Arctic Ice Cap Gets Capped.

This is good news:

Arctic warming has become so dramatic that the North Pole may melt this summer, report scientists studying the effects of climate change in the field. "We're actually projecting this year that the North Pole may be free of ice for the first time [in history]," David Barber, of the University of Manitoba, told National Geographic News aboard the C.C.G.S. Amundsen, a Canadian research icebreaker.

I'll be conferencing and blogging the next few days if the wifi gods are with me, but I'd rather be swimming. At the North Pole, of course.

Words to live by

"I'm not here to say that the government is always right, but when the government tells you to do something, I'm sure you would all agree that I think you all recognize that is something you need to do," [Kit] Bond said." (via GG)

Forget FISA, let's look at pictures.

Ok, I'm still fuming about the house vote today. I am also upset that Obama is playing right in the dirty, unconstitutional hands of the current administration and the telecoms.

So let's change the subject.

Did I tell you I took pictures in morocco?

Click on the picture to see the show

I just made my contribution

Steny Hoyer must go. I just made a 50$ contribution to the act blue page. The link to contribute is at the very in of Glenn Greenwald's post, which I quote here:

Our first ad, featuring Steny Hoyer, is almost finished and will run as a full-page ad in The Washington Post and in numerous newspapers in his district, aimed at his core Democratic base. We are excited that Color of Change -- the online, grass-roots African-American organization devoted to demanding more responsiveness from Washington officials -- has now joined our coalition and is directly working with us on this ad campaign against Hoyer. And we hope to expand our work with them to include the other campaigns we are doing, including -- just for now -- the ones against Rep. Chris Carney and Rep. John Barrow.

The total amount we have for this campaign is now almost $250,000. The response has been overwhelming. I know that many of you have donated as much or even more than you could, but the more we raise, the more of an impact we can make against the individuals responsible for this travesty. Making them know there is a real price to pay when they do this -- not by getting deluged with angry phone calls or merely having primary challenges, but doing everything possible to expose their real character, remove them office and put a permanent end to their political careers -- is the only real way to deter its repetition. Contributions can be made here.

Thanks, Linda.

Here's what I wrote to my congresswoman a few minutes ago:

Dear Congresswoman Sanchez,

I was writing to follow up on today's vote on the FISA bill. While the bill still passed, your 'nay' vote is greatly appreciated. I hope that when it comes time to elect a majority leader, Steny Hoyer will not be at the top of your list!

As always, thanks for your service to Whittier and congratulations on being patriotic and voting against laws that undermine the constitution.

I will be contributing to your election campaign.

Roadkill Hat Club of America Giclee Ltd Edition

Roadkill Hat Club of America Giclee Ltd Edition
Originally uploaded by JimFromIowa

The things one can learn.

I just got back

from dinner, but before dinner I had beer with friends (Jeff, Dave, Carolyn, Seamus and Leslie). But before beer with friends, we had all just gotten back from a bluegrass jam in Pasadena. It was a lot of fun.

Now Anne has just called from Detroit. She's been in the airport for something like 5 hours because of a flight delay. They aren't saying when the flight is leaving.

Ugh. I haven't talked about the travails of JFK last week. I hate--HATE--American Airlines.

Anyway, just a blog blurb to remind myself that, occasionally, I write in my blog.

McSame McCain

McSame McCain:

John McCain Votes to Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike.

McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

Doorway

_DSC3756 copy
Originally uploaded by andrethegiant

Well, I'm back from Morocco and stunningly up to my eyeballs in work. That didn't stop me from uploading some of my pictures to flickr...

You can see the full set here

Roadkill Wednesday™

Roadkill
Originally uploaded by aknacer

Ha!

Update: It turns out Abby (and Abby), friend of x number of years, knows photographer in this week's Roadkill Wednesday*. Small world. (Or maybe Abby's big world connecting with my small world.)

RKW: because there is death on the highway of life.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I am buried beneath a pile of work. Hope to emerge soon.

*RKW=my day for my bad days.

Roadkill Wednesday™

Contemplating Roadkill
Originally uploaded by bokjonbok

It's roadkill Wednesday again. Here's a great polaroid from bokjonbok.


Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™
"Because there is death on the highway of life."

Gay Marriage

Even though I believe more in civil unions, I'm really happy that gay marriage is now legal in California (or not illegal, or something.)

Tolerance and justice are good.


Thought for the day.

Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™

Ok, I'm out of town on a school-related trip so this is a pre-planned post of Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™ ("Oh No!" Courtesy of J-Easy)

I'm hoping I'm feeling pretty good by the time this post hits the presses.

How are you feeling?


Think of this as therapy.
Think of this as homage.
Think of this as honesty.
Think of this as the highway.
Think of this as a mash-up.
Think of this as art.
Think of this as life.

Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™
"Because there is death on the highway of life."

Scheduled Poetry

The canaries
are dying.
Should we save
them?
Should we try?
Is it a problem with the air,
or is it
them?

Crashing the system II

I'm happy to see (via M. Thoma) that those who are crashing the systems are at least not making quite as much money.

Change is in the air for financial superclass, by David Rothkopf, Commentary, Financial Times: ...The re-engineering of international finance has been one of the transformational trends of our times – in just a quarter-century, capital flows became massive, instantaneous and controlled by a new breed of traders representing a handful of major financial institutions from a few countries. Their rewards have transcended any in history as shown by an estimate ... that the top hedge fund manager last year made $3bn.

The concentration of power has also steadily grown..., the key executives are in the US and Europe, underscoring the transatlantic nature of this elite. Change, however, is in the air. The history of elites is one of their rising up, over-reaching, being reined in and supplanted by a new elite. Several recent developments suggest that the financial crisis could signal the high-water mark of power for this group.

First, the crisis is prompting a re-regulatory drive. The power of financial elites had been evident in their ability to argue that global financial markets and markets in new securities should remain “self-regulating” (how many of them would hop into a self-regulating taxicab?), then when crisis comes ... these champions of less government involvement have then persuaded governments to cauterise their wounds.

Now, however, there are encouraging, if preliminary, signs of a push towards more effective collaboration between governments – the first steps towards creating the much needed checks on global markets... This could erode the agility of financial elites to play governments off against each other, with the weakest regulator setting the rules.

Checks on markets? Gosh, I wish someone had thought about that before.

Draft.Blogger: Dear Blogger

Dear Blogger,

When you post this, I'll be gone. Don't look for me because I'll be far away.

I won't forget you, but know that sometimes I need my freedom.

See you soon.

Roadkill Wednesday™

Vicke och döden
Originally uploaded by ida katari

If you noticed my blog entry yesterday with the beautiful and haunting dead bird, you probably know that sometimes I get disappointed with myself and, well, let's be honest, others. When I have a bad day, I usually blog the dead bird. It's symbolic of the death of innocence. My theory is that innocence never completely dies (and doesn't really exist, but that's another story), it just dies a little bit at a time.

In that tradition, I'm starting Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™. Roadkill happens to the little canaries and to the largest and most fearsome beasts. It is any combination of the following: sideswiping, crushing, flattening, deflating, splatting and crippling. It occurs both night and day, and may involve the complete awareness of the victim (the proverbial "deer in the headlights") or come as a total surprise.

In this vein, I will try to post tasteful pictures of roadkill. This is not an attempt to be gruesome or nonchalant about death. On the contrary, I really wish it didn't happen, especially to the innocent. But it does.

Think of this as therapy.
Think of this as homage.
Think of this as honesty.
Think of this as the highway.
Think of this as a mash-up.
Think of this as art.
Think of this as life.

Wednesday Roadkill Blogging™
"Because there is death on the highway of life."

Says it all...

One Boring Old Man:

As my father was known to repeat endlessly, "I don’t mind you peeing in my boot, but don’t tell me it’s water."

One of those days...again.

Brain Dead

Ok, people: enough! My brain is fried and, like you, I'm looking to summer. It's been a great year, but this semester has left me feeling like a baby seal in the clutches of a polar bear. I'm just glad to get out alive. (Oh, wait, I better not count those chickens [or baby seals] until they hatch [or escape from the jaws of the polar bear]. After all, there are still two days of school and some exams.)

But I'm thinking about summer. I've earned it too. I've taught overloads and I've been on more committees than you can shake a laser pointer at.

Without further ado, and in the fashion of the Pillow Book, here are some things I'm happy about:

• Giving money to Obama--more than I can afford, actually. I'll be Obama blogging more as the year goes on. Go Obama.
• Using Google reader. My daily news is much more closely linked to my brain now. How did it take me so long to get those RSS feeds coming in (and going out!). Rss is awesome. It provides for my glutonous cravings for news from France, Asia, and Africa; it brings Open Left and Firedoglake to my screen; it is seemless and fast; it is me; I am it.
• The Language Lab Photo Contest. We will have student art in the lab. So easy--why has no one ever done this before? (I'll put up a link to our web exhibit when I get the chance.)
• Working hard. I've worked hard.
• Moodle. I'll admit that I did not get to explore moodle as much as I wanted (because I was so busy), but, still, I've gained some insights into how to enhance some of my teaching.
• Not using moodle. That's right. There's a time and a place.
• Calling senators and congresfolk to lobby against torture and telecom immunity.
  
• Having the restraint not to buy a new computer.
• Walking to school.
• Inventing the word "disappointless."
  
• Going mostly vegan. (Ate meat last night. Emphasis on "mostly.")
• Neutering some stray cats.
• Several charitable donations.
• I really enjoyed my teaching this year even though I am worn out.

Things I am disappointed about:

• Not having the strength or insight to deal with personalities when the time was right.
• Working hard to no apparent end, as in "That was disappointless."
• Not talking to friends enough.
• Being holed up working all the time.
• Occasional endless pontificating in class.
• Being such a slow grader.
  
• Not writing enough. I have to carve out time more time for this activity.
  
• Not always setting an example of excellence for students.
• Not proofreading my blogging.
  
• Ever thinking that Hillary would end the primaries gracefully.
• Not getting enough exercise.
• The state of my office.

I'm sure there are more things I'm disappointed about, they are just not coming to my mind right now. Let's just call that a healthy attitude of denial.

L'été arrive enfin. I've got something like 3 conferences this summer, so that will keep me more than occupied. I will be writing (see list above). We've also got some good old-fashioned manual labor projects that should keep me busy too, and I need some of that to keep me sane and balanced... Expect to see lots of pictures from Morocco...