Monday Kickstarter - Art imitating life

In this case, artists using Google Street View as inspiration for landscape paintings. V. cool.



Street View:

Animal Farm Friday - Love Animals

At the risk of over-exposure:

A McDonalds near you?

Credit Crisis Visualized

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Dick

Monday Kickstarter (on Tuesday) - Neil Degrasse Tyson on Scientific Literacy

Pedros

We salute you!

Great article on the rescue helicopters in Afghanistan.

Animal Farm Friday - Tussle

This is good too.

Incredible, amazing, awesome Apple

Early Teabaggers

Animal Farm Friday - Donkey Fail

Reminds me a bit of the Dems these days.


see more Fail Blog

Michael Savage On His Ass

Don't let the door hit your ass, douchebag!

Earlier today, the conservative blog Patriot Axom noted that far-right radio host Michael Savage has been taken “off the air” from his San Francisco-based flagship station, Talk 910 KNEW.

Who Is Next After Van Jones?

I'll bet Hillary wouldn't lay there with her legs in the air like Obama has been. All through the campaign, we saw how scared Obama was of fighting. Now it's coming back to bite him in the ass. Sorry, Mr. President. Just because you don't like to fight, doesn't mean you have the luxury of avoiding fights.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Animal Farm Friday 2 - Just Deserves!

Animal Farm Friday - Chill!

This one has made the rounds before, but it's a cool video for a hot summer Friday!

Egg Hatchery Grinds Live Chicks to Death

I had no idea this was standard industry practice. Definitely time to start buying eggs only from local farmers.

Monday Kickstarter - Unnatural Nature as Art

Flora Grubb has made some interesting "vertical gardens" that qualify as art, but she's done nothing on this scale:



Read the whole story at wired.com.

If you've ever wondered why I think Justice Antonin "Nino" Scalia is a scum-sucking waste of life...

...here's but one in a litany of examples:

Twenty years ago, off-duty police officer Mark McPhail was shot and killed in a Savannah, Georgia parking lot. Based on information provided by Sylvester Coles, the police sought Troy Davis for the murder. Davis turned himself in and was charged with the crime. He was found guilty and sentenced to death based on the testimony of eyewitnesses.

Since then, however, nearly all of those witnesses have recanted, claiming in affidavits that they were pressured by police to name Davis as the perpetrator. Meanwhile, additional evidence has been found indicating that Coles, the prosecution's star witness against Davis, was the actual killer. Yet despite national and international attention--including pleas by former Georgia Governor and U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Georgia Republican Congressman and federal prosecutor Bob Barr, and even Pope Benedict--neither the Georgia courts nor the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board has seen fit to stop Davis's execution.

Last week, the Supreme Court offered Davis a ray of hope. In response to his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the Justices ordered that a federal district court in Georgia "should receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis's] innocence."

The Court's order in Daviswas not unanimous, however. Justice Scalia, joined by Justice Thomas, dissented. Justice Scalia said that even if the district court were to find Davis to be innocent, there would still be nothing unlawful about executing him.

Scalia opines that there is nothing unlawful about executing an innocent man. Well, how much class can you expect from a piece of worthless garbage like Scalia?

GOP Outrage

Misplaced as always.

Ted Kennedy - Rest in Peace

The end of an era, indeed.

Wired on Craigslist

The tone of Gary Wolf's article in Wired pisses me off quite a bit. He seems to be writing from the perspective of someone frustrated by Craigslist, and certainly, there are things about Craigslist that frustrates its users. But I would suspect that all those Craigslist users who are frustrated with Craigslist, their frustrations are not impediments to use. There are things about Craigslist that frustrate me for sure, but it doesn't stop me in the least from using it, both for finding stuff, and getting rid of stuff. I've been far more successful than not with Craigslist, so I have to wonder about why Wired and Gary Wolf are so damn pissy.

As a Web designer, I marvel at the success of a site that is so visually unappealing. But it succeeds in the area that has frustrated so many Web designers, and that is UX (User Experience). Craigslist simply works because it is so simple. Ultimately, in Web design, the one thing that matters more than anything else is usability. This is where Craigslist excels like few other sites on the Web.

If you are one of the few who needs shiny graphics and Ajax widgets to hold your hand and soften your online experience, then there's probably some other online classified sites you can pay to use. I for one appreciate the simplicity of Craigslist, and take the bad with the good. Craigslist dominates Amazon and EBay in traffic for one simple reason: It's simply works.

For added giggles, check out Wired's picks for Craigslist makeovers by "leading" designers. Puh-leeeez! (*Though I do kinda like the "Make It Simple" design)

Monday Kickstarter - 8-bit trip

Yes, it's Tuesday, but I've been sick.

This may been inspirational to some, but I'm a bit on the fence. Having been so depleted of energy for days now, I can't fathom the notion of spending 1500 hours futzing with Legos trying to pull off something like this. On the one hand, I think I might go insane thinking about it long enough, but then maybe I can channel that into inspiration. What say you?

Monday Kickstarter - Daily Monster 101

Here's a new category to TLB as it gradually becomes re-defined, with a diminishing focus on politics (yawn!) and more emphasis on things that matter to me more, things hopefully more interesting to others as well.

It's useful to me to start my week of right with something inspiring, and that's something I'd like to share. So for the inaugural Monday Kickstarter, check out this interview with the Daily Monster creator, Stefan Bucher (then check out some of his monsters):

Obama: I was for the public option before I wasnt

Back in July, Obama said the bill he signs must have the public option.

[A]ny plan I sign must include an insurance exchange: a one-stop shopping marketplace where you can compare the benefits, cost and track records of a variety of plans - including a public option to increase competition and keep insurance companies honest - and choose what's best for your family.

How quickly he caves. From a town hall over the weekend:

"[T]he public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it."

Add one more to the very long list of major disappointments.

Say No to Socialism

WIN!

Animal Farm Friday - Day Off

I'm enjoying my day off today, but not nearly as much as these guys (yet).

Hacking Big Brother

The prospective UK national ID card was broken and cloned in 12 minutes, the Daily Mail revealed this morning.

The newspaper hired computer expert Adam Laurie to test the security that protects the information embedded in the chip on the card.

Using a Nokia mobile phone and a laptop computer, Laurie was able to copy the data on a card that is being issued to foreign nationals in minutes.

(More)

Rachel Maddow Does What Journalists Will Not Do

Bears repeating:

Lost Generation?

(Watch it straight through)

Holy Bile: Crazy Psycho Christian

Or Crazy Christian Psycho. (This link may have an expiration date.)

Don't Touch the Weave!

Good question, Josh. Where are the healthcare reform supporters?

And for the Blue Team?

We spent most of Monday reporting on these tea-bagging crowds going to Democratic health care town hall meetings to shout down the hosts and shut the events down. It's classic agitprop, very akin to the 'Brooks Brothers riot' down in Florida during the recount.

But where's the other team?

Folks can whine on endlessly about outfits like Freedom Works putting these rackets together. But if the president's plan has any public support they should be able to get supporters to these events too, right? Not to pull the Black Shirt routine but to provide some public demonstration that there's real public support for making reform a reality.

If there is.

So that's the question. Where's the other team?

--Josh Marshall

And here's a good response.

Clinton Pulls a Carter

... and succeeds in getting North Korea to release the two journalists. Nice!

Cellphone Carriers' Hot Air

I've suspected this all along, but never had proof... until now. Cellphone carriers burn up your airtime with useless voicemail instructions.

I'm not sure which is worse though. This, or that they charge 1,000,000% or more markup on charges for SMS messages, that cost them virtually nothing.

Dobbs' Ratings Take A Hit Over "Birther" Controversy

Couldn't happen to a more deserving guy.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Animal Farm Friday - U Can Haz Awesome

(h/t to Adam)

Mom's Memorial Slideshow

This is the slideshow we played at Mom's memorial service. It is a photo montage set to the song Babe by Styx. Babe was my stepfather's pet name for Mom. This was their song.

Mom's Final Story

One last time, Mom, Clara, has left us.

In all the years we knew her, Mom often talked about shedding all her possessions and hitting the road. Be it in a RV headed to Montana, or on a boat headed to the Keys, she was always in part a nomad. In her final years, she talked a lot about wanting to move to the Keys. She started collecting pirate paraphernalia, and other tropical sundries. The Keys seemed to hold a promise of the ultimate escape she had always longed for, free from responsibility, to anyone or anything. It was a place where her inner rebel could find sanctuary, along with all the other Conch Rebels, as those who seek asylum in the Southernmost part of the country call themselves. Indeed, she even had the moniker as her personal email address.

Sensing that we were racing the clock, we were all working towards making a trip to the Keys as a family. It was our hope that a window of opportunity between Mom's cancer treatments would open up, even briefly, for a road trip to the Conch Republic. Sadly, this would not happen.

At the end of her first round of chemotherapy, Mom's pain from her cancer intensified, so much so that she required hospitalization. While in the hospital, she developed other complications related to pain management, but her primary goal was to get her pain under control and to get out of the hospital. There was that trip to the Keys beckoning, after all. We managed to bring Mom home after a couple of weeks, but her pain got out of control again, and she ended up back in the hospital. We didn't know it at the time, but Mom was losing her battle with the disease, and we were losing her. Her cancer was highly aggressive; a final scan had shown that the cancer had spread dramatically, in spite of her treatment. As Mom's pain got worse, and her pain medication increased, her consciousness faded.

We brought Mom home under the auspices of hospice care on July 4th. She had her family at her side at all times, playing music she loved, reading to her, talking to her, or just holding her hand, loving her.

It was fortunate that she was home, as July 7th was her grandson Dewayne's birthday. We were able to have a small party, and for Mom to be there with us. It was a joyous event, despite the circumstances. But sadly, later that evening, Mom started showing signs that she may be nearing the end. Her hospice nurse, a wonderful woman named May, said she had a sense that Mom would pass before her shift ended the next morning.

Late in the evening, her husband Jerry, her children Brenda, Jake, Christina, and Amanda, and her grandchildren Dewayne and Chrystal all gathered around her. Joining hands together and with Mom, we took turns saying to Mom what we felt needed to be said before we could let her go. Afterwards, we all sat around her as we listened to and sang along to many of Mom's favorite songs into the wee hours of the morning.

Mom slipped away around 7 am on July 8, 2009.

Other than May, we had all fallen asleep not long before Mom left us. It's easy to believe that she was waiting for us to not be watching as she left. When we were children, Mom would sometimes have to leave because of her assignments the Air Force would send her on. We would tell her to wake us before she left so she could say goodbye, but she always slipped away while we were asleep. We would eventually try to beat her at this game and attempt to stay awake all night, but she always won, as she did this one last time.

It was an amazing privilege to be able - as a family - to spend that time with Mom in her final hours. It was an even greater gift to be able to have cared for her in her final days.

We held a memorial service for Mom at her childhood church, Lake Hill Baptist Church, the place where she was first married, and the same church where services for her mother were held. The turnout was wonderful, with approximately 150 people who came to pay respect in person, and countless others joining us in spirit, testament to the impact Clara had on people. The memorial was closed with each of those present symbolically releasing butterflies into the wind. This was followed by a joyous Celebration of Life at one of her favorite haunts, the Dubsdread Golf Course, just down the road from her home. Mom enjoyed dining on the patio, something we got to do with her just a couple months ago.

Mom, Clara, was an exceptional woman. She deserved an exceptional send off. Because she had longed to return to the Keys, we made it our mission to make sure she did. It was a mission not without difficulties, indeed there were many, but in the end, it was a great success. With the use of a family member's boat, Mom was taken to a quiet and calm location in the Gulf of Mexico, off of Key West. In a casual but beautiful ceremony, with Mom's favorite songs playing in the background, we prepared the water with flower petals. We collectively read a poem aloud, with her first husband and friend, Curtis, joining in on speakerphone. A final but brief poem was read before her ashes - enclosed in a biodegradable container - were released to the sea.

We sat and watched the currents slowly carry away the flower petals, and symbolically, Mom. After a short while, her grandson, Joey, wanted to swim with his Grammy one last time. We all followed him into the water, floating and swimming, singing along with Mom's songs, being with her wholly one last time.

We eventually left and went to explore an area elsewhere that Mom had liked, before heading back to shore. Using saved GPS coordinates, we returned to the spot where we had released Mom, and now the water was even more calm. We stopped for just one last swim, and noticed that the place had a completely different feel. It felt more lively, yet peaceful. We noticed much more sea life than before, including a very large stingray passing by, and a wayward butterfly fluttering by the boat. The symbolism was remarkable.

Clara is gone in body, but she remains with us in our hearts and our memories.

All of the family is extremely grateful for all of the love and support - emotional and material - that we have been given by those who love us, and those who loved Clara. That we could all be so fortunate to be connected with such great people is testament to that which Clara gave to the world.

We humbly thank you, with all of our hearts.

Farewell, Clara

My mother Clara is gone, and we miss her terribly. We can find at
least a bit of comfort knowing she is no longer suffering, and that
while her fight with cancer was somewhat brief, we can all be happy
for her escape. Mom has found the ultimate freedom, and has become
"one" with the Universe again. Her journey has ended.

Mom was always a nomad at heart, often ready for an adventure at the
drop of a hat, be it driving her Cadillac El Dorado from coast to
coast, or enlisting in the Air Force and moving to Turkey, not once
but twice. I have to say that it is funny how someone so adventurous
could be so afraid of lizards. While her journey sometimes took her
far away, she somehow always remained at the center of our lives.

She had a glowing, infectious smile that could light up a dark night,
or cheer up a sad soul. Her heart was almost too big to contain, and
she worked hard in the service of others. Her family meant everything
to her, and there was nothing she would not do for them. She was that
person you could call for help in the middle of the night, and could
count on to be there.

As time went on, Mom may have gotten older, but her spirit continued
to grow more youthful. You could sense that if she had the
opportunity, she would beeline for the Keys and hop on the first
passing pirate ship. The things she had once feared began to beckon
her. I was particularly stunned when - after many years of being
admonished by her for riding motorcycles - Mom asked me to take her
for a ride.

But now she is gone.

While we may not look forward to the coming bouts of pain and anguish,
and sadness in missing her, we can look forward to remembering Clara
in ways and times we don't always expect; like to feel her warmth in a
radiant sunset; to think of her bright smile on a dark night
brightened by moonlight; or to see her hair blowing in the wind the
next time we're driving with the top down.

Mom's body is gone, and with that her sweet, soft voice that used to
sing me to sleep; her long fingernails that would gently scratch my
back to soothe and relax me. But she will always be with me - with all
of us. All we have to do is to think of her and she will be there,
looking as beautiful as she ever did.

</mom>

Clara Nell Konrad, 4/10/48 - 7/8/09

Mom lost her fight with pancreatic cancer this morning. She passed away with her loving family at her side.

I have more to say about Mom, but am unable to just now. But I can at least say now that she was as beautiful inside as she was outside, and she touched the lives of nearly everyone she met. She will be deeply missed.

I will be boycotting NPR

The one journalism outfit I thought could be implicitly trusted FAILS epically.

http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/greenwald/~3/ZRd6hHBnPZc/index.html

Now I tremble with shame in the face of their bravery

We all should.

The Choir Grows

More folks are catching on as time goes by.

Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House. (my emphasis)

One of the most disappointing aspects of the early months of the Obama administration has been its unwillingness to end many of the mind-numbing abuses linked to the so-called war on terror and to establish a legal and moral framework designed to prevent those abuses from ever occurring again.

The list expands beyond just the GWoT, but the gist of the Op-Ed is that what's wrong is wrong, regardless of who the president is. But from my perspective, Obama keeping Bush policies in place makes him worse than Bush, because he has effectively lied to America and stabbed many of his most ardent supporters in the back.

At least when Bush was giving us the finger, we expected it.

 

Forcing private insurers on Americans

Regarding health care, the claims by private insurers that nearly 2/3rds of Americans would drop their private plans in favor of a public option is a de facto admission that private insurance is a failure, and the only way to keep most Americans using private insurance is to force that to be our only option.

That's pretty damned disgusting, as it is a glaring example of the insidious nature of private health insurers.

Down with the Duplicitous Di Fi

Some reasons why I think Senator Feinstein needs to go away, for good!

Scientology Exposed! A New Report

Scientology leader David Miscavige is the focus of this special report from the St. Petersburg Times. Former executives of the Church of Scientology, including two of the former top lieutenants to Miscavige, have come forward to describe a culture of intimidation and violence under David Miscavige. These former Scientology leaders served for years with Miscavige.

Read the Special Report from the St. Petersburg Times

Fight the Power!

Tiananmen Square. Kent State. Tehran U. When the people stand en masse against those in power, and risk their lives doing so, they forever change the world.

The pro-democracy protesters in Iran are changing the world right before our eyes. This will go down in history as something more important than Obama's election. Are you watching?

This is what fighting for democracy looks like

Iranians show the world how to respond to stolen elections. America has so much to learn!

JibJab strikes again!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Stop the Slaughter of Taiji Dolphins!

For such an advanced culture, it is astonishing that some Japanese can be so barbaric and disgustingly cruel. The Cove, a new film that has been hailed as part Flipper, part The Bourne Identity, exposes a sickening and cruel - and illegal business of Japanese fisherman slaughtering wild dolphins in a secret cove in Taiji.

In Japan, fishermen round up and slaughter hundreds and even thousands of dolphins and other small whales each year.

In the small fishing village of Taiji, entire schools of dolphins are driven into a hidden cove after a prolonged chase. Once trapped inside the cove, the fishermen kill the dolphins, slashing their throats with knives or stabbing them with spears. The water turns red with their blood, and the air fills with their screams.

This brutal massacre — the largest scale dolphin kill in the world — goes on for six months of every year. Even more scandalous, members of the international dolphin display industry take advantage of the dolphin slaughter to obtain some few, show-quality dolphins for use in captive dolphin shows and dolphin swim programs.

Learn more about this shame on Japan, and watch the trailer for the compelling movie here. Then take action to stop this barbarism!

State Department asks Twitter to postpone maintenance

Wow. This is pretty huge!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday it had contacted the social networking service Twitter to urge it to delay a planned upgrade that would have cut daytime service to Iranians who are disputing their election.

Live_tweeting the revolution

It's getting violent and deadly in Iran, but this revolution looks very real.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/livetweeting-the-revolution.html#more

In Tehran

A student protester in Tehran helps an Iranian riot cop who was beaten by other protesters.

Meanwhile, other riot cops, conservative Islamic militias, and Arab thugs are mercilessly beating and killing protesters all over Iran.

Iranian students protesters beaten

some to death.

Animal Farm Friday (on Moday) - Oh Hi!

I can haz catnip?

A celebration of altered states (now legalize it!).