can we do anything right?

ahhhhhh

uh oh

"the big hate"

great article by paul krugman tearing the GOP to shreds

two good links. hopefully ill do some sort of write up after these finals i've got.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/education/11stuff.html?_r=1&em

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/06/opinion/06price.html?_r=1

two solid links

first one is about google getting a flock of goats, instead of a yard service, to mow their lawn

second one is about a legit whale fossil being discovered in a kitchen counter top

enjoy

a little bit of hating on blind faith

I really am not one to discriminate against people that believe something that I do not but I do have a bit of a thing for people who discriminate against others based upon a set of beliefs that they blindly adhere to. This most often comes into play in my life when I come into contact with people who blindly believe in god and all that he has decreed. In fact, there is nothing that I disagree with more than the twisted logic that hundreds of millions of god-fearing people on this earth use to decide what is right and what is wrong. Now, there are hundreds of millions of non-believers who also use grotesquely twisted logic when it comes to there decision making but those people are less united and, thus, it is hard to put a finger on one group of those people or one set of their beliefs.
Long story short, I stumbled upon this video on the youtube and I think ya'll should watch it. Now, it's not a new argument against blind faith but it is the most simplified, logical, and funny one that I have seen. It really does break down the argument against blindly holding unproveable things to be true, however ridiculous it sounds to need even need to make such an argument.

why I trust this man with our future

President Barack Obama is soon going to make his first, and hopefully not last, appointment for the Supreme Court. I just read a front page article from the NYT that discussed Obama's views on law, the role that it plays in our society, and the type of person that he is most likely to choose. The article reminded me of why I have so much faith in him. Basically, he fucking gets it. He understands that it is not what you believe that is right but what is right that is right. He understands that, now more than ever, we need people running our government who are openminded, thoughtful, and ego-less. He understands that being able to admit that you are wrong, understand why, move on with the new knowledge in tow, and call upon that new knowledge with confidence in the future is maybe the most important quality that a person, let alone a freaking supreme court justice, can have. The article makes the point that Obama is not necessarily going to appoint some far left thinker. Instead, he is going to appoint someone who thinks outside of their own biases and sees through all of the fog that our absurd, reactionary, propagandistic, and fear-mongering society is shrouded in, to the truth.

Here's the article. Check it out. Do some thinking. Leave some comments.

jack kemp, pretty dang thoughtful

jack kemp, former nfl QB and US member of the House of Representatives, died a few days ago. I didnt really know much about him while he was alive but i just found a link to a letter he wrote to his grandchildren after obama won and it's worth a read. The man understood the unique greatness of the USA and how tight a rope we walk to uphold that greatness.

http://www.kemppartners.com/about-jack-kemp/column/a-letter-to-my-grandchildren/

BEST QUOTE EVERRRRRRR

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything that you have." ~ Thomas Jefferson

water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

50 years from now we will look back on the days when fresh water was plentiful and the ocean was relatively unpolluted. We will cringe when we realize how much water we have wasted and we will be shocked when the world's fisheries collapse. Wars will be fought over water and they will be unimaginably brutal. This is where we are heading. While this rarely gets much press, some scientists recently called for a ban on fishing in a third of the world's oceans. It probably won't happen but it's good that they are getting the idea of cutting back on fishing into the mainstream media.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/26/fishing-stocks-protection-conservation

Plus, an article that has some pretty strong things to say about Obama's lack of innovative thinking and policy writing in his first 100 days.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/133157.html

uh huh

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/700_billion_bailout_celebrated

http://hurundurujkapujka.blogspot.com/2009/04/strange-tracks-in-snow.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/27/colbert-study-conservativ_n_191899.html

http://www.pleaselink.me/_hotlinking/myconfinedspace/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/calvin-parenting-is-screwing-him-up.jpg

http://www.propublica.org/feature/officials-in-three-states-pin-water-woes-on-gas-drilling-426

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/3076232-its-a-picture-thats-sure-to-make-your-hair-stand-on-end

http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/even-genghis-kahn-knew-torture-doesnt.html

what are we coming to

i am usually pretty understanding of other cultures and religions but this is really too much. saudi police beat back unveiled girls who were trying to escape from a burning building so that they would not be seen in public without their veils. the girls died.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1874471.stm

linx

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/16/opinion/16kristof.html?_r=1

pretty interesting article on IQ testing. makes you wonder whether or not that test means all that much in terms of actual intelligence and not just learned knowledge. for example, using today's IQ test half of the US population of 1917 would be considered legally mentally disabled.

plus: the best of banksy. need i say more. (and there's some in here that i haven't seen so much before)
http://joaoramos.org/bestofbanksy/

a legend

harry kalas was just that. this article, more than any of the ones i have read since his passing, encapsulates everything that he was to the phillies, to philadelphia, and to baseball.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/opinion/15glanville-harrykalas.html?_r=2&emc=eta1

teeeeaabagggin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLsKt4O4Yw8

comedic gold

struggling with what our culture demands of the rest of the world

I have never really been able to fully understand what living my lifestyle means to the rest of the world. What I am really doing by owning expensive electronics, buying third-world imports, and traveling to the third-world. In reality, I know that by doing those things I am supporting a system of exploitation and oppression. We, the West, are holding the head of the third-world under water. Not to the point that they drown but to the point that they are gasping for air and have no choice but to do what we ask of them.

So, I guess what I am really wondering is what does this mean for me. What should I do to work against this? Should I stop buying cameras whose parts are made in the third-world (which really means all cameras)? The answer to that question may very well be yes but fuck! if it is because I like cameras! I am of course being a bit facetious but still, a part of me does not want to stop living the life that I lead. I mean I already buy humanely whenever it's possible, i.e. when it's not too expensive or is available. The problem is that there are some things in this world, usually electronics, that are not produced without exploitation and oppression.

I suppose the questions that I have been building to for this whole post are "Am I doing as much as I can or is there more that I can do? and Should I be prepared to drastically change my lifestyle to do more? or even Should I feel the need to change my lifestyle (i.e. is the pressure on me to change or will me changing not even make a difference at all)? This is all a bit garbled but it may be the most important question in my life right now because, really, I do not want to lead a life that inhibits others from leading theirs.

Am I wasting my time by even worrying about this or should I be this concerned?
Here's a link to the set of pictures that got me started on this tangent and, yes, I know that this is not commonplace across the entire third-world.
http://www.zoriah.net/blog/2009/04/guest-photographerphotojournalist-gmb-akash-child-labor.html