Open Mugabe

Bob’s Your Uncle!

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Quandry: McBama or O'Cain?

A sign of our changing political landscape ... same as it ever was!

This is rapidly becoming a sad
state of affairs.

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I am going to might vote for Barack Obama.
I (probably) won't vote for John McCain.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message, maybe.

Open Grilled Snacks

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Economy of Protein

In keeping with my belief of "following the money" I read The Economist for much the same reason I read the WSJ. The article recently posted in The Economist brought to the fore my concern for the economy of protein.

Let them eat bugs

Jul 12th 2008
From Economist.com

. . .

Scientists at the National Autonomous University of Mexico have an answer: entomophagy, or dining on insects. They claim the practice is common in some 113 countries. Better yet, bugs provide more nutrients than beef or fish, gram for gram.

. . .

Coincidentally this dovetails with my long standing belief in the concept put forth by the sci-fi classic Soylent Green (cannibalism aside). As a world community we will have to use innovative means to address the issue of hunger.

Before the days of soaring fuel prices and the subsequent drain on grain reserves the long standing question was why we didn't just feed the hungry? Now that our abundance of food resources are being put into the gas tank even that simple answer has evaporated leaving only a lingering hydrocarbon foot print.

Having visited China (as just one example) and having seen first hand the entomological culinary delights I can make one observation. No matter how delightfully prepared or presented Americans will will not eat grasshoppers on a skewer. So then the next most reasonable course of action would be to 'process' this cost effective protein source into a more palatable dish.

In much the same way that we have accepted faux foods made of processed soy beans we must concentrate on producing acceptable food stuffs made of protein rich insects. Properly processed, spiced and packaged Hopper Patties come to mind. Grilled lightly and covered with a slice of American soy cheese on a toasted bun. Just think of the potential profit margin.

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open: notes of record

In no particular order...

A great comment was posted to my post ... sure wish I knew who Mr. A. Nonymous is (winkwink) so go here and enjoy a great meandering walk through the memories of another who knows Albion, MI

Open Memories: Albion MI

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Can't you hear Stephen Wright's voice when you read, "There is so much sand in North Africa that it covers the entire Sahara desert."

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open: Equality "McCain=Bush"

An exact reproduction of the original "McCain=Bush" placard seen around the world this week--get yours now in T-shirt, sticker, and other hard-to-remove forms. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the fund to defend Carol Kreck, the 60-year-old librarian who carried the original sign into history--now awaiting her court date for "trespassing."

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open and clear voice of reason

From Larry Lessig,

The immunity hysteria

...it is not "compromising" to recognize that we are part of a democracy.

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Open but stashed away for 6 years

Wired reports

Volkswagen's had its super-thrifty One-Liter Car concept vehicle -- so named because that's how much fuel it needs to go 100 kilometers -- stashed away for six years.

Makes one wonder what other technological advances are being conveniently withheld?

Six years? What were they waiting for?
$4.00 per gallon gasoline?

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Open truth.spoken.to.power

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
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Open Sadness: a light has gone out.

Vietnam: Dissident monk passes away

from Global Voices Online by Mong Palatino

Ven. Thich Huyen Quang, the Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam has passed away. Vietnam Human Rights Journal comments:

It is sad that a man of Thich Huyen Quang's stature could have been forced into a form of internal exile in central Vietnam, essentially cut off from the outside world, for no crime other than speaking out boldly for religious freedom and human rights. He has truly lived by the Quaker expression, "speak truth to power", and has paid a price for it.

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Open clarity of vision

I want to see this clearly...

...and paint this well.

Postcard from Provence

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Open and equal.in.his.eyes

Thanks you Milton at Don't Eat Alone

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Open Call: Hold Bush Responsible

He lied, thousands died!

Hold George Bush responsible.

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Open Amnesty

Amnesty International Posters (Originally found here. As this site is hosted in China it is more than likely these images will not remain available.)

 

 

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.

I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.

Open Code of Ethics

Proposed Bloggers’ Code of Ethics Against Sectarianism

July 2, 2008 · print · email

We have discussed this issue many times before, and we have successfully launched the Just Bahraini campaign, I believe that in the current circumstances, it is time to notch it up higher, and as bloggers, stand united together against sectarianism and discrimination in all their forms.

Therefore, I propose the following code to be adopted and signed by all Electronic Publishers, be they bloggers, webmasters, forum moderators, etc.

The code was the result of discussions with friend and journalist Ahmed Al-Aradi of Al-Waqt who wrote an excellent series of articles about the situation in Bahrain entitled “The Manufacture of Hatred”. The code he wrote was based on the previously published Bloggers’ Code of Ethics. He has retooled that to create this new code specifically targeted to alleviate sectarianism and the propagation of hate in the electronic sphere.

I suggest we review the following text and come to an agreement on the final code which I propose that we all sign physically and electronically on the International Blog Day which coincides with the 31st of August.

The Websites Code of Ethics (sites without sectarianism)

We the undersigned, owners of the websites, forums, and blogs, being managers, supervisors, controllers, participators and stakeholders,

declare, each according to his/her position and sincere national role, our being bound to this code entitled (sites without sectarianism), announcing to the public what follows:

1. The freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution. It is an asset that cannot be eliminated, being an integral part of the fundamental freedoms laid down by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the National Action Charter and the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, provided that this freedom is a responsible freedom in the maintenance of the social fabric and provided that it does not infringe upon the others’ freedoms and religious or doctrinal belongings.
2. We seek freely and fairly raise the level of dialogue and discussion within the democratic frame, apart from any sectarian, racist or family suggestions.
3. We refuse any suggestion or writings including a sectarian concept or an incitement to hatred, an abuse of the freedom of religion, doctrine or belief.
4. our duty is to protect religions in the light of the religious values, morals, customs, traditions and inherent Bahraini heritage, based on forgiveness, solidarity and cooperation, without giving precedence to the interests of any religious, doctrinal, sectarian or family category over another or attacking any of them, no matter how different they are from our religious and doctrinal components or faith.
5. we seek through our management, control, supervision and participation in the sites, forums and blogs, the service of the country with all its categories, currents and trends under the pluralist freedom, based on the understanding, negotiation, and exchange of points of view without any sectarian, doctrinal, or family allusions.
6. We expressly and strongly refuse any fanatic suggestion whether at the religious, doctrinal or sectarian level of any religion or sect and we declare our refusing position of all what enhances the separation between the one society members, due to the damages it may cause to the national unity.
7. We insist on our full compliance with all what is suggested on our sites and in our forums and blogs subject to the national line unity, and we will take a strict position in confronting personalities or sects that want to destroy such sites, forums or blogs, instead of criticizing positions and decisions.

[Note: I am including the entire English text because this should not just be for
Bahraini bloggers but for all netizens.]

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
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Open Illiteral Traslation

"Tu eres human"

according to Babelfish

'your you are human'

(to err is human)

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Open Intimidation: There is no such thing as free speech

Iran: Death Penalty for Blogging?

from Global Voices Online by Hamid Tehrani

On Wednesday, Iranian members of parliament voted to discuss a draft bill that seeks to “toughen punishment for disturbing mental security in society.” The text of the bill would add, “establishing websites and weblogs promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy,” to the list of crimes punishable by death.

Emphasis mine.

Balocuh has published a cartoon where a cleric tells a woman about to be executed: “Don’t be upset, we'll execute you legally.”

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Open BASIC poetry

Go here and buy his stuff!

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Open Olechko Art

Local market butcher

 

 

from olechko - blog by olha pryymak

Local market butcher, oil on canvas, 20×25,5 cm, 2008

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Open Open Patois Patois

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Lawd, mi chile! Whappen tu Jamayka?

Jamaica is building up a good head of froth over the prospect of a project by the Bible Society of the West Indies to translate The Bible into Patois and publish it. Already, I feel conflicted. Should I write every sentence in standard English and then the equivalent in Patois? Is "Patois" a proper noun needing to be capitalized or can I write it with a small p? That's another issue, but it could also lead to a lot of froth. Now, it may not be my choice as the best use of money, but do I fear for my country's linguistic balance as a result of this?

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I am going to vote for Barack Obama.
I am William "Papa" Meloney and I endorse this message.