"In 2000, conservatives were determined to avoid another George H.W. Bush, so they picked a candidate whose dedication to conservatism seemed unassailable. And as far as they're concerned, even that didn't work out." - Kevin Drum
"No, it was while watching the debates last night that it finally hit me: This is justice. What we have here are chickens coming home to roost. It's as if all of the American public's bad habits and perverse obsessions are all coming back to haunt Republican voters in this race: The lack of attention span, the constant demand for instant gratification, the abject hunger for negativity, the utter lack of backbone or constancy (we change our loyalties at the drop of a hat, all it takes is a clever TV ad): these things are all major factors in the spiraling Republican disaster." - Matt Taibbi
]]>This discussion reminds me of The Genesis Quest by Donald Moffitt, wherein humanity harnesses the power of a sun to transmit a radio stream to other galaxies.
Wikipedia: "The Genesis Quest gets around the problems involved with intergalactic travel, namely the distance, by avoiding the traditional staple of science fiction, faster than light travel. Instead Moffitt opts for a different tactic, that of having an alien race (The Nar) assemble humans from a stream of genetic information transmitted by radio from the Milky Way Galaxy. The resulting colony of humans spend some time integrated into the Nar society before growing randy, discovering the secret of human longevity, and embarking on the seemingly impossible millennia-long mission of a physical journey back to earth. This epic journey is made in a gigantic space-grown semi-sentient Dyson tree known as Yggdrasil."
]]>Haha, my daughter is doing her "semester abroad" at the University of Edinburgh next month. She's coming from the University of Miami. I expect a steady stream of complaints about the weather for four months.
]]>Frankly, while my inner geek wants a shiny new precious every few years, my inner recycler nags that I squeeze the last erg of use from my tech before consigning them to the landfill. You won't believe how virtuous I felt using the Laserjet.
]]>Deep six the HP and go with Brother. I just bought a Brother MFC-7860DW with wireless printing and am loving it. It's a monochrome laser which is much cheaper to operate than a colour printer (unless you really, really need colour).
]]>Me? To paraphrase Diderot: "We will never be free until the last billionaire is strangled with the entrails of the last investment banker."
]]>Become paralyzed in one arm but recover after one year.
Lose half my net worth.
Have 2 of my unemployed relatives move in with me for a year.
FTL luxury space yacht, fully stocked with provisions, and that has planetary lift off.
Companionship of my choice.
Somewhere to go.
The Personal: Good Health/Long Life/Solid Pension.
There's no point having good health unless you can live long enough to enjoy it. I don't want riches but a comfortable income that won't disappear when the 1% develop new ways to steal it. Of course, I wish this for my family, especially my parents who have the second two (yea! Social Security and Medicare) and could use more of the first.
or the Universal: Peace/Equality (economic and otherwise)/Prosperity
Achieving this PE&P might involve dusting off the Guillotines but I'm willing to make the sacrifices if necessary.
]]>