May 2013 archive
May 26 2013
Late Night Karaoke
May 26 2013
What We Now Know
On this week’s segment of “What We Know Now,” Up host Steve Kornacki discusses what we have learned this week with guests Eleanor Clift, contributing editor, Newsweek/The Daily Beast; Julian Zelizer, professor and political historian, Princeton University; Ann Lewis, former director of communications for President Bill Clinton; and Perry Bacon, Jr., msnbc contributor, political editor, TheGrio.com.
Tim Murray, Massachusetts Lt. Governor, Resigning To Take Job At Worcester Chamber Of Commerce
from Huffington Post Politics
Massachusetts Lt. Governor Tim Murray (D) is resigning his post, according to reports Wednesday from WBZ-TV Boston and The Boston Globe.
Murray had already decided not to run for governor in 2014, after Gov. Deval Patrick (D) steps down.
Tom Tancredo Announces Run For Governor In 2014
from Huffington Post
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo announced over the radio Thursday morning that he will be making a run for Republican governor in 2014.
During the announcement on KHOW’s Peter Boyles show with 9News cameras standing nearby, Tancredo said that he was prompted in part to make a run for the office after Gov. John Hickenlooper’s controversial decision the day before to grant a reprieve for convicted death row inmate Nathan Dunlap. Perhaps an even bigger motivating factor however was the governor’s support for this year’s gun control bills.
Anthony Weiner’s N.Y. mayor Web site features skyline … of Pittsburgh?
by Aaron Blake, The Washington Post
Anthony Weiner just launched his campaign for mayor of New York City.
His campaign Web site, though, suggests he’s running for mayor of another Eastern city – Pittsburgh.
May 26 2013
Abundant Energy Beats Energy Starvation All Hollow
Jack Oswald once told the Digest it’s a mistake to be thinking about simply shifting from an energy-starved world based on fossil fuel reserves, to an energy-starved world based on clean energy.
“What we need is energy abundance,” he said. “If you have enough energy, you don’t have to think twice about pumping the water of some some gigantic Lake Tahoe two thousand feet further up the mountain, and using that proven system for energy storage…”
The only thing worse than pumped storage is all the other schemes for energy storage to correct the gaping flaws in intermittent energy.
Jack Oswald plans to improve on Mother Earth’s evolved means of dealing with the abuse of Mother’s powerful captor, the old divil Sun who will one day devour her.
The limitation that Electrofuels seek to overcome is the problem of photosynthetic inefficiency. Few plants utilize more than 4 percent of available solar radiation, and the theoretical limit has been placed at around 10 percent, no matter what efficiencies are developed through microbial engineering. By contrast, solar PV systems have captured up to 25 percent, and one day will do more.
Yet, liquid fuels have a place – both for reasons of energy storage and energy density. Electric cars have proven a tough sell, and one reason is range anxiety and the huge cost of battery-based energy storage.
Intelligence and ingenuity, forethought and foresight like that of Jack Oswald takes time to overcome the cupidity and stupidity of the wind and solar crowd that are taking a detour from reason and thus aiding the fossil fuel purveyors and deniers.
For Oswald’s ideas on improving on Mother’s evolution see:
http://www.biofuelsdigest.com/…
We inhabit a water world of vast energy sources and choose to seek out scarce, expensive and troublesome sources while poisoning the water so it is undrinkable.
We can do better and must if we are to survive.
Best, Terry
May 26 2013
Today on The Stars Hollow Gazette
Our regular featured content-
- On This Day In History May 25 by TheMomCat
- Punting the Pundits by TheMomCat
These weekly features-
- Health and Fitness News by TheMomCat
- Random Japan by mishima
This featured article-
This special feature-
- Formula One 2013: Circuit de Monaco Qualifying by ek hornbeck
Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt
Write more and often. This is an Open Thread.
May 25 2013
On This Day In History May 25
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
May 25 is the 145th day of the year (146th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 220 days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day in 1977, Stars Wars opens with an intergalactic bang as the first of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the six-film saga. It is the fourth film in terms of the series’ internal chronology. Ground-breaking in its use of special effects, unconventional editing, and science fiction/fantasy storytelling, the original Star Wars is one of the most successful and influential films of all time.
Set “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”, the film follows a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance as they plot to destroy the powerful Death Star space station, a devastating weapon created by the evil Galactic Empire. This conflict disrupts the isolated life of farmboy Luke Skywalker when he inadvertently acquires the droids carrying the stolen plans to the Death Star. After the Empire begins a cruel and destructive search for the droids, Skywalker decides to accompany Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi on a daring mission to rescue the owner of the droids, rebel leader Princess Leia Organa, and save the galaxy.
Produced with a budget of $11 million and released on May 25, 1977, the film went on to earn $460 million in the United States and $337 million overseas, surpassing Jaws as the highest-grossing film of all time at the time. Among the many awards the film received, it gained ten Academy Award nominations, winning six; the nominations included Best Supporting Actor for Alec Guinness and Best Picture. Lucas has re-released the film on several occasions, sometimes with significant changes; the most notable versions are the 1997 Special Edition and the 2004 DVD release, which have modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, and added scenes.
May 25 2013
Random Japan
THE WAGES OF SIN
Who says crime doesn’t pay? Officials at the NPA estimate that about 70 percent of websites providing “illegal or harmful content” are also receiving advertising revenue.A Saitama man was handed a suspended sentence for defrauding 15 people out of ¥11 million, which he said would be used for “developing and selling items to be used in a virtual city on the internet.”
Officials in Kamakura are combining three local beaches-including the popular Yuigahama-into a single entity and selling the naming rights for a cool million yen.
Meanwhile, authorities in Akita are looking for someone to “assume control” of a hot-spring hotel complex in the resort town of Yuzawa-for free.
May 25 2013
Health and Fitness News
Welcome to the Health and Fitness News, a weekly diary which is cross-posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette. It is open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.
Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.
You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.
Focaccia is a flatbread, not unlike a very thick-crusted pizza. It’s an easy dough to put together, and it’s forgiving; if you don’t have time to go from start to finish in one session, you can chill the dough and come back to it later. I think it’s a great vehicle for all kinds of vegetables, just as pizza is. A square of focaccia topped with tomatoes or cauliflower makes a great lunch or snack, and it’s good lunchbox fare.
Another thing you can do with focaccia is split it laterally and fill it, to make a sandwich. I did that with a mix of goat cheese and spinach, which made a better filling inside a heated focaccia than a topping.
This is a very easy bread that welcomes any number of toppings or fillings.
Focaccia With Tomatoes and Rosemary
If you can get good tomatoes, this focaccia is a beautiful foretaste of summer.
Focaccia With Sweet Onion and Caper Topping
A focaccia inspired by a Provençal pizza.
Focaccia With Tomato Sauce and Green Garlic
A focaccia that resembles a pizza.
Focaccia With Cauliflower and Sage
A delicious home for roasted cauliflower.
May 25 2013
The EU LGBT survey: data and advice
When Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission, called for more research on the effects of homophobia, the Agency for Fundamental Rights stepped forward.
The result is the EU LGBT survey. As always, I have read the relevant pdf so that you do not have to do so.
In the past decade, a growing number of international and national developments have addressed the fundamental rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. Standards on non-discrimination and equality for LGBT persons have been further developed or reinforced by the European Union (EU), the Council of Europe and the United Nations (UN). Sexual orientation and gender identity have increasingly been recognised as grounds of discrimination in European and national legislation. Today, the situation of LGBT persons in the EU is no longer a marginalised issue but a recognised human rights concern.
–Morton Kjærum, Director of the Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
May 24 2013
Today on The Stars Hollow Gazette
Our regular featured content-
- On This Day In History May 24 by TheMomCat
- Punting the Pundit by TheMomCat
These featured articles-
- Turning Japanese (I really hope so) by ek hornbeck
- Holder Must Resign by TheMomCat
- Breaking Up Is Hard To Do by TheMomCat
Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt
Write more and often. This is an Open Thread.
May 24 2013
On This Day In History May 24
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
May 24 is the 144th day of the year (145th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 221 days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day in 1775, John Hancock is elected president of the Second Continental Congress.
ohn Hancock is best known for his large signature on the Declaration of Independence, which he jested the British could read without spectacles. He was serving as president of Congress upon the declaration’s adoption on July 4, 1776, and, as such, was the first member of the Congress to sign the historic document.
John Hancock graduated from Harvard University in 1754 at age 17 and, with the help of a large inherited fortune, established himself as Boston’s leading merchant. The British customs raid on one of Hancock’s ships, the sloop Liberty, in 1768 incited riots so severe that the British army fled the city of Boston to its barracks in Boston Harbor. Boston merchants promptly agreed to a non-importation agreement to protest the British action. Two years later, it was a scuffle between Patriot protestors and British soldiers on Hancock’s wharf that set the stage for the Boston Massacre.
Hancock’s involvement with Samuel Adams and his radical group, the Sons of Liberty, won the wealthy merchant the dubious distinction of being one of only two Patriots-the other being Sam Adams-that the Redcoats marching to Lexington in April 1775 to confiscate Patriot arms were ordered to arrest. When British General Thomas Gage offered amnesty to the colonists holding Boston under siege, he excluded the same two men from his offer.
With the war underway, Hancock made his way to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia with the other Massachusetts delegates. On May 24, 1775, he was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph after Henry Middleton declined the nomination. Hancock was a good choice for president for several reasons. He was experienced, having often presided over legislative bodies and town meetings in Massachusetts. His wealth and social standing inspired the confidence of moderate delegates, while his association with Boston radicals made him acceptable to other radicals. His position was somewhat ambiguous, because the role of the president was not fully defined, and it was not clear if Randolph had resigned or was on a leave of absence. Like other presidents of Congress, Hancock’s authority was limited to that of a presiding officer. He also had to handle a great deal of official correspondence, and he found it necessary to hire clerks at his own expense to help with the paperwork.
Hancock was president of Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. He is primarily remembered by Americans for his large, flamboyant signature on the Declaration, so much so that “John Hancock” became, in the United States, an informal synonym for signature. According to legend, Hancock signed his name largely and clearly so that King George could read it without his spectacles, but this fanciful story did not appear until many years later.