The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'All Things To All People' Edition...
Barack Obama is inheriting a myriad of complex problems. Some affect us all. Some are more important than others to particular interest groups and individuals. While I would like to see him become the greatest president ever, he is human and therefore not omnipotent. That said, the question is...
Is there a particular problem that you think President Obama may not be able to solve to the nation's and/or your satisfaction?
Adam the cine-sound Pro is up first (as always)...
Where do I start? He's already backing down on the equality issues. It will take a generation to return the economy to where it was when all this recent trouble began. No one seems interested in the FDR-like reforms it will take just to keep people from dying in the streets, never mind changing the system away from an unsustainable car/house-based, up-with-Walmart, unregulated Wall Street-fox-guarding-the-Wall Street-henhouse, free-for-all. It will take a millennium to balance human activity with the ecology. Moving back to a Constitution-bases government without Guantanamo (and other secret prisons), restoring habeas corpus, dismantling the 'Unitary Presidency' (which requires the cooperation of Pelosi and Reid to prosecute Bush and Reagan wrongdoing), and dismantling the telecom spying hardware. I could go on...
(I see BHO starting to address the equality issue by removing the 'Don't ask - Don't tell' policy of the military and allow Gays to serve openly. That would be the first step for Gays much like Truman's integration of the military in 1948 was the first step towards full civil rights for African-Americans. Hang in there, Buddy!)
DanD writes...
I still don't get it ... did we (you know, all us 'Mericuns') just elect an AFRICAN-American President? Really, I mean, Obama still has yet to clearly identify himself to the American people. Nope, I surely just don't get it. For the past four months or so, all the TV pundits seem to be bloviating about how some (blue-)black from Nigeria is gonna be sliding his body all over the mattress in the Lincoln bedroom. Truly, while they all seem to be talkin' about a cup of "black" coffee with -- maybe -- just a little bit of sugar, nobody seems to be focusing on the fact that this particular presidential beverage container is at least half full of cream. Furthermore, it's blatantly being ignored as if this fact is shameful or something. I mean, after all, if your gonna start joyfully crying about America's latest "Black" messiah, then you really do need to talk about all the packaged ingredients included within this latest version of a multi-cultural, poli-sci savior. First-off, there is no past-shared experience of the "New World" between Obama's ancestors and the ancestors of America's former slave-class. Non, zilch, nada ... oh wait, I take that back. Now, Obama's mama could well be an unproclaimed genetic member of America's Old Dixie (or earlier even, Northwest Colonial) slave-owning class. As a matter of history, it could even be likely. But as far as Negroes go? It all goes straight back to Africa for Obama. So as it is realized, as far as the Daddy-side of Obama's forebears? There's not even one American cotton-picker among-'em! Any who, the Caucasian war-criminals of Zion land will continue to depend upon Zionist-occupied Washington D.C. for their ammo and weapons so that they can complete their ethnic genocide against all those brown-skinned sand "niggers" of Palestine. And if Obama even strongly disagrees with this particular arrangement? Well, Inland's American Praetorian Guard will take care of him in the same way they helped take out JFK. Those Secret Servers of the Red Shield will just lay back and let it all happen, just one more time. Now, if'n they'd-a been as adamant about America's first IRISH-American President (Clinton, I think?), then I may have a different attitude. But something's up here, and I don't really think that any of us are gonna like it a whole lot in the long run, as we've already been warned that this long run may well happen as soon as next month. So tell me, who even heard of an Obama more than two years ago? Anyway, America's more melanin-enriched class certainly should take to heart the words of that other coffee-creamed brother who warned them about the only slightly darker-skinned, in-house helper class of America, that being Malcolm X of course. You know, that American (lite-)Black Muslim whose number was called in by the CIA. Check out his autobiography some time if you don't know what I'm talkin' about.
(Thank you for that report from Planet Dan)
mj is realistic with...
You may want it all and want it now. But it doesn't usually happen that way. (And I really hate that commercial)
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Bad Faith Economics (nytimes.com)
Cheap shots don't pose as much danger to the Obama administration's efforts to get a stimulus plan through as fraudulent arguments that seem superficially plausible.
WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ: The End of Solitude (chronicle.com)
As everyone seeks more and broader connectivity, the still, small voice speaks only in silence
Rachel Maddow at the TCA Winter Press Tour (afterellen.com)
Maddow talks about her popular political talk show, her learning curve, and Inauguration Day.
Kerry Eleveld: This House Is Clean (advocate.com)
Comedian Kate Clinton descends on D.C.'s Dupont Circle for a saging of the White House before ushering in President-elect Barack Obama.
Froma Harrop: Why Health Reform May Happen (creators.com)
Let the name-calling begin. A national health plan is again proposed, and its foes are trying to deal it death by unflattering labels. The old favorites include "socialized medicine" and "government takeover of health care."
Howard Bragman: Paper Trail: How to Come Out (advocate.com)
Celebrity publicist Howard Bragman has helped actors like Dick Sargent and athletes like Esera Tuaolo and John Amaechi come out of the closet. In an exclusive excerpt from his new book Where's My Fifteen Minutes (available this month from Penguin Press), he talks about how the process has changed over the years.
CATHERINE PLATO: Looking Both Ways with Jennifer Baumgardner (curvemag.com)
The co-author of "Manifesta" just won't pick a team - and she shouldn't have to.
Corey Scholibo: Conversations With Peter and Benjamin Bratt (advocate.com)
Brothers Peter and Benjamin Bratt deal with homophobia and machismo in the Sundance premiere "La Mission."
CHRISTOPHER WALKEN: Mickey ROURKE (interviewmagazine.com)
In Bob Dylan's memoir, Chronicles, Volume One, he recalls a trip to the movies he took in 1988 while recording his album Oh Mercy, when he went to see Mickey Rourke in Homeboy, a film about a small-time boxer whose passion and petulance prove self-destructive. Dylan offers this account of Rourke's performance in the film, which the actor, a former boxer himself, also had a hand in writing: "He could break your heart with a look. The movie traveled to the moon every time he came onto the screen. Nobody could hold a candle to him. He was just there, didn't have to say hello or goodbye."
Roger Ebert: Answer Man
Does your intelligence provide little or no survival value?
Nicole Hollander: Sylvia
Composition Project: Writing a Problem-Solving Letter (lulu.com)
This free pdf download describes a composition assignment that I have used successfully during my years of teaching at Ohio University. Other teachers are welcome to download and read this pdf file and decide whether this assignment will work in their classes.
Charlie responded:
wrote:
And, Joe S ("Did you ever get the feeling that the world was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?"
~ George Gobel) wrote:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and brisk (well, for these parts).
Today is dear old Dad's 84th birthday.
Senate OKs 4-Month Delay To Changeover
Digital TV
People who have not gotten their TV sets ready for the changeover to digital signals could earn a four-month reprieve under a bill making its way through Congress.
The Senate voted Monday to delay until June 12 the deadline for the changeover from analog to digital television broadcasting. People still getting their pictures through old-fashioned antennas otherwise would face a Feb. 17 cutoff.
Comparable legislation is being readied in the House, and the Obama administration has called for a delay amid mounting concerns that too many Americans who rely on over-the-air broadcast signals won't be ready.
It's estimated that more than 6.5 million U.S. households are still not prepared for the upcoming transition.
Digital TV
200 Years Later
Charles Darwin
Two centuries after Charles Darwin's birth on Feb. 12, 1809 , people still argue passionately about his theory of evolution.
Was Darwin right? Should schoolchildren be exposed to contrary views mythology in science class? These two "controversies" continue to rage, partly because both sides are evenly matched prideful ignorance is considered a virtue by conservatives.
Most scientists and courts that have ruled on the matter say that overwhelming evidence backs Darwin's explanation of the origin and evolution of species, including humans, by natural selection.
Public opinion surveys consistently have shown that Americans are deeply divided over evolution. The most recent Gallup poll on the issue, in June 2007 , found that 49 percent of those surveyed said they believed in evolution and 48 percent said they didn't. Those percentages have stayed almost even for at least 25 years.
(Gee, right in the middle of the Reagan era).
Charles Darwin
Former Cat Stevens' Song For Gaza
Yusuf Islam
The musician formerly known as Cat Stevens released a charity song on Monday to help the children of Gaza.
The United Nations said the London-born Yusuf Islam recorded a rendition of the George Harrison song "The Day the World Gets Round," along with the German bassist and former Beatles collaborator Klaus Voorman.
All proceeds from the song will be donated to the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and to the nonprofit group Save the Children to be directed to aiding Gaza residents.
Islam explained on his Web site that he hoped the song would "help remind people of the immense legacy of love, peace and happiness we can share when we get round to looking at mankind's futile wars and prejudices, and start to change our foolish ways."
Yusuf Islam
Becomes Australian Citizen
Leo Sayer
British-born 70s pop star Leo Sayer on Monday became an Australian citizen, saying the country had given him a new lease of life.
The singer, who topped the charts with hits like "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and "When I Need You," first toured Australia in 1974 and moved here in 2005.
"I'm 60 and I feel like a 20-year-old at the moment in my life here, because everyone is so much encouraging me to keep working and everything," Sayer told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"In the old country, England, it would have been, 'Sorry -- you're from the 70s and that's it.'"
Leo Sayer
Changing Tastes
Funeral Music
The classic Monty Python song Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life has topped a poll of "alternative" funeral songs.
The cheery tune, which is sung by Eric Idle and featured in The Life Of Brian, beat competition from The Jam's Going Underground and The Animals' We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.
The survey, commissioned by the Children's Society, also found that nine out of 10 people found talking about funeral arrangements more difficult than talking about sex.
A fifth of those surveyed said they would like Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life to be played at their funeral while 16 per cent went for Cabaret, sung by Liza Minnelli.
Other popular choices included Sid Vicious's cover of My Way, They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa by Napoleon and Enjoy Yourself, It's Later Than You Think by the Specials.
Funeral Music
Subpoena'd, Again
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove
The House Judiciary Committee chairman subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove on Monday to testify about the Bush administration's firing of nine U.S. attorneys and its prosecution of a former Democratic governor.
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said the ongoing legal battle to get Rove and other former Bush administration aides to testify may have success with a new president in the White House.
Former resident George W. Bush upheld Rove and two other senior aides who asserted they did not have to testify before Congress about their actions in the White House.
The subpoena commanded Rove to appear on Feb. 2 for a deposition on the U.S. attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat.
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove
City Manager Blames Neighbors
Marvin E. Schur
A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said.
Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy.
Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday.
Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday.
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.
"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."
Marvin E. Schur
Pastoral Semantics
Ted Haggard
Fallen evangelical pastor Ted Haggard says he had an "inappropriate relationship" with a young male church volunteer, but it did not involve physical contact.
Haggard's successor at Colorado Springs' New Life Church, Brady Boyd, has said evidence pointed to an "inappropriate, consensual sexual relationship" between Haggard and the man, who was in his early 20s.
Haggard said in a new statement Monday that he met with the young man two years ago, along with his wife and a representative of New Life Church. At that time, he asked the man's forgiveness for "our inappropriate relationship."
His statement says, "Although there was no physical contact, I have regretted my irresponsibile (sic) behavior."
Ted Haggard
What Global Warming?
Irreversible Damage
Many damaging effects of climate change are already basically irreversible, researchers declared Monday, warning that even if carbon emissions can somehow be halted temperatures around the globe will remain high until at least the year 3000.
"People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that's not true," climate researcher Susan Solomon said in a teleconference.
Solomon, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., is lead author of an international team's paper reporting irreversible damage from climate change, being published in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
She defines "irreversible" as change that would remain for 1,000 years even if humans stopped adding carbon to the atmosphere immediately.
Irreversible Damage
Legal Battle
Marvel
Shareholders of a company bearing the name of Marvel comic book character creator Stan Lee sued Marvel Entertainment Inc, Lee and others on Monday as part of a long-running legal battle for profits.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of shareholders of former dot-com company Stan Lee Media Inc (SLMI) claimed that as much as $750 million was at stake.
It said that in October 1998 Lee, creator of characters such as "Spider Man," "Ironman" and "Incredible Hulk," transferred all his interest in Marvel characters and his interest in the name and trademark "Marvel" to SLMI.
SLMI was placed into Chapter 11 reorganization and bankruptcy by Stan Lee in 2001 and re-emerged in November 2006.
Marvel
Becomes Dad At 111
Henry
A captive reptile in New Zealand has unexpectedly become a father at the ripe old age of 111 after receiving treatment for a cancer that made him hostile toward prospective mates.
The centenarian tuatara, named Henry, was thought well past the mating game until he was caught canoodling with a female named Mildred last March - a consummation that resulted in 11 babies being hatched on Monday.
Tuatara are indigenous New Zealand creatures that resemble lizards but descend from a distinct lineage of reptile that walked the earth with the dinosaurs 225 million years ago, zoologists say.
An endangered species, the hatchlings born at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery will provide a badly needed boost to the tuatara's genetic diversity, said the gallery's tuatara curator, Lindsay Hazley.
Henry
Ashes To Space
Roddenberrys
Ashes of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry and his actress wife will blast toward the far reaches of the cosmos in keeping with the show's famed opening line "Space, the final frontier."
Majel Roddenberry died in December, two months before her 77th birthday, and will posthumously fulfill a "dream of journeying through space with her husband," according to Celestis Inc, the US company behind the memorial flight.
Celestis sent some of Gene Roddenberry's ashes into orbit around the earth in a premier Founders Flight rocket launch in 1997.
"Star Trek" fans can visit the Celestis.com website to submit messages to accompany the couple into space.
Roddenberrys
In Memory
Charles Schneer
Charles Schneer, a producer who collaborated with special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen to make such film fantasy classics as "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" and "Jason and the Argonauts," died January 21 at a hospice in Boca Raton, Florida. He was 88.
Also among Schneer's 25 films as producer was "Hellcats of the Navy" (1957), in which Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, future president and first lady, made their only screen appearance together.
Schneer and Harryhausen's collaborations included "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver" (1960), "It Came from Beneath the Sea" (1955) and their last film together, "Clash of the Titans" (1981).
During World War II, Schneer, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, served as a member of the U.S. Army's Signal Corps Photographic Unit stationed on a film studio on Long Island. At age 22, he found himself producing training films, working with a number of the industry's top writers and directors who also served in the unit.
After the war, Schneer moved to Hollywood and worked briefly for Universal Pictures before joining Columbia Pictures' low-budget production unit headed by legendary exploitation movie producer Sam Katzman.
Schneer had the idea of a making a film about a giant octopus that pulls down the Golden Gate Bridge and was introduced to Harryhausen by an Army friend. Harryhausen had honed his craft with Willis O'Brien, who, in the 1930s, was responsible for the most famous of all stop-motion creations, 1933's "King Kong."
Schneer and Harryhausen then made "It Came from Beneath the Sea," which gave Schneer his first credit as a producer. Keeping with Katzman's low-budget mantra, however, the film's octopus had only six tentacles instead of the customary eight.
Schneer is survived by his wife of 68 years, Shirley; daughters Lesley Silver and Stacey Schneer Lee; three grandchildren, Ben Lawrence, Jenessa Freid and Jared Lee; four great grandchildren; and a sister, Babette Schneer Katz.
Charles Schneer
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