Saturday, July 18, 2015

Peonies



14 comments:

  1. Whoopee for politicians who speak for us!

    And here is a thinkpiece:

    The end of capitalism has begun [Click] A fascinating read--I must purchase the book

    --Alan And now to bed far later than I should--hospital this weekend.

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    1. When I first saw the title I thought, "What does he mean by capitalism? We haven't had anything Adam Smith or John D. Rockefeller would recognize as capitalism for over a century." Apparently what he means is neoliberalism. Then he starts talking about how the information age is changing everything, with a strong focus on the sharing economy. Well, the first World Science Fiction Convention, the mention the example I am most strongly tied in to, took place in 1939. Not exactly new, IMHO.

      And then he starts talking about Europe. Reasonable enough for a Britisher. But from this side of the Atlantic, Europ's problems are Europe's problems. That's when I stopped reading.

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  2. Great pics, Listener! I'm gonna snitch the closeups for possible use as FB profile pics once Pluto has run his course. I noticed somebody else in a discussion thread I was on also had Pluto. And I noticed the L.A. Times referred to it as a planet. I really do like Neil Degrasse Tyson, but he has some nutty ideas, of which demoting Pluto is the one I can't quite forgive him for. *shrug*Guess I'm nutty in my own way.

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    1. Re Pluto: What do you think of Ceres? Doesn't that have as good a claim to be a planet as Pluto? If not, why not?

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    2. Sure it does. I have no problem with more than nine planets. If memory serves, one of the so called arguments put forward by Pluto haters is that nine plus planets is too many. That makes no sense to me. A solar system has the number of planets, large and small, asteroids, comets,etc. as it has. You don't arbitrarily decide that something isn't a planet because you like the TV show "Eight Is Enough."

      And, yes, I realize I'm not making a lot of sense. Silly and lacking in reasoning though it is, the answer above more or less expresses my opinion on the matter.

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    3. And I'm puzzled because I've never heard any argument about the number of planets. The only argument I have heard is that, whereas true planets have cleared all other bodies from the vicinity of their orbits, Pluto and Ceres have not. They're not large enough to do that. But, unlike asteroids, they are large enough to have differentiated cores and mantles.

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  3. Our Bernie is getting a lot of press. And I notice a lot of Deaniacs seem to be supporting him. The Donald claims HRC is still the frontrunner, the one he has to beat but, ahem. Were we just talking about nuts? I can't believe *anyone* is taking him seriously! Came across a photo on my FB feed the other day - apparently one of my Enge friends is supporting The Donald. It was a photo of a crowd and the caption said something like, "So, this is what fifteen thousand people look like." I had to laugh out loud. But it seemed unkind to point out to Dorothy that Bernie gets four and five and six times that many at every appearance. So I just scrolled on. It did give me a chuckle though. Fifteen thousand. Whoopee! *smirk*

    Also saw something, don't remember where, that said Republicans are being drawn to Bernie too. In fact...hmmm...seems to me there's a Facebook page, Republicans for Bernie or something like that. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he was a truly bipartisan candidate?

    Then, if he'd pick Howard as his running mate or even give him a really good Cabinet position... Oh well, I guess it doesn't cost anything to dream.

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    1. That would be more plausible if Howard would endorse Bernie instead of Hillary…! I'm a bit miffed that my Vermonters aren't together.

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  4. We had peonies in our garden in England. But I've never seen pale pink, only the dark pink. Really pretty.

    OK, I'll shut up now.

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  5. Our Disability Pride Parade maintained its record of never having had rain. But 20 min. after the post-parade entertainment was over a thunderstorm blew in. I got drenched as I was walking to the EL station. And when I got home I discovered Oak Park had experienced 60 mph winds, with tree limbs down everywhere.

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    1. I'm sorry you got wet, Bill. Still, that record is remarkable.

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    2. Wow! So glad you made it home okay, Bill!!

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  6. Re: the Peonies, Cat, the Shelburne Museum keeps a huge variety of them! Amazing!!

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  7. Alan, thanks for the link. I enjoyed the article! Lots to mull, there.

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