PBS took a stab at the history of our modern economy. I am not going to endorse everything the series says, but it is a good purview of what goes on in our complicated world of dollars and cents, not to mention all those other important currencies.
Author Archives: John Wallenfeldt
Best letter ever written to a Lawyer | Edible Apple
How to have the last word, even in a losing argument.
Apparently the brewer of Freetail seems to be a kind of thinker too.
Why are microbrew guys more interesting than the average folk?
Giffords Recovering, But Civil Discourse Hasn’t : NPR
I do not know what is worse, that we had a lunatic try to assassinate their elected representative and we learned nothing from it or that most of the hate-filled commenters on the story see no problem spewing their hate.
Have, at least, a small sense of shame when posting related to this story.
The Banality of Urinating on Taliban Corpses – Robert Wright – International – The Atlantic
Some needed thoughts on the four moronic Marines who decided to violate some enemy corpses and put it online.
Sports & Religion
For some daffy reason I can’t embed this. So go watch and come back.
As a baseball fan, I always come back to this scene when Tebow comes up in conversation.
“Lord, I know I always said I would never involve you in a baseball game. Always seemed silly. You’ve got enough to do.”
Or as the plot reads:
“God, I always said I would never bother you about baseball, Lord knows you have bigger things to worry about.”
Either way, that’s the Billy Chapel approach from “For Love of the Game”.
Hell, that should be EVERYONE’S approach, at least on the outside.
Granted, Billy *does* ask for help on high at that moment, but only to take away some shoulder pain. No bowing, prostrating, or proselytizing.
No signature prayer move. No verses inscribed on his face.
He just did his job, and if the Almighty wanted to have a say in it, that was entirely up to him.
I’m no Pats fan in general, but that game tonight was damned entertaining to watch for the sheer comeuppance value. Tebow needed to be knocked down a peg, and so do his bandwagon fans. Not Bronco fans, Tebow fans. The Bronc fans have earned their share of hope – and misery – and they stick around despite some horrific heartbreak over the years.
The others are just looking to push a message at the expense of all else. Don’t believe me? Then why the hell was Focus on the Family inserting themselves into beer and car ads?
Matt Bors: Sweater vest of the repressed
GOP Muffs Up Hispanic Outreach Effort Pretty Much Immediately | TPM2012
I don’t know why this surprises anyone. The GOP has spent the last 50 years collecting every racist in the country like they were Pokemon cards. Even their “Massachusetts liberal” presidential candidates can’t help but give warm bear hugs to bigoted blowhards.
I mean, I know Republicans who aren’t racists, but many of them refuse to criticize those that are for the sake of party line purity.
You sleep with pigs, you wake up in the stink. That’s all I’ve got to say.
On Winner-Take-All Politics | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com
Bill Moyers is back. Thank God.
Are mangoes the new banana? | Marketplace from American Public Media
Get used to mangoes. Folks are trying to get you familiar with them so that you will eat more of them, particularly fresh ones.
Not that I mind. I love the damned things.
Kansas GOP House Speaker ‘Prays’ That Obama’s ‘Children Be Fatherless And His Wife A Widow’ | ThinkProgress
Using religion as an excuse to sanction assassination by elected officials.
Nice.
Here’s the deal, the President is half-black. Get over it.
Hell, he might even get re-elected. And if your party’s goal is solely to make him a one term president, and if your goal is to scare the rest of America into not voting for a minority president again, you’re in trouble. Because even if you achieve your first goal and Obama gets voted out, you had better start worrying about your second goal.
If you demonize the minority, and play the anti-Muslim, anti-black or -brown or -whatever card, you might very well succeed.
And after you have spent years demonizing non-Christians and non-whites, you might wake up and find a country not interested in YOUR religion. You WILL find a country that sees YOU as the minority.
And after your decades of racial and religious intolerance, how will the new majority treat YOU?
Maybe it is time to start thinking a little more long term and learn some humility.