mousemusings...multimedia, music, progressive politics, video, web design and general rants
Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.
~Kurt Vonnegut
Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Secret Service arrests Yale student after he allegedly tries to enter Cheney's box

A straight-A Yale junior was arrested after entering a restricted area near Vice President Dick Cheney's booth at the Republican National Convention, coming within 10 feet of him and shouting anti-war statements, authorities said Tuesday.
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Gmail invites

I have a few. Let me know if you want one.
UPDATE: Here's a link where you can get an invite or give an invite.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Bob's Solar Mission

I love watching a plan come together!
Bob is able to power his television and home theater for 3-4 hours off two charged batteries, has pix of his current setup and more coming.
I'm wondering, on a normal cloudy week that we've been having recently, how long it takes to fully charge those batteries.
Does he have plans to heat his water?
Keep us informed Bob, and don't forget tips!

When I was visiting my parents I really wanted to talk to their nextdoor neighbor about his setup too. He's completely off the grid (except water) using solar and wind. Now I wish I had at least taken some pix.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The Diebold GEMS central tabulator contains a stunning security hole

Manipulation technique found in the Diebold central tabulator -- 1,000 of these systems are in place, and they count up to two million votes at a time.
Whether you vote absentee, on touch-screens, or on paper ballot (fill in the bubble) optical scan machines, all votes are ultimately brought to the "mother ship," the central tabulator at the county which adds them all up and creates the results report.
More info than you wanted to know, but must!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, August 30, 2004

RNC 2004 Blog Aggregator for Bloggers at The Tank

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, August 29, 2004

Streaming Pacifica





truthout Republican Convention Coverage
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, August 28, 2004

Fragments

 

 
My camera has the ability to stitch together fragments, but if you look closely, artifacts of the seams still exist.
All I have from the last couple weeks are fragments. My internal stitch mechanism is still on vacation, the thread elusive, never to be transparent. Although I was away from my job, this was hardly a vacation, but it did afford me a perspective of peeking into a different window rather than looking out at familiarity.
As detached as possible, yet always probing the political pulse, the fragments:

When my shuttle driver Richard picked me up he noticed my Kucinich bumper sticker. That was a jumpstart to stimulating conversation all the way to the airport. He had worked with the Government of Fiji, developing an alternative energy program and was deeply concerned with direction the US is headed. He was also exploring the mindset of the conservative and I recommended Lakoff's Moral Politics, which was new to him. He didn't think my dream of living in a yurt was crazy. I think we were both encouraged, at least for awhile.

Inside the airport waiting for my plane I noticed many of the male ticket agents wearing tacky American flag neckties. In a more conservative time wasn't that considered unlawful desecretion of the flag?

On the flight, I'm thanking Nader. "Pretzels," he said, "just don't do it." Wow, peanuts and a decent sized bag of Wheat Thins!

Boy, this one cost me!
Just $60 per day, no drop fees and free mileage of 500 miles per day and $.12 each additional mile. Choose any car from an economy through premium including minivans and PT Cruisers, all same price of $60/day.
How did I know that I wasn't going to get the advertised PT Cruiser that I reserved? "Sorry ma'am we only have a Sebring left." Never, ever, rent a car one-way! How the hell did $60 become $132 for a 24 hour rental? Advantage took advantage.

Mouth still gaping from the ripping for the rental car, I took off on the road trip from Albuquerque to Las Cruces. This drive IS my vacation I remind myself. I really can't afford a room now (damn car!). I'm thirsty, hungry and it's dark. The billboards advertise rooms for $32 in Socorro. It's not a terrible room, the carpet is grungy, there's a cricket on the bed, a persistent fly buzzing my ears and the toilet doesn't seem to be bolted to the floor but I had already paid for it. I settled in with a diet cherry limeade and a green chile cheeseburger from Sonic Drive In, my very first place of employment as a cook and carhop, whohooo!

Nostalgic cheeseburgers taste pretty good. The TV is inundated with political ads. This is, afterall, New Mexico, battleground state, and I appear to be in the center of Bush-Cheney country judging from the campaign headquarters I saw when driving into town.

Trying to put myself into the seat of someone open to political advertising, as one who only gets my information from the television, I was quite impressed with the Michael Badnarik ads. Please take the time to watch one for yourself. I believe he is going to be quite a factor in the New Mexico election. He could quite feasibly attract both conservative and liberal voters. His peace candidate ad quite readily distinguishes him from Bush or Kerry and he's already polling at 5% due to aggressive advertising in NM.

I wanted to take the time to visit the VLA. Ah...maybe another time.

Back on the road. Why can't I find a decent radio station? I feel like I'm in a timewarp. All the songs are the same songs I grew up hearing, classic rock, country, heavy metal. Seriously. I don't think they get promos. The car has a CD player. My new Wilco CD would have been great for this drive, sigh. At least I can read the book when I get there.

The further down the road I go, the worse the radio gets. I don't recall it ever being this bad. Every station is punctuating all interaction with Bible verses!
Yes, I'm in a rural area, but even when I lived in the South Carolina Bible Belt I was never subjected to this! With the serenity of the mountains and the innate spirituality that glistens in the sunlight paired with the inborn simple connectedness that can't be denied in a desert environment, the point needs no dilution nor delusions.

Once I reach Las Cruces I know my vacation is over. I stop by Mountain View Market to pick up some green chiles (it's harvest time and these are the very best chiles in the world) I also learned of Organic Agriculture Students Inspiring Sustainability which I'm filing here for reference if needed.
Now I have to drop off my only semblance of freedom, the car.

I'm here because my dad needs help with my mother. She's in the early to mid stages of Alzheimers and has extensive mobility problems. Assisted living is very expensive, and, like the majority of people, my parents don't have insurance to cover such care. I'll assess the situation, live a couple weeks in the prison that my father's been captive of and make plans accordingly. That's the plan anyway.

The fragments of thought really kick in now.

My dad is the closest person to sainthood that I know.
My mom is the most selfish, hateful person that I know. Alzheimers tends to exacerbate those traits, at least in her case.
Sometimes I'm very thankful that I was adopted and don't share her genes.

My dad has rheumatoid arthritis and the physical demands of my mother are becoming too much for him.
He wants me to move there.
My dad is the closest person to sainthood that I know.
He deserves all the help he can get.
If I move there I won't have a job.
Taking care of my mom will be a fulltime job, without pay.
I'll forfeit my healthcare, my dental, my social security and retirement contributions and that scares the hell outta me!
I love New Mexico, the sun and the mountains.
I'm avoiding being home as it is because I have a new neighbor who gives me the creeps.
Alzheimers can drag on for a long time. Can I do it without going insane? I have a lot of patience but my mom has a way of wearing it thin after about 4 days.

I miss Craig terribly.

I want to go home. I just don't know where it is.
I can't find a decent radio station. The Bible verses are everywhere. NPR isn't.
Dialup internet is only good for retrieving email long enough to delete the spam, especially on a 90 mhz pentium with Win 95. Oh man!

Watching The Price is Right, followed by hours of HGTV and then Wheel of Fortune with my mom is about the most horrible way to spend time that I can think of at the moment, unless I want to think of the evening I wrangled the TV away long enough to watch a few elusive screens of NOW with Bill Moyers before she threw a tantrum.

My parents, being older and needing fewer calories, eat one meal a day. Not that it's a bad thing, but I've lost 10 lbs.

Tony is missing.

There is no room in their house that I can escape to and close a door. It's a beautiful open floor plan that works well for two people. Did I mention no bathtub? When all else fails a bathtub is my sanctuary. How do I shave my legs?

On the first Saturday I was able to steal away time and a car so I could visit the Farmers Market and pick up some more chiles. A 1-1/2 hour of reaquaintance with the town I grew up in followed by another week of assessing the situation, trying to help my father find better, less physical ways of helping my mom, and listening to far too many childish temper tantrums. Even my kids at their worst were never this loud and certainly not hateful. I can almost feel sympathy for her but I feel more awe that my father can take it in stride.

It rained while I was there! After 6 years of drought they got almost a half years average rainfall in two days. If you look just beyond the yucca in the picture you can see an overflowing arroyo. Another of my apprehensions about moving here has been wrapped in the water situation. Rain eased those fears somewhat. It was funny to hear the people complain about the rain, as if! It did do some flooding, and was considered a 100 year rainfall but I have very little sympathy for people who bulit their fancy homes in an arroyo runoff area.

On the second Saturday I stole away more time to return to the Farmers Market to buy 5 lbs of chile to bring home with me. I also stopped to pick up some honey. Red chile honey! Imagine. Recipies online. Sweet heat! Yes, I do mean heat. Yum.
At the honey table I overheard people talking about the upcoming Bush visit to the area Thursday. Kurt Nimmo writes some about the visit too. It was good to hear someone planning a protest as my initial impressions made me very wary of the area, although I did see many Kerry bumper stickers and no Bush stickers. They invited me to join the protest but I was to be back in Michigan by then. It was quite interesting to find that they had both spent time in Ann Arbor. Suddenly I felt much more at home than I had for the past two weeks.
I mentioned the honey to my dad when I returned and he told me the beekeepers who sold the honey were also quite liberal and had written quite often for the local paper and he added that his next door neighbor often went to protests with them. My curiousity piqued, I searched for more info. Ok. If he can write this and this and his wife can write this, not to mention their research into alternative homebuilding, which is fascinating, perhaps I can be somewhat comfortable living there. At least I know it isn't entirely a Bush mecca.

Fragments again, and the thread still isn't in sight.
How soon?
How long?
Do I have it in me?
Health care and retirement, ouch!
I miss Craig.
Andy's going on vacation.
Tony's missing.
This is my decision.
My dad is the closest person to sainthood that I know.

A delicate flower can grow in a bed of thorns.
 

 
Thanks for keeping the blog active Andy! If you find time while you're away, by all means, go for it! This must be the longest 'hello' I've ever written on this page.
I have a bathtub. I think I'll go there now.
Please scroll down to read some good info that Andy posted about the NYC scene just before I bogarted the page. It will be a long time before I ever write this much again, I promise.

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


More Sass from Canadian MP

Ms. Parrish is known as an American-baiter. She created an international incident last year by saying: “Damn Americans. I hate those bastards,” in reference to the Iraq war.

On Wednesday, she added to her reputation in remarks to a rally of missile-defence opponents in Ottawa. “We are not joining the coalition of the idiots,” she said. “We are joining the coalition of the wise.”
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Critical Mass Cyclists Are First Wave of NYC Protests

Thousands of cyclists swarmed down Broadway from Central Park in a parade stretching more than a mile on Friday evening

Alas, I won't be making it there myself. I was going to stay with my aunt and uncle in Manhattan, but the travel logistics didn't work out. Anyway, here's her report about this event:
"As I write, a police helicopter with rotating searchlight is hovering about 8 blocks north of here, near St Mark's, and apparently a bicycle demonstration has run afoul of the local constabulary. Keith has been summoned by a neighbor and has taken off in the wheelchair to investigate."
Awesome. It got pretty messy at the end, with "at least 264 people arrested" and some folks knocked about, as a Village Voice article describes it from the ground. Check in with the Village Voice in general and Anya Kamenetz's blog The Weather Report: Resisting the RNC in particular.

I myself can't get WBAI 99.5 FM to play online, but maybe you can. They will have some special coverage of the march and beyond.
The often wildly entertainingWFMU is also putting together 5 days of politically themed programming starting Sunday at noon. Don't be bored at home!!
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Thursday, August 26, 2004

Showdown in Najaf

Follow this historic happening via Google News today-- Sistani (fresh out of hospital) and thousands of his closest friends march to Najaf to see Sadr, our Marines, and the Iraqi police. Will all hell break loose, or will all be forgiven?!

My main man Juan Cole says:
The stakes here are enormous. If Iraqi police fire on the peaceful demonstrators again, or if US troops refuse to make way for Sistani, there could be a big social explosion in Iraq. If Sistani is successful in his plan, on the other hand, it will further increase his authority in the Shiite South and perhaps even transform him into a nationalist hero.

All this is important because Sistani is insisting on the January elections being held on time. If they are postponed he will almost certainly send his followers into the streets to protest, and could well bring down Allawi.


and
Sistani's return raises many questions. Note that he did not fly into American-controlled Baghdad but rather to Kuwait, traveling overland to Basra. Since Basra is in British hands, with a Shiite governor that seems pro-Sistani, it seems possible that Sistani's people coordinated his return with the British and with the Basra authorities rather than with the United States and the Allawi government. Indeed, America's most militant asset in Najaf, governor Ali al-Zurfi, seems dead set against Sistani returning with crowds this way. You have to wonder if the British MI6 and military are showing some insubordination toward the Americans by allowing all this, as a mark of their disapproval of the gung-ho Marine attacks in Najaf, which have caused trouble in the British-held South and endangered the British garrisons...

If Sistani does lead a popular march of the sort the press is describing, it might be the most significant act of civil disobedience by an Asian religious leader since Gandhi's salt march in British India. And it might kick off the beginning of the end of American Iraq, just as the salt march knelled the end of the British Indian empire.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Sunday, August 22, 2004

Jack Idema speaks: "Be vewy, vewy quiet-- I'm hunting tewwowists..."

He contended he was badly beaten repeatedly by his jailers, though he had no visible cuts or bruises.

"Everything I was accused of doing [to the Afghan prisoners] got done to me," he said.

Idema accused the FBI of orchestrating his arrest, saying the agency was hiding its own incompetence in hunting for terrorists.


Flogging the Simian has completed parts 12 and 13 of her deep, amazing series on this deeply weird story.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Saturday, August 21, 2004

The last RNC websites you will need

(via MichaelMoore.com)

--The People's Guide to the Republican National Convention has created a fabulous, quirky map and has lots of other info

--And RNC Watch is a sort of blog compiling links/articles related to the RNC
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Stop The Wall

A comprehensive site on the campaign to stop the Apartheid Wall in the Occupied Territories.
News, analysis, activist resources, voices of those affected, relevant international law, maps, photos, video...
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Iraqi-Americans turn on Bush

The cleric, who strongly supported the U.S. invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, also spoke directly to President Bush: "You are abusing the democratic values of America. Where are the elections you promised us? ... If you can't bring peace and democracy to Iraq, then you don't deserve to be re-elected."

via Juan Cole, who added "These expatriate Iraqi Shiites had been the most gung-ho group about the US going to war against the Saddam regime in 2003, and they were big Bush supporters. But now they are filled with second thoughts and regrets. The US military campaign in Najaf has deeply offended their religious sensibilities."
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Crash the Republican parties in YOUR neighborhood

Use your Zip Code to find parties planned for your area, or enter another Zip Code to search other areas

Don't forget to bring lots of alcohol and a little bit of coke!
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Thursday, August 19, 2004

Iraq & Terrorism

I was researching Iraq's ties to terrorism today while arguing with the pinheads on a conservative-owned website (we all need hobbies), and found some interesting facts to counter the claims that these folks use to justify the invasion of Iraq, such as this from the State Department's 2000 assessment of state-sponsored terrorism:
The regime has not attempted an anti-Western terrorist attack since its failed plot to assassinate former President Bush in 1993 in Kuwait.

They also bring up Abu Nidal's (pdf) time in Baghdad from 1974-1980, which he spent attacking moderate PLO leaders and Syrian targets. He sure was a bastard, but this was all intra-Arab stuff. His career did more for the Israeli cause than anything else (it was even rumored that he was working for them). Saddam expelled him from Iraq in 1983 under pressure from the US (we were allies against Iran at the time, don't forget) and he called Saddam a "fascist dictator".
Nidal was in Baghdad being treated for leukemia right before our invasion. He was found dead with several bullets in his body. Iraqi authorities claim that he had entered Iraq illegally, and when discovered by officials, he shot himself. Some say Saddam didn't want him to get caught by us, cuz he would squeal on all of Saddam's terrorist ties. From 1980? More realistically, the man had tons of enemies.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, August 18, 2004

More political theater-- on stage and off-- in NYC

including my pal Reverend Billy:
"Flanked by members of the 'Church of the First Amendment,' this actor turned activist will lead a half-hour recitation of the First Amendment — the group will talk into cell phones to avoid looking like protesters — near Ground Zero on Aug. 31"
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Wilhelm Reich at the RNC


On Thursday, September 2nd, for several hours prior to and during George Bush’s re-nomination ceremony, the Brooklyn Orgastic Politics Collective (BOP-C) will be conducting Orgone operations with several of our Cloudbusters, attempting to suck the fascism from the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden. From an undisclosed location on the Brooklyn waterfront, we will be redirecting the flow of Life Energy above the deadly concentrations of hatred and greed accumulating in midtown Manhattan. If indeed our theories prove correct, it may be possible to reduce the entire convention floor to a quivering Saturnalia. The moans of Love shall ring out across the Land!
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Light Protest

On August 30, from dusk to dawn, all citizens who wish to end the Bush presidency can use light as our metaphor. We can gather informally all over the city with candles, flashlights and plastic wands to silently express our sorrow over all the innocent deaths the war has caused
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Rambo-style kook's trial delayed another week

(Jack Idema) said both he and his co-defendants had been beaten and tortured in police custody
Isn't that ironic?
Check out Flogging the Simian's ongoing series of articles (11 and counting) for previous developments.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Monday, August 16, 2004

One Thousand Coffins over the Brooklyn Bridge

The 1000 Coffins procession is a serene observance parade of realistic symbolic caskets draped in the Flag -- to represent and honor each of our fallen soldiers and marines, and make a bold statement that the truth of their sacrifice cannot be censored.
via kind reader Flatulus
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Sunday, August 15, 2004

Ypsilantian dies in Iraq

McCune died in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol on August 4, 2004 in Balad, Iraq. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Brigade Combat Team, Moses Lake, Washington. Died on August 5, 2004.

You can sign their guestbook if you like.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Saturday, August 14, 2004

Billionaires for Bush


Sunday, August 29

**Billionaire Croquet Party
10am, Central Park
**Million Billionaire March
Noon, Outside front of Plaza Hotel
**Billionaires Buy Broadway
Theatre District, 4:30pm
Monday, August 30
**Vigil for Corporate Welfare
2PM, Union Square & 4PM, United Nations
Tuesday, August 31
**Billionaire Flashmobbing
All Day, details announced at last minute
Ruly bands of Billionaires will roam the streets of New York, stopping for three-martini lunches, spontaneous outbursts of ballroom dancing and en-masse shining of shoes.
Wednesday, September 1
**Taunting of the Unemployed
8am, "The Line" from Wall Street, up Broadway to 34th St.
**Coronation Ball
9pm, The Frying Pan, Pier 63
"Formal" attire required. Yachts can be docked nearby. Sliding scale from $15 to $1,000,000.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Friday, August 13, 2004

No RNC posters


posted by Andy | link |   | |


Counterconvention.org


posted by Andy | link |   | |


United for Peace and Justice: RNC Menu

posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Thursday, August 12, 2004

RNC Not Welcome--events, actions, and meetings calendar

We are a collective who had considered the shortcomings of the organized resistance to the 2002 World Economic Forum here in New York City, while recognizing the strength of the anti-war demonstrations throughout February and March of 2003. We have therefore created this resource to help encourage a decentralized, autogenic mobilization to supplement the marches and rallies that will be organized against this convention. We respect and welcome a diversity of tactics and encourage autonomous groups to use their creativity to subvert this carefully staged affair to reclaim our streets and our lives.
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign

People are poor in America! We are consciously being made to disappear from the debates, the media, the job market and the welfare rolls. As the Republican National Convention descends upon New York City, we will be marching to demand our economic human rights and to call for an end to the war at home, a war that has left many of us homeless, hungry, unemployed and without healthcare. As poor and working people of this country, we cannot afford to suffer silently as our lives are threatened by political and economic policies that deny us our basic human rights. Both parties – Republicans and Democrats – have abandoned the poor and working families of this nation and so it is up to us to take our country in a new direction – one that is based in the economic human rights to food, housing, healthcare, education and living wage jobs. United as the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, we will bring together thousands of poor people, along with students, social workers, union members, lawyers and religious leaders to make our voices heard as we March For Our Lives.
Date: Monday, August 30th 2004
4pm – assemble at the United Nations (45th St. and 1st Ave) for kick-off rally and march to Madison Square Garden.
posted by Andy | link |   | |


RNC Protest Preview: Salon/Rolling Stone special reports

subscription or click thru a few ad pages
For the RNC, he dreams of "a total expression of seething hatred that will go down in history as a moment in time when people stood up to the worst administration we've ever had."
I'm thinking of going to NYC myself for the festivities, so will try to provide links to comprehensive listings of protest events. The funnest ones probably won't get publicized, though.
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Prozac 'found in drinking water' in UK

via Ypsidixit
Is this what Cyndy was referring to in her last post? Or just a bizarre coincidence?
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Outta Here

I'm outta here for a couple weeks with little or no internet access. Andy will be posting while I'm away. (no pressure Andy!)

The mental status of Bush is in question in this article, The Madness of King George Revisited Keep watching as things unfold, recalling the definition of megalomania:
a delusional mental disorder that is marked by infantile feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur I'm just sayin'.. kinda strange for a man who proposes mental health screening for all Americans. I guess they'll be purposely adding Prozac to our water supply soon!

Here is a link from scratchings that I want to get back to when I have internet access again. A meme and way of life worth the energy.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, August 09, 2004

Homeland Insecurity Advisory System

Rating the US Governments Threat Level
Rate your opinion of the threat level in mainstream news stories via rss feeds.
for example this story: ABC News: Why People Vote Like Their Neighbors
Does conformity theory dictate presidential voting patterns?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Koko Signs Request for Surgery

The unusual request likely marks the first time that an animal ever has used language created by humans to ask for surgery.

... Slater said Koko remained calm throughout the exam and even beckoned one of the doctors, who was wearing red, to come closer. Slater explained that Koko's favorite color is red.

The gorilla then signed that she wished to see the doctor's business card, which Koko examined before eating it.

Since the foundation was established in 1976, Koko has learned to sign over 1,000 words and she understands over 2,000 words.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Home Work

Handbuilt Shelter is a photo book featuring green building and sustainable alternative architecture using natural building materials
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, August 06, 2004

I wish her the best!

Cancer patient to use ?20m Lottery win to fight esophageal cancer
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Remembering Hiroshima at Los Alamos

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


No Difference?

For all who say there is little difference between Bush and Kerry, I offer this: Kerry Offers 10-Year Plan for U.S. Energy Independence, a significant and positive difference.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

This is the Psychiatric Hospital Where I Used to Work

No, that wouldn't be me. I'd be the patient who ....
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Yes This is Real

 
"Despite Gov. Jeb Bush's recent attempts to convince voters that touchscreen machines are reliable, newspapers reported that the Republican Party of Florida had sent voters in south Florida a flier that criticized touchscreen technology for its lack of a paper ballot that could be tracked in a recount, and urged them to obtain absentee ballots."



Combine the above with this essay by Wayne Madsen: Bedlam at the polls and a low turnout on the west coast is Bush's plan for 'victory'
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Michigan Musings

Largely symbolic, Detroit voters approve allowing medical marijuana use!


Vote for Change concert dates in Michigan

October 3 in Ann Arbor:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, R.E.M., John Fogerty, Bright Eyes

EPA study finds mercury in fish from Michigan lakes

Moderate Schwarz gets shot at House which is encouraging news, telling of the mindset of Michigan voters!
"Despite conventional wisdom that a moderate Republican could not win in a congressional district largely thought to be a conservative stronghold, Joe Schwarz emerged Tuesday night as the winner of a bruising primary battle for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Nick Smith."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Selling and Buying

Consumers caused the largest spending drop in 3 years. yet we're turning the corner.
What street are we turning onto? The street called Downward Spiral to Hell? What is it we aren't buying that's causing the spending drops?
I don't particularly like buying a stale product, or one that has been mis-represented. The product of FEAR ceases to capture market share when the little boy who cried wolf is selling it. I think that may be the case with other products that aren't selling well. Why buy into an Enron economy? Who has the money left to do so even if they had the inclination to buy? The people who got the hefty tax cuts? They don't 'need' anything and are completely content to sit on their money until we have a new administration, as am I, had I money to spend.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Team America: World Police

Plot Outline: Marionette superheroes fight to end terrorism and put tired celebrities out of their misery
Look at the Trailer link! Is this for real? (Supposedly) coming in October, of all months, from the creators of "South Park". IMDb lists it, with the caveat that it's only still in production.
posted by Andy | link |   | |


Minding the Planet: Testing Meme Propagation In Blogspace: Add Your Blog!

This posting is a community experiment that tests how a meme, represented by this blog posting, spreads across blogspace, physical space and time. It will help to show how ideas travel across blogs in space and time and how blogs are connected. It may also help to show which blogs (and aggregation sites) are most influential in the propagation of memes. The dataset from this experiment will be public, and can be located via Google (or Technorati) by doing a search for the GUID for this meme (below).

The original posting for this experiment is located at: Minding the Planet --- results and commentary will appear there in the future.

Please join the test by adding your blog (see instructions, below) and inviting your friends to participate -- the more the better. The data from this test will be public and open; others may use it to visualize and study the connectedness of blogspace and the propagation of memes across blogs.

The GUID for this experiment is:
as098398298250swg9e98929872525389t9987898tq98wteqtgaq62010920352598gawst
(this GUID enables anyone to easily search Google or other search engines for all blogs that participate in this experiment, once they have indexed the sites that participate). Anyone is free to analyze the data of this experiment. Please publicize your analysis of the data, and/or any comments by adding comments onto the original post (see URL above). (Note: it would be interesting to see a geographic map or a temporal animation, as well as a social network map of the propagation of this meme.)

INSTRUCTIONS

To add your blog to this experiment, copy this entire posting to your blog, and then answer the questions below, substituting your own information, below, where appropriate. Other than answering the questions below, please do not alter the information, layout or format of this post in order to preserve the integrity of the data in this experiment (this will make it easier for searchers and automated bots to find and analyze the results later).

REQUIRED FIELDS (Note: Replace the answers below with your own answers)

(1) I found this experiment at URL:http://www.post-atomic.com/

(2) I found it via "Newsreader Software" or "Browsing the Web" or "Searching the Web" or "An E-Mail Message": Browsing the Web

(3) I posted this experiment at URL: http://www.mousemusings.com/weblogs/

(4) I posted this on date (day/month/year): 03/08/04

(5) I posted this at time (24 hour time): 07:46:00

(6) My posting location is (city, state, country): Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

OPTIONAL SURVEY FIELDS (Replace the answers below with your own answers):

(7) My blog is hosted by: penguinHost.net

(8) My age is:

(9) My gender is: Female

(10) My occupation is:

(11) I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: Amphetadesk, Bloglines

(12) I use the following software to post to my blog: Blogger

(13) I have been blogging since (day, month, year): 26/08/00

(14) My web browser is: Mozilla Firefox

(15) My operating system is: Windows XP Pro
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, August 02, 2004

The Golden Rule

"He who has the gold, makes the rules"
Unfortunately, we the people appear to be willing partners in this race. In the rich countries, with 20% of the world's population, today's opulent life is pursued with little regard for tomorrow, let alone what this does to the other 80% of the world's people and the environment. Almost everyone wants to be rich and the quicker the better. This seems to be a universal human trait. Although repeated over and over again through the past 4,000 years, we have failed to learn the lessons from the "Tragedy of the Commons" If too many of us take too much, too fast, the commons we all depend upon will collapse. [ read more ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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