This at FiveThirtyEight had me rolling today:

"First, there is the fallacy that anything not specifically prescribed by the Constitution is unconstitutional. True, the Constitution doesn’t mention health care; but neither does it mention air traffic control. Is the FAA’s safeguarding of our skies from commercial crashes therefore unconstitutional?" - Tom Schaller

And with the public option no less...

I figured out how to view source and get the embed code for my iPhone on any fucking YouTube video out there. Eat me bitches (those that said it couldn't be done and the obstacles placed in our way personified). Where there is a will there IS a way.
(forgive this arrogant indulgence--but I busted my ass trying to get it to work because sometimes I just like a challenge, and so this is my version of an emphatic YES!!)

And we have a President awesome enough to get a health care bill out of the House.
CHIP expansion for the impoverished, paving the way to equal pay for women and some of the most progressive legislation addressing the environment to be on the books ever.

Where there is a will there is a way... Voilà:

I can't believe they might broaden the scope of this case. I'm livid in fact. This could change the face of elections... Kiss liberalism
good-bye and say Hello to Corporate America with more finality than you ever have before... if they succeed. Kudos to Colbert for addressing this. I can't believe more people aren't talking about it... Well, yes, I guess I can.

Supreme Court appears poised to allow corporate contributions

"If the justices were to issue such a ruling in the next few months, it could reshape American politics, beginning with the Congressional campaign in 2010. For the first time, big companies and industries--and possibly unions as well--could fund campaign ads to support or defeat members of Congress."

Full article here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/sns-dc-court-contributions,0,7735919.story

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Luckily Bill Maher brings the funny and I can downgrade my mood to annoyed. Preach it Bill... it's true!

New Rule: You Can't Complain About Health Care Reform If You're Not Willing to Reform Your Own Health

Full article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-you-cant-complai_b_291852.html

To forbear is indeed an act of courage and not a symbol of cowardice. It takes great effort and resolution to endure pain and hardship. It requires tremendous confidence to bear insult and disgrace without a hint of retaliation or self-doubt.

In order for us to practice the virtue of forbearance, we must have strength, wisdom, and compassion. We must be willing to settle differences or disputes by means of reason and kindness.

All in a Thought, © 2008 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun

Break the Spell—Reality's Worth It
Joseph Goldstein on being disillusioned, in a good way.

Sometimes people feel that recognizing the truth of suffering conditions a pessimistic outlook on life, that somehow it is life-denying. Actually, it is quite the reverse. By denying what is true, for example, the truth of impermanence, we live in a world of illusion and enchantment. Then when circumstances change in ways we don’t like, we feel disappointed, angry, or bitter. The Buddha expressed the liberating power of seeing the unreliability of conditions: “All that is subject to arising is subject to cessation. Becoming disenchanted one becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion the mind is liberated.”

It’s telling that in English “disenchanted,” “disillusioned,” and dispassionate” often have a negative connotation. But looking more closely at their meaning reveals their connection to freedom. Becoming disenchanted means breaking the spell of enchantment, waking up into a greater and fuller reality. This is the happy ending of so many great myths and fairy tales. Being disillusioned is not the same as being disappointed or discouraged. It is a reconnection with what is true, free of illusion. And “dispassionate” does not mean indifference or lack of vital energy for living. Rather, it is the mind of great openness and equanimity, free of grasping.

— Joseph Goldstein, from One Dharma (HarperSanFrancisco)
Source: http://www.tricycle.com/daily+dharma

Facebook breaches Canadian laws:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8155367.stm

Facebook has ended up being a good experience in that I've been reconnected with, and found, some old friends and family.
I don't, however, like that applications don't allow me to see who is using my information, and that I can't limit what access they have to my more personal information. For this reason, I've stopped using the apps there, ...other than the basics. I also removed some of the more personal aspects of info. I had available there. I really should have followed my initial instincts in that regard. I already had signed up for some apps and I'm hoping in deleting them I might have removed access, but I imagine the info is pulled and stored elsewhere once access is actually granted.

I almost reverted to near open posting on LJ too, but thinking about all of this made me reinforce my prior decisions about that as well. I went back and friends locked the posts where I got out of the habit, as an active reminder to self...

Words on a screen really don't convey when you are joking and for the most part lack a considerable amount of context, and they really can mislead you into thinking you know someone, with who and how they are relating, and what their influences are, when the person's real life and tone of interaction might be quite different than what you imagined.

In LJ land I think the exchanges become personal enough (the illusion of bantering within the confines of a thread tends to lend the "feeling" of more privacy, which in reality it does - as opposed to an open "wall", unless someone else chooses to click comments and join in) that you do get a greater sense of who someone is, but still nowhere near what actual face to face reality provides us.

This is something I think Facebook will never afford and that is its other failing. The degree of intimacy and the nature of micro-blogging is and probably always will be superficial at best. As an introvert who enjoys quality over quantity, and more depth in interaction, its left a lot to be desired in that aspect.

Favorite tracks thus far... This is likely to change in the future, as it always does - of course.

Southern Point
Fine for Now
Cheerleader
Ready, Able
While You Wait for the Others
Foreground

About Face and Hold Still get honorable lyrical mention. Good for them...

This is not to say I don't receive sufficient enjoyment from the others because I definitely do.
The album is incredibly musically lush and satisfying through and through, one of my favorites in a long time.
I'm so honored to have been at the day of the release "party"/concert.

Grizzly Bear was transcendent genius. One of the best concerts I've ever been to... It might actually be the best.

If you like this type of music (alternative, psychedelic pop - on the mellow side), go see this band.

In concert they are F'in outstanding.... Just incredible. Ed's angelic vocals, Dan's smooth vocals and killer guitar, Chris's tight drumming and Bear's clarinet and beautiful harmonizing... The song structures (the way they build and various time changes...) and the level of emotion conveyed. All of it. Amazing. For the concert alone it was well worth the trip, and that's saying something because Vancouver itself was astounding. I'll be driving back just to spend weekends biking, camping and hiking, it was that impressive.

And for traveling I highly recommend the bed and breakfast experience over your standard hotel (relatively same price when you look at the quality of morning meal and service you get...), and traveling by train over flying (any day of the week, for emphasis). Much more room on a train and the sightseeing makes it wonderful as well. There were bald eagles flying right next to the train after we crossed the Canadian border. They were beautiful...

Pitchfork's review of the new album is HERE. They are giving it a 9/10. Hell yeah!

..and quite like it, particularly those last three words.

Doubt, to my mind at least, is not at all the “function of human confusion” though it can certainly lead to confusion if we let it consume us. Then again, if we let our appetite for any emotion or passion or pursuit consume us it is possible we will be rendered helplessly confused - by love, by greed, by faith even. By certainty, even.
-E.D. Kain

(Other than my Mom of course...)



http://www.chrisjordan.com/

Well wishes for safety and strength for those aboard the shuttle tomorrow. With the fuel leak and the debris from the satellite collision, I feel like they need some extra prayers and thoughts for this mission.
The launch is at 7:43 pm EST.



Here's a link to an introduction to the crew on this flight:
http://www.space.com/common/media/video/player.php?videoRef=SP_090305_sts119_crew

I'm particularly interested in what Wakata said about the new technologies that are being tested which are meant to ensure the survival of our species. And the picture of him in the hang-glider cracks me up. (My Dad hang-glides.)

I loved Fox Confessor, but Cyclone might actually surpass it for me.

Eye candy for the West Wing crowd:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photogallery/The-story-of-the-economic-recovery-package/

These are awesome pictures.

I particularly love 13, which is the creme de la creme of West Wing eye candy.
22 because of the painting in the background... and I'm sure you'll think of the other comparison, Kool Aid or not.
All of the Air Force One photos...
And of course 23...

I watched this program this morning... and granted it is about kids, but it really makes you think about your presence online.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/

(I'm not sure if all the frontline episodes are available to watch here online, but there are many here to view as full episodes if anyone is interested.)

It's so much easier to say things online that you might not say in person. And I've often wondered how the internet has changed things for the next generation... I've also wondered how it has changed things for me, and how it has changed things about me (or rather I guess I should say how it has made it easier for me to change some things about me).

Lots of food for thought here.

As a result of pondering all these things, I've also decided to use the mass locking feature to friends lock all my old entries. I'll have some entries in the future that will be public, but not nearly as many. I liked my private life better, and I think I liked my mindset better prior to my presence here as well.

The internet has helped me to learn so many things. I've grown incredibly by what I have been exposed to online, but I also think there are things I have lost. My integrity I think is one thing that has suffered and my immediate reaction to things seems more amplified. I'm not as patient as I used to be either. These are things that I would like to reverse to their previous state. I don't know if that will be wholly possible, but I am certainly going to try.