Short Takes on the Day, 09/03/09

Tags

anniversary, astronomy, Chevron, Crafts, education, EFM, energy, exobiology, GOP, Humor, knitting, Levi Johnston, Obama, oil companies, right wing, Sarah Palin

Well, I’m about churched out, at least yakking about it for a while. I know my readership is kind of split between those that like religion posts and those that would rather not, but I’m back on more secular ground today, and we are going to hop around and see what’s afoot.

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First on the agenda is that the Contrarian and I are celebrating ten years of wedded bliss today. That means dinner out which is about all we do. We could say we celebrate every day, but seriously we don’t lack from spending time together so it’s not that big a deal to either of us. We got a lovely card from CEC. It was lovely to be remembered.

Last night I had my first EFM class, and I came home with HOMEWORK!. Not that I didn’t expect it. I’m eagerly looking forward to this wonderful opportunity to explore the bible in even greater depth than I have so far.

Now, on to the goodies!

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I’d describe myself as a novice but competent knitter. I have made two sweaters, both of which I still wear. I have yarn and a beginning for another, as well as a couple of other projects, and I’m getting that knitting urge once again, so I expect to start soon.

Vicki, over at knittingdragonflies, has turned me on to a totally new concept to me, the top down method. Most sweaters, as I’ve seen are started from the bottom and knitted in sections that you then piece together. This method obviously starts from the top, and I think is done in one piece. I’m interested and intrigued. If you are slip over and get your instructions. Happy crafting!

I admit, it’s been a long time since I posted a craft link! Hopefully I’ll find a tasty recipe or two as well. But you know me, I can never pass up the chance to slander a Rethug along the way, and the choices are sooooooo many!

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As many of you already know, my point in these Short Takes is to make you the darling of the cocktail and dinner party, and the go to person at the water cooler. My goal is to give you that eclectic education that makes you look smart and so with it among your peers, and indeed makes you stand above to be admired and fawned over as the person who just knows everything.

So you probably need to know that the Kepler, as in Johannes Mission is a creation of NASA designed to find habitable worlds around distant stars. Word is that they are finding it might be possible to locate exomoons around some of those planets. So we have a double chance of finding habitable orbs in the sky. The technology hopes to allow the scientific ones the ability to detect the imperceptible wobble that occurs when a planet is pulled by both its sun and its moon.

All this is of course important because the need to transport to another world becomes increasingly attractive as the GOP continues to ramp up the craziness that has attacked them for the past twenty years or so. Sane humans may have no choice but to leave to preserve said sanity as it were. The only small problems left to address will be things like faster than light travel, and incidentals like how to create food replicators ala Star Trek. We are clear that we can’t live any kind of civilized life without them!

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More wingbat shittery from the Rethugs and their spokesmorons. It seems that President Obama has done a piece that school districts can optionally play to their kids when they return to school. It’s all about working hard and being good students and learning some stuff. Pretty much what you would want you kids to know huh?

Not so, the right wing nut cases. No, this is “indoctrination” and right out of Maoist dogma. All the usual players are weighing in and that means you know its bunk. But no doubt they will convince their duped minions to raise the usual hue and cry.

Increasingly mainstream America looks with tired disbelief at the robotic lock-step ranting of the mostly evangelical ultra right.

But it does point up something. With only the promise and the verbal ranting on abortion and gay rights, you can convince the religious right to ignore its own self interest and vote for those who economically and politically destroy them. And better yet, the actual politicians can continue their own personal lascivious living. Getting caught means only having to say you are sorry and the devil made you do it.

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see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This pretty much sums up my knowledge of how cars work. From toasters to nuclear power plants, if it needs electricity or runs on a motor, I prefer to think of it as magic. I work under the theory that there is only so much room in my noggin, and I don’t clutter up the space with stuff I don’t need to know. Plug it in, turn the key, work.

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It is undoubtedly true that the way to potty train a dog is to keep it kenneled and take it out at regular intervals. The animal will not “foul” its sleeping quarters.

One might assume that oil companies, specifically Chevron,  operate on the same principle. If Ecuador is any evidence, they have fouled that country mightily with their obscene practices.

After doing their best to cast dirt on the litigants and the judge, they are prepared to accept that they are going to be held liable to the tune of 27 billion.  The people there are suffering from increases in cancer, miscarriages, birth defects and other problems.

This is of course the ugly American syndrome for which we are so famous. We screw other people in other countries for our personal benefit. Chevron, I suspect would not even have qualms about doing the same in the good ole US of A. Good reason to keep them out of the drilling business in Alaska and off shore.

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Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’m no fan of Levi Johnston. He strikes me as a fairly vacuous human being, who hasn’t given much thought to much beyond his own nose yet in his short life.

But, given that he was the almost son-in-law of our dear Sarah (The Quitter) Palin, he remains in the news.

With competing desires to sell books and make some money, they undoubtedly will both view this feud as helpful to their respective endeavors. If they should join forces, they would only need another 3/4 of a brain to be an intact human being.

Still, if you have the desire to read about Mr. Johnston’s take on Mrs. Palin, no better place can be found than Vanity Fair, the best of the scrumptious interview mags. (I still have my copy of the one they did on Johnny Depp a month or so ago, and I’m not letting go of it anytime soon.)

No doubt half of what Levi has to say is pure bunk, but then that means half is scintillating gossipy goodies. You can pick and choose which you want to believe of course.

Which all goes to show ya that the human species is a hardy bunch. As the evidence builds that a huge portion of the US public is stone cold crazy as loonies, these two prove that life does indeed go on in the human zoo.

Until next time!