Remember: If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.
Tidbits
7/1/09: Worth the Wait
From Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Al Franken:
If you listen to a lot of conservatives, they'll tell you that the difference between them and us is that conservatives love America and liberals hate America. That we "blame America first." That we're suspicious of patriotism and always think our country's in the wrong. As conservative radio and TV personality Sean Hannity says, we liberals "train our children to criticize America, not celebrate it."
They don't get it. We love America just as much as they do. But in a different way. You see, they love America the way a four-year-old loves her mommy. Liberals love America like grown-ups. To a four-year-old, everything Mommy does is wonderful, and anyone who criticizes Mommy is bad. Grown-up love means actually understanding what you love, taking the good with the bad, and helping your loved one grow. Love takes attention and work and is the best thing in the world.
That's why we liberals want America to do the right thing. We know America is the hope of the world, and we love it and want it to do well. We also want it to do good.
When liberals look back on history, we see things we're very proud of. And we also see some things, which might have seemed like good ideas at the time, but turned out to be mistakes. And some things we did, well, they were just bad. That doesn't keep us from loving our country --- it's part of loving our country. It's called honesty. What do you think is more important to a loving relationship: honesty or lies?
You, of the blue eyes beguiling... Nam faicinn thu tighinn Is fios domh gur tusa bhiodh ann, Gun čireadh mo chridhe Mar aiteal na grčin' thar nam beann; 'S gun tugainn mo bhriathar Gach gaoisdean tha liath 'na mo cheann Gum fŕsadh iad buidhe Mar dhěthein am bruthaich nan allt.
Dude Weather. All the weather info you need with none of the b.s.
Tidbits
02/12/09: Happy 200th Birthday, Abe!
Our greatest president was born 200 years ago today. Millions of words have been written about Lincoln, but I like what this writer has to say about him, and about the nature of "greatness."
The quality of greatness is subtle. Men have been capable of recognizing it among themselves through many civilizations, but they have not been able to define it satisfactorily or explain how they seem to know one man is great and another man is not. They have found proof that greatness is indefinable in the fact that no one has ever been successful in deliberately setting out to attain it.
We discern this quality in Lincoln, not knowing precisely what made him great, but recognizing in him a compound of certain characteristics which inevitably belong to greatness.
In him, as in every great man, there was Christlike humility. No man could have been more humble or patient than Lincoln. He had that ability to understand human nature, to recognize and overlook its weaknesses, to handle it diplomatically with a sense of fair play and a sense of humor, and to be honest with it.
Lincoln's calm consideration of a problem, his strength to make a decision and stand by it, and his quiet determination to push the decision into action regardless of opposition, added to his stature.
02/09/2009: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Lie (Stimulus Edition)
Apparently the latest bit of revisionist history being manufactured by the right, and parroted by the conservative media, is the idea that FDR's New Deal actually prolonged, and deepened, the Great Depression. Never heard that one before, at least not with any degree of seriousness, but then I actually read a bit of history now and then, so what do I know. A bit of advice to my Republican friends before they actually start regurgitating this garbage: You are being lied to. By Fox News. Shocking, I know! At least do me the favor of reading this article, The 'FDR Failed' Myth, and then make up your own minds. Until then, seriously, don't talk to me.
This is Mochi, the newest employee at Earth Science. He/she will be the Executive Director of Mouse Control, as soon as he/she is old enough to actually live in the office. Hopefully by then it will be obvious whether he/she is a "he" or a "she".... seriously, this is one tiny cat!
Mochi is named after a yummy Japanese ice cream treat. Click here to read more about it.
