The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    we are stardust's picture

    a Dagblog Lateral Thinking Quiz

    By we are stardust on Mon, 04/25/2011 - 10:15pm |

    On my online journey the past two days to collect info for a sort of off-beat diary, I came across this Lateral Thinking Quiz.  I thought it might tickle some of you.  If I tell my results now, it will give at least one broad hint, so I'll keep quiet.  Because of that, you may want to avoid any comments generated so that you aren't influenced by others' experiences.

    I will say, one question and its answer pretty much pissed me off, but even the joke skewering of it would give away the 'right' answer.  My comment would start, "I wanted to hit the test designers with _________."

    Richard Day's picture

    POPES, PEDERASTY & PEDOPHILIA

    By Richard Day on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 8:15pm |

    File:Holy Orders Picture.jpg

     

    I just watched the strangest debate on CSPAN.

    One side hated the New York Times and the other side defended Gotham's greatest newspaper. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/298066-1

    cmaukonen's picture

    23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

    By cmaukonen on Sun, 04/24/2011 - 7:19pm |

    I have just been following an online interview/chat on Firedoglake with Ha-Joon Chang and economist that teaches at Cambridge Univ.  discussing his latest book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism.  They are listed  here.

    Barth's picture

    Trouble in Paradise

    By Barth on Sat, 04/23/2011 - 10:47am |
    Bob Woodward: The story is dry. All we've got are pieces. We can't seem to figure out what the puzzle is supposed to look like. John Mitchell resigns as the head of CREEP, and says that he wants to spend more time with his family. I mean, it sounds like bullshit, we don't exactly believe that...

    Deep Throat: No, heh, but it's touching. Forget the myths the media's created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.
    we are stardust's picture

    Uncut Flashmobs: Undermining the Power Structure Through Humor and Humiliation

    By we are stardust on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 6:49pm |

    The so-called ‘Father of the Egyptian Revolution’ was the shy and relatively unknown former peace activist now turned orchid-grower Gene Sharp.  Now 83, Sharp is slowing down, but is about to publish another book, and must marvel at the success his writings on nonviolent revolution and especially “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” which was used as an overarching guide to revolutions, both successful and failed, around the world, including Serbia, Myannmar, Burma, Tunisia, Egypt and different of the color and blossom revolutions.  A Wikileaks cable said a year ago that Syrian dissidents were training with Sharp’s work.

    He has been the object of various smear campaigns by autocrats including Hugo Chavez and top Iranian officials, one of which included a cartoon video portraying Sharp as a CIA agent teaming up with John McCain and George Soros to overthrow Iran’s government. (grin)Sharp had studied Gandhi and Thoreau and subscribed to their notions that: (from the NYT)

    ”… power is not monolithic; that is, it does not derive from some intrinsic quality of those who are in power. For Sharp, political power, the power of any state - regardless of its particular structural organization - ultimately derives from the subjects of the state. His fundamental belief is that any power structure relies upon the subjects' obedience to the orders of the ruler(s). If subjects do not obey, leaders have no power.

    Come one , come all.

    By Flavius on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 6:04pm |

    We can't stop illegal immigration so make it legal.

    Charge every visitor $500 and welcome them . If they claim they're here as tourists give them a free ticket for the boat to the statue of liberty .

    we are stardust's picture

    Two exceptional photojournalists are killed by rockets in Misrata

    By we are stardust on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 11:20pm |

    "It's an exceptionally sad day for the photojournalism community. Tim Hetherington, a British photojournalist and co-director of the documentary "Restrepo," and Chris Hondros, an American photojournalist with Getty Images, were killed by a rocket propelled grenade in Misrata. Two other photojournalists, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown, were also injured, but less severely."

    Richard Day's picture

    THE TEXAS KINDERGARTEN MASSACRE

    By Richard Day on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 5:06pm |

    File:Kindergartenfrankfurt.jpg

                                        SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE          

    Distraught parents descended on a northeast Houston elementary school today after a pistol brought to campus by a kindergartner fell and discharged, slightly injuring three pupils.

    we are stardust's picture

    Wiki-Cables Prove US Pressured UN in Defense of Israel

    By we are stardust on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 1:06pm |

     

    According to Foreign Policy Magazine, the recently released batch of cables lets us see how far the US used its considerable muscle to neutralize criticism of Israel over Operation Cast Lead, the 2008-2009 ‘war’ that left 1400 Palestinians, including women and children, and 13 Israelis dead.

    An initial investigation commissioned by Ban Ki-Moon and headed by Ian Martin, a top UN ‘troubleshooter’, led to a 184-page report on nine incidents in which the IDF was alleged to have fired on UN personnel and installations, including a school in which three young Palestinians were seeking shelter, and were killed.  On May 5, 2009, the UN released a 28-page summary of the report which concluded that “"reckless disregard for the lives and safety" of civilians in the operation”, citing the school incident specifically.

    cmaukonen's picture

    What It Feels Like When a Superpower Runs Off the Tracks

    By cmaukonen on Wed, 04/20/2011 - 12:05pm |

    Thought I would put this piece from Tom Engelhardt here. A fairly accurate analysis of America's denial.

    Tommy Holmes's picture

    The two budget plans before us and the question of priorities and fair play

    By Tommy Holmes on Tue, 04/19/2011 - 9:45am |

    So, are we going to sit back and have our health compromised? Seems there's a good chance this will happen, and it all  depends on the outcome of the next election. Depending on which party gets in, one of two philosophies will dictate which agenda is bestowed upon us.

    Richard Day's picture

    BEWITCHED, BOTHERED & BEWILDERED

    By Richard Day on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 10:42pm |

    File:Billboard Challenging the validity of Barack Obama's Birth Certificate.JPG

    History doesn't repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes.

    Barth's picture

    Patriot's Day and Passover

    By Barth on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 9:50pm |

    And you know, they work together for me; born in New England of the faith that directly celebrates the exodus from Egypt.

    MrSmith1's picture

    Homeopathic Tax-cutting

    By MrSmith1 on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 4:39pm |

    Every time I see pea-brain Republicans like Joe Walsh talk about how cutting taxes will raise revenues ... 

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/17/joe-walsh-cut-taxes-revenue-up_n_850192.html

    I'm reminded of Homeopathy. A quack industry whose product defies the laws of physics.

    acanuck's picture

    Playa Girón: the demi-centennial

    By acanuck on Mon, 04/18/2011 - 2:33am |

    Bay of Pigs museum

    We've been commemorating failed rebellions lately, so it's worth noting this is the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion. Or, as the sign at the entrance to the Playa Girón beach resort puts it (in Spanish): "First Defeat of Yanqui Imperialism in the Americas."

    we are stardust's picture

    Democracy Now! Interviews the Author of ‘Hot’; Please Spend the Sixteen Minutes to Watch

    By we are stardust on Sun, 04/17/2011 - 7:26pm |

    Investigative reporter Mark Hertsgaard, author of the new book, Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth was on Democracy Now! On Friday.  He has been investigating climate change since the ‘90s, but was motivated to ramp up his reporting after he met with British government scientists in 2005.  They explained that we have already reached the tipping point at which even with no further CO2 added to the atmosphere, the earth would not stop heating further for at least another thirty years.

    Richard Day's picture

    APRIL BLIZZARDS AND GASTRONOMIC DELIGHT!

    By Richard Day on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 7:36pm |

    Paula Deen Civitan.jpg

    PAULA DEEN'S BEST DISHES

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNiW_n2bfIA

    Well spring is almost a month in the making and I wake up to a goddamn blizzard.

    FurudeRikaChama's picture

    Happy Birthday to the king of Black-and White movies, Charlie Chaplin

    By FurudeRikaChama on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 2:44pm |

    Is it just me, or have many people forgotten how to laugh? With such serious things going on in the world today, can't we remember how to laugh? How to enjoy ourselves in the face of crisis like the uprising in Libya, the Japan crisis, and global warming?

     

    This is probably along the line of what Charlie Chaplin was thinking when he made the movie, "The Great Dictator." He wanted people to enjoy themselves despite hardship, and most of all, keep humanity intact, as shown in this movie.

    Today is his birthday.

    Barth's picture

    Visions

    By Barth on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 2:35pm |

    It was very late when the President appeared before cameras a week ago Friday and croaked out something about how great it was that people who wanted to visit national monuments would be able to do so the following day. He told us:

    Informationally-insensitive debt?

    By EmmaZahn on Sat, 04/16/2011 - 2:10pm |

    Felix Salmon asks Is informationally-insensitive debt a good thing?  

    My own thinking falls somewhere in between the two sides he discusses.

    Salmon is correct that the current system masks the risks inherent in holding any security or commodity, including cash. However, there is and always will be a demand for a safe place to stash cash pending reinvestment or distribution.

    Back home in Indiana

    By Flavius on Fri, 04/15/2011 - 11:55pm |

     From The Guardian

    A woman accused of murdering her four-day-old baby girl by trying to kill herself with rat poison while pregnant has become a cause célèbre .............

    Bei Bei Shuai, 34, a restaurant owner who moved to the US from China 10 years ago, was pregnant and planning to marry her boyfriend until she learned late last year that he was already married and he would be abandoning her.

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