Saturday, March 22, 2008

Open Just Desserts

I once heard a prominent member of my community proclaim, "I know what I do not know."

I struggle with my ignorance... for I do not know what I do not know.

The arrogant and the righteous must suffer the lie that they must live.

I am busted and broken. I do not have to live the lie.

I do not know the mind of God. I do not understand the great plan. I am blind to the future.

I have come to believe that we are exactly where we belong. Churches, Mosques and Synagogues are the places of congregation for the people who need them in this time.

We have been delivered the political candidates that we need right now.

If Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic Party nominee as candidate for the President of the United States of America then I can only conclude that it is exactly as it should be.

We get exactly what we need exactly when we need it.

We get our just desserts.

Open change

http://media.change-congress.org/images/logo.png

Lawrence Lessig
Founder
Change Congress
http://change-congress.org

Open Encore

At first I thought they were kidding... then...

Open Attack

When Bots Attack

By John Robb Email 08.23.07 | 2:00 AM

Open Minefield (Mozilla's Firefox Beta)

I am delighted with Mozilla's latest Firefox Beta 3.

I am not one for specific technical detail. I am more a touchy-feely sort of fellow when it comes to evaluating software.

As such my comfort level is high when a program or application 'snaps' to my command. I feel best when the intuitive factor is high - the program does what it 'suggests' it will do.

One side effect of migrating to the new version is that some of the add-ons that I previously loaded no longer work. Initially this is frustrating because I did include them in my expectations. The up-side is that this instance of Firefox is not weighed down with "do-dads". Which I believe contributes significantly to its 'snap'.

There is one curious side effect that I am sure some will consider a deal breaker of sorts. Some, not all, of my bookmarks did not migrate. I find this a bit curious because when I was testing previous beta versions I noticed the same thing - and when I returned to the stable version (2.0.0.12) all of my bookmarks were there. (Disclaimer: I do not depend on bookmarks so this is of little real consequence to me.)

Ironically, the one bookmark germane to this post was one that I had to "find" again so I could give it to you... this is the Nightly Build repository - where you will find the very latest, bleeding edge version of Firefox Beta 3 ...

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/

(#Include Standard Disclaimer: Use this and any beta release software at your own risk!)

[Follow-up: Being as how I seldom if ever throw anything away - I started up Firefox-2.0.0.12, exported my bookmarks. Restarted Beta3, imported and I have a full compliment now.]

Friday, March 21, 2008

Open Expression

Ethiopian Painters campaign to end early marriage practice


art ethiopia 1
( painting by Aleom Teklu)
As part of International woman’s day, several prominent Ethiopian artists came together to fill a 100-meter-long canvas with new paintings that promote the campaign to end early marriage practices in Ethiopia. 30 artists including Desta Hagos, Alem Teklu and Bekele Mekonen contributed to the painting that was part of events organized by UNFPA in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Population Council, and the patronage of Azeb Mesfin, wife of the Ethiopian prime minister the UNFPA representative noted that:

"Early Marriage is one of the prevalent forms of gender-based violence in Ethiopia with negative consequences on women's and girl's reproductive health, including maternal deaths, fistula, HIV/AIDS and other negative psycho-social problems,"

Open Irony


Lifted from the NYT ...

'I so want to be President but I can't take him anywhere...*Sigh*'

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Open Tears

Open Economy of Attention

I am bankrupt.

In the Open Economy of Attention I am declaring bankruptcy.

  • Media pundits and their respective outlets are worse than the politicians they comment on.
  • The media is in the profit making business of selling stories.
  • News is not news if your opinion story is the "News" that you are reporting today.
  • Media reports the "News" that people want to hear.
  • People running for office, the best and the worst, are politicians.
  • People running for office can say anything they want. They can paint any picture they want.
  • People running for office tell the people what they want to hear.
I freely admit that early on I climbed onto the Obama bandwagon and languished in the Obama rhetoric - the man can speak!

I still believe that inside the box of the American Political Experience that Barack Obama is the best person/politician running for the office of President of the United States of America.

My realization is that I can no longer afford to stay in that box. I cannot afford to spend my personal capital enduring the rigors of being inside that box. I cannot have my hopes, dreams and aspirations toyed with so callously by the American Political Experience. I can no longer allow the baggage of my economic and social needs be carelessly thrown onto the public carousel by that same American Political Experience. The American Political Experience is too expensive.

I cannot pay any more attention. I am bankrupt.

In our upcoming primary I will vote for Barack Obama.

Should he gain the nomination of the Democrat party I will vote for Barack Obama.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Open Numbers

Ripped directly from The Huffington Post ...

Iraq Casualties, Iraq Costs, Iraq Numbers


Below Is a detailed list of Iraq "by the numbers" released by Senator Harry Reid's office:

The Cost to Our Forces in Iraq

3,990: American troops who have died in Iraq since the start of the war. [icasualties.org, 3/17/08]

29,395: Number of U.S. service members that have been wounded in hostile action since the start of U.S. military operations in Iraq. [AP, 3/11/08]

60,000: Number of troops that have been subjected to controversial stop-loss measures--meaning those who have completed service commitments but are forbidden to leave the military until their units return from war. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]

5: Number of times the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment has been sent to Iraq. They are the first Marine Corps unit to be sent to Iraq for a fifth time. [San Francisco Chronicle, 2/27/08]

2,100: Number of troops who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves increased from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 last year. [US News and World Report, 2/25/08]

11.9: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their first Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]

27.2: Percent of noncommissioned Army officers who reported mental health problems during their third or fourth Iraq tour [Los Angeles Times, 3/7/08]

The Cost to Our Military Readiness

88: Percent of current and former U.S. military officers surveyed in a recent independent study who believe that the demands of the war in Iraq have "stretched the U.S. military dangerously thin" [Foreign Policy/Center for New American Security, 2/19/08]

94: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2003 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]

79: Percent of Army recruits who had high school diplomas in Fiscal Year 2007 [Larry Korb, The Guardian, 10/12/07]

4,644: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2003. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]

12,057: Number of new Army recruits who were granted moral waivers in Fiscal Year 2007. [Houston Chronicle, 10/14/07]

67: Percent of captains the Army managed to retain this year, short of its goal of 80 percent, and in spite of cash bonus incentives of up to $35,000 [Armed Services Committee Hearing, 2/26/08]



The Cost to Our National Security

1,188: Number of global terrorist incidents from January - September 11th, 2001. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]

5,188: Number of global terrorist incidents in from January- September 11th, 2006. [American Security Project, "Are We Winning?," September 2007]

30: Percent increase in violence in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. [Reuters, 10/15/07]

21: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2001. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]

139: Number of suicide bombings in Afghanistan in 2006, with an additional increase of 69 percent as of November 2007. [Center for American Progress, "The Forgotten Front," 11/07]

30: Percent of Afghanistan controlled by the Afghan Government according to DNI Mike McConnell. [Associated Press, 2/27/08]

2,380: Days since September 11th, 2001 that Osama Bin Laden has been at-large.



The Cost of Funding the War in Iraq

$50-60 Billion: Bush Administration's pre-war estimates of the cost of the war. [New York Times, 12/31/02]

$12 Billion: Direct cost per month of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]

$526 Billion: Amount of money already appropriated by Congress for the War in Iraq. [CRS, 2/22/08]

$3 Trillion: Total estimated cost of the Iraq War. [Washington Post, Bilmes and Stiglitz Op-Ed, 3/9/08]

$5 Trillion - $7 Trillion: Total cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounting for continued military operations, growing debt and interest payments and continuing health care and counseling costs for veterans. [McClatchy, 2/27/08]

160: Percent that the cost of the Iraq War has increased from 2004 to 2008. [CRS Report, 2/22/08]

The Cost to Iraqis and Journalists

8,000: Number of Iraqi military and police killed since June 2003. [Brookings Institute, Iraq Index, March 13, 2008]

82,000-89,000: Estimate of Iraqi civilians casualties from violence since the beginning of the Iraq War. [Iraq Body Count]

4.5 Million: Number of Iraqi refugees both inside and outside the country. [Washington Post, 3/17/08]

61: Percent of Iraqis that believe the U.S. military presence makes the security situation in Iraq worse. [Agence France-Presse, 3/17/08]

127: Number of journalists killed in Iraq since March 2003. [Committee to Protect Journalists]

Economic Costs of War in Iraq

$33.51: Cost of a barrel of oil in March 2003. [Energy Information Administration]

$105.68: Cost of a barrel of oil on March 17, 2008. [NYMEX]

U.S. Troops and Contractors in Iraq

132,000: Number of U.S. troops in Iraq in January 2007, before President Bush's escalation. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]

155,000: Number of U.S. troops currently in Iraq. [Brookings Institution, Iraq Index, 3/13/08]

140,000: Number of U.S. troops projected to be in Iraq in July 2008. [Associated Press, 2/26/08]

35,000: Number of private security contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]

180,000: Number of private contractors operating in Iraq. [Human Rights First, Private Security Contractors at War]

Progress Towards Political Reconciliation Made By Iraqis

3: Number out of 18 Bush Administration Benchmarks Met by Iraqi Government As of January 24, 2008. [Center for American Progress, 1/24/08]

18: Number of provinces President Bush said would be secured by Iraqis as of November 2007. [President Bush Speech, 1/10/07]

8: Number of provinces actually secured by Iraqis as of January 2008. [NPR, 1/7/08]

Bush-Republican Intransigence on Staying the Course in Iraq

8: Number of times a majority of the Senate has voted to change course in Iraq.

7: Number of times Bush Republicans in Congress have blocked changing course in Iraq.

1: Number of vetoes issued by the White House over changing course in Iraq.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Open City

The City of New Orleans
by Steve Goodman


Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
All along the southbound odyssey
The train pulls out at Kankakee
Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
Passin' trains that have no names,
Freight yards full of old black men
And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

CHORUS:
Good morning America how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

Dealin' card games with the old men in the club car.
Penny a point ain't no one keepin' score.
Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
Feel the wheels rumblin' 'neath the floor.
And the sons of pullman porters
And the sons of engineers
Ride their father's magic carpets made of steel.
Mothers with their babes asleep,
Are rockin' to the gentle beat
And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

CHORUS

Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
Half way home, we'll be there by morning
Through the Mississippi darkness
Rolling down to the sea.
And all the towns and people seem
To fade into a bad dream
And the steel rails still ain't heard the news.
The conductor sings his song again,
The passengers will please refrain
This train's got the disappearing railroad blues.

Good night, America, how are you?
Don't you know me I'm your native son,
I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans,
I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.


©1970, 1971 EMI U Catalogue, Inc and Turnpike Tom Music (ASCAP)

Open Reason (Reposted)

This was true before he gave the speech ... it is true now that he has given the speech.

Barack Obama is slated to give a speech on race.

Will this help or hurt his campaign?

Barack Obama is the very embodiment of reason and common sense. He will state not only his position but the country's position on race. His will be a measured, even, equal and fair assessment of America's "race" situation. He will not make threats. He will not make undue claims.

Barack Obama will tell America the truth. Truth that America has been longing to hear since his opponent's husband occupied the oval office. Truth that will cut through the rhetoric of separation. Truth that will bring and promote healing in a nation ready to move on.

...and the truth will set us all free.

Open simple delight

Bread loaf

bread, loaf, hlib, paitning, Ukranian

18×24 sm, oil on board, 2008 Love this typical brick loaf, one of the two forms of bread that were available at the store as far as I can remember myself. Well, not any more, you can get plenty of sponge like stuff these days, especially in “good” restaurants. This loaf looks so dearly real and natural to me; this and the baton (that I painted before a bit) but I did not get it’s close-up last night. While working on this loaf, I ate the other subject with some butter and jam.


[Disclaimer applies: I don't paint - I just like Olecho's work.]

Monday, March 17, 2008

Open Reason

Barack Obama is slated to give a speech on race.

Will this help or hurt his campaign?

Barack Obama is the very embodiment of reason and common sense. He will state not only his position but the country's position on race. His will be a measured, even, equal and fair assessment of America's "race" situation. He will not make threats. He will not make undue claims.

Barack Obama will tell America the truth. Truth that America has been longing to hear since his opponent's husband occupied the oval office. Truth that will cut through the rhetoric of separation. Truth that will bring and promote healing in a nation ready to move on.

...and the truth will set us all free.

Open Ticket?

Obama and Edwards?

Open Censure


By Jennifer Bosavage, ChannelWeb
2:39 PM EDT Mon. Mar. 17, 2008
Bejing has banned access within China to YouTube and to Google News, in an apparent attempt to block coverage of riots and demonstrations in Tibet, according to several published reports.

Open Differentiations

I "borrowed" the following post from An Englishman In Osaka... then I added the last picture at the bottom ...

spot the differentiations

At this time of year, there's no better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon than poring over an interesting spot the difference puzzle or two.

So here's one I've created for people of a similar disposition.

Simply print off the two almost identical pictures - one of an American school bus, the other of a Japanese school bus.

Then, using your powers of observation, circle the 748 differences (625 if using a non-colour printer).

Good luck!



An American school bus.




A Japanese school bus - fun for children on the outside.




...perhaps children in other cultures do not have to be managed as though they were in a maximum minimum security facility... oh, wait, what am I saying?

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Open logobama'08

I go Obama!

Open List: the Constitution (part 2)

Open Lists

the Constitution has been trashed and must be restored

Obama supporters ...

Obama Says Gitmo Facility Should Close

By ELIZABETH WHITE
The Associated Press
Sunday, June 24, 2007; 8:21 PM

...

"While we're at it," he said, "we're going to close Guantanamo. And we're going to restore habeas corpus. ... We're going to lead by example _ by not just word but by deed. That's our vision for the future."

Habeas corpus is a tenet of the Constitution that protects people from unlawful imprisonment.

Obama detractor ...
(I was unable to locate a specific criticism leveled against Obama's position to restore Habeas Corpus. Evidently it is one of the rights that even the most cynical critic cannot live freely without.)

Open List: the Constitution (part 1)

Open Lists

the Constitution has been trashed and must be restored

Obama supporters ...

Lawyers for Gitmo detainees endorse Obama

Posted by csavage January 28, 2008 05:57 PM

The attorneys said in a joint statement that they believed Obama was the best choice to roll back the Bush-Cheney administration's detention policies in the war on terrorism and thereby to "restore the rule of law, demonstrate our commitment to human rights, and repair our reputation in the world community." The attorneys are representing the detainees in habeas corpus lawsuits, which are efforts to get individual hearings before federal judges in order to challenge the basis for their indefinite imprisonment without trial.

The attorneys praised Obama for being a leader in an unsuccessful fight in the fall of 2006 to block Congress from enacting a law stripping courts of jurisdiction to hear Guantanamo detainee lawsuits. The constitutionality of that law, which was part of the Military Commissions Act, is now being challenged before the Supreme Court in one of the most closely-watched cases this term.

Obama detractor Cao (responding to the same Globe article) ...

I guess we can stop wondering about Barack Hussein Obama and his Islamic/muslim background, LOL.

One thing that I found interesting about the lawyers for the Gitmo terrorists…either they are working pro bono, or they are Saudi-funded. They can’t be both.

If Obama gets in, we should be watching for his taking the same approach to terrorism that his cousin Odinga in Kenya has…and sharia law in the US.

(She included this graphic [LINK] which I didn't think was appropriate to reproduce here or anywhere. -Papa)

Open: the Politics of Rhetoric of Politics

In a comment responding to my post entitled "Open Self Destruction" a group claiming to be Muslims Against Sharia turns out to be a "blogger" of indeterminate identity. When I followed the link to the blog and then clicked on the "Home" link I was shown the same website header served from a different domain - reformislam.org .

My initial feeling was one of concern founded on ignorance - I don't know the issues and I am therefore afraid of endorse or dispute any position put forth. I did how ever reread the comment to understand just that much of the situation.

Muslims Against Sharia said...

Muslims Against Sharia call on Senators McCain and Obama to cut all ties with their racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic supporters.

My conclusion that a call for anyone to "...cut all ties with their racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic supporters" is perfectly legitimate.

To better appreciate the whole of this, for me, confusing circumstance I followed these links to try and better understand...
Muslims Against Sharia
By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, November 13, 2007
and
Islamic Supreme Council (This site loaded very slowly for me, please be patient.)

For information on ISCA's current Activities and Goals, please view our brochure in PDF format. (Recommended.)

. . .