Quotes, URL's, Links And References-by:older Femmes, Butches, Ftms, Mtfs, Queer, Etc. [Archive] - Page 2

sweetlady

10-02-2004, 03:44 PM

By DAVID BROOKS Published: October 2, 2004

In weak moments, I think the best ticket for this country would be Bush-Kerry. The two men balance each other out so well.

Kerry can't make a decision; Bush makes them too quickly. Kerry changes his mind by the month; Bush almost never changes his mind. Kerry thinks obsessively about process questions, but can't seem to come up with a core conviction; Bush is great at coming up with clear goals, but is not so great about coming up with the process to get there.

That was the striking thing about the debate on Thursday night. It wasn't so much a clash of ideologies, or a clash of cultures. It was a clash of two different sorts of minds.

You could say it was a hedgehog (Bush) debating a fox (Kerry), if you want to use that tired but handy formulation. But I think you'd be getting closer to the truth if you put it this way: The atmosphere of Kerry's mind is rationalistic. He thinks about how to get things done. He talks like a manager or an engineer.

The atmosphere of Bush's mind is more creedal or ethical. He talks about moral challenges. He talks about the sort of personal and national character we need in order to triumph over our enemies. His mind is less coldly secular than Kerry's, but also more abstracted from day-to-day reality.

When John Kerry was asked how he would prevent another attack like 9/11, he reeled off a list of nine concrete policy areas, ranging from intelligence reform to training Iraqi troops, but his answer had no thematic summation. If you glance down a transcript of the debate and you see one set of answers that talks about "logistical capacity" or "a plan that I've laid out in four points," or "a long list" of proposals or "a strict series of things" that need to be done, you know that's Kerry speaking.

If, on the other hand, you see an answer that says, "When we give our word, we will keep our word," you know that is Bush. When you see someone talking about crying with a war widow, you know that's Bush.

These contrasting casts of mind influence how the two men see the world - for example, how they define the enemy. On Thursday night, Bush defined the war on terror as a broad moral and ideological struggle. He said, "We have a solemn duty to defeat this ideology of hate."

Bush believes that Iraq is a crucial battlefield in the war because a free Iraq will be a rebuttal to radical Islam right in the heart of the Arab world.

Kerry, on the other hand, defined the enemy in narrow, concrete terms. He emphasized that it was Osama bin Laden who attacked us. He emphasized the need to defeat Al Qaeda's network. He called Iraq a diversion from defeating that network.

Each cast of mind comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. The mechanically minded Kerry is much better at talking about realities like securing the Iraqi border. On the other hand, he is unable to blend his specific proposals into guiding principles.

That's why he's been fuzzy about the big things over the entire course of his career. That's why he has changed his mind on big issues with such astonishing rapidity. That's why he gets twisted into pretzels, like vowing to continue fighting the Iraq war, which he says was a mistake to begin.

Bush, by contrast, is steadfast and resolute. But his weakness is statecraft. That is the task of relating means to ends, of orchestrating the institutions of government to achieve your desired goals.

Bush sometimes acts as if it's enough for a president to profess his faith. But a coach can't just dream up a game plan. He has to understand what his specific players can and can't do, and adapt to those realities.

Bush launched a pre-emptive war even though his intelligence community was incompetent. He occupied a country even though he didn't really believe in, or work with, the institutions of government he would need to complete the task.

Nonetheless, I suspect that the reason Bush's approval ratings hover around 50 percent, despite a year of carnage in Iraq, is because of the reason many of us in the commentariat don't like to talk about: in a faithful and moralistic nation, Bush's language has a resonance with people who know that he is not always competent, and who know that he doesn't always dominate every argument, but who can sense a shared cast of mind.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/opinion/02brooks.html

(*) (*) Interesting and different take on the debates. I still loved the story about J.F.K. and Charles DeGaul of France regarding honesty. Nobody trusts America anymore.....probably that's way too generic, but it's not like anytime before in history because of mass communications making news and events virtually instantaneously available. :|

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-02-2004, 03:47 PM

Rockers Open Tour in Support of Kerry
By JON PARELES Published: October 2, 2004

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 1 - Bruce Springsteen began stumping the swing states here tonight to support Senator John Kerry. "We're here tonight to fight for a government that is open, rational, forward-looking and humane, and we plan to rock the joint while doing so," he said at the beginning of the concert he was headlining at the Wachovia Center. The concert, which also featured R.E.M., was one of six simultaneous concerts in Pennsylvania for the Vote for Change tour, a week of benefit concerts in battleground states.

For the next 10 days, million-selling musicians including Mr. Springsteen, Dave Matthews, the Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, Bonnie Raitt and John Mellencamp will be headlining concerts in closely contested states. The tour features rock musicians, but the lineups also encompass blues, country and hip-hop.

The tour will reach 11 states and 33 cities, winding up with a concert by 13 of the headliners on Oct. 11 at the MCI Center in Washington. That show, to be televised live on the Sundance cable channel, will also include John Fogerty, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Keb Mo', Kenneth Edmonds and the hip-hop group Jurassic 5.

The concerts are benefits for America Coming Together, a voter-mobilization effort, and they are presented by the liberal MoveOn political action committee. Some performers, including Pearl Jam and Ms. Raitt, have done benefits for political candidates through the years. But this tour is the first time in his three-decade career that Mr. Springsteen has made a partisan stand.

"These are people who are the best experts at connecting with the American public, people who have had an emotional connection with millions of people for years,'' said Eli Pariser, the executive director of MoveOn PAC. "Politics is a part of that, and I think it just extends what they do, their art.''

"It does take some courage in this climate to stand up and do what they're doing,'' he continued. "A lot of them have been galvanized by the kind of extremist repressive response that they've seen. They're not going to be silenced.''

The Dixie Chicks, who started their part of the tour in Pittsburgh, faced radio-station boycotts and a talk-show furor last year after their lead singer, Natalie Maines, disparaged President Bush onstage.

"We have nothing to lose at this point, so any sort of fear or inhibition is out the window,'' Ms. Maines said by telephone this week. "We definitely want a regime change, and now that we're getting down to the wire I'm even less afraid to speak out. I just think things are absolutely life or death right now.''

"We sort of weeded out the people who apparently didn't know who we were, though we never felt like we were trying to hide what we thought,'' she added. "Free speech is not free: we paid dearly. But we're more determined and stronger now. And from this point on, what fans we have will be our true fans.''

It is a complex enough undertaking to gather rock stars for a one-day event like Live Aid or Mr. Mellencamp's annual Farm Aid. Arranging six simultaneous weeklong benefit tours by such popular musicians is probably unprecedented. There is no comparable undertaking on the Republican side. The musicians are not playing their standard sets; they are including more political songs and collaborating with the others on the bill. The Dixie Chicks sing backup for Mr. Taylor; Ms. Raitt harmonizes with Mr. Browne.

All shows on the tour go to Ohio on Saturday, Michigan on Sunday and Florida on Friday; shows on Tuesday and Wednesday are in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri. The tour's first show, featuring Ms. Raitt and Mr. Browne, took place on Monday night in Seattle. "It was a very energized, responsive audience,'' Ms. Raitt said by telephone after that concert. "When we sang Little Steven's 'I Am a Patriot' and the whole audience was standing up, it just brought me to tears. It's more fun to do this than it is to do my own shows. It's just so inspirational, and there's so much at stake.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/02/arts/music/02pare.html

(8) (8) (8) (8) How very cool. (h)
(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-02-2004, 04:09 PM

This is from the transcript of the debate:

Kerry:
"Here we have our own secretary of state who has had to apologize to the world for the presentation he made to the United Nations.

I mean, we can remember when President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with DeGaulle.

And in the middle of the discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, "Here, let me show you the photos."

And DeGaulle waved them off and said, "No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me."

How many leaders in the world today would respond to us, as a result of what we've done, in that way?"

(*) (*) That anecdote speaks volumes, in my view. (*) (*)
(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-03-2004, 04:39 PM

http://www.pro-boxers.com/wbf.html

Animal Rescue Site: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady
P.S. I would LOVE to have another boxer!

sweetlady

10-03-2004, 04:45 PM

Can provide history. PM me and see.
Love,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-03-2004, 10:04 PM

By EILENE ZIMMERMAN
Both employers and prospective employees are finding that
blogging can be useful in the job search process.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/jobs/03BLOG.html?th

(*) Amazing where information resides! (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-04-2004, 02:15 PM

Interview by Hamish Mackintosh Thursday April 15, 2004
The Guardian (U.K.)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1191673,00.html

(*) Comprehensive article that covers alot of ground from wireless technology to democracy. Well done. (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-04-2004, 02:22 PM

Art Mobs: Can an online crowd create a poem, a novel, or a painting?
By Clive Thompson

Mobs have been getting unusually good press these days. In his excellent new book The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki (a former Slate columnist) argues that groups of people are smarter than any individual member. In Smart Mobs, Howard Rheingold showed how a massive gang of citizens connected by mobile phones toppled the president of the Philippines. And every day the unruly stock market, with its zillions of buy-and-sell orders, identifies a hot or cold company long before any individual analyst can spot it. Crowds, it seems, have a truly superhuman intelligence.

Just how inventive can an anonymous group of people be? Could an online mob produce a poem, a novel, or a painting? We like to believe that the blue bolt of artistic inspiration strikes only the individual. "[The] group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man," John Steinbeck wrote in East of Eden. Hollywood scriptwriters constantly moan over how their brilliant ideas were mutilated by studio "editing by committee."

But collaboration has a long history in art. Plays are frequently infected with ideas that came from actors or even sound engineers. Some Shakespeare scholars wonder whether some of the Bard's lines came from onstage improvisations by actors. And though many of today's writers and creators would never admit it, editing by committee can rescue an overindulgent work. Collaboration is old hat.

Still, until now it's been limited to a small handful of people, usually face to face. The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result. One intriguing example is "Typophile: The Smaller Picture," a project that let an anonymous crowd design a font. Kevan Davis, a British Web developer, created grids of pixels, 20 by 20 in size, one for each letter of the alphabet. He randomly dispersed black-and-white pixels in each. Then he put them online and let people vote on whether a particular pixel should be white or black. As thousands of people voted on each one, letters emerged, forming a democratic consensus of what the alphabet should look like.

Davis created animations that show each letter taking shape, and they're mesmerizing, a time-lapse movie of a collective mind at work. Another designer took the results and produced crisper-edged versions of each letter. The final result looks like a mildly punk version of Helvetica, with occasional flashes of creative weirdness, such as the jaunty serif on the foot of the letter "J."

Yet the process has its flaws. When the mob tried to draw a few simple pictures, it couldn't. Davis told it to draw a television, but the image never congealed. The group agreed that the tube should be represented by empty space, but it couldn't generate any other details. An attempt at drawing a face produced an even more shapeless mess. The only partially successful picture was a goat: At around 4,000 votes, it looked pretty goatlike, and at 5,000 votes the mob revised it to make the horns curvier. But after 7,000 votes the picture decayed into a random jumble of pixels, as if the group could no longer agree on what a goat should look like. Mobs, it seems, can't draw.

Why did letters work, but not pictures? Probably because the second experiment was too free-form. Ask a group of people to draw the letter "E," and most of them will envision something pretty similar. Ask them to draw a face, and they'll have a much broader array of opinions, and thus more disagreement. Truly huge artistic collaboration on the Internet seems to work only if the gang has a well-defined objective.

The Wikipedia people have been discovering this themselves, after launching a project to have people collaboratively write textbooks: Wikibooks. When I spoke to Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder, he noted that while some textbooks are evolving nicely, most aren't experiencing the wild success of the Wikipedia. A textbook requires a consistent sense of style and a linear structure, hallmarks of a single authorial presence. An encyclopedia doesn't.

In a sense, the world of online collaboration is discovering what artists have always known: Rigid conventions are often crucial to producing art. Novels, poems, and oil paintings are really just structural devices that take an artist's zillion competing ideas—an internal, self-contradicting mob—and focus them into a coherent work.

Mind you, online collaborators are finding that freedoms are important too. The journalist JD Lasica recently put his unpublished book, Darknet, on a wiki—a type of collaboration Web site where anyone can edit a page or write a new one—and encouraged his readership to edit it. But readers mostly offered only tiny edits, such as grammatical fixes or fact-checks. Nobody plunged in and rewrote an entire section. Lasica suspects his book was too fully formed: People didn't want to mess with something that seemed finished. He thinks a better idea would be to post a much rougher draft of the book to make it seem more like clay that can be molded.

One day, it's likely that an artist will discover the right mix, or some Web designer will invent an online engine that elegantly channels a million contributions into a single compelling artwork. So far, the closest we've yet come is with music, which, thanks to the influence of hip-hop, techno, and applications like GarageBand, is increasingly a cut-and-paste art form. One new collaboration site is MacJams, where people share songs they're writing. The site recently gave birth to a jazz song called "Please Eat." An artist dumped a few tracks onto MacJams, and soon three other musicians—half of the four were complete strangers—contributed a total of 36 tracks to the song. The songwriters worked well together in part because jazz is inherently collaborative and structured, so they knew in advance how to cooperate.

The song emerged from a completely unplanned collaboration. I clicked on the link, and the trippy, witty piece came floating out my speaker: The music of the hive.

(Clive Thompson writes about gaming and technology for Slate)

http://slate.msn.com/id/2104087/

(*) Remote collaboration has been a hot application since pre-Internet days, especilly in television ad and feature film creation. Cool article I thought. (h)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-04-2004, 02:34 PM

http://www.thelwordonline.com/main.shtml

(*) Maybe the second season will introduce new characters (probably as episodic guest stars). (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-05-2004, 08:18 AM

Truman Calls On Nation To Forego Meat Tuesdays, Poultry, Eggs Thursdays

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1005.html#article

(*) Ah, history. Those who seek to understand it often discover ideas, people and patterns before unimagined. My first book on such a topic just got published, and I'm very excited about it. (SL, 2004) (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-06-2004, 11:39 AM

http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/

Body Pleasures: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/contents.php?subject=bodilypleasures :o

(8) Music: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/contents.php?subject=music

Food: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/contents.php?subject=food

(d) Drinks: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/contents.php?subject=food

Best (and only) place to get Armadale vodka 40/40 CLUB
Best bar at which to contract possible STDs from furniture SIBERIA
Best bar at which to start a soccer riot THE RED LION
Best bar in which to hide from ex in a tropical forest of bamboo CROBAR
Best bar light-years from a subway SUNNY'S
Best bar name double entendre LAVA GINA
Best bar to avoid hipsters in Williamsburg R BAR
Best bar to get romantic and play grown-up JOE'S PUB
Best bar to meet a dozen girls named Ileana NO IDEA BAR
Best beer garden CROXLEY ALES
Best bubble tea JENNY'S CAFÉ
Best coffee empire MUD
Best espresso outside of Seattle NINTH STREET ESPRESSO
Best fake indoor trees ZUM SCHNEIDER
Best former Italian social club now open to nonmembers BROOKLYN SOCIAL
Best gay bar you don't have to be gay to enjoy THE BOYSROOM
Best ginger beer guaranteed to blow the top of your head off KEUR N' DEYE
Best glasses in the shape of skulls OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD
Best handmade bar furniture LOUIS
Best mango martini CAFÉ URGE
Best mixologist AUDREY SAUNDERS
Best name for a tea shop SYMPATHY FOR THE KETTLE
Best nasty-hangover specialty drinks ZOMBIE HUT
Best neighborhood wine store BIG NOSE, FULL BODY
Best non-gentrified L.E.S. bar THREE OF CUPS
Best place to be a Philly fan THE DUPLEX
Best place to be a Red Sox fan RIVIERA
Best place to drink on Fridays JEREMY'S ALE HOUSE
Best place to drink with Village Voice alkies SCRATCHER
Best place to ensconce yourself in velvet VILLARD BAR AND LOUNGE
Best place to take a road trip without leaving your barstool TRASH
Best place to watch local actors network EAST 4TH STREET BAR
Best place to watch snow fall ANGEL'S SHARE
Best pyrotechnic drinks WAIKIKI WALLY'S
Best Russian-Mafia bathrooms TATIANA RESTAURANT AND TATIANA CAFÉ
Best suburban-style gay bar EXCELSIOR
Best Sunday-afternoon martinis for the dead of winter FIVE POINTS
Best surprisingly cheap happy hour SUGAR
Best working-class gay bar METROPOLITAN

(*) (*) All of the links "work" on each of the topics' web sites, taking you to other sites. Pretty cool for visitors, in my opinion. And for "locals" or those living within commutable distance to NYC to find places to take out-of-town friends. ;)

(6) (a) Leisure Activities: http://www.villagevoice.com/bestof/2004/contents.php?subject=leisure

A silly one I found is:
Best blog to make you seem smarter at cocktail parties - COLLISIONDETECTION.NET
Which Blur song rocks the Fibonacci Sequence? How do you hack a Furby? And what kind of sound does your face make? Find your crib sheet at COLLISIONDETECTION.NET, the web's go-to site for brainy technobabble-meets-pop-culture references. Tech geeks and Luddites alike will marvel at the daily tidbits from journalist (and M.I.T. alum) Clive Thompson, who writes about techno-arcania with wit and intellectual heft. Live long and prosper.

Too funny and a much needed reading break from research and studying. (o)

Have a delightfully delicious middle of your week! (f)

With a light heart,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-07-2004, 01:47 PM

WAY TOO HILARIOUS!

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=this_land&preplay=1&ratingBar=off

(*) (*) If you enjoy hilarious political satire to lighten this time of year just before the election......this web site is "IT". Just make sure that you aren't drinking anything or it may come out your nose when you laugh.... ;)

Peace and Bai Ling,
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-07-2004, 02:04 PM

By MICHELLE SLATALLA October 7, 2004: NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/07/technology/circuits/07shop.html?oref=login&8cir

MY favorite thing, when I was little, was to rummage in my grandmother's jewelry drawer for one of her oversized rhinestone brooches to pin to my outfit, which in the full spirit of playing dress-up consisted of a tweed suit, black pumps and a patent leather clutch I had looted from her closet.

So it wouldn't take Sigmund Freud to explain why I am so excited about buying clothes this fall. With this season's ladylike fashions in full swing, everywhere I look I see updated versions of my grandmother's 1950's wardrobe.

"For women, this is a really fun time to buy clothes," said Maggie Mason, a fashion writer for the online magazine The Morning News (themorningnews.org). "Clothing is really feminine again. Everything has details. Lace. What a relief that covering up is back in fashion. A full skirt - who doesn't look good in that?"

Luckily, I already have the basics: a closet full of cropped jackets, ballet flats and short, fitted jackets.

So my challenge will be to embrace the best trends that reflect the clothes in my grandmother's closet without actually looking like my grandmother after I get dressed. Shrunken cardigans with rhinestone buttons and three-quarter length sleeves, good. But feathery brooches? Bad. And tweed? It's a minefield to navigate.

Last week I set out to find online the best examples of this fall's fashion trends, checking out everything from fur trim to pencil skirts to separate the classics from the fads.

There's no reason not to buy both, of course, if they look good on you. But I know that when I confront the contents of my closet in the cold, harsh light of next year, I'll be happier if I spent more on classics like Theory's butter-smooth white shirt ($185 at www.saksfifthavenue.com) than on passing fancies like Trina Turk's Dalmatian print capelet ($205 at oliveandbettes.com).

So with the aid of Ms. Mason, who this week launched a new shopping tips site at mightygoods.com, I devised a blueprint for buying the trends without squandering my retirement fund on items I'll rue by spring.

BROOCHES Finally everyone shares my taste for rhinestones. With the ultimate girls' dress-up accessory more popular than they've been for decades, this is the year to revel in the gaudiest pins you can find. Pinning three or four or 40 oversized brooches all over your clothes in places you never before considered accessorizing is considered attractive this year. If you want, you can weigh yourself down so much that you clunk around like a knight in armor.

Or go for a more refined look. "It looks great if you wear a brooch to hold a black cashmere cardigan closed, or if you pin one to an evening clutch," said Ginger Reeder, a spokeswoman for neimanmarcus.com.

You can get the look at online stores like Neiman Marcus, where a glittery, two-inch-round round deco brooch by Sophia Fiore is $145, or you can hedge your bet with a budget-conscious version, the Art Deco Brooch at www.jcpenney.com ($23.99). At www.anthropologie.com, which embraced the vintage look years ago, the $78 Mixed Media Pin ("delicate shells top antique silver and French ribbons") manages to look simultaneously retro and arch by defining stray buttons as a medium.

Says Ms. Mason: "Pin a brooch on a sweater in that hollow where your shoulder meets your chest, or else on the neck of a turtleneck."

TWEED Don't think sensible hikes on the moors. Think about a short, close-cropped jacket that no one will mistake for a vintage relic. One candidate is Cynthia Steffe's velvet-trimmed confetti blazer (now $248) at www.saksfifthavenue.com. A less dramatic approach is the Charles Gray fringed jacket ($260) at nordstrom.com.

"If you buy a tweed jacket, you can wear it with denim forever," said Melissa Payner-Gregor, chief executive at Bluefly.

Pair a tweed jacket with a lacy camisole. Ms. Mason recommends the women's lace-trim camisole at www.oldnavy.com. "Ten bucks, a little bit of lace, bright colors, you can't go wrong," she said.

Tweed suit? You're brave.

Safest is to limit your tweed exposure to accessories. At jcrew.com, the houndstooth check Chelsea tote is $118; tweed loafers with a velvet ribbon bow are $128. At Anthropologie.com, the tweed flat ("an exaggerated mock-tortoise buckle") is tempting even at $258. Must be the buckle.

SHOES AND BOOTS The lament here is: so many cute trends to pick from, so few days to wear them all. Kitten heels, ballet flats, pointy toes, round toes: all are good. All are styles you will wear next year, too. Textures like suede and velvet are versatile; dress them up or wear them with jeans. Some that deserve serious consideration include Irregular Choice's rhinestone-embellished kitten-heel pumps ($92.95 at www.zappos.com), and the beautifully cut Cole Haan ornament ballet flats ($165 at saksfifthavenue.com).

Boots are trickier. Some general rules of thumb: "Knee-high boots are flattering on everyone, but with ankle-length boots, you have to be very careful about where they hit your calf," Ms. Mason said. "Unless you really know what you're doing, buy knee-high."

Buy boots that you can wear for years. "Western, that's huge in Europe and it's going to be big here next year," said Eileen Lewis, the fashion strategist at Zappos. "Frye has been on fire for a couple of years now."

Another question, if you're planning to invest a lot of money in boots, is: what shape toe?

"Get something with a round toe," Ms. Mason said.

That said, the pointy-toed Donna Karan Georgia pull-on boots at Zappos's new designer site, couture.zappos.com, would tempt me to ignore Ms. Mason's advice if I had $898 to spend on boots.

FUR Real fur, faux fur, fuzzy collars - it's hard for me to comment on any of them. Fur is not a successful look on me. When I wear it I always end up looking like a less attractive version of the animal that originally owned the fur.

Ms. Mason's advice is to buy a jacket with a removable faux fur collar; I did that last year and promptly removed the collar. It now lurks in my youngest daughter's dress-up box.

A little fur goes a long way. If I were the sort of person who loved fur, I'd be more likely to buy an authentic vintage accessory like, say, the 1940's blonde mink neck scarf ($125) that was for sale last week at chelsea-girl.com. "What I want to know is, where are the fur earmuffs?" Ms. Mason said. "Wouldn't that be an adorable way to incorporate the trend into your wardrobe?"

CLASSICS Among this year's trends are pieces I'll wear for years. Last week I bought a great black T-shirt at bluefly.com (the Rebecca Beeson thermal, comes in five colors for $34.95); last month I found a blue schoolboy blazer with gold buttons for which I've spent years hunting. The blazer, $228 at jcrew.com, has a fitted, cropped shape that looks equally great with jeans and knee-skimming skirts.

But I still miss my grandmother's brooches and her patent-leather clutch.

(*) (*) <sigh> Me too! I need to get my big box of them all out and start wearing them with some silk scarves now that it's Autumn. (*)

Peace,
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 04:04 PM

October 3, 2004 By JAMES FALLOWS NYTimes

ANYONE who has used a computer knows that advanced
technology both saves and squanders time. The Internet is
an obvious example. You can save 10 minutes paying checks
online and blow an hour checking blogs. At the dawn of the
personal computer age, the writer Stephen Manes introduced
the term "fritterware" to describe programs and systems
that let you feel very busy - adjusting fonts and settings,
tweaking color schemes or screen-saver graphics - without
being productive in any normal sense.

It is therefore with both guilt and nervousness that I
mention the existence of programs that can improve on the
usual, built-in ways of getting things done on a computer -
but that take some tinkering to set up, luring the weak
into a cycle of further frittering. Please imagine the rest
of this column being delivered in the tone of an N.R.A.
instructional video about a child's first weapon: "Always
remember, Bobby, a rifle is not a toy."

Consider alternative approaches for three basic functions:
Web browsing, where the standard is Internet Explorer, from
Microsoft; searching, for which Google is the standard for
the Web and there is no real standard for one's own
computer; and day-to-day utilities, where the standard for
Windows machines is the Windows operating system itself.
(For another day: similar programs for the Mac.)

The main problem with Internet Explorer is its own success.
It is used on more than 90 percent of all computers, which
has made it and its codes, especially a feature called
ActiveX, irresistible targets for virus writers.
Microsoft's Outlook has the same problem, for the same
reason. Two months ago, Microsoft released an extensive
security upgrade called Service Pack 2, which contains many
other improvements, is free and is definitely worth
installing on any computer running WindowsXP. But it does
not apply to older versions of Windows or the versions of
IE they include.

There are many other browsers, including the popular Opera.
Two I use every day are Firefox, from Mozilla, and iRider,
from Wymea Bay, a small start-up in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Firefox is an open-source program - noncopyrighted and free
from www.mozilla.org - created by a nonprofit foundation
descended from Microsoft's old rival, Netscape. The browser
doesn't look much different from IE, but it has many
operational improvements - the most noticeable being better
built-in protection against pop-up ads, and a tabbed
browsing system that lets you easily keep several Web pages
open at once.

IRider (www.irider.com), which costs $29, looks nothing
like any other browser. It displays graphic thumbnails of
all open pages down the side of the screen, making it easy
to jump to the one you want, and it has many other unique
ergonomic touches. When you open a page, for example, it
can automatically begin opening all linked pages in the
background, so they come up quickly if you select them.
IRider takes some getting used to, but it has real
advantages - and an excellent tutorial. I also keep using
IE, meanwhile, because parts of the Internet are coded to
accept nothing else. The handy Google toolbar, for example,
works only with IE.

In search, Google remains king, but two recent pretenders
to the throne are interesting enough to try. A9, introduced
last month by Amazon, initially seems an unashamed step
forward in commercialization. It is free, but you have to
have an Amazon account to use its most worthwhile features,
and it encourages searching the Amazon catalog when you are
searching the Web. (Its Web searches simply show Google
results.)

But the more I use it, the more I like it, because of many
small conveniences not available within Google's austere
layout. You can search for text and images simultaneously.
When you come across a Web page you want to remember, you
can attach notes to it - "here's a nice place to stay in
St. Louis" - and then retrieve that page by looking through
your notes. Its appearance is busy, but attractive and
configurable.

Another search system called Copernic Agent Personal, which
sells for $29.95, asserts that it searches the "invisible
Web" - specialized and proprietary information - better
than Google can. I haven't tried this thoroughly enough to
be sure. But Copernic's free Desktop Search application is
a worthy contender in the "Google for my own hard drive"
category - where competition should heat up, now that
Microsoft has announced that Longhorn, its next version of
Windows, will not include the advanced search features the
company had once planned to include. Copernic does not seem
as fast in indexing or retrieval as my current
desktop-search favorite, X1 ($74.95 at www.x1.com), but it
does a few things X1 doesn't, like searching for photos and
music files.

Finally, for those willing to tinker further, there are
programs that improve on the built-in functions of Windows
itself. ExplorerPlus, $39.95 from Novatix, is a much better
way to move, copy, rename, compare, unzip and otherwise
handle files than Windows makes available. ClipMate, $29.95
from Thornsoft, vastly changes the workings of a computer's
clipboard.

Usually the Windows clipboard holds just one item - clip
something else, and the previous item disappears. If you
know how, you can make the normal Window clipboard hold 24
items - but ClipMate holds an almost limitless number,
which means that you can, for instance, spend hours
clipping passages from Web pages or documents and then
paste them in the appropriate places when you are done.

THE most striking improvement in basic computer function
comes with ActiveWords, $19.95 for the basic version and
$49.95 for the advanced, from a small company of the same
name in Winter Park, Fla. Most computer users understand
the concept of macros, or shortcuts - abbreviations the
computer expands into full words or phrases. ActiveWords
applies that concept to nearly everything you would like
the computer to do. It lets you create keyboard shortcuts -
say, typing "WH" to visit the White House's Web site - for
a wide variety of functions. With just a few keystrokes,
you can start a report, edit a specific spreadsheet,
address an e-mail message to your brother, place an
Internet phone call to the home office, go to a particular
Web page or fill out a form. (You press a key to signal
that a shortcut is coming, then type the relevant letters.)

This is especially useful for those who, like me, hate
using the mouse. I had known about this program for years
before trying it seriously; now I regret the lost time. But
I figure that its efficiencies give me enough extra time to
keep tinkering with the list of shortcuts, until it's just
right.

James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic
Monthly. E-mail: tfiles@nytimes.com.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/03/business/yourmoney/03techno.html?ex=1097984246&ei=1&en=c71da7a2002019d0

(*) (*) It's nice to have alternatives even with some existing powerful search engines like google. Some of these have been great for graduate and othr research. (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 04:09 PM

October 4, 2004 By SABRINA TAVERNISE

The personalities could not be more different.

Bob Edwards, the radio host whose silky voice meant morning
to millions of listeners across the country, was scheduled
to begin broadcasting again this morning from a Washington,
D.C., studio located an eighth of a mile from his former
employer, National Public Radio.

Just hours before, in a New York studio, the irreverent
radio duo, Opie and Anthony, were due to start a new show,
their first since 2002, when they were forced from their
WNEW-FM program in New York City, after they broadcast a
producer's live account, delivered via cellphone, of a
couple who were purported to be having sex in St. Patrick's
Cathedral.

The new shows have one thing in common: They are being
broadcast only on satellite radio, a new medium that became
broadly available in the United States just three years
ago.

The hope among executives at XM Satellite, the company that
carries the two shows, is that the radio personalities will
motivate some of their devoted fans to pay XM's
subscription rate of $9.99 a month. "Morning Edition," for
example, grew to about 13 million listeners a week over the
24 years that Mr. Edwards was the host.

Sirius Satellite Radio, XM's competitor, charges $12.95 a
month.

The shows highlight a change in the landscape of radio. XM,
started in Washington in 2001, and Sirius, started in New
York in 2002, have sought to grab more of the audience of
conventional radio, but XM's recruitment of well-known
personalities at both ends of the programming spectrum has
been the most aggressive effort to date to win listeners.

It is a fresh start for Mr. Edwards, who was dismissed as
host of "Morning Edition" five months ago because NPR
thought his style had become outdated. His one-hour morning
program, "The Bob Edwards Show," includes live interviews
with journalists and authors, and, according to Hugh
Panero, president and chief executive of XM, has "already
attracted a number of people" who would not ordinarily have
been subscribers.

On Friday, the company reported that its subscribers rose
19 percent to 2.5 million in the third quarter of this
year.

"You wouldn't think, at 57, you could get excited about
much of anything," Mr. Edwards said by telephone from his
home in Virginia. But "I am very excited."

Mr. Edwards's show will be transmitted on a new XM channel
that features public radio-style programming, including
shows from Public Radio International and Minnesota Public
Radio's American Public Media from 8 to 9 a.m. on weekdays.

One competitive advantage satellite radio has over
conventional radio is that, because it charges listeners a
fee, much like cable television, under federal regulations
it is subject to looser rules than stations that are free.

The rapper Eminem cited looser federal restrictions as a
reason he agreed to be the host of shows on Sirius to begin
later this year. Gregg Hughes (the Opie of the shock-jock
duo) and Anthony Cumia also said they were attracted to
satellite radio by the less restrictive rules. Their
program is a premium show costing an additional $1.99 a
month.

"Ten years ago, it was so much easier to discuss adult
subject matter," Mr. Cumia said. "I don't even mean porno,
just what adults talk about when they get together."

"The industry's taken a turn that it has to be safe, and
safe really equals boring," Mr. Cumia added.

The freedom could help the companies win more subscribers
more quickly, analysts said. The two satellite companies
still play a relatively small role in radio. They currently
have about 3.1 million subscribers between them, a tiny
fraction of the more than 200 million listeners who tune
into conventional radio stations every day.

"The paid platform now has an advantage," said Blair Levin,
a managing director at Legg Mason in Baltimore, who served
as chief of staff at the Federal Communications Commission
from 1993 to 1997. "To the extent that there are greater
restrictions, certain kinds of programming will migrate" to
satellite providers.

The satellite radio companies had been producing their own
programming since they started. Their music channels have
themes, like jazz, blues, alternative rock, Christian pop,
country, and even an Elvis Presley channel. Both XM and
Sirius offer more than 60 commercial-free music channels,
in addition to channels dedicated to sports, news, comedy,
traffic and weather.

Sirius has been broadcasting several talk shows, including
those featuring the liberal radio hosts Alex Bennett and
Lynn Samuels. It also carries the liberal talk station Air
America, and the NPR interview program "Fresh Air,"
featuring Terry Gross.

Satellite radio's critics point out that its programming is
calibrated to appeal to specific national audiences, and
that it strays from the public service responsibility of
conventional radio, to provide local news and a connection
between people and their communities.

"The problem with satellite radio is it's not local and
it's not free," said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the
National Association of Broadcasters, which represents the
majority of conventional radio stations in the United
States.

Satellite company executives say that their services do
provide local weather and traffic reports, but acknowledge
that their programming is national. They also say that
commercial radio has become less local since the 1980's,
when larger media companies like Clear Channel and Infinity
Broadcasting increasingly started to dominate the landscape
of commercial radio.

Laura Walker, president and chief executive of the WNYC
public radio stations in New York City, said local public
radio stations pay fees to help create and sustain flagship
programs like "All Things Considered" and "Morning
Edition," and argues those stations' interests should come
first.

Even so, WNYC has sold programming to both satellite
services, including "The Brian Lehrer Show," a news and
talk program, and "Soundcheck," a music show.

Mr. Edwards, who joined NPR in 1974, when it was less than
three years old, is left with a sense of déjà vu. In those
early days, he had to beg and cajole prominent guests to
appear on his shows. He has come back, as he describes it,
to his professional beginnings.

"It will be something someday," he said. "I see it as
public radio in a new place."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/technology/04radio.html?ex=1097983993&ei=1&en=71eb325b7f28c689

(*) (*) Satellite radio is currently out of the FCC's reach so to speak...one reason why Stern joined a satellite broadcast services firm for a half billion dollars last week. (not that I'd EVER listed to him :| Once these emerging companies solve the weather-related distortions and drop-outs in services, this will take off. (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 04:12 PM

This is from the studio that did "This Land..."

I saw a blurb on CNN, seems they did this for the "Tonight" show at Leno's request.

http://jibjab.com/

click the "Good to be in DC" tab.

(*) Have a lovely rest of your weekend. (l)

Peace and laughter,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 05:29 PM

Character education is a great topic. I find ethics and morals to be a challenging subject. I would like to share an article that I have read over and over again throughout my military career. The article is by Admiral James Bond Stockdale who in 1965 was shot down over North Vietnam and held a prisoner of war for six and a half years. He describes the importance of ethics, morals and a classical education succinctly:

"Education in the classics teaches you that all organizations since the beginning of time have used the power of guilt; that cycles are repetitive; and that this is the way of the world. It's a naive person who comes in and says, "Let's see, what's good and what's bad?" That' a quagmire. You can get out of that quagmire only by recalling how wise men before you accommodated the same dilemmas. And I believe a good classical education and an understanding of history can best determine the rules you should live by. They also give you the power to analyze reasons for these rules and guide you as to how to apply them to your own situation. In a broader sense, all my education helped me. Naval Academy discipline and body contact sports helped me. But the education which I found myself using most was what I got in graduate school. The messages of history and philosophy I used were simple."

The entire article is excellent (no fantastic) and worth taking the time to read. You can find it at the link below.

http://fhss.byu.edu/history/faculty/holmes/readings/epictetus/epictetus.html

(*) (*) Received the above from a fellow graduate learner like me. Observing how kids act today and how different it is from when I was very young in the early 1960's, this quote resonated for me! (l)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:28 PM

Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.
-- Gertrude Stein

Live as if you die tomorrow. Learn as if you live forever.
-- Gandhi

My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly
or having trouble off the field, the only thing to do was to keep swinging.
-- Hank Aaron

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.
-- Philo of Alexandria

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:29 PM

1. EVERYONE sent this link at Wearable Dissent.
It's the Florida Electronic Voting screen:
http://www.wearabledissent.com/101/floridavote.html

(*) I'd LOVE to hear from anyone who takes a look and can share hys or her laughter! (l)

(k) or a (f) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:31 PM

At the site, you will also find a link to a real electronic voting critique site.
And this serious site is a news article about voting fraud that continues in Florida even now:

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=566688

(k) and ({) (}) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:32 PM

Dan S sends this link to George Bush "medals":

http://www.cockeyed.com/citizen/medals/medals.html

(l) (k) Amazing what you can do with product throw-ways.

Peace,
SL (k)

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:34 PM

Tony P sends this link regarding ... well, it's actually Hubcap Advertising.
Sadly, it is ... uhm ... real:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/7324321553354176/

(*) (*) Being a girl-propeller-head smart FEMME, of course I LOVED this!! Check it out, I'm sure you'll love it too! (*) (*) (*)

(l) (l) ,
(k) (k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 08:53 PM

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

You can create your own art! What a delightful way to take a break. (k) (k) (k) (k) (k) (k) (k)

Love,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-09-2004, 09:14 PM

If you'd like to say hello to me, I would LOVE THAT~!!!! Butches and FM's are my favorite friends and potential lovers....... (k) (k) (k) (k)

I love you and pray for you every night. (l) (l) (l)

Love always,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 05:42 AM

By BENEDICT CAREY Published: October 10, 2004

In 2001, two researchers and a Columbia University fertility expert published a startling finding in a respected medical journal: women undergoing fertility treatment who had been prayed for by Christian groups were twice as likely to have a successful pregnancy as those who had not.

Three years later, after one of the researchers pleaded guilty to conspiracy in an unrelated business fraud, Columbia is investigating the study and the journal reportedly pulled the paper from its Web site.

No evidence of manipulation has yet surfaced, and the study's authors stand behind their data.

But the doubts about the study have added to the debate over a deeply controversial area of research: whether prayer can heal illness.

Critics express outrage that the federal government, which has contributed $2.3 million in financing over the last four years for prayer research, would spend taxpayer money to study something they say has nothing to do with science.

"Intercessory prayer presupposes some supernatural intervention that is by definition beyond the reach of science," said Dr. Richard J. McNally, a psychologist at Harvard. "It is just a nonstarter, in my opinion, a total waste of time and money."

Prayer researchers, many themselves believers in prayer's healing powers, say scientists do not need to know how a treatment or intervention works before testing it.

Dr. Richard Nahin, a senior adviser at the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, said in an e-mail message that the studies were meant to answer practical questions, not religious ones.

"We only recently understood how aspirin worked, and the mechanisms of action of various antidepressants and general anesthetics remain under investigation," Dr. Nahin wrote.

He said a recent government study found that 45 percent of adults prayed specifically for health reasons, and suggested that many of them were poor people with limited access to care.

"It is a public health imperative to understand if this prayer offers them any benefit," Dr. Nahin wrote.

Some researchers also point out that praying for the relief of other people's suffering is a deeply human response to disease.

The 'Placebo Effect'

Since 2000, at least 10 studies of intercessory prayer have been carried out by researchers at institutions including the Mind/Body Medical Institute, a nonprofit clinic near Boston run by a Harvard-trained cardiologist, as well as Duke University and the University of Washington. Government financing of intercessory prayer research began in the mid-1990's and has continued under the Bush administration.

In one continuing study, financed by the National Institutes of Health and called "Placebo Effect in Distant Healing of Wounds," doctors at California Pacific Medical Center, a major hospital in San Francisco, inflict a tiny stab wound on the abdomens of women receiving breast reconstruction surgery, with their consent, and then determine whether the "focused intention" of a variety of healers speeds the wound's healing.

Two large trials of the effects of prayer on coronary health are currently under review at prominent medical journals.

Even those who defend prayer research concede that such studies are difficult. For one thing, no one knows what constitutes a "dose": some studies have tested a few prayers a day by individual healers, while others have had entire congregations pray together. Some have involved evangelical Christians; others have engaged rabbis, Buddhist and New Age healers, or some combination.

Another problem concerns the mechanism by which prayer might be supposed to work. Some researchers contend that prayer's effects - if they exist - have little to do with religion or the existence of God. Instead of divine intervention, they propose things like "subtle energies," "mind-to-mind communication" or "extra dimensions of space-time" - concepts that many scientists dismiss as nonsense. Others suggest that prayer may have a soothing effect that works like a placebo for believers who know they are being prayed for.

(*) Rest of article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/health/10prayer.html?hp&ex=1097467200&en=b3de3a2c07ddbf8e&ei=5094&partner=homepage

(l) (l) Have a delightful Autumn Sunday!

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 05:48 AM

The Mystery of the Bulge in the Jacket
By ELISABETH BUMILLER Published: October 9, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/09/politics/campaign/09bulge.html?oref=login (*) (*) check out the photo...it *is* a receiver! (or Sony Walkman ;)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 - What was that bulge in the back of President Bush's suit jacket at the presidential debate in Miami last week?

According to rumors racing across the Internet this week, the rectangular bulge visible between Mr. Bush's shoulder blades was a radio receiver, getting answers from an offstage counselor into a hidden presidential earpiece. The prime suspect was Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's powerful political adviser.

When the online magazine Salon published an article about the rumors on Friday, the speculation reached such a pitch that White House and campaign officials were inundated with calls.

First they said that pictures showing the bulge might have been doctored. But then, when the bulge turned out to be clearly visible in the television footage of the evening, they offered a different explanation.

"There was nothing under his suit jacket," said Nicolle Devenish, a campaign spokeswoman.

"It was most likely a rumpling of that portion of his suit jacket, or a wrinkle in the fabric."

Ms. Devenish could not say why the "rumpling" was rectangular.

Nor was the bulge from a bulletproof vest, according to campaign and White House officials; they said Mr. Bush was not wearing one.

(*) (*) Like they say, what comes out of Dubya's mouth is from other people....either the Veep Cheney or in this case Karl Rove. How can there be one half of Americans registered to vote actually belive in this man? Unbelievable! :| :| :o (*) (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 05:54 AM

October 9, 2004 The Town Hall Debate

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/09/opinion/9sat1.html

Town hall meetings are one vestige of early American democracy that modern presidential candidates know very well. No one who has survived a New Hampshire primary season needs to be told what it's like to answer questions tossed out by a group of average citizens. It's the democratic process in its most amiable state: earnest Americans asking serious questions about the issues. Last night's format was much more suited to George Bush's talents than the hard-edged debate last week, but John Kerry still managed to goad him to irritable near-shouting at some points.

One of the uncommitted voters in the audience sensibly asked President Bush to name three mistakes he'd made in office, and what he had done to remedy the damage. Mr. Bush declined to list even one, and instead launched into an impassioned defense of the invasion of Iraq as a good idea. The president's insistence on defending his decision to go into Iraq seemed increasingly bizarre in a week when his own investigators reported that there were no weapons of mass destruction there, and when his own secretary of defense acknowledged that there was no serious evidence of a connection between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda.

Even worse, the president's refusal to come up with even a minor error - apart from saying that he might have made some unspecified appointments that he now regretted - underscores his inability to respond to failure in any way except by insisting over and over again that his original decision was right.

Unfortunately, for long stretches of the evening, the format did not lead to such telling responses. On occasion, the arguments were impossible to follow. Heaven help any citizen who relied on last night's debate to understand what is going on with North Korea or who tried to understand the fight about tax cuts on Subchapter S corporations.

Mr. Bush was deeply unpersuasive when asked why he had not permitted the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. He claimed that the reason was "I want to make sure it cures you and doesn't kill you." Mr. Kerry cleanly retorted that four years ago in a campaign debate, Mr. Bush had said importing medicine from Canada sounded sensible.

And the president was utterly incoherent when asked about whom he might name to the Supreme Court in a second term. His comment about how he didn't want to offend any judges because he wanted "them all voting for me" was a joke - but an unfortunate one, given the fact that the president owes his job to a Supreme Court vote.

Mr. Kerry was weaker when he had to respond to a woman who wanted to know about spending federal money on abortions. Social issues seem to bring out the senator's worst tendencies to paint a word picture in shades of gray and equivocation.

Both men seemed overly defensive at times, as if they were fighting shadow opponents that were not even in the hall. Mr. Kerry seemed intent, without much prompting by Mr. Bush, on countering the attack ads run by the president's campaign and by other Republican organizations. Mr. Bush sometimes seemed as if he was trying to make up for his weak performance in Debate No. 1.

Mr. Kerry demonstrated, at the very minimum, a stature that was equal to the president's. If Mr. Bush was hoping to recover all the ground he lost last week, he failed in his mission.

The president seemed to fall back frequently on name-calling, denouncing his opponent as a liberal and a tool of the trial lawyers. "The president's just trying to scare," Mr. Kerry said. It will be another few weeks before we see how well that works.

(*) (*) Hopefully the Supreme Court doesn't get involved in choosing the REAL winner rhis year like in 2000. And maybe Dubya's brother in Florida won't be involved as well. (*)

(l) (l) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 05:58 AM

Nuclear Fiction By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: October 10, 2004

When W. debated Al Gore, it was the Insufficient versus the Insufferable.

When W. debated John Kerry, it was the Obfuscating versus the Oscillating.

We face a choice now between a president who rolled us on Iraq and a senator who got rolled by the president on Iraq.

George Bush is not giving an inch on Iraq. He's toughing out the cascade of confirmation and criticism from his own people about the hyperpower hyperbole that led to an unnecessary war and an unruly occupation. His advisers say it's better for the president to appear out of touch than apologetic. He'd rather seem delusional than deluded.

He can't admit what the Duelfer report says, that Saddam was no threat to the U.S. or any other country. The mushroom cloud was a Fig Newton of Dick Cheney's feverish imagination. That would mean W. didn't fix his father's screw-up, but he screwed up his father's fix. A big Oedipal oops.

After Bush 41's Persian Gulf war, Saddam devolved into the Norma Desmond of vicious dictators, shrinking but pretending to still be big, writing romance novels, trying to order liposuction machines, teeth-whitening material and hair transplant equipment, soaking up American culture like his favorite song, Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night,'' and his favorite book, Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."

The president may not have gotten his money's worth with the report of Charles Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector. After all, in a vain retroactive attempt to justify his hokum about W.M.D., he had 1,200 people working for 15 months - stretching our scarce supply of Arab linguists - to produce 918 pages at a cost of about a billion dollars just to find out that Saddam would have liked to have had weapons if he could have, but he couldn't, so he didn't.

But at least for his billion, the president got some earnest Introduction to American Literature analysis of the Iraqi dictator and his taste for some Western culture, noting that Saddam felt a kinship with Hemingway's protagonist Santiago, the poor Cuban fisherman (even though the rich Saddam liked to grenade-fish - toss a grenade in the water and then send in scuba divers to fetch the dead fish).

"Saddam's affinity for Hemingway's story is understandable, given the former president's background, rise to power, conception of himself and Hemingway's use of a rustic setting similar to Tikrit to express timeless themes," the report stated. "In Hemingway's story, Santiago hooks a great marlin, which drags his boat out to sea. When the marlin finally dies, Santiago fights a losing battle to defend his prize from sharks, which reduce the great fish, by the time he returns to his village, to a skeleton. The story sheds light on Saddam's view of the world and his place in it. ... to Saddam even a hollow victory was by his reckoning a real one."

Even though his own report stated that U.N. sanctions had worked to defang Saddam, Mr. Bush decided to stand firm on nonsense, insisting in the debate Friday night that "sanctions were not working. The United Nations was not effective at removing Saddam Hussein."

When a questioner named Linda asked the president to give three bum decisions he had made in office, Mr. Bush took a pass. Lincoln could admit mistakes. J.F.K. could admit mistakes. But W. thinks admitting mistakes is for powder puffs. Of his decision to invade Iraq, he said: "Sometimes in this world you make unpopular decisions because you think they're right." Or you stick to them even after you know they're wrong.

The president's living in a dream world. He kept insisting that 75 percent of Al Qaeda has been "brought to justice," even though such a statistic is misleading, since counterterrorism experts say that the invasion of Iraq was a recruiting boon for Osama and that Al Qaeda has metastasized and spawned other terrorist groups.

Mr. Bush tried to pretend the devastating Duelfer report backed him up, noting after the report came out that Saddam "retained the knowledge, the materials, the means and the intent to produce weapons of mass destruction and could have passed this knowledge to our terrorist enemies."

W. should have followed his father's policy on hypotheticals. As Poppy Bush would say, when someone asked him to be speculative: "If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its tail on the ground."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/opinion/10dowd.html

(*) (*) Lincoln could admit mistakes. J.F.K. could admit mistakes. But W. thinks admitting mistakes is for powder puffs. (*) (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 06:05 AM

Mondo Washington by James Ridgeway Village Voice
Bush Was Born a Ramblin' Man October 8th, 2004 11:22 PM

WASHINGTON—This time around, President George Bush seemed a bit more alert than during his last debate against John Kerry, although much of what he had to say was vague and hard to follow. In Friday's town-hall format, he rambled and every so often jumped up and said he was angry.

There was more of the incomprehensible Bush argument about our need to invade Iraq even if Saddam didn't have weapons of mass destruction. "I was not happy when they"—the inspectors—"didn't find any," the president said.

And he further explained the decision to attack: "First of all, we didn't find out they didn't have them"—weapons of mass destruction—"until we got there." He claimed that the administration had indeed sought international support for its actions, but when Kerry pointed out Bush had recently blocked the use of NATO for training Iraqi forces, the president dropped the subject.

Bush repeated the standard conservative line that his tax cuts help the middle class, although Kerry pointed out, as have numerous others, that the tax cuts mainly benefit only the very richest Americans. The president's basic argument is that tax cuts free up money for the economy. He had no answer to Kerry's charge that the Bush administration lost jobs, and nothing whatsoever to say when Kerry pointed out that Bush was the first president ever to cut taxes in the middle of a war. Bush had previously argued that the deficit was the result of spending for Iraq invasion. And he blamed, as he has in the past, the recession on Clinton.

Bush went after Kerry for being a liberal, invoking the name of Teddy Kennedy as the most liberal member of the Senate and claiming Kerry's health plan would be just another case of liberal big-government spending. In fact, both candidates support opening up the federal employees health care plan to the rest of America, and while that plan certainly offers a wider range of insurance options, it's little more than another version of consumer shopping, certainly not big-government spending or even any government spending.

When he ran in 2000, Bush supported letting people import drugs from Canada. On Friday, he said he was opposed to doing that because he feared drugs from the third world might slip into the U.S. from Canada. The big drug companies manufacture all over the world, and as Kerry pointed out, Canadian drugs come from American companies, packaged in American bottles.

And if Bush is so concerned about foreign drugs, why is he causing the government to back the importation of half the American supply of flu vaccine from a British company, when the supply is feared contaminated?

If there ever were a case of third-world drugs getting into the global market, it would be in the collection of blood by big drug companies from diseased prisoners in the Southern part of the U.S., for sale first in Canada and later in Europe and Asia. Thousands of hemophiliacs died as a result of this exportation of contaminated blood—again, not from the third world, but from the United States.

Bush sought to turn the issue of a draft to his advantage by declaiming, "We're not going to have a draft," although when Kerry pointed out that we already have a back-door draft of National Guard and Reserve troops, the president dropped the subject.

He also said with a straight face, "I am a good steward of the environment," although he did not rebut Kerry when the senator said he has cut back the pollution laws.

There were the predictable differences over abortion and stem cell research, with Bush opposing abortion and standing firm behind his stance for limited stem-cell research. Kerry argued for reproductive choice, even for the poor, and for a wider use of stem cell research.

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0440/ridgeway6.php

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 06:08 AM

David O. Russell gets to the ♥ of the matter with an existential farce and a Gulf War II doc
by Dennis Lim September 28th, 2004 10:20 AM

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0439/lim.php

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 06:11 AM

Adaptable actor obscures an object of desire, clarifies a cultural icon
by Jessica Winter October 5th, 2004 5:45 PM Village Voice

TORONTO—Given his sympathetic, finely nuanced portrayal of the young Che Guevara in Walter Salles's The Motorcycle Diaries (in release) and his stunning quadruple-edged performance in Pedro Almodóvar's Bad Education, Gael García Bernal has proved himself one of the most formidable actors of his young generation. In Almodóvar's lurid, labyrinthine thriller-melodrama (the centerpiece presentation at the New York Film Festival this weekend, and opening November 19), the 25-year-old is a flesh-and-blood Möbius strip, variously embodying an insecure actor-screenwriter, a bodacious drag performer, and a coolly Machiavellian operator.

"The character acknowledges that he's an object of desire, and he plays with that power," says the Mexico City–based Bernal, who sat down with the Voice during the recent Toronto International Film Festival. "I felt a dilemma sometimes—I wasn't sure if this was one character doing all four parts, or if it was four different characters. Like an actor, he changes method and adapts himself to the moment, just to get what he wants."

Almodóvar and Bernal reportedly clashed during filming, though both parties have remained respectfully taciturn about the nature of the conflict. "Pedro is like any good director—the thing that makes them all similar is what makes them all different, which is that they have a very specific point of view. He doesn't compromise his vision for anything or anyone, and he plays with his freedom—he does what he wants exactly the way he wants to do it." He pauses a moment, and adds thoughtfully, "Directing is pretty fucked up and hard."

The son of experimental-theater actors, Bernal is far more effusive about his experience with Salles filming The Motorcycle Diaries all over South America. "We were re-enacting a journey that was done 50 years ago, and what's surprising is that the social problems of Latin America are the same," says Bernal. "Which is heartbreaking in a way, but it also makes you feel how important it is to tell the story."

The actor has played Che twice now, previously in a Showtime biopic of Fidel Castro (Bernal dismisses the TV pic as "pretentious"), and has obviously given some degree of thought to Che's uncertain status as a countercultural icon. "We asked Alberto Granado"—Guevara's traveling companion, now in his eighties—"how would Ernesto feel about having his face all over the world on a T-shirt? He said, 'Well, knowing him, I think he wouldn't mind, especially if it was a girl.' "

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0440/winter4.php

(k) ,
SL

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 06:13 AM

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0440/winter2.php

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-10-2004, 06:14 AM

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 09:07 AM

"Santa Fe Trail hotel echoes with legends"
Tuesday, October 12, 2004 Posted: 12:36 PM EDT (1636 GMT) CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/10/12/cimarron.hotel.ap/index.html

CIMARRON, New Mexico (AP) -- The door to room No. 18 at the St. James Hotel is padlocked and never rented out.

T.J. Wright, a 19th century gunslinger, crawled inside the room and died after winning the hotel in a poker game and getting shot in the back as he left the table.

But the tale of Wright's demise is just one of many colorful stories in the 132-year-old hotel's past.

Some guests swear they smell the rose-scented perfume favored by Mary Lambert, wife of hotel founder Henri Lambert. Others claim an impish ghost occasionally turns up in the bar.

The hotel, which sits off the Santa Fe Trail in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, has 26 bullet holes in the tin ceiling of the dining room, original antiques, and the guest book signature of Jesse James' pseudonym R.H. Howard on display.

The hotel was founded -- originally as a saloon -- by Lambert, who had been President Lincoln's personal chef during the Civil War. By 1880, guests were staying over.

"You walk in the door and you've stepped back in time," said Roger Smith, the hotel's proprietor.

Karen Hudson of Albuquerque stayed at the hotel several times after seeing it featured on the Lifetime cable show "Unsolved Mysteries."

"It's charming, it's enchanting, captivating and haunted," she said.

On their first visit, Hudson said she and her husband stayed in the Zane Grey room. All the rooms are named after former guests, including Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp.

Hudson said that as she explored the hotel, "I could not shake the feeling of being watched or followed." And standing in front of room No. 18, "I could feel something like getting the heebie-jeebies on the back of my neck. My husband said it felt like the hair on the back of his neck was standing on end."

When they returned to their room after dinner, the door was wide open even though her husband recalled locking it. "Something or someone went in that room or at least let us know they were in there," she said. But her husband thinks a hotel employee unlocked it so the couple would believe a ghost had entered.

Murder mystery
"I personally cannot attest to any extraordinary experiences, but I have had employees and other very rational and calm thinkers who have," said Smith. "We've also had enough people come through here who tend to believe and study and chase such things who are convinced there are presences here."

There are no air conditioners, phones or televisions in the rooms, and some rooms lack private bathrooms. Several of the 14 rooms have seen better days, with plaster and wallpaper peeling off, but others have been restored to their original grandeur.

Smith, one of several investors who purchased the hotel in March 2002, said they're working "one room at a time."

For visitors who like the comforts of a typical motel, a two-story annex with 10 rooms was built across the courtyard.

The St. James is also a gathering place for local residents, who join tourists for upscale meals in a dining room that was originally the saloon.

On some weekends -- including Halloween this year -- the hotel lets guests play the roles of James, Earp, Oakley or others in a "Murder on the Santa Fe Trail" drama that begins with hors d'oeuvres Friday and lasts through Sunday brunch.

The hotel with its unusual past isn't the only reason to visit this small town in northeastern New Mexico.

With pristine streams and pine-covered mountains, the area is a favorite of adventurous anglers, hunters, photographers, hikers, motorcyclists and bikers.

Boy Scouts by the thousands spend their summers a couple of miles down the road camped in tents near Villa Philmonte, the former summer home of oil magnate Waite Phillips. It was donated to the Scouts -- along with 127,000 acres that are now home to a training camp and working ranch.

But don't expect to go to any movies or chain restaurants in Cimarron, where a shopping expedition takes only a few hours at the stores off the main drag. There's not even a stoplight along U.S. 64 through town, but there is a well-known speed trap that starts on the outskirts.

"It's a unique corner of the world," Smith said. "It's a quiet little burg with a world of history, and recent history. It's not that long ago there were gunfights in the street."

(*) (*) Anyone been there or game to go? I've been to Santa Fe and Taos numerous times, but never to this historic place. I loved that this town is so small there isn't a stop light! I guess that rules out cable modem access, but maybe satellite access to the Internet, hmmmm...... (*) (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 09:11 AM

A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released shortly after the debate indicated that more who watched it gave Kerry the edge. Among the poll's 511 respondents, 53 percent said Kerry did better, and 39 percent said Bush did. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/13/debate.main/index.html

(*) (*) C'mon election day! I'm definitely voting for Kerry. AND those annoying political ads stop! And then back to regularly scheduled drug ads. :(
The Internet sure beats mass media TV......but love those netflix films though for computer breaks. (l)

Bai Ling,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 09:20 AM

My Sister's Keeper (2003) (not rated)
Kathy Bates, Elizabeth Perkins and Lynn Redgrave deliver compelling performances in this Hallmark Hall of Fame family drama based on a true story. Two sisters (Bates and Perkins) have a special yet complicated relationship. They lead completely different lives (Bates has a severe form of bipolar disorder) and must overcome ideological and societal barriers and familial baggage to strengthen and seal their sibling bond.
Starring: Elizabeth Perkins, Kathy Bates
Director: Ron Lagomarsino
Genre: Drama

(*) (*) Nice story and Bates as always shines in her performance. I liked it but wouldn't watch it again. (*)

Solomon & Gaenor (2000) (Rated R)
Two lovers from different backgrounds try to stay together amid religious turmoil. In 1911, anti-Semitism runs rampant in Wales, so Solomon hides his Jewish heritage to make a living as a salesman. Gaenor, unaware of Solomon's ethnicity until she becomes pregnant, stands by him, but her family objects to the relationship. When riots erupt, the couple tries to escape persecution and save their unborn child in this Oscar-nominated romance.
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Nia Roberts
Director: Paul Morrison
Genre: Drama
Format: Widescreen, More
Language: English (however there was Yiddish and Welsh as well with English subtitles which added to the film rather than "felt like "work" trying to keep up with the action and dialogue.)

(*) (*) (*) (*) I really liked this film. I'd suggest watching it with someone and definitely on a day when you're feeling good so the ending won't make you cry. The cinematography was poignant and sense of 1911 Wales felt real. For lovers of history, other countries and romance, this film is a gem. It was nominated for an Academy Award. (l)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 09:58 AM

"Addicted to 9/11" By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 14, 2004

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I hear the president and vice president slamming John Kerry for saying that he hopes America can eventually get back to a place where "terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance." The idea that President Bush and Mr. Cheney would declare such a statement to be proof that Mr. Kerry is unfit to lead actually says more about them than Mr. Kerry. Excuse me, I don't know about you, but I dream of going back to the days when terrorism was just a nuisance in our lives.

If I have a choice, I prefer not to live the rest of my life with the difference between a good day and bad day being whether Homeland Security tells me it is "code red" or "code orange" outside. To get inside the Washington office of the International Monetary Fund the other day, I had to show my ID, wait for an escort and fill out a one-page form about myself and my visit. I told my host: "Look, I don't want a loan. I just want an interview." Somewhere along the way we've gone over the top and lost our balance.

That's why Mr. Kerry was actually touching something many Americans are worried about - that this war on terrorism is transforming us and our society, when it was supposed to be about uprooting the terrorists and transforming their societies.

The Bush team's responses to Mr. Kerry's musings are revealing because they go to the very heart of how much this administration has become addicted to 9/11. The president has exploited the terrorism issue for political ends - trying to make it into another wedge issue like abortion, guns or gay rights - to rally the Republican base and push his own political agenda. But it is precisely this exploitation of 9/11 that has gotten him and the country off-track, because it has not only created a wedge between Republicans and Democrats, it's also created a wedge between America and the rest of the world, between America and its own historical identity, and between the president and common sense.

By exploiting the emotions around 9/11, Mr. Bush took a far-right agenda on taxes, the environment and social issues - for which he had no electoral mandate - and drove it into a 9/12 world. In doing so, Mr. Bush made himself the most divisive and polarizing president in modern history.

By using 9/11 to justify launching a war in Iraq without U.N. support, Mr. Bush also created a huge wedge between America and the rest of the world. I sympathize with the president when he says he would never have gotten a U.N. consensus for a strategy of trying to get at the roots of terrorism by reshaping the Arab-Muslim regimes that foster it - starting with Iraq.

But in politicizing 9/11, Mr. Bush drove a wedge between himself and common sense when it came to implementing his Iraq strategy. After failing to find any W.M.D. in Iraq, he became so dependent on justifying the Iraq war as the response to 9/11 - a campaign to bring freedom and democracy to the Arab-Muslim world - that he refused to see reality in Iraq. The president seemed to be saying to himself, "Something so good and right as getting rid of Saddam can't possibly be going so wrong." Long after it was obvious to anyone who visited Iraq that we never had enough troops there to establish order, Mr. Bush simply ignored reality. When pressed on Iraq, he sought cover behind 9/11 and how it required "tough decisions" - as if the tough decision to go to war in Iraq, in the name of 9/11, should make him immune to criticism over how he conducted the war.

Lastly, politicizing 9/11 put a wedge between us and our history. The Bush team has turned this country into "The United States of Fighting Terrorism." "Bush only seems able to express our anger, not our hopes," said the Mideast expert Stephen P. Cohen. "His whole focus is on an America whose role in the world is to negate the negation of the terrorists. But America has always been about the affirmation of something positive. That is missing today. Beyond Afghanistan, they've been much better at destruction than construction."

I wish Mr. Kerry were better able to articulate how America is going to get its groove back. But the point he was raising about wanting to put terrorism back into perspective is correct. I want a president who can one day restore Sept. 11th to its rightful place on the calendar: as the day after Sept. 10th and before Sept. 12th. I do not want it to become a day that defines us. Because ultimately Sept. 11th is about them - the bad guys - not about us. We're about the Fourth of July.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html?ex=1255492800&en=04d423310f7e2328&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Maureen Dowd will appear on Friday. (*) (*) I guess that Tom is still out on leave still working on his book. Maureen rocks as a columnist so I don't feel too deprived... ;) Both are great writers and very opinionated, like me. (a) (*) (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 11:15 AM

http://www.retrocrush.com/costumes/

(*) Silly, but a brief break worth the look-see. (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 05:11 PM

Digital data is transient, fragile, and most importantly, difficult for many people to comprehend in its manipulation. They understand the benefits of it, but feel they can't inherently trust something that requires almost occult knowledge of to really alter or adjust. What they do understand is that there are people who have that knowledge and that makes them feel a degree of powerlessness. -- Stephen Crim

Electronic media have wonderful properties (speed, reliability, density, etc.), but paper media have a pair of critical security properties not shared by any electronic media. (1) Paper is a write-once medium, meaning once it is written it cannot be erased or overwritten by software without detection.
(2) Paper is directly human readable, without the need for any hardware or software intermediary. Paper records are important because of these properties, and not because it is a retro technology that we are familiar with. -- David Jefferson

We can let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good by getting rid of the current generation of touch screens while we wait for technologists who, by and large, know very little about the administration of elections, to develop the perfectly secure system. Or we can go with the existing generation of equipment, count more votes and guarantee the secret ballot to millions of Americans who are disabled or whose primary language is not English. -- Jim Dickson

I think that one problem in the communication barrier between elections officials and computer scientists, especially ones specializing in security, is that many of the elections officials do not realize that you cannot "test" security the way you test "accuracy". For example, if I want to test if my house is secure, I can ask my neighbor to try to break in. But, if he is not successful, that does not imply that my house is secure. It may imply that my neighbor is not a very talented burglar. It may also imply that someone professional with the right tools could get in in some way that I never imagined. -- Avi Rubin

(*) (*) Got to love it! Especially the last one about security ;) :| (*) (*)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-14-2004, 10:09 PM

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=92e0357

(*) (*) There are also links to create your own. Enjoy! (*) (*)

(S) (k) .
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-15-2004, 07:31 PM

What Tree Did You Fall From?

Find your birthday and then find your tree. This is really cool and somewhat accurate. Then send it to all your friends, including the one that sent it to you, so they can find out what tree they fell from, but don’t forget to change the subject line to your tree.

Dec 23 to Jan 1 - Apple Tree Jun 25 to Jul 4 - Apple Tree
Jan 1 to Jan 11 - Fir Tree Jul 5 to Jul 14 - Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 - Elm Tree Jul 15 to Jul 25 - Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 3 - Cypress Tree Jul 26 to Aug 4 - Cypress Tree
Feb 4 to Feb 8 - Poplar Tree Aug 5 to Aug 13 - Poplar Tree
Feb 9 to Feb 18 - Cedar Tree Aug 14 to Aug 23 - Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 - Pine Tree Aug 24 to Sep 2 - Pine Tree
Mar 1 to Mar 10 -Weeping Willow Tree Sep 3 - Sep 12-Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 - Lime Tree Sep 13 to Sep 22 - Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) -Oak Tree Sep 23 (only) - Olive Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 - Hazelnut Tree Sep 24 to Oct 3 - Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 - Rowan Tree Oct 4 to Oct 13 - Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Maple Tree Oct 14 to Oct 23 - Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 - Walnut Tree Oct 24 to Nov 11 - Walnut Tree
May 1 to May 14 - Poplar Tree Nov 12 to Nov 21 - Chestnut Tree
May 15 to May 24 - Chestnut Tree Nov 22 to Dec 1 - Ash Tree
May 25 to Jun 3 - Ash Tree Dec 2 to Dec 11 - Hornbeam Tree
Jun 4 to Jun 13 - Hornbeam Tree Dec 12 to Dec 21 - Fig Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree Dec 22 (only) - Beech Tree
Jun 24 (only) - Birch Tree

Your Tree (in alpha order)

Apple Tree (Love) – quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, and attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous, sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs affectionate partner.

Ash Tree (Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive, demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention, needs love and much emotional support.

Beech Tree (Creative) – has good taste, concerned about its looks, materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).

Birch Tree (Inspiration) – vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly, unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.

Cedar Tree (Confidence) – of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious, healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

Chestnut Tree (Honesty) – of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) – strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what Life has to give but doesn’t necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness) – pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others, noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.

Fig Tree (Sensibility) – very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest, loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, few sexual relationships, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and great intelligence.

Fir tree (Mysterious) – extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them, hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish, many friends, very reliable.

Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) – charming, sense of humor, very demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics, popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.

Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) – of cool beauty, cares for its looks and condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of its decisions, very conscientious.

Lime Tree (Doubt) – intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones, hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough, but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices for family and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to use them, can become a complainer, great leadership qualities, is jealous at times but extremely loyal.

Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) – no ordinary person, full of imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud, self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants to impress.

Oak Tree (Brave) – robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting, independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the ground, person of action.

Olive Tree (Wisdom) – loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable, balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm, well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.

Pine Tree (Peacemaker) – loves agreeable company, craves peace and harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally soft, low self esteem, needs affection and reassurance.

Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) – looks very decorative, talented, not very self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy, reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.

Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) – full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, extremely generous, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

Walnut Tree (Passion) – unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts, often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions, spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very jealous and passionate, no compromise.

Weeping Willow (Melancholy) – likes to be stress free, loves family life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition, suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves to make others laugh

(*) (*) Enjoy and have a sweet weekend. I'm thinking about taking a trip soon for a break to the WEST coast end of the month. Take care, love, peace and "Bai Ling". (look it up on google.com, that's where I found it.... (*) (*)

Carpe diem,
(k) (k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:27 AM

In the last 10 years, pizza-sized dishes have sprouted on homes all over the country. But how does satellite TV actually work?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/14/technology/circuits/14howw.html?8cir

(*) (*) Of course it works, and eventually I'll have access the broadband Internet with it form my ranch. Got to love this tech stuff! Had a wonderful, brisk walk with Doc earlier and the Autumn wind is really blowing....<tossing long blonde mane back ;) > This time of year just makes my heart sing on days like this. (l)

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:32 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/15/technology/15power.html

(*) (*) The physical limits however, will prevent huge multimedia files and associated high data rates. It is good news for folks living in rural areas who already have electricity and telephone service. Still, there are DBS (dirct broadxast satellite) technologies that have been serving Internet for those away from even the suburbs of cities. (*)

Have a delightful Saturday!
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:36 AM

One must bear in mind one thing. It isn't necessary to know what that thing is.
-- John Ashbery

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
-- Chinese Proverb

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
-- Richard Bach

He is able who thinks he is able.
-- Buddha

Nobody ever drowned in sweat.
-- US Marine saying

(*) (*) I'm not sure about that last quote with some of my "summer moments" due to mid-life hormones. :o (f) (*)

Respectfully,
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:38 AM

Received in e-mail yesterday and gave me a smile ....

There is a new virus circulating. It is called "WORK."

If you receive WORK from your colleagues, your boss, or from anyone else, DO NOT TOUCH IT under any circumstances. This virus wipes out your private life completely. If you should happen to come in contact with this virus, take two friends and go straight to the nearest bar. Order drinks
immediately and after three rounds you will find that WORK has been completely deleted from your brain.

Forward this virus warning immediately to at least five friends. ;)

Should you realize you do not have five friends, this means you are already infected by this virus and WORK already controls your life. If this is the case, go to the nearest bar and stay until you make at least five friends. Then retry.

If you think you have five friends, but are not entirely positive, head for the bar anyway ... it never hurts to be safe.

(h) (h)

(k) ,
SL

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:40 AM

What economists do all day:

A very nice Flash file (must allow ActiveX controls); I wanted to save it separately, but no dice:

http://www.foulds2000.freeserve.co.uk/economists.htm

(*) (*) Of course the Brits often come up with the most hilarious web sites!

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:42 AM

A while ago, a friend sent this link to a company for which I think (fear?) that I (or all of us) may have worked (or for whom we may all still be working). Can make you laugh and cry at the same time in a way that only our administration's economic policies do:

http://www.massivecorporation.com/about/index.html

Carpe Diem,
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:46 AM

Hoax Industries presents ENOON (Energy Out Of Nowhere):

http://www.geocities.com/hoaxindustries/index.html

:| ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:54 AM

BY GE, THAT General Electric: Imagination Cubed. It's a beta test web site not yet published out to the Joe and Jill "public" and it allows instantaneous drawing and painting. I can't draw (words are my "paint") but this is something kids and adults would enjoy, I think.

http://www.imaginationcubed.com/LaunchPage#

(*) (*) Would LOVE to see some nice Autumn drawings of any other kind of nature. (f) Maybe come back and post the web link of your work? I'd love to see some from this or the "Make you own Picasso" site in the next posting below.

Peace,
(k) Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-16-2004, 10:57 AM

This is my version but click on the create your own and enjoy the process!

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=92e0357

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-18-2004, 11:57 AM

One of my favorite sites built in Flash is http://www.homestarrunner.com. (*) (*) Don't forget to turn your speakers up. There is so much here, it would take hours. (*)

Of course, http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/ always has "featured sites" on its site.

Another fun site is http://www.footjoy.com/myjoys/Default.asp?bhcp=1 - you can build your own golf shoe. (for those so inclined.... ;)

(*) (*) Have fun creating your own stuff as a break from work, school or life in general. Have a delicious Autumn Monday! Lots of sunshine and cool temps here. Poor Doc the boxer is under a blanket because his mama doesn't want to turn the heat on yet. It's a bit brisk and feels wonderful. I may have to turn it on tonight......into the 40's.....yummy under the down comforter and quilt. (k) (*) (*)

(k) (k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-18-2004, 12:05 PM

I thought some B-F members might be interested in the following statistics and the accompanying article. The report was written by some of the highest ranking academics in two of the highest ranking universities in the United States, Caltech and MIT. The report is titled: a Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project entitled Voting: What is, What could be.

This is an intriguing evaluative study that I would suggest for everyone to read, especially for those interested in future of democracy and political institutions. The evaluation was done by teams of researchers from Caltech and MIT and can be read in its entirety by activating the link in the reference below.

In Part One of the Report the authors say that:

"We estimate that between four and six million presidential votes were lost in the 2000 election. These are qualified voters who wanted to vote but could not or were not counted. (Losses occur for two reasons: first, some voters do not, or cannot, participate due to problems with voter registration or polling place practices; second, some votes that are cast are not counted due to problems with ballots.)

Two million ballots, two percent of the 100 million ballots cast for president in 2000, were not counted because they were unmarked, damaged, or ambiguous. Of this two percent it is estimated that 0.5 percent did not intend to vote for president, so 1.5 percent (or 1.5 million people) thought they voted for president but their votes were not counted". (Caltech/MIT, 2001, 8).

In this well planned and conducted 92 page evaluative report there are numerous statistics as well as suggestions as to how to remedy the problems associated with public voting and how to incorporate new available technology to implement their suggestions.

Reference:
Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, California Institute of Technology and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation. (2001). Voting: What is, What could be. Retrieved October 16, 2004 from
http://www.vote.caltech.edu/Reports/july01/July01_VTP_%20Voting_Report_Entire.pdf

(*) (*) No surprise here, right? (*) (*)

Peace,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-18-2004, 12:09 PM

sweetlady

10-18-2004, 03:17 PM

Days of Heaven (1978)
Director Terrence Malick's beautifully shot period piece tells the story of Bill (Richard Gere), an early-1900s Chicago steel mill worker who flees town after accidentally killing a man. He moves his girlfriend Abby (Brooke Adams) and younger sister to the wheat fields of Texas to search for a better life. Instead, they run into tragedy when a wealthy farmer (Sam Shepard) falls for Abby. The film's cinematography earned an Oscar.
Starring: Richard Gere, Sam Shepard
Director: Terrence Malick Genre: Drama

(*) (*) (*) (*) The cinematography was absolutely breathtaking. I had never heard of this film and it was worth the watch on A&ETV. I really liked it, and saw the early 1900's poytrayed in a poignant manner and historically correct. (l)

Back to the research and reading.....Monday is always "start pushing the boulder up the hill" each week for me. There's light at the end of the tunnel.

(k) ,
Sweetlady

sweetlady

10-20-2004, 10:37 PM

We're fifty years into the future
Rupert Goodwins ZDNet UK October 18, 2004, 15:10 BST

Fifty years ago today, a revolution started. Let's not stop the party just yet.

Ladies and gentlemen – please raise your glasses and toast the Regency TR-1. On 18 October, 1954, this revolutionary device was announced in America. Fifty years later, it has been blamed for rock and roll, the death of the US consumer electronics industry, the relentless rise of IBM and the shocking state of modern manners. Not a bad score for a transistor radio.

It wasn't just a transistor radio, of course. It was the first. In fact, it was the first transistorised mass-market device, and it symbolised the central role that technology was taking in the post-war world. Never underestimate the power of such symbols – Thomas Watson Jr., head of IBM, gave his senior managers a TR-1 apiece to kick-start the company's transition from valves. That symbolism had a different flavour ten years later as outfits like Sony and Toshiba used the same technology to smoothly wrest control of the market from its inventors. Outsourcing fears are nothing new.

A lot has changed. The TR-1 had four transistors and cost $50; last week I bought a 256MB SD card – for a radio, appropriately enough – at about the same price. That has two billion transistors in it, or four thousand times as many as were used in the entire production run of the Regency. Factoring in devaluation, each transistor costs around four billion times less. We're living through an industrial revolution of unparalleled speed and reach – and it's all borne aloft on a massive tsunami of transistors.

Where will it go? Let's skip forward to 2054. For the same effective price of a TR-1, a straightforward extrapolation promises a memory card with two exabytes – one exabyte being around 10 to the power of 24 (if you don't like those numbers, feel free to substitute your own). Artificial intelligence will have evolved by then, because there's simply nothing else to do with those sorts of numbers – our hypothetical memory chip will have the same number of transistors as the synapses of around ten billion people. That's practically a planetful.
There are some small problems to overcome on the way. Nobody knows how the brain works, although there's lots of fascinating work being done in cognitive neuroscience – last week, researchers at the University of Rochester announced that adult ferrets used 80 percent of their brain's processing power to think about things after being shown clips from The Matrix. Nobody knows what this means (although the figures may be substantially lower for the sequels), but the fact remains that we are developing some very powerful tools to peer into the workings of mind.

It may be coincidence that the human brain appears to be made out of a number of discrete processing units bound together by a complex system of buses, the same direction processor designers are taking in an attempt to use their cornucopia of transistors. Certainly, the commercial pressures are all in place to make chips better at analysing the same sense data with which humans are most comfortable: vision, speech, even touch, smell and taste are areas receiving substantial funding. We know the way we think is intricately linked with the way we sense: it is inconceivable that research here won't feed into more general theories of artificial thought.

Such considerations may seem a thousand light years away from the concerns of today's IT, where we struggle to keep our dull brutes going on a diet of buggy software and tainted data streams. Security and management in large, interconnected systems are hard enough without dreams of hyper-intelligent silicon AIs. Yet evolution created mind because it is a powerful way to analyse threats, co-ordinate groups of individually weak creatures into strong societies, and map the world around us to reflect and control danger and opportunity. If you've been listening to the promises of the major business software vendors, you may recognise these ideas.

It would be trite at this point to say that effective evolution demands an environment where modifications can be freely made to existing systems: you're a smart kid. You draw the analogies. But it's not overly simplistic to point out that if fifty years of lightly moderated innovation can take a four-transistor radio capable of playing Elvis Presley and relaying sports results and turn it into a global network that consumes and generates our culture and businesses, it would be rather short-sighted to put the brakes on just as it's getting interesting.

http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/rupertgoodwins/0,39020691,39170556,00.htm

(*) (*) Sending good th