Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sun Day


18 comments:

  1. A sunburst; very good. And we can argue that Howard Dean helped to bring it about.

    Lots of silly, shallow, ignorant stuff being written about the Republican Party and why it lost or what it needs to do, but little about how it got to where it is, much less how long it took to get from where it was to where it is. In the words of U. Utah Phillips, "the long memory is the most radical idea in this country." My personal landmark memory in the radical evolution of the GOP is
    Max Rafferty (click). It's nonsense to say that the current GOP wants to take us back to the 1950's; they would want nothing to do with Ike, for instance, or with any of the great Republican senators of the 1950's--decent, practical people all.

    I think that if it is at all possible for the GOP to reinvent itself, it will similarly take decades, at least a full generation. I don't think it can. I also don't think it has hit bottom yet. Maybe the Democratic Party will fission in order to provide a loyal opposition. No matter what happens, it is sure to be interesting.

    --Alan

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    1. I can't agree about the length of time it takes. Even if you take the whole series of changes from Goldwater to Reagan as a single change, you're talking about 12 years. And then the 1994 Contract with America looks to me like a major change taking place almost overnight. I am convinced that the Republican party will reinvent itself quickly and successfully, although not painlessly. But I'm not entirely sure what the new Republican party will look like.

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  2. I just watched Obama's victory speech; it was pretty darn good. Then I started to watch Romney's concession speech, but only got about halfway through. I had never seen one of his speeches before---his body language is ABSOLUTELY WEIRD.

    And thus to bed.

    --Alan

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  3. Did you see the article about NJ weatherman Gary Sartkowski? It shows the power of an accurate forecast and a well placed personal plea. I actually saw that plea at the time. It was part of his formal National Weather Service forecast, which forecasts are typically impersonal and basic info
    http://mobile.nj.com/advnj/pm_31080/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ldBw4HY8

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  4. Glad he did that. And really glad that a lot of people listened.

    Oh, Mike checked the line the whole distance, right up to my box. And gave me all sorts of advice for unplugging and replugging inside the house. Problem is, we've done this drill before, sometime for months before it gets resolved. Usually cold *isn't* the problem -- it's more often been heat, lol! I just think he doesn't have test tools that are fine enough to see what's happening. I can see it on the task manager, and he has to listen with his ears. . . . My uproad neighbor Nancy did this dance for over a year with them a couple of years back. In the past, it has ALWAYS lead to a complete outrage. . . . But it's so much harder for me to deal with it then: no more public phones around here.

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  5. A light frost this morning, the first of the year. And the shopping center I visited yesterday was absolutely mobbed.

    --Alan

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  6. The past few nights I've been reading, and last night I finished, a fascinating book, The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives. Highly recommended, even for non Math lovers.

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    1. That does sound good! Have you seen these? ...

      The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones in the History of Mathematics (Sterling Milestones) by Clifford A. Pickover

      The Physics Book: From the Big Bang to Quantum Resurrection, 250 Milestones in the History of Physics (Sterling Milestones) by Clifford A. Pickover

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  7. Unbelievable. Daughter passed out during rehearsal today (she's okay now) and now we both have bruises on our right cheek.

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    1. Renee! What caused her to pass out? Was this choir rehearsal or for a play? So glad she's okay now! Take care you matched set!

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    2. She's playing a messenger in her school's production of Hamlet. The actual play starts later this week. She's only got one line, but has to attend these whole 3 plus hour rehearsals and remain standing the whole time.

      I asked if she ate, and she says that she DID have a sandwich before I took her to rehearsal (before heading to teach my own class).

      Thing is, she decided to become a vegetarian 5 years ago--and I don't think she's well enough informed about how to make sure her body is getting all the nutrients it needs. Plus, she, like her mother, has a low iron count. She was prescribed iron tablets by her doctor, but she didn't take them consistently. I have no idea when we last filled that prescription for her.

      By the way, I'm not doubting that it's possible to eat a healthy diet without meat. I just don't think that SHE really knows how to do so. She's also a pretty stubborn chick, and tends to balk in a major way if anyone tries to "tell her what to do" (translation: offer advice of ANY kind.)

      Getting ready to turn in. Will touch base tomorrow. Take care, everyone.

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    3. I hear you, Renee. Sounds like there may need to be a rule (which maybe the doctor can lay down), that if she wants to be a vegetarian she has to take a good multi-vitamin with iron, at least until her body is no longer growing. And I say that as the mom of a family that was all vegetarian for many years...!

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    4. Also, as someone who was once anemic, I think passing out is grounds for having her iron count checked. A teen ought to be able to stand up for three hours.

      Good books to check out of the library:

      A Teen's Guide to Going Vegetarian [Paperback]
      by Judy Krizmanic

      and the companion cookbook
      The Teen's Vegetarian Cookbook (same author)

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    5. Scary! So glad she's OK.

      I echo listener with the wishes of luck in getting her to eat better.

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  8. Back from the Windycon science fiction convention. Except for one book discussion and a few parties, spent pretty much the whole convention sitting at a table with the intent of persuading people to vote to hold the 2015 Worldcon in Spokane and the 2014 North American Science Fiction Convention in Phoenix. Not nearly as many people stopped by as I'd hoped, although part if that is probably that most of the people there had had a number of previous opportunities to get the information.

    Other minor disappoints are that the Bears lost and the heating element in the clothes dryer seems to have given up the ghost.

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