March 3, 2008 archive

Sunday Night Music: Classics!

To give us a break on the hard line which politics is giving us right now, here’re some vids of classic music:

Plantings, sheds, barns and outbuildings

On top of the 12 1/2 inches of snow last week another 7 1/2 inches arrived Friday night.  I’m running out of room to put the snow but it was warm today and supposed to be warmer tomorrow.  After putting the tractor away yesterday I realized I had tweaked my knee somehow so I took some time off to rest it and to do some research.

I’ve decided to keep the main house pretty much as is on the exterior with the exception of a glass sun room on the south side and a glass silo on the southwest corner.  The silo will house a spiral staircase that leads to a small loft.  This may have to get tempered down from a silo to a glass atrium but either way it should look pretty cool and be functional.

Since there wont be much space added to the existing structure I’ll need an outbuilding to store my wood working tools that is away from the barn but close to the studio.  So I started researching barns and outbuildings(below the fold):

EENR for Progress: Bombs Produce Nothing

Hey all, I’m back again with another installment of EENR for Progress. This edition was inspired by John and Elizabeth’s Edwards recent announcement of the Iraq Recession Campaign. Tonight I’m going to focus on the interconnectedness of our failing economy and the Iraq war. Follow me below the fold……

New APA Vote: Psychologists and the Realpolitik of Torture

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet: Words, words, words.

Polonius: What is the matter, my lord?

Hamlet: Between who?

Sometimes it seems as if it is raining news and analysis. A number of good articles have appeared lately on the subject of U.S. torture. David Goodman’s “The Enablers” over at Mother Jones is one of a number of articles in a special MJ series on torture. Goodman’s article focuses on the fight within the American Psychological Association (APA) over psychologist participation in military and CIA interrogations of “enemy combatants.” It’s very good, fairly up-to-date, and puts the controversy into some historical context.

Another article, by Stephen Soldz and Brad Olson — both psychologists and both active in the APA opposition organization, Psychologists for an Ethical APA — has been published online over at ZNet. Its long title, “A Reaction to the APA Vote on Sealing Up Key Loopholes in the 2007 Resolution on Interrogations,” tips you off that there has been some recent activity in the struggle to change APA policy on psychologists and interrogation. Indeed there has been, as last week APA Council voted to approve a substantial change in their previous language on prohibited interrogation techniques. But will it make a difference in the long run?

The joy of participatory learning

(from dkos, long ago)

What if kids loved to learn?

What if at the end of class, they wanted it to be longer, and kept the teacher in the hallway answering questions?

What if they learned that coupling their imaginations to their powers of reasoning would give them a tool of awesome power for exploring the cosmos?

What if an 11 year old got so excited by his insights that he yelled out

OH WOW! I get this now!

What if all this happened in math class?

The politics of mustard

This is a politicized summary of a project I’ve been doing at the Pomona College Natural Farm, an urban one-acre farm in southern California and the subject of a previous essay here.  The focus of this essay will be mustard, and mustard-growing.  There will be more such essays.

Nobel Peace Prize

Nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize

THE PETITION

Pete Seeger has been an ambassador for Peace and Social Justice over the course of his 87 year lifetime. As a prominent musician his songs, messages and performance style have worked to engage other people, particularly the youth, in causes to end the Vietnam war, ban nuclear weapons, work for international solidarity, and ecological responsibility. It is time that a cultural worker receives the recognition that this work has great influence and global reach, that it is not only a medium of entertainment but of education, compassion and action.

DESIRED OUTCOME

To persuade American Friends Service Committee to enter Pete Seeger as their nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize 2008

WHO WE NEED TO INFLUENCE

The Nobel Prize Committee of the Norwegian Parliament

HOW LONG WILL WE CAMPAIGN

As long as it takes

It’s NOT too late, and a wager

It’s NOT too late for impeachment, it’s an imperative.  If you think it is too late for impeachment do you also think it is too late for the Constitution?  Here in New York we think impeachment is long overdue.  New Yorkers are actively lobbying House Judiciary Committee (HJC) members Rep. Anthony Weiner (NY CD-9) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY CD-8).  

One group met with Anthony Weiner’s district director on Friday and asked him to convey their message to Weiner that he stated back in December that he would sign onto Wexler’s letter to Conyers and they are still waiting for him to make good on his promise.  They hope to hear back in a few days and will keep you posted.

Another group has come together under the banner of AskNadler2Impeach.org to lobby Nadler to support impeachment.  AskNadler2Impeach.org is hosting a Town Hall Meeting/Impeachment Forum next Sunday, March 9th, from 4-6pm at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC. to address the question Is Impeachment Necessary to Protect the Constitution?  The Town Hall Meeting/Impeachment Forum will feature Constitutional scholar Bruce Fein, former Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, Harper’s contributor Scott Horton, and John Nirenberg, who walked 458 miles from Boston to DC to raise the question of impeachment with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, as speakers.  

Holtzman and Horton have written recently about torture under the Bush/Cheney administration, addressing how it establishes that impeachment is imperative and incumbent upon Congress.  Holtzman concludes her article Crimes in High Places about Mukasey’s refusal to ensure that criminal law is enforced with regard to torture with the pronouncement:

Musings, Mumblings, and Masticating the Right Wing

One thing that has always fascinated me about right wing talk show hosts, whether they originated from TV or radio is a tendency to write books with very long and awkward titles.

How Liberals Are Ruining America With Weird Ideas From France That Will Force You To Wear Thong Underwear On Your Head And Make You Burn Your Bibles In Public. Or..

How Conservatives Are Really Super Great and Right About Everything So You Don’t Have To Think For Yourself Or Wear Thong Underwear On Your Head. Do their publishers like those really long and awkward titles and just have a Pavlovian response to any book structured like that? I have read a few of them for entertainment. It takes only about five minutes since the titles have more content than the actual books. An easy summation follows: Liberals are really bad people who hate America. It still shocks me to discover that they think Liberals and progressives are. You know what? If there is an progressive organization out there trying to force Americans to wear thing underwear on their head while taking French lessons, I might join it. My French is rusty and the only way I will ever wear thong underwear is on my head.

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