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garlic

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:57:00 -0400

Local. Look forward to tasting it, especially as the tomatoes are coming in now, too.

No wonder the conservative ... scratch that, the wacky right, love to distort and lie about MoveOn.org and everything it stands

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:23:00 -0400

From: MoveOn.org Political Action: Democracy in Action

Top 5 Social Security Myths

Myth #1: Social Security is going broke.

Reality: There is no Social Security crisis. By 2023, Social Security will have a $4.6 trillion surplus (yes, trillion with a 'T'). It can pay out all scheduled benefits for the next quarter-century with no changes whatsoever.¹ After 2037, it'll still be able to pay out 75% of scheduled benefits—and again, that's without any changes. The program started preparing for the Baby Boomers' retirement decades ago.² Anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.

Myth #2: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.

Reality: This is a red-herring to trick you into agreeing to benefit cuts. Retirees are living about the same amount of time as they were in the 1930s. The reason average life expectancy is higher is mostly because many fewer people die as children than they did 70 years ago.³ What's more, what gains there have been are distributed very unevenly—since 1972, life expectancy increased by 6.5 years for workers in the top half of the income brackets, but by less than 2 years for those in the bottom half.⁴ But those intent on cutting Social Security love this argument because raising the retirement age is the same as an across-the-board benefit cut.

Myth #3: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.

So not ready...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:54:00 -0400

...for Pennsic. But, I'm not that concerned. I'm a last-minute packer (professional road warrior), and I've been doing this for years, and I know exactly what needs to go into the van this weekend, and I'm packing light, and I live an hour away, so if I forget anything, no big woop. I know you (who live many hours away from Pennsic) hate me, but I probably couldn't even go this year if I lived more than a couple hours away. I actually have to work three days during war week, and Stef is going to GenCon so he'll be gone Tues. - Tues. So there are some scheduling issues.

All I really want to get out of Pennsic this year, is just a break from my mundane life, and some free-style relaxation. Eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired. Maybe meet some new people, buy some stuff. I have no other plans, no responsibilities or obligations, no agenda.

Some people might call that the most boring Pennsic ever, but I call it a vacation, and I insist on enjoying it, which for me, means doing as little as possible.

FAT BACK AWARD: Mz. Sexy Mya aka ‘Gifts’

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:54:00 -0400

THREESOME THURSDAY: My guess is your girl aint wearing this in the bedroom, but should! [NSFW]

Small Victories

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:46:00 -0400

Well I am going to make it.

Another day of fits and starts with the last room. I can't believe how small he'd managed to make that space. All cleared out its a really nice room, he'd turned it into a cave. It took maybe four days of work, but it's clear.

My other job for today failed fairly impressively. I bought some sensor bases for the exterior lights in a few places so they'd come on at night. When I went to install them today I discovered that the lamp sockets were in each case so deep that the sensor was covered - so it's always dark and the lamps are always on. It's not a complete disaster though. While I was doing one of the fixtures I noticed that it already was a sensor device. It looked like a motion sensor, but turned out to be a photo sensor. So I've got at least one night time lamp. I think I am going to add a switch based timer to the GC's list.

Tomorrow is set aside for contractor prep. I've been chipping away at that for a few days now and figure that will only turn out to be an hour or so - especially since I'll have help from my cousin. So seeing that I might have a little extra time I may try to power through the last 10 feet of garage storage, or maybe finish off the basement, or both.

I cannot express how much I need a break from this work. Two weeks is long enough.

To did:

Met with the realtor to review the work list
Called the respiratory clinic to try to find out where to dispose of some gear - they didn't have an answer for me
Ran by the cardiologist to drop off a telemetry device
Stopped at the nursery to try to find some replacement hedges - not sure if I found something or not
Did the exterior lighting exercise
Cleared away some bedroom contents
Took down some shelves
Boxed up the last of the files
Cleared away more room contents - this was the last of the clothes, ties, I took a few
Cleaned up and staged the room
Did the sorting thing to the last boxes in the garage, from the downstairs shop and the bedroom
Cleaned up the trash out back - the raccoons here are a different breed
Loaded up the truck for a Goodwill trip
Cleaned up and consolidated the garage - now have room for the car
Did the Goodwill trip

and then upon my return cheered at the fact that the outside garage lights came on with the sensor.

Day 200 of 365: The Death of Education?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:11:00 -0400

If you have five minutes, give this video a look. It was produced by the folks at CoSN and Pearson and stars some pretty big names like Daniel Pink and Julie Evans of Project Tomorrow.

It's meant to spur reflection and conversation about the overall direction we're headed in edcuation and the use of technology in education, but I think there are also some small "takeaways" in there that can have a more immediate effect on how we help our students to learn today.

Blink-182- I Miss You

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:03:00 -0400

-Agent Ska-

Rivers poker room: First impressions

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:59:00 -0400

Before the area's two new rooms officially opened, I had heard from more than one source (and passed along here) that the poker room at Rivers was supposedly nicer than the one The Meadows had put together. Turns out, that's not the case. Now, to be clear, Rivers may be where the better action is. It may be where you'll find the most variety when it comes to what games are being spread. It may be the easier room to turn a profit in. But based solely on construction, presentation and layout, it is not the nicer room.

Which isn't to say that it's not a perfectly fine poker room. 'Cause it is.

Unlike at The Meadows, the Rivers poker room is easy to find. You get off the elevator from the parking garage, enter the casino and it's right there. The room is what I like to call a "big box" poker room: nothing elaborate ... just a big, spacious square filled with tables. Sign-in desk at the front. Cage on one side. There is no in-room waiting area or poker-specific bar like The Meadows has, though a small cafe does sit right outside the entrance.

The mood inside gives the impression that it's a more serious poker room than others in the area. There are TVs, but they're spread out and small. Unless you're sitting at a table right next to one and facing the wall, you can forget about watching the game. The room is on the dark side of the brightness spectrum but not ridiculously so.

I arrived at Rivers last Sunday at 8:40 a.m., and there were three full tables in action, two featuring $1/3 NL and one running $2/5 NL. We had a fourth running in less than 20 minutes. By the time I left around noon, that number had jumped to seven and included at least one limit game. (Not bad for early Sunday.) The tables seem a little smaller than at the other local poker rooms, but I'm willing to forgive it as they also include built-in drink holders, which should be mandatory in every poker room on the planet. The players on Sunday were definitely younger, looser and more aggressive than those I've played against so far at The Meadows.

A young white musician sings for racial harmony

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:10:00 -0400

Jordan Umbach of Washington, Pa., performs a song tonight he wrote to protest the 2006 church burnings in America's South. His appearance in his hometown at the George Washington Hotel is part of this city's bicentennial celebration.

He is backed up by members of various male choirs from local black churches to celebrate the city's African-American heritage.

This young guy who is featured in Pittsburgh's City Paper appears to have a future in the music industry.

Pittsburgh's soul man Billy Price takes the stage Friday night, followed by a bluegrass lineup Saturday at Washington & Jefferson College headlined by country singer Big Kenny of Big and Rich.

More information

Ever Wonder What It’s Like To Be Crazy?

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:10:00 -0400

Here is a video by the pharmaceuticals company Janssen to help people understand what it’s like suffering from schizophrenia.

Seven days of music (remaining)

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:05:00 -0400

A song for my funeral:

5 of the Greatest People in the World, Part 19

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:05:00 -0400

There's a thing on Twitter called Follow Friday. Basically, you present a list of people that you recommend other people follow. It's a pretty popular idea and it makes everyone feel good. So with that in mind, I figure the least we can do for our wonderful Kickstarter backers is to give them a variant of the Follow Friday plug. So here they are, in order (well, some of them):

91. Joshua Bird: Josh "The Word" Bird went to college in Chattanooga, where we met at a Chattanooga Lookouts game and bonded over a mutual respect for Wily Mo Pena's formidable skills as a first base coach. When I left my super-competitive fantasy baseball league for a couple of years, Josh took over my team and turned it into a dominant powerhouse. The Yankees of the league, if you will. (Much like the Yankees, he often has the best record and then flames out in the playoffs.) Now we're in the same division, which means we have to tangle pretty often and either he ends up cursing Zack Greinke or I end up cursing Albert Pujols. For years he's promised to come see my movie if it ever plays in Annapolis, thinking clearly he'd never have to make good on that promise. And then he did. Muwhahahaha.

92. cdinucci0: a.k.a. Celeste DiNucci was the 2007 winner of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which pretty much makes her the smartest backer we've got. Originally from what we call in Maine "the other Portland" (Oregon), Celeste now lives in Philly, where she's busy putting together the Philadelphia Performing Arts Kitchen, a nonprofit production house "dedicated to supporting collaborations that are doing original, interdisciplinary, "devised" performance." It sounds like something right up our alley.

93. Meghan Walsh: As you could probably guess, there's a lot of people in the world with the name Meghan Walsh. I'm pretty sure she comes to us via Adam Woods, but I can't really narrow it down any more than that with any certainty. So let's see...here's my best guess: She might work for The Food Trust, which is a company that "works to improve the heath of children and adults, promote good nutrition, increase access to nutritious foods, and advocate for better public policy." And that totally sounds like someone who'd be friends with Adam.

Redbox Launches Blu-ray Rentals

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:01:00 -0400

I like my Netflix, but for those of you that like Redbox then this should be good news for you!Redbox, the popular DVD rental kiosk provider, and wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinstar, Inc , today announced it has started rolling out Blu-ray titles with availability at approximately 13,300 kiosks nationwide. Redbox will rent Blu-ray Discs at $1.50 per night plus tax and the company expects to have availability across its network of approximately 23,000 kiosk locations by the fall.

Goodwill Find of the Week

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:00:00 -0400

During the summer of 1992, I was completely obsessed with the film The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills. . .and Hayley Mills. I was heartbroken when they remade it with Lindsay Lohan (even though it was a pretty decent remake). That's why I sc...

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Set List - 2010-06-22

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:31:00 -0400

P.D.'s Pub - Pittsburgh, PA USA (Purple Tuesdays Open Stage)

Up On Cripple Creek (The Band)
[on Les Paul w/Jay (bass), Shane (drums), Kip (keys), Sruli (harp)]
Of Me This Day (original)
[on Les Paul w/Jay (bass), Shane (drums), Kip (keys), Sruli (harp)]
New Rising Sun (original)
[on Les Paul w/Jay (bass), Shane (drums), Kip (keys), Sruli (harp)]