chuck kottke

Welcome Back Vanessa :sunny::sunny::) Best wishes in veterinary medicine, I know it's tough - akin to studying to be a doctor! :sunny::sunny::sunny:

New from The Stream: National Transitional Council (NTC) authorities have confirmed the Libyan leader is dead and his remains are in a Misrata mosque. He was killed while trying to flee his hometown Sirte. According to reports, fighting stopped almost immediately as news of Gaddafi’s death spread. As most Libyans celebrate on the streets, Libya’s transitional government has begun the process of rebuilding the country. The NTC’s primary concerns in the immediate future are security and peace. Many fear widespread retribution against those who fought with Gaddafi’s forces, or in the worst case, a state of near-civil war driven by ethnic and tribal divisions. At the United Nations on Thursday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for all Libyans to focus on reconciliation and unity, calling on combatants to lay down their arms and for the NTC to include all Libyans in the new government. Now is “a time for generosity of spirit, not revenge,” said Ban. Elections are scheduled to be held eight months from now. Libya’s economy is still suffering from the effect of Gaddafi’s 4-decade rule. Despite a wealth of natural resources in the country, most Libyans live on less than $2 per day, and unemployment is estimated at 40 per cent. Some speculate Gaddafi’s death could put other leaders in the region (Syria or Yemen, for example) under more pressure to transition out of power. The Stream spoke with Syrian-American Hip-Hop artist Omar Offendum and Mark Vlasic, international criminal lawyer and member of the U.S. delegation to the Pan Am Lockerbie trial at the Hague. We also spoke via Skype with Libyan-American doctor Mahmoud Traina, Libyan blogger Ali Tweel, and Libyan Fighter and intern doctor Mohammed Ali. The Stream - Al Jazeera English

Packed stadiums, #1 on the charts in 36 countries, Rhianna sing-alongs, I guess the critics feel they have to make something up, else they wouldn't be considered critics!:laugh3:

Hm, I can understand that - anything repeated too much is too much will do that, and the Seussicals sounded like such a mashup, I wondered if they lost the cohesiveness of the original works? But I still have fond memories of Seuss's books and recordings, they really are fun! Still, the elephants are reminiscent of other facets - such as freeing animals held too long in captivity, making zoos more livable for the animal residents, how exercise frees us from sitting too much and gives us energy! Plus the fun of escaping one's own drudgery - uplifting in it's own right. Lots of good inferences one can gather.;) And with Halloween approaching fast, elephant outfits will be stampeding out of shops everywhere!:cool: (and unicycles too.:P)

to make the desert bloom, it could be paradise. Even just to bring up clean water, desalinate some ocean water, to take pressure off the supply needs coming out of the city and have more for the dry areas, get some water stability in the region. 20" near the capitol, almost nil to the north and northwest, seems like a combination of small dikes to allow water to sink in and irrigation from displaced demand from rivers could do it. thinking also how amazing the difference in corn yields under drought conditions are just using selection and traditional breeding, we can find amazing improvements in crop production via a combination of approaches. Wind farms to fix nitrogen as well, solar farms too to fix it. Applying what we know, paradise is within reach.

Apple IIe

Welcome Lisa :):):) Glad you thoroughly enjoyed Coldplay in Austin! :cowboy::flutterby::elephant:

Welcome here! Glad you came out of the shadows, decided to post and join our tiny island in hyperspace! Meet the natives, we're friendly and zany, just like anywhere I suppose!:laugh3: It's easy, just relax and enjoy the board, no more energy required than chiming in when you like, or you can get into some heated discussions about global events! All under one tent, just like a circus. I am as I am, others like to go the masquerade party route, which adds an interesting mystery as well, but behind each computer sits a human, or a robot, or in some cases perhaps even an elephant!:laugh3: Glad you like the tunes, keep listening with both ears attune.

But elephants are among the smartest animals on earth, and besides, it's fun and funnier with elephants! :laugh3: What would Seuss say if Horton were here?:hat: Because a persons a person, no matter how small. And we can make the desert bloom, for elephants roam in many parts of this tiny dust speck we call Earth.:sunny:

The key to reform is getting representation back in our hands, that takes removing the undue influence of a few with huge sums of money from buying politicians. Just look at the top donors to candidate races today - there's Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and the list goes on and on - tell me, if that isn't a direct buy-in, then what is it?? How can we bring about accountability and regulation over the markets when they rig the system to prevent such things from happening? This morning Amy Goodman was in Kansas City interviewing former financial regulator William Black (who served under President Reagan), and this is what he had to say about the mess we're in: "If you look [at the Occupy protests], not just nationwide, but worldwide, you will see some pretty consistent themes developing," Black says. "Those themes include: we have to deal with the systemically dangerous institutions, the 20 biggest banks that the administration is saying are ticking time bombs, that as soon as one of them fails, we go back into a global crisis. We should fix that. There’s no reason to have institutions that large. That’s a theme. That accountability is a theme, that we should put these felons in prison... That we should get jobs now, and that we should deal with the foreclosure crisis. So those are four very common themes that you can see in virtually any of these protest sites... I think, over time, you won’t necessarily have some grand written agenda, but you’ll have, as I say, increasing consensus. And it’s a very broad consensus." And why is it that deregulation has been happening all these years, until finally the train wreck happened? I think it's clear - those who pay in and succeed by using the indirect bribes to help most politicians get into office get what they want in return - a system with weak oversight and even weaker rules, which oversees a process where strong independent oversight and effective rules are essential to keeping the wost behaviors in check. While we rethink how businesses are organized, in the meantime we have to deal with what we have in place. Former Financial Regulator William Black: Occupy Wall Street a Counter to White-Collar Fraud

>>That's what I think is the root problem, but many of the protesters want trials and sentences for the bankers responsible for the misdeeds done that led to the crash, some want a return to not-for-profit hospitals, some want markets corrected to respect the earth's ecological health, many other things as well. I haven't sensed much partisanship really, it seemed to be more general and about reform, and yes, shame on any who drag partisan politics into it, I agree! These are central issues of justice and fairness that need addressing apart from partisanship. Interesting how the hunger strikers at the Occupy Oakland gathering, the freed hikers from Iran, are calling for an end to solitary confinement in our prison systems: Freed U.S. Hikers Speak at Occupy Oakland, Express Support for California Prisoners on Hunger Strike >because it's all tied together - we are guaranteed a right in the Bill of Rights, that Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. So the use of solitary confinement is quite clearly a form of cruel punishment, for the sensory deprivation alone is enough to lead to madness. It is barbaric for a modern democracy respectful of human rights to permit such things. The very fact that this goes on indicates the level to which our government is not responsive to our will, nor respectful of our rights, and is very much in need of bringing around to we citizens, for it is our rights that are being lost and trampled upon.

> Well, I think they are feeling the effects and want to make a statement, but don't know where the problems originate or what are the solutions. Not that it was all that different at the start of the American revolution for instance - many unemployed people were milling about on the streets, upset from the lack of work or high prices of goods (tea for instance), a sense of inequity, searching for someone to give them a sense of why things are messed up and how to solve the problems. Sounds like the movement needs some coordination and speakers who can sum up the reasons why and how to press for change.:thinking:;) Right now the global multi-national corporations are so large, many have greater economic power than most countries, and will send work to the place where labor laws are nill and the workers will work the cheapest. That's one concern, we've already seen the demise of our manufacturing sector here, so be on the lookout for that danger. International Unions seem like one great antidote to what ails us on that front. Worker-owned companies are another solution to that threat. How's the unemployment rate in the Netherlands? But overarching all this are the plutocrats, the super-rich who have permitted the economic downturn and resist helping average citizens. Need a bailout? Having a financial crisis? Only if you're worth a few million or billion. That's when the wealthy clam up, help only themselves, and we need to press for reform in the investment and banking sector globally to ensure proper functioning of banks and remove the pull of political and ideological tinkering from the process. Oversight by sound financial regulation is one thing, political influence and risky gamesmanship is another. Equal rights is essential, part of the problem as well - during economic downturns, there's always blame put on minorities and on immigrants for what's gone wrong, for fear of job losses. We need to move past that and focus on the real reasons for the economic failings, for allowing bubbles to form so large in the first place. Protections to ensure that minorities are not hard hit by economic train wrecks need to be put in place. For world peace - well, that's part of it as well. All the money poured into wars, all that could have been helping improve the economy in a real sense, and improve people's lives everywhere. Plus all the disruption caused, the suffering resulting is immense and unnecessary. The reason so many countries are unstable is because of poor economic conditions, and that has much to do with policies in the wealthier nations which do not share fairly the largess of the wealth generated in the world. Resources on the cheap, ecological devastation and resource poverty in the places where it all comes from. So peace requires dignity, good paying jobs, financial stability and growth, an end to top-heavy regimes and corporate greed. It is all connected, we are all connected. It begins with honest government, with understanding and with action.

I think it's pretty clear what the root of the problems is - it all boils down to the buying off of our elected representatives. We need to build firewalls between Wall Street and Washington, between elected officials and lobbyists, between those who want to funnel money into political races and those running for office. Open up the public square, let candidates debate freely, speak freely and easily to the citizens, remove the presence of the back room deals, the behind-the-curtain check signings at the conventions. The frequency spectrum is a public space, it is a commons, just as water is and air is. For the privilege broadcasters get to use that space, they must freely return a fair share of it to the public for candidate messages, for debates, for educational content about government's proper functions. The buying of the frequency spectrum is a mistake, just like the attempt Bechtel made to buy Bolivia's water rights - you can't own what is in the commons, and to attempt to do so is a crime against humanity and an affront to nature. It is for all to enjoy, provided it is shared fairly, and for those who use the most, they must return something of equal value to the citizens, something which gives back the use of that commons to the citizenry. Ring the Liberty Bell, it chimes well and clear when the air of big money isn't dampening it's tones! Let Freedom Ring, Let Freedom Ring, Let Freedom Ring!!!

yea really, the little things in life do the most cheering up, how true! what made me really happy today? > taking the oak for a ride.:)

Oh wow, I had some idea that this was global, but Gautama, that is an incredible number of links!! Keep up the good works, you're an angel for doing so.:angel: "Think about our planet, what is wrong, what needs to be changed, what you could do locally to make it better." Yes, to put things into perspective is a good thing to keep in mind, I agree wholeheartedly - for we are all floating along on this planet in space, here is our spaceship earth, best we keep it a living planet, a healthy home. I think it's only when some of the inhabitants get the idea that they are above the rest, or use the excesses of their selfish desires to gain at the expense of others, for short term gain and sometimes out of fear (the horse race, so many racing horses too busy racing to ponder why or what is better for all), or simply hyper-competitiveness run amok, then we begin to loose the social contracts between us, we have seen the results of unchecked behaviors and blind faith in market forces. It's a realization even those on the market streets are aware of, but when the game's afoot, few can resist the pull or forge a new path. It's an enormous ship to steer, and the rudder takes the leverage of a mass movement to turn things around. Which is happening, and I am excited to see it!!! So what to demand? What demands would be right, fair, effective, lasting, and encompass a broad range of concerns? For that we need to delve into human nature, into social behaviors and current modes of organizing ourselves and our understanding of these underpinnings of human societies today... and then formulate better paths to take, more natural ways of shaping the progress of human interactions so as to achieve a more harmonious existence. Market forces motivate, can be healthy and beneficial to society and aren't going away any time soon, so the question in my mind is how to ensure fairness between all stakeholders and incorporate long-term as well as short-term effects into the markets so that the bridge to the future is strengthened as each new span is added. Their interactions with the environment, their societal impacts, ensuring that they function well to improve the overall wellness of we citizens as well as rewarding and motivating those with the better planning and cooperative skills, better efforts and designs - we must now include all that which has been left out of the market systems for them to function for the health and benefit of society and the planet's ecology. Checks and Balances, James Madison's application of this to government, must extend to markets as well. Demands to be made for the correcting of behaviors, setting forth a better path, that is the matter at hand. For those in power yield only to great pressure, and even then some only yield when removed from power and are replaced by better representatives. Given the pressure, what needs to be done? What builds awareness is first experiencing what another deals with in life, a man or woman who has not felt a hot fire all day long cannot sense what a worker in a steel mill goes through, only experiences can allow one to relate. It is in part this disconnect that allows the insurance business man to think in terms of simply maximizing profits by upping premiums and dropping coverage after a claim, but the ability to empathize can be regained after just one visit to a free clinic, or one week spent working in a mill. Yet not everyone can have these experiences, but the broad majority of us all toil in some capacity at some time in our lives, and can set up rules for fair conduct, and ensure oversight of businesses to prevent and disincentivise cold actions motivated by pure greed and the game mentality. So I believe we need to demand that checks and balances to the markets be restored, and better market practices, as well as better forms of business, be established and promoted. Essential to that is moving the center of understanding to where it needs to be, towards investing in businesses that uphold a higher standard, towards more worker-owned businesses and cooperatives. Even family owned enterprises can be good for all involved, if the goal of the business is improving the wellness of workers and owners, incorporates long-term thinking and planning, and considers all stakeholders in the decisions being made. To make these the more common types of businesses, we need to elect representatives to office who work for us & promote the better businesses, not who pretend to and then work for those who undermine the values and social contracts we hold dear. This is true of Wall Street banks as well - the better, more ethical practices need to be rewarded, the unethical practices prevented and law breakers prosecuted when they do break the law. But not much in the way of prosecution went on, so-called reforms made by the very rule breakers who imploded the markets. Which is why oversight must come from elected representatives accountable to we the people. And only when the excesses of campaign cash from a minority of wealthy donors is removed will we see a cleaning up of the elections. One approach is to open up the airwaves for all candidates equally so, as a place of public forum and discussion. Another is to declare that money isn't speech, and corporations aren't people. A third is to ensure that elected officials do not take lobbying jobs of any sort once out of office. No more delayed bribery, end the quid pro quos. A fourth is to demand that wealthy plutocrats diversify their investments, a new more strict set of laws to prevent the monopolization of medias, so that the Murdochs and Berlisconis and Kochs of the world can't use their powerful media empires to sway elections and distract the public from knowing the truth about important subject matters. To do that takes a level field for candidates to run on, candidates who are beholden to we citizens, who can set down fair rules of conduct, who can restore those checks and balances and extend them to the markets and beyond. Oversight and transparency is a blessing for us all.

I believe there are times when demonstrating in the name of justice and demonstrating against many injustices can and does change the world. This is one of those times. We all sense that a train of crimes and abuses has been committed on a grand scale, and great harm done to many descent people with no corrective action taken, no reform undertaken, and barely even the tacit acknowledgment of such a problem in the general media or by most of those in office. It feels as though a train wreck just happened, and everyone is stepping around, over, and under the wreckage, unable to look at or touch the still hot boiler, while the occupants suffer in the collided cars down the tracks. Finally, there is acknowledgment by those not caught up in the machine, putting out pointers to what needs to be made clear for all to see, and now a coming together of all who value justice, fairness, and honesty, to wake up the sleep walking world all around us, for while many see, many are still lost and dazed in the fog. And the issues are all interconnected - as protecting the commons is ignored, so are basic human rights and matters of fair conduct; the nature of the financial system currently in control of the world is so in need of reform and correction that it can no longer be ignored, it is the elephant in the room. Robert Reich is concerned that this economic downturn may persist, with high unemployment lingering for a decade or more. And unless the underlying defects with the tracks and layout corrected, train derailments will persist, the slowness of the speed of the engine hampered by many factors which no patch on the boiler alone can correct. One thing is certain, we can no longer afford to allow the gamblers to run the casino, and any who have gambled away the savings and stability of others need to be held accountable. Sound financial policy is best prepared and enacted by a well informed government with true checks and balances, where a firewall has been erected between commerce and government. Achieving a government responsive to the will of the citizens is one key element on the path to reform. The undue influence of a powerful few with little concern for long-term social stability or human equity have been so rigging the system in their favor, and so endangering the stability of the financial systems of the world, it is little wonder this has happened. So in order to set right the process that selects representation which then oversees markets and incorporates the concerns of all stakeholders as well as deep and pressing ecological concerns, we must start from the start. A combination of honest education and honest elections processes must take place to ensure we achieve stable and equitable financial markets. Plus those who are guilty need to be held accountable, and the enormous income disparities addressed. Without a growing middle, democracy is in trouble; it is in everyone's best interest to improve the economic strength of each nation and the world, and protesting where the problem is puts the spotlight on those responsible for the problem, then the next step is fixing the problem by fixing the underlying causes.

A big problem today, in our Orwellian world, is that the commercial media has become a vassal of empire, a tool of the elites to promote their policies and candidates. Even if all candidates had equal access to the press for time, debates, messages, etc. - there still remains this corporate news machine which is in the business of promoting its agenda using the so-called news, or the infotainment industry, and its candidates of choice parrot its policy desires. I'd like to believe everyone will start to dig for the truth, support independent investigative journalism, look into candidate financing, etc. but I think many will go the easy route and try and pick the sweetest lemons using their sense of how the candidate comes across on TV, and how the news portrays them. Without independent investigative journalism, we might not be able to overcome the pull of the elites via the message machines. Fixing this is a real challenge, a chicken and egg problem of sorts since the reforms need to be from government oversight and antitrust actions to prevent single control over huge segments of the media, and regulation demanding that media journalism departments be freed from the overt control by their ownership. One answer is to support independent investigative journalism and analysis whenever you can. The Tea Party is a FOX generated device, financed by the Koch brothers, so there's a perfect example of how the corporate media is a shill for a few wealthy elites, but that's just one example of a much larger problem, where all the candidates who hope to make it kowtow to the power brokers, for favorable air and press time, with attendant kick-backs if and when they become office holders. One good thing coming from the discontent is a desire to seek the real truth, so hopefully all the protests over Wall Street will shake things up enough so these issues can no longer be ignored, and more and more citizens see the light. :sunny:

1,2,3,4 monsters in a row!:P currently, Reminiscing by the Little River Band.

Hm, the central banks have control of the money supply through the federal reserve, but no matter what happens, I think the moneyed elites will find ways to either prevent some toppling of the central banks, or block major changes in fed policy, non? How is this to be accomplished, and what's to stop the power elites from jimmying up the works? I am curious as to how and why, it's not my area of expertise, and yet it may hold a key to changing things.:inquisitive: So I keep heading in the direction of election reform, so as to lessen the effects of money in and on elections, first by adding amendments to the US Constitution so that those common-sense rights to fair elections and firewalls to stop the revolving doors are put in place. Simply stating that corporations aren't people is, besides restating what should be obvious, seems to me too narrow a target, though it's a big issue to be addressed. Maybe stating that money isn't free speech is, though it seems that those with the money would find a way to side-step that, and thus maybe a broader amendment is needed to nail the problem down tight. So thus I lean towards fair elections, equal access to the press (TV, radio,... airwaves basically) for all qualified candidates, since that seems a way for all candidates to be heard in the public square, and reduce the influence of big money buying the most persuasive ads & airtime, which is currently the formula for success. Missing as well from the constitution is a clear right to diverse competition, the right to fair markets. It was the East India Company of old, and it's corrupt practices, that fueled the revolution for liberty, so including clear language to prevent virtual monopolies on media, energy, communications, and the like is essential for a strong and vibrant democracy. Those who control so huge a % of a given sector should be made to diversify their investments, so no one may wield such excessive power, for all power corrupts, and such absolute power corrupts absolutely. All those things which the US government now possess and which were clearly to be prevented by the constitution - standing armies with bases in other lands, the use of excessive fines and punishments, a single seat of immense power, allowing giant corporations with virtually no public oversight to exist, the taking of private property without just compensation, usurpation of the right to be secure in one's home from unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures, ignoring the right to privacy, and the almost complete obliteration of the inclusion and equal merit of all rights not enumerated in the Constitution - all these things have been trampled upon brazenly by the plutocrats, the elites, through their puppet government, to the dismay of any free citizens. So the government simply looks like a clearing house for whoever has the money to do whatever they want, and for wielding enormous power and playing geopolitical power games, the effects of which leave many seriously injured or dead, create dysfunction and disharmony in the world, and are clearly not policies any sane well-informed citizen would want. But the one hitch pin that ties the wagon to the horses is the right to vote, and if we had a clean elections process with equal access for all candidates to the public square, and the right to limit the excesses of money in politics, firewalls between commerce and government, we can begin to get a handle on this gargoyle of greed and power damaging our world. Sorry for the rant here, but it's just what I feel is intuitively wrong, and what might work to set in motion a process of reform. All I can say is, Gautama, keep up the pressure on Wall Street! I really wish I were there now as well, my heart is in this battle to restore democracy.

Those socks must be done by now - I just want to :sleeping::sleeping::sleeping:

Walnut

It gets more interesting, solving three-dimensional volumetric equations describing shapes by several methods - slicing along an axis, rotation of a moving plane about an axis, or by using cylindrical shells. Maximizing volume, minimizing surface area, all sorts of neat things like that.. Calculus can be fun in a geeky way!:sunny: I believe if we think we can and shall overcome, what once looked like an insurmountable obstacles become, when broken into steps, a certainty.

How can a collection of cells, communicating with the past, present, and dreaming of the future, be just that and nothing more? But to be non-reflective is to be productive, so in each frame a mode very apropos to that moment. Yet without one or the other, neither would function well, so both are mutually essential to being. It is our destiny to unravel the mysteries, and travel farther together, the tapestry of time being woven as we think and act.

Spill the beans already!:P Comeon Ian, the cats out of the hat already. :hat:

cooked split peas with olive oil and salt.