13.7 Billion Years Later...

Cicero Agrees with Me!

2008-08-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

A while ago, I wrote a post about how I don't see political flip-flopping as such a big deal. My Latin teacher set me up with these selections from Cicero:

...numquam enim in praestantibus in re publica gubernanda viris laudata est in una sententia perpetua permansio....

...for persistence in a single permanent opinion among men [sic] active in the governance of the republic has never been praised....

Familiares 1.9.21

and

nemo doctus umquam ... mutationem consili inconstantiam dixit esse.

No educated person has ever said that a change of mind was inconsistency.

Atticum 16.7.3

Obama - "Seven"

2008-08-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

This is a great ad from the Obama camp in response to a question from Politico asking how many houses McCain owns, to which he responded, “I think — I’ll have my staff get to you.…It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.” This is a major gaffe by McCain, and the Obama camp will get tons of mileage out of it.

Annoyances

2008-08-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

These things annoy me, although not a lot. Still, though, what's up with this?

The phrase "not to mention" is a blatant lie.
I saw a magazine to day that was entitled "History Today." Really? I think they should re-name it "History a While Ago."

The Media

2008-08-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered where the word "media" (sg. medium) derives its meaning from? Well, I didn't either, but it hit me in Latin class today (I started school yesterday). It derives from the Latin "media," an adjective meaning "middle." From this comes the word "medium," both in the sense of size and in the communications/art sense. The plural of the latter meaning is media, which we use to refer to the conglomeration of radio, TV, newspaper, blogs, etc. So why, exactly, does a word like "medium" derive from a word meaning "middle?" It is because the media are intended to take the middle ground and to be unbiased. In the truest sense of the word and its etymology, the media have failed and done so miserably.

Who "Wins" the Olympics?

2008-08-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Personally, I agree with the IOC here, in that competitions are between athletes not countries. Nonetheless, how to rank countries has always been a source of contentious debate. Here's my modest proposal: Assign 3 points to gold medals, 2 to silvers, and 1 to bronzes. This weights each medal fairly, gives recognition to silver and bronze winners, and is, well, fair. By this count, as of right now, it's China: 184, US: 162. There you go, media, free advice, just for you.

Line of the Week 6

2008-08-20T18:43:00.001-07:00

This passage comes to you from Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope.

"And yet I find myself returning again and again to my mother's simple principle—'How would that make you feel?'—as a guidepost for my politics.
"It's not a question we ask ourselves enough, I think; as a country, we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit. We wouldn't tolerate schools that don't teach, that are chronically underfunded and understaffed and underinspired, if we thought that the children in them were like our children. It's hard to imagine the CEO of a company giving himself a multimillion-dollar bonus while cutting health-care for his workers if he thought they were in some way equals. And it's safe to assume that those in power would think longer and harder about launching a war if they envisioned their own sons and daughters in harm's way
"I believe a stronger sense of empathy would tilt the balance of our current policies in favor of those people who are struggling in this society. After all, if they are like us, then their struggles are our own. If we fail to help, we diminish ourselves."

Photo of the Week 13

2008-08-16T20:16:00.000-07:00

This photo, too, comes from the first small batch of photos from Maine I've uploaded to my Flickr account. I'm going to upload those photos... eventually.

Photo of the Week 12

2008-08-14T20:12:00.001-07:00

This photo, too, comes from the first small batch of photos from Maine I've uploaded to my Flickr account. (Others will be uploaded soon... I promise!) I really like this photo because I think it sums up life in Downeast Maine: it's a maritime lifestyle and beautiful coasts and landscapes abound.

Photo of the Week 11

2008-08-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

This photo comes from West Stonington, ME on Deer Isle. It's only one of the first small batch of photos I've gotten onto my Flickr account.

Photo of the Month (July08)

2008-08-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Here's your (late) July '08 installment of the Photo of Week, which is my favorite photo of each month's Photos of the Week.

(Photo of the Week 7)

Line of the Week 5

2008-08-12T18:33:00.001-07:00

This week's installment is some sage advice from a sign at an elementary school near Penobscot, ME. Here it is:

"Choose to be a Tigger, not an Eeyore."

Line of the Week 4

2008-08-12T12:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay. Here's your line for a week ago (one of August 7th's Quotes of the Day):

"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." - Charles Mackay

Electric Billboards (Banner Ads!)

2008-08-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

Let me just say that I'm fully opposed to electric billboards, especially as they are beginning to become increasingly prevalent where I live. Let me also say, though, that we need to take advantage of them. We are missing a great opportunity here. I'm talking about electric billboard banner ads. Can't you imagine the possibilities here? "Congratulations, you're the 1,000,000th person to drive on this interstate!," "Exit here to claim your free iPhone!," or even "Exit now for a one-month, free trial on Netflix!" In the Columbia, SC metro area, where Lamar Advertising is king, a 10' 6" x 36 electric billboard slot for a month is only $3,000… (as per their website) Who's in?

Veepstakes: John Edwards

2008-08-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

It was released today that John Edwards, former presidential contender, had an extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter in 2006. His wife, it should be noted, was in remission at the time. John, enjoy NOT being a VP or Presidential candidate again.

Maine - Blog Neglect

2008-08-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm neglecting you, blog. Right now, I'm on my family's annual Mainecation! I'm on Deer Isle, and just as last year, the views are stunning, and the weather is amazing. (Currently, I'm in 73.9ºF, whereas at home I'd have 94.1ºF) I'll have your line and photo of the week and the photo of the month for July coming soon. For now, however, I'll be Mainecationing.

New Poll

2008-07-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Over on the right sidebar, there's a new poll: What's your favorite movie this year (among Wall-E, Mamma Mia!, and The Dark Knight.)? Go over, and vote for your favorite!

Photo of the Week 10

2008-07-26T21:46:00.000-07:00

This week's installment of my weekly selection of my favorite photo from my Flickr account comes not from my D60 (I'm working on it!) but, rather, from a trip last year to Maine. This features some of the white pines of Acadia National Park.

Line of the Week 3

2008-07-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

This line comes from Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens in his dissenting opinion in reference to the case Bush v. Gore:

"[The majority opinion] can only lend credence to the most cynical appraisal of the work of judges throughout the land … Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law."

Bureaucracy at Work!

2008-07-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

I found a list of SCDMV's various specialty plate. Among the whose-idea-was-that?!?!? plates:

"First in Golf"

"Georgia Tech Foundation" (Yes, GEORGIA Tech).

"NASCAR" (Plus 5 for individual drivers)

"Secular Humanists of the Low Country"

"Shag"

"Sons of the Confederacy"

"Square Dance"

"Working for the Wild Turkey"

There are other stupid plates too... Trust me.

SC Senate: The Pride.

2008-07-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

Er, scratch that whole pride idea. This comes to you from SC Senator Kevin Bryant (R - Anderson). This post, as you might imagine, was deleted incredibly quickly. Nice job, Bryant. Nice job.

Photo of the Week 9

2008-07-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

This photo is brought to you by my Flickr account. It was taken at an overlook along the Pinnacle Pass Trail at Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, in the upstate region of SC. Next week, hopefully, I'll have some photos from the D60.

Line of the Week 2

2008-07-19T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Friday) was my birthday. Since then I've been in a photographic mood, as I now call an amazing Nikon D60 my own. This line comes from Step Across This Line, a collection of short stories, speeches and articles by Salman Rushdie. This particular story, about his being photographed by Avedon, is called "On Being Photographed."

"What the photographer gained, the subject lost; cameras, like fear, ate the soul.
"If you believe the language—and the language never lies, though liars often have the sweetest tongues—then the camera is a weapon: a photograph is a shot, and a session is a shoot, and a portrait may therefore be the trophy the hunter brings home from his shikar. A stuffed head for his wall."

Sanford

2008-07-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

I'm so proud of my governor. Yes, he may have vetoed a bill that would require AEDs in all public schools, and, yes, he vetoed an increase in the cigarette tax, which, as it stands today, is one of the lowest in the country. But if there's one thing he CAN do, he can show us that McCain is no different from Bush. Take a look. (Sorry, Mark, you aren't going to be a veep candidate any longer.)

WALL·E

2008-07-15T20:52:00.001-07:00

Let briefly summarize WALL·E: Phenomenal. Its plot line is swift enough to keep its target audience interested, but it has an underlying message. This, I think, is the best film Pixar has created yet, easily surpassing even Toy Story itself. Now for that message:

WALL·E must be commended for bringing up the issue of our current lifestyle of excessive capitalism and increasing laziness, while doing so in a subtle way—one that will undoubtedly stick in the minds of its audience. IRONY WARNING! Why, exactly, is Disney, one of the largest corporations in the world, denouncing excessive capitalism?!

Just a little more irony, for your ironic pleasure. This is the "U Command WALL·E." Yes, it's a WALL·E toy that will add to the landfills only to be disposed, perhaps, by WALL·E himself. That, folks, is ironic capitalism straight from your friends at Disney.

Confessions

2008-07-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed. I ate fast food today, after a long 3-4 month (I don't remember how long, exactly) boycott of sorts on it. For what it's worth, it's a local place. Oh, the guilt!