memorial day 2010

another benefit of tax cuts for the rich

In these hard economic times, when much of the country could use a walk in the woods or a night in the mountains or a wade in the river or a picnic by the lake, states across the country seem to be creating obstacles to the great outdoors.

georgia is considering corporate sponsorship of parks, a logical move in its corporatist view of the universe ---

"christ to the third power"

Vaughan Bell describes an experiment in the 1950s where psychologist Milton Rokeach "gathered three psychiatric patients, each with the delusion that they were Jesus Christ, to live together for two years in Ypsilanti State Hospital to see if their beliefs would change." They didn't:

in other words, crazy isn't susceptible to reason

dekalb county landmarks

sometimes you have to go with the landmarks that you have rather than the landmarks you wished you had --- as with the waffle house, which has restored the original unit on college avenue between decatur and avondale estates --- according to wikipedia, they serve 2% of the eggs used in the food-service industry, which is gonna be a lot of eggs

london's oldest timber structure

a

a timber causeway some 6,000  years old, older than stonehenge --- the peat bogs are some of the only environments in which wood can be preserved for that long ---

big box cornucopia

i thought that the dekalb farmer's market defined an international food market until robert took me to the buford highway farmers market i think it used to be a home depot, but you can't tell that now --- an absolutely huge produce section, with the most amazing array of vegetables, many of which i could only assume were edible ---- and aisle after aisle of stuff, spices, a gazillion varieties of tea (but not much coffee), every kind of noodle that has ever been thought of, stacks of 50lb bags of rice, and on and on ---

does anyone have a recipe that could utilize madame gougousse's plantain fufu flour?

the mockingbird

dexter is all wierded out: he's out there enjoying the air or whatever and suddenly there is a mockingbird hopping around on the railing raising hell with him like the balcony was supposed to be a cat-free zone --- didn't get much of it on film, but you get the idea ---

thinking about time

refocusing

the focus feels all fresh today: new spark plugs, new ignition coil, working turn signals, and fresh duct tape on the sideview mirror --- plus it got its biannual bath --- ten years old, under 55k miles, and paid off --- for what more, could one wish in terms of a personal transportation device?

yum

i got industrious last night

details

Dutch scientists say that an experiment using geometric shapes showed that homosexuals were more adept at identifying smaller shapes within larger ones, leading to the curious conclusion that there really is such a thing as gaydar.

it is also what makes most of us good decorators

the stench of spring fills the air

i know mimosa are an invasive exotic, but they shore are purty ----









glad to see screen on the green back in the park

ready for the weekend

an update for the bus stop

the old ones from the 80s in the faux bronze and acrylic panels were looking pretty sad --- plus these have spiffy little trash cans ---- all looks like it came from ikea

"christianism fail"

the hatefulness of 2004 was their last hurrah --- the trends, if not the actual numbers, are probably the same even in this benighted state

a cataclysm in slow motion

look at the images here and tell me that bp  should not be bankrupted for this --- dead animals, ruined habitats impossible to clean, nevermind the tens of thousands of people whose livelilhoods are destroyed and the millions whose lives will be immeasurably poorer in all sorts of ways because of this

ugh

poor louisiana

a reminder

it's bush's wars and his tax cuts for the rich that have put this country in hock up to its eyeballs

"the bizarre organism of atlanta"

If the Devil created an anti-city, a place where people would feel least human, Atlanta would surely be that place -- despite the prayerful babble of tongues emanating from the evangelical roller rinks at every freeway off-ramp. One might think: Los Angeles, but that city at least came up with the amenity of valet parking, mostly lacking in Atlanta, where the suffocating heat slows the journey of blood from heart to brain.

tell us how you really feel, jim ---he's a little harsh, not to mention strident, but he also knows that about which he pontificates

negrobilia

when they knocked down the herndon building after the tornado, parts of the building next door were exposed that hadn't been seen since the 1920s, including a wonderful painted advertisement for gold dust washing powder --- one of the gold dust twins was mostly obliterated by a new window opening, but the other one is still there, pink tutu and all ---

fairbank & company were not feminists either

streets semi-alive

the atlanta streets alive event was a little underwhelming --- but walking edgewood gave time to appreciate the ongoing revitalization of the avenue, parts of which remain raw and/or derelict

downtown

fairlie-poplar from the south, one day last week --- i love the old first federal building (1964) just left of center --- of it, the aia guide sez

It is supported by six giant pentagonal columns . . . with post-tensioned beams spanning its column-free interior. The exposed curved faces of the deep spandrel beams that ring each floor alternate with ribbon windows in grey-tinted glass. The elevator service tower toward the rear is partly of poured concrete to stiffen the structure.

well, all-righty then, although he shoulda mentioned the vaguely pagodaesque nature of the design

more flowers of [late] spring

controlling the money grubbers

from krugman's blog

So why does regulation work? If polluters can buy off the system ex post, after a disaster, why don’t they manage to totally corrupt regulation ex ante? There’s a lot to say about that, and I’m sure there’s a literature I haven’t read. But one thing we tend to forget in this age of Reagan is the importance and virtues of a dedicated bureaucracy: when you have professional government agencies with a job to do, and treat them with respect, that job often gets done. On the other hand, if you degrade and devalue that bureaucracy, it will do a heckuva job. But that’s not the way it has to be.

greening the park

a year ago, this was a surface parking lot, the last one in the park --- also re-purposed was the city's old stable and maintenance complex, now a "special events facility" that has been re-christened magnolia hall --- it's getting harder and harder to remember the run-down, semi-wild piedmont park of the 1970s and 80s ---

landmarks

i had been wondering how long those guys would keep this place running --- i have been going there for most of the 35 yrs it's been open for the best cheese sub in town (even when i was eating flesh, i liked the cheese sub better than anything) --- hope the new owners don't ruin it ---

"the id of the far right"

Today Rand Paul said that President Obama’s criticism of British Petroleum is “un-American,” because after all, “accidents happen.”

or as rumsfeld said about the looting of baghdad, "stuff happens"

a nice evening for a soirée

robert won the prize for best costume, on account of his shoes

we're #1!

check out this image --- every country is #1 in some category --- the u.s. of a., e.g., is first in serial killers  (h/t andrewsullivan)

going after the hypocrites

the homophobes' use of "experts" like the pervy rentboy preacher man may be coming home to roost, as it were --- it would be quite rich if this winds up helping to invalidate prop 8

Following up on the story about the legal implications of the Dr. George Rekers scandal, Amanda Terkel at Think Progress has found four instances of Rekers' ties to the Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger trial to overturn Proposition 8.

culture shock

there is something not quite right about this, but i can't put my finger on just what that might be

The Backstreet Boys will headline San Francisco Pride on Sunday, June 27th.

wasting lives

1,000 american troops have now died in afghanistan

bugs

a couple of people got ticks yesterday, but not me --- but i'm standing there just now waiting for dog to finish crapping, and the top of the wall had chiggers all over ---

more tennessee

the view across nickajack lake and the old u.s. 41 bridge is one of my favorites, but getting a decent image of either is a little hard at 70 mph --- likewise nashville

tennessee

i hate driving, but if i have to be in a car, tennessee is never a bad place to be --- very interesting topography--- it and kentucky both are very unstable geologically speaking --- nevermind the new madrid earthquake thing, the sinkholes pop up all the time --- today part of i-24 between nashville and chattanooga disappeared into one, sending me and everybody else off on u.s. 41, which wasn't bad except for all the trucks on a two-lane road

going after the banksters

Huge angry mobs converged outside bank employees' houses on Sunday afternoon to demand banks stop lobbying against Wall Street reform.

more u.s. army entertainment

kiss the gulf goodbye

Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given.

rentboy homophobia

you should read frank rich in today's times --- he absolutely destroys the rentboy preacher man --- and well he should --- as rich points out, rekers and his ilk "have done nothing to stop homosexuality but plenty to help promote punitive 'treatment' and suicidal depression among untold numbers of gay youths" ---he deserves no sympathy

recommended reading

richard florida's the great reset: how new ways of living and working drive post-crash prosperity --- he compares what's happening now with what happened after the "long depression" (which those who lived through it continued to call "the great depression") of the 1870s and the great depression of the 1930s --- after each of those, the country was transformed and this one will be no different --- unlike the recessions we all remember after world war ii, the economy will not return to where it was --- whole classes of jobs will never return and our whole way of living will change, not immediately but over the next two or three decades

gay pride in havana

joined by raul castro's daughter --- purty cool
thnx andrew

available

the history center has apparently decided not to sell margaret's back forty, but instead trying to lease some of the commercial space --- the bank would make a fabulous restaurant space and the little storefronts on peachtree place are excellent --- i think somebody from jake's ice cream was looking at one of the latter the other day --- whatever, it would be great to have some activity around there ---

last evening

aerial archeology

this is purty great ---

dealing with scoundrels redux

Federal prosecutors said Friday they are investigating whether there was "willful criminal activity" by the company that operates the West Virginia coal mine where 29 workers died in an accident last month.

we're not going after the banksters the way we should, but obama laid into bp, halliburton, et.al., and the govt. regulators that let it all slide, and now this --- go get 'em, barack --- the teabaggers should be applauding, but will they? no. no they won't.

the gays vs. the olds

georgia will remain retarded for the forseeable future, but for the country as a whole, there is hope

assessing the situation

dealing with scoundrels

in addition to putting photographs of the bankers who ruined their entire country into urinals, iceland is arresting their sorry asses and filing multi-billion dollar lawsuits

"the dead zone"

sounds like some bad sci-fi or soemthing but it's what much of the gulf coast had become even before the oil due to agricultural run-off, etc. --- there before the oil and probably much bigger after ---- porpoises and turtles can pass through a dead zone since they can surface for air --- unless they have to go through an oil slick to get there ===

dadt

this is purty funny

alabama

it is hard to believe that ignorance is a qualification for governor in alabama, but it is:

Today’s right wing jawdropper: in Alabama, the “True Republican PAC” is running an advertisement mocking Republican gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne for supporting the teaching of evolution in schools.

--- is there any hope for the republic?

tea bagging america

For almost a year and a half, furious Tea Party protesters have been chanting "Taxed Enough Already." But as it turns out, "taxed enough" actually means "at the lowest levels since 1950." That's the word from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which found that Americans paid the smallest overall tax bill since Harry Truman was in the White House. Of course, that inconvenient truth for Tea Baggers is tied to another: their plummeting payments are due in part to the tax relief delivered by President Obama.

of course it won't matter --- the tea partiers and their ilk cannot be swayed by "facts"

well?

the truth will out

kent state was a traumatic experience if you were in school and anti-war in 1970 --- a lot of dirty hippies said at the time that the four student deaths were the result of more than just young national guardsmen who panicked --- now there's proof

the right wing goes there

one of these days, this kind of attack will be not work --- will this be that time?

It’s time we got over the myth that what a public servant does in his private life is of no consequence. We cannot afford to have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility, especially when that individual could become one of nine votes in an out of control oligarchy that constantly usurps constitutional prerogatives to unethically and illegally legislate for 300 million Americans. The stakes are too high. Social conservatives must rise up as one and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Will they? [emphasis added]

the american family association and their christianist allies continue to prove that medieval values are not dead --- i said "christianist", not "christian," ok?

let's all laugh at the dumass, shall we?

thnx for the link, andrew

extreme space management

thnx for the link, allen

fire drill

i hope this wasn't the herndon house or atl. university but it sure looked close---

yum

sprawlanner!

upper midtown

went to a great lecture at rhodes hall this evening -- on split levels of all things --- traced its origin to wrights' storer house (1923), which actually had five levels rather than the typical three

rhodes hall is a piece of work, even if the parlor is a little gaudy