August 2011
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“Essentially what happened with finance is a larger scale, albeit more abstract...”
– The Local-global Flip, Or, “the Lanier Effect” | Conversation | Edge
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“… It can become such a bizarre system. What you have now is a system in...”
– The Local-global Flip, Or, “the Lanier Effect” | Conversation | Edge
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“I think we’re all worried about the future of this country – I know that serious...”
– GOP Hearts End-Times Insanity | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy
And this is what one always wants to know about candidates who flourish the Good Book or who presume to talk about hell and damnation. Do they, themselves, in their heart of hearts, truly believe it? Is there any evidence, if it comes to that, that Perry has ever studied the theory of evolution for long enough to be able to state roughly what it says? And how much textual and hermeneutic work did he do before deciding on the "inerrancy" of Jewish and Christian scripture? It should, of course, be the sincere believers and devout faithful who ask him, and themselves, these questions. But somehow, it never is. The risks of hypocrisy seem forever invisible to the politicized Christians, for whom sufficient proof of faith consists of loud and unambiguous declarations. I am always surprised that more is not heard from sincere religious believers, who have the most to lose if faith becomes a matter of poll-time dogma and lung power.
My bet would be that, just as Perry probably wouldn't have tried to take credit if there had been rain after his ostentatious intercessions, so he doesn't lose much actual sleep over doctrinal matters, personal saviorhood, and the rest of it. As with his crass saber-rattling about Texan secession a season or so back, or his more recent semitough talk about apparently riding Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke out of town on a rail, it is probably largely boilerplate, and mainly for the rubes.
Which leads one to slightly rephrase the question above: Is it better to have a candidate who actually believes in biblical inerrancy and the extreme youthfulness and recency of the Grand Canyon, or a candidate who half-affects such convictions in the hope of political gain? Either would be depressing. A mixture of the two—not excluded in Perry's case—would lower the tone nicely.
“Her [Bachmann’s] religious positions are so weird, and so weirdly held,...”
– Rick Perry and religion: Does the Texas governor believe his idiotic God talk, or is he just pandering for votes? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
“Since his faintly absurd excursion into inspirational meteorology back in the...”
– Rick Perry and religion: Does the Texas governor believe his idiotic God talk, or is he just pandering for votes? - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
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“A review by researchers with the Australian National University and published in...”
– Protect Biodiversity To Stop Global Warming | MedIndia
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“What is strangest in the recent waves of young arrivals in Silicon Valley is...”
– Jaron Lanier (via ayjay)
“In “All About Love,” Lisa Appignanesi, who has written extensively on the...”
– All About Love - By Lisa Appignanesi - Book Review - NYTimes.com
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“Watching this White House over these last several weeks has been like watching a...”
– President Obama’s Political Team Is Blowing It - The Daily Beast
“Although there have been some intermittent noises from the International...”
– Libya: Muammar Qaddafi’s hideous crimes must not be forgotten. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
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Can Shell become a biodiversity-positive company?... →
Shell has stated publically that it clearly wants to work with others to be part of the solution in Oganiland and indeed across the Niger Delta. Less publically, it also has been working hard to figure out how to develop a more effective response to the biodiversity and livelihood challenges in the Delta. At company workshops last year in Port Harcourt and The Hague (in which I participated) Shell...
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“A power play is underway in the foreclosure arena, according to the New York...”
– Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy
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“Our banalities are more shameful than any fantasy or confession. Gmail saves the...”
– n 1: Chathexis
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Radical love.: Bird flight might have started with... →
therecipe:
[written by Brandon Keim for Wired Science]
Until now, most explanations of the evolution of flight have assumed that going airborne was an end in itself, driven by the need of some early dinosaur to glide down from trees or up off the ground.
But flight could have instead been an…
Japanese Tsunami Inside Car View →
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“When I first met Hannity, I had no idea who the hell he was. It was 1996, in a...”
– Al Franken (via paxamericana)
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“What’s most aggravating about airport security is the expectation that everyone...”
– 3quarksdaily: Reflections on an Airport Groping
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Can the Middle Class Be Saved? - Magazine - The... →
No.
High food prices driving unrest: study › News in... →
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Robert Reich: Stock Tip: Be Worried. Workers are... →
robertreich:
Repeat after me: Workers are consumers. Consumers are workers.
We’re slouching toward a double dip, and the stock market is imploding, because consumers – whose spending is 70 percent of the economy – have reached their limit.
It’s not just the jobless who can’t spend. It’s mainly people with jobs. Median wages continue to fall. Weekly wages in July for Americans with jobs...
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WatchRoubini warns of another global recession.
“Economic suffering and anxiety — and anger over it and the flamboyant...”
– A prime aim of the growing Surveillance State - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
“The intensely angry “town hall” political protests from last August,...”
– A prime aim of the growing Surveillance State - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
“The free flow of information and communications enabled by new technologies...”
– A prime aim of the growing Surveillance State - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
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Where money really does grow from trees →
This is a good article because it talks about not only the fact that conservation can be good for a local economy rather than a cost we can’t afford, but how to make that possibility a political realization in a society. Uses Costa Rica as its example. This can be done.
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“Nobody knows better than Rick Santorum that you can’t just redefine something to...”
– STEPHEN COLBERT, on Rick Santorum’s ridiculous marriage-is-a-paper-napkin-and-you-can’t-just-call-a-napkin-a-paper-towel argument, on The Colbert Report (via inothernews)
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“The general election will, quite literally, decide the fate of a nation. Every...”
– Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House - CNN.com
It’s been said you get the government you deserve. Who of you can claim with a straight face that we don’t deserve this?
“The big brains gathered east of the Hudson and Potomac Rivers believe that Mitt...”
– Why Rick Perry is headed to the White House - CNN.com
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Is Craig Venter going to save the planet? Or, is... →
I remember reading about him a couple of years ago. He’d just been the first to create a synthetic life form. I had wondered what he’d do next. Turns out he’s trying to design algae that will consume greenhouse gases and excrete oil. What a game-changer if he succeeds.
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“It is no secret, especially here in America, that we live in a...”
– The Elusive Big Idea - NYTimes.com