, the less we'll be behind the eightball come trouble-time. To try and reverse some of the effects of the absorption, we need to figure out ways to A) Reflect more sunlight as it comes into the atmosphere, before it even has a chance to warm the earth (this will unfortunately add to global dimming, and may decrease the performance of solar electrical systems, so some smart minds should figure out impact analyses before something like this would happen.) Perhaps this could be as simple as causing more cloud cover, so we'll have more mostly-cloudy days, or it could involve something more. B) PLANT MORE TREES THAN ARE BEING CUT DOWN! Significantly more for the next few decades. C) This one is outlandish, but could there be a way to exhaust heat from the Earth, in some manner similar to how a refrigerator does? When/if we have one or more space elevators, could a system do that? D) Change away from fossil fuels ASAP. Not only do they contribute to global warming and pollution, but what if we find out 100 or 200 years from now that we could've used petroleum for some other use other than internal combustion engines in cars and power plants? This means any/all alternative fuels -- solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal, even nuclear for a while (I really don't like nuclear power, but it beats out fossil fuels.)
For #3, we need to work on A) Conservation -- shorter showers, less flushing and more efficient waste-disposal, better-designed faucets (with digital presets for flow amount, pattern, and temperatures), and more efficient use of water in industrial production processes; B) Desalinization, made more efficient with newer processes, either in large-scale operations, or preferrably on a smaller-scale for communities or domestic households; C) Acknowledgement of water as a publicly-shared commodity. And for Christ's sake, stop already with the water being sold by private companies in plastic water bottles! If water is in short-supply, it will only hinder goodwill and add fuel to the fire of avarice for those given the privilege to control it, were that control to be private, rather than public. I am so not-excited/uneager about having water wars. :| and D) get our population down. The world's population is about triple what it should be. When our population gets down to 2 billion people (hopefully the EASY way, not this HARD way or this HARD way), we will put much less demand on the Earth, and will be able to share the plenitude, instead of fighting over scarcity. If there are enough resources on Earth for 3-4 billion people, if we have more people, we scramble. If we have less, we share in prosperity.
For #4, I pray in my heart of hearts that a crisis like this is what will bring us together. Generations just being born into the 21st century may scorn the generations of the 20th century or they may forgive us, but they will need to come together, commiserate and provide answers and care for each other. What is it like when humanity awakens and realizes its psychological problem, and the issues of understanding who and what WE really are, and where we need to work on humanity's development of self? I'd sure like to be in on that counselling session.
lyrics: Theme from Katamari Damacy. (I'm too busy to play it right now, but not too busy not to think about it.) Moo!
colors: green, blue, brown, white - colors of the Earth from the sky
mood: preparative
chant/prayer/mantra: let peace reign o'er the day.
pax hominibus,
joel
Thursday, March 15, 2007
ENOUGH!!!
Congress has recently passed legislation that allows the president to waive limitations that troops must have a year off between stints, and to waive limitations that troops should not have extended rotations over in Iraq, and to waive limitations that troops must be mission-capable if they're sent out on duty.
All this, even though many of the people over there fighting are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to the degree that they need to take psychotropic drugs to get by. Drugs that are shown to make people living in the comfort of their home town suicidal and homicidal without bullets and IEDs going off everywhere. Seems like the primary goal of this war is becoming clearer -- to make things worse.
If I were a soldier on my second or third tour of duty after having too short of a break back home to deal with the PTSD, and was told that my rotation was being extended, I think I'd lose it. This was the reason that we were marching in the streets before this war and the Afghanistan war began. We knew it would get like this, and I've never wanted to say 'I told you so,' only 'Welcome back soldier. War is over.'
George Bush, I look back to the time at the beginning of the war when you were quoted by Pat Robertson as saying (and perhaps his words were false witness, who knows...), "There will be no casualties." George Bush, you are doing a poor job as a leader at this time. People of America do not willingly follow you.
George, you said that Jesus was your favorite philosopher. I tell in all honesty he would not know you, perhaps even siding with Marilyn Manson, shouting for you to repent. If both Christ and Marilyn Manson are together on this, you would do well to realize that you can do much better. Remember to love your neighbor. The man on wounded on the road could be an Iraqi woman wounded by a bomb, hoping for food, electricity, or her son. Or it could be someone in Darfur trying to escape genocide. It could even be a radical muslim whom you need to teach how to love. It could be a reporter who gives you a hard time. It could be a starving homeless man in downtown Washington D.C. Simply put, love is not bombs, love is compassion. If more is given to you, more is expected. When you repent, you shall be the Samaritan AND the prodigal son. Remember. You. Them. Us. Love. (You may not get another chance.)
lyrics:
This Was Always The Last Place
I Expected To Be
Once Upon An Apocalypse
So Better Make The Most Of It
So I Said To The Horsemen
Have A Coke And A Smile
So I Said To The Horsemen
Why Not Stick Around For A While?
12 Ounce Epilogue, by Clutch :|
colors: OK. Black and white drawing i'm procrastinating on. Perhaps i should repent from my procrastinatory ways. Hardly anybody reads this blog anyway....
mood: enough? i'm studying Romans 8 and wanting to talk to Paul right about now.
chant/prayer/mantra: "here comes the bright man, bringing the light and sent by the one who set fire to the sun..."
pax hominibus,
joel
All this, even though many of the people over there fighting are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to the degree that they need to take psychotropic drugs to get by. Drugs that are shown to make people living in the comfort of their home town suicidal and homicidal without bullets and IEDs going off everywhere. Seems like the primary goal of this war is becoming clearer -- to make things worse.
If I were a soldier on my second or third tour of duty after having too short of a break back home to deal with the PTSD, and was told that my rotation was being extended, I think I'd lose it. This was the reason that we were marching in the streets before this war and the Afghanistan war began. We knew it would get like this, and I've never wanted to say 'I told you so,' only 'Welcome back soldier. War is over.'
George Bush, I look back to the time at the beginning of the war when you were quoted by Pat Robertson as saying (and perhaps his words were false witness, who knows...), "There will be no casualties." George Bush, you are doing a poor job as a leader at this time. People of America do not willingly follow you.
George, you said that Jesus was your favorite philosopher. I tell in all honesty he would not know you, perhaps even siding with Marilyn Manson, shouting for you to repent. If both Christ and Marilyn Manson are together on this, you would do well to realize that you can do much better. Remember to love your neighbor. The man on wounded on the road could be an Iraqi woman wounded by a bomb, hoping for food, electricity, or her son. Or it could be someone in Darfur trying to escape genocide. It could even be a radical muslim whom you need to teach how to love. It could be a reporter who gives you a hard time. It could be a starving homeless man in downtown Washington D.C. Simply put, love is not bombs, love is compassion. If more is given to you, more is expected. When you repent, you shall be the Samaritan AND the prodigal son. Remember. You. Them. Us. Love. (You may not get another chance.)
lyrics:
This Was Always The Last Place
I Expected To Be
Once Upon An Apocalypse
So Better Make The Most Of It
So I Said To The Horsemen
Have A Coke And A Smile
So I Said To The Horsemen
Why Not Stick Around For A While?
12 Ounce Epilogue, by Clutch :|
colors: OK. Black and white drawing i'm procrastinating on. Perhaps i should repent from my procrastinatory ways. Hardly anybody reads this blog anyway....
mood: enough? i'm studying Romans 8 and wanting to talk to Paul right about now.
chant/prayer/mantra: "here comes the bright man, bringing the light and sent by the one who set fire to the sun..."
pax hominibus,
joel
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A couple pics from the Day Without Immigrants march back on May 1, 2006
Please note that neither of these pictures has been edited in any way, not even cropped (I take such good photos, they don't need no croppin' [g]).
I didn't realize at the time all of the complexity in the first one: that not only are there the two American flags (the old one and a potential new one), but that there is also a one-way sign pointing toward the peace flag, and an "international 'no left turn' sign" pointing toward the 50-stars version, and that right above the neon green "Jesus Christ Love You" poster there is a Trinity Properties sign on the apartment building behind...
And in this second one, actually taken first, is just a single exemplary sample of the several thousands of people who walked down Market Street in support of immigrants' rights. Note that there are a lot of families and kids there too. Honestly, there was a lot of strong fresh American-style energy at that rally. Often, in companies when the employees start to lack drive, hiring in a fresh infusion of "new blood" can really restart the energy and get things back on track. I can't see why there is a sizeable contingent of Americans who wouldn't want to let these new energetic people in, other than fear. :( Silly fear - don't forget what Prez. Roosevelt said...
lyrics: All the Colors / De Colores
1. All the colors, yes the colors we see in the springtime with all the of its flowers.
All the colors, when the sunlight shines out through a rift in the cloud and it showers.
All the colors, as a rainbow appears when a storm cloud is touched by the sun. (I just got done listening to a crummy digital voice recorder recording I made of a chapel last November where I played the song above on guitar while everyone sang those lyrics, plus a Spanish verse.
colors: ALL!
mood: More grounded?
chant/prayer/mantra: Inclusion rules.
pax hominibus,
joel
I didn't realize at the time all of the complexity in the first one: that not only are there the two American flags (the old one and a potential new one), but that there is also a one-way sign pointing toward the peace flag, and an "international 'no left turn' sign" pointing toward the 50-stars version, and that right above the neon green "Jesus Christ Love You" poster there is a Trinity Properties sign on the apartment building behind...
And in this second one, actually taken first, is just a single exemplary sample of the several thousands of people who walked down Market Street in support of immigrants' rights. Note that there are a lot of families and kids there too. Honestly, there was a lot of strong fresh American-style energy at that rally. Often, in companies when the employees start to lack drive, hiring in a fresh infusion of "new blood" can really restart the energy and get things back on track. I can't see why there is a sizeable contingent of Americans who wouldn't want to let these new energetic people in, other than fear. :( Silly fear - don't forget what Prez. Roosevelt said...
lyrics: All the Colors / De Colores
1. All the colors, yes the colors we see in the springtime with all the of its flowers.
All the colors, when the sunlight shines out through a rift in the cloud and it showers.
All the colors, as a rainbow appears when a storm cloud is touched by the sun.
colors: ALL!
mood: More grounded?
chant/prayer/mantra: Inclusion rules.
pax hominibus,
joel
Friday, March 2, 2007
My Bible Keeps Crashing!
For class, I got myself a copy of the NRSV bible to load onto my Palm Tungsten E, so that instead of carrying around another 5 pound b00k, I can just keep it right with me in my pocket along with my day planner, my notes, poems, lyrics, to-do list, etc.
That's all well and good, but the bible software* that I loaded sometimes causes my PDA to freeze up, so I need to do a warm reset by pushing a little paper-clip-like thing into the hole in the back. It means that when the professor asks for a volunteer to read some chapter and verse, I will only do it if the entire reading shows up on my screen. Just now, it's crashed twice, trying to look up Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." No brother, but they will be subject to crashing occasionally in the 21st century.
OK, back to the concordance in my NIV hard-copy to look for more references to 'heaven.'
lyrics: In heaven, everything is fine. In heaven, everything is fine. In heaven, everything is fine. You've got your good things, and I've got mine. - David Lynch's Lady-in-the-Radiator, and the Pixies
colors: black and white and read all over.
mood: pressed for time.
chant/prayer/mantra: from Matt 19:21-23, "Blessed are those who give their money and possessions away to the degree where they have no fear of losing them to those who have less. For then, they will have the kingdom of heaven. Otherwise, it's the whole camel / eye-of-the-needle thingie." **
pax hominibus,
joel
*I should note that the version of Bible With You I'm running is 7.00, while the latest version available is 7.23, but I'd rather put up with the crashing than risk having a very bad time mis-syncing (see the brief note about "annoyed by technology" on the Feb 24 post). Hopefully they've fixed the crash/freeze bug, and also figured out a way to let you at least do a simple Ctrl+F type Find, instead of disabling the function if you haven't purchased Concordance With You separately. (I know, I know.... for now, we all gotta get bread on the table....)
**Of course, there's always the third solution to this problem (removing the $$$ entirely), which I hope/intend to more fully expound upon in the not-too-distant future.
That's all well and good, but the bible software* that I loaded sometimes causes my PDA to freeze up, so I need to do a warm reset by pushing a little paper-clip-like thing into the hole in the back. It means that when the professor asks for a volunteer to read some chapter and verse, I will only do it if the entire reading shows up on my screen. Just now, it's crashed twice, trying to look up Mark 13:31 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." No brother, but they will be subject to crashing occasionally in the 21st century.
OK, back to the concordance in my NIV hard-copy to look for more references to 'heaven.'
lyrics: In heaven, everything is fine. In heaven, everything is fine. In heaven, everything is fine. You've got your good things, and I've got mine. - David Lynch's Lady-in-the-Radiator, and the Pixies
colors: black and white and read all over.
mood: pressed for time.
chant/prayer/mantra: from Matt 19:21-23, "Blessed are those who give their money and possessions away to the degree where they have no fear of losing them to those who have less. For then, they will have the kingdom of heaven. Otherwise, it's the whole camel / eye-of-the-needle thingie." **
pax hominibus,
joel
*I should note that the version of Bible With You I'm running is 7.00, while the latest version available is 7.23, but I'd rather put up with the crashing than risk having a very bad time mis-syncing (see the brief note about "annoyed by technology" on the Feb 24 post). Hopefully they've fixed the crash/freeze bug, and also figured out a way to let you at least do a simple Ctrl+F type Find, instead of disabling the function if you haven't purchased Concordance With You separately. (I know, I know.... for now, we all gotta get bread on the table....)
**Of course, there's always the third solution to this problem (removing the $$$ entirely), which I hope/intend to more fully expound upon in the not-too-distant future.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Electric Car referred to in the PAST TENSE 8^|
Go to the link above, and note that when you click on any of the categories of the major car manufacturers, they say "The [company name][electric car model] WAS a..."
As a result of that sentence alone, the decision-maker/CEO/board-types at all of the major US automanufacturers should be given desk jobs in the middle of a cube farm.
On better news, I made some really good lasagna last night, and made coffee with a nylon knee-high this morning. And yesterday I worked at Project Homeless Connect in downtown San Francisco giving massages to homeless people. In short, it's sobering.
lyrics: Got a devil's haircut in my mind. - Beck
colors: grey
mood: so-so
chant/prayer/mantra: om mani padme hum
pax hominibus,
joel
As a result of that sentence alone, the decision-maker/CEO/board-types at all of the major US automanufacturers should be given desk jobs in the middle of a cube farm.
On better news, I made some really good lasagna last night, and made coffee with a nylon knee-high this morning. And yesterday I worked at Project Homeless Connect in downtown San Francisco giving massages to homeless people. In short, it's sobering.
lyrics: Got a devil's haircut in my mind. - Beck
colors: grey
mood: so-so
chant/prayer/mantra: om mani padme hum
pax hominibus,
joel
