Wednesday, March 27, 2013

#samesexmarriage

#samesexmarriage

Best quote list from press talk on the steps of The Supreme Court as Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is discussed inside. 

"Well folks, I apologize. It appears Mr. Clement is not coming out."

So, I guess someone tweeted that the surprise turn in the case would be the lead attorney's announcement of gayness? Gayhood?

Paul Clement was the lead counsel on the team that went after President Obama and his Affordable Care Act in 2011. Brilliant work and presentation  in that case brought him legal fame and the title "The Lebron James of Law."

Here he was expected to present thoughts and responses to his argument against Betty Windsor and her estate tax claim regarding her dead female partner and the Court's decision regarding same.

http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-clement-doma-gay-marriage-supreme-court-obamacare-2013-3


++++++++++++++

Nancy Pelosi, speaking on her history with LGBT issues, shows her feelings for her home constituency: "From our beautiful place in San Francisco, the city of Saint Francis...it was our job to shorten the distance between the impossible and the inconceivable."

I dunno. It still amazes me the path I am on. Just few years ago, this same exact statement would have pissed me right off the bench.





#samesexmarriage

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Chicks 'N Shit, Continued

Chicks 'N Shit, Continued

Sometimes my dad looks pretty smart. 

Like when he said, "Let's give the women a chance. They couldn't fuck it up any more than the men have." 

Coming from a lifer Rotarian and one of the most diligent, meticulous, and conservative men I have ever known, this was something. 

So, with this as partial genesis, I launch Chicks 'N Shit, my site dedicated to good news about females, feminism and feminine evolution, with some math & science thrown in once in a while.

DD out


Douglas Douglas
Discovery Learning founder
Host of Hard Work Hour with Douglas Douglas
hardworkisfun@gmail.com



Obama appoints First Female Director of Secret Service

Cali, Columbia: Women say: "Fuck bodayas. We don't need the government OR the godamn drug cartels!" NASHIRA

Nashira, another good reason to pay attention to Al Jazeera. 


Chicks 'N Shit, Continued

Monday, March 25, 2013

Milagro Beanfield War, 1988

Milagro Beanfield War, R. Redford Dir. 1988


When the student is ready the teacher appears. For me sometimes it is also, when the sofa is clear, the remote will work.


Finally watching Milagro Beanfield War about twenty years after the buzz died down.  New Mexico battle between Mexican farmers and developers. Some great lines. Another Ruben Blades star. And early on, some great moments and some great lines. Early Robert Redford work.  Some lines:


"So why don't you ask him to stop?"

"'Cause he'll just tell me to sit on a chile and keep right on doing what he wants."

----------
Early evidence that Melanie Griffith was a waste of air.
---------
-----------
Christopher Walken as the out of town hired fixer getting a new car and driving it through the scrub and pine trees and gullies to give it a little wear reminds me of what we used to do to our new golf shoes.
--------------
A boogey man. Three old guys with shotguns. A rainbow. An old man who talks to the dead. Saint Jude. Daniel Stern as the PhD student trying to write it up. The Mayor, The Graveyard. The War. The Sheriff. The cow. The farmers. The hot chick. The attorney/publisher. The echo of sixties revolution.

The town meeting was a classic. Funny and real.
--------------

"What good is a hometown, if everyone you know is gone?"


-----------

A wonderful tale told with elegance and humor and magic. 




Milagro Beanfield War, R. Redford Dir. 1988

Does Religion Insist on Suppression?


Does Religion Insist on Suppression?

When your religion insists you suppress your sexuality, sensuality and sociology, you automatically suppress your spirituality to those same dogmatic restrictions and you stagnate inwardly, becoming self destructive as well as abusive to those around you, including those you may love dearly.

What you fight, you invite and ignite. Relax and allow the elegance and eloquence of your humanness manifest with dignity and class. Human beings, being human is not a fault or sin. Decide to live beyond the illusion of shame, scarcity and fear! Love, peace and freedom is our divine birthright!


Bishop Carlton Pearson
Chicago, Illinois

Does Religion Insist on Suppression?

Follow up discussion question: Why is sexuality less onerous than violence?

Sunday, March 24, 2013

UnFinnished Business, by Pasi Sahlberg

UnFinnished Business, by Pasi Sahlberg

With apologies and hope for me and all my fellow teachers:

"...across more than two decades of educational reform, the United States, like many other Anglo-Saxon nations, has epitomized Einstein's definition of madness: keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result. Force, pressure, shame, top-down intervention, markets, competition, standardization, testing, and easier and quicker passages into teaching, closure of failing schools, the firing of ineffective teachers and principals, and fresh starts with young teachers and newly established  schools -- the very reform strategies that have failed dismally over two decades in many Anglo-Saxon nations -- are being reinvented and re-imposed and with even greater force and determination."

Pasi Sahlberg
from the forward to his book "Finnish Lessons" about the last sixty years of education reform in Finland, and why many are using the Finnish model as a basis for positive change.\fd78uhjnb `
I better go ahead and retract the apology. I do not regret posting Mr. Sahlberg's words and my own. I only regret the urgent necessity of them. Our schools are on fire, with few exceptions. The few of my peers who voice positive statements about their institutions can be counted on either hand.

Notes from the YouTube video and the book (I am enjoying them concurrently)

Mr. Pasi Sahlberg (PS) talks about Finland in the shade of the U.S. and Sweden. Not being a dominant land like ours, Finland has never sought to conquer, but only survive wars and occupation in their precarious position on the edge of Asia, Europe, Russia (USSR), and Sweden. They country-wide have consistently supported the idea that the best way -- the best tool -- for long-term survival is education. ( In this country we say that, but generally, our students are left on their own, and many leave education only hating it for having wasted their time. )

"Finally we are now in a situation where Finland is a part of the European Union, having deep financial problems and many challenges to survival. We quickly learned that the best thing is to cultivate your mind and to pray."


  •  There is a literacy test as a part of the Swedish marriage license process. You must read to get married. 


Linus is Finnish.

Angry Birds are Finnish.

Newsweek says the best country in the world is Finland.

All education is paid for by taxes. Even for foreign students.

Children begin education at age seven. Before that it is up to them to educate their children.

Much more later.

DD out



UnFinnished Business, by Pasi Sahlberg

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Side Effects - Jude Law

Side Effects - Jude Law


I am so glad to see the new Jude Law movie coming out presented as the unfortunate side effects risked from the new drug.

I just watched a commercial for a sleep drug that included the qualification, "depressed users may have increased thoughts of suicide".

We are the bright red lobsters in the pot. Doctors and pharma reps will tell you that these crazy addendums are mandated by a mega-restrictive legal environment that is parenthetically also responsible for greatly magnifying R&D costs in a rock and a hard place configuration effectively strangling these good companies from doing their good work and selling their good product. Whew.


Side Effects - Jude Law

Monday, March 18, 2013

notes -- The Bible, History Channel -- notes

notes -- The Bible, History Channel -- notes

"Trust in God!" Abraham screams as he charges with his sword.

Abraham charges with his sword, as he screams "Trust in God!"

Sword in hand, Abraham leads the charge with a cry, "TRUST IN GOD!"

His men are outnumbered, but Abraham can wait no more. His nephew's wife is about to be gang-raped as entertainment for the feasting crowd. Rising to the challenge, his men sprint to the throng, behind the cry: "Trust in God!"

We all benefit from the exploration of this story. And we all benefit from sitting and thinking and examining ourselves.

Our Cecil B. DeMille is here.

notes -- The Bible, History Channel -- notes

notes - "Hot for writing" gets student author banned -- notes

"Hot for writing" gets student author banned from school

A local story, and I yield to the courts to decide on the decisions, but I do have a few thoughts on the context. 

The way it is presented to us is that a creepy guy wrote about how hot the teacher was, and she kicked him out of school for it.

What has happened between the announcement in class and us reading the story?

Did the student follow the teacher's instructions for the assignment?

Are there pertinent facts not included in the story? 

Facts like: 
+ this happened two years ago
+ the guy had options for completing his schoolwork
+ he was offered a refund

And Other Questions, like: 

What the fuck are the school administrators thinking about that they can't fix this before it breaks out as a national story?

Wouldn't it be nice if teachers (as a group) had authority and respect enough that 1) it is assumed that this teacher failed a little in manifesting HER authority and handling the student issue in the classroom? and 2) the thrust of the story is a description of the erosion of faith in education and THAT is what is on trial here instead of one teacher, one student, and one school?

In my world, curiosity and learning and knowledge are royalty.

http://www.northwestohio.com/news/story.aspx?id=873138#.UUc5IhzCaSo

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130316/NEWS03/130316009/-Hot-Teacher-lawsuit-Expelled-student-sues-Oakland-University-2-2M?gcheck=1&nclick_check=1

"Hot for writing" gets student author banned

Friday, March 15, 2013

Oliver Stone JFK : Truth or Bullshit?

Oliver Stone JFK : Truth or Bullshit?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Truth or Bullshit
Oliver Stone's JFK
Claim #1
"A Congressional Investigation from 1976-1979 found a 'probable conspiracy' in the assassination of John F. Kennedy."
Hmmm.
Turns out that just a quick look shows there is much more to be learned here.

Much More Much Later
DD out


Interesting conspiracy website here.
Another interesting conspiracy Wiki page.
And another.



Oliver Stone JFK : Truth or Bullshit?

Sunday, March 10, 2013

AMOCA 3/9/2013

Garreth Morris woke me up last night, he used Richard Jacobs to do it, and I had to drive to Pomona for the privilege first. That is where AMOCA is

My godson is a ceramicist and so is Garreth. I heard about this Londoner making the trek and I tagged along. My greatest sense of the event was the length of the drive and how slimy I might get wiggling out of paying any ticket cost. I had no idea I was about to get my clock cleaned.

I sat with the other nineteen people to hear -- what? -- a dry presentation of dried earth.

Ceramics does not light my fire. I am a screen and word guy. There was a flat screen, and a camera so I thought "images." There was a very boring introduction and I was told that we were going to hear a 45 minute presentation of letter reading. Hmmm. Warmer.

Richard Jacobs began and drew a stick figure of himself out of words. Described himself so that I felt comfortable.

Then he introduced topic after topic and Mr. Morris and kept me on the edge of my seat for much more than and hour. My head expanded, contracted, wobbled, regained it's orientation and absolutely did NOT return to it full upright position.


A letter-writing foundation they used to build an engaging presentation of words. The topics are much larger than I can describe here now (I am still digesting). But the sound-bites I was able to capture are titillating.

Professor Jacobs said that he hopes to have his hopes dashed. That if he ends his life knowing nothing, he will have had a successful journey. This guy is cool nihilism and hilarity. Gold mining to commense ASAP.


Mr. Morris described "the center of being ache" to describe his creative process, and declared his ongoing intention to "keep the suffocation of expectation at bay."

Dr. Jacobs announced his practice of "celebrating the glory of imagination" by displaying Gareth's work.
The engaging and high-level debate/conversation/oratory renewed my strength and made me turn on the Sunday morning shows with renewed hope. I even looked for Doha.

Thank you gentlemen. I hope the invitation was not just to get me out to the parking lot.

Namaste.


"Maybe men should be more like women" George Will on TWwGS

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

notes -- My Incredible Non-Stick Hypocrisy -- notes

My Incredibly Non-Stick Hypocrisy

Ducks

Every step taken down the path of truth is purposeful.

I am full of shit sometimes. But I am working on it. Here I want to explore culinary crap, like the foie gras stuff now running in Hermosa, pushed by PETA.

Throw your hat over the wall and then follow it.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-peta-foie-gras-hots-20130306,0,6598496.story


My Incredibly Non-Stick Hypocrisy

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Obama law license history allegations

Fact checkage below. This is racist, stupid bullshit.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot ,, say it ain't so!
I am reposting for those who have missed it.

FORMER LAWYERS?

I knew they had both lost their law license, but I didn't know why until I read this.

This is 100% legit. I check it out at https://www.iardc.org/ Stands for Illinois Attorney Registration And Disciplinary Committee. It's the official arm of lawyer discipline in Illinois ; and they are very strict. (Talk about irony.) Even I, at the advanced age of almost 65, maintain (at the cost of approximately $600/year) my law license that I worked so hard and long to earn.

Big surprise.

Former Constitutional Law Lecturer and U.S. President Makes Up Constitutional Quotes During State Of The Union (SOTU) Address.

Consider this:

1. President Barack Obama, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, is no longer a "lawyer". He surrendered his license back in 2008 in order to escape charges he lied on his bar application. A "Voluntary Surrender" is not something where you decide "Gee, a license is not really something I need anymore, is it?" and forget to renew your license. No, a "Voluntary Surrender" is something you do when you've been accused of something, and you 'voluntarily surrender" your license five seconds before the state suspends you.

2 Michelle Obama "voluntarily surrendered" her law license in 1993. after a Federal Judge gave her the choice between surrendering her license or standing trial for Insurance fraud!

3. Facts.Source: http://jdlong.wordpress.com/2009/05/15/pres-barack-obama-editor-of-the-Harvard-law-review-has-no-law-license/

4. A senior lecturer is one thing, a fully ranked law professor is another. Barack Obama was NOT a Constitutional Law Professor at the University of Chicago .

5. The University of Chicago released a statement in March 2008 saying Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) "served as a professor" in the law school-but that is a title Obama, who taught courses there part-time, never held, a spokesman for the school confirmed in 2008.

6. "He did not hold the title of Professor of Law," said Marsha Ferziger Nagorsky, an Assistant Dean for Communications and Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago School of Law.

Source: http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/03/sweet_obama_did_hold_the_title.html ;

7. The former Constitutional Senior Lecturer (Obama) cited the U.S. Constitution the other night during his State of the Union Address. Unfortunately, the quote he cited was from the Declaration of Independence ... not the Constitution.

8. The B-Cast posted the video: http://www.breitbart.tv/did-obama-confuse-the-constitution-with-the-declaration-of-independence/

9. Free Republic : In the State of the Union Address, President Obama said: "We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal.

10. Um, wrong citing, wrong founding document there Champ, I mean Mr. President. By the way, the promises are not a notion, our founders named them unalienable rights. The document is our Declaration of Independence and it reads:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

11. And this is the same guy who lectured the Supreme Court moments later in the same speech?

When you are a phony it's hard to keep facts straight. Keep this moving -- educate others
Like ·  ·  · about an hour ago via mobile · 

Florida Sinkhole Taps Fear Center In Us All

Florida Sinkhole Taps Fear Center In Us All

This is only a local story for this poor guy's Floridean neighbors, so WTF do I post it here?

Well, I think we have a graphic representation of a GAF here (read General American Fear). And, like the growing vacuum underground, it goes much deeper.

We as LATS are not supposed to listen to that little voice sometimes in the shape of starving, dark-skinned people far, far away -- okay, okay :  Loyal American Test Subjects -- We are not encouraged to self-examination or moral exploration regarding our core principles of shop 'till you drop and slash and burn diplomacy.

What if we die? Will we die, NMW? What happens after? Why didn't my ancestors live like this?

Or, in the case most closely held at hand: what happens if my life changes dramatically in one second? And by that I mean : DRA -- mah...

We don't much think about a today without a tomorrow, which is exactly what this guy got, oh, and what EVERY FUCKING ONE OF US WILL GET WHEN WE DIE.

I dunno. I probably am fooling myself here. Plato said that the present is a thing impossible small and hard to describe, sandwiched between two imaginary things. So maybe it is a vision thing: it is just too hard to see.

This guy is sleeping peacefully in his warm cozy dream cocoon. Something bumps the bed and he is plunged, burrito-wrapped in his blue blanket deep into the dark, warm earth, never to return. Is there anything more scary? Or is a slow ATM still atop the list?

Florida Sinkhole Taps Fear Center In Us All