On Being Notorious...

ViaJMG: Study Shows Conservatives Are Stupid

2012-01-27T06:44:00.001-08:00

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy. The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.

Over 22,000 comments on the linked article already. Heh.

Labels: GOProud

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Editorial Of The Day

2012-01-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

From the New York Times:

For too many Republicans, it’s not enough that Americans are free to pray in the house of worship of their choice; they want all children to be required to pray in school. They want to impose their own ideas about sexuality and abortion on everyone. And they love to accuse Democrats of being insufficiently pious. (Rick Perry’s exit from the race on Thursday may mean no more ads accusing President Obama of a “war on religion” and liberals of believing faith is a sign of weakness. Or, it may not, depending on how desperate the other candidates get.) When Republican officials then get caught violating one of the Ten Commandments, they make an enormous show of contrition and repentance and ask for the public’s forgiveness. But as the hypocrisy level continues to rise, that forgiveness may become much harder to provide.

Bam!

Labels: GOP, New York Times, Newt Gingrich

Reeosted from Joe

Via JMG: Talent Night At The Apollo

2012-01-21T19:23:00.000-08:00

The president launched into his Al Green impression during a fundraising event last night at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. Not bad, actually.

Labels: Barack Obama, Harlem, NYC

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: You're Just Jealous Of Mitten's Wealth

2012-01-13T03:14:00.001-08:00

"You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare. When you have a president encouraging the idea of dividing America based on the 99 percent versus one percent — and those people who have been most successful will be in the one percent — you have opened up a whole new wave of approach in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God. The American people, I believe in the final analysis, will reject it." - Mitt Romney, who says it's unfair to talk about the distribution of wealth in America.

Labels: GOP, Mitt Romney, poverty

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: 100% Bought By The Koch Brothers

2012-01-13T03:06:00.001-08:00

Americans For Prosperity, the Koch Brothers-backed lobbying group, has posted a "scorecard" of the members of Congress based on how often they voted the way the Koch Brothers wanted them to. Above are those with a 100% grade.

Labels: Congress, corruption, lobbyists

Reposted from Joe

Santiago de Chile

2012-01-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

Click aqui para ver meu travel blog // Click here to see my travel blog

Morning walk // Caminhada de hoje - power walk before the taxi came to get me

2012-01-11T04:12:00.000-08:00

Chile Travel Blogs: The Living Eden: Chile's Primordial Patagonia

2012-01-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

Official Toto Tours Blog:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/wareameye/39/tpod.html

My Humble Attempt here:

http://www.travelpod.com/dashboard/trip/1

Via Jerry Becker: What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

2012-01-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

********************************

From The Atlantics Mobile, Thursday, December 29, 2011. See http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/ --- Our thanks to Randolph Philipp and his student Liz Jones for bringing this article to our attention.

********************************

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

By Anu Partanen

The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.

Everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland. Trouble is, when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer, most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.

The small Nordic country of Finland used to be known -- if it was known for anything at all -- as the home of Nokia, the mobile phone giant. But lately Finland has been attracting attention on global surveys of quality of life -- Newsweek ranked it number one last year -- and Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise, because in recent years Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world.

Finland's schools owe their newfound fame primarily to one study: the PISA survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) [see http://www.pisa.oecd.org/pages/0,2987,en_32252351_32235731_1_1_1_1_1,00.html ] The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with superachievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top. Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.

Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model -- long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization -- Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play. All this has led to a continuous stream of foreign delegations making the pilgrimage to Finland to visit schools and talk with the nation's education experts, and constant coverage in the worldwide media marveling at the Finnish miracle.

So there was considerable interest in a recent visit to the U.S. by one of the leading Finnish authorities on education reform, Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? [see http://www.amazon.com/Finnish-Lessons-Educational-Change-Finland/dp/0807752576 ]. Earlier this month, Sahlberg stopped by the Dwight School in New York City to speak with educators and students, and his visit received national media attention and generated much discussion.

And yet it wasn't clear that Sahlberg's message was actually getting through. As Sahlberg put it to me later, there are certain things nobody in America really wants to talk about.

* * *

During the afternoon that Sahlberg spent at the Dwight School, a photographer from the New York Times jockeyed for position with Dan Rather's TV crew as Sahlberg participated in a roundtable chat with students. The subsequent article in the Times about the event would focus on Finland as an "intriguing school-reform model." [See http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/from-finland-an-intriguing-school-reform-model.html?_r=1 ]

Yet one of the most significant things Sahlberg said passed practically unnoticed. "Oh," he mentioned at one point, "and there are no private schools in Finland."

This notion may seem difficult for an American to digest, but it's true. Only a small number of independent schools exist in Finland, and even they are all publicly financed. None is allowed to charge tuition fees. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D.

The irony of Sahlberg's making this comment during a talk at the Dwight School seemed obvious. Like many of America's best schools, Dwight is a private institution that costs high-school students upward of $35,000 a year to attend -- not to mention that Dwight, in particular, is run for profit, an increasing trend in the U.S. Yet no one in the room commented on Sahlberg's statement. I found this surprising. Sahlberg himself did not.

Sahlberg knows what Americans like to talk about when it comes to education, because he's become their go-to guy in Finland. The son of two teachers, he grew up in a Finnish school. He taught mathematics and physics in a junior high school in Helsinki, worked his way through a variety of positions in the Finnish Ministry of Education, and spent years as an education expert at the OECD, the World Bank, and other international organizations.

Now, in addition to his other duties, Sahlberg hosts about a hundred visits a year by foreign educators, including many Americans, who want to know the secret of Finland's success. Sahlberg's new book is partly an attempt to help answer the questions he always gets asked.

From his point of view, Americans are consistently obsessed with certain questions: How can you keep track of students' performance if you don't test them constantly? How can you improve teaching if you have no accountability for bad teachers or merit pay for good teachers? How do you foster competition and engage the private sector? How do you provide school choice?

The answers Finland provides seem to run counter to just about everything America's school reformers are trying to do.

For starters, Finland has no standardized tests. The only exception is what's called the National Matriculation Exam, which everyone takes at the end of a voluntary upper-secondary school, roughly the equivalent of American high school.

Instead, the public school system's teachers are trained to assess children in classrooms using independent tests they create themselves. All children receive a report card at the end of each semester, but these reports are based on individualized grading by each teacher. Periodically, the Ministry of Education tracks national progress by testing a few sample groups across a range of different schools.

As for accountability of teachers and administrators, Sahlberg shrugs. "There's no word for accountability in Finnish," he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. "Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted."

For Sahlberg what matters is that in Finland all teachers and administrators are given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility. A master's degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country. If a teacher is bad, it is the principal's responsibility to notice and deal with it.

And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Puronen: "Real winners do not compete." It's hard to think of a more un-American idea, but when it comes to education, Finland's success shows that the Finnish attitude might have merits. There are no lists of best schools or teachers in Finland. The main driver of education policy is not competition between teachers and between schools, but cooperation.

Finally, in Finland, school choice is noticeably not a priority, nor is engaging the private sector at all. Which brings us back to the silence after Sahlberg's comment at the Dwight School that schools like Dwight don't exist in Finland.

"Here in America," Sahlberg said at the Teachers College, "parents can choose to take their kids to private schools. It's the same idea of a marketplace that applies to, say, shops. Schools are a shop and parents can buy what ever they want. In Finland parents can also choose. But the options are all the same."

Herein lay the real shocker. As Sahlberg continued, his core message emerged, whether or not anyone in his American audience heard it.

Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.

* * *

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.

In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.

That this point is almost always ignored or brushed aside in the U.S. seems especially poignant at the moment, after the financial crisis and Occupy Wall Street movement have brought the problems of inequality in America into such sharp focus. The chasm between those who can afford $35,000 in tuition per child per year -- or even just the price of a house in a good public school district -- and the other "99 percent" is painfully plain to see.

* * *

Pasi Sahlberg goes out of his way to emphasize that his book Finnish Lessons is not meant as a how-to guide for fixing the education systems of other countries. All countries are different, and as many Americans point out, Finland is a small nation with a much more homogeneous population than the United States.

Yet Sahlberg doesn't think that questions of size or homogeneity should give Americans reason to dismiss the Finnish example. Finland is a relatively homogeneous country -- as of 2010, just 4.6 percent of Finnish residents had been born in another country, compared with 12.7 percent in the United States [see http://www.stat.fi/til/vaerak/2010/vaerak_2010_2011-03-18_tie_001_en.html ] But the number of foreign-born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading up to 2010, and the country didn't lose its edge in education. Immigrants tended to concentrate in certain areas, causing some schools to become much more mixed than others, yet there has not been much change in the remarkable lack of variation between Finnish schools in the PISA surveys across the same period.

Samuel Abrams, a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Teachers College, has addressed the effects of size and homogeneity on a nation's education performance by comparing Finland with another Nordic country: Norway. [See http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/82329/education-reform-Finland-US ] Like Finland, Norway is small and not especially diverse overall, but unlike Finland it has taken an approach to education that is more American than Finnish. The result? Mediocre performance in the PISA survey. Educational policy, Abrams suggests, is probably more important to the success of a country's school system than the nation's size or ethnic makeup.

Indeed, Finland's population of 5.4 million can be compared to many an American state -- after all, most American education is managed at the state level. According to the Migration Policy Institute, a research organization in Washington, there were 18 states in the U.S. in 2010 with an identical or significantly smaller percentage of foreign-born residents than Finland. [See http://migrationinformation.org/datahub/acscensus.cfm ]

What's more, despite their many differences, Finland and the U.S. have an educational goal in common. When Finnish policymakers decided to reform the country's education system in the 1970s, they did so because they realized that to be competitive, Finland couldn't rely on manufacturing or its scant natural resources and instead had to invest in a knowledge-based economy.

With America's manufacturing industries now in decline, the goal of educational policy in the U.S. -- as articulated by most everyone from President Obama on down -- is to preserve American competitiveness by doing the same thing. [See http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/26/we-cant-wait-help-americas-graduates ] Finland's experience suggests that to win at that game, a country has to prepare not just some of its population well, but all of its population well, for the new economy. To possess some of the best schools in the world might still not be good enough if there are children being left behind.

Is that an impossible goal? Sahlberg says that while his book isn't meant to be a how-to manual, it is meant to be a "pamphlet of hope."

"When President Kennedy was making his appeal for advancing American science and technology by putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's, many said it couldn't be done," Sahlberg said during his visit to New York. "But he had a dream. Just like Martin Luther King a few years later had a dream. Those dreams came true. Finland's dream was that we want to have a good public education for every child regardless of where they go to school or what kind of families they come from, and many even in Finland said it couldn't be done."

Clearly, many were wrong. It is possible to create equality. And perhaps even more important -- as a challenge to the American way of thinking about education reform -- Finland's experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.

The problem facing education in America isn't the ethnic diversity of the population but the economic inequality of society, and this is precisely the problem that Finnish education reform addressed. More equity at home might just be what America needs to be more competitive abroad.

--------------------------------------

SIDEBAR PHOTO: Finnish Kids -- Sergey Ivanov/Flickr

***********************************************

Possible Range of Temperatures we will encounter in Chile

2012-01-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

Santiago

27°C

Atual: Sol
Vento: SO a 27 km/h
Umidade: 37%

ter

15° | 31°

qua

18° | 31°

qui

18° | 34°

sex

17° | 31°

Punta Arenas, Magalhães e Antártica Chilena

11°C

Atual: Nublado
Vento: O a 39 km/h
Umidade: 54%

ter

5° | 14°

qua

8° | 13°

qui

10° | 17°

sex

8° | 16

Isla de Pascua

25°C

Atual: Nublado
Vento: L a 34 km/h
Umidade: 54%

ter

21° | 26°

qua

21° | 26°

qui

21° | 26°

sex

20° | 25°

Via JMG: Did Jesus Intervene?

2012-01-10T10:20:00.000-08:00

JMG:

Item One: From a Buzzfeed photo essay. Item Two: My most-forwarded tweet from yesterday. Item Three: No comment. Courtesy of JMG reader Homer.

Labels: football, religion, Tim Tebow

Reposted from Joe

JMG Tweet Of The Day

2012-01-10T10:15:00.001-08:00

Labels: GOP, Mitt Romney, New Hampshire

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Colbert Leads Huntsman In SC Poll

2012-01-10T10:14:00.001-08:00

And he's not really running. But then even funnier poll result is below. It seems at least one-third of South Carolina GOP voters agree that "corporations are people." Ron Paul supporters disagree the most vehemently, unsurprisingly.

Labels: GOP, polls, South Carolina, Stephen Colbert

Reosted from Joe

SKOL - DESPEDIDA

2012-01-10T02:26:00.000-08:00

Rainy day Lunch at the Grande Hotel de Ouro Preto - Spencer's last day in Ouro Preto

2012-01-09T14:18:00.000-08:00

zoom down our street (that's the house we rent an apartment in)

Via JMG: GOP Speaker Of Kansas House Sends Out Email Prayer For Death Of Obama

2012-01-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

The GOP speaker of the Kansas House has sent out an email prayer for the death of President Obama. Such "imprecatory prayers" are usually seen from far-right preachers, not politicians.

The Journal-World also revealed that O’Neal had forward another email which referenced the Bible verse Psalm 109:8, which reads: “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” The very next verse adds: “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow." The verse became a conservative meme in 2009 after it began appearing on bumper stickers, t-shirts and even toys. The most common slogan was, “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8.” “At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president!” O’Neal wrote. “Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!”

Another email from O'Neal referred to the First Lady as "Mrs. YoMama" and compared her appearance to Dr. Seuss' Grinch.

Labels: assholery, Christian Love, GOP, Kansan

Via JMG: 11th Annual No Pants Subway Ride

2012-01-09T09:30:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the No Pants Subway Ride, the 11th annual installment from the folks at Improv Everywhere. Hit the link for the Gothamist recap of photos from this and previous years.

Labels: Improv Everywhere, NYC, subway

Reposted from Joe

Oh, the Places You'll Go at Burning Man!

2012-01-09T05:21:00.001-08:00

Via JMG: U.S. Routes As Subway Map

2012-01-09T05:16:00.001-08:00

It gets huge when you embiggen. (Source)

Labels: maps, subway

reposted from Joe

Via Moveon.org: The Top 5 Tax Myths To Watch Out For This Election Season

2012-01-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

MYTH #1: 47% of Americans do not pay taxes.
Fact: All Americans pay taxes.

MYTH #2: The American people and corporations pay high taxes.
Fact: The US has the third lowest taxes of any developed country in the world.

MYTH #3: Cutting taxes creates jobs and raises revenue.
Fact: Tax cuts reduce revenue and are not associated with economic growth.

MYTH #4: The US tax system is very progressive because wealthy individuals already pay a disproportionate amount of taxes.
Fact: At a time of growing income inequality, the US tax system is basically flat.

When you take into account all of the taxes that individuals pay, the truth is that our tax system is relatively flat. The top one percent of income earners receives 20.3 percent of total income while paying 21.5 percent of total taxes and the lowest 20 percent of income earners receive 3.5 percent of total income while still paying out two percent of total taxes.
In other words, wealthy individuals pay a high percentage of taxes because they earn a highly disproportionate amount of income. This is a consequence of growing income inequality in the United States, which is at a level not seen since before the Great Depression.

MYTH #5: The “Fair Tax” or a flat tax would be more fair.
Fact: The “Fair Tax” or a flat tax would make our tax system even more regressive.

Originally found on Citizens for Tax Justice. Submitted by volunteer editor Mark H.

Via JMG: Japanese Retail: It's A Fuckin' Sale

2012-01-08T09:16:00.001-08:00

JMG reader and expat Bruce reports that the fuckin' sale lasts until tomorrow.

Labels: Japan, retail, silliness

Reposted from Joe

Via NPR: Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool

2012-01-08T05:03:00.001-08:00

Education

Physicists Seek To Lose The Lecture As Teaching Tool

Lecturing has never been an effective teaching technique, and now that information is everywhere some say it's a waste of time. Now, physicists have the data to prove it. But efforts to lose the lecture encounter resistance — sometimes from students.

Via a Facebook:

2012-01-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

Republicans: The Single Greatest Threat to America

www.huffingtonpost.com

The single greatest threat to the United States is not joblessness, foreclosures, another recession nor skyrocketing debt. No, the single greatest threat to our country is today's Republican Party.

Morning walk // Caminhada de hoje - deslizamento pt. 3

2012-01-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Godot

At the door I use as my icon for my website and business card: http://www.oreydc.com/

Pizza selection ritual at O Passo

Igreja Pilar e o cachorro

https://sites.google.com/site/mydoornumbers/

http://minhasportas.blogspot.com/2012/01/ouro-preto-minas-gerais-2012-bike-and.html

Dollar Makes 'Toddlers & Tiaras' Star Alana Holler, Honey Boo-Boo!

2012-01-07T04:22:00.001-08:00

Paddy Ashdown: The global power shift

2012-01-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

Via JMG: Employment Picture Slightly Brighter

2012-01-06T14:38:00.001-08:00

Things still suck for millions, of course, but the slow and steady improvement highlighted by today's employment figures certainly brightens the future for the Democrats. For now...

Labels: Democrats, economy, employment

Rposted from Joe

Afternoon shower // chuva da tarde

2012-01-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Via JMG: January 20th: Occupy The Courts

2012-01-05T12:57:00.001-08:00

Via press release:

Inspired by our friends at Occupy Wall Street, and Dr. Cornel West, Move To Amend is planning bold action to mark the second anniversary of the infamous Citizens United v. FEC decision! Occupy the Courts will be a one day occupation of Federal courthouses across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday January 20, 2012. Move to Amend volunteers across the USA will lead the charge on the judiciary which created — and continues to expand — corporate personhood rights. Americans across the country are on the march, and they are marching OUR way. They carry signs that say, “Corporations are NOT people! Money is NOT Speech!” And they are chanting those truths at the top of their lungs! The time has come to make these truths evident to the courts.

Learn more here.

Labels: activism, protests, Supreme Court

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Freak Show

2012-01-05T12:56:00.001-08:00

Labels: GOP, Iowa, New Hampshire

Reposted from Joe

JMG Quote Of The Day - Pat Robertson

2012-01-05T12:39:00.001-08:00

"I didn’t know we were electing a dictator, I thought we were electing a president who had constitutional powers, and we have shared governmental responsibility between the Senate and the House and the courts and the president, and that division has worked very well in our history. So suddenly you’ve got somebody who is power-hungry and he wants to take it all. There’s no question there’s got to be a challenge to this." - Pat Robertson, speaking on The 700 Club.

Labels: batshittery, con men, frauds, liars, Pat Robertson, religion, scam artists

reposted from Joe

Almoçar, templo zen, museu... a grand day out , com Spencer!

2012-01-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

http://minhasportas.blogspot.com/2012/01/escola-de-minas-ouro-preto-minas-gerais.html

Morning walk // Caminhada de hoje - deslizamento pt. 2

2012-01-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Via Fred Karger: How Involved Is the Mormon Church in Huntsman vs. Romney?

2012-01-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

I have been tracking the political activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) for the past three years, ever since it qualified and ran every aspect of the Proposition 8 campaign in my home state of California. After the Mormon Church reported spending only $2078 on the five-month campaign, I filed a sworn complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission detailing all that the Mormon Church did to pass Prop 8.

My charges led to an unprecedented 18-month investigation by our state ethics commission. The Mormon Church was prosecuted, investigated, fined and found guilty on 13 counts of election fraud. They adamantly denied my charges when I first filed them. Church leaders called me a liar and attacked me. That stopped abruptly once the investigation was announced.

Now three years later it appears that the Mormon Church is actively involved in the campaign to elect the first Mormon President of the United States.

Their 180-year-old U.S.-born religion would thrive under President Mitt Romney. Church membership would soar in this country and around the world. But there is one candidate who could jeopardize a Romney win in the primaries: former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.

read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-karger/mormon-church-huntsman-romney_b_1169558.html

Via Alan Grayson:

2012-01-04T15:58:00.001-08:00

Rick Santorum is Wrong: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/04/1051637/-Rick-Santorum-is-Wrong?via=siderecent

Daily Kos: Rick Santorum is Wrong

www.dailykos.com

Faces of Change: Emily's Health Care Story

2012-01-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for.

2012-01-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

2nd JMG Headline Of The Day

2012-01-04T08:58:00.001-08:00

(Source)

Labels: crazy people, liars, losers, quitters

Reposted from Joe

Morning walk // Caminhada de hoje - deslizamento

2012-01-04T07:04:00.000-08:00

JMG Headline Of The Day

2012-01-04T03:19:00.000-08:00

Labels: infighting is funny, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul

Reposted from Joe

Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center:

2012-01-03T15:29:00.001-08:00

Wall Photos

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Spencer in Ouro Preto

2012-01-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

No Largo de Rosário

Spencer, Heloisa and Milton


In two weeks, the garden grew!

Centro


Sol!

Antes de chuva...

Via Keith Olbermann Fan Page

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

New Democratic Slogan:

"We're not perfect, but they're nuts." Barney Frank

É hora de ser solidário!

2012-01-03T05:55:00.000-08:00

Via JMG: Most-Costly Weather Disasters Of 2011

2012-01-03T05:08:00.000-08:00

Think Progress has the full list.

Labels: natural disasters, weather

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG : The End Times Will Bring Zombies And aliens too!

2012-01-03T05:06:00.000-08:00

And aliens too!

Labels: crazy people, end times, nuts, zombies

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: New Billboard In Rhode Island

2012-01-03T05:04:00.003-08:00

(Source)

Labels: Freedom From Religion Foundation, Rhode Island

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Top Ten Numbers Of The Year

2012-01-01T14:29:00.000-08:00

(Source)

Reposted from Joe

NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE FROM THE 17TH GYALWANG KARMAPA, OGYEN TRINLEY DORJE

2012-01-01T14:21:00.000-08:00

Mobile Uploads

NEW YEAR'S MESSAGE FROM THE 17TH GYALWANG KARMAPA, OGYEN TRINLEY DORJE
December 28, 2011

Many people have expressed anxiety about disasters that might befall the world in the year 2012. In fact, we never know what any given year might hold. But if we are sincerely committed to following a path of compassion and wisdom, this uncertainty about the future need not cause us any concern. Whatever happens, we simply keep our focus directed steadily at what matters most—cultivating compassion and equanimity, and acting to benefit others. If we harbor this attitude in our hearts, we can make anything that occurs positive for ourselves and for others.

The year 2011 itself brought many unanticipated challenges—to our natural environment and to many human communities. My heartfelt prayers go to all those who suffered in the turmoil of this year.
I wish especially to offer my prayers to all those who connected with me in any way during this year, as well as to all who will connect in the future. May you find lasting happiness and true peace. May all of us who share this planet go forward together into the new year in harmony. May we live this year with mutual love and respect for one another and for the earth that is our common home.

By: Tashi Oser

Via a Facebook posting:

2012-01-01T10:49:00.001-08:00

Réveillon Rio de Janeiro 2011

2012-01-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Youtube says it best:

Rio...

2011-12-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

the two most important men in my life...

Walking thru the tunnel to Copacabana from Rio Shopping

Show in Lapa

Vic & Luis's View from their window

Walkign to Ipanema along Copacabana

Spencer on Ipanema (a beach not a drug... tho it does get in your bloodstream)

Tonite this will be completely different...

JMG Tweet Of The Day - Andy Borowitz

2011-12-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Labels: GOP, tweet of the day

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Ron Paul Won't Denounce Endorsements From Nazi And Other Extremist Groups

2011-12-29T17:35:00.001-08:00

The New York Times reports:

The American Free Press, which markets books like “The Invention of the Jewish People” and “March of the Titans: A History of the White Race,” is urging its subscribers to help it send hundreds of copies of Ron Paul’s collected speeches to voters in New Hampshire. The book, it promises, will “Help Dr. Ron Paul Win the G.O.P. Nomination in 2012!” Don Black, director of the white nationalist Web site Stormfront, said in an interview that several dozen of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s presidential campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments. “I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one.

Ron Paul: “If they want to endorse me, they’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say." [Photo: Ron Paul with Don Black, director of Stormfront.]

Labels: GOP, hate groups, Nazis, Ron Paul

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: 2011 Word Of The Year: "Occupy"

2011-12-29T17:33:00.000-08:00

So sez the Global Language Monitor.

Labels: language, Wall Street, word of the year

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Gingrich: I'm Middle Class

2011-12-29T17:31:00.001-08:00

"We don’t come out of a background where we can buy a seat or buy, as Mayor Bloomberg did, buy the mayorship of New York. I mean if you look at how much he spent, he just wrote a check and bought it. I think that’s very dangerous to the future of American democracy. My dad served in the Army for 27 years; I was a college teacher. I’m a middle class person." - Newt Gingrich, speaking from his home planet where the middle class is worth many millions and has a seven-figure line of credit at Tiffany.

Labels: asshattery, GOP, liars, Newt Gingrich

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: How The Public Views Political Terms

2011-12-29T17:26:00.000-08:00

(Source)

Labels: Pew Project, politics, polls

Reposted from Joe

Yip Harburg - Over The Rainbow

2011-12-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

Via a Facebook posting:

2011-12-29T14:08:00.001-08:00

São Paulo ; Parque do Ibirapuera

2011-12-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

Let it snow...

2011-12-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

São Paulo!

2011-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

Today in WTFland:

2011-12-28T10:55:00.005-08:00

Gingrich Promises Presidential Commission On Ending The Separation Of Church/State

Newt Gingrich has published a document vowing that "on Day One" of his presidency he will create a commission to investigate any attempt to enforce the separation of church and state. He also promises that he will thwart any attempt to stop the religious bullying of LGBT students. Effectively, Gingrich is saying that he endorses the right of Christians to express "their conscience" and harass, threaten, bully, and beat LGBT kids if God says they should.

Labels: bigotry, dominionists, GOP, Newt Gingrich, religion, separation of church and state, Sharia Law, theocracy

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Gingrich On Wife #1: She's Not Young Or Pretty Enough To Be The First Lady

2011-12-28T10:54:00.003-08:00

More damaging news about "defender of marriage" Newt Gingrich.

A confidant of the former House speaker also told CNN that Gingrich said he dumped Jackie Battley — his one-time high school geometry teacher — in 1980 because she wasn’t “young enough or pretty enough” to be First Lady. On his campaign website, he denies the much-retold story that he served his first wife divorce papers in the hospital where she had just had cancer surgery. “It was (Jackie Battley) that requested the divorce, not Newt, and it was months before the hospital visit in question,” the campaign website says. But newly revealed 30-year-old court papers posted on CNN’s website appear to contradict that. In the papers, Battley asks the judge to reject her husband’s request for a divorce. “Defendant shows that she has adequate and ample grounds for divorce, but that she does not desire one at this time,” her petition said.

But wait, it gets worse.

CNN interviewed Newt Gingrich’s former pal and early congressional campaign treasurer Leonard Carter, who said their friendship ended over the ambitious pol’s callous treatment of his wife. He said Gingrich initially refused to pay alimony — a claim supported by the court papers — and a church had to launch a food drive for Battley and her two daughters. When Gingrich left Battley, he was seeing a young congressional aide, Marianne Ginther, whom he married in 1981. He divorced her 19 years later after an affair with another young congressional aide, Callista Bisek, who is now his third wife and main campaign strategist.

Labels: adultery, GOP, hypocrisy, Newt Gingrich, religion, sanctity of marriage

Via JMG: Turn Off All Electronic Devices

2011-12-28T10:53:00.001-08:00

But not because you'll crash the plane.

“The power coming off a Kindle is completely minuscule and can’t do anything to interfere with a plane,” said Jay Gandhi, chief executive of EMT Labs, after going over the results of the test. “It’s so low that it just isn’t sending out any real interference.” But one Kindle isn’t sending out a lot of electrical emissions. But surely a plane’s cabin with dozens or even hundreds will? That’s what both the F.A.A. and American Airlines asserted when I asked why pilots in the cockpit could use iPads, but the people back in coach could not. Yet that’s not right either. “Electromagnetic energy doesn’t add up like that. Five Kindles will not put off five times the energy that one Kindle would,” explained Kevin Bothmann, EMT Labs testing manager. “If it added up like that, people wouldn’t be able to go into offices, where there are dozens of computers, without wearing protective gear.”

Labels: air travel, iPad, Kindle, technology

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Tarzan Star Cheetah Dies At 80

2011-12-28T10:44:00.003-08:00

Amazing considering that most captive chimps only live to be about 35-45. More here.

Cheetah the chimpanzee, who acted in classic Tarzan movies in the early 1930s, died of kidney failure Saturday at Suncoast Primate Sanctuary in Palm Harbor, a sanctuary spokeswoman said. Cheetah was roughly 80 years old, loved fingerpainting and football and was soothed by nondenominational Christian music, said Debbie Cobb, the sanctuary's outreach director. He was an outgoing chimp who was exposed to the public his whole life, Cobb said today.

Labels: Florida, Hollywood, movies

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Eleven Terms In Congress, One Passed Bill

2011-12-28T10:44:00.001-08:00

Of the 620 bills authored by Rep. Ron Paul over eleven terms in the House, only one has been passed. And he's proud of that.

For a limited-government advocate like Paul, of course, his record of failure is actually a badge of honor. He has no interest in creating new programs or expanding regulations and is at great pains to spend the government's money — normally a popular pastime in Washington. In fact, most of the bills that he does sponsor usually involve some attempt to eliminate or hamstring government activity, such as proposals to abolish OSHA, disband the Department of Education, and repeal the income tax. In a world resistant to big change, bills like that have little chance of becoming law and many never get out of committee. But for Paul, the purpose is not to pad a record of small accomplishments, but to take a stand for his more radical ideas on the Constitution and the role of government.

Labels: Congress, libertarians, losers, Ron Paul

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Samoa Cancels Friday

2011-12-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

There will be no Friday in Samoa this week.

The decision to push the international dateline further to the east and go back to the future -- going directly from Thursday to Saturday -- was prompted by new economic realities rather than a need to be the first place in the world to celebrate New Year's Day in 2012. Samoan prime minister, Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, said the move would put the Pacific island nation of some 180,000 people on the same footing as its key trading partners in New Zealand and Australia, taking advantage of those economies links to China and the Pacific Rim.

In 1892 Samoa had two consecutive July 4ths when the king moved the dateline west in order to match the calendar of San Francisco-bound shipping.

reposted from Joe

Xmas Day - Amparo - 2011

2011-12-25T15:29:00.000-08:00

I bought a fan... as its 33c

Papai Noel dropped off Helena at Edson's family

These folks invited Papai Noel in for a few chopes...

Amparo, Xmas Eve - emfrente da Casa de Sogra

2011-12-25T05:14:00.000-08:00

From a stop on the way into town from Caxambu

they paid him...

Papai Noel came early...

Helena, Milton & Spencer

Neighbors

M, me and Dona Helena

From the drive from Caxambu back to Amparo, Xmas Eve 2011

2011-12-24T14:06:00.001-08:00

Caxambu, MG

2011-12-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

Sunset / pôr do sol - São Thomé das Letras - Minas Gerais

2011-12-22T16:55:00.000-08:00

Tell Kim Kardashian to Endorse the Millionaires Tax of 2012!

2011-12-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

São Thomé das Letras - Minas Gerais

2011-12-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

Cachoeira Vale das Borboletas de São Thomé das Letras

2011-12-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

O Vale das Borboletas está localizado próximo a estrada que vai para Três Corações, possui duas quedas d´água, com uma pequena gruta cheia de samambaias em volta. Em determinadas épocas do ano ou quando está muito sol, é possível avistar dezenas de tipos de borboletas. Seguindo o curso da água, você encontrará uma piscina natural e a corredeira do Vale dos Gnomos de São Thomé das Letras.