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Do You Hide Your Mental Light Under a Basket or Do You Let It Shine?
2009-05-12 18:11:00
My brilliant friend sent me a funny video of a smart kid who wins a spelling bee being treated by news hosts as a freakazoid. My friend admitted to being both a brilliant kid--like that boy--and having to hide his brilliance.I thought about it and realized I was always a mental show-off?I was in spelling bees and math competitions, and proud of it. Plus, I knew that no matter how smart I thought I was or anyone said I was, my sister who is two years older, is smarter still. It helps to be around those who are better, faster, and stronger than we are. Our five-year-old, as an only-child, doesn?t have that humility reinforcement and is convinced she?s a genius. Instead, she comes across as a bit of an annoying know-it-all. Luckily, she?s in a hip-funky-artsy school, so at least gets her creative jollies out.But one wonders what would have happened to folks like us if we?d been more encouraged to use our smarts at an early age.Here's the smart kid as freak clip.That Today Now! show is...
More About: Humor , Mental , Basket , Shine , Light

Wanda Sykes Slays the Old Demons and Ribs the New Ones at White House Corre
2009-05-12 00:21:00
If you haven't seen this yet, hold everything, check it out, and then resume normal life with a smirk on your face. She's brilliant. Scary good.
More About: House , White House , White , Wanda Sykes , Demons

Swine Flu Nondemic: How to Make Money Using Media Scare Tactics
2009-05-04 22:48:00
In 1976, two humans actually contracted Swine Flu. But in the resulting media froth surrounding the flu, and the resulting panic to get vaccinated against it, 25 people died. Hundreds more suffered from horrible diseases caused by the vaccine and many became paraplegic as a result of taking the vaccine. That is, the cure was many orders of magnitude worse than the ailment.In this iteration of the Swine Flu, so far, 25 people have died, most in Mexico, with little or no information about the condition of the victims before they contracted the illness (were they elderly? infirm? etc.). One person has died in the U.S., and the victim was not a U.S. citizen. Almost everyone who is diagnosed with Swine Flu experiences mild symptoms and then recovers.The new strain of Swine Flu has never been seen before in pigs and you cannot contract it from eating pork. But amazingly enough, it seems to respond well to an anti-influenza medication called, Tamiflu, and the stock in companies that supply...
More About: Media , Health , Medical , Money , Tactics

Lose Weight & Feel Great: What a High-Protein Diet Can Do for You
2009-04-13 23:07:00
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More About: Health , Medical , Food , Diet , Weight

Happy Easter and What Do You Believe in Anyway?
2009-04-10 21:40:00
My friend, Dal, the golfer/philosophizer sent an essay from a writer who scourged the Islamic faith, making it sound as though Islamism is not a religion and that it's a total-mind-warp-cult with impossibly incontrovertible calls to violence.Here's the anti-Islamic religion essay, if you are interested.Honestly, I cannot say whether I think the writer?s right or not based on facts. I don?t have enough knowledge of Islamic beliefs. I?d rather not believe it?s true, and I suspect she?s lumping all Islamic believers in one basket?extremists and moderates alike?then basing her assumptions on the beliefs of the extremists without admitting it. Also, several, if not many of the damning tenets of Islamic faith she listed could be argued to be true of other religions, like Judaism or Christianity. How does one draw the line? If what she claims is really true, then what? Everyone else on the planet declare jihad against all Islamic peoples? I find such extremism as hers scary. But...
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One Small Step for Iowa: One Giant Step for Amerikind
2009-04-04 22:25:00
Corn and great basketball teams. Caucuses and severe winters. And now, the right for all legal-aged couples who are not related to each other to get married, if they so desire.My sister, who lives in Iowa , reports there are more than 1,000 privileges that married people get that she and her partner could not get?until now. Until April 24, to be exact, when she and her partner, who have been together for at least a decade, will have their union sanctioned by the state. Luckily, my sister's employer is savvy enough to have provided domestic partner health care, which has to be one of the biggies on the list of 1,000 married couple privileges.Iowa is now only the third state to make this move. The Iowa Supreme Court hammered the nail in the coffin of the haters this past Friday with a ruling that overturned the gay-marriage ban. Now listen up, California Supreme Court. If ever there were a state that needs gay marriage it is California. I feel certain the people would prefer gay marri...
More About: Small , Giant , Step

Michelle Obama vs. Carla Bruni Sarkosy: The Fashion Face-off
2009-04-03 18:40:00
They are both utterly gorgeous and chic to the bone. Only I would say, Ms. Obama edges out Ms. Bruni-Sarkosy in this instance only because Ms. Bruni-Sarkosy chose a subdued color and style for this meeting. If anything, you could say this is not the best look for Ms. Bruni-Sarkosy. She has looked fabulous in nearly everything else she has worn. I admire that she was so . . . restrained. Restrained is cool. But for sheer glory and punch, Ms. Obama looked both regal and fun. The long jacket is cool, but when she takes it OFF to reveal the FABULOUS opposite color scheme matching sheath underneath, I think I swooned. A brilliant ensemble, don't you think?What I don't understand, though, is why Ms. Obama wore such a drop-dead amazingly wonderful outfit this time, and wore a dead-dull outfit when she met HRH Queen Elizabeth II? Oh, well--if nothing else, it's a delight for the fashion-conscious like me to keep our eyes on Ms. Obama. All she really has to do is take off her jacket and r...
More About: Fashion , Face , Michelle Obama , Michelle

For the G20: Bank Corruption Advice from Thomas Jefferson
2009-04-02 02:27:00
My wonderfully prescient and perhaps brilliant French writer and astrologer friend, Suzanne White, writes this:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~On the eve of the G20 conference, let us reflect on the quote below and hope that the leaders in London will be doing likewise."I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, if by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."?Thomas Jefferson (Letter to the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, year 1802
More About: Advice , World Politics , Corruption , Bank

Get Krugman on Your Team Already, Obama!
2009-03-29 01:57:00
Why on Earth Obama chose Timothy Geithner to be his financial czar/Secretary of the Treasury is beyond belief. The man has no experience. Just because he's young (my age!) doesn't mean he has fresh thinking, like Obama does. Geithner could not see a mountain-sized stinking pile of economic poop before falling in it.Usually, Obama graciously surrounds himself with the best and brightest. But in choosing Geithner over, say, Dr. Paul Krugman, my personal hero, Progressive economist, brilliant, kick-ass writer, prophet (he foresaw the current economic disaster back in 2005), and unwithering critic of anything that stinks economically, is beyond belief.Now that the Daschle-style mistake of appointing Geithner has been made, and if "Heckuva job, Geithie," is going to keep his day job, couldn't Obama at least have the wisdom to add Krugman to his team? Krugman should have been the first-round draft pick of any non-Conservative seeking to surround himself with the economic wisdom that e...
More About: Team

20 Year Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
2009-03-24 21:16:00
"Gail, Please! Stick your hand in it!" by Investigative Journalist, Greg Palast The petite Eskimo-Chugach woman gave me that you-dumb-ass-white-boy look. "Gail, Gail. STICK YOUR DAMN HAND IN IT!" She stuck it in, under the gravel of the beach at Sleepy Bay, her village's fishing ground. Gail's hand came up dripping with black, sickening goo. It could make you vomit. Oil from the Exxon Valdez. It was already two years after the spill and Exxon had crowed that Mother Nature had happily cleaned up their stinking oil mess for them. It was a lie. But the media wouldn't question the bald-faced bullshit. And who the hell was going to investigate Exxon's claim way out in some godforsaken Native village in the Prince William Sound? So I convinced the Natives to fly the lazy-ass reporters out to Sleepy Bay on rented float planes to see the oil that Exxon said wasn't there. The reporters looked, but didn't see it, because it was three inches under their feet, under the shingle rock of th...
More About: Anniversary , Year , Oil Spill

How I Became Tumerica, The Changer: A True Story
2009-03-24 01:47:00
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More About: Personal , Story , True Story , True

Taxpayer Bailout Money Fattens AIG Bank Accounts
2009-03-16 16:57:00
$450 million of American taxpayer money is slated to go to bonuses rewarding executives of the failed, American International Group. AIG took no higher moral stance than any other bailed-out company in refusing to award merit-based year-end bonuses to those who contributed to their companies' downfall."It's in their business contracts," said National Economic Council President, Larry Summers (of "Women aren't smart enough to succeed at math and science" Harvard Pres. infamy). "Government can't do anything to stop them," he exclaimed, while rolling over and revealing his pale yellow underbelly.Now Obama administration officials are worried about a backlash, yada, yada, yada. Well, damned right, they should be worried about a backlash. Financial industry executive bonuses are designated as merit-based. No merit equals no bonus, right? Doen't FAILED COMPANY = No bonus? Doesn't U.S. Taxpayers Have to Bail out Your Sorry Butts = No bonus? Is there justice to be had? In out country...
More About: Money , Bank , Bailout

Tumerica's Tightwad Tips for Stretching Your Budget
2009-03-06 19:27:00
Normal 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Food & Kitchen Institute a "beans-and-rice" night once a week. Buy dried beans and rice in bulk. You can vary the beans with spices, fresh garlic, greens, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, ham, bacon, etc.To reuse leftovers for suppers, change the format?roast chicken one night becomes chicken tacos or enchiladas or soup the next night. Otherwise, use leftovers as is for lunches instead of eating out.Instead of buying dishwasher dishw...
More About: Tips , Budget , Stretching

China Marches Forward with Gigantic Military Spending Increase for 2009: D
2009-03-04 18:24:00
The entire globe is experiencing an economic meltdown, from the super-powers down to the little guys. Suddenly, China announces a double-digit increase in its military spending. Does this sound ominous to anyone besides me? To put it in perspective, China's military spending is still small compared to, um, the U.S. But still. China has been bold about moving rapidly ahead in its defense spending. Perhaps it is playing catch-up with the Western world. Perhaps it has big plans. Perhaps this increase is all part of their economic stimulus package.Apparently, I am not alone in speculating about this determination on the part of the Chinese. Japan, India, Australia, and Vietnam have all expressed concerns about a more powerful China. Surely Taiwan is quaking in its boots at this development, too.China's defense budget to grow 14.9 % in 2009, Xinhua, ChinaChina announces double-digit military spending boost, The Guardian, UKChina boosts military spending, Voice of America
More About: Military , World Politics , Anti-War , Spending

What Are You Doing to Weather the Current Financial Storm?
2009-03-01 17:21:00
We?ve stopped all non-essential buying. I?ve been selling merchandise on eBay (extra money?whoo-hoo!). We moved our five-year-old from a private school ($500 a month!) to a good-quality public school (free, albeit with lots of mandatory fund-raisers). We eat vegetarian once or twice a week, with one of those nights being a beans-and-rice night (with homemade cornbread, it?s not so bad). And we are actually completely eating up our leftovers (we used to view them with condescension?now we look at them as eating opportunities). My husband takes leftovers for his lunch every day, instead of eating out (we have yummier-than-average leftovers, since I am a fanatic foodie), and we eat out as a family only once per week, and that is lunch, which is cheaper than supper.We make trips to the local library once or twice a month to borrow books rather than buying them (who needs the clutter anyway?), and have found it fun to go online, check the catalog of books available, and put a desired boo...
More About: Weather , Financial , Current , Storm

Name That Ice Cream Contest Winners
2009-03-01 00:31:00
Normal 0 false false false st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Ben & Jerry's ice cream company has created the "Yes Pecan!" ice cream flavor for Barack Obama. Due to the new flavor's popularity, they asked for suggestions from the public for flavors to commemorate his predecessor, George W. Bush . . . Here are some of their flavor-ite responses: ?Grape Depression ?Abu Grape ?Cluster Fudge ?Nut'n Accomplished ?Iraqi Road ?Chock 'n Awe ?WireTapioca ?Impeach Cobbler ?Impeach Mint ?Heck o...
More About: Contest , Ice Cream , Winners , Cream

ABTFO: End of Iraq War Now Has a Date
2009-02-27 19:11:00
President Obama announced a definitive end to the Iraq i combat troops--19 months out. The catch? Residual troop presence--non-combat troops--will still be a whopping 50,000. Am I thrilled? Yes. To have any progress at all and a clear deadline is a good thing. Is it exactly what I was hoping? More immediate withdrawal, small troop presence? Nope. I'll take what I can get, though.Don't forget the Cost of War (CostofWar.com). $600 Billion U.S. so far. $341 Million a day. Not that on August 31, 2010, U.S. cost will be zero. But the difference between 50K troops and 160K troops is a major reduction in cost. And, at hem, human life cost, which cannot be quantified.Here's what it looks like in part:American Military Casualties?4,252 (from AntiWar.com)American Military Injured?31,089 (from AntiWar.com)Iraqi Civilian Casualties?90,000 to 99,000 (estimate from IraqBodyCount.org)Another Beautiful Thing From Obama (ABFTO): his promise to end the war against Iraq kept. Imperfectly, but kept.
More About: Iraq War

Tumerica Dishes on the Oscar Night Dresses 2009
2009-02-25 16:20:00
Best Dressed and Worst: the Good, the Bad, and the UglyEvery year, I do a snarky, opinion-filled piece commenting on the Oscar night dresses (and sometimes tuxedos). It's such fun and usually gets me way more hits than my, at hem, political commentary--understandably so. If you can't say something nice, come sit by me and all that. Don't forget to register your differences of opinion below.Most DeliciousAmy AdamsSpectacular dress, regal and breath-taking. Loved everything about her look. The vibrant, unabashed red, the porcelain goddess skin. Fabulous. The necklace is to-die-for and I love how contrasty it is with the red--why not? And would you look at the cut of this dress? Scrumptious. Amy--you were marvelous in Enchanted. My five-year-old and I adored you. Could there be a more beautiful woman on the planet than Amy Adams was Oscar night? Most Brazenly BeautifulViola DavisIt takes a goddess to pull off a bold gold lame look with falls and falls of drape and to do it with...
More About: Dresses , Night , Dishes

ABTFO: High-Speed Rail Corridor Designations
2009-02-18 21:57:00
[Click the map to see it larger. ]This is the proposed siting for the new high-speed rail sought by the Obama administration as part of the Stimulus Package. Not everyone benefits (Las Vegas is bummed they aren't slated for a link to LA, and the whole west is out of luck), but for many millions of us, this arrangement would be brilliant. I live over on the west coast link, which would allow speedy access from San Diego all the way up to the Bay Area and Sacramento. This would be huge!
More About: Speed , High , Rail , High Speed , Corridor

ABTFO: Lots of Funding for High-speed Rail in the US
2009-02-17 22:17:00
Somehow, long about the time the late Henry Ford was about to redraw the future of the world with his horseless carriages and assembly lines, Ford company patsies were dispatched to decimatd the American rail system. Up until then, the American rail system had been the envy of the world. I'm not making this up. Ford's minions systematically attacked anything to do with trains and railways?to force his competition out of the arena, ensuring the dominance of the solo-powered vehicle. Ford succeeded, and the world moved gleeful toward its doom.Now, President Obama makes peace by righting some of the wrongs of the past, bill by bill. Tucked into the Stimulus Package is a chunk o' money for high-speed rail--$8 billion now, and perhaps another $1 billion a year for the next five years included in the 2010 budget, to be outlined next week.Now that rail has lots of money to spend, you'd think that would make our railway future look bright. In fact, the biggest first obstacle is the frei...
More About: Funding , Speed , High , Rail , High Speed

The Esqueness of Kafkaesque: What's Your Esque?
2009-02-16 23:50:00
My friend, Dal, former golf-pro and now full-time thinker sent me a link to a long, verbose, dense book review of a book about Kafka--not sure if it was about Kafka or the misused word, kafkaeque, or a social treatise about how modern life has become kafkaesque. I couldn't bring myself to comment with any degree of seriousness. And I admit to never having used the word kafkaesque in my life--have you? Here was my reply:And there are the literarily-timid like me, who would never deign to use the word Kafkaesque for fear of using it badly. And don?t think it?s just Murphy?s Lawesque of me to spout such pessimism, who, with my slightly Reubenesque figure and my Titianesque hair, stuck in this Danteesque inferno of self-doubt, Freudesque egotistical whisperings, that push my mind into a Proustesque hyper-fascination with details, sometimes inspired by anti-bureaucratic leanings, railing against Pavlovesque knee-jerk responses to media-supplied truths, however Thoreauesque my thoughts m...

Despondex: Hope for Those Suffering from ECD
2009-02-13 16:49:00
Annoyed by someone around you who has Excessive Cheerfulness Disorder (ECD)? Now, you can recommend they get help.
More About: Humor , Hope , Suffering

Another Beautiful Thing from Obama (ABTFO): Homeless Woman Given Home
2009-02-11 21:07:00
Yesterday, she was homeless. Today she has a home. Yesterday, she was unknown. Now her name is on the lips of people across the country. Henrietta Hughes. Has a nice ring to it. Ms. Hughes asked President Obama (also has a nice ring to it) for help with her homelessness at a town hall meeting in Florida where Obama was drumming up support for his stimulus package. She and her son, who was a computer programmer, lost their home when the son got laid off. They have been living in their small car and hanging out in parks for "a long time."Just so happened that the wife of the Florida State Representative, Ms. Chene Thompson, heard Ms. Hughes call for help and offered a solution: her own first home.See Ms. Hughes pleas here. This made me cry. And another happy ending.
More About: Home , Beautiful , Woman , Homeless

Holy Toledo! This Recession is a Zebra of a Whole ?Nother Stripe!
2009-02-09 18:53:00
The green line is the current job loss situation in the US measured over the last year. The other two lines are prior recessions here, from which the country quickly recovered. The current recession looks like a complete alien compared to the other two mere blips. This chart came from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's blog, called, The Gavel.
More About: Holy , Recession

Bless Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
2009-02-04 21:21:00
Poor Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg has been admitted to the hospitalized today after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. She's been a Supreme Court Justice for 15 years, and as an appointee by then President Bill Clinton, was only the second female Justice and the first Jewish one. She has come down on the side of Labor, and equal rights for women and men repeatedly throughout her career. Forbes listed has her as one of the top 100 most powerful women in the world for the last two years.Blessings to Justice Ginsburg and here's hoping she makes a smooth recovery.Sad to speculate, but if she is unable to continue in the highest court, here's hoping President Obama will appoint someone whose political stance is equal to hers. And naturally, I also hope such an appointee would be a woman.
More About: Ruth

What Is Your Happiness?
2009-02-03 21:47:00
My friend, Dal Raiford, who was a stellar golf professional, now retired and donning the mantle of thinker and question-asker, who is also utterly unafraid to delve into the thorniest issues, brought up the subject of happiness. Now, I, like a lot of other people, do have opinions about happiness. But, in a deeper sense, I am not sure what ?happiness? is really. I suspect happiness has to be in-the-moment or not at all. I don?t think you can look at a larger frame of time and go, ?Oh, I was happy then.? Were you really? For the entire period?every bit of it? And was that happiness dependent on circumstances or other people? Then it likely wasn?t really happiness?or was it? Probably the happiness of Zen Buddhists or of Eckhart Tolle is the most we humans can achieve: detachment from expectations of the future or delusions from the past and perfect presence in the moment, responsive to and utterly aware, right now. Are we happy right now? I think I?ve felt those moments of...
More About: Happiness

Groundhog Always See His Shadow in Sunny SoCal
2009-02-03 19:05:00
Sorry, folks who are mired in the frozen Northeast. Sorry, folks who are becoming ice cubes in the bitter Mid-West. Sorry, Alaskans and Canadians. We lucky denizens of Southern California have been knee deep in blossoms for at least a week or two. Spring usually starts in early February, but this year it was a tad early. With almost every day sunny, how do you know it's Spring? When the deciduous trees in your neighborhood (both of them) blossom. Simple. Do you hate us yet?
More About: Personal , Shadow , Sunny

Lilly Ledbetter: Another Beautiful Thing from Obama
2009-01-29 20:12:00
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More About: Women , Issues , Beautiful , Thing

First Iceland, and then the U.S.?
2009-01-26 16:05:00
The government of Iceland fell. Went kerplop. Disintegrated into so much slush and rubble. Melted away. Died.Three months ago, Iceland's currency, the krona, collapsed, along with some of their major banks and their stock market. (Hey--that last part sounds familiar.) Some of its banks were then nationalized, and the country limped along.Then, thousands of protesters assembled, demanding that Prime Minister Geir Haarde resign (which he refused to do, but he did announce he would not run for re-election due to health issues). But then, his Commerce Minister resigned, slamming on the brakes of the administration's giant snowmobile.Meanwhile, the IMF promised $827 million to pump into the frozen Icelandic economy right away, after inflation had reached 12 percent. Then, $1.2 billion more is expected in installments from the IMF, as well as the burgeoning snowball of aid from its neighbors, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, contributing another $2.5 billion.Still scrambling for m...

A Little Something Superficial But Fun: Michelle Obama's Inauguration Outfi
2009-01-20 20:25:00
Amid all the splendor and joy that was today's inauguration, as a fashion-conscious gal, I couldn't help but be curious about what Michelle Obama would be wearing. Please indulge me the luxury and fun of talking about something completely superficial for a change from the usual punditry and angst.Didn't the First Lady look spectacular? Like a goddess. I gasped when I saw the outfit (designed by the Cuban-born Isabel Toledo). Chartreuse metallic brocade tea-length coat over a matching empire-waist, beribboned sheath dress and matching cashmere cardigan. And the sparkly brooch at the top of the sheath dress? Magnificent. The final, ultimate cool touch was the light green leather gloves (by J. Crew). She looked splendid, don't you think?
More About: Beauty , Fashion