November 2008 Archives

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Base Jumpers Sneak in and Jump off Burj Dubai.

The building is almost done.

In this video Jamie Oliver electrocutes a chicken. He then tells the visibly shocked audience:

As far as killing anything's concerned, it's never nice. I was trained to do it, I don't feel particularly good about this. But, I eat chickens, and I'm a chef.

I eat meat. I eat chicken. I agree with Jamie. I'd like to get to a place where we treat animals humanely while they are alive. Sadly we are far, far away from it.

The historian Ann Vileisis documents in Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From and Why We Need To Get It Back an "unspoken covenant of ignorance" between consumers and the food industry:

...we have ended up in the absurd situation today that most of us, as consumers, know very little about what we eat; and, sensing a "dark side" to our food production, many of us don't even want to know.

We need to know. We cannot change what we (willfully?) do not know.

Via Eating Liberally.

Last week was the first outing of the computer bus, dubbed Bus HOPE by the Parents Council. It was a wonderful success.

My friend, the filmmaker Julie Gustafson, shot video of the workshops for me. I intended to edit the piece this weekend. Procrastination set in. Maybe Wednesday?

The photo above was sent to me by a library friend. It's the Swedish Library Bus of the Year award winner by Peter Thuvander and Martin Hedenstrom of Swedish design group Muungano. Details and more photos.

We've been looking to buy a Roomba...

...but have no cat.

My nephew in tow, I voted for Jim Martin in early voting today.

Blog for Democracy asks if we remember the Imperial Sugar case?

This was a Georgia industrial disaster that killed 14 people and injured over 40 in an explosion caused by unsafe conditions at a sugar plant.

Saxby Chambliss' response to this disaster was to attack a company whistleblower whose advice, if followed, may have helped prevent the disaster.

Chambliss has been subpoenaed in a civil case brought by the families of the victims, and in true Bushian style, he is refusing to answer the subpoena:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington debunks Chambliss' claims that the Speech or Debate Clause prevents him from testifying.

A friend and colleague, Michael Murphy is a very talented artist...

Glen Greenwald:

I personally couldn't care any less about that. But Joe Scarborough, in the past, not only claimed to care about such things, but has been one of the most zealous crusaders against such awful filth on television.

Scarborough led the lynch mob over the 2004 Janet Jackson halftime show on CBS -- demanding that the FCC impose massive fines against CBS and MTV, among others -- and has railed against "rock stars" and entertainers who use, as he used to call it (before this morning), "the F word." Indeed, Scarborough even expressed outrage over the fact that the Government would even consider refraining from imposing substantial fines on ABC when Bono, on a live awards show, used the "F word."

Read on for particulars.

I've spent the last two years arguing against Tom Schaller's Whistling Past Dixie. I remain grateful for Dean and Obama's 50-state strategy. But the results of the election convincingly show Schaller's diagnosis to be correct. I can still disagree about the cure.

Map from NYTimes homepage via Matt Yglasias.

Last year I did a presentation on Search for parents at Baldwin High School. Afterward, in a conversation with the principal and GCSU's K-12 Community Liaison Revel Pogue, we cooked up the idea of outfitting a bus to take the computers out into the community.

Now, eighteen months later, it's done. Dubbed "Bus Hope" by the Parents Advisory Council, it will make its inaugural run on Saturday, November 15, to the Wal-Mart parking lot. There GCSU students will teach parents "Computer 101" workshops. Captain D's will provide day care. Kudos to everyone involved!