Would You Believe It?
It hasn't dampened the spirits of our fair city, though. There was rejoicing all week-end as the new Democratic governor, Bill Ritter, was inaugurated in this now totally Democratic state. His wife wore a vintage deep red velvet gown, very unusual. And in keeping with the new trend, grandmothers, grandfathers, all the children, everyone in the family, were there to celebrate. There is a feeling of hope and renewal in the air.
He just set off on a whistle-stop train trip through the state.
Let it snow!!
posted by jm at 3:38 PM
8 Comments:
jm - here's a note from Astrid that she left on my site . . .
jm, when I try to post on your wonderful site my computer just goes crazy with sounds and jams. I'm so sorry to miss our conversations.
Have you considered switching to New Blogger?!
We haven't had any new snow here, just the Cold but still sunny . . . pretty to look at but not so nice to be out in.
jm, we just heard from a friend here that her dad in Denver had so much snow on his roof that it imploded. He now has 50+ inches of snow in his house. :o(
You're right, jm: the future is so bright we gotta wear shades. :o)
Scientists see dazzling future
and
A world without violence or religion
And oh why the hell not, let's throw in something irreverent from Mark Morford! :o)
Sorry, the first link doesn't work right. Let's try again.
Astrid, this is awful! The problem with the new blogger is that on dial-up it's slow to load, I think. Very slow. I'll look into it. I miss your comments so much.
joe, that is awful!!!!!!
The links look good. Will read shortly. I know the scientists are excited.
Like this from James O'Donnell:
History repeats itself. The same stupidities, the same vengeances, the same brutalities are mindlessly reinvented over and over. The study of history can help the educated and the wise avoid the mistakes of the past, but alas, it does nothing for helping the numskulls.
But the study of the past and its follies and failures reveals one surprising ground for optimism. In the long run, the idiots are overthrown, or at least they die. On the other hand, creativity and achievement are unique, exciting, liberating — and abiding. The discoveries of scientists, the inventions of engineers, the advances in the civility of human behavior are surprisingly durable.
After all, we started out in the African savanna, trying to run fast enough to catch up with things we could eat and to stay away from things that could eat us. Our natural destiny was to squat in caves and shiver, then die young. We decided we didn't like that, and we figured out how to do better.
I like his personality.
OMG!!!! Here it is from Steven Pinker:
This is just one example of the most important and underappreciated trend in the history of our species: the decline of violence. Cruelty as popular entertainment, human sacrifice to indulge superstition, slavery as a labor-saving device, genocide for convenience, torture and mutilation as routine forms of punishment, execution for trivial crimes, assassination as a means of political succession, pogroms as an outlet for frustration and homicide as the major means of conflict resolution — all were unexceptionable features of life for most of human history. Yet today they are rare in the West, less common elsewhere than they used to be and widely condemned when they do occur.
Yet as far as I know, every systematic attempt to document the prevalence of violence over centuries and millenniums (and for that matter, the last 50 years), particularly in the West, has shown that the overall trend is downward (though of course with many zigzags).
This is great. Thanks joe.
Very very good article. It covers a lot of bases. The Wal Mart one was interesting. My view too. That preservation is good business.
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