tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post779116906823219183..comments2024-03-29T06:35:11.321-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: What is wrong with this story?Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73124808006615606062012-04-23T02:07:51.002-04:002012-04-23T02:07:51.002-04:00Didn't quite mean that the way it came out eit...Didn't quite mean that the way it came out either. Something about the pat brevity of the "optimism of natural science" struck me as a little ... off in some way. Smug, as in you think you can do it without me you puny humans? I'll stop digging now.Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62493649518177621032012-04-23T00:15:28.635-04:002012-04-23T00:15:28.635-04:00The Girl In The Picture Is The 'Levitation Pic...<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/how-psychedelic-drugs-can-help-patients-face-death.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow">The Girl In The Picture Is The 'Levitation Picture of the Day' Girl</a><br /><br />It is one of the best pictures she has done that I have seen.<br /><br />Long article about recent studies about how psychedelic drugs may lower death anxiety.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-658048963272777432012-04-22T23:38:49.294-04:002012-04-22T23:38:49.294-04:00The Girl In The Picture Is The 'Levitation Pic...<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/how-psychedelic-drugs-can-help-patients-face-death.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow">The Girl In The Picture Is The 'Levitation Picture of the Day' Girl</a><br /><br />It's one of the best pictures she's done, that I have seen.<br /><br />Article is about a long study on the use of psychedelic drugs to ease anxiety of death in cancer and other patients.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78069890674779534352012-04-22T23:38:36.859-04:002012-04-22T23:38:36.859-04:00"We suggest that the surface waters of the Ar...<i>"We suggest that the surface waters of the Arctic Ocean represent a potentially important source of methane, which could prove sensitive to changes in sea ice cover," the researchers write. "The association with sea ice makes this methane source likely to be sensitive to changing Arctic ice cover and dynamics, providing an unrecognised feedback process in the global atmosphere-climate system," they say.<br /><br />Climate scientists are concerned that rising temperatures in the Arctic could trigger climate-feedbacks, where melting ice results in the release of methane which in turn results in a further increase in temperatures.<br /><br />"We should be concerned because there's so many things in the Arctic where the warming feeds further warming. There are many things in the Arctic that do respond to warming," said Euan Nisbet, a methane expert at Royal Holloway University of London.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-55505145623737895712012-04-22T23:22:06.158-04:002012-04-22T23:22:06.158-04:00But Democrats have not reckoned on the resilience ...<i>But Democrats have not reckoned on the resilience of social conservative forces. The Roman Catholic bishops under the formidable leadership of Cardinal Timothy Dolan are just beginning to mobilize against the contraception/sterilization/abortion-pill mandate as a direct threat to the religious freedom of Catholics.<br /><br />And Obama and his team may be on the verge of putting an explicit commitment to same-sex marriage into the Democratic platform, which would make gay marriage a fully polarized issue this fall after the Democratic National Convention.<br /><br />There is a demographic reason why social issues of this type have (in the 1980s and in 2004) favored Republican nominees in presidential elections: Swing voters in the pivotal heartland states are more conservative socially than they are economically—a mirror image of swing voters in the Northeast and Pacific Coast. Democrats may relearn this lesson after it is too late, assuming Republican elites—and the Republican nominee—take the minimal steps necessary to allow these issues to be part of the debate in the campaign leading up to Election Day this November.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62745086696315246972012-04-22T22:44:06.108-04:002012-04-22T22:44:06.108-04:00Which is in itself an example of a little pit bull...<i>Which is in itself an example of a little pit bull competitive spirit.</i><br /><br />That was unclear. I meant referring to what is essentially deism as little more than "optimism." It is (a little) more than that.<br /><br />The statement is truculent in its brevity.Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-74298389563877925072012-04-22T22:41:16.070-04:002012-04-22T22:41:16.070-04:00We have in him an excellent example of the optimis...<i>We have in him an excellent example of the optimism which may be encouraged by popular science.</i><br /><br />Which is in itself an example of a little pit bull competitive spirit.<br /><br />From wiki:<br /><br /><i>Deism ... is a religious philosophy which holds that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an intelligent creator(s). According to deists, the creator rarely, if ever, either intervenes in human affairs or suspends the natural laws of the universe. Deists typically reject supernatural events such as prophecy and miracles, tending instead to assert that a god (or "the Supreme Architect") does not alter the universe by intervening in it. This idea is also known as the clockwork universe theory, in which a god designs and builds the universe, but steps aside to let it run on its own.</i><br /><br />I'm not sure the deist world view can be reduced to "optimism" so much as a practical Plan B in the case that god directs neither this life nor the next.Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-89441264441322423182012-04-22T22:32:17.687-04:002012-04-22T22:32:17.687-04:00President Nicolas Sarkozy was thrust into a fight ...<i>President Nicolas Sarkozy was thrust into a fight for his political survival after lagging behind Socialist candidate François Hollande in the first round of France's presidential poll.<br /><br />...<br /><br />Mr. Hollande has said his goal would be to heal rifts in France and turn a page on what he described as Mr. Sarkozy's "divisive" style.<br /><br />Heading into the second round, Mr. Hollande can rely on support from Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the far-left candidate who took 11.1% of the vote.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-90005276623262974302012-04-22T21:21:56.499-04:002012-04-22T21:21:56.499-04:00Wine does not make you FAT ....
- it makes you LE...Wine does not make you FAT ....<br /><br />- it makes you LEAN .....<br />(Against tables, chairs, floors, walls and ugly people.)samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-33781647938146573212012-04-22T21:20:56.801-04:002012-04-22T21:20:56.801-04:00An actual sign at a golf club in Scotland
1...An actual sign at a golf club in Scotland<br /><br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br />1. BACK STRAIGHT, KNEES BENT, FEET A SHOULDER WIDTH APART.<br /><br /> <br /><br />2. FORM A LOOSE GRIP.<br /><br /> <br /><br />3. KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!<br /><br /> <br /><br />4. AVOID A QUICK BACK SWING.<br /><br /> <br /><br />5. STAY OUT OF THE WATER.<br /><br /> <br /><br />6. TRY NOT TO HIT ANYONE.<br /><br /> <br /><br />7. IF YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG, LET OTHERS GO AHEAD OF YOU.<br /><br /> <br /><br />8. DON'T STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OTHERS.<br /><br /> <br /><br />9. QUIET PLEASE...WHILE OTHERS ARE PREPARING.<br /><br /> <br /><br />10. DON'T TAKE EXTRA STROKES.<br /><br /> <br /><br />WELL DONE... NOW, FLUSH THE URINAL, WASH YOUR HANDS, GO OUTSIDE, AND TEE<br /><br />OFF.samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-61961444887858267132012-04-22T21:15:57.505-04:002012-04-22T21:15:57.505-04:00Two Mexicans are stuck in the desert after crossin...Two Mexicans are stuck in the desert after crossing into the United States , wandering aimlessly and starving. They are about to just lie down and wait for death, when all of a sudden Luis says.........<br /><br />"Hey Pepe, do you smell what I smell. Ees bacon, I theenk."<br /><br />"Is, Luis, eet sure smell like bacon. "<br /><br />With renewed hope they struggle up the next sand dune, & there, in the distance, is a tree loaded with bacon.<br /><br />There's raw bacon, there's fried bacon, back bacon, double smoked bacon ... Every imaginable kind of cured pork.<br /><br />"Pepe, Pepe, we ees saved! Ees a bacon tree!"<br /><br />"Luis, maybe ees a meerage? We ees in the desert don't forget."<br /><br />"Pepe, since when deed you ever hear of a meerage that smell like bacon...ees no meerage, ees a bacon tree!"<br /><br />And with that, Luis staggers towards the tree. He gets to within 5 metres, Pepe crawling close behind, when suddenly a machine gun opens up, and Luis drops like a wet sock. Mortally wounded, he warns Pepe with his dying breath....<br /><br />"Pepe... Go back man, you was right, ees not a bacon tree!"<br /><br />"Luis, Luis mi amigo... what ees it? "<br /><br />"Pepe.. ees not a bacon tree. Ees....<br /><br /><br />Ees.....<br /><br />Ees....<br /><br /><br /><br />Ees....<br /> <br />Ees...<br /><br /><br />Ees....<br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br />Ees..... a ham bush...."samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88494575524541025472012-04-22T21:03:54.853-04:002012-04-22T21:03:54.853-04:00In a 2011 interview, Secretary of State Hillary Cl...<i>In a 2011 interview, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that legalization is “not likely to work” because “there is just too much money in it.” Clinton was talking about cartels, but the same holds true for the legal industries that owe their profit margins, market shares, and—in some cases—very existence to the war on drugs. Here are four industries you might not realize profit off the drug war.<br /><br />4.) The Drug Testing Industry<br /><br />One of the highlights of President Barack Obama’s 2012 Drug Control Policy report is a section encouraging drug-free workplace programs, which the report touts as “beneficial for our labor force, employers, families, and communities in general.” The report also alludes to the administration’s commitment to funding research for an oral drug test that can be conducted alongside a urine analysis.<br /><br />...<br /><br />3.) The Alcohol Industry<br /><br />Marijuana legalization advocates like to point out that pot is safer than alcohol, if for no other reason than no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. They also like to point out that the booze industry has been working to subvert drug policy reform for decades, at least going back to the early 90s when the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) FOIA’d the donation records for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and found that it had accepted large donations from Jim Beam and Anheuser Busch.<br /><br />...<br /><br />2.) The Private Prison Industry <br /><br />Corrections Corp. of America (CCA), the country’s largest private prison company, has donated almost $4.5 million to political campaigns and dropped another $18 million on lobbying in the last two decades. The company, and others like it, is up to its elbows in drug war spending.</i><br /><br /><a href="http://reason.com/archives/2012/04/22/4-industries-getting-rich-off-the-drug-w" rel="nofollow">Drug War</a>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73498846730340339662012-04-22T20:57:02.689-04:002012-04-22T20:57:02.689-04:00Separate reports on the confidential Libyan papers...<i>Separate reports on the confidential Libyan papers show that MI6 set up a mosque in a major European city – without telling its EU allies – with the intention of luring Islamic extremists into unwittingly providing "information on terrorist planning".<br /><br />A double agent with close links to al-Qa'ida operations in Iraq, codenamed "Joseph", was recruited in late 2003 without authorisation from the security services of the unnamed country in which he lived.<br /><br />A secret message from MI6 to the headquarters of Moussa Koussa – the Libyan intelligence chief – published by The Sunday Telegraph, underlined the sensitivity of the mission. "We told 'Joseph' that under no circumstances was he to tell the [national intelligence service of the country he was going to operate in] of his involvement with us and the Libyans," it said.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-30567094834958874522012-04-22T20:51:40.719-04:002012-04-22T20:51:40.719-04:00'e would be toast, fer sure, but for his secre...'e would be toast, fer sure, but for his secret weapon - <br /><br />Republicans.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18262731192085492612012-04-22T20:47:22.171-04:002012-04-22T20:47:22.171-04:00Here’s how Reuters recently summed up the race for...<i>Here’s how Reuters recently summed up the race for the White House: “The 2012 presidential election is more than six months away, but here is what we know so far: It is going to be close, it is going to be nasty, and the outcome could turn on a series of unpredictable events.” The argument that followed was balanced and intelligent, and nicely captured today’s conventional wisdom.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The Reuters piece quoted above points out, sensibly enough, that “a tepid economic recovery, voter pessimism about the future and a job approval rating largely stuck in the danger zone below 50 percent mean Obama could have a hard time matching his performance in 2008, when enthusiasm for his promise of change propelled him to victory over Republican senator John McCain with 53 percent of the vote.” Even in 2008, this reminds us, Barack Obama was able to get only 53 percent of the vote, winning by about 7 points.<br /><br />And we’re not in 2008 anymore. Candidate Obama is now President Obama.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-38537113894136154782012-04-22T20:45:57.894-04:002012-04-22T20:45:57.894-04:00I wish; alas, I am as cowardly as any craven, worr...I wish; alas, I am as cowardly as any craven, worrywart soul on earth.<br /><br />To be that it wasn't so.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-61458293032835521662012-04-22T20:42:29.442-04:002012-04-22T20:42:29.442-04:00The first bailout by the European Union and IMF fo...<i>The first bailout by the European Union and IMF for Greece, in May 2010, was for €110 billion, an impressive amount at the time for a country whose entire gross domestic product only totaled around €225 billion.<br /><br />Europe's crisis commitment has grown to more than €1 trillion, including additional bailouts of Ireland and Portugal, a second Greek aid package, the creation of Europe's rescue fund, national loans to the IMF and the ECB's purchases of more than €200 billion in government bonds. That doesn't include the €1 trillion in cheap, three-year loans to banks from the ECB since December.<br /><br />"I'm always surprised when I read that Europe hasn't done enough," Klaus Regling, head of Europe's bailout fund, said Friday.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82517454720400006882012-04-22T20:35:09.051-04:002012-04-22T20:35:09.051-04:00heh, took some looking -
Q. What does Religion me...heh, took some looking -<br /><br /><i>Q. What does Religion mean to you?<br /><br />A. It means nothing; and it seems, so far as I can observe, useless to others. I am sixty-seven years of age and have resided in X. fifty years, and have been in business forty-five, consequently I have some little experience of life and men, and some women too, and I find that the most religious and pious people are as a rule those most lacking in uprightness and morality. The men who do not go to church or have any religious convictions are the best. Praying, singing of hymns, and sermonizing are pernicious- they teach us to rely on some supernatural power, when we ought to rely on ourselves. I teetotally disbelieve in a God. The God-idea was begotten in ignorance, fear, and a general lack of any knowledge of Nature. If I were to die now, being in a healthy condition for my age, both mentally and physically, I would just as lief, yes, rather, die with a hearty enjoyment of music, sport, or any other rational pastime. As a timepiece stops, we die- there being no immortality in either case.<br /><br />Q. What comes before your mind corresponding to the words God, Heaven, Angels, etc.?<br /><br />A. Nothing whatever. I am a man without a religion. These words mean so much mythic bosh.<br /><br />Q. Have you had any experience which appeared providential?<br /><br />A. None whatever. There is no agency of the superintending kind. A little judicious observation as well as knowledge of scientific law will convince any one of this fact.<br /><br />Q. What things work most strongly on your emotions?<br /><br />A. Lively songs and music; Pinafore instead of an Oratorio. I like Scott, Burns, Byron, Longfellow, especially Shakespeare, etc., etc. Of songs, the Star-spangled Banner, America, Marseillaise, and all moral and soul-stirring songs, but wishy-washy hymns are my detestation. I greatly enjoy nature, especially fine weather, and until within a few years used to walk Sundays into the country, twelve miles often, with no fatigue, and bicycle forty or fifty. I have dropped the bicycle. I never go to church, but attend lectures when there are any good ones. All of my thoughts and cogitations have been of a healthy and cheerful kind, for instead of doubts and fears I see things as they are, for I endeavor to adjust myself to my environment. This I regard as the deepest law. Mankind is a progressive animal. I am satisfied he will have made a great advance over his present status a thousand years hence.<br /><br />Q. What is your notion of sin?<br /><br />A. It seems to me that sin is a condition, a disease, incidental to man's development not being yet advanced enough. Morbidness over it increases the disease. We should think that a million of years hence equity, justice, and mental and physical good order will be so fixed and organized that no one will have any idea of evil or sin.<br /><br />Q. What is your temperament?<br /><br />A. Nervous, active, wide-awake, mentally and physically. Sorry that Nature compels us to sleep at all.<br /><br />If we are in search of a broken and a contrite heart, clearly we need not look to this brother. His contentment with the finite incases him like a lobster-shell and shields him from all morbid repining at his distance from the Infinite. We have in him an excellent example of the optimism which may be encouraged by popular science. </i><br /><br />Varieties of Religious Experience<br /><br />tis Brother Rufus!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-38964198477292097972012-04-22T20:22:59.759-04:002012-04-22T20:22:59.759-04:00.
I've always had a problem reading authors w....<br /><br /><i>I've always had a problem reading authors with 3 names. I wonder why?</i><br /><br /><br />Attention span?<br /><br /><br />I disagreed with a few things on the margin, but all in all, I thought he did a good job defining the problem.<br /><br />[Although the idea of printing our own drugs makes me think he knows a lot more about that marijuana he was talking about than he lets on.<br /><br />We may reach that point technically some day, but there are too many vested interests involved to expect it to ever really happen.]<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88613095212940479812012-04-22T20:01:39.550-04:002012-04-22T20:01:39.550-04:00Of course, the well-educated (hence, "rich&qu...<i>Of course, the well-educated (hence, "rich") have more to be "Thankful for."</i><br /><br />Walt Whitman never had hardly a dime. Nor Roethke.<br /><br />It is not that, not that at all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68020696579401985292012-04-22T19:55:58.442-04:002012-04-22T19:55:58.442-04:00Link
***************************
Time and again ...<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/book-gop-freshman-class-turned-into-a-monster-for-boehner-other-house-leaders/2012/04/22/gIQAV15PaT_story.html" rel="nofollow">Link</a><br /><br />***************************<br /><br />Time and again last year, House Republican leaders faced a nearly intractable opponent: the very freshman class that propelled them into the majority with the historic 2010 midterm elections.<br /><br />Rebelling from the outset of the 112th Congress and later wreaking internal havoc during talks to increase the Treasury Department’s ability to borrow funds, the freshman class repeatedly created problems for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), according to a new book.<br /><br />The freshman resistance caused feuds among Boehner and his lieutenants that led some to fear a mutiny, heightened several showdowns with President Obama and eventually led to fissures among the rookies, pitting those who seldom trusted the leaders against those who reflexively did, according to “Do Not Ask What Good We Do,” an account of the freshman class’s impact by Robert Draper.<br /><br />The infighting reached such a point in the fall that some newcomers requested that the weekly freshman meetings be disbanded because they had turned into shouting matches, with freshmen loudly criticizing the leaders.<br /><br />“You’ve created a monster,” Rep. Renee L. Ellmers (R-N.C.), a former nurse elected in 2010, warned House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), according to Draper’s book.<br /><br />***************************Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-24173434724608021982012-04-22T19:42:10.351-04:002012-04-22T19:42:10.351-04:00Joe Lieberman on Election 2012: "I'm goin...Joe Lieberman on Election 2012: "I'm going to try something different this year. I'm going to try to stay out of this one. I'm enjoying not being involved in the nastiness of campaigning in America these days."<br /><br />The Blood Sport getting old.Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-79742170157907779992012-04-22T19:09:18.733-04:002012-04-22T19:09:18.733-04:00More and more I am thinking it's a damn shame ...More and more I am thinking it's a damn shame that Pelosi over-ruled Rahm Emanuel who favored a compromise approach to health care. Not sure of all the details but the Dems recognize that the price they (and by extension the country) paid for ACA is very steep, as per Barney Frank's assessment. Reform should have been phased in but the Dems were in full reform mode. (I say that not with smug 20/20 hindsight for, at the time, I opposed the government plan, favoring instead targeted expenditures for economic stimulation since "this time was indeed different.")Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80788458634534667272012-04-22T19:07:50.956-04:002012-04-22T19:07:50.956-04:00Of course, the well-educated (hence, "rich&qu...Of course, the well-educated (hence, "rich") have more to be "Thankful for."<br /><br />Also, goin' ta Sunday School is just good business (or, at least "claiming to" is.) :)Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-31874157801273207222012-04-22T18:54:51.886-04:002012-04-22T18:54:51.886-04:00I've always had a problem reading authors with...<i>I've always had a problem reading authors with 3 names. I wonder why?</i><br /><br />:)<br /><br />It's a good thing I couldn't locate his piece where he blames the decline of western civilization on Democrats. <br /><br />Many of the analysts on the Right are very "wordy." In point of fact I think the verbal assault is a function of the philosophical underpinnings of ideology as the thematic subject, which means that the Right is in high gear because they see this period of history as their window of opportunity to roll-back FDR's progressive government.<br /><br />WRM is very popular among conservatives (I was going to venture into hyperbole and suggest that he sits on the right hand side of God but ...) so one gets a good sense of post-Buckley conservative thought. And it's pretty nasty, IMO, which is why I added the health care link where he advocates pure market capitalism as an adequate, if not optimal, solution, when in fact it is anything but.Max (short for Maxine)http://url.comnoreply@blogger.com