Clipmarks | ouyangwulong's Pops

Vanishing Barns

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:39:48 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "Competition for land — to rent or buy — has grown cutthroat and overwhelming, a matter of networking and schmoozing (at church, at the local coffee shop, while selling seed) worthy of the corporate boardroom. (Some here tell of people who call the widows of farmers who have died days or hours earlier, hoping to secure land.)"

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

IOWA FALLS, Iowa — One by one, the old-fashioned barns that speckle this landscape are vanishing. Some are demolished to make way for new cornfields. Others, weak with years, simply crumple.

“We’re trying to ring that alarm bell,” said Mr. Scott, whom people here have come to call the Barn Guy for his insistence on trying to save some of Iowa’s 50,000 remaining barns, icons that turned up again and again in a guidebook to the state’s landmarks that was produced during the Great Depression and has recently been published online.

But the tale of the disappearing barn, a building whose purpose shifted, then faded away, tells a bigger story too, of how farming itself, a staple in this state then and now, has changed markedly since those writers drove through.

Enable Chrome's Best Features on Firefox

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:34:35 GMT

clipped by: Rustee

Clip Source: lifehacker.com

Stealther Turns On Incognito Browsing

Chrome's Incognito browsing allows you to ~~shop for your significant other~~ look at porn without keeping any history of that browsing session anywhere on your computer. In Firefox, the Stealther extension does the same thing.

Download Statusbar Puts Downloads in Your Status Bar (Surprise!)

The Download Statusbar Firefox extension has been doing this for five years, and it offers lots of additional options and wastes even less screen real estate.

Speed Dial and Auto Dial Power Up Your Empty Tabs

The Speed Dial extension (which itself is a ripoff of the Speed Dial feature in Opera) provides a very similar thumbnail-based new tab page

Locationbar2 Adds Domain-Highlighting to the Address Bar

Locationbar2 Firefox extension has been boasting this same highlighting

Keyword Search Bookmarks Integrate Site-Specific Search with the Address Bar

Granted, you have to manually add a search box

but you can also define exactly what you want that shortcut to be.

Shaking things up on Clipmarks.com

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:55:57 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: Please read the entire post by clicking the source link before reacting.

Clip Source: clipmarks.wordpress.com

Unfortunately, we have recently become increasingly concerned that the site has become overly antagonistic and inappropriately controlled by a disproportionately loud group of users. In all honesty, we no longer feel that the processes of our site are producing a unique, high quality blend of content. Instead, the magical blending of diverse topics on the Clipmarks home page has seemed to dissolve into a battleground for extremely hostile politically oriented users who are overwhelming the rest of the site. Because of this we are working on making some fundamental changes to the way the Clipmarks site works. We will do our best to make changes that improve the site and will continue to iterate until we are comfortable that it is just right.

Tags: clipmarks

Ancient Chinese Bells

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:32:15 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

The importance of that discovery grows when we realize that it took the West a thousand years to develop the cathedral bell, and we didn't have it until the middle ages. Bells are very hard to make, yet China had these remarkably sophisticated Zhong bells during the Golden Age of Athens. The bells produce a rich tone, they take far less bronze to get it than a cathedral bell, and then they deliver two sounds for the cost of one.

It's easy to look right at something that's very sophisticated without seeing the sophistication. It took us eighty years to catch on to these remarkable, but unassuming, bells. The best inventions are like that. In the best inventions, elegance masquerades as simplicity.

Clip Source: www.uh.edu

Just after the turn of this century, archaeologists started finding curious sets of bronze bells in tombs throughout China. They range from 2000 to 3600 years old, and they have an odd shape.

They're called Zhong bells. Thousands of these bells had been unearthed by the late 1970s, and their strange secret still hadn't yet come to light.

The secret was actually seen and missed in 1957 when the National Music Research Institute in China played a set of these bells in concert.

The E-bell was missing in one octave. But then a player found he could get that sound by striking the C-bell on its side.

But twenty years later, Chinese musicologists, examining a set of these bells, discovered that every bell in the set had the same property -- it had two tones, either a third or a minor third apart. Then they found that many of these bells even had marks on the side to show players where to strike the bells to get the two tones. Each bell was, in fact, meant to be two bells in one.

Clip Source: www.uh.edu

Tags: music, history, china

Palin Runs A State, Obama Runs His Mouth

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:15:42 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.redstate.com

Mr. Hope and Change, who picked a 35+ year veteran of the Senate to cover his own inexperience has the gall to attack Palin for inexperience.

I'd also point out that, in addition to being elected for five years before Obama was first elected to any office, Palin has been balancing local and state government budgets while Obama was relying on Tony Rezko to balance his budget.

Why Everyone Should Be in Favor of Reducing Taxes on the Rich

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:04:41 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: mises.org

Are the American people being primed to elect a home-grown version of Hugo Chavez, in the person of Barack Obama? This is a question one can come away with after reading "Obamanomics," the featured article in this last Sunday's (August 24, 2008) New York Times Magazine. Written by Times' columnist David Leonhardt, the article provides insight into Obama's thinking on economics and the economic policies he would be likely to pursue if he were elected President.

Obama's agenda, we are told in more detail, includes "a $500 cut in the payroll tax for most workers" and major middle- and lower-income tax credits, to the point of simply handing out government money to those for whom the tax credits more than eliminate the taxes they would otherwise have to pay. "These tax cuts," Leonhardt writes, "are really the essence of his market-oriented redistributionist philosophy (though he made it clear that he doesn't like the word 'redistributionist').

Obama's Fair Tax

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:34:57 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

Mr. Warren, a man of the cloth, has done us a great service by asking the candidates to answer a pretty secular question: What kind of income makes an American "rich"? Maybe in the more secular setting of an upcoming debate, one of our nonpastor moderators could ask the candidates the moral question: What specific rate of individual taxation would it take for the rich to be paying their fair share?

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

He talks about it as a general theme: "It is time for folks like me who make more than $250,000 to pay our fair share."

He invokes it as a solution for Social Security: "[W]e will save Social Security for future generations by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share."

He points to how it guides his energy policy: "The first part of my plan is to tax the windfall profits of oil companies and use some of that money to help you pay the rising price of gas."

And he stuck to it on capital gains, even after ABC's Charlie Gibson noted that the record shows increased taxes on capital gains -- which would affect 100 million Americans -- would likely lead to a decrease in government revenues: "Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness."

It's not about robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Robbing from the rich will do, especially if it's done in the name of fairness.

Tags: taxes, election

After Edwards, Huckabee most vile political creature

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:12:27 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: I asked the question during the primaries, is huckabee a bigot? The answer, I think, is yes.

Clip Source: www.politico.com

For the second consecutive day, Mike Huckabee made public statements suggesting John McCain ought not pick Mitt Romney as his running mate.

At the same time, Huckabee's Michigan supporters met with McCain social conservative liaison Marlys Popma last night in Saginaw. Though ostensibly held to discuss how Huckabee's loyalists can help McCain, supporters of the former Arkansas governor also used the get-together to warn against tapping Romney, according to an attendee.

"We made it clear that we want Huckabee to be recognized," said Sipfle, an Oakland County lawyer who chaired the Michigan effort of the volunteer "Huck's Army." "When you snub him, you snub GOP votes."

"The primaries are over," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said when asked for comment about Huckabee's statements. "Now, the task of all Republicans is on uniting the party to help elect John McCain, not on sowing division."

Where are the witnesses?

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 07:30:55 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Barack Obama is an immensely talented man whose talents have been largely devoted to crafting, and chronicling, his own life. Not things. Not ideas. Not institutions. But himself.

So where are the colleagues? The buddies? The political or spiritual soul mates? His most important spiritual adviser and mentor was Jeremiah Wright. But he's out. Then there's William Ayers, with whom he served on a board. He's out. Where are the others?

The oddity of this convention is that its central figure is the ultimate self-made man, a dazzling mysterious Gatsby. The palpable apprehension is that the anointed is a stranger — a deeply engaging, elegant, brilliant stranger with whom the Democrats had a torrid affair.

Having slowly woken up, they see the ring and wonder who exactly they married last night.

Vice In Go-Go Boots?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:46:07 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "The legacy of Geraldine Ferraro was supposed to be that no one would ever go on a blind date with history again. But that crazy maverick and gambler McCain does it, and conservatives and evangelicals rally around him in admiration of his refreshingly cynical choice of Sarah, an evangelical Protestant and anti-abortion crusader who became a hero when she decided to have her baby, who has Down syndrome, and when she urged schools to debate creationism as well as that stuffy old evolution thing."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Americans, suspicious that the Obamas have benefited from affirmative action without being properly grateful, and skeptical that Michelle really likes “The Brady Bunch” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” reject the 47-year-old black contender as too uppity and untested.

Instead, they embrace 72-year-old John McCain and 44-year-old Sarah Palin, whose average age is 58, a mere two years older than the average age of the Obama-Biden ticket. Enthusiastic Republicans don’t see the choice of Palin as affirmative action, despite her thin résumé and gaping absence of foreign policy knowledge, because they expect Republicans to put an underqualified “babe,” as Rush Limbaugh calls her, on the ticket. They have a tradition of nominating fun, bantamweight cheerleaders from the West, like the previous Miss Congeniality types Dan Quayle and W., and then letting them learn on the job. So they crash into the globe a few times while they’re learning to drive, what’s the big deal?

Please Get Laid

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:23:04 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

This week, while you were distractedly waiting for one of the presidential candidates to just go ahead and pick Michael Phelps as his running mate, a Manhattan lawyer sued Columbia University for discriminating against men.

Roy Den Hollander, who's best known for suing Manhattan nightclubs because they offered free or discounted Ladies Night drinks to women, claimed the university could not use government money, such as federal financial aid, to fund its Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Two questions come to mind (and, for the record, I have a degree from Columbia). First, how did an institution that kept its undergraduate women in a separate college across the street (Barnard) until 1983 manage to become a "bastion of bigotry against men" in such a short time? Second, when did women's studies gather enough steam to pose a legitimate threat to men?

She's Radically Pro-SHAGGABLE!!!!

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:28:12 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "But please slow down for a mo and allow me to point out that while Sarah Palin is most certainly a woman (and therefore in my mind has the chance to be the most fuckable Vice-President ever) she is also anti-choice, pro-gun, pro big oil, opposes stem-cell research, wants to teach creationism in schools, also has ZERO FOREIGN POLICY EXPERTISE and is currently the first term governor of Alaska - a state which has a population smaller than the cast of Lost."

Clip Source: seankentstandup.blogspot.com

Wow, the GOP is really progressive.

I mean they nominated a woman! For Vice-President!!! In 2008!

Yawn.

This may be the most cynical VP pick I've ever seen.

I mean what's the strategy here?

Does McCain actually expect to peel off a significant amount of women voters just because he nominated the former runner-up to Ms. Alaska?

Does John McCain really think women are that stupid?

I guess the obvious answer is YES - JOHN MCCAIN REALLY THINKS WOMEN ARE THAT STUPID.

Otherwise you have to wonder why did he pick her? Was Palin truly the best person for the job?

No. Most likely he nominated her because she has a vagina.

And here I thought Republicans were against affirmative action.

All of which brings too mind that watchword of the last month - experience.

I'll Kick The Shit Out Of You!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:04:24 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: Every once in a while I meet someone who actually brings transformation instead of doctrine, and why that matters.
You rock on Mas; you are clearly and inspiration for us all.

Clip Source: masbury.wordpress.com

“How could you boys do this to [the bosses] after all they’ve done for you? You should be ashamed of yourselves.

To me, she gave a mildly derogatory “some kind of pastor” talk: “What are you telling these boys? They’re good boys!”

But to Carlos, venom: “Shut up! … I’ll kick the s**t out of you!“

It’s hard to imagine how trapped foreign workers are.

f they want to quit, how will they get home, thousands of miles away? Without English, to whom can they turn for help? They’ll need to go to a city to get a bus. But what city? And without transport, how will they get there?

Perhaps most unexpected was the tenderness of the friendships developed in those hours.

After trading stories down at my place, glimmers of hope remained in my mind, suggesting that God had done something wonderful among us all. I was honored to enjoy it.

Sleep Is The Enemy

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:28:12 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

SAN DIEGO -- By the time the sun began to rise one recent Friday over his Mira Mesa neighborhood, Mitch Hood had been up for about 18 hours.

He punched a caffeine tablet out of a blister pack and washed it down with two cans of Red Bull. He finished it off with a gulp of Pepsi.

He figured this would keep him awake four more hours. Then, he jumped back into his video game.

Hood, 25, spent two tours with the Marines in Iraq. Now, like many other veterans and millions of civilians, he faces a new enemy: sleep.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have nightmares and I'm going to get stuck there," he said. "I try with all my strength not to sleep."

Sleep and wakefulness issues were the most common health problems described by recently returned soldiers, researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center found in a study published last year.

Too Dumb To Succeed?

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:49:08 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country’s problems. It’s not going to happen — not as long as one of America’s two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy."

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part.

And the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid.

Now, I don’t mean that G.O.P. politicians are, on average, any dumber than their Democratic counterparts. And I certainly don’t mean to question the often frightening smarts of Republican political operatives.

What I mean, instead, is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy.