Clipmarks | debbyski's clips

A Fan Letter From Hell

Wed, 21 May 2008 21:54:25 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Dear George Jr.,

First off, I want to say that I am your biggest and Number-1 total and complete Fan. Ever.

Today, you — and members of your family and friends — continue the work of our sacred Cause. For instance:

Your Department of Justice serves as the Political Action Arm of Karl Rove. Its function: protect and reward friends, punish and destroy enemies.

Your excellent Domestic Policies have not merely left no child behind, you have left an entire nation of rabble behind.

De-regulation” coupled with your fiscal policies have served the interests of the monied class to the exclusion of the masses, including your bourgoise middle classes.

I must say the way you ignored the cries for help from the people of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina was most devilish.

Thank you from the bottom of the space in my chest where my heart, I am told, used to be,

Yours in Eternity,

Uncle Adolf

Tags: good, job, hunny

Insanity Defined

Wed, 21 May 2008 19:01:21 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.amconmag.com

President Bush deserves to have this anniversary memorably marked. Five years of fighting since he pronounced the end of “major combat operations” attests to a singular capacity for delusion—except that his would-be successor is as least as reality-challenged.

Anyone inclined to think John McCain remotely capable of ending the war—see the letters section of our last issue—might take a look at his predictions. The aircraft-carrier address looks almost sane by comparison:

“I don’t believe it’s going to be nearly the size and scope that it was in 1991.” 9.15.02

“There’s not a history of clashes that are violent between Sunnis and Shias. So I think they can probably get along.” 4.23.03

“Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war.” 8.04

“Iraq is now the central front in the war against al-Qaeda.” 9.16.07

Bring A Lot Of Shovels

Wed, 21 May 2008 10:00:09 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: If we don’t fix our political system and start thinking strategically about how to improve our competitiveness, he added, “the U.S. risks having its unique and advantageous position in the world erode as other countries rise.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

There has been much debate in this campaign about which of our enemies the next U.S. president should deign to talk to. The real story, the next president may discover, though, is how few countries are waiting around for us to call. It is hard to remember a time when more shifts in the global balance of power are happening at once — with so few in America’s favor.

It baffles me that President Bush would rather go to Saudi Arabia twice in four months and beg the Saudi king for an oil price break than ask the American people to drive 55 miles an hour, buy more fuel-efficient cars or accept a carbon tax or gasoline tax that might actually help free us from, what he called, our “addiction to oil.”

Older Brain May Be Wiser

Wed, 21 May 2008 09:54:42 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: “For the young people, it’s as if the distraction never happened,” said an author of the review, Lynn Hasher, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute. “But for older adults, because they’ve retained all this extra data, they’re now suddenly the better problem solvers. They can transfer the information they’ve soaked up from one situation to another.”

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong.

Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit.

Some brains do deteriorate with age. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, strikes 13 percent of Americans 65 and older. But for most aging adults, the authors say, much of what occurs is a gradually widening focus of attention that makes it more difficult to latch onto just one fact, like a name or a telephone number. Although that can be frustrating, it is often useful.

“It may be that distractibility is not, in fact, a bad thing,” said Shelley H. Carson, a psychology researcher at Harvard whose work was cited in the book. “It may increase the amount of information available to the conscious mind.”

Tags: thank, god

The Lion Of The Senate

Wed, 21 May 2008 09:44:27 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: Child of privilege that he undoubtedly was, Kennedy also stood for a second quality that is fading: the belief that after the accumulation of wealth came an ambition -- indeed, an obligation -- for public service."

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Just as Barack Obama's primary victories remind us that change often goes hand in hand with progress, so the sudden news of Kennedy's illness is a somber reminder that change also is inevitably loss. Call it tragic wisdom.

When he first took his seat in 1962, Jim Crow and its de facto shadow were a fact of American life, and women's rights barely extended beyond the franchise.

A new world, surely, and one he helped usher in. But also one that seems to be unfolding without three qualities that distinguished Kennedy's long service.

The first is empathy. It's shocking just how tenuous belief in the possibility of empathy as a public emotion has become. Kennedy's brother, Bobby, was fond of quoting the ancient Greeks. One of them, Thucydides, once was asked, "When will there be justice in Athens?" He replied, "There will be justice in Athens when those who are not injured are as outraged as those who are."

Scooting Around The Gas Crunch

Wed, 21 May 2008 09:41:05 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Harley-Davidson might be wishing it made a scooter about now. In fact, most motorcycle manufacturers without one in their lineups have got to be feeling the pain. Motorcycle sales are down this year.

Scooters, on the other hand, are selling as fast as their little wheels can carry them from showroom floors. Sales have jumped 23.6% in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, and they're likely to continue their quick and upward trajectory.

Depending on the displacement, a scooter gets between 40 and 120 miles per gallon, compared with 27.5 mpg for the average car and about 50 for a motorcycle.

2008 Vespa S: Best for . . . saving money with style.

2008 Yamaha Vino: Best for . . . no-frills, fuel-efficient street commuting.

Kymco People 150: Best for . . . economical street commuting with a dash of zip.