July 2009
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Oh, I don’t think she quit. I think she changed her priorities.
– Sen. John McCain, commenting on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to resign
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The great paradox of the age is that Barack Obama, the most riveting of recent...
– David Brooks, New York Times
June 2009
13 posts
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Hidden House, Hidden Story →
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Indeed, if there was a defining moment in Friday’s debate, it was the...
– “Betraying the Planet,” Paul Krugman, New York Times.
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What Facism Looks Like →
Be disturbed, very disturbed.
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There’s nothing more repugnant than seeing women being hit by big men armed with...
– New York Times’ Roger Cohen from Tehran
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Bloviators
I love the word, especially the way NYT columnist Frank Rich deploys it against right-wing hate mongers.
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Degradation of the American Dialogue →
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This scares the hell out of me →
And I can’t believe I’m linking to something that links to Fox News.
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Picture Behind the Picture →
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Read books are far less valuable than unread ones.
– The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (via Jason Kottke)
May 2009
32 posts
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Distraction of Social Media →
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Handy news
The New York Times’ two most-emailed stories:
Texting May Be Taking a Toll
The Case for Working With Your Hands
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Seriously brighten your day →
Children singing — the antidote to downer thoughts.
(via anyways.us)
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If you’re really concerned about cognitive abilities, look after your...
– Mind Hacks disses Information Alarmageddon publicity
Inexpert Experts →
My fascination needle just swung all the way to the right.
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Harbinger of Death slumming in the city →
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Zeal is one of those qualities that either osmoses straight into you or bounces...
– Magic Molly
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In My Dreams
“In My Dreams” from the CD A Roller Coast of Emotions by Australia’s Youth Group:
Happy again for the precious time I steal. For a minute there I thought my dream was real. Sometimes you come to me as a flock of birds. Sometimes you come dressed as Allen Ginsberg. Until the morning light, the same dream every night. In my dreams you are alive and breathing. Standing at my...
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Fossils of the Future →
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…I was waterboarded [in training] so I know… It is torture…...
– Jesse Ventura, former Navy S.E.A.L., on Larry King Live
(via Andrew Sullivan)
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Drink up
Portland and its scenic mini-me town 2,654 miles away, Asheville, N.C., both named Beer City USA.
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Fiscal folly
Is there a more definitive word than chagrined or embarrassed or mortified or dumbass for someone who writes a check to a firm retained to help get his — and spouse’s — financial house in order and fails to ensure enough money is available to cover the check?
Do financial planners have a special term they use at financial planner conferences when trading stories about such...
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Blood Puddle Pillow
When my wife and I were dating, I went to her apartment. She greeted me with an enigmatic smile. Smelling faintly of perfume, she led me upstairs to the bedroom. On the floor was a chalk outline, like those drawn around a dead body at a crime scene. It was me, she said.
Read more
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Need a hug? →
“An edition in the ongoing series METHODS & APPARATI for Social Facilitation and Mood Elevation.”
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Not psychotic yet →
But this study makes me wonder: how would my world look without so much coffee?
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Understanding the past →
What’s the context of these quotes from the epigraph page of a book I bought today? Not the unfolding torture scandal, though it could be.
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Product placement
MSNBC.com publishes before and after photos of first U.S. resident to receive a face transplant. Ad inset in the story promotes anti-wrinkle cream. I refresh the page, and the ad changes to one for whitening teeth. Clever product placement or bad taste?
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Jobs and names
I had a question about a neighborhood cleanup. Phoned contact person. Name is Clutter. I had a question about a seed library. Phoned contact person. Name is Lavender.
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If today’s “conservatives” spent one tenth of the time saying...
– Daily Dish’s Andrew Sullivan
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Need to live here →
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How do you know when you've swilled too much wine?
When you start telling the French woman who’s pouring at a crowded tasting about French movies you’ve seen recently.
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White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say...
– CNN report
April 2009
50 posts
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And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a...
– U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois
(via MetaFilter)
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