12/21/11

I don't think the stars are aligning for Romney

No votes, but things seem to be going Romney's way - Boston.com: "KEENE, N.H.—The stars may be aligning for Mitt Romney -- and at just the right time."

'via Blog this'

1. He has invested millions of his money and worked with a SuperPac to kill Gingrich but done it so terribly that it will backfire on him.

2. He is no more acceptable to the right wing than he has ever been.

3. His success will result in the greater certitude of a third party race, not to mention a fourth.

The one day news cycle demands stories like this. Everything on this blog is long term.
Global Online Privacy

Nancy you'll re-ascend the chair


Nancy you'll re-ascend the chair
And nod to our bold President
When he comes down the aisle
Come January '13
Wreathed in smiles

You are among the few the great
Who saw that on the very wall the billionaires
Were filling with graffiti
Was a palimpsest
And there was written victory
For the truth
You know
The truth that's marching on

And in a million homes mothers will thank you silently for saving
This or that as you have done
And in a million places where we work
The ones who know will shake their head
Remembering fun that was made
Slurs that were cast
To the shame of little children when they
Heard that stuff at home

We're in a war but we shall win
Because
In 1860
We fought it once and won
And then did not
Come 1960s
We fought it twice
And won
And then did not
In 2012
We'll win again

Would I could take you by the arm
And whisper Madame Speaker
Third time is the charm


Global Online Privacy

Some once said there are no ifs in history

The Race to Find the Source of the Nile - The Dispatch: " The opening of Africa in this way led to Idi Amin's appalling atrocities in Uganda and the current horrors in Darfur. If it had all been handled more sensibly, Africa would not have its current problems, but even the laudable goal of simply finding out where the Nile came from was not handled sensibly. There were enormous egos in the game, with eagerness to be the first and reluctance to share any prizes. One African chief was baffled by all the fuss; he told Livingstone, "It is only water." The great race to find out where the water came from, however, in Jeal's lengthy, comprehensive, and revisionist book is exciting reading both about the adventures in the field and about the clash of personalities."

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

Annals of shaky days at Yahoo

Yahoo Intensifies Search for CEO - Kara Swisher - Media - AllThingsD: "Sources said Kilar has met with Yahoo board members about the offer, but his hiring would be a long shot.

It’s an interesting — if complex — gambit to bring in Kilar, who has had his own wrangles with the multi-owner structure of the premium video service over the years.

Kilar’s status at Hulu has been in question ever since it was put on the block, then removed and then — well — who knows."

'via Blog this'

Disclosure. I have written for what is now Yahoo Voices.


Global Online Privacy

Is this the county whose leader told Barbara Walters he didn't kill anyone?

Activists say 111 killed in Syria's bloodiest day | Reuters: "(Reuters) - Syrian forces killed 111 people ahead of the start of a mission to monitor President Bashar al-Assad's implementation of an Arab League peace plan, activists said on Wednesday, and France branded the killings an "unprecedented massacre.""

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

It's snowing in North Korea

Thousands Gather in Snow to Mourn Kim Jong Il - ABC News:

'via Blog this'

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All Romney's Millions Don't Seem to Be Stopping Newt

Newt Gringrich, ahead in Virginia, promises tougher counterpunches - CSMonitor.com: ""Speaker Newt Gingrich jumps into the lead among Virginia Republicans, but Gov. Mitt Romney's calling card is still that he seems to have a better chance of actually winning the White House if nominated," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "As is the case across the country, Gingrich has come out of nowhere. The last time Quinnipiac University surveyed Virginia Republicans, in October, Gingrich was getting just 7 percent. As other candidates fade, Romney's 21 percent climbs to 25 percent now.""

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

Verizon - annals of gadget outage

Verizon suffers data outage across the U.S. | Digital Media - CNET News: "This marks the second time this month that Verizon's data network has been down. Verizon customers were hit by intermittent outages on December 6, but that one affected primarily 4G users. The carrier took about a day and a half to fix that glitch."

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

A nod to calcium supplements for bone health

Vitamin D helps bone health with calcium - USATODAY.com: "Report author Mei Chung, assistant director of the Evidence-based Practice Center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, said she wasn't able to advise specific recommended doses based on the review, which concluded that a daily vitamin D regimen of between 300 and 1,100 international units (IUs) combined with 500 to 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium reduces fracture risk in those over 65."

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

Earth centric POV is we just discovered for the very first time come come

NASA finds Earth-size planets outside solar system | Reuters: ""This discovery demonstrates for the first time that Earth-size planets exist around other stars, and that we are able to detect them," Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in the statement."

'via Blog this'

Global Online Privacy

Learn at MIT for free

M.I.T. Expands Free Online Courses, Offering Certificates - NYTimes.com: "While students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pay thousands of dollars for courses, the university will announce a new program on Monday allowing anyone anywhere to take M.I.T. courses online free of charge — and for the first time earn official certificates for demonstrating mastery of the subjects taught."

'via Blog this'

This is good. When anyone can take an exam anytime and use their free learning as the only entry, we will be closer to where we need to be.

Global Online Privacy

White House goes the Arab Spring Route Using Twitter

White House launches #40dollars Twitter campaign aimed at winning payroll tax debate - 44 - The Washington Post:


On Twitter, the White House asked its 2.6 million followers what $40 would mean to them, and Obama’s campaign Twitter account re-published the message to its 11.6 million followers — turning #40dollars into a trending hashtag. Macon Phillips, the White House director of new media, wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday night that responses were coming in at the rate of 2,000 per hour.
The White House even used the Storify platform to create a running narrative of answers it received on Twitter.
“#40dollars is half of my grocery budget for the week for my family.” one user wrote.


'via Blog this'

Get involved everyone!


Global Online Privacy

This disparity between the rich and the poor has been noticed.


This disparity between the rich and the poor has been noticed.
It has been noticed, most acutely and not unnaturally, by the poor.
Just because they have noticed it, it won't last for long. Whatever
else in the world we know survives to the year 2000, that won't. Once
the trick of getting rich is known, as it now is, the world can't survive
half rich and half poor. It's just not on.

C.P. Snow (1959), ''The Two Cultures'', p. 42. 

Cap tip Jon

Global Online Privacy

Abba is present in the AIDs-wracked child who has never heard of Jesus.




Abba is present in the AIDs-wracked child who has never heard of Jesus.
Abba is present in Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann.
Abba is present in Sarah Palin and Barack Obama.
Abba is present in the most hardened prisoner and the most dastardly killer.
Abba is present in the victim of every criminal act, whether Jesus has been within earshot or not.

Gospel means good news.
The good news is that Abba the One is the foundation.
An accessible parent, a friend, an enabler. 
A beacon of hope and justice.
But Jesus got mightily ticked off when people tried to make him - Jesus - an object of worship. 
To build shrines to him. 
To do anything that suggested that we could not do exactly what he was doing.
Relying completely on Abba and Abba's available power.

Why?
Jesus was all about human progress on this earth. 
Jesus was about showing people exactly how they could and should live.
Jesus was about values, About changing bad values into better values.
With daily repentance. 
With daily awareness that Abba intends us to have daily bread. 
And so forth.
So when someone says that spirituality comes through Jesus, sure. That is so.
But when someone says, Confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, that's wrong. 

We are already saved. 
We already have Abba within us. 
Abba is the universal spark of life.


Global Online Privacy

We need to give up on being "Dallas" and become a truly new frontier.


The U.S. should vacate the Middle East. 
The U.S. should practice proportionality. 
The U.S. should stop buying foreign oil. 
These are the three pillars the U.S. should create for 
an American foreign policy of the 21st Century.

Tribes there will only wise up if we are gone. 
If they wish to destroy each other, we cannot stop them. 
If we get out, they may just see the light.

Instead of practicing a one-for-one, eye-for-an-eye, proportionality, 
we have killed prodigally and lost lives prodigally.

Stop buying foreign oil. 
There are myriad reasons. Climate change, 
global warming and the ravages of metrosprawl. 

But behind all this is a new nation waiting to be born. 
We need to build community from scratch. 
We need to give up on being "Dallas" and become a truly new frontier. 
One that has decent values 
like tolerance, democracy, helpfulness and non-idolatry.

Global Online Privacy

How Jesus Turned The Disciples Off

Abba's All Sufficiency - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com: "It is Abba's all sufficiency and availability that accounts for Jesus' worst conflicts with his disciples.
When they cannot successfully emulate Jesus in the healing and casting out of demons, Jesus shows profound impatience.

The disciples' response is to move toward venerating him. Gradually they become partially integrated into the enlarging web of unbelief that surrounds Jesus."

'via Blog this'


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RECCMENDATION Richard Gordon Quantum Touch

The Slow as Molasses Press