I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

21 January :: What else happened today?

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2677022

Description:

http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/2013-01-21/

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt :-(

---

Source:

http://www.dilbert.com/strips/comic/2013-01-21/

Description:

Tell your senators: Immigration reform must include a roadmap to citizenship

---

Source:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/immigration_reform/?rc=fb_share1&r_by=53528-5216823-K_NtYyx

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

20 January :: You do not have to be cold in winter

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2672795

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

19 January :: You said what?

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2668973

Description:

Hand Sanitizer

Do the arithmetic!

---

Source:

http://xkcd.com/1161/

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

18 January :: Friday Flower

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2665307

Description:

Scooped Coffee Settlement

Wonderful. The lawyers get about $400,000 plus expenses. The poor suffering people who bought loose coffee get 45 cents per transaction, up to a maximum of $5.00 - if there is enough money to go round. Justice is served. All is well with the world.

---

Source:

http://tinyurl.com/aq5yp2e

Description:

The NRA’s diabolical ad

The President's need for protection in increased by the non-elites in the NRA. I have no idea why people are so proud to proclaim that they are not a member of an elite class. They are right, but why are they proud of it?

---

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-nras-diabolical-ad-about-obamas-children/2013/01/17/4b3f0bd2-60f8-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html

Description:

National balance sheets

"As Morgan Stanley points out, financial repression was associated with quite benign outcomes after the second world war. The economy steadily grew its way out of the debt. But the big difference with today is that although post-1945 governments were burdened by war debts, the private sector was relatively unlevered; now both sectors carry high debt. This makes it much more difficult to grow your way out of the crisis. As Japan shows, you can hold rates near zero for ages without prompting companies or consumers to borrow." So, now what?

---

Source:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2013/01/debt-crisis

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

17 January :: Continuing my obsession with trees...

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2661648

Description:

The Irrational Consumer: Why Economics Is Dead Wrong About How We Make Choices

Is this why people as groups make weird political decisions?

---

Source:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/01/the-irrational-consumer-why-economics-is-dead-wrong-about-how-we-make-choices/267255/

Description:

Thanksgivukkah FAQ

Answers to lots of questions about calendars.

---

Source:

http://flip.it/4rxsy

Description:

How the National Rifle Association Rates Lawmakers

Why gun control faces a problem.

---

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/12/19/us/politics/nra.html

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

16 January :: Julia

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2657958

Description:

Tell House Republicans: Take Action Against Gun Violence

---

Source:

http://dccc.org/end-gun-violence?source=fb_auto_share

Description:

Oracle releases patch for latest Java hole - update now!

So, go update it NOW!

---

Source:

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/01/13/oracle-releases-cve-2013-0422-patch-for-java/

Description:

Roger Kimball: This Metamorphosis Will Require a Permit

Check your real estate tax bill. Notice how many line items there are on it. Each line item generally represents an "authority" that has the power to make regulations of some kind. We are decentralized to the point of paralysis.

---

Source:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424127887324081704578237722576889786-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwNTExNDUyWj.html?mod=wsj_valettop_email

Description:

Sandy Is Still With Us

---

Source:

http://forward.com/articles/169339/sandy-is-still-with-us/

Description:

Study: Wanting Things Makes Us Happier Than Having Them

I knew that. Same thing holds for vacations.

---

Source:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/study-wanting-things-makes-us-happier-than-having-them/267216/

Description:

Interesting animation: “Malaria”

Wow! Just Wow!

---

Source:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2013/01/interesting-animation-malaria.html

Description:

Photos Showing the Strange Similarities of Human Cities and Human Neurons

Hmmmm….

---

Source:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PetaPixel/~3/Tra-whKbi70/

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

15 January :: I told you there would be a lot of trees

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2654569

Description:

Les Miserables - Movie Review

This is what I thought Les Miserables would be - so I did not see it. Good decision.

---

Source:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ihdT/~3/1PfMCE9dDY8/

Description:

Just a test of IFTT

I have set up IFTT to push all my Facebook posts to Blogger, and all my Blogger posts to Tumblr.

If you have never used IFTT, look at it. IFTT is the acronym for "If This Then That." It provides a facility to program the web! Go to IFTT.com

Dead Last: Depressing Health Facts From Exceptional (United States of) America by Paul Street

---

Source:

http://flip.it/F5wDl

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

14 January :: Sensory Overload

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2651183

Description:

History lesson: Why did Congress create a national debt limit?

There is nothing new under the sun or in politics. The parties have changed sides dramatically since Eisenhower.

---

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/history-lesson-why-did-congress-create-a-national-debt-limit/2013/01/13/21114db8-5db8-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_blog.html

Description:

Google's ultrafast Internet draws startups to Kansas City

Maybe this will scare the cable/telephony oligopoly into providing internet service as good as such high tech nations as Latvia and Romania. Catch South Korea - never! http://tinyurl.com/cv5ncze

---

Source:

http://www.twincities.com/ci_22366073/googles-ultrafast-internet-draws-startups-kc

Description:

The Strip | By Brian McFadden

Read it and weep.

---

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/07/08/opinion/sunday/the-strip.html?smid=fb-share

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

13 January :: Century Theater, Evanston

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2647313

Description:

No Longer the 'Party of Eisenhower and Reagan'

Thoughtful analysis.

---

Source:

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/01/no-longer-the-party-of-eisenhower-and-reagan/267092/#.UPMLv42jCZ0.facebook

Description:

Al Jazeera America: Will they watch?

Al Jazeera English is actually relatively neutral news source for international news. Their editorials may opinion pieces are often from a "different", shall we say, perspective, but they provide valuable insight into how the other side thinks. Opionion pieces are also clearly labelled - not often true here where opinions are often treated as news. And, no, they will not watch.

---

Source:

http://politi.co/UULo1O

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

12 January :: Bob

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2643194

Description:

Comic: The Difference Between Taking Analog and Digital Photos

Soon there will be more people able to take a photograph than write a grammatically correct paragraph. Back to hieroglyphics, 21st century style?

---

Source:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PetaPixel/~3/phlkSGNauMU/

Description:

Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer

The comments are wonderful. This us clearly a gift for the person who has everything.

---

Source:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047E0EII/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

Description:

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For | We the People: Your Voice in Our Government

This is a relief!

---

Source:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking

Description:

New water bottle dangers for kids: Tongue entrapment

Danger lurking everywhere!

---

Source:

http://www.consumersearch.com/blog/new-water-bottle-dangers-for-kids-tongue-entrapment?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=RSS

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

11 January :: Bernie

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2639031

Description:

South Africa: Unrest in the Vineyards

---

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/world/africa/south-africa-unrest-in-the-vineyards.html?smid=fb-share

Description:

Breaking News: Series Of Concentric Circles Emanating From Glowing Red Dot

When I saw this I thought it was Fox News!

---

Source:

http://www.theonion.com/video/breaking-news-series-of-concentric-circles-emanati,14204/

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

10 January :: Will it Work?

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2636175

Description:

Science Of Learning: Which Study Strategies Really Make The Grade?

If you need this, read it :-)

---

Source:

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/science_learning_which_study_strategies_really_make_grade-100709

Description:

The iPad Potty! The Worst iPad Accessory Ever Made? Or the Best?

---

Source:

http://shar.es/4jM1N

Description:

Who Needs Connectivity? I Have Service!

It's a strange world!

---

Source:

http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Who-Needs-Connectivity-I-Have-Service!.aspx

Description:

Americans have worse health than people in other high-income countries

It must be our wonderful health care system that accounts for the data.

---

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130109124235.htm

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

9 January :: Botanic Garden Geese

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2631671

Description:

The Operatic Life of Richard Nixon

Damn. Guess I need to read his bio as well. Anyone have recommendations for a good non-partisan book?

---

Source:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/the-operatic-life-of-richard-nixon/266963/#.UO29p6B31L8.facebook

Description:

Tell the Senate: Fix the filibuster.

Even if you are right wing, join the petition. The left can do it to you too!

---

Source:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/filibuster_reform_2013/?rc=fb_share1&r_by=52907-5216823-Iv5dHWx

Description:

MomsRising.org | Walmart: Keep your promises!

Everyone has a right to life - unless a gun kills them, of course!

---

Source:

http://action.momsrising.org/sign/Walmart-Weapon/?fs=fb

Description:

Report: Al Gore Now Worth More Than Mitt Romney

Gore now richer than Romney! Whoda thunk it?

---

Source:

http://flip.it/8Byw7

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

8 January :: Sunset Park

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2629176

Description:

The 10 Best Psychology and Philosophy Books of 2012

Damn. My reading backlog just got longer :-(

---

Source:

http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/04/best-psychology-philosophy-books-2012/

Description:

What Democrats In Congress Can Learn From Anti-GMO Activist Mark Lynas About Science

If GMOs scare you, read this...

---

Source:

http://www.science20.com/science_20/what_democrats_congress_can_learn_antigmo_activist_mark_lynas_about_science-100180

Description:

The Kilogram Is Heavier Than It Used To Be Too

Huh. I thought it was just me that has put on weight.

---

Source:

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/kilogram_heavier_it_used_be_too-100256

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

7 January :: Abigail

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2625622

Description:

Eve of Disaster - By Charles Emmerson

Interesting take on the world of 100 years ago. Predictions are easy, but only when they involve the past.

---

Source:

http://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/04/why_2013_looks_a_lot_like_1913

Description:

After Madoff, Financial Fraud Defies Policing

If you have a Financial Advisor with authority to trade your account, check your account's transactions carefully every month.

---

Source:

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/01/06/after-madoff-financial-fraud-defies-policing/?nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkam_20130107

Description:

Letting Crying Babes Lie? So Wrong

Not one of my usual concerns -- but so right!

---

Source:

http://flip.it/OihaP

Description:

Here We Go! Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for Clean Safe Drinking Water

Why we drank only out of bottles!

---

Source:

http://flip.it/hz3kz

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

6 January :: In the Mall

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2621955

Description:

To reduce Federal spending and the deficit by terminating taxpayer financing of presidential electio

Hah! At last a Republican bill that I would support.

---

Source:

http://flip.it/ylRRX

Description:

To end membership of the United States in the United Nations. (H.R. 75)

\u003Csarcasm>Thank heavens we have a new congress working hard to improve our social and economic conditions\u003C/sarcasm> Why do my taxes go to pay the salary of these boneheads?

---

Source:

http://flip.it/1wLdo

Description:

Dying for Freedom

---

Source:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/dying-for-freedom/

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

5 January :: A Bris

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2616561

Description:

Cameraman Captures What It’s Like to Be Targeted as Food by a Polar Bear

Scary bear attack.

---

Source:

http://flip.it/LoSn6

Description:

Gun Control. Now.

---

Source:

http://signon.org/sign/gun-control-now-1.fb23?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=6761923

Description:

Time of travel in the 1800s

Very interesting. Could the US have remained a single nation with only the modes of travel used in 1800?

---

Source:

http://flowingdata.com/2013/01/04/time-of-travel-in-the-1800s/

Description:

Civic Impulse

At least our "representatives" did something useful - sort of.

---

Source:

http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10152380570515431&id=312186525430

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

4 January :: Food Porn - Chicken Oreganato

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2614222

Description:

The depressing reality of the 113th Congress

Congress is bad, and shows no sign of getting better. The problem seems to be that the parties have sorted themselves out of overlap. Liberals and Conservatives used to be present in both parties, but now they have taken sides so no compromise is possible. The Senators and Representatives are now the tools of the Money Machine that the parties have become.

---

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/01/03/the-depressing-reality-of-the-113th-congress/

Description:

A Second City… Opera? With Patrick Stewart?

We will be there. Looking forward to it.

---

Source:

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-2013/A-Second-City-Opera-With-Patrick-Stewart/

Description:

Wrestling With Details of Noah Pozner's Killing – Forward Thinking – Forward.com

If you think your right to bear arms trumps a child's right to live, think again.

---

Source:

http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/168707/wrestling-with-details-of-noah-pozners-killing/

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

3 January :: Tree Attack I

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2610370

Description:

Language Log » The National Rhetoric Association

Another NRA:-)

---

Source:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4400

Description:

I published a new Blipfoto journal entry

2 January :: My Garden in Winter

---

Source:

http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2606540

Description:

The Photographs Norman Rockwell Used to Create His Famous Paintings

Interesting.

---

Source:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PetaPixel/~3/JOkKa7w3nU4/

Description:

Chabad.org

Hence the popularity of Facebook, Twitter and the like.

---

Source:

http://www.facebook.com/ChabadOrg/posts/10151385537790883

Description:

How Democrats Became Liberal Republicans

Interesting assessment. I have been wondering how the Democrats and Republicans managed to switch sides since the time of the Civil War. Back then, the Republicans represented the liberals who wanted to free slaves, and the Democrats were the conservative states rights/small Federal government party that thought slavery was a fine thing for each state that wanted it. By the time of Roosevelt the Democrats had moved to the left. The Republicans seem to have moved to the right after Eisenhower, who would probably be regarded now as a socialist radical for his warning against the military industrial complex. The party was surely way to the right by the time Goldwater was nominated. Now, as the Democrats move right, will the Republicans move left and shed their lunatic wing as they try to get some leverage with the minorities they antagonized in the last election? Will both parties collide in the middle, and realign, or will the nation continue its overall conservative drift, and exit the world, stage right? Watch the headlines for the next few hundred years for the answer. I have no idea :-(

---

Source:

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/12/21/How-Democrats-Became-Liberal-Republicans.aspx#mkbiu9WOKY9a9Wio.01

Description:

BTS: Documenting Lions in the African Bush For Over Thirty Years

Fascinating wildlife story.

---

Source:

http://flip.it/7VcNP

Description:

CNN Panelist: This Conversation Could Be Much Uglier

---

Source:

http://flip.it/PIGi6

Description:

AP News : Firefighter shot at scene of blaze in western NY

---

Source:

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=mTb7u6Ww

Description:

Average voter is unable to accurately assess politicians, new research shows

This is news?

---

Source:

http://flip.it/lQ8KW

Description:

Testing Blogger's official blogging app

A post from the ipad. I don't know how to apply formatting, but I can attach a photo. Looks like a pretty lame app.

Shana Tova

May the coming year bring to


you and your loved ones

all the blessings of

peace, good health and joy


Hilda and Clive

I received my Kindle Fire

I bought a Kindle Fire to replace my aging Kindle (1st Model). For me it will make a fine book reader, (especially for reading in the dark) with some enhanced functions. Overall, it feels like a prototype - everything works, almost, but not very smoothly. It is based on a fork of Google's Android, but oddly enough, does not have a native Google Maps app - it has Mapquest instead.
Screen scrolling is jerky. I like the size - great for books, not so great for magazines.
It feels heavy - but I expect my muscles will develop with use :-)

For a full review - read any of the reviews popping up all over the web.

Havana Staircase 2009

My latest watercolor painting. I was struck by this staircase in Havana, Cuba, on my visit in 2009.

Havana Staircase 2009

This blog is back

The demise of this blog was prematurely announced by myself. Its back!

Shouting in the crowd - A quick guide to social media

Tweeting is like standing in a large square packed with people, all shouting loudly and hoping that someone will reply to them, or at least hear their message and pass it on. Some of the shouting is advertising.

Blogging is like standing in a large square populated by speakers on soapboxes and shouting your story, hoping to attract a crowd, possibly from a nearby blogger. You make  deals with some of your fellow speakers to send some of your crowd over to them. Some of the soapboxes are plastered with ads, for which the speaker gets paid.

Google+ is like much like blogging, but the speakers cluster closer together so that they can hear and respond to each other, and their crowds overlap and chat with each other. The speakers do not get paid for any advertising.

Facebook is like sitting in your living room chatting with friends and family. Most people present are not really interested in what the others say, but listen politely and occasionally respond. You are not sure who some of the people in the room are, or why they are there. You may think the conversations are private, but your friends can take notes and tell their friends. Oddly enough, your walls are plastered with ads, for which you do not get paid.

Email is like leaving a notes in your friends' mailboxes mailboxes. You feel offended if they do not respond.

Texting is like attaching a note to a rock and throwing at your friend's house

Moving on...

Technology has moved on. Thus, so have I. From now on, you can find what I would have blogged here on Google+, at
this address: gplus.to/chmoss

If this does not work for me, I will be back here soon :-)

In case anyone was wondering -- it is hot in Chicago and getting hotter :-(

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

Senator Shelby - an Economics illiterate - feels that Nobel Prize winners don't understand Economics.

From The New York Times.

...

The leading opponent to my appointment, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee, has questioned the relevance of my expertise. “Does Dr. Diamond have any experience in conducting monetary policy? No,” he said in March. “His academic work has been on pensions and labor market theory.”

...

To the public, the Washington debate is often about more versus less — in both spending and regulation. There is too little public awareness of the real consequences of some of these decisions. In reality, we need more spending on some programs and less spending on others, and we need more good regulations and fewer bad ones.

Analytical expertise is needed to accomplish this, to make government more effective and efficient. Skilled analytical thinking should not be drowned out by mistaken, ideologically driven views that more is always better or less is always better. I had hoped to bring some of my own expertise and experience to the Fed. Now I hope someone else can.

Peter A. Diamond is a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

via nytimes.com

Is it not time we stopped electing demagogues?

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

Why I love my Nikon!

via youtube.com

I would never do this with a cigarette in my mouth, however.

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

Is this Blog obsolete?

New social media seem to be making personal blogs and websites obsolete. For quick thought that one wants to share with the world, Twitter feels more appropriate. It gets pushed to friends, and broadcast to the world for anyone following a specific subject to see. For more private thoughts for friends only, Facebook is the place. For photographs - Flickr, Smugmug, Facebook, or any of dozens of photo sharing sites are more convenient.

Fragmentation across media is a problem - but it is being addressed by  platforms like TweetDeck, Seesmic, and the like.

So - why would anyone (including me) other than business or organizations continue to maintain a blog and a website?

IPhone meets Van Gogh

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

View from the cheap seats

Our view for Muti conducting Verdi's Otello @CSO. We will have a great view of Muti - but little else.

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

Glenn Beck always fabricates and lies, sometimes apologizes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/24/glenn-beck-apologizes-reform-judaism...

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

History of revolutions is not encouraging

While everyone is cheering the fall of Mubarak, one should consider that many earlier revolutions have had disastrous near term results. The mother of all revolutions - the French Revolution (triggered by the Age of Enlightenment) - resulted in the reign of terror and decades of warfare and revolution in Europe. The Russian Revolution resulted in about a hundred years of oppression of the Russian and other people. The Iranian Revolution has resulted in ongoing oppression of the Iranian people. The liberation of African and South American colonies mostly resulted in African Democracy - One Man, One Vote, One Time. Some successes, to be sure, but mostly failures. The American Revolution worked for the people of the original 13 Colonies - maybe the only example that worked for the people concerned.

The outcome of the likely wave of revolutions in Muslim North Africa and the Near and Middle East is uncertain. I hope that they will be more peaceful and Democratic than their predecessors in Europe, Africa, and South America. I am not optimistic. ---
Clive - on my iPhone - pardon autocorrect induced typos.

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

Sunset on Lido Key

---
Clive-on my iPhone
Pics: http://Clive.smugmug.com

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous

The Laundry Room

This morning we decided to check out the laundry facility in our condo. The sign on the door said "To open -- use recreation room key." We identified three keys with no known use from the bunch were given, and tried to find the keyhole. No luck. No keyhole could be found. We decided to take a walk to St. Armands for breakfast and check the door later when maybe someone was in the laundry room to show us how to open the door. After a great walk and a wonderful breakfast we returned to find the door still closed with nobody in sight. We tried moving all the little signs to see if the keyhole was possibly hidden behind one of them. No luck. As a last resort, I tried turning the doorknob. Wonder of wonders, it opened. It is hard to be literate.

Posted via email from chmoss's posterous