“ About 30 states allow early voting, but a Maryland law that did so was struck down by the state’s highest court in 2006.
Wild Sound
Nov 02
Oct 31
“ Women tend to feel conflict more and worry about it being their fault, while men often distance themselves from conflict, deciding the problem is external to them and they, therefore, don’t need to worry about it. Men often think the conflict is finished when it is finished within them.
— L E A D E R S H I P A N D T H E S E X E S
B y M i c h a e l G u r i a n
w i t h B a r b a r a A n n i s
B y M i c h a e l G u r i a n
w i t h B a r b a r a A n n i s
Oct 23
“
A 22-nation survey by the BBC found that voters abroad preferred Mr. Obama to Mr. McCain in every single country — by four to one over all. Nearly half of those in the BBC poll said that the election of Mr. Obama, an African-American, would “fundamentally change” their perceptions of the United States.
[…]
Europe is particularly intoxicated by the possibility of restoring amity with America in an Obama presidency. As The Economist put it: “Across the Continent, Bush hatred has been replaced by Obama-mania.”
Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes, which conducted the BBC poll, said that at a recent international conference he attended in Malaysia, many Muslims voiced astonishment at Mr. Obama’s rise because it was so much at odds with their assumptions about the United States. Remember that the one thing countless millions of people around the world “know” about the United States is that it is controlled by a cabal of white bankers and Jews who use police with fire hoses to repress blacks. To them, Mr. Obama’s rise triggers severe cognitive dissonance.
“It’s an anomaly, so contrary to their expectation that it makes them receptive to a new paradigm for the U.S.,” Mr. Kull said.
Europeans like to mock the vapidity of American politics, but they also acknowledge that it would be difficult to imagine a brown or black person leading France or Germany.
“ Barack Obama has written that his views began to take shape in the back streets of Jakarta, where he lived as a young boy and saw the poverty, the human rights violations and the fear inspired by the American-backed Indonesian dictator Suharto. It was there, Mr. Obama wrote in his second autobiography, that he first absorbed the “jumble of warring impulses” that make up American foreign policy, and received a street-level understanding of how foreigners react to “our tireless promotion of American-style capitalism” and to Washington’s “tolerance and occasional encouragement of tyranny, corruption and environmental degradation.
Oct 16
“ Mr. Buckley said he did not understand the sense of betrayal that some of his conservative colleagues felt, but said that the fury and ugly comments his endorsement generated is “part of
the calcification of modern discourse. It’s so angry.” Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan’s quote about the Democrats, Mr. Buckley added, “I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.
the calcification of modern discourse. It’s so angry.” Paraphrasing Ronald Reagan’s quote about the Democrats, Mr. Buckley added, “I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.
Oct 14
King of the Hill
- Hank: So are you Chinese or Japanese?
- Kahn: We’re Laotian.
- Bill: The ocean? What ocean?
- Kahn: From Laos, stupid! It’s a landlocked country in South East Asia between Vietnam and Thailand, population approximately 4.7 million!
- Hank: …
- Bill: …
- Hank: So are you Chinese or Japanese?
Oct 13
“ Liberals and progressives have, ironically, inherited the “conservative” task of rescuing capitalism from it’s own excesses (again) and bringing some stability and greater equity to the system. We’re also tasked with restraining the radical, overtly-imperial wing of the “national security” elites and quickly moving the country toward alternative energy resources. Meanwhile, “conservatives” of the pro-Bush, pro-McCain variety are engaged in nothing more noble than fighting phantoms that emerge from the darker corners of the mind when one is losing control and old behavior patterns have become increasingly self-defeating and irrelevant. There are a handful of conservative Cassandras in the intellectual sphere who liberals should take very seriously - like Andrew Bacevich and Kevin Phillips - but the self-righteous right is increasingly running around in desperation and as their credulous public shrinks, the impact of their lying and lack of seriousness is mostly just to further isolate themselves.
Oct 12
“ You can elevate the conversation about Joan by pointing out how her complicity in the system works against her. Her sex appeal only carries her so far—on a recent episode she was passed over for a job she was clearly perfect for because no one could see her as a serious working woman. She is a queen among secretaries, but still nothing compared to men. (Note of caution: the show can make one feel guilty, and a little complicit themselves, for enjoying a depiction of the politically incorrect, sexist patriarchy of yore.)
Oct 09
4 yr old: Knock, knock
3 yr old: Who’s there?
4 yr old: Orange
3 yr old: Orange who?
4 yr old: Orange juice!
3 yr old: Ooh i love that juice!
Oct 05
“ These are daunting and even dreadful prospects. The Long Emergency is going to be a tremendous trauma for the human race. We will not believe that this is happening to us, that 200 years of modernity can be brought to its knees by a world-wide power shortage. The survivors will have to cultivate a religion of hope — that is, a deep and comprehensive belief that humanity is worth carrying on. If there is any positive side to stark changes coming our way, it may be in the benefits of close communal relations, of having to really work intimately (and physically) with our neighbors, to be part of an enterprise that really matters and to be fully engaged in meaningful social enactments instead of being merely entertained to avoid boredom. Years from now, when we hear singing at all, we will hear ourselves, and we will sing with our whole hearts.
—
The Long Emergency : Rolling Stone
The current finanial crisis and soaring gas prices have for some time had me thinking there is a silver lining to all this, that we’re going to have to live more locally, more economically, less wastefully, more healthily…and while that may be true in the long run this scary article points out that it will be a VERY painful process to get there. (via chutry)
