June 14th, 2012
Thom Hartmann agrees that it's a symptom of a pathology.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Quote Of The Day
June 13th, 2012
"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal – that there is no human relation between master and slave."
-- Leo Tolstoy
-- Leo Tolstoy
Telling It Like It Is
Jun 13th, 2012
Meet Pastor Frederick Haynes III. His moving response to President Obama's support for marriage equality is making the rounds and for good reason.
Meet Pastor Frederick Haynes III. His moving response to President Obama's support for marriage equality is making the rounds and for good reason.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Quote Of The Day
-- John F. Kennedy
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Quote Of The Day
-- Patrick Henry
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Quote Of The Day
Jun 9th, 2012
"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."
-- Albert Einstein
-- Albert Einstein
A Poem For A Friend
June 9th, 2012
"Darkness" by Lord Byron
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came, and went and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires - and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings, the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forest were set on fire but hour by hour
They fell and faded and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them; some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest
Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smiled;
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky,
The pall of a past world; and then again
With curses cast them down upon the dust,
And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd,
And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,
And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes
Came tame and tremolous; and vipers crawl'd
And twined themselves among the multitude,
Hissing, but stingless, they were slain for food:
And War, which for a moment was no more,
Did glut himself again; a meal was bought
With blood, and each sate sullenly apart
Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;
All earth was but one thought and that was death,
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon all entrails men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
The meagre by the meagre were devoured,
Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one,
And he was faithful to a corpse, and kept
The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay,
Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead
Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,
But with a piteous and perpetual moan
And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand
Which answered not with a caress, he died.
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies;
They met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things
For an unholy usage; they raked up,
And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for a little life, and made a flame
Wich was a mockery; then they lifted up
Their eyes as it grew lighter, and
Each other's aspects. saw, and shriek'd, and died, beheld
Even of their mutual hideousness they died,
Unknowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump,
Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless,
A lump of death, a chaos of hard clay.
The rivers, lakes, and ocean stood still,
And nothing stirred within their silent depths;
Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,
And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropp'd
They slept on the abyss without a surge
The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,
The moon their mistress had expired before;
The winds were withered in the stagnant air,
And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need
Of aid from them. She was the universe.
"Darkness" by Lord Byron
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came, and went and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires - and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings, the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forest were set on fire but hour by hour
They fell and faded and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them; some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest
Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smiled;
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and looked up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky,
The pall of a past world; and then again
With curses cast them down upon the dust,
And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd,
And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,
And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes
Came tame and tremolous; and vipers crawl'd
And twined themselves among the multitude,
Hissing, but stingless, they were slain for food:
And War, which for a moment was no more,
Did glut himself again; a meal was bought
With blood, and each sate sullenly apart
Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;
All earth was but one thought and that was death,
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon all entrails men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
The meagre by the meagre were devoured,
Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one,
And he was faithful to a corpse, and kept
The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay,
Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead
Lured their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,
But with a piteous and perpetual moan
And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand
Which answered not with a caress, he died.
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive, And they were enemies;
They met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things
For an unholy usage; they raked up,
And shivering scraped with their cold skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for a little life, and made a flame
Wich was a mockery; then they lifted up
Their eyes as it grew lighter, and
Each other's aspects. saw, and shriek'd, and died, beheld
Even of their mutual hideousness they died,
Unknowing who he was upon whose brow
Famine had written Fiend. The world was void,
The populous and the powerful was a lump,
Seasonless, herbless, treeless, manless, lifeless,
A lump of death, a chaos of hard clay.
The rivers, lakes, and ocean stood still,
And nothing stirred within their silent depths;
Ships sailorless lay rotting on the sea,
And their masts fell down piecemeal; as they dropp'd
They slept on the abyss without a surge
The waves were dead; the tides were in their grave,
The moon their mistress had expired before;
The winds were withered in the stagnant air,
And the clouds perish'd; Darkness had no need
Of aid from them. She was the universe.
Headline Of The Year Nominee
June 9th, 2012
Sometimes, the interwebs really do make the world a better place...
Via Yahoo:
"A highway truck accident never sounded so delicious. A semitrailer hauling Hungry Jack pancake syrup collided with a highway median at the Buttermilk Pike overpass in northern Kentucky, causing the truckload of syrup to spill all over the highway.
"Every lane of southbound I-75 was covered in pancake syrup," Fort Mitchell Police Officer Mark Spanyer told the Kentucky Enquirer. "It was a royal pain in the butt."
Sometimes, the interwebs really do make the world a better place...
"A highway truck accident never sounded so delicious. A semitrailer hauling Hungry Jack pancake syrup collided with a highway median at the Buttermilk Pike overpass in northern Kentucky, causing the truckload of syrup to spill all over the highway.
"Every lane of southbound I-75 was covered in pancake syrup," Fort Mitchell Police Officer Mark Spanyer told the Kentucky Enquirer. "It was a royal pain in the butt."
H/T to Charles for this one.
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Attack We Do Not Speak Of
June 8th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker
45 years ago today, the U.S. suffered a brutal military humiliation as the result of a sneak attack.
Most Americans have never heard of it.
The conspiracy-minded traffic in fringe theories about it.
What little discussion there actually is of the event often results in accusations of racial or cultural bias against those who have the nerve to bring it up at all.
But it did happen...
by F. Grey Parker
45 years ago today, the U.S. suffered a brutal military humiliation as the result of a sneak attack.
The conspiracy-minded traffic in fringe theories about it.
What little discussion there actually is of the event often results in accusations of racial or cultural bias against those who have the nerve to bring it up at all.
But it did happen...
Quote Of The Day - Here And Now Edition
-- Justin Rosario on the effects of so-called "stand your ground" legislation.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Quote Of The Day
June 7th, 2012
"Controversy equalizes fools and wise men - and the fools know it."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Quote Of The Day
June 6th, 2012
"Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression. Do not repeat them in the future."
-- Sivananda
-- Sivananda
Sunday, June 3, 2012
We Need Your Support
June 3rd, 2012
UPDATE: Thank you for your donation: Suzanne Shelton
As some of you know, I am a member of the anti-bullying activist-artist group Sister Soleil. Donations are needed so I can join them and travel the country this Summer to bring our music and our message to kids. Any help is greatly appreciated. You can donate using the PayPal widget on the right. Thank you and never stay silent when faced with injustice.
-- Grey
UPDATE: Thank you for your donation: Suzanne Shelton
As some of you know, I am a member of the anti-bullying activist-artist group Sister Soleil. Donations are needed so I can join them and travel the country this Summer to bring our music and our message to kids. Any help is greatly appreciated. You can donate using the PayPal widget on the right. Thank you and never stay silent when faced with injustice.
-- Grey
Quote Of The Day
June 3rd, 2012
"The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them."
-- Mark Twain
-- Mark Twain
Scott Walker And A Dead Baby
June 3rd, 2012
Even in the post-Tea Party climate, the latest GOP dirty trick in Wisconsin is a genuine new low.
Even in the post-Tea Party climate, the latest GOP dirty trick in Wisconsin is a genuine new low.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Quote Of The Day
June 2nd, 2012
"I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process."
-- President Benjamin Harrison
Friday, June 1, 2012
Zombie Apocalypse Update
June 1st, 2012
There isn't one. At least that's the official word from the Center for Disease Control in an e-mail to the Huffington Post.
We cracked wise about it HERE and pushed back against some high-horse criticism HERE.
There isn't one. At least that's the official word from the Center for Disease Control in an e-mail to the Huffington Post.
"CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms)." -- CDC spokesperson David Daigle.Frankly, in light of recent events, I'd feel better if there was.
We cracked wise about it HERE and pushed back against some high-horse criticism HERE.
Quote Of The Day
June 1st, 2012
"A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards."
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt
We've All Been Told To Shut Up
June 1st, 2012
If you have an internet connection, it's a safe bet that you've read someone or another conflating certain recent acts of horror with the zombie apocalypse. I did. Nearly everyone I know personally has. Well, over at Jezebel, Lindy West is appalled with all of us and thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves. She writes:
But that's not her real point. She's offended at how millions of us have chosen to deal with our own fear in the face of the incomprehensible. She hedges her tirade with a "but" about how she doesn't think we should never "respond to unthinkable tragedy with macabre humor."
She just thinks we should do it when she thinks its okay to do it. Or something. With all due respect, the reason so many of us responded in the manner we did was to preserve our own mental health. This isn't some radical observation. This isn't some excuse I am making. It's established psychology. Alex Lickerman M.D. explains it better than I ever could:
What's more, I suffer from major depression. I have been through the process of seeking help for myself for years while I found most doors closed and others simply too expensive to walk through. Perhaps Ms. West would be kind enough to follow up her diatribe with a few pieces that would actually help us do something about that?
In the interim, if I need to laugh to survive being trapped in this particular culture, I am going to go right ahead and keep on laughing. As she pointed out herself without realizing it... there really aren't many alternatives.
If you have an internet connection, it's a safe bet that you've read someone or another conflating certain recent acts of horror with the zombie apocalypse. I did. Nearly everyone I know personally has. Well, over at Jezebel, Lindy West is appalled with all of us and thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves. She writes:
"Stop. Make a new thing. But more specifically, please stop aggregating gruesome crimes committed by mentally ill and/or drug addicted people so you can make some big har-har zombie punchline on your Facebook wall. Zombies are not real. Human beings are." EMPHASIS HERSOkay. Fine. To be fair, it never occurred to me that zombies were "real." I also agree wholeheartedly with her arguments that massive improvements need to be made to both access and funding for mental health services in our country.
But that's not her real point. She's offended at how millions of us have chosen to deal with our own fear in the face of the incomprehensible. She hedges her tirade with a "but" about how she doesn't think we should never "respond to unthinkable tragedy with macabre humor."
She just thinks we should do it when she thinks its okay to do it. Or something. With all due respect, the reason so many of us responded in the manner we did was to preserve our own mental health. This isn't some radical observation. This isn't some excuse I am making. It's established psychology. Alex Lickerman M.D. explains it better than I ever could:
"We're signaling ourselves that whatever horrible thing we've just encountered isn't really as horrible as it appears, something we often desperately want to believe.
This may explain why some psychologists classify humor as one of the "mature" defense mechanisms we invoke to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety (as compared to the "psychotic," "immature," and "neurotic" defense mechanisms). Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our own lives doesn't cause us to ignore them, but instead seems to prepare us to endure them."I, for one, am not going to apologize for dealing with the media exploitation of this terrifying set of events with humor. It's also worth noting that, aside from quoting a writer in her hometown paper who blames "right wing propagandists" for the lack of resources available to the mentally ill, she doesn't address the systemic failures much and offers not one solution whatsoever.
What's more, I suffer from major depression. I have been through the process of seeking help for myself for years while I found most doors closed and others simply too expensive to walk through. Perhaps Ms. West would be kind enough to follow up her diatribe with a few pieces that would actually help us do something about that?
In the interim, if I need to laugh to survive being trapped in this particular culture, I am going to go right ahead and keep on laughing. As she pointed out herself without realizing it... there really aren't many alternatives.
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