a motorcycle cozy

for cousin claudia

happy birthday, john

"alone together"

Of all 3,141 counties in the United States, New York County is the unrivaled leader in single-individual households, at 50.6 percent. More than three-quarters of the people in them are below the age of 65. Fifty-seven percent are female. In Brooklyn, the overall number is considerably lower, at 29.5 percent, and Queens is 26.1. But on the whole, in New York City, one in three homes contains a single dweller, just one lone man or woman who flips on the coffeemaker in the morning and switches off the lights at night. . . . These numbers should tell an unambiguous story. They should confirm the common belief about our city, which is that New York is an isolating, coldhearted sort of place. Mark Twain called it “a splendid desert—a domed and steepled solitude, where the stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race.” . . . Yet the picture of cities—and New York in particular—that has been emerging from the work of social scientists is that the people living in them are actually less lonely. Rather than driving people apart, large population centers pull them together, and as a rule tend to possess greater community virtues than smaller ones. This, even though cities are consistently, overwhelmingly, places where people are more likely to live on their own.

it's damp out

stoners in antiquity

not the first time they've documented it in antiquity, but it's the oldest and best preserved

OTTAWA – Researchers say they have located the world's oldest stash of marijuana, in a tomb in a remote part of China. The cache of cannabis is about 2,700 years old and was clearly ``cultivated for psychoactive purposes," rather than as fibre for clothing or as food, says a research paper in the Journal of Experimental Botany. The 789 grams of dried cannabis was buried alongside a light-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian man, likely a shaman of the Gushi culture, near Turpan in northwestern China.

happy holidays!

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said. The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

deserted city

the federal reserve is looking all christmasy already

t'giving

the atlanta half marathon is going down peachtree right now---it may only be half, but that's still a long way to run

on this day in 1941, jcniris drove down to senoia and got married----

and in 1095, pope urban 2 called for the first christian crusade against islam in the holy land----we're still fighting that war

it's just money . . .

ye gads

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

obamamania finis

unfortunately there is a "strict" limit of 2 per customer, and the website seems to allow you to order only one. which means i have to pare my gifting opportunities to one---the obvious choice is my brother who gave me the hillary nutcrackers last year---

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

second thoughts

"there have been many times i've regretted it," stone told me over pizza at grand central station. "when i look at those double-page spreads of all the individual pictures of people who have been killed [in iraq], i got to think, 'maybe there wouldn't have been a war if i hadn't gone to miami-dade. maybe there hadn't have been, in my view, an unjustified war if bush hadn't become president.' it's very disturbing to me"...

2000 seems like a very long time ago

a view

palinoia

why detroit sux

ATSUGI, Japan -- While Detroit executives beg for bailouts, Japanese automakers speed through turns in a race whose winner could dominate the next generation of car sales.

12th and midtown

end the fed?

a noisy group of protesters on the corner in front of the federal reserve while ago, calling for repeal of the federal reserve act---signs reading "the fed caused this crisis" and "liberate america: say not to socialism" and "no more banker bailouts" and "end the fed" and a lot more----i'm not sure what they think would happen then, except that we would all have to rush out and buy us some gold-- and i just discovered that they have a web site and that they are part of a national day of protest "to restore sound money"----seems to be a ron paul kinda thing

islamaphobio

another bigoted campaign tactic that doesn't work anymore:

But despite the extent and volume of anti-Muslim rhetoric, candidates who embraced these methods this year universally failed to get elected. From the earliest days of the primary, campaigns seemed to falter in direct proportion to the extend politicians tried to make anti-Muslim feelings the foundation of their campaigns. Giuliani and Romney, by far the more strident of the Republican candidates, found no traction with the anti-Muslim arguments and dropped out early. In contrast, John McCain - who rejected Pastor Rod Parsley's endorsement solely due to his anti-Muslim comments and publicly stated that Muslim-Americans were qualified to hold any office in the land - rose to the top of his party.

copernicus

WARSAW, Poland — Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe

obamamania

and he hasn't even taken office yet

Obama's election has taken the wind out of al Qaeda's sails in much of the Islamic world because it demonstrates America's renewed commitment to multiculturalism, human rights, and international law. It also proves to many that democracy can work and overcome ethnic, sectarian, or racial barriers.

"Obama's commitment to withdraw from Iraq also takes away an al Qaeda propaganda tenet: that the U.S. seeks to occupy oil rich Arab lands. His commitment to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan also challenges their plans. Most of all, by returning to American values the world admires, Obama sets al Qaeda back enormously in the battle of ideas, the ideological struggle which determines whether al Qaeda will continue to have significant support in the Islamic world.

monty python

they have their own youtube channel:

sad

poor george---they won't even shake his hand



but, you know, george w. bush is no longer the face of america

historic images

the first photograph of the earth from the moon, 1966

update: as mr. smarty pants coffey pointed out, this is the first image from moon orbit, not actually from the moon itself----whatever

justice?

cheney and gonzalez indicted in mcallen, texas---for real

which of your civil rights do we get to vote on?

the naacp has joined the fray----rock on

Meanwhile, five civil rights groups asked California's highest court Friday to annul the ban on the grounds that Proposition 8 threatens the legal standing of all minority groups, not just gays.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Mexican-American Legal Defense Fund, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and two other groups petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the change from taking effect.

The petition is the fourth seeking to have the measure invalidated. But it's the first to argue that the court should step in because the gay marriage ban, which overturned the Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay unions, sets a precedent that could be used to undermine the rights of racial minorities.

Eva Paterson, president of the San Francisco-based Equal Justice Society, said the election raises the specter of voters deciding to bar illegal immigrants from public schools, disenfranchising black voters or otherwise using the ballot box to promote segregation.

"The court ruled that to discriminate in the area of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and violated our guaranteed equality," Paterson said. "Why should a slim majority of Californians be able to put discrimination back into the California Constitution?"

palimpsests

the black dots represent units of cotton production in 1860---the blue are counties that voted for obama in 2008----

the body politic

although obama won virtually every other demographic, including white men nationwide, he got only 20% of the native-born whites in the deep south----them's my people doncha know, while the rest of the world celebrates, they huddle together, all ascared of the marxist negro president or whatever

Atlanta - In rural Georgia, a group of high-schoolers gets a visit from the Secret Service after posting "inappropriate" comments about President-elect Barack Obama on the Web. In Raleigh, N.C., four college students admit to spraying race-tinged graffiti in a pedestrian tunnel after the election. On Nov. 6, a cross burns on the lawn of a biracial couple in Apolacon Township, Pa.

the big war

via andrewsullivan

new critters

nothing but plastic tubing and lemonade bottles? unbelievable

thanks cousin cathi

the gun boom

some people think that the national rifle association manipulated the whole thing---

world's ugliest buildings

truly hideous---and they don't even mention the godawful wasteland of a plaza that fronts it----

"the moose stops here"

ELECTION junkies in acute withdrawal need suffer no longer. Though the exciting Obama-McCain race is over, the cockfight among the losers has only just begun. The conservative crackup may be ugly, but as entertainment, it’s two thumbs up!

obamamania reax

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

what is with these people anyway?' gun sales are through the roof too---

Reporting from Houston -- A week after the election of the nation's first black president, gun buyers across the country are flocking to gun stores to stock up on assault rifles, handguns and ammunition. Some say they are worried that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will attempt to re- impose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.

brian thinks so too

join the impact---atlanta

freedom parkway

die blumen

both blossoms are open now---excellent odor

obamarama redux

a composite of 600 newspapers from 5 november 2008----

fawl in atlanner

courtesy of cousin robert

dream on

mandarin oriental hotel made a formal announcement today of their intent to build a 51-story tower on the narrow lot between 1100 peachtree and the old woman's club just south of fourteenth---nearly as tall as bank of america and a floor or two higher than the ibm building---combination hotel and condos that cost a zillion dollars---contingent, of course, on sufficient pre-sales and finding financing---somehow i don't think they will be breaking ground anytime soon---same architects that did metropolis, that being smallwood, et. al.---the article also mentions talk of converting 15 floors of the bank of america tower to hotel rooms

palinoia

someone called it "pageant speak"

Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations.

yes, we will

a lot of us are more than a little pissed about the whole prop 8 thing----and the protests just keep getting bigger----this saturday, 1:30 PM, at the state capitol here, also in macon and athens, and in cities around the world at the same time---join the impact! has gone viral----plus a vigil at tenth and piedmont at 5

news from idaho

Madison County, Idaho was once dubbed "the reddest place in America" by Salon, but that didn't make it any less shocking when elementary school children started chanting "assassinate Obama" on the school bus. Matthew Whoolery told KIKD News he found out about the chanting from his second and third graders, who had no idea what the word "assassinate" meant. "They just hadn't heard anything like this before," Whoolery stated. "I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?”

amid the positive feelings that most americans have for obama, it's easy to forget that the feeling is not unanimous---approximately 24% of us still like the bush presidency

visualizing the electorate

to understand the electorate in 2008---the county-by-county rendition is a lot better than the redstate/bluestate divide, but mapping based on the actual population is even better---

chattahoochee

the river was beautiful today---dog and i finally found the parking for the east palisades off mt. paran road---completely unmarked and even the entrance sign had been painted over---not sure what's up with that other than that entrance is in the midst of a neighborhood in the city's affluently handicapped northwest side and there is the all-too-typical effort these days to privatize our public spaces

the first temple

this was created by hunter-gatherers a few centuries before the dawn of agriculture
Six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, Klaus Schmidt has made one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery. The megaliths predate Stonehenge by some 6,000 years. The place is called Gobekli Tepe.

yes, he can

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

mutts

WASHINGTON – It popped out casually, a throwaway line as he talked to reporters about finding the right puppy for his young daughters. But with just three offhanded words in his first news conference as president-elect, Barack Obama reminded everyone how thoroughly different his administration — and inevitably, this country — will be. "Mutts like me."

guinness is proud

the buono memorial orchid

the cattleya is starting to blossom---the first orchid that has ever bloomed for me----thanks, jon

and then there were 365

Barack Obama made history today in Nebraska. The Democratic presidential candidate claimed an electoral vote in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District — the first time in more than four decades a Democrat won any of Nebraska’s electoral votes.

missouri still hasn't been decided---plus:

Remember when the election ended on Tuesday? Well, SECRET: it didn’t. Now that racist colonel Saxby Chambliss has been forced into a Senate runoff in Georgia against Democratic challenger Jim Martin (Dec. 2 — mark yr calendars!), the entire political world will descend on the former penal colony for one last romp in the swamp! John McCain has agreed to campaign for Chambliss already; Sarah Palin wants to campaign but, um, “scheduling conflicts;” and Jim Martin wants Barack Obama to come down and galvanize his merry band of black people straight to the polls! Obama has not agreed yet, however, since he now has to fix a global economy and not get us nuked. Presidents should be able to multitask though, right OBAMER? Let’s hope the reunion tour is every bit as “fun” as the general election was.

chocolate stout?

see brian for details. . . . . he also had the courage to listen to limbaugh today----but doesn't "chocolate stout" just sound wrong?

modern-day fagins

too wierd--read the full article
The number of people aged 65 or older arrested for crimes other than traffic violations totaled 48,605 last year, up from 24,247 in 2002, the Justice Ministry said in an annual crime report. Elderly crimes rose 4.2 percent in 2007 from a year earlier, though the total number of people arrested fell 4.8 percent to 366,002. Thefts, such as shoplifting and pick-pocketing, were the most common crimes committed by older people, the report said, citing low income, declining health and a sense of isolation as the main causes of the trend.

teh gays

it is unbelievable that a "church" can do what the mormons did in california and retain their tax-exempt status---but for mormons and their money, which they probably pulled out of their secret underwear, prop 8 would not have passed

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage. It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, the spectacular red rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford among the state's popular tourist draws.

i say, make 'em pay it---don't stay at mormon-owned marriott either---also, like jc, churches are free to spout their bigotry, but we shouldn't be subsidizing that bigotry with our tax dollars, and tax exemptions are as good as an outright grant

yes, we can

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, is a date that will live in fame (the opposite of infamy) forever. If the election of our first African-American president didn’t stir you, if it didn’t leave you teary-eyed and proud of your country, there’s something wrong with you. But will the election also mark a turning point in the actual substance of policy? Can Barack Obama really usher in a new era of progressive policies? Yes, he can.

president barack hussein obama

he really did it----i will try to sleep now

barack and roll

ecstasy in midtown---and in my heart



update: it's been going on for over an hour now and shows no signs of letting up

first returns are in

dixville notch, n.h., goes for obama 15-6

obamania

i remember separate but equal and the casual use of "nigger" yet tomorrow we just might have elected ourselves an african american president---it is a wonderful change coming over the african american community already, a relaxation, a happy confidence or something---as a queer, i sorta understand how they must be feeling---

update: here's another fifty-something with memories

red state socialism

not that there's anything wrong with red-state socialism---i just wish they would spend it on a better education

back to real time

perspective

something like 63 college papers have endorsed obamama---the paper at old miss appears to have given the only mccain endorsement---the jackson clarion-ledger, on the other hand has endorsed obama----

For some PERSPECTIVE, the headline for this paper’s wrap-up of MLK Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” deal in 1963 was, “WASHINGTON IS CLEAN AGAIN WITH NEGRO TRASH REMOVED.” This newspaper has no consistency whatsoever.

skeery lady

there will be some very bitter people wednesday morning---remember how they were with clinton from day one? this may be worse, but at least it's looking like it might be one of our more decisive elections in decades---

campaign news

more people get their campaign news from the internets than from newspapers---teevee remains the most important source

new will cease next spring, aspapers are dying, with the christian science monitor being the first actual death of a major paper as it announced this week that its daily print editionnd the paper will concentrate on its web presence along with a weekly print edition, which itself will probably disappear sooner rather than later

obamamania

from the uk

But the rest of the world has not just lived this election. Our life chances and societies will also be shaped by what happens next Tuesday. The world has an interest in the outcome because, in spite of everything, America remains the world's pre-eminent military, political, financial and cultural power. America's standing in the world has been damaged during the Bush years. He has inflicted massive direct harm to many parts of the world through his military actions, has set back the quality of life on our planet by his indifference to climate change, international cooperation and the rule of law. He has been anti-Americanism's best recruiting sergeant and al-Qaida's too.

The world may not have the vote on Tuesday. But it certainly has a candidate. That candidate is Senator Barack Obama. If the world could vote on November 4, Mr Obama would win by a landslide. Polling shows him preferred in Egypt by two to one, in Poland by three to one, in Canada by five to one, in Brazil by six to one, in Britain by seven to one, in France by 11 to one and in Kenya by more than 17 to one.

sweet music

cousin cathi and friends, somewhere in the wilds of dallas

clara meer

davison's

rehab of the old davisons/macys building downtown is moving ahead---for a while, i wondered if it was moribund

heathens for obama

obamamania

35% of georgians have already voted!!!!! and over a third of those have been african americans, who look like they are on their way to record turnout----so georgia is now a tossup, or "battleground" state----woo woo

on the other hand, cousin carol, reporting from the nether reaches of north georgia, notes fear and trepidation amongst the god-fearing white peeps up there, preparing themselves to submit to negro rule