JMa's Random Thoughts

2011-01-23T09:48:00.001-05:00

Heart

2010-09-08T08:44:00.000-04:00

And Old Rosie Memory

2010-03-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

I'm the 3rd or 4th photo in the slideshow. Rosie made this and posted it on her blog the day after the book signing... It shows the decoupage box I made her. Yes, TOTAL dork. But you get no apologies from me. :)

Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer

2010-03-13T08:16:00.001-05:00

Brilliant fake movie trailer that highlights hollywood cliches.

2010-02-09T21:06:00.000-05:00

Calling Card from Heaven

2010-01-16T10:56:00.001-05:00

2009-10-11T04:41:00.001-04:00

Hearts found

2009-09-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

Adam Lambert - Mad World [HQ] - Lyrics

2009-09-12T20:29:00.001-04:00

AWESOME

When the World Stopped Turning: A 9/11 tribute

2009-09-11T12:28:00.001-04:00

I was living in Brooklyn at the time, and had just driven by the WTC across the east river on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. I didn't...... have my radio on, but I remember seeing lots of emergency vehicles driving toward Manhattan as I was heading east to work on Long Island. When I got to the office, everyone was huddled around a small portable TV trying to get a picture. I called Dad so he could tell me what he was seeing on TV. We were on the phone when the 2nd plane hit. I looked out my office window and could see the plumes of smoke in the City 25 miles away.

Wonderful Short Film

2009-09-09T05:45:00.002-04:00

Watch this! http://foreversnotsolong.com/.

I really don't want to die alone, and this really played into those fears for me. But it was great.

On Board The Queen of Hearts

2009-08-22T13:56:00.000-04:00

Sweden got talent - Naked guys dancing!

2009-08-20T11:51:00.001-04:00

Hysterical

Mayo Clinic Heart

2009-08-07T12:56:00.000-04:00

Triad of Hearts

2009-08-02T13:36:00.001-04:00

1815 Wood Avenue

2009-07-27T12:05:00.000-04:00

My Childhood Home
(one of many, actually)

Lost and Found Heart

2009-07-16T20:29:00.000-04:00

This was waiting in the L&F at B&N.

Judy Shepard Joins Reid to Announce Hate Crimes Amendment

2009-07-16T10:57:00.001-04:00

There are actually young people who do not know who Matthew Shepard was....

Sounds of Rain--choir made with only hands and feet

2009-07-15T12:11:00.001-04:00

This is pretty cool!

Heart by the Trash Shoot

2009-07-03T16:08:00.001-04:00

I was distracted when I saw this and tossed my keys with the trash. I
made a frantic and miraculous lunge and just managed to catch them on
my pinky. Tell me these hearts are not divine in some way!

Kathy Griffin!

2009-06-27T19:38:00.001-04:00

The Cryptic Canvas Movie Game

2009-06-19T16:42:00.005-04:00

Click here to to go to their website and play this AWESOME movie game. There are clues to the titles of 50 recent movies (most within the past 20 years). See if you can find all 50.

Neil Patrick Harris (NPH!) sings at the Tony Awards 2009 - Closing Number

2009-06-09T15:00:00.001-04:00

ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

The Most Misunderstood Woman in Entertainment

2009-06-09T12:45:00.002-04:00

I LOVE this woman!
Give Rosie O'Donnell a chance people! She is the real deal!

Richard Gage on KMPH Fox 26 in Fresno, CA

2009-06-05T17:17:00.001-04:00

I don't know what I believe about all this. But I KNOW I don't believe that WTC 7 came down on its own. I don't know who, and I don't know why, but there is more to the story, and we aren't supposed to find out about it.

2009-06-04T17:51:00.000-04:00

Great E-mail I got from Dad

2009-06-04T12:07:00.001-04:00

An Easily Understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later.

She keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers loans).

Word gets around about Heidi's "drink now, pay later" marketing strategy and, as a result, increasing numbers of customers flood into Heidi's bar. Soon she has the largest sales volume for any bar in Detroit.

By providing her customers' freedom from immediate payment demands, Heidi gets no resistance when, at regular intervals, she substantially increases her prices for wine and beer, the most consumed beverages. Consequently, Heidi's gross sales volume increases massively.

A young and dynamic vice-president at the local bank recognizes that these customer debts constitute valuable future assets and increases Heidi's borrowing limit. He sees no reason for any undue concern, since he has the debts of the unemployed alcoholics as collateral.

At the bank's corporate headquarters, expert traders transform these customer loans into DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS. These securities are then bundled and traded on international security markets. Naive investors don't really understand that the securities being sold to them as AAA secured bonds are really the debts of unemployed alcoholics.

Nevertheless, the bond prices continuously climb, and the securities soon become the hottest-selling items for some of the nation's leading brokerage houses.

One day, even though the bond prices are still climbing, a risk manager at the original local bank decides that the time has come to demand payment on the debts incurred by the drinkers at Heidi's bar. He so informs Heidi.

Heidi then demands payment from her alcoholic patrons, but being unemployed alcoholics they cannot pay back their drinking debts. Since, Heidi cannot fulfill her loan obligations she is forced into bankruptcy. The bar closes and the eleven employees lose their jobs.

Overnight, DRINKBONDS, ALKIBONDS and PUKEBONDS drop in price by 90%. The collapsed bond asset value destroys the banks liquidity and prevents it from issuing new loans, thus freezing credit and economic activity in the community.

The suppliers of Heidi's bar had granted her generous payment extensions and had invested their firms' pension funds in the various BOND securities. They find they are now faced with having to write off her bad debt and with losing over 90% of the presumed value of the bonds. Her wine supplier also claims bankruptcy, closing the doors on a family business that had endured for three generations, her beer supplier is taken over by a competitor, who immediately closes the local plant and lays off 150 workers.

Fortunately though, the bank, the brokerage houses and their respective executives are saved and bailed out by a multi-billion dollar no-strings attached cash infusion from the Government. The funds required for this bailout are obtained by new taxes levied on employed, middle-class, non-drinkers.

Now, do you understand?

--Author Unknown

Work Ethic

2009-05-24T17:20:00.004-04:00

Matthew and I were standing just inside a movie theatre, waiting for my friend to join us. A theatre employee (supervisor of some sort, I assumed) opened the door and said to the young man standing outside (pictured above), "When do you want to take your break?"

Matthew and I both gave a double take and shook our heads in wry amusement....

(In case you can't really see in the photo, the kid was drinking an iced coffee, texting, AND smoking a self-rolled cigarette.)

I have to hope that the supervisor was kidding, perhaps in a passive-aggressive attempt at snark, but we really don't think so.

P.S. He was wearing a Webelos cap. (Webelos are those in-between kids transitioning from cub scouts to boy scouts.) Here's somethign I found describing the objective of the Webelo Scouts: "Our Webelos den has been very exciting to watch as the boys change from being squirrely 3rd graders mostly intent on running around and playing to being a patrol that can recognize a goal, the requirements to fulfill the goal, and the ambition to accomplish the goal."

Haircut Heart

2009-05-24T08:41:00.001-04:00

Ok, so my brother is visiting from Phoenix, and I always take advantage of seeing him by having him cut my hair (he's really, REALLY good). When we were done, I was vacuuming up the hair from the floor and JUST as I saw this heart just as it was getting sucked into the hose. I opened up the vacuum and sifted through the dust and dirt and hair and it fell back out...

Here it is as it lay before I added it to my collection. Read about how the collection got started here.

Hitler and the Tony Awards

2009-05-19T09:28:00.001-04:00

Funny, funny, FUNNY!

HeARTworks Heart

2009-05-09T18:53:00.000-04:00

Wow! Really?!

2009-04-13T15:52:00.001-04:00

Lost Generation

2009-03-27T09:26:00.001-04:00

Thanks for sending me this, Sherry. Loved it!

My Kids

2009-03-01T21:45:00.001-05:00

NYC Sidewalk

2009-02-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

Heart Cookie

2009-02-13T23:11:00.000-05:00

Found this after a Marfan syndrome presentation in New Jersey.

Heart in the Drawer

2009-02-10T22:37:00.001-05:00

Obama Speaks

2009-01-28T17:00:00.004-05:00

Some quotes from the inauguration and comments from Time Magazine, February 2, 2009

Regarding the fallacy of the wonders of free enterprise:

"This crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper when it favors only the prosperous." (Take that, Dick Cheney, who exited the scene in a wheelchair, looking grim, as if he were about to foreclose on someone.)

Regarding the wisdom of earlier generations:

"They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please."

And he denounced the "false...choice between our safety and our ideals."

LuPWNed! (The Patti LuPone Audience Freakout Remix)

2009-01-27T10:18:00.001-05:00

Love this.....

I read about Patti's diva moment in Entertainment Weekly, had to find it.

Eight Years Ago Today...

2009-01-26T17:10:00.006-05:00

....Mom died.

Awesome TV Quote

2009-01-21T23:27:00.001-05:00

"Maybe if you ate more comfort food you wouldn't have to go around
shooting people."
--Hugo, "Lost'

Sent from my iPhone

The Animal Odd Couple

2009-01-20T21:23:00.001-05:00

I LOVE this story!

Vacation, January 4-11, 2009

2009-01-14T16:28:00.004-05:00

Here is a link to my Picasa Page with pics from my cruise on Holland America's MS Westerdam last week with my friend Judy. I'll add more when I get her pics.

We sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to Half Moon Cay to Grand Turk to Grand Cayman to Cozumel and back to Ft. Lauderdale.

In Cozumel, we decided to spring for the Dolphin Swin and Ride encounter at Dolphinaris. It was amazing, as you can see from the photos above.

Vacation - Day 2

2009-01-04T17:38:00.000-05:00

Embarkation from Ft Lauderdale on the MS Westerdam

Vacation - Day 1

2009-01-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hunter Parish in "Spring Awakening"

2008-12-27T01:31:00.003-05:00

I love this show-- this was my 3rd time seeing it. I was eager to see
Hunter (from "Weeds" on Showtime) in the lead. He was INCREDIBLY GRACIOUS at the stage door (always a plus in my book). He was amused when we asked him to sign this pic from the Internet using the 'Scribble' App on my iPhone.

Another AMAZING movie!

2008-12-26T10:00:00.003-05:00

I absolutely loved The Reader. It is erotic, moving, disturbing, touching. I appreciate movies that make me literally feel the emotion welling up inside me.

Kate Winslet is one of my top-5 favorite actresses. It's her turn!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T23:12:00.002-05:00

I received this link and thought it was quite cute... I couldn't help but smile, even in my "bah-humbug" state of mind this year. I definitely have not been in my "happy place," but I have a nice relaxing vacation coming up, and I plan to take myself away and give myself a good attitude adjustment.

B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T Movie!

2008-12-24T15:04:00.002-05:00

"Slumdog Millionaire"

Please go see this movie!

Such a creative and compelling story about destiny and overcoming the odds to build a life for yourself when the world seems to be stacking the cards against you!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-19T10:56:00.003-05:00

This is the Christmas card I got from my friend RonDeena. Best card ever!

This is the free sticker I got from MoveOn.org.

Liza's at the Palace

2008-12-10T18:10:00.005-05:00

What a treat to see a living legend! Everything I have ever heard about Liza (and her mother) and her ability to absolutely give herself to an audience was so true! I was mezmerized from the first entrance, and through MULTIPLE standing ovations throughout the show! Brilliant!

Candace Bergen, Lea Delaria, and John McDaniel were the celebrities I saw up close in the audience. I'm sure there were more.

Life Soundtrack

2008-12-10T17:54:00.005-05:00

I'm compiling a list of songs that would be on my "Life Soundtrack." Here's what I have so far.

I Know Your So Well (Harry Connick Jr.)
And You Tell Me (a-ha)
Cherish (Madonna)
Power Of Two (Indigo Girls)
Vogue (Madonna)
Billie Jean (Michael Jackson)
True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)
Be Good Johnny (Men at Work)
Who Can It Be Now? (Men at Work)
Down Under (Men at Work)
Don't Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin)
Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (The Nylons)
West End Girls (Pet Shop Boys)
Triad (Jefferson Airplane)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon and Garfunkle)
Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order)
The Voice Of Enigma (Enigma)
Sadeness / Find Love / Sadeness (Enigma)
I'm The Only One (Melissa Etheridge)
Scarecrow (Melissa Etheridge)
Come To My Window (Melissa Etheridge)
People Are People (Depeche Mode)
Keep It Precious (Melissa Etheridge)
Luck be a Lady (Frank Sinatra)
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston)
Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
Here You Come Again (Dolly Parton)
Me and Little Andy (Dolly Parton)
Calling All Angels (k.d. lang)
Why? (Bronski Beat)
Star (Erasure)
Little Shop Of Horrors (Prologue) (LSOH Soundtrack)
Suddenly, Seymour (LSOH Soundtrack)
Kiss From A Rose (Seal)
Finally (CeCe Peniston)
Gonna Make You Sweat/Everybody Dance Now (C + C Music Factory)
Supermodel/You Better Work (RuPaul)
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina- Disco Version (Madonna)
Make Your Own Kind of Music (Mama Cass)
Love Shack (The B-52's)
Tainted Love (Soft Cell)
The Colors of My Life Barnum Soudtrack)
Where Is Love? (Oliver Soundtrack)
Consider Yourself (Oliver Soundtrack)
Here Comes The Rain Again (Eurythmics)
Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics)
Wind Beneath My Wings (Bette Midler)
Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers)
If You Leave (OMD)
Pandora's Box (OMD)
Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds)
Things Can Only Get Better (Howard Jones)
Careless Whisper (Wham!)
One Night in Bangkok (Chess Soundtrack)
Suddenly (Billy Ocean)
Forever (Kenny Loggins)
Danny's Song (Loggins and Mecina)
Open Arms Journey)
Walking On Broken Glass (Annie Lennox)
Hallelujah (k.d. lang)
Constant Craving (k.d. lang)
Careless Whisper (Wham!)

Snuggle time

2008-12-07T14:59:00.001-05:00

My Little Buddy

2008-11-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Paw Prints on the Punkin Pie

2008-11-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

As I was cutting into a pumpkin pie today, I flashed back to a long-
ago Thanksgiving when mom made the pies to take to a family friend's
house for dinner. We woke up to find a kitty paw print in the one and
only pumpkin pie.

It's amazing what you can hide with well-placed whipped cream. We
were sworn to secrecy, and no one was the wiser.

Sent from my iPhone

I am downright GIDDY about this!

2008-11-19T21:01:00.002-05:00

Purple Heart

2008-11-18T18:19:00.000-05:00

Honk if you want to stop the H8

2008-11-15T13:59:00.001-05:00

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST PROPOSITION 8 IN CALIFORNIA, HELD ON THE HIGHWAY IN FRONT OF HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY.

Lots of honking with scattered "Drop dead you fucking faggots!"

Fleeing Heart

2008-11-15T08:25:00.000-05:00

When I tried to take this photo, the wind blew and it started to fly
away like it was running from me, almost like it was teasing me. It
gave me a good chuckle.

Keith Olberman on Prop 8

2008-11-14T17:42:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU, MR. OLBERMAN!

We have NOT reached the end of racism

2008-11-12T17:41:00.000-05:00

Airport Heart, New Orleans

2008-11-12T17:32:00.002-05:00

Willie Mae's Scotch House

2008-11-12T15:16:00.002-05:00

I heard a radio piece about this place on All Things Considered on NPR over the summer and decided to check it out while I was in New Orleans this past week on business.

Let me tell you, the hype is worth it! You would never believe it from the outside (see below-- yes, that is a current picture, taken just after I ate inside, NOT after the hurricane as one would think). It was the best fried chicken EVER! It's worth seeking out when you're in the area.

Here's the link to the print version of the story.

The French Quarter at Night

2008-11-11T20:17:00.001-05:00

"You Can Forget My Taxes" by Melissa Etheridge

2008-11-08T19:40:00.006-05:00

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California—and she won't be paying the state a dime.

from the The Daily Beast

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

…Really?

When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?

I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the immigrants. "Them.” Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.
Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way.

Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

Pulse Park

2008-10-31T19:20:00.003-04:00

Watch the video and then click on this link to learn more about Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse Park installation at Madison Square Park in NYC. AMAZING!

Keeping Watch

2008-10-31T18:35:00.003-04:00

Doesn't this look like Eyore is watching Cootie while she sleeps?!

(I swear this wasn't posed! Eyore sometimes sits on the back of my couch-- I guess one of the cats knocked him off and onto the edge of the kitty bed. SO SWEET!)

The Big Apple at Night

2008-10-29T20:14:00.000-04:00

Little Red Heart

2008-10-29T09:33:00.001-04:00

Politics, Palin, and Project Runway!

2008-10-28T17:38:00.004-04:00

My new friend Brooke turned me on to this PERFECT analysis from the Huffington Post. Check it out:

WHY HEIDI KLUM SHOULD MODERATE THE DEBATE

Perfect!

Dear Red States

2008-10-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

Source: Unknown (received by email)

Dear Red States,

We’ve decided we’re leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we’re taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren’t aware, that includes California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and the best beaches. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole’ Miss. We get 85 percent of America’s venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition’s, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms. Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we’re going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they’re apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don’t care if you don’t show pictures of their children’s caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we’re not willing to spend our resources in Bush’s Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country’s fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation’s fresh fruit, 95 percent of America’s quality wines, 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we’re discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11 and 61 percent of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.
Finally, we’re taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out,
Blue States

Los Vivancos Flamenco Dancers

2008-10-15T16:05:00.001-04:00

"Rent" Final Performance and After-party

2008-10-15T14:30:00.001-04:00

RENT star reminds students there's no day but today - News

2008-10-15T14:10:00.001-04:00

RENT star reminds students there's no day but today - News (click for article)

Constitutional Ammendment

2008-10-15T13:44:00.001-04:00

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER

And another

2008-10-12T15:24:00.001-04:00

As I was telling someone the story of the hearts, I looked down and
this one was laying on the corner at our feet! We both got a chill!

"Color Me Blue" Heart

2008-10-12T11:55:00.000-04:00

The Heaviest Element Known to Science

2008-10-09T09:32:00.003-04:00

Lawrence Livermore Laboratories has discovered the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of morons promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Source: Unknown (but they are brilliant)

Palin is an International Embarrassment

2008-10-08T09:28:00.002-04:00

Friday October 3 2008

From:
Michelle Goldberg
guardian.co.uk <http://guardian.co.uk/>

Flirting her way to victory?

Sarah Palin's Farcical Debate Performance Lowered the Standards for both Female Candidates and US Political Discourse.

At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have been universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night.

By any normal standard, including the ones applied to male presidential candidates of either party, she did not. Early on, she made the astonishing announcement that she had no intentions of actually answering the queries put to her. 'I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also,' she said. And so she preceded, with an almost surreal disregard for the subjects she was supposed to be discussing, to unleash fusillades of scripted attack lines, platitudes, lies, gibberish and grating references to her own pseudo-folksy authenticity.

It was an appalling display. The only reason it was not widely described as such is that too many American pundits don't even try to judge the truth, wisdom or reasonableness of the political rhetoric they are paid to pronounce upon. Instead, they imagine themselves as interpreters of a mythical mass of 'average Americans' who they both venerate and despise.

In pronouncing upon a debate, they don't try and determine whether a candidate's responses correspond to existing reality, or whether he or she is capable of talking about subjects such as the deregulation of the financial markets or the devolution of the war in Afghanistan. The criteria are far more vaporous. In this case, it was whether Palin could avoid utterly humiliating herself for 90 minutes, and whether urbane commentators would believe that she had connected to a public that they see as ignorant and sentimental. For the Alaska governor, mission accomplished.

There is indeed something mesmerising about Palin, with her manic beaming and fulsome confidence in her own charm. The force of her personality managed to slightly obscure the insulting emptiness of her answers last night. It's worth reading the transcript of the encounter, where it becomes clearer how bizarre much of what she said was. Here, for example,is how she responded to Biden's comments about how the middle class has been short-changed during the Bush administration, and how McCain will continue Bush's policies:

“Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.”

Evidently, Palin's pre-debate handlers judged her incapable of speaking on a fairly wide range of subjects, and so instructed to her to simply disregard questions that did not invite memorised talking points or cutesy filibustering. They probably told her to play up her spunky average-ness, which she did to the point of shtick - and dishonesty.

Asked what her achilles heel is - a question she either didn't understand or chose to ignore - she started in on how McCain chose her because of her 'connection to the heartland of America. Being a mom, one very concerned about a son in the war, about a special needs child, about kids heading off to college, how are we going to pay those tuition bills?'

None of Palin's children, it should be noted, is heading off to college. Her son is on the way to Iraq, and her pregnant 17-year-old daughter is engaged to be married to a high-school dropout and self-described 'fuckin' redneck'.

Palin is a woman who can't even tell the truth about the most quotidian and public details of her own life, never mind about matters of major public import. In her only vice-presidential debate, she was shallow, mendacious and phoney. What kind of maverick, after all, keeps harping on what a maverick she is? That her performance was considered anything but a farce doesn't show how high Palin has risen, but how low we all have sunk.
Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008

A Link from the The American Prospect

2008-10-01T17:19:00.001-04:00

- A Link for you from The American Prospect -

Dear Jma blog,

Jonathan (jmartin@marfan.org) wants you to see this page, http://www.prospect.org:80//cs/articles;jsessionid=aOj0pY-DgD0-Sqie6Y?article=palins_record_on_violence_against_women on The American Prospect.

The sender also included the following message for you:

(Note: the sender's e-mail address above has not been verified.)

Heart on a Boat

2008-09-30T16:26:00.001-04:00

Found this one volunteering for an event on a boat called the "Queen of Hearts."

Equus on Broadway

2008-09-29T19:21:00.001-04:00

Snapped this shot from my iPhone before the show started.

Having audience members seated above the up-stage side was brilliant. It was as if they were sitting in judgment of the characters in the play.

Amazing show! Great staging, powerful performances by Richard Griffiths and Daniel Radcliffe!

Tragedy in Tanzania

2008-09-24T16:20:00.005-04:00

From my dear friend and colleague Rick Guidotti, currently in Tanzania speaking out about a despicable assault on human rights:

Here is the information about the trip to Tanzania and why we are going with the link to the petition. We need lots of signatures. Thank you so much for your support.
Love, Rick

We write to advise you of disturbing human rights violations against people with albinism in Tanzania that call out for action by the genetic community and ask for a few minutes of your time to make a difference.

Recent reports from Tanzania published by BBC News, New York Times and the Washington Post tell of the murders of persons with albinism, including children, on the orders of witchdoctors peddling the belief that potions made from the legs, hair, hands, and blood of people with albinism can make a person rich.

In mid-October, Positive Exposure's Rick Guidotti (http://www.blogger.com/www.positiveexposure.org) will be traveling to Tanzania in partnership with Under the Same Sun
(http://www.blogger.com/www.underthesamesun.com) to collaborate with national and local government officials, authorities and interests groups to develop effective strategies to end these crimes against humanity.

Please sign the online petition which the team will present to the government of Tanzania. We need 10,000 signatures for this to be effective.
http://www.underthesamesun.com/petitions.php

This petition will also let the albinism community in Tanzania know that they are NOT ALONE and that many throughout the world are standing with them in defense of their fundamental human right to safety, security and freedom.

Positive Exposure is a non-profit organization that challenges stigma associated with difference by celebrating the richness and beauty of human diversity.

Here is a link to the NY Times Story...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/world/africa/08albino.html

Ty Tag

2008-09-18T19:21:00.001-04:00

McCain Women's Clinic

2008-09-15T13:47:00.001-04:00

Be afraid, be VERY afraid!

Across Cliques and Clubs and Classes

2008-09-15T09:09:00.004-04:00

Adrienne Hurley, and old friend from high school, and I reconnected a while back after 20ish years. We pretty much stay in touch now through each other's blogs. Hers is much more oriented on political activism than mine, which focuses more on pop-culture observations and what's happening in my own life. Adrienne was always the one to stir things up in high-school, marching to the beat of her own drum, to the admiration of people across cliques and clubs and classes. She's a good person to know--- she forces thought, and respects action. There should be more people like her. Fierce and unwavering in her convictions, refusing to conform to the expected.

Anyway, I got a kick out one of her recent posts about Sarah Palin and wanted to share it here... (scroll down to the bottom of her post for the photos.)

ABC News Coverage of Palin Book Banning Inquiry

2008-09-15T08:57:00.000-04:00

"RENT Live" Movie Trailer

2008-09-14T16:23:00.001-04:00

2008-09-14T16:04:00.002-04:00

Fantastic book. Oprah did an interview with McCarthy that was pretty interesting. You can find it, and info about the book on her Book Club page for The Road.

McCarthy's writing style took a little getting used to, but there is something about it that lingers in your mind after you put it down.

It requires the reader to stay focused on the words or you'll miss profound passages before you realize it, so make sure you commit when you sit down to read. It's not something you want to read when you may find your mind wandering.

It's what I want a book to be, but my next read will be something a little more light.

I'm eager to see what they do with the movie.

1988 Paul Hunt Gymnastics Comedy Beam Routine

2008-09-11T10:48:00.001-04:00

Very funny! Thanks for sending me the link, Steve!

Lipstick On A Pig

2008-09-10T10:40:00.001-04:00

Ok, ok. Barack Obama has crossed the line with the "Lipstick on a Pig" comment. I don't think I can vote for him any more. Watch the above video to see my new candidate... It comes abotu 35 seconds in.

GIVE IT A REST PEOPLE! Is McCain really so senile that he will get all outraged about Barack's "lipstick" comment when he said the same thing about Hillary last year? REALLY?!?!

Obama 2008!!!

RENT Podcast from Playbill.com

2008-09-09T19:23:00.000-04:00

Heart in the John

2008-09-09T10:03:00.001-04:00

Cindy McCain on Palin's Internatioinal Experience

2008-09-04T18:44:00.001-04:00

Really?!??!

It's Not her Lack of Experience...

2008-09-04T17:07:00.006-04:00

I think that it could be argued that NOBODY is "ready" for the job of POTUS. It's about leadership and motivation and being able to surround yourself with trustworthy and intelligent advisors.

What I hate about her is her demonstrated ultra conservative social platform. I despise almost everything she stands for.

Dad said that if the liberal media continues all the unjust and irrelevant coverage of Sarah Palin, it will only serve to mobilize the republican base. Ummm... I think that was the point in McCain's choosing her as a running mate. It is a direct move to pander to the extreme right. And I am pretty sure that it will also serve to moblize liberals AND pull moderate voters away from the republican ticket. (Cross your fingers!) I can't believe that a year ago I could be overheard (apparently in a moment of weakness) whispering that I could almost consider looking at McCain as a reasonable choice, although I was still pretty firmly planted in the hope for a Clinton/Obama or Obama/Clinton ticket.

From MoveOn.org:

Did you watch Sarah Palin's speech last night? The speech told us a lot
about her.

It told us that she can distort the facts and deliver mean-spirited zingers
with the best of them.

It told us that if Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter ever need a stand-in, she'd
be a great pick.

It told us that she can be condescending and dismissive of the real work
Barack Obama did helping real people on the South Side of Chicago. It told us
that she can uphold the long Republican tradition of lying about Democratic tax
cuts—even though Obama's plan would give Americans a bigger break than
McCain's.

But the speech—written by one of President Bush's speechwriters—didn't tell
us the truth about Sarah Palin's extremist positions. And the more that people
know her far-right views, the less they support her. (There's a partial list
below.)

Palin's speech and the reaction to it also made clear why McCain picked
her. It wasn't a decision about who's most qualified to serve a heart-beat away
from the presidency—it was a political decision about pleasing the far-right
base of the Republican party.

Palin recently said that the war in Iraq is "God's task." She's even
admitted she hasn't thought about the war much—just last year she was quoted
saying, "I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much
on the war in Iraq." 1, 2

Palin has actively sought the support of the fringe Alaska Independence
Party. Six months ago,
Palin told members of the group—who advocate for a vote on secession from
the union—to "keep up the good work" and "wished the party luck on what she
called its 'inspiring convention.'" 3

Palin wants to teach creationism in public schools. She hasn't made clear
whether she thinks evolution is a fact. 4

Palin doesn't believe that humans contribute to global warming. Speaking
about climate change, she said, "I'm not one though who would attribute it to
being manmade." 5

Palin has close ties to Big Oil. Her inauguration was even sponsored by BP. 6

Palin is extremely anti-choice. She doesn't even support abortion in the
case of rape or incest. 7

Palin opposes comprehensive sex-ed in public schools. She's said she will
only support abstinence-only approaches. 8

As mayor, Palin tried to ban books from the library. Palin asked the
library how she might go about banning books because some had inappropriate
language in them—shocking the librarian, Mary Ellen Baker. According to Time,
"news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not
giving "full support" to the mayor." 9

She DID support the Bridge to Nowhere (before she opposed it). Palin
claimed that she said "thanks, but no thanks" to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere.
But in 2006, Palin supported the project repeatedly, saying that Alaska should
take advantage of earmarks "while our congressional delegation is in a strong
position to assist." 10

The plain fact of the matter is that Sarah Palin did a bang-up job
delivering a Karl Rove-style political attack speech last night. That makes her
a skilled politician but it doesn't make her views any more palatable for
voters. Americans don't really want another far-right, anti-science ideologue in
the White House.

P.S. If you haven't seen it, check out the Daily Show clip on Palin. It's
worth a watch http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24753&id=13701-6654264-slYE0Qx&t=5
(I've also embedded it in my earlier Jon Stewart post).

Sources
1. "Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'," Associated
Press, September 3, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24701&id=13701-6654264-slYE0Qx&t=6
2. "Palin wasn't 'really focused much' on the Iraq war,"
ThinkProgress, August 30, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24702&id=13701-6654264-slYE0Qx&t=7
3. "The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/
4. "McCain and Palin differ on issues," Associated Press, September
3, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24703&id=13701-6654264-slYE0Qx&t=8
5. Ibid
6. The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4,
2008 http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/
7. Ibid
8. Ibid.
9. "Mayor Palin: A Rough Record," Time,
September 2, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=24704&id=13701-6654264-slYE0Qx&t=9
10. The Sarah Palin Digest," ThinkProgress, September 4, 2008 http://thinkprogress.org/palin-digest/

Jon Stewart Lets Their Own Words Demonstrate the Hypocrisy

2008-09-04T10:07:00.001-04:00

Jon Stewart is FU%*ING B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T

2008-09-04T10:04:00.002-04:00

Campbell Brown Interviews Tucker Bounds on Sarah Palin

2008-09-03T15:43:00.001-04:00

Dad said in an email:
"By the way, did you see Campbell Brown's near meltdown on CNN? She was so livid that she was not getting the answer she wanted that she was practically spitting. (she was hissing!)."

Really? I kinda think he made a fool of himself and McCain by not answering the question. I have posted a poll about this above. Share your opinion.

New Pics of My Kids

2008-09-03T11:22:00.003-04:00

Cootie

Scutter

Sarah Palin: War in Iraq is God's Plan

2008-09-03T10:02:00.001-04:00

It's all "God's Plan....".
Whew! I feel so much better now!