Caturday: Sisters of the Moon edition
Posted: May 26, 2012 Filed under: just because 39 Comments
Good morning, news junkies! I’m super-tardy, so this will be short and sweet.
- The Sleeping Brain may come undone so we can start afresh, according to this piece in Sci Am Mind.
- MUST-SEE FOOTAGE: Saudi woman stands her ground against religious police telling her to leave; tells them it’s none of their business if she wears nail polish!
- via MFAH… This day in history: American documentary photographer Dorothea Lange was born on May 26, 1895. Lange took the iconic Depression-era Migrant Mother photo.
- Taylor Marsh: “the Obama administration has instead led a crack-down on medical pot that exceeds anything George W. Bush did.” Apparently Obama’s “Are You In?” (drug verbiage) campaign is all smoke and mirrors…
- Romney sticks with Birther Fool. Gotta love hating this election…
- Charles Blow: Plantations, Prisons and Profits [NYT, via Reader Supported News]…I’d be remiss not to tease a little of this for you:
Lnouisiana [sic] is the world’s prison capital. The state imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of its U.S. counterparts. First among Americans means first in the world. Louisiana’s incarceration rate is nearly triple Iran’s, seven times China’s and 10 times Germany’s.”
That paragraph opens a devastating eight-part series published this month by The Times-Picayune of New Orleans about how the state’s largely private prison system profits from high incarceration rates and tough sentencing, and how many with the power to curtail the system actually have a financial incentive to perpetuate it.
The picture that emerges is one of convicts as chattel and a legal system essentially based on human commodification.
First, some facts from the series:
• One in 86 Louisiana adults is in the prison system, which is nearly double the national average.
If you’ve got the time this weekend, you best read the rest.
- A bit of local news this week that has everybody here I know all smiles: Houston Hobby is on track to go international! …not only that, but our mayor, Annise Parker, has struck a deal for Southwest Airlines to foot the entire $100m bill for the airport’s expansion. Whee-haw! You cannot understand how huge this is unless you live here or have spent time here–Houston is a very LARGE city, as in physically stretched out, and driving out to Bush Intercontinental for many of us is a mini-road trip in itself. An independent peer review commissioned by the City of Houston–of existing studies by the City, Southwest, and United–gives the green lights as well, confirming a positive economic boost/outlook in response to a Hobby expansion. If you’re interested in reading more on this, I found the following interesting take while perusing the headlines: Southwest Can Take Latin America By Storm If Houston Hobby Gains International Routes.
- Oh and before I close this… a Very Happy Birthday to Ms. Stevie Nicks! “She is like a cat in the dark, and then she is the darkness…” Here’s one of my favorite live performances of hers on youtube… “Sisters of the Moon”… absolutely mesmerizing, just WOW…
Alright. Comments, Sky Dancers. You know what to do! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Reblogged this on Let Them Listen.
Good morning!! I can’t wait to read this … I’m just checking in !!!
Yup me too!
and how are you, JJ? xo
Doing good Mona, writing a post now so I will catch up on the blog shortly.
Hey Kat! How’s Vail? 🙂
how is Jean? how are YOU?
There are so many things to do it’s just amazing! The mehndi and dinner were fun. So many children doing dances! Every one is henna tatoo’d now. I am smeared with tumeric from the gaye haloub. I am so tired! They decorated the cars with all kinds of flowers. They are getting married outside at the foot of the ski run near the lift!!! The weather is beautiful and there are hundreds of women in colorful saris every where!! I have to put mine on in about and hour. The food is extreme! I am so sleepy I could just stay in bed all day. I am playing piano at the reception. I had to get them to bring a piano technician in because the piano was in such bad shape.Jean is radiant and has had so many outfits on I cannot keep track of them. I just try to show up where I am supposed to show up and do what I am told!! This is just one big Bengali Bash!
Kat, I can’t wait to see the pictures! And I have to tell you Kat, my family is getting a laugh at what you are going to have to do later today…my husband said to tell you…get good in-between the toes! (I will get him properly for that remark later…) Love to you and to Jean! Enjoy the day!
Dak, sounds tremendously colourful, fun — and confusing! What an experience. I bet your playing will be good, and so fortunate to be able to get a piano tech in at the last moment. Enjoy!
Found this cat video for Caturday. Really just because.
“Results may vary.” Heh! Fantastic… Thank you, Tim.
How precious. Results of introductions do vary. It really depends on personalities. I’ve had a couple of fearless kittens over the years that simply came in and took over – No Fear. Thanks, Tim.
I think my favourites steps are 3 and 10. Love that throaty growl cats make and love the big cat lying on the smaller one. I miss my cat, hope everyone is having a great Caturday.
Funny, and very sweet at the end.
In reality I’d give them more time to sniff each other without being able to get at each other (screen door between). And feed them in the same room, a ways apart and then slowly closer together. Also give the older kitty lots of attention so s/he won’t feel (too) intruded upon.
But most adults take to a kitten fairly easily. It’s getting two adults to get along that can be more problematic. That can take longer.
Wonk The Vote,
The cat and in the comforter continuum got me laughing hard 😆 !
Hiya Woman Voter, yay! that’s what kittylulz are for 😉
Thanks for the links, Mona. Here’s my outrage of the day: Judge sends honor student to jail for missing school.
Wow, I’m just infuriated at that judge and at both of her parents! How irresponsible can one get to leave your children on their own after a divorce? That’s awful.
It’s horrible. The poor kid. Ralph, if you hear of any way to donate to help her, would you tell us? I haven’t seen anything yet.
From the local news here…
People across the country offer help to honor student jailed for truancy
http://www.khou.com/news/local/People-across-the-country-offer-help-to-honor-student-jailed-for-truancy-154235505.html
And here’s a change.org petition…
http://www.change.org/petitions/lanny-moriarty-justice-of-the-peace-precinct-1-revoke-the-fine-and-sentencing-of-honors-student-diane-tran
Thank you Mona!! That poor girl. I really feel for her.
Thanks Mona. That’s good information. I appreciate it.
Old Prof Moriarty could have just left it at “he hadn’t given it any thought.”
Touche, quixote.
The judge needs to give immediate thought to reversing the sentence and awarding the kid some money for confinement without cause. What an idiot and a bully. The kid’s under 18; go after the parents.
Oops, didn’t read the rest of the comments in my rush to post, I was so mad!
Maybe Mayor Parker will get involved somehow. Getting Southwest to foot the bill is a hell of an impressive achievement, she’s clearly not afraid to go against the prevailing tides. Great post!
Thanks for reading Seriously… 🙂
Hey, that’s a fantastic thought…I think I may just write Annise about the plight of Diane Tran.
If anyone is on twitter, retweet this if possible:
https://twitter.com/MinkoffMinx/status/206547966939508739
https://twitter.com/MinkoffMinx/status/206547966939508739
This NPR series in from over a year ago but it’s well worth listening to. It’s about the bail bonds system, so goes along with the prison piece. Privatization (Mitten’s Mantra) is part of the running the gov’t like a business BS. People suffer because they are nothing but a commodity. Yet with the rise in imprisonment, the Wall Street bandits continue stealing, pedophiles/rapists/murderers go free, as long as they have influential friends & plenty of money.
hey Connie, would love to listen…could you link me to it? 🙂
Oops – thought I’d put the link in my comment. http://www.npr.org/series/122954677/behind-the-bail-bond-system Mea culpa.
Very, very bad news out of Syria: at least 90 dead in Houla, 32 or more of them children under 10. Western governmental spokespeople and Syrian “activists” say it is the fault of Syrian government forces. Syrian government says it is the result of attacks by terrorist gangs.
BBC article.
Scary thought is that since there were UN reports coming out saying both sides were at fault,and there have been those horrendous bombings, it was perhaps thought to be time to try to prove that the government was a majorly baddest actor, either by creating situations where gov’t forces would be compelled to respond or, worse, terrorst gangs did mass killings to get “facts on the ground, dead bodies, to cause Western governments to do their work for them.
Bad news for Syrians, bad news for the region, and perhaps bad news for all of us.
Horrible news for those killed and injured. Houla. It will be known as the Houla Massacre, surely, and it will almost not matter who did it. It’s what’s needed to get more weapons to the “activists,” some of whom actually are terrorists, and maybe get the West involved using air force. Uh oh. More and more and more killings.
Society refers to non-human animals as beasts. Rather ironic, I’d say. Seems to me that homo sapiens is the most beastly of all species.
I’m listening to The American Life & the story of a massacre in Dos Erres, Guatemala in 1982. It is horrible, tragic & so difficult to listen to. Here’s the link: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/465/what-happened-at-dos-erres The entire village was killed except for 3 young boys. The massacre of the women & children began by one soldier throwing a baby, alive, down a 40 foot well. The killings in Guatemala continued and the US knew about it & did nothing.
I always thought we were the beasts… well us and the French Mastiff I know 😉
Here’s a link to Pro Publica who was involved in the investigation: http://www.propublica.org/article/how-we-reported-oscars-story
And National Security Archive: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB316/index.htm
Really enjoyed the link on Dorothea Lange. There is a group of her photo’s on Shorpy: Dorothea Lange | Shorpy Historical Photo Archive Emotional pictures…especially the women and children.
I had no idea who Dorothea Lange was until NPR did a story on her last year, interviewing the author of a book about Ms. Lange. Here’s a link to the interview & an excerpt from the book: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126289455