text:
We're Just Not That Special
What the crisis with Russia reveals about the USA's age-old self-obsession.
Unless Barack Obama is even a weaker president than he appears to be, the effusion of editorial emoting unleashed by the Ukraine crisis is unlikely to have any effect on U.S. policy. Pray, let that be the case.
Should Obama's advisers look for guidance to the opinion pages of the Washington Post or the Wall Street Journal, much less the Weekly Standard or Fox News , we're in deep trouble . One might as well leaf through the latest Victoria's Secret catalog for guidance on empowering women.
Story Continued Below
Still, the recent flurry of angst-filled opining provides a concise tutorial on what we might call the theology of American Exceptionalism, the irreligious religion that flourishes in certain quarters of the American elite and periodically finds favor with the larger body politic.
Central to that theology are several tenets, vividly displayed by overwrought commentators over the last several days.
Tenet Number One. History is what exponents of American Exceptionalist theology choose to remember. What they choose to forget does not exist. Or, at the very least, it lacks relevance. So selective amnesia is not only permitted—it's essential.
Here, for example, is the postwar era as neatly rendered by Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin. In contrast with Obama's fecklessness when facing naked Russian aggression, the Cold War, she writes, was the heroic period "when we checked Soviet expansion and stood up for free peoples." Not for Rubin such complications as Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, cozying up to Marcos or Somoza or making nice with the mass murderer known as Chairman Mao.
Tenet Number Two. The events we are commanded to remember are those that happened during the period 1933-1945. In geographic terms, we can be even more specific: They occurred in the space bounded by London, where stiff upper lips withstood the Blitz, and Auschwitz, where countless Jews were murdered. But the true epicenter was Munich, site of the great betrayal from which the horrors were said to follow.
Events prior to or after that period—1914 or 2003, for example—or events occurring beyond that expanse—you know, like Vietnam—don't count for much.
Munich, of course—shorthand for Neville Chamberlain's greenlighting of Adolf Hitler—symbolizes appeasement. In the theology of American Exceptionalism, there is no greater sin. Those unwilling today to rescue Ukraine are craven appeasers.
Sure, writes Jonathan Tobin in Commentary, "they self-consciously avoid echoing Neville Chamberlain's characterization of Czechoslovakia in 1938 after Munich as a 'faraway country' when distancing themselves from Ukraine's peril." Even so, "there's little question that they are just as willing to have the West abandon it as it did the Czechs." We know where that led and where appeasement will inevitably lead again. "Ukraine can only be ignored at the cost of America's credibility as a world power and to the detriment of the cause of liberty." It's that simple.
Tenet Number Three. The events of 1933-1945 summoned the United States to determine history's future course. This became and remains the nation's responsibility— not only to prevent any recurrence of 1933-1945, but to create a new world in America's own image. When Washington exercises "global leadership," good things happen—peace reigns, economies grow, freedom rings. When Washington hesitates, the world goes to hell in a hand basket.
Contemplating Ukraine in the New York Times, Roger Cohen bemoans the onset of what he calls an "Age of Reluctance." According to Cohen, "Americans have turned inward," a sad and shameful state of affairs. As a consequence, he observes, "American power is dominant but no longer determinant." Yet apart perhaps from when it was bombing Japanese cities into smithereens, when exactly has American power ever been "determinant"?
The reflexively hawkish editorial page of the Washington Post concurs with Cohen's assessment. American power exists to be used, not husbanded. The disappointing outcomes of recent misadventures provide no excuse for lowering the nation's global profile. "There were similar retrenchments after the Korea and Vietnam wars and when the Soviet Union crumbled," the Post avers. "But the United States discovered each time that the world became a more dangerous place without its leadership and that disorder in the world could threaten U.S. prosperity."
Remember the disorder that followed the Korean War? It was called the Eisenhower era, when budgets balanced, jobs were plentiful and no American soldiers died in needless wars. As for retrenchment in the wake of communism's collapse, it certainly did not prevent the United States from armed intervention in Iraq, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq (again). No matter. "While the United States has been retrenching, the tide of democracy in the world, which once seemed inexorable, has been receding," the Post insists.


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What is this page?
This is a collection guide. It is a description of archival material held in the Special Collections Division,
J.Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University. The materials described here are physically available in our
reading room. To see what's been digitized in this collection, click on the thumbnail at the top right of this page
or look for hyperlinks in the container list and/or the preliminary inventory.
Correspondence for the 1950s and 1960s reflects the development of Pierce as a literary figure. Of primary concern for the 1952-1955 period is the writing and publishing of Pierce's first book,
The Plantation. Such subjects as the terms of the Doubleday contract, comments on the manuscript by publisher Lee Barker, publication parties, praise of the book by various friends and associates, congratulations on winning the Sir Walter Raleigh Award, correspondence on other aspects of publication, and audience reaction to the book are included. Correspondence for 1956 concerns acceptance of a teaching position at East Carolina College; an article in
Holiday magazine on North Carolina; publication of a literary magazine,
The Rebel, at East Carolina College; and correspondence with Louis D. Rubin, Jr., editor of the Richmond
News Leader, concerning integration and the recent Supreme Court ruling. Correspondence in the early 1960s concerns Pierce's second novel,
On A Lonesome Porch. The material contains information on the contract, the progress of the novel, the publication and sales of the book, reviews, and the receiving of the Sir Walter Raleigh Award in 1960. Also during this period, correspondence reflects Pierce's concern with finding adequate housing for the East Carolina College chapter of Kappa Alpha fraternity and the progress of a stage play based on
The Plantation, being written by Dale Blair of Dallas, Texas. Correspondence for the latter 1960s pertains mainly to the writing and publication of, and audience reaction to Pierce's third novel,
The Devil's Half. Other correspondence for the 1950s and 1960s includes invitations to speak for various groups and occasions, requests for information on Pierce's family ancestry, and information relative to courses and students taught by Pierce.
Correspondence in the early 1970s concerns Pierce's fourth novel,
The Wedding Guest, including comments by Doubleday publisher, Lee Barker. Also included during this period are congratulations on winning the Oliver Max Gardner Award, correspondence from Mathew Hodgson of the University of North Carolina Press concerning the publication of Pierce's short stories, and letters pertaining to the Dismal Swamp. Correspondence for the late 1970s includes comments on a new edition of
The Plantation, Pierce's retirement and his achievement of Emeritus status, congratulations on receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Kappa Alpha Order, and congratulations, comments, and suggestions by George Bond on Pierce's manuscript,
Judge Buell's Legacy.
Correspondence in the 1980s concerns the publication of Pierce's fifth novel,
Judge Buell's Legacy. Included are comments and suggestions from George Bond, Sam Ragan of
The (Southern Pines) Pilot, John F. Blair Publishing Company, and Moreland Hogan of Briarpatch Press. There is also criticism and a refusal of
Judge Buell's Legacy by Louis D. Rubin, Jr., Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Other correspondence includes an official notification for Pierce to receive the Brown-Hudson Award from the North Carolina Folklore Society.
Another large segment of the collection contains first editions of his five novels:
The Plantation, On A Lonesome Porch, The Devil's Half, The Wedding Guest, and
Judge Buell's Legacy. Other publications containing articles by or about Pierce include
Holiday magazine (Feb., 1957),
American Panorama, One and Twenty, Duke Narrative and Verse 1924-1945, The North Carolina Miscellany, The South Atlantic Quarterly, and
The Southwest Review. In addition to first editions, there are two multilith copies of
The Plantation, a French translation of
The Plantation by Hubert Audigier, and a paperback edition of
The Devil's Half. Biographical publications in the collection consist of a pamphlet entitled
North Carolina Writers by Walter Spearman, two copies of the
The Monthly Supplement (April 1954) of the Marquis biographical reference works, a pamphlet entitled
Young Readers' Picturebook of Tar Heel Authors, the Fall 1967 edition of
The Rebel, and the 1968 edition of
The East Carolina University Report.
Uncorrected proofs and manuscripts constitute another segment of the collection. Included are uncorrected proofs of
The Plantation, The Devil's Half, The Wedding Guest, Judge Buell's Legacy, and the notebooks and original drafts of
Cabbage Green and
Lost Boy Found. There are manuscripts for two short stories, "Old Man's Gold" and "For Rosa McGee" ; for a review of Thad Stem's "Animal Farm" ; and for a
Holiday magazine article entitled "North Carolina." Also included are two original manuscripts of what later became
The Devil's Half and correspondence relating to the work. Other manuscripts included in the collection are a typescript of the play,
Run Slowly, O Slowly, by Dale Blair, based on
The Plantation, and a corrected typescript of
Old Man's Gold and Other Stories.
Copies of speeches delivered by Pierce are also included. Many are concerned with the fictional possibilities of the South, especially of eastern North Carolina. Others are "The Death of the Novel," "The School and the Town," and "The Language of Revolution" delivered in April, 1965. Also of interest are speeches on the character of Robert E. Lee, a July Fourth celebration at Fort Bragg, the Inglis Fletcher Hall dedication, introductory remarks for Olive T. Dargan and Francis Patton, and a welcome to Dr. Leo Jenkins as President of East Carolina College.
Reviews and clippings in the collection deal mainly with the publication of and reader reaction to Pierce's novels, and are arranged by decade. These include reviews of Pierce's novels, and Pierce's reviews of
A Cry of Absence by Madison Jones and
It Must Be Now the Kingdom Coming by Perry Lentz. They also include features on and interviews with the author, and items dealing with the awards the author received for his books. Other clippings concern Pierce's view ofeastern North Carolina, his family ancestry, his home in Weldon, and his participation in National Library Week observances. One group of articles entitled "Where can a Tolerant South Stand?" deals with Pierce's speech concerning the violent atmosphere prevalent in the South in the mid 1960s. Also included are numerous issues of
The Duke Chronicle of October 1968.
Financial and legal papers include royalty and advance payments for Pierce's novels and short stories, insurance forms, bank statements, and statements of earnings from East Carolina University. There are also contracts with Doubleday Publishing Company and a certificate of copyright for
Judge Buell's Legacy. Other items include unsigned wills of Pierce, a copy of a will for Rice B. Pierce, Sr., maps of Pierce property, and an auction flyer (1988) for the sale of Pierce's estate.
Family papers include a copy of Bible records concerning the ancestry of Minnie Deans Pierce, deeds to land in Halifax County, N.C., a Daughters of the Confederacy membership application, an historical chronology of Methodism in Wilson, N.C., and Minnie Deans Pierce's book club yearbook (1913-1914) from Weldon, N.C.
Biographical items include school memorabilia such as grammar school report cards, a high school diploma, a high school diary, and college notebooks and exams from Harvard. Also in the collection is an essay entitled "Epic Poetry" written by Pierce, which won a prize at the 1927 Halifax County Fair, and Pierce's first attempt at a novel, written when he was a teenager. Other items include numerous awards and honors, taped interviews, news releases, and an extensive photograph collection of Pierce, his home, and his travels.
Miscellaneous items include pamphlets, magazines, and new articles pertaining to the Dismal Swamp. Also included is a Macon Writers Club scrapbook, a book published by the Children of the Confederacy entitled
Stories and Oft Told Tales of the Confederacy, and a scrapbook of typescript Civil War accounts and letters. The collection contains numerous magazines and pamphlets and seven scrapbooks pertaining to four of Pierce's novels.
Ovid Williams Pierce (1910-1987) was born in Weldon, N.C., the son of Ovid Williams and Minnie Deans Pierce. He received a B.A. degree from Duke University and a M.A. degree in English from Harvard. In World War II he served in Army Counterintelligence in the Caribbean. After the war he taught English at Southern Methodist University in Texas (1946-1950) and at Tulane University in Louisiana (1950-1956). In 1956 he joined the faculty of East Carolina College. Pierce was the author of five novels:
The Plantation (1953),
On A Lonesome Porch (1960),
The Devil's Half (1968),
The Wedding Guest (1974), and
Judge Buell's Legacy (1985). He also wrote numerous short stories which appeared in such publications as
Holiday and the
Southwest Review, and articles, stories, and reviews that appeared in a variety of publications. Pierce was awarded the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for
The Plantation and
On A Lonesome Porch, the North Carolina Literature Award in 1969, the Oliver Max Gardner Award in 1973, and the Brown-Hudson Award in 1982.
Ovid Williams Pierce Papers at the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
November 12, 1969, ca. 650 items, correspondence, clippings, genealogical data and a literary manuscript.
December 29, 1969, ca. 350 items, correspondence; complete file of all books, articles, and stories written by the author; reviews; uncorrected proofs of
The Plantation and
The Devil's Half; typescript of dramatic adaptation of
The Plantation; and biographical publications which include the author.
December 31, 1969, 115 items, containing correspondence, speeches, clippings, and miscellaneous.
February 24, 1970, 74 items, correspondence (1890-1967), manuscript of "Death of a Novel" speech, and miscellaneous.
April 14, 1970, 11 items, correspondence, a photograph, and clippings.
February 5, 1973, 4 volumes, scrapbooks containing reviews of Pierce novels.
September 6, 1973, 3 items, original manuscript and planning books for
The Wedding Guest.
December 12, 1973, 5 items, a speech, a book review, preface to new edition of
The Plantation, and miscellaneous.
October 10, 1974, ca. 200 items, photographs.
April 30, 1975, 132 items, correspondence (1969-1974).
September 25, 1975, (addition) 3 items, typescript and galley proofs of
The Wedding Guest.
March 25, 1976, ca. 200 items, correspondence (1975-1976),
The Wedding Guest scrapbook, speeches, page proofs for
Old Man's Gold and Other Stories, and miscellaneous.
April 5, 1978, 10 items, page proofs for
Old Man's Gold and Other Stories and copies of correspondence from Lee Barker (1960-1973).
March 31, 1981, ca. 500 items, papers (1925-1981), including correspondence, literary manuscripts and planning book for
Judge Buell's Legacy, student composition books, literary manuscript drafts, clippings, and miscellaneous.
November 11, 1983, 55 items, literary manuscripts, correspondence, clippings, photographs, and miscellaneous.
October 25, 1985, 1 cubic foot, containing correspondence, photographs, and miscellaneous.
April 6, 1987, ca. 300 items, correspondence, clippings, photographs, speeches, literary manuscripts, and miscellaneous. Gift of Ovid W. Pierce, Greenville, N.C.
May 16, 2002, (unprocessed addition 1), 2 items; "Dies Irae," recorded by Ovid W. Pierce, including one audiocassette and one recordable compact disc copied from the audiocassette, (Time: 1:39 min.) undated. Donor: Ovid W. Pierce
May 7, 2003, (unprocessed addition 2), 17 items; Letters and post card (1938 - 1956) from Ovid Williams Pierce to his childhood and lifelong friend Kate Fenner Urquhart, dated Weldon, NC, 1938-1941, 1956; Miami, FL, 1944-1945; Dallas, TX, 1945; Rome, Italy, 1953. Donor: Molly Urquhart.
November 30, 2005, (unprocessed addition 3), 1 items, 0.053 cubic feet; Portrait (1974) of Ovid Williams Pierce, by Betty Petteway. Photographic print glued to matte. Black & white. Matted. Photo dimensions: 10.5" x 13.5" Matted dimensions: 16.75" x 22" 1 item 1 p. (ca. 0.053 cubic feet) Recd. 12/31/1999. RESTRICTION. Donor: Unknown.
Gift of Ovid W. PierceGift of Molly Urquhart
No restrictions
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Ovid Williams Pierce Papers (#101), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Processed by L. Sterlock; W. Grant, May 1988
Encoded by Apex Data Services
This page is only for requesting materials that you wish to view in person in the Reading Room at Joyner Library.
It does not permit you to view the materials online or to request their photoduplication. If you would like to request
materials for photoduplication, please visit our Copying and Permissions page.
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection, without the consent of those individuals, may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which East Carolina University assumes no responsibility.

subset: commoncrawl


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U.S. Builds Rapid-Reaction Forces for Embassy Attacks
The U.S. military is making plans to position special operations forces from the Marines on board Navy ships to serve as an American rapid-reaction force that could respond to embassy attacks. Julian Barnes reports. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... the U S military is planning to position the special operations Marines on chips to ... a rapid reaction forces ... in case of attacks on embassies will have back and so much mall right and ... right now on the New Saab good afternoon and welcome I'm Simon Constable ... without breaking story will Wall Street Journal's Julian Ponzi Johns's now from Washington DC ... a good baby Julian Knight great Skippy cuppa ... things are going to be with you ... so tell us aam tells about this um what is happening exactly and why ... the Marines ... proposed putting our special operations teams ... for their Expeditionary unit on these are ... nurtured units are teams of about two thousand two hundred Marines fighter planes helicopters ... that are in the Mitre in ... the ... Persian Gulf and the Pacific caught ... at any given time ... up there are essentially of rapid reaction forces and ... putting up soft teams on the ships ... green said he would of position and to be a crisis response was now ... the bear off of the parts of the millet re Beckham Veteran commandos because the photo to my with a Mac commander is why when they considered ... for use in the soda situation ... well on cue up ... prior to Afghanistan or Iraq war on terror to complete was the ... seal team that won was all these Marine Expeditionary units ... up but you know ... Afghanistan war created a huge demand for Devon and there wasn't a walk to work said simply wasn't enough candles ... Dow as though ... we're winding down ... capacity is free ... parking with one ... of her own special operations teams with ... it is built on these ... on their shared ... it depends on hand and Chilean aam did does this put a strain on the U S Marines meals means it is the ... the smallest of the of the major millet re Forsys aam ... on the onthe two hundred thousand does this mean at the takeaway troops from all the pots of operations ... well you're right the Marines are the smallest end there to be getting smaller as the budget cuts ... that have been mandated by Congress of comedown ... but General Jim Amos the head of the marina ... the company added Reid says he's going to preserve the size of the Marine special operations forces ... in order to ensure that there are enough forces ... to services rapid reaction ... is ... now part of this ... that this decision to deploy days Beast's commandos is to avoid another thing Dalziel repeat all that how ... how without war ... well ... you know the Marines themselves don't don't mention the gauzy they just talk about emergencies and the season or what the book is very clear ... that that this is in large measure up come into force because the band Ozzie ... on ... you know it is not clear that he ... and this will always be the solution ... are you never know exactly where the Expeditionary units are ... but because they are typically ... on it in the main train didn't warrant the ... Persian Gulf in that region ... of India access to the twenty two which gives them ... all planted in a range of this could be a real option ... in future emergencies ... well let's let's hope it ... comes to laugh and I guess that we thank you Brian much of Jillian bonds of The will Street gentle ... great story so ... thank you ... and you can read mall on Lance Morrow some Wall Street gentle


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Tuesday, March 31, 2009
skippy's tuesday nite music club
a few weeks ago, we groused about the tendency of some music acts to disable embedding by request on youtube. we cited the fray and ingrid michaelson as our most recent finds that we couldn't share w/you, our beloved readers.
then recently, ingrid's management team @ secret road (headed by the wonderful teri) wrote to us:
saw your post about the embedding issue with ingrid's video. i'm assuming it was the video for "the way i am." it used to work fine and we're not entirely sure why it was disabled. ingrid isn't on a label, she has her own company, cabin 24 and all of her videos can be embedded. here is a new link to use...
thanks for pointing this out to us and hope you can include her some other time.
w/o further ado, here's
ingrid michaelson - the way i am
thx tons, teri! and good luck to ingrid!
happy birthday, mr. walken
better late than b.a.d.
what can we say? our policy, as everyone should know by now, is that we will happily link to anyone who links to us.
so we suggest anybody w/an interest in the dark gulag of torture this country has set up stop by and check out andy's blog.
legalized rape in afghanistan?
afghanistan's president, hamid karzai, has signed a law which "legalises" rape, women's groups and the united nations warn. critics claim the president helped rush the bill through parliament in a bid to appease islamic fundamentalists ahead of elections in august.i say let's send mavis leno over as special ambassador to talk some sense into karzai to change this law.
in a massive blow for women's rights, the new shia family law negates the need for sexual consent between married couples, tacitly approves child marriage and restricts a woman's right to leave the home, according to un papers seen by the independent. - the independent
Labels: afghanistan, election, religion, womens issues
you know what?
just sayin'...
Labels: random thoughts
Monday, March 30, 2009
skippy's monday nite music club
hanging doll - hope springs eternal
get out your black eyeliner and faux-nineteenth century funeral clothes! it's goth metal @ its best!
let's look in the "way back" machine
from march 2, 2007 - salon.com
back at the dawn of the automobile era, banks generally refused to loan money for such things as buying a car. it wasn't considered prudent. this was frustrating to companies such as general motors, which naturally wanted as many people as possible to have the wherewithal to purchase cadillacs and oldsmobiles and pontiacs and chevrolets. so gm decided to solve the problem by, in effect, becoming its own bank. in 1919 gm created the general motors acceptance corp., a financial arm of gm that specialized in offering credit to car buyers and allowing them to buy on installment plans.bad auto sales plus subprime mortgates and derivatives...gee...how many scandalicious bad business decisions can you roll up into one.
gmac was a huge success. so much so that, over the years, it gradually expanded its operations, becoming a significant bottom-line contributor to gm's profits. in 1985, gm's execs decided, hey, if we're loaning money to our customers to buy cars, why not go ahead and loan them money to buy homes as well? gm promptly purchased two large mortgage lenders and instantly became the second largest mortgage bank in the u.s.
along the way gmac also became an early player in the world of "structured finance" or derivatives, by taking the income streams generated by all those car and mortgage payments and turning them into bonds, through the process known as "securitization," which it then sold off to investors. all very state-of-the-art, all very emblematic of the career arc of the modern american corporation.
...on thursday, gm shook up wall street by announced that it was delaying filing its 2006 annual report by a couple of weeks. the reason, said analysts, had to do with gmac's significant exposure to the ever-popular subprime lending debacle. like so many other players in the mortgage business in the last few years, gmac's home lending subsidiary, rescap, apparently got pretty deep into making risky loans to homeowners with bad credit, and now is paying the price. - salon.com
Labels: bailout, banking, bankruptcy, cars, foreclosure, gm, michigan
palin = failin'
she tells us about the latest hays research poll in which maggie o'connell's popularity falls even lower than it has been:
approval rating: (very positive and somewhat positive)
murkowski 71.6% palin 59.8%
approval index: (very positive minus very negative)
murkowski 25.2 palin 13.7
i think the numbers tell us who alaska's real golden girl is.
mad about republican math
with gm's future looking cloudy....
Originally uploaded by D-Lyte.
is the sun going down on my ability to get parts for my beloved saabi?
red, white and no big blue
as ibm was firing thousands of american workers last week, the u.s. patent and trademark office published big blue's application to copyright a computerized system that calculates how to offshore jobs while maximizing government tax breaks.
in their application to patent a "method and system for strategic global resource sourcing," five hudson valley ibmers describe how it weighs such plans as "50 percent of resources in china by 2010," against such factors as labor costs, infrastructure and the "minimum head count to qualify for incentives." - timesheraldrecord
Labels: china, class warfare, greed, ibm, made in america, workers
note to the blowdried talking heads
perhaps, ask gov. "what's his name" jindal about funding geological services. that should get you a good comedic response.
Labels: california, earthquake, geology
the perfect storm
just months before the start of last year's stock market collapse, the federal agency that insures the retirement funds of 44 million americans departed from its conservative investment strategy and decided to put much of its $64 billion insurance fund into stocks.remember all those airline bankruptcies awhile back...they shifted their pension funds onto the government through this agency....and those pilots that are so crucial to saving lives...their retirements rely on this agency.
...now, they warn about a "perfect storm" scenario in which the agency's fund plummets in value just as more companies go into bankruptcy and pass their pension responsibilities onto the insurance fund. many analysts say it is inevitable that the agency will face significantly increased liabilities in coming months.
"the worst case scenario is coming to pass," said mark ruloff, a fellow at the pension finance institute, an independent group that monitors pensions. he said the agency leaders "fail to realize that they are an insurer of pension plans and therefore should be investing differently than the risk their participants are taking."
the pension benefit guaranty corporation may be little-known to most americans, but it serves as a lifeline for the 1.3 million people who receive retirement checks from it, and the 44 million others whose plans are backed by the agency. - boston.com
Labels: airlines, bankruptcy, depression, financial markets, wall street
environmental news stories
an obscure agency under fire. the agency for toxic substances & disease registry finds itself at the center of a congressional investigation, facing repeated criticisms for its willingness to please industry by downplaying the public health effects of exposure to environmental contaminants. - chemical & engineering news
kalamazoo river cleanup slowed by chemical company's bankruptcy protection.
be patient: that's the message from federal regulators to stakeholders pressing for the cleanup of hundreds of thousands of pounds of sediment and soil in the kalamazoo river. the river is contaminated with pcbs. - michigan messenger
new hampshire issues first climate plan. new hampshire's first climate action plan calls for "a new way of living," beginning immediately, to reduce carbon emissions blamed for global warming, and preparing the state for the warming the authors say is already under way. - ap
global warming could cripple winter sports in b.c.: report. as canada prepares to host the 2010 olympic winter games, a new report warns global warming poses a real threat to the continuance of winter sports and canada's cultural identity. - vancouver sun
bay area spice plant linked to salmonella outbreak. the state health department has issued a consumer alert warning about spices used by asian restaurants manufactured by a bay area plant that have been linked to a salmonella outbreak in central and northern california. - sacramento bee
Labels: bankruptcy, bees, climate change, environment, michigan, new hampshire, pollution, public health, recalls, toxins, water
question of the day...
'cause this is good stuff...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
skippy's sunday nite music club
spoon - i turn my camera on
sham wow ka-pow
he's probably better known to you as the shamwow guy, the ubiquitous television pitchman who has been phenomenally successful peddling absorbent towels and food choppers. shlomi, 44, was arrested last month on a felony battery charge following a violent confrontation with a prostitute in his south beach hotel room. - smoking gunbut wait...there's more....news of other pitchmen. discovery channel has a new show coming out starring two other pitchmen. i'm sure they'll be a hit in a different way than vince.
Labels: advertising, teevee, violence
quote of the day
hey klavan! take the "suck my cock" challenge!
klavan dares liberals to "open" their minds and listen to rush limbaugh for an hour for several days in a row. we were stuck trying to figure out the best way to explain why, knowing all we know about limbaugh and his approach to entertainment (we shan't dignify him with the word "politics"), we don't feel it necessary to listen to an entire program of his.
we finally remembered a line from the stand-up comedy of our good friend buzz belmondo, that goes a little something like this:
we just don't like to eat shit the way limbaugh fixes it.
[ed. note: thanks and a tip o' the kangaroo tail to memeorandum for the link.
and since it dilluted our demand for no ad hominem attacks from klavan, we ourselves refrained from pointing out that his last name sounds like jerry lewis going crazy..."hey pretty lady it's a klavan!"]
addendum: mustang bobby, over @ the reaction, is actually more erudite (and less vulgar) than we on this subject.
environmental news stories sunday....
shampoo in the water supply triggers growth of deadly drug-resistant bugs. fabric softeners, disinfectants, shampoos and other household products are spreading drug-resistant bacteria around britain, scientists have warned. detergents used in factories and mills are also increasing the odds that some medicines will no longer be able to combat dangerous diseases. - london observer
will nafta exterminate canadian pesticide bans? a battle brewing over cosmetic pesticides between one of north america's biggest chemical companies and canadian lawmakers may end up re-shaping the future of canada's environmental policies in the years ahead. - toronto ctv
prosecutor accuses macy's of stalling investigation of tainted jewelry. - macy's department store has refused to give prosecutors the names of customers who purchased children's jewelry made with potentially toxic lead, according to an official with the los angeles district attorney's office. - latte times
satellites and google earth prove potent conservation tool. armed with vivid images from space and remote sensing data, scientists, environmentalists, and armchair conservationists are now tracking threats to the planet and making the information available to anyone with an internet connection. - yale environment 360
farm bug found in hospitals. a deadly new form of mrsa is believed to be spreading from farm animals to human for the first time. the bacteria already has been found in hospitals abroad. experts believe excessive use of antibiotics in factory-farmed animals may be behind its development. - london sunday express
groves abuzz this year. to call it a honeybee glut might be an exaggeration, but this year the ever-shifting balance between kern's almond groves and the bees that pollinate them does seem to have tilted in favor of the trees. - bakersfield californian
speaking of the little bumbly buzzy boys.....the buzz in washington d.c. is that not only is the first lady bringing an organic "victory" garden to the whitehouse....she's bringing in the bees!
going organic in the white house was easy. both bubba's and w's kitchens did that with purchases from local farms and a nearby organic market. but homegrown fare, like what first lady michelle obama hopes to produce with her new spring vegetable garden on the south lawn—now, that's more complicated. and not just because crops have to be planted and tended. washington isn't really known for its population of
honeybees, the buzzy bugs needed for pollination. so—you guessed it—the first-ever white house beehive has been installed. - - usnews
Labels: bees, california, canada, environment, google, hospitals, lead, pesticide, pollution, public health, science, toxins
Saturday, March 28, 2009
skippy's saturday nite music club
jerry jeff walker - gettin' by
as phil collins would say: su-su-pseudononymous!
addendum: the immoral minority has several reactions from the alaskan blogger community on the mudflats/doogan affair.
we can assure you that skippy is a male
i am reliably told that you are the anonymous blogger who writes mudflats. i am planning to reveal this in the enews i send to my constituents tomorrow, and am writing to let you know this and offer the opportunity to comment.
mike doogan
along w/gov. palin deriding bloggers for exercising their legal rights in alaska, rep. doogan seems to think that being in government doesn't mean that you are accountable to the citizens that got you there; apparently alaskan officials think the reverse: do what we say or else!
and, as avedon points out, doogan is a democrat.
remember, dems can be morons, too.
here's an idea: why not email rep. doogan and let him know how inappropriate it is for a government official to be wasting time invading a citizen's privacy, simply because they disagree w/the official's public platforms?
addendum: big tent armando, over @ talkleft, points out that a couple of guys named alexander hamilton and james madison (and may we remember to add john jay, as well) were all into this pseudononymous thing. tim f. @ balloon juice echoes the sentiment.
and we found that the supreme court, in mcintyre v. ohio elections commission (1995), was, too:
but we're not lawyers.
double addendum: liberty grape, commenting @ balloon juice, also provides us w/the more important email addys:
if you want to really spread the word, you should email the joint committee on legislative ethics. their emails are email@example.com,
remember tonight...8:30 p.m. california time
earth hour began in sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. in 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. global landmarks such as the golden gate bridge in san francisco, rome's colosseum, the Ssydney opera house and the coca cola billboard in times square all stood in darkness.
in 2009, earth hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you're from, but instead, what planet you're from. vote earth is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. a call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to vote earth during earth hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday. - earthhour
Labels: "vote earth", environment
Friday, March 27, 2009
skippy's friday nite music club
kenny wayne shepherd - blue on black
live @ the n'awlins house o' blues...
california congresscritter darrel issa to the first lady
california congressman darrell issa has introduced a bill to restore honor to the white house by prohibiting michelle obama from doing any substantive work. - jezebel and think progresspersonally i think mrs. obama should personally introduce whackadoodle car alarm congresscritter darrel to one of her "guns" via a good uppercut.
Labels: congress, obama, womens issues
why newspapers are dying out
we especially like the explanation under matt lauer's ugly mug.
no brown-nosing
today ups announced it will stop advertising on o'reilly's show. here is the statement ups emailed out just moments ago:
we are hoping spocko is reading this. he lead the way in free market response to yellow journalism.
you can help out by adding your own notes (which we highly advise, so as to not appear like astro-turf) to the emails that thinkprogress will send to all of o'loofah's sponsors. fill out the form here.
addendum: via commentor bluebirdofunhappiness @ huffpo, why not email ups and thank them personally?
Another not miracle
This story reminds me of that skydiver woman who did a 50 MPH face-plant in a parking lot and lived. She claimed she was saved by a miracle and her god was looking out for her. Um, her god slammed her face first into a parking lot at 50 MPH. Her god hates her. A god who liked her would have opened her parachute properly.
mad about dick cheney's email
Thursday, March 26, 2009
skippy's thursday nite music club - rip dan seals
england dan & john ford coley - i'd really love to see you tonite
rest in peace, dan seals.
who needs the onion when you've already got the gop?
the ploy was so transparent, that even the media noticed it.
via hilzoy, this fark thread has some interesting alternatives which are just as substantial.
snark and the city
tho we don't condone making fun of people's looks, we must needs point out the plethora of repubbblicans on the boston phoenix's list of the top 100 unsexiest men of 2009. such as:
#94 house republicans john boehner & eric cantor (scum and scummer)
#85 rick santelli (market downer)
#71 john mccain
#68 david zucker (plane wreck)
#61 dick cheney
#56 jonah goldberg
#50 john thain (executive washroom attendant)
#44 ron christie (cubicle gooding jr.)
#31 ron prentice (prop hate)
#27 michael steele (disturb your enthusiasm)
#18 joe the plumber (plungebob dumbpants)
#11 bobby jindal (page boy)
#7 jim cramer (crock broker)
of course, there are a fair number of dems on the list, too, including blogojevich, madoff, john edwards, obama's cabinets, both the almost-was and final answer; and there are quite a few guys that are just plain irrelevant, like the freecreditreport.com guy or the shamwow guy (or chris matthews).
but we rejoice in the number one pick for the unsexiest man of 2009: rush limbaugh (jabba the nut)!
but i thought texans believed
texas insurers suffer record losses, officials seek climate answers. hurricanes clobbered texas insurers last year, draining reserve accounts and igniting a full-blown debate in the legislature about the state's ability to address rising risks related to climate change. - climate wire
Labels: climate change, global warming, hurricane, texas
teleprompter vs. no teleprompter
(tip o' the kangaroo tail to digby for the youtube!)
dear executives: please fellate us until we ejaculate down your throats
i read your resignation letter to aig ceo edward liddy, which was published in the new york times on my birthday, 3/24/2009. having just turned 55, and being currently unemployed and living check to check, i thought you might be interested in my reaction.
the sense of entitlement that you express is absolutely astounding, and beyond the logical comprehension of a lifelong prole such as myself. you state:
if you feel i'm alone in my lack of compassion for your situation, you might want to check out political cartoonist david rees' opinion:
so when we hear about gazillionaires angry because they can't continue to scam money out of the very system they themselves broke, pardon us if we don't cry.
[ed. note: left i on the news, who knows how to spell his sex acts, points out that the correct word is 'fellate,' not 'fellatiate,' which is what we originally had in our headline. we will remember this the next time it comes up.
and yes, we meant to say that.]
mad about the laughter police
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
skippy's wednesday nite music club
three days grace - animal i have become
we need a better way
our 100-year-old food inspection system is not aging gracefully. despite a century of improvements, consumers are still playing russian roulette when it comes to the food they eat. even today, one in four americans —- 76 million people —- endures a food-borne illness and 5,000 people die each year.
this year's peanut meltdown alone has killed nine people, sickened thousands and shaken consumer confidence in food safety. reports of the filthy conditions at peanut corporation of america sound more like upton sinclair's 1905 "the jungle" than a 21st-century food facility. health inspectors and former employees described roaches, mold-covered walls and a rat dry-roasting in the peanuts. - ajc
the food safety system is "plagued with problems," said jeff levi, executive director of trust for america's health, which released the report in conjunction with the robert wood johnson foundation. - latte times
Labels: fda, food safety, recalls
canned over a tuna sandwich
ralph reese, 57, of queens, new york, set aside one tuna fish sandwich from 30 unsold ones, that he tossed into the trash. when a supervisor asked him why the sandwich was on the counter, reese said he planned on eating it. the supervisor threw the sandwich in the trash and two days later reese was fired for misconduct, meaning reese couldn't apply for unemployment benefits. - walletpopthere is one california politico, sen. jenny oropeza, who is trying to do something about it....but the california restaurant association keeps getting in the way.
at a time when record numbers of people are losing their homes, unemployment is rising and a growing number of families are in need, california caterers, hotels and restaurants throw out roughly 1.5 million tons of perfectly good food every year, according to the state integrated waste management board.
...state sen. jenny oropeza (d-long beach) tried to take a small step toward remedying this last year with legislation that would have imposed the modest requirement that caterers inform clients they have the option of donating uneaten food to charity.
that bill, sb 1443, was shot down by the california restaurant assn., which argued that any such requirement would be troublesome for its members.
so now oropeza is back with a new bill, sb 35, that she says is once again intended to remedy the problem of all that food going to waste. - latte times
Labels: california, food, hunger, restaurants, unemployment, whole foods
while ceos and wall street watch their destruction
north dakota is in a race against time as residents try to shore up huge sandbag levees ahead of massive flooding expected to hit this weekend. forecasters predict the red river's waters will crest at 41 feet by early saturday, exceeding record levels set in 1997. - abc
the blustery, bitter cold weather wednesday may have hampered traffic, but it didn't seem to slow down flood-fighting efforts.
"it's a typical north dakota spring day," said fargo resident lee hoedl
as he took a break from sandbagging to warm his hands by an outdoor fireplace. "green grass one day, snow the next." - grand forks herald
Labels: america, climate change, disasters, fema, water
random thought of the day...
i wouldn't know who has the right answer -- the more i look into the "god's will" question, the less i understand any of this whole business. but i can tell you one thing: if i were god, there wouldn't be a thousand different religions. there would only be one -- and everybody would call it their own.
i'd make sure of it.
Labels: random thoughts
if i ran the zoo
Labels: bailout
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
skippy's tuesday nite music club
little feat - dixie chicken
from the midnite special, with: bonnie raitt, emmylou harris & jesse winchester.
trash talk
Labels: radio, republicans
this is *sooo* sad...
he points at a specific part of the the label on the package -- the part that read, "made in brazil."
i look at him and say, "you have GOT to be yankin' my f*&k@%' chain."
then, for the icing on the cake, he pointed to the port destination listed on the label: baltimore, maryland.
so let me get this straight: there are no paper mills left in virginia, or anywhere else in america, it would seem, so we have to buy our stock from brazil. and then we have to ship it thousands of miles north up the atlantic ocean -- past virgnia, for christ's sake -- to baltimore, and then have a trucker pick it up and drive south for four or five hours to henrico county.
this weekend, i picked up a new utility knife because i broke my last one. as luck would have it, i ran out of spare utility knife blades around the same time i broke my knife, so i bought some new spares, too. the knife is a craftsman, and the blades are from allway tools -- and both are american-made, baby.
and now i'm using them to cut open paper rolls made in brazil.
this is one more reason why i'm glad i torpedoed mockingbird's medley. i was angry about the direction this country was heading when it counted four years ago -- so angry that 2005 is pretty much a blur to me now, whereas 2004 is a lot clearer to me. i don't see the point in being angry anymore. i just cut open the brazilian paper rolls and use them. i listen to people who are furious about the direction this country is headed these days and i ask them, "where were you four years ago?" (very good hint: one mall or another, buying foreign crap they never needed in the first place.)
and you know what else? i've read ayn rand's "atlas shrugged." unlike a lot of the people who've been trashing that novel of late, i actually enjoyed it -- it just didn't turn me into an objectivist zombie, or a faux libertarian with delusions of grandeur. and i'm beginning to wonder whether or not john galt had the right idea...
Labels: life
mad about brit hume
Monday, March 23, 2009
skippy's monday nite music club
garbage - why do you love me
live @ glastonbury...shirley has her way w/a blow up doll...definitely a rockin' performance
the big o you need to know?
the ogallala aquifer: saving a vital u.s. water source. - the ogallala aquifer, the vast underground reservoir that gives life to the fields of the midwest, is disappearing. in some places, the groundwater is already gone. and scientists say it will take natural processes 6,000 years to refill the reservoir. - scientific american
welcome to
Labels: blogtopia
no doubt redoubt
alaska's mt. redoubt volcano, which had been in a tempestuous mood for two months, erupted sunday night at 10:38 p.m., sending an ash cloud 50,000 feet above sea level.
the alaska volcano observatory recorded four more large explosions during the night. tina neal, a geologist with the us geological survey, said that "so far the major population centers in south-central alaska have been spared any kind of dusting of ash." - latimes
the avo staff also warned authorities at the drift river oil terminal -- on the western shore of cook inlet downriver from the volcano -- that mud flows and flooding from melting glaciers might be headed their way.
cook inlet pipe line company, which operates the terminal, said early this morning that it had begun shutting the facility down. - adn
The magician's trick
totally pointless question of the day...
mine is led zeppelin's "four sticks." because i love the way that song rolls, that's why.
your turn...
Labels: questions
Sunday, March 22, 2009
skippy's sunday nite music club
divinyls - boys in town
roos on the run
vandals set loose 15 kangaroos from an australian theme park in southern france, sparking a major search operation, with three marsupials still on the loose on sunday. - afp
"happy" world water day
there's a word out there getting a lot of use, and it's not "bailout." in case you missed the news or you've just forgotten, the word is "drought." and like our sagging economy, many hydrologists say we should just get used to it, because it might be sticking around for a while. - ventura county staron this water awareness day...stop by our bloggy buddy aquafornia and read some more "dry" stories.
el-i-ot....phone home
in an exclusive interview, eliot spitzer talks to fareed zakaria about the economic crisis and the scandal that led to his own resignation as governor of new york state. spitzer conducted his own in-depth investigation of aig when he was attorney general of new york state and says that while so much attention is focused on the aig bonuses, we might be missing even bigger problems. - cnn
environmental stories sunday
large agriculture operations add billions to our economy but what price are we paying?
merced county may be a bucolic place filled with flowering almond orchards, but some of the worst pollution in the county is connected to the very industries that are at the heart of the area's economy. - merced sun-star
hazards in the water for colorado. - more than 150,000 people in colorado drank from water supplies last year that violated public health standards. - denver post
salmon and culverts at heart of legal battle between tribes, washington state.
a monumental lawsuit is pending in washington state, as 19 tribes prepare for a courtroom debate over highway culverts that keep salmon from reaching their spawning grounds - kitsap sun.
57 varieties of sweet water fishes on verge of extinction in s region. at least fifty-seven indigenous varieties of sweet water fishes, particularly small ones, are on the verge of extinction throughout the southern region. - dhaka new nation
rubber ducks dropped into greenland's jakobshavn glacier to track ice flow. to keep track of climate change, scientists around the world employ some of the most sophisticated devices and machines found in the 21st century. still, sometimes scientists just need a rubber ducky. - palm beach daily news
trudie styler: why i had to use my celebrity to try to save the rainforest. - the film producer, champion of ecological causes and wife of Sting, talks about the environmental outrage at the heart of her new screen project, and why - as a frequent flyer - she dismisses carbon offsetting as 'a crock'. - london observer
after yucca mountain: america's homeless nuclear waste. every year, the nation's 104 nuclear plants create about 2,200 tons of nuclear waste and stow it in storage containers beside cooling towers across america. - salt lake tribune
virginia health department recalls oysters from certain mississippi waters. the virginia department of health today is notifying all shellfish dealers and food distributors in virginia that oysters harvested from a section of mississippi's gulf coast have been linked to an outbreak of norovirus. - richmond times dispatch
farm yields more containers. federal and state investigators found three more containers saturday in their search for illegally buried farm chemicals, waste oil and furniture in a local vineyard. - yakima herald republic
Labels: agriculture, ecology, energy, environment, farmers, fish, food safety, nuclear power, public health, water
Saturday, March 21, 2009
skippy's saturday nite music club
elvis presley - suspicious minds
quote of the day
washington mutual's holding company is suing federal regulators for billions of dollars, saying the fire sale of the bank's assets to jpmorgan chase violated its rights. - ap
Labels: bailout, banking, corporations
matt taibbi calls it like he sees it
...people are pissed off about this financial crisis, and about this bailout, but they're not pissed off enough. the reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état. they cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations. - rolling stone.
Labels: aig, criminal, financial markets, government, wall street
quote of the day - bonus edition
tucker vandelay
it was only a few sentences, but carlson managed to get two things wrong. nobody is saying jim cramer is "responsible" for the current recession; they're saying he and cnbc and other media didn't do enough to expose problems earlier. and stewart has been criticizing cramer for at least a year, so carlson's claim that he is only doing so because cramer attacked president obama's economic policies is demonstrably false.
carlson must have liked the "sweaty and pathetic" line; he came back to it during an appearance on cnn's reliable sources on sunday: "cramer was craven and sweaty and pathetic. ... but jon stewart, let's be honest, this was a partisan attack. he went after cramer the moment cramer criticized obama's budget. that was the mortal sin. that's what kicked off this entire feud." ...
of course, the real problem isn't that carlson's attacks on stewart seem overeager and contrived, it's with the merits of his case. he's wrong or lying about the details of the stewart-cramer war of words. in (falsely) challenging stewart's motives, and in defending cnbc from criticism nobody is making, carlson is downplaying the problems with, if not defending, cnbc's reporting. and his contention that jon stewart, rather than cnbc, fails to meet the appropriate standards of journalism, shows an extraordinary lack of perspective. maybe he'll come up with a more compelling critique of stewart soon. we can be sure he'll keep trying -- just like george costanza.
mad about bushie negotiators
gone too toon
Friday, March 20, 2009
skippy's friday nite music club
stan boreson - i just don't look good naked anymore
we can relate...
is a tapper the same as a twitter?
i linked to this article and asked if he could comment on it, and clarify his policy on what is and isn't acceptable criticism… and within three minutes, my comment was deleted from his site.
so… i reposted, letting the audience know my first post appeared to have been "accidentally" deleted.
… and then he manually stripped out the link to this article.
class act, jake.
true, awol was talking about the death of thousands of american military personnel (not to mention tens of thousands of iraqis), and not the bowling abilities of differently-abled people, but you must admit the disregard for human experience is there.
and the reaction? well, as you can see, all the washington correspondents thought it was just damn hilarious! wow, nothing's funnier than total disdain for those less fortunate than you!
if you're a repubbblican, that is...
(tip o' the kangaroo tail to memeorandum for the links on this story)
remember, "twitter" is the verb for "twit"
our condolences.
not so tweet news
one-third of us birds are endangered, says conservation report, - energy production deriving from wind, ethanol and mountain-top coal mining is contributing to steep drops in bird populations, a u.s. government report found- ap via the guardian
birds are a priceless part of america's heritage. they are beautiful, they are economically important—and they reflect the health of our environment. this state of the birds report reveals troubling declines of bird populations during the past 40 years—a warning signal of the failing health of our ecosystems. - state of the birds reportfor some amazing bird photos...may we suggest you visit our bloggin' rachel ray lovin' jim fletcher, photography extraordinaire.
Labels: birds, ecology, environment, pollution
kangaroo blogging friday
While you are at the store, pick up a bag of kangaroo
Originally uploaded by alumroot
more furry fun over at the modulator's friday ark.
Labels: flickr, kangaroo blogging friday
marilyn coyne's last dance
NORTH READING - Marilyn Coyne survived the Depression with little food and no heat in her parents' flat in Portland, Maine. She married and sent four kids to college. She saw her husband and one of their children die. And, in November, after three years of fighting breast cancer, she was told by a doctor that she had months to live.
In hospice care and losing weight in recent weeks as the cancer crept through her body, she confided to a hospice volunteer that she had a last wish, something that recalled summer nights of her childhood and joy with her husband. She wanted a final square dance.
Yesterday, her wish came true. Coyne donned a floral skirt, a crimson petticoat, and a red peasant shirt, and walked to the center of a nursing room social hall, where nine professional square-dancers, dressed in cowboy shirts and calico, waited for her.
It had been a decade since she last clasped hands with a partner, but as music played, the elfin Coyne deftly followed the dance caller's instructions of allemande left, promenade, and do-si-do. After five minutes of swinging her partner, and singing along with "She'll Be Com ing 'Round the Mountain," Coyne let her thin, 82-year-old frame fall into a padded wooden chair and took a deep breath.
"That," she sighed, "was wonderful."
entire story well-worth reading.
Labels: elderly issues, generations, history
mad about distraction
and did someone bury a shovel at the same time?
detective tyler farrell with the tarrant regional auto crimes task force said a former golf course worker recently contacted authorities. the person had noticed part of the bulldozer while fertilizing part of the course.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
skippy's thursday nite music club
zeptepi - the end
from our buddy essaress...
a.i.g. hates america
while the american international group comes under fire from congress over executive bonuses, it is quietly fighting the federal government for the return of $306 million in tax payments, some related to deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens. -nytimeswhere do these folks have their corporate charter? time to pull it.
Labels: aig, corporations, financial markets, greed, terrorists
quote of the day
cramer v. cramer
6 years later....
baghdad's water still undrinkable 6 years after invasion. ihsan jaafar, iraq's director of public health, said the water had been bad for years, but that it now carried cholera, typhoid, dysentery, hepatitis and other diseases. - mcclatchy newspapers.yep. we've been in iraq 6 years.
$10 million to upgrade executive office
citigroup inc. plans to spend about $10 million on new offices for chief executive officer vikram pandit and his lieutenants, after the u.s. government injected $45 billion of cash into the bank. - bloombergwe're the pooch in this s*** the pooch scenario.
Labels: bailout, banking, lawlessness, liars
jpmorgan chase wamu gets bailout funds
on a day when aig remained the no. 1 target of populist wrath from both parties, 43 house democrats dashed off a letter to jp morgan chase ceo jamie dimon, blasting the bank's plan to spend $400 million on expanding its indian it workforce. - talking points memo
down the penrose lane
mad about aig bonuses
environmental news
coming soon: 'sustainable water' certification. a couple of years from now, beer, cola, rice, breakfast cereal, cotton t-shirts and many other goods may come with a new logo: a label which says the water used to make this product came from a sustainable source. - afp
who owns colorado's rainwater? according to the state of colorado, rainwater cannot be collected and should be allowed to fall to the ground and flow into surrounding creeks and streams to become the property of the people and agencies that have bought the rights to those waterways. - latimes
what jellyfish can tell us about climate change. an east stroudsburg university professor has studied a delicate sea creature off japan's coast, and shed new light on how climate change is disrupting the ocean's food chain. - stroudsberg pocono record
islands disappear in india. as islands in eastern india disappear under rising seas, residents are losing land, homes, and farms. - national geographic news
anger as shell reduces renewables investment. royal dutch shell provoked a furious backlash from campaigners yesterday when it announced plans to scale back its renewable energy business and focus purely on oil, gas and biofuels. - london times
taking the climate change fight to the sheep paddock. western australian scientists are aiming to put climatefriendly sheep on the menu, by breeding varieties that belch less methane than conventional flocks. - perth west australian
Labels: australia, climate change, ecology, energy, environment, global warming, ocean, water
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
skippy's wednesday nite music club
zlad - elektronik supersonik
only thing can stop us is flat tire...
more failure bonuses on the way
fannie mae plans to pay retention bonuses of at least $1 million to four key executives as part of a plan to keep hundreds of employees from leaving the government-controlled company.if anyone takes a "bonus" when the businesses are bankrupt and faltering, they have hate america. simple as that. they know the country can't afford paying them these massive amounts of money and if they take it...they place greed over country.
rival mortgage finance company freddie mac is planning similar awards, but has not yet reported on which executives will benefit. - ap
rip natasha richardson
photo: tv guide
in a shocking and tragic development, actress natasha richardson has died from an apparent head injury sustained on a skiing trip. latimes:
richardson suffered a devastating brain injury in a skiing accident monday at mont tremblant, a luxury resort in canada. the actress was taking a lesson on a beginner's run near the bottom of the ski area and was not wearing a helmet in what first appeared to be a minor accident.
she initially reported that she was well, but soon started to complain of a headache. hours after the fall, the star of a number of acclaimed stage plays -- including roles in "anna christie," "a streetcar named desire" and "closer" -- slipped into unconsciousness, and she was transported tuesday from a montreal hospital back to new york, where she was surrounded by family and friends.
tho she never was the star in her movies, ms. richardson was always a supporting actor that could be counted on, and often stole the show from those she was supporting (see: maid in america, the parent trap). onstage, she won both the tony award and drama desk award for her performance as sally bowles in the sam mendes production of cabaret.
natasha richardson was married to liam nisson, and they had two little sons. we offer our heartfelt condolences to the family.
the world is a little darker tonite. rip natasha richardson, taken from us far too soon.
addendum: reader henri sends us to this online memorial for natasha.
you don't get a second chance to make a first impression
then he started to talk, and i changed my mind in a hurry.
first point: the california budget process is busted. and the state is damned near busted, now having managed to fall below louisiana as the state with the worst bond rating. good. as far as i'm concerned, acknowledging that fact out loud is the basic eligibility requirement for a gubernatorial candidate.
second point: san francisco has its budget under control, with a rainy-day fund. newsom fixed the multi-hundred-million dollar structural deficit he found, and didn't let it stop him from doing a bunch of expensive stuff that needed doing. that's obviously going to be his central campaign pitch: fiscal competence that isn't just fiscal competence but relates to programs people care about. no idea how accurate his claims are, but he made them convincingly (albeit without saying what, precisely, he has sf spending less money on than it used to).
which leads into: the two-thirds rule for passing the budget sets up a "tyranny of the majority" and has to go, and the only way to get rid of it is via a state constitutional convention that would also get rid of some of the other barnacles on the budget process: not just the set-asides, but holy prop 13 as well. california is a rich state with the eighth largest economy in the world, and it shouldn't be run as a third-world country. "the bar is so low that everyone is complimenting themselves on putting together a midnight deal, as if that was the job we hired them to do."
okay, now he has me completely.
In the Village...
I've been reading Somerby (The Daily Howler) and Digby (Hullaballoo) for years as they've tracked the peculiarities of what they call "the Village", the coterie of Washington insider journalists and pundidiots who support and protect one another and support and protect the politicians and personalities they cover, often to the detriment of the people who go to them for news and information. It is only in the Village that George Bush, the son of a US vice president, scion of a well-moneyed family, connected up the whazoo, product of a prep school and Ivy League education, is painted as a populist. It is only in the Village that the late Tim Russert, a man whose show was described by Dick Cheney's staff as a friendly, easily manipulated forum, could be regarded as a tough interviewer. In the Village, you can paint Representative Gary Condit as Chandra Levy's murderer, destroying his career in the process; when the real murderer confesses years later, you blow it off, pretend you were right to accuse an innocent man of murder, and you won't hear one word of criticism from any other Villagers. In the Village, you can be wrong about everything, but once you're in, you're in for life. When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dying day.
A couple of years ago, when I was still producing vast numbers of articles for the now defunct Blanton's and Ashton's web log, I was invited, along with many other bloggers, to a "summit" at NBC news. Intrigued, knowing nothing about what they wanted to discuss, I attended, along with several other bloggers I knew from the New York/metropolitan area. I won't go into a lengthy discussion of what transpired. I wrote about it at the time, as did the others with whom I attended the session, but one thing I never mentioned was the shrimp.
The shrimp?
Prior to the summit getting underway, we bloggers were treated to some of NBC's largesse. We were feted with deli platters and cheese platters, cookies and cakes, and a much ballyhooed platter of shrimp. I mean a much ballyhooed platter of shrimp. NBC staff mentioned it several times during the course of the evening. If you got into a conversation with an NBC staffer, you could be sure he or she would ask if you'd had the shrimp. During the big group discussion (the actual "summit"), which took place in Conan O'Brien's studio, with the web loggers sitting in the audience, the shrimp was mentioned a couple of times as well. Oddly enough, the bloggers didn't bring it up, but the NBC people were certain to mention it again and again.
After the general discussion I found myself talking to an executive producer at NBC. The first thing he said to me, after I'd introduced myself, was, "How did you like the shrimp?"
I've thought about that evening quite a bit over the years but it was only today, as I pondered again the remarkable behavior of the Villagers, that the sundry bits and pieces floating around in my brain converged to produce some clarity as to what all that shrimp business, and the Village itself, was about. To give you a handle on those sundry bits and pieces, there are two incidents you need to hear about. First, throughout last year's presidential election campaign, reporters fawned all over John McCain like they were in love, replaying again and again the Village script that McCain was a maverick, ignoring how McCain had voted with Bush time and again on an agenda that was disastrous for the United States, and mentioning, frequently, how McCain had thrown a barbecue for the press. The barbecue: that's the key.
Second, though my recollection is a teensy bit fuzzy, rendering the precise quote perhaps off by a few words, the gist is accurate, so I recall for you a quote from a book I used to own. If I get the time, I'll see if I can find someone with a copy of the book and look it up. The book in question is David Halberstam's "The Summer of '49", which describes the 1949 American League pennant race between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. At one point Halberstam quotes Joe DiMaggio as he expresses his disgust with sports writers. "Look at 'em, " DiMaggio says contemptuously, "I can buy any one of them for a five dollar steak and a bottle of wine," meaning he could take a reporter to dinner and that's all it would take to get that reported on his side. A five dollar steak and a bottle of wine. Feed them a meal.
That's what the shrimp was about. That's why NBC thought we would all be bought off and become their BFFs, because if you put a shrimp platter out for the NBC news crew, you buy them forever and they become your BFFs. When those disparate stories converged in my mind, I understood how you can own the Villagers: buy them dinner. That's all you have to do. Buy them dinner. They are as cheaply bought as that.
So when you read Somerby and Digby and contemplate the cozy little Village and its inhabitants, keep that in mind. These people aren't ideological, they are bought. They can be bought for a steak dinner and a bottle of wine. If any of you are thinking of running for office, keep that in mind.
mad about bushie spinmeisters
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
skippy's tuesday nite music club
ray charles, jerry lee lewis, fats domino, paul schaffer, ron wood, some other guys - boogie & jambalaya
retention bonuses?
...new york attorney general andrew cuomo confirmed in a letter to congress that this year, after receiving federal bailout money, aig paid 73 employees bonuses of more than $1 million each.if they weren't retained...they don't need the bonuses.
cuomo also wrote that 11 of the employees no longer work for the company. the largest bonus paid was $6.4 million; seven other people also received more than $4 million each. - cnn
Labels: aig, bailout, greed, lawlessness, wall street
remember how congresscritters said drugs made overseas
the apparently insatiable demands of the world for viagra has brought a rare prosperity to ringaskiddy - population 370 - for it is here that a key ingredient of the drug is made in the town's pfizer plant.happy st. paddy's day...hope your "spirits" rise to the occassion.
most of the farmland around ringaskiddy was handed over to american chemical companies some time ago. pfizer was the first, in 1969, and now dominates the village's skyline as much as the cork-to-swansea car ferryport. - the independent


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Math remains a trouble spot for Ontario students according to standardized test results released Wednesday morning.While students continue post promising gains in their reading and writing skills, math scores are slipping, based on data collected by the province's Education Quality and Accountability Office.
Start Here
Welcome to the website of MathRight, an informal coalition of concerned parents, educators and members of the public. Our goal is to improve mathematics education in Ontario's schools.
The Issue
Throughout Canada, concern has been growing for some time about the quality of mathematics education in schools. Studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that students are not achieving their full potential in mathematics. Recent changes in the curriculum have de-emphasized algorithms, factual learning and structured approaches in favour of a "discovery" approach.
We feel that a balanced approach in which children are given a reliable toolset of facts, algorithms and processes together with an understanding of why and how they work is best. Emphasizing one at the expense of the other can only diminish the quality of math education, and does not serve all students well.
MathRight is a non-partisan, non-political coalition of people from many walks of life and from all parts of Ontario. Please join us:
- Follow some of the links below to learn more about the issues
- Share your experiences and those of your children
- Join us and help us build a movement so that we can influence policy makers and work with teachers and school boards to give our children the best possible math education.
Contact the administrator, clive.packer (at) gmail.com if you wish more information or to join us.
MathRight has been largely inspired by and owes a debt of gratitude to the work of WISEMath.org. Please visit their site which contains a wealth of material.
The College Math Project studies the math skills of college entrants and the potential societal and economic impacts of declining achievement in math.
Macleans magazine published an excellent article on the state of math education here. Parentcentral.ca covered the issue here.
The Ontario Math Curriculum can be downloaded here in .pdf format.
Join Us
If you'd like to join the effort to improve math education in Ontario, and you're in sympathy with the concerns and objectives described here, please leave us a comment with your contact details.
You can comment on any recent post.
We'll keep you informed of events and happenings. If you have something to contribute and want to become involved, please let us know. The greater our numbers, the more we can influence things.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Math Scores Lag in Latest Tests in Ontario
The Globe and Mail has this article: EQAO results show dip in Grade 6 math skills.
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|Fred (my grandfather), Willard (my great grandfather) and Jack Moore
This started as a "Wordless Wednesday" post, but has evolved into a whole series of my ancestors with their cars. I don't know much about old cars, so I am asking for help identifying the model years for all of these cars #1-#12. Thanks for any input.


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ALAMEDA — Quarterback Matt Flynn arrived in Alameda on Tuesday eager for the opportunity to be an NFL starter for the first time in his six NFL seasons and hopeful of being a part of something "special."
Flynn addressed the media shortly after the Raiders traded predecessor Carson Palmer to the Arizona Cardinals and less than 24 hours after he was summoned from Baton Rouge, La., upon being told he was traded to the Raiders from the Seattle Seahawks.
"I want to be a part of something special," Flynn said, "and that's a big possibility here, of building something special, building a winning environment and building a really great organization. That's part of the plan."
Flynn, 27, knows a thing or two about winning. His teams won all through high school and college, and he has been part of winning teams for all but his rookie season in 2008, when the Green Bay Packers finished 6-10.
Winning is something that Flynn envisions doing with the Raiders, too, even if they appear to be in a rebuilding mode.
"I've been pretty fortunate," Flynn said. "When you're on good teams for that long, you just expect it."
In Flynn, the Raiders are getting a quarterback with an accurate arm, a firm grasp of NFL offenses and someone with low mileage on his body.
They're also getting a "smart, disciplined player that doesn't like to lose, doesn't accept losing," Flynn said.
Flynn has started only two games during his five NFL seasons. He passed for nine touchdowns and 731 yards in those two starts, both with the Packers.
The Raiders parted ways with a 2014 fifth-round draft pick and a conditional pick in 2015 to get Flynn. He is signed for the next two seasons at less than the Raiders were slated to pay Palmer for 2013.


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Aug. 28, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - During Jerry Smith's 20 seasons at Santa Clara his Bronco teams have rarely played the role of underdogs. However, coming into the 2007 season, that may be the case, as the team lost 10 players to graduation and four more to injury prior to the start of a new season. Those losses have led to some pundits outside the program to predict a down year for the Broncos. Yet among the new-look coaching staff and the returning players, the optimism that has been a staple of SCU's teams in the past is still there is full force. The squad is again loaded with talent and has been bolstered by another strong class of incoming freshmen to make the team's ultimate goal no different, a spot in the College Cup and a national championship.
"I am as excited for this season as I am for every season," said Smith. "Our expectations for this year are no different than they are for any year. We may get off to a slow start with all of the changes, but I think that as the season goes along we will get better and better. By the end of the year, we will be a team that no one wants to face in the NCAA Tournament. We just want to maximize our potential and try to get back to the College Cup. The team should be motivated by our potential underdog status."
Despite the losses, the Broncos still return a host of key contributors on the field as well as a fantastic coaching staff to assist Smith. In the spring, SCU was able to lure one of the top head coaches on the West Coast, Loyola Marymount's Gregg Murphy, to the Broncos coaching staff as the program's first-ever associate head coach. Murphy spent 11 seasons at LMU and took the team to the NCAA Tournament for the first two times in program history in 2002 and 2006. He posted a 105-78-27 record during his time there and established the Lions as one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference. Murphy replaced Erin Chastain on the staff after she took the head coaching job at DePaul University.
"To be able to add someone of Gregg's knowledge and abilities to the staff is a huge boost to our staff," said Smith. "He did a great job at Loyola Marymount and we expect him to make a big contribution here."
Also joining the staff for the 2007 campaign are former Bronco star Devvyn Hawkins and Megan Walinski. Hawkins played four seasons for Santa Clara and helped the Broncos capture the program's first-ever national championship, while also earning All-America honors. For her career, Hawkins started 88 of 93 career games and recorded 21 goals and 20 assists, and also went unbeaten in three matches against North Carolina. Walinski comes to Santa Clara as the team's first-ever wellness coach. A 2000 graduate of San Jose State, Walinski played soccer for the Spartans before earning a masters degree in counseling psychology at Santa Clara. She has previously coached at Ohlone College and with Pleasanton Youth Soccer, but her primary duties at SCU will be focused on the overall wellness of the women's soccer student-athletes.
Curtis McAlister returns for his fifth season as an assistant coach and he will continue to work with the goalkeepers and defenders.
On the field, SCU returns 17 players from the 2006 squad that finished 15-5-1 and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Included in that group are former U.S. U-20 national team standouts Jordan Angeli and Amanda Poach, who will both miss the season due to injury. Joining them on the sideline is the lone remaining holdover from the 2006 starting defense, Dani Potts, who suffered a foot injury that will keep her out for the entire season.
Despite those losses, the Broncos still return a potent core of talent from back to front that should put them in the hunt to reach the program's 11th College Cup. For leadership and experience, the Broncos will look to All-WCC midfielder Brittany Klein, who had five goals and one assist as a junior last season. She will serve as one of the team captains, as she attempts to spark the Bronco offense from her attacking midfielder position. Also filling leadership positions will be seniors Tina Estrada, Chioma Igwe and Meagan Snell. Estrada returns for her final season after missing 2006 with a knee injury looking to get back to her high-scoring ways. Igwe had a strong junior season for SCU in 2006 after transferring from Cal, playing in 18 matches in midfield and scoring two goals. Snell led the Broncos in scoring a year ago with 11 tallies and was named to the 2007 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy watch list this summer.
"Brittany's leadership is going to be important for us," said Smith. "She and Jordan (Angeli) are our two captains, but with Jordan out, Brittany will have to really step up on the field for us. Having another good group of seniors should help us also, especially early in the season."
Along with the other returnees, the Broncos welcome five new freshmen to the team in 2007. Jessie Baddley, Chelsea Bednarz, Maxine Goynes, Anessa Patton and Kendra Perry make up the highly touted class. Unfortunately, Bednarz will be unavailable this season due to a foot injury.
Here is a full look at the 2007 Santa Clara women's soccer team.
The Broncos lose Julie Ryder to graduation, but 2006 starter Meagan McCray returns for her junior season and she will be backed up by fellow junior Lisa Lahman. McCray started 16 games for SCU a year ago and allowed only 10 goals for a 0.65 GAA to earn All-WCC accolades. For her career, McCray has played 23 games for the Broncos and earned nine shutouts, while possessing a 0.62 GAA.
Lahman has appeared in just one game during her Bronco career, but has continued to improve during her two seasons on the Mission Campus and should see some action this year.
"Meagan played well for us last season," said Smith. "She might have a little more pressure this season because our field players might need some time to get going early in the season. We had three senior starters on defense last year, so Meagan might have to do a bit more organizing in the back than in the past."
The Broncos suffered the heaviest losses on the backline, as all four starters from the 2006 team will not be on the field this year. WCC Player of the Year Marian Dalmy, along with All-WCC defender Lauren Zealear and Hillary Schwarzbach all finished their careers in 2006 and Dani Potts is out with an injury. The 2007 defense will be made up of a combination of Igwe, redshirt freshman Lindsey Johnson, sophomore Katherine Reynolds, senior Kendall Doherty and two freshmen, Goynes and Patton. Igwe and Johnson will likely serve as the center backs with Goynes as a potential candidate there. The other three will probably serve as outside backs. Igwe made the switch from the midfield to defense in the spring and appears ready for an excellent senior season, while Johnson is hoping to come back strong after missing her freshman season with a knee injury, suffered in the first game of the year.
On the outside, Reynolds and Patton have shown promise on the right and left respectively. Reynolds started six games last season and battled some ankle injuries, but has looked comfortable in preseason. Patton provides great pace and versatility on the left side and should make a big impact in her first season. Goynes could see time both in the middle and on the outside, while Doherty hopes to finish out her career with a strong senior season as one of the outside defenders.
"We have six players who are vying for the four spots in defense," said Smith. "None of them played in the back last season so it might take some time for those positions to get decided, but we feel confident that they will be able to have success there."
The midfield will be missing an important component with defensive midfielder Poach sidelined for the season. Without Poach, Smith's midfield will be anchored by Klein, who had a career year in 2006, scoring five goals and making the All-WCC Second Team. The Arcadia, Calif. native has now played in 63 career games and netted eight goals. She will serve as an attacking midfielder in Smith's 4-3-3 formation.
Junior Hayley Siegel is the other returnee with a number of games under her belt, as she has appeared in 40 games in her two seasons on the Mission Campus. Also an attacking player, Siegel has scored four goals and dished out five assists in her career.
Courtney Lewis is in her third season at SCU, but the Mission Viejo, Calif. native has been limited to just 10 games during that time due to injuries. She is a possible replacement for Poach in the midfield now that she has recovered.
"Both Brittany and Hayley are good attacking players and will provide us with creative play in midfield," said Smith. "We like to have our defensive midfielder set things up in our system and Courtney is a candidate to play that role."
Redshirt freshman Alyssa Chun and incoming freshman Kendra Perry will provide depth in the midfield.
The strength of the team heading into the season appears to be up top as the Broncos are loaded with options and talent. Snell led the team in scoring a year ago with 11 goals and 25 points to earn All-WCC First Team honors. She also proved to be clutch, scoring four game-winners to help SCU earn a No. 1 seed. Another starter back from last year is Kiki Bosio, who exploded onto the college scene as a freshman in 2006. She netted three goals and led the team with eight assists to earn Soccer America All-Freshman honors. Her goals came in big situations, as she found the net against perennial power, UCLA, before providing the game-winner in a nationally-televised 3-2 win against Portland. Bosio spent the summer playing with the U.S. U-21 team, helping the Americans capture the Nordic Cup, scoring two goals in the tournament.
Estrada, who led the team in scoring as a sophomore and junior, will also play a big role in the Broncos attack. A Fremont, Calif. native, she already finds herself amongst the school's leaders in postseason goals and points, as she has scored five goals in the NCAA Tournament in her career and recorded 13 points. Those totals place her eighth and seventh respectively in program history.
"We have a pretty talented forward line," said Smith. "We are excited to have Tina back from injury and Kiki was probably our best forward all-around last season. Meagan was our scoring leader last year and she will probably have a little extra fire to go out with a big senior year."
Sophomore Lexi Orand appeared in all 21 games a year ago, mainly as a sub, but she has the talent to become a force for the Broncos up top. She scored three goals and had three assists as a freshman. The final piece of the frontline puzzle is freshman Jessie Baddley, who was a high school All-American as a prep player in Utah last year.
The Broncos kick off the season on Aug. 31 against San Jose State and once again face one of the toughest schedules in the country. The team hosts perennial championship contenders Notre Dame and Virginia in the Santa Clara adidas Classic early in the season and will also face 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Rutgers, Cal, Stanford, Cal State Fullerton and UCLA in the non-conference portion of the schedule. In WCC play, SCU was picked second in the preseason coaches poll behind Portland. The Broncos will also have to fend off strong challenges from Pepperdine, San Diego and Loyola Marymount in their quest to win their 10th WCC title.
Santa Clara heads into 2007 with more uncertainty than past seasons, but as in past years, the team is full of talent and ready for another memorable fall in the Silicon Valley. They may just carry that underdog tag all the way to the College Cup in College Station, Texas.


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Vet legit-TV scribe Garth Wingfield (Showtime's "Queer Like Folk," ABC's "Clueless") has relocated the Manhattan locales of his Off Broadway hit, "Dating Games," to Los Angeles environs, but the transition of this series of five 15-minute playlets has lost none of its edgy humor. Credit original Gotham helmer Laura Josepher with maintaining the beautifully balanced rhythms of these engrossing encounters between various configurations of some monumentally needy contemporary folk. She is supported by a gifted four-member ensemble, including original Off Broadway cast members Karin Sibrava and Michael Anderson, who are joined by Alysia Reiner and David Alan Basche (former regular on NBC's "Three Sisters").
With the precision of a skilled surgeon, Wingfield cuts right to the center of each character's neuroses as he or she attempts to navigate the treacherous waters of big city dating life.
To scripter's and helmer's credit, the often cruelly comical shenanigans still manage to sympathetically underscore the frailty of the human psyche that is desperate to not be alone, yet is driven to project the negative energy that makes connecting with others so difficult.
The opening vignette, "Mary Just Broke Up With This Guy," is a hilarious excursion into the dating dilemmas of Mary (Sibrava), a needy but oh-so-choosy newcomer to the dating scene after recently ending a long-term relationship.
In a series of more than a dozen brief but brilliantly executed encounters, Mary presses a buzzer whenever her current date (all portrayed with virtuosi versatility by Anderson) proves to be unworthy.
What is eventually revealed is Mary's inadequacy to absorb and appreciate the potential for happiness that could be sitting right across the cocktail table.
"The Lunch Date" once again finds a woman suffering an emotional meltdown after ending a years-long relationship with a man.
Angst-driven Holly (Sibrava again) confides to best friend Alice (Reiner) that her first tentative foray into dating was a luncheon rendezvous with a very attractive woman.
The palpable uncertainty projected by Sibrava is balanced beautifully by the astonished titillation projected by Reiner, who can barely mask the vicarious pleasure she is enjoying at the expense of her pal's tortured ambivalence.
Reiner and Anderson return as Sheila and Henry in "Cha-Cha-Cha," the poignant high school reunion encounter of two lonely souls who did not really know each other 20 years earlier, even though they were paired together in ballroom dance class.
The two quite believably project the immediate emotional bond that overcomes them even though they can't possibly have a future together.
The highlight of the production is "Daniel on a Thursday," which focuses on the maneuverings of Kevin (Anderson), a gay bar habitue who morphs into whatever persona is applicable to ingratiate himself to Daniel (Basche), a repressed hunk of a man who is decidedly needful of intervention from someone who can see past his off-putting demeanor.
The only low point of the evening is the final segment.
"Run" is a wordy, obtuse vignette about two isolated dog-loving Angeleno singles Spence and Suzanne (Basche and Sibrava) bonding over their dogs' free-at-last rompings in a canine-friendly park. The segment isn't aided or abetted by the inclusion of over-the-top psycho Helen (Reiner), who is more caricature than character.
Production credits by Sarah Lambert (sets), Lew Abramson (lights) and Todd Cheroches (sound) are first rate, doing much to enhance the veracity of Wingfield's vision.