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Kucinich On Our Economic Situation

January 26, 2009 C-SPAN via cspanjunkie.org

Ode To Eyebrow Dance

via Lilivonshtupp

Crapo Votes Against Lilly Ledbetter

Yes, our own Senator Crapo, who's very office is run by a woman (Susan Wheeler) has voted against the Lilly Ledbetter act.  Apparently, he's FINE with proven income disparity between men and women in the workplace. Shame on you Sen. Crapo, for not insisting on EQUALITY in PAY for women.

listen to Sen Byron Dorgan of ND discuss the bill

listen to Dennis Kucinich of OH discuss the bill

Lilly Ledbetter Responds to Vote

read more at the National Women's Law Center

Background on the Case

Pre Wrap-Up of Inauguration

I am happy to report that our trip to Washington DC was excellent - but not being a special dignitary with motorcade service, we did a lot of walking, a lot of celebrating, and not much sleeping our using the computer. ( I'm posting this from my iPhone on the Amtrak ) Shortly I'll post a wrap-up of our experience of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama. The closest to blogging we could get was twitter pushing thru to facebook ... we also have a flickr account and have uploaded most of our images ... I'll include links to the pertinent sites and key images. The one thing we can say is that for a few days in January, everyone in DC was positively oozing love and patience. more soon ... -arecity

on the way to the inaugration

Nutritional Plastics Inc. began its trip east for the Inaugration of Barack Obama in flying to NYC on Saturday morning. We flew into Newark, took the train to Manhattan, and walked to our friends Chelsey apartment. We walked to Times Square, visited the MoMA, B & H, a broadway sing-along bar, and ate Italian & Chineese food. Were now on Amtrak, winding down the coast to DC, where we've already missed some of the inauguration festivities. We'll be picking up our inauguration tickets at Senator Crapo's office this morning, and with any luck, will be wirelessly posting photographs to our flickr site of our experience at the BigEvent. Million will share the experience, many are blogging, and we're aiming to share with you our best vantage point. Everyone has their opinions of Barack Obama & his lovely family, and we see him as all too human - imperfectly perfect, just like the rest of us. We believe the promise of "change" means change from a leadership team with few ideas past the most base interpretations of the world - to a team led by a pragmatic problem-solver with a voracious mind. We wish Barack well on his journey into the Presidency - and with our attendance at his Inaugration, promise to move ahead with a sense of optimism, a love of mankind, and a dedication towards understanding. Will it all work out? Only the future knows, and we can show you the pictures along the way.

Old People News

Have you ever received an email from someone in your family that warns you about danger lurking in shopping mall parking lots? Or is wanting you to know all the ways Barack Obama might be questionable? Well - there is a new show for them: Old People News.

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

Global Citizens and Consumers in the Internet Age

Douglas Rushkoff Gives a Semi-Confrontational Presentation to Heads of Media Empires at "OfCom.

Rushkoff is also doing a Radio Show, broadcast on WFMU called "Life Incorporated"

LISTEN TO SHOW HERE rushkoff.com or WFMU

A View From Meridian . . .

in case you missed it - Andrew Sullivan was not actively blogging over the holiday and was posting a "view from your window" every day . . . and someone sent in a pic from Meridian.  - link

BSU Looses Poinsettia Bowl

With the economy giving even the strongest optimist pause, winter weather which is downright wintery, and the dull ache of the holiday-of-holiday's Christmas nearing - our hometown-heros lost their battle in the interpretive smash-up contest otherwise known as the Poinsettia Bowl.

Last year there were people storming the statehouse after Boise State came from behind to win the Fiesta Bowl.  Bronco Fever overcame the city.  We had won.  Well, not us specifically, but our team had won.  The team that lives in our city and goes to our university.  And so therefor, for a brief moment of time, we were all winners.  Degrees from Boise State suddenly carried more cache.  What was labeled "the best college bowl game of all time" became canonized with DVD-Rentals, television talk show appearances, and commemorative books.  Gone were the days of BSU/UofI rivalry - Boise had just clicked up one strata into a new level of football consciousness.

We watched the Poinsettia Bowl unfold at The Falcon Tavern - a downtown pub with excellent beer, surprisingly good food and a comfy view of several televisions as well as Main Street.  One Jalapeno Burger, One Corned Beef & Pastrami Sandwich, One Nutbrown Ale and One Stout kicked off our football watching.  As the game drew on, the third quarter required some coffee.  We were treated to many commercials advertising better pee-flow for men and various insurance/banking companies.

When the fourth quarter started, BSU was behind.  They kicked a field goal and got some points - but found themselves an unfortunate single-point behind TCU nearing the conclusion. (TCU is Texas Christian University) The team huddles up, devises a strategy, the quarterback throws - and with 1:53 left in the game - the ball is intercepted by the other team.  With that small amount of time left, it is almost impossible to get the ball back and make a touchdown - and the loss becomes clear.

From inside the pub, i didn't sense sadness or despair, but an overt numbness.  What does it mean to choke in the last moments of a game?  What must #11 feel right now, with so many adoring fans left hanging and feeling disappointed in their return to "regular" fan status without an undefeated team to seek exceptions for.

Stopping at the original Albertsons grocery afterward, reminded that the store had a "new look" yet would never be the local hometown favorite it once was, we spotted many in their BSU team gear.

Having played sports - i understand the psychological pressure of the last moments of a close game - which can turn anyones solid mental state into mush.  The anticipation turns performance upside down and creates the very thing the anxiety was trying to avoid - failure. 

What can we do to deal with this city-wide sense of defeat numbness?  Continue on and study ourselves.  For it is only in the realization that we are not "our team", that binary competition of us-vs-them has become obsolete, and that performance anxiety is crippling, in all areas of life. 

The Future Has Always Been Crazier Than We Thought

Nassim Nicholas Taleb at the "Long Now" Foundation Monday, February 04, 2008 4:00 PM

happy holiday from willie nelson

and let not mankind bogart love

lambs and cheer

via festivalrenaissances.com      click to watch the sheep in action

via dmit.com.pl

High Noon Today - A President is Picked

At 12:00 today, a neighborhood dog started howling essentially and rhythmically to the beat of a passing ambulance. The ambulance came and went quickly but the dog remained on pitch and time much longer. As the tones reverberated off of homes and branches, I realized our four legged friend was simply alerting the neighborhood to the real election taking place twenty blocks away at the Borah post office.



Darlene Bramon, Ben Doty, John Erickson, and Melinda Smyser walked into the post office, now with Butch Otter scent, and cast OUR states' electoral college votes for "the next president of the United States" Republican John McCain... well probably not the next president, but that is who we voted for.

All the pomp and circumstance of election day seems a little less spectacular when four white people slip into a post office more than a month after the election to decide the leader of the free world . . . or maybe it's just me.

Bah Humbug Music Festival

more information on the visual arts collective

flickr commons

The key goals of The Commons on Flickr are to firstly show you hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives, and secondly to show how your input and knowledge can help make these collections even richer.

You're invited to help describe the photographs you discover in The Commons on Flickr, either by adding tags or leaving comments.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

instead of fog, its raining men

via lilivonstupp

Follow-Up: Mock War Protest

Photos of the Mock War Protest are now available to view at Ben Olson's flickr.

Silly Money: Bremner Bird and Fortune

more info on the series here

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

Sarah Palin Rally: On-Steet Interviews

video by Latricia White

Reverend Billy: Black Friday, Macy, NYC