Crazy quilt of things I must share
If ever one expression in a photograph told it all, it's this one. See Paul Giamatti and Senator John Boehner at the Washington, DC doings for the John Adams miniseries. Paul is a liberal Democrat. Boehner is, well, one of the biggest right-wing Republicans on the Hill. He also weeps copiously on the Senate floor.
I'd seen this Jefferson quote before but I loved it so much yet again I thought I'd share it.
"He is vain, irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable effect of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill which can possibly be said of him. He is as disinterested as the Being who made him. He is profound in his views and accurate in his judgment, except where knowledge of the world is necessary to form a judgment. He is so amiable that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man in Congress."
o Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison about John Adams (30 January 1787)
I was a little afraid of something I happened to see on TV the other day. Don't they teach basic physics in US classrooms anymore? If this had been on some science show for kids or something, it might be understandable but it was on "Ripley's Believe it or Not". I definitely couldn't believe it but not for the reasons they supported.
They had the world's largest rubber ball (made of an unholy alliance of thousands of rubber bands) which they planned to drop from a moving airplane going 1200 miles per hour. The ball would then land at roughly 4000 miles per hour. And they wanted to know "if the ball would bounce". No, I'm not joking.
My friend Maria's daughter looked over at me and said, "What do you think?" And I said, "I think the same thing that anyone who has taken science courses thinks -- it's going to follow the path of least resistance -- open up a crater until it hits resistant earth then break into numerous pieces in all different directions. No, it's not going to bounce." Maria's daughter (aged 19) agreed.
Of course they could have answered this question by just calling a physicist but then hey, no great ad revenue. BTW, two people nearly died in a chopper accident filming this nonsense.
And lastly, today the local courts levied a fine against a homeless man of $100 million dollars for starting the fire last year that was caused by him when he lit various pieces of wood so that he might stay warm. Aside from the Dickensian dimension to this tale, one wonders if our supposed "conservative" governor had considered how much cheaper the whole matter would have been (to say nothing of more humane) if they just bought decent housing for the homeless. One billion in firefighting versus $100,000 condo. Hmmm, tough call, that one.
I'd seen this Jefferson quote before but I loved it so much yet again I thought I'd share it.
"He is vain, irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable effect of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill which can possibly be said of him. He is as disinterested as the Being who made him. He is profound in his views and accurate in his judgment, except where knowledge of the world is necessary to form a judgment. He is so amiable that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man in Congress."
o Thomas Jefferson in a letter to James Madison about John Adams (30 January 1787)
I was a little afraid of something I happened to see on TV the other day. Don't they teach basic physics in US classrooms anymore? If this had been on some science show for kids or something, it might be understandable but it was on "Ripley's Believe it or Not". I definitely couldn't believe it but not for the reasons they supported.
They had the world's largest rubber ball (made of an unholy alliance of thousands of rubber bands) which they planned to drop from a moving airplane going 1200 miles per hour. The ball would then land at roughly 4000 miles per hour. And they wanted to know "if the ball would bounce". No, I'm not joking.
My friend Maria's daughter looked over at me and said, "What do you think?" And I said, "I think the same thing that anyone who has taken science courses thinks -- it's going to follow the path of least resistance -- open up a crater until it hits resistant earth then break into numerous pieces in all different directions. No, it's not going to bounce." Maria's daughter (aged 19) agreed.
Of course they could have answered this question by just calling a physicist but then hey, no great ad revenue. BTW, two people nearly died in a chopper accident filming this nonsense.
And lastly, today the local courts levied a fine against a homeless man of $100 million dollars for starting the fire last year that was caused by him when he lit various pieces of wood so that he might stay warm. Aside from the Dickensian dimension to this tale, one wonders if our supposed "conservative" governor had considered how much cheaper the whole matter would have been (to say nothing of more humane) if they just bought decent housing for the homeless. One billion in firefighting versus $100,000 condo. Hmmm, tough call, that one.