Author's posts
Jan 28 2010
State of the Union
If you’re like me, you’ll be looking for some alternative programing at 9 pm.
It’s The Hypnotoad!
| "Television is a vast wasteland" |
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Jan 27 2010
Sally Quinn- Fatuous Gasbag
Administrations should befriend the locals — they’ll need them in hard times
By Sally Quinn, The Washington Post
Wednesday, January 27, 2010; 9:34 AM
I get asked almost every day how Washington life has changed since the newcomers came to town. The answer is: not at all. In fact, it’s probably duller than it’s ever been. This is nobody’s fault, per se, nor is it necessarily a bad thing. These are difficult times, and it’s just the way it is.
Years ago, the city looked to the White House to set the social tone. Whatever style the president and first lady favored was the style adopted. The Kennedys enthralled the town with their youth, exuberance and glamour. They had round skirted tables at a state dinner, and suddenly everyone had round tables. The Johnsons came in with their down-home Texas barbecues and you couldn’t go out at night without being served ribs and baked beans. It wasn’t until Nixon that people started to do their own thing. He introduced U-shaped tables, like the Russians, and instructed the White House guards to wear imperial hats. Most of those close to the president (except for Henry Kissinger) were distanced from the establishment. Inevitably, hostility toward the White House grew.
…
Indulge me for a moment on the topic of our cultural bellwether, “Avatar.” In the film, the Pandora natives worship the goddess Eywa, who is the spirit that connects them to their planet. If there is such a goddess in Washington, I believe, it is the spirit of community. Those who live here want to welcome new friends. Washingtonians are open and willing to invite newcomers and make them part of their lives. If they can’t do that, there is automatically a distance that is created so that if — no, make that when — the administration gets into trouble, there is too little sympathy or support.
When an administration begins to express hostility to those in the community, the Na’vi pull out their arrows with the poison tips and begin taking aim. The rougher things get, the more members of the administration need to reach out, not withdraw. Nobody has ever been able to master this yet. Consequently everyone suffers — needlessly.
Jan 27 2010
Delay in Afternoon Edition- Update!
Computer is still wonky. It seems to be malware or fucking Flashplayer/Firefox interaction. I’m putting it up for a full AdAware scan and I have no idea how long that will take. I’ll be back with Afternoon Edition as soon as I can manage.
Thank you for your constant indulgence.
No Comments.
Update:
I haven’t been able to keep my browser running for more than 30 minutes at a time since 6 am.
My next step is a fresh OS which will keep me busy for at least 6 hours.
I apologize to my readers.
My final activity while I back up my data will be to suggest some viewing alternatives for tonight, an essay I expect I’ll be unable to participate in.
Jan 27 2010
Wednesday Morning Science Supplement
Wednesday Morning Science Supplement is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Science |
1 India’s ‘miracle’ biofuel crop: too good to be true?
by Yasmeen Mohiuddin, AFP
Tue Jan 26, 10:50 pm ET
| NEW DELHI (AFP) – To its fans, jatropha is a miracle crop, an eco-friendly answer to India’s growing energy needs, but some experts are starting to question whether the wonder-shrub is too good to be true.
The seeds of the wild plant, which grows abundantly across India, produce non-edible oil that can be blended with diesel, to make the biofuel that is part of government efforts to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change. That, combined with the shrub’s much vaunted ability to flourish on poorly irrigated land, should make it the perfect crop for wasteland in the drought-prone nation. |
Jan 27 2010
Hah!
Voters handily approve both tax-hike ballot measures
By David Steves
The Register-Guard
The apparent victories for the campaigns to pass Measures 66 and 67 came after weeks of TV ads promising that the additional tax money would come only from the wealthy individuals and big corporations, but would help Oregonians of lesser means by keeping the schools running and safety-net programs in place for the elderly and frail.
Jan 26 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 No respite for Haiti amid fresh aftershocks
by Daphne Benoit, AFP
1 hr 53 mins ago
| PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Two new aftershocks rattled weary Haitians Tuesday, as top US officials defended the huge American military-led aid operation from criticisms of being too heavy-handed.
“We just can’t get used to these quakes. Each aftershock is terrifying and everyone is afraid,” trader Edison Constant said after the aftershocks struck in quick succession around dawn, two weeks after the quake. “I hid under my bed,” added iron merchant Julien Louis, exhausted by a stream of some 50 aftershocks since the devastating 7.0-magnitude quake on January 12. |
Jan 25 2010
Afternoon Edition
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Haiti PM begs for earthquake aid
by Dave Clark, AFP
1 hr 7 mins ago
| PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Haiti’s prime minister begged donors Monday to back the rebuilding of his quake-hit country and boost international aid as hundreds of thousands of people fought for survival in the rubble.
Nearly two weeks after the worst recorded disaster in the Americas killed at least 150,000 people, a conference of foreign creditors in Montreal heard that it would take at least 10 years to rebuild the stricken Caribbean nation. As bulldozers cleared more corpse-filled buildings in the center of the flattened capital Port-au-Prince, Haitians expressed both hope and skepticism about the emergency meeting of donor countries in Montreal. |
Jan 25 2010
Vikings v. Saints Liveblogging
Before we start I’d like to make a meta statement-
DocuDharma is the home of guilt free Lefty sports blogging.
I intend to cover Puppy Bowl VI and Curling and Speed Skating and The America’s Cup.
So, let’s talk about Brett Favre, Super Quarterback-
15 Years with the Green Bay Packers, my second choice team after the Giants because I’m only half troll and my Viking forebearer was actually one of the original investors in what is the only publicly owned team in the NFL.
Add that to his miserable year at the helm of the Jets which while not my favorite is at least local to Stars Hollow (as are the Patsies) and you may sense my sense of betrayal and resentment that he is now playing for our hated rivals, the Vikings of Minnesota however much I may admire that at 120 years he is the oldest man in the NFL.
The Saints are good for once after years and years (and years) of futility and I have one word for you-
Katrina.
So now you know how every right thinking fan should root and if you don’t…
Well, you’re still welcome below.
Jan 24 2010
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
Between Games Edition.
Colts 30 – 17.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Bulldozers move into Haiti capital as victims pray
by Jordi Zamora and Charles Onians, AFP
2 hrs 35 mins ago
| PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Thousands of Haitian voices rose in prayer from ruined churches Sunday, as recovery teams began to bulldoze the capital’s devastated centre and a French ship carrying supplies arrived.
Twelve days after a catastrophic earthquake razed much of the city, hundreds of thousands of Haitians remained in desperate need of food, water and shelter, despite a large-scale US military intervention and UN-run aid program. In Port-au-Prince, morning prayers and song gave way to apocalyptic scenes as earthmovers cleared downtown rubble, spewing rotting corpses into the streets and opening new routes for looters to swarm through the ruins. |
Jan 24 2010
Jets v. Colts Liveblogging
So the storyline goes something like this-
Colts == Peyton Manning, Super Quarterback.
For the last 2 weeks of the season, after they clinched the playoffs, the Colts put their scrubs on the field including the game on the 27th that they lost to the Jets 29 – 15.
In addition they totally dicked over Baltimore in their move to Indianapolis.
Now as satisfying as it would be to see them punished for their arrogance, I’ll take the time to remind you the Jets are one of the most conservative donating teams in the NFL (though the league as a whole is only slightly less conservative than NASCAR) so it’s basically a pick ’em on who to hate more.
It doesn’t matter anyway since they’re both playing for second because both the Vikings and the Saints can beat either of them.
Starting Now on CBS.
Update:
Umm…
You’ll have to wait on that Weekend News Digest for sure.
Jan 23 2010
Time Magazine on Haiti
A Weekend News Digest Supplement
I apologize for not maxing out on my news pieces recently, but I’ve been busy with Administrative issues and creating other content.
Not to mention real life.
I’ve looked at Time Magazine for the first time in a while and I discovered a backlog of pieces on Haiti that I thought I’d present as a supplement for you.
As always, this is not all the pieces, just the ones I think long enough to quote and of interest to my readers.
| From Yahoo News World |
1 Could the Haiti Earthquake Have Been Predicted?
By JEFFREY KLUGER, Time Magazine
Wed Jan 13, 4:10 pm ET
| The tragedy of the earthquake that struck Haiti Tuesday, Jan. 12, is easy to measure in the lives lost, homes destroyed and infrastructure wrecked. The paradox of the quake is equally evident: when a natural disaster so devastating hits, oughtn’t we have some way of predicting it? Hurricanes, blizzards, even volcanoes can be forecast well before their arrival, after all, allowing governments and people to make lifesaving preparations. Earthquakes, however, are stealth disasters, geological phenomena largely undetectable until just seconds before they occur. What scientists have long wanted to know is why quakes are so sneaky and what, if anything, can be done to read their warning signs better. |
Jan 23 2010
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Haiti calls off search for trapped quake victims
by Clarens Renois, AFP
2 hrs 21 mins ago
| PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Haiti officially abandoned earthquake search and rescue efforts on Saturday as survivors gathered in a ruined cathedral to mourn the country’s archbishop and 110,000 other victims of the disaster.
The government’s decision came despite the rescue on Friday of two people who spent 10 days buried in the rubble, but officials said it was aimed at letting aid workers focus on getting supplies to hundreds of thousands of people. The United Nations warned meanwhile that Haiti’s upcoming rainy season — a source of other disasters that have plagued the country in recent years — could pose a new threat to beleaguered survivors of the 7.0-magnitude quake. |