And you're still younger than I am!
I hope all are comfortable and well. And well fed.
Fracking is headed to Maryland. The only way to stop it is to ban it.
Maryland has a de facto moratorium on fracking, but it could be lifted
anytime. Meanwhile, the industry is signing gas leases and state
regulators are reviewing permit applications. Maryland won't be safe until
it has a permanent ban on this toxic practice.
Tell the Maryland General Assembly: Ban fracking now. Click the link below
to view the petition.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/maryland_fracking/?r_by=49023-4153568-_m8_SNx&rc=mailto1
Maryland has a de facto moratorium on fracking, but it could be lifted
anytime. Meanwhile, the industry is signing gas leases and state
regulators are reviewing permit applications. Maryland won't be safe until
it has a permanent ban on this toxic practice.
Tell the Maryland General Assembly: Ban fracking now. Click the link below
to view the petition.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/maryland_fracking/?r_by=49023-4153568-_m8_SNx&rc=mailto1
You might have to think about it for, oh, 3 seconds or so.
http://dorothy1901.dreamwidth.org/90480.html
http://dorothy1901.dreamwidth.org/90480.html
Have lots more!
Also, soft shell crabs at the Market tomorrow.
Also, soft shell crabs at the Market tomorrow.
There have been a number of major intelligence leaks in the last year or two, mostly aimed against the interests of the United States. This is presumably great sport for the parties involved. Much notoriety, and very little downside risk, except for one US serviceman and the fellow most likely responsible for the publication of his document cache.
But there are much more useful subjects for this sort of scrutiny and internet publication. Hopefully some of the very bright people who have been engaging in the publication of intelligence can be interested in taking on some new challenges. Just consider Syria, for one. Here are some possibilities:
Where does Mr. Assad sleep at night? Where is he at this moment? GPS coordinates would be highly desirable.
A personnel roster of the Presidential Guard could be useful. Their home addresses? Their credit information?
A personnel roster of the "militia" known as shabiha could be useful. Their home addresses? Their credit information?
These people all get to go home to their wives and children every night. Hardly seems fair, eh? It's a fair bet that all of this information is on computers connected to the internet. Why not--everything else is. It's almost certainly all in Arabic. So, what--you expected it to be easy?
Try doing something constructive with your talents for a change.
But there are much more useful subjects for this sort of scrutiny and internet publication. Hopefully some of the very bright people who have been engaging in the publication of intelligence can be interested in taking on some new challenges. Just consider Syria, for one. Here are some possibilities:
Where does Mr. Assad sleep at night? Where is he at this moment? GPS coordinates would be highly desirable.
A personnel roster of the Presidential Guard could be useful. Their home addresses? Their credit information?
A personnel roster of the "militia" known as shabiha could be useful. Their home addresses? Their credit information?
These people all get to go home to their wives and children every night. Hardly seems fair, eh? It's a fair bet that all of this information is on computers connected to the internet. Why not--everything else is. It's almost certainly all in Arabic. So, what--you expected it to be easy?
Try doing something constructive with your talents for a change.
Another of the more sane Republicans loses a primary. North Caroliina votes fear and loathing into the state Constitution. Al Quaida is still trying to blow up airplanes, and the media feel obliged to tell the world how we found out. If I hadn't lived through the Nixon and Bush presidencies, I'd really like to see an Official Secrets Act in this country.
This item from my daughter's grad school class on environmental policy:
http://weyrlady.livejournal.com/513716.html
http://weyrlady.livejournal.com/513716.html
The following is available for any use by anyone:
The RealUglyCan National Committee has an appropriately named Chair, one Mr. Rank Penis.
That is all.
The RealUglyCan National Committee has an appropriately named Chair, one Mr. Rank Penis.
That is all.
Apologies to those of you who have seen this on the WSFA Forum. It's time to share this information with
our wider circle of friends.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8, 2012
Last night Judy suffered a serious and damaging heart attack. I took her to Montgomery General hospital, where she was stabilized, and then medevaced to the Washington Hospital center. They implanted a stent to provide some relief and blood flow, and in the process discovered significant blockage in other vessels. She will undergo bypass surgery on Friday, and remain in the hospital for several more days. She spent today under considerable sedation and pain medication.
Needless to say, this was totally unexpected and shocking. Judy is fit, still relatively young, and has none of the usual contributory vices. It just shouldn't have happened to her, and she's having a hard time coming to grips with it.
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
FRIDAY, FEB 10, 2012
First, let me thank you all for the comfort and support we've been getting. It means a lot, believe me. Also,
please keep on with prayers and good thoughts, they seem to be working.
I got down there in good time to be there when they took a good 25 minutes unhooking support devices
and making them portable with her bed, then went along until they shunted me into a waiting room. A
large waiting room, which gradually filled with a lot of visiting families. There was a lot of surgery
happening today. Judy's was the first of four that her doctor had scheduled. Some four nervous hours
later, the surgeon appeared with the welcome news that everything had gone well, and Judy had five dear
God bypasses.
The rest of the day was spent ducking in and out of ICU on short visits. She eventually woke up, was able
to respond to the staff--and to me--eventually got the breathing tube out, and actually could talk. If all
continues to go well, she'll be moved out of ICU sometime tomorrow, and even encouraged to spend some
time on her feet. This just blows my mind. Home some time next week, probably Thursday.
Thanks again for the support.
SATURDAY, FEB 11, 2012
All signs are continuing to improve. The portable pump which was helping her heart was removed, and
she was moved to a sitting position. Later tonight she'll be moved out of ICU to a (private?) room, and
tomorrow the hospital folks will start getting her onto her feet. This is all blazingly fast for me, but the
Washington Hospital Center does more bypass surgery than any other institution in the country, and I have
to assume that they know what they're doing. I just have to accept that I'll be a nervous wreck for months.
our wider circle of friends.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 8, 2012
Last night Judy suffered a serious and damaging heart attack. I took her to Montgomery General hospital, where she was stabilized, and then medevaced to the Washington Hospital center. They implanted a stent to provide some relief and blood flow, and in the process discovered significant blockage in other vessels. She will undergo bypass surgery on Friday, and remain in the hospital for several more days. She spent today under considerable sedation and pain medication.
Needless to say, this was totally unexpected and shocking. Judy is fit, still relatively young, and has none of the usual contributory vices. It just shouldn't have happened to her, and she's having a hard time coming to grips with it.
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
FRIDAY, FEB 10, 2012
First, let me thank you all for the comfort and support we've been getting. It means a lot, believe me. Also,
please keep on with prayers and good thoughts, they seem to be working.
I got down there in good time to be there when they took a good 25 minutes unhooking support devices
and making them portable with her bed, then went along until they shunted me into a waiting room. A
large waiting room, which gradually filled with a lot of visiting families. There was a lot of surgery
happening today. Judy's was the first of four that her doctor had scheduled. Some four nervous hours
later, the surgeon appeared with the welcome news that everything had gone well, and Judy had five dear
God bypasses.
The rest of the day was spent ducking in and out of ICU on short visits. She eventually woke up, was able
to respond to the staff--and to me--eventually got the breathing tube out, and actually could talk. If all
continues to go well, she'll be moved out of ICU sometime tomorrow, and even encouraged to spend some
time on her feet. This just blows my mind. Home some time next week, probably Thursday.
Thanks again for the support.
SATURDAY, FEB 11, 2012
All signs are continuing to improve. The portable pump which was helping her heart was removed, and
she was moved to a sitting position. Later tonight she'll be moved out of ICU to a (private?) room, and
tomorrow the hospital folks will start getting her onto her feet. This is all blazingly fast for me, but the
Washington Hospital Center does more bypass surgery than any other institution in the country, and I have
to assume that they know what they're doing. I just have to accept that I'll be a nervous wreck for months.
Sent the following today to Joe Wilson's office (via House email form):
Mr. Wilson, you are an embarrassment to your office, your party, your state, and your race. The very least you can do now is resign from office.
Please do this today.
In the meantime, the man should be censured by the House, and his district should be relieved of all obnoxious Federal involvement--especially cash--until he is gone and replaced. It's seriously time to stop turning the other cheek, and start kicking some serious ass. The haters and yahoos won't magically learn respect and cooperation. It will have to be shoved down their throats. Or someplace.
Mr. Wilson, you are an embarrassment to your office, your party, your state, and your race. The very least you can do now is resign from office.
Please do this today.
In the meantime, the man should be censured by the House, and his district should be relieved of all obnoxious Federal involvement--especially cash--until he is gone and replaced. It's seriously time to stop turning the other cheek, and start kicking some serious ass. The haters and yahoos won't magically learn respect and cooperation. It will have to be shoved down their throats. Or someplace.
Spent Saturday doing chauffeur and companion duties--drove Judy to two different yard sales, and then to Metro for a run downtown to "Arts on Foot."
At the first yard sale, we picked up a Nikon Coolpix 950 for $5.00. Maybe 1% of what it would have gone for nine years ago. I used to lust after those things, they were the first cameras to have an lcd which swiveled independently of the lens. You can hold them up overhead in a crowd, and actually see what your picture is going to look like. Of course, it's only about a 1.9 Megapixel item, and uses compact flash cards which are so small, you can only find them on Ebay any more. It's not at all clear if that camera can even format or address a memory card in the Gigabyte range. But I did find such a a thing, and ordered it. We'll see what kind of pictures it can still take.
Arts on Foot is an annual event in DC, now. F street is blocked off from 6th to 9th NW, or between the Sydey Harman hall and the Spy Museum. All manner of artists, potters, fabric designers, and others set up tents and sell their goods. A number of the fancier downtown restaurants have chef demos and booths, where they sell tasty samples for $3 - $5 each. The Synetic Theatre Company did (severely excerpted) 5-minute productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Dracula. All in all, a whole lot of fun and entertainment in a compact location.
The only downside was sharing the Metro both ways with placard-bearing Tea Party attendees, haters, and other Fox News consumers. Ugh.
So, coming back from the store this afternoon, I heard this pathetic story on the radio from some fellow who had 700 facebook friends, but had managed to let most of his real life relationships slip away. When he realized this, he set up a get-together at a local bar; based on responses, he thought there might be 20 people showing up. The final headcount was. . .1. He did manage to get a radio essay out of the fiasco, and also started working on cultivating more real people in his life--all to the good, I guess.
Reflecting on this, I had a flash of insight as to why someone interesting enough to attract 700 people to his internet presence couldn't muster but one to actually come meet him. He left off the magic words from his invitation: I'm buying! Of course, it might have gotten pretty expensive, meeting all those sudden new friends.
Reflecting on this, I had a flash of insight as to why someone interesting enough to attract 700 people to his internet presence couldn't muster but one to actually come meet him. He left off the magic words from his invitation: I'm buying! Of course, it might have gotten pretty expensive, meeting all those sudden new friends.
Ah, a milestone passing. LJ reminding me that the automatic payment was due to come off my credit card. The card had been replaced anyhow, and it just didn't seem worthwhile to give those folks the new one. Free account for me! Which actually makes sense, as I never made use of any of the perquisites of a paid account.
So, of course on DW I had to join the scramble to get a seed account. Maybe I'll do better with this one.
So, of course on DW I had to join the scramble to get a seed account. Maybe I'll do better with this one.
Thanks to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
twistedchick for bringing to my attention the movie White Nights, which we just got from Netflix and watched with some pleasure. All the dance scenes (as far as I know) were present, and spectacular.
They also had as an extra, the director, Helen Mirren, and Isabella discussing (in 2004) the making of the film in 1985. They've aged well.
twistedchick for bringing to my attention the movie White Nights, which we just got from Netflix and watched with some pleasure. All the dance scenes (as far as I know) were present, and spectacular.They also had as an extra, the director, Helen Mirren, and Isabella discussing (in 2004) the making of the film in 1985. They've aged well.
.
