I am just too disgusted to write much this morning. The KKK was in town yesterday, and of course it created a scene in my home. Sorry, but I am very vocal about things…and like many of you know, I get very passionate about what I think is right. The same goes for what I think is wrong. And hate, bigotry, racism and intolerance are wrong. Especially when they come under the cowardice of a white hood. So I will speak my mind, and if it upsets anyone, so be it.
The KKK in Union County Georgia…Blairsville.
This image is not, LOL funny. And to see it being “liked” by my kid’s school friends is too disturbing for me to let pass without making a comment on what these hoods represent. I should not have to apologize for simply putting a link on a facebook photo to educate these kids as to what the KKK stands for. If you sit back and ignore it, simply because it does not affect you personally, then you are complacent in the hateful actions this group participates and supports.
In fact, the movement was protesting the confinement of Kenyans to ‘reserves,’ their crowding into urban slums, the privileged position of white British settlers, and the latters’ plan to go on ruling over 6 million Africans with an iron fist.
Abstract: Current scholarship regarding Scandinavia has neglected to give all but a cursory glance at the factors involved in Viking expansion. This thesis studies and explains employment opportunities, political motives, and societal norms as separate, individual motives that perpetuated Scandinavian migration, conquest, and adventure from the eighth through the eleventh centuries AD. Afterwards, these investigations are used to describe the various and sometimes conflicting forces of expansion that led to the formation of the Danelaw in England circa AD 870. Over time, the eventual adoption of Christianity and feudal relationships within Scandinavia would bring expansion as well as the Viking Age to a close.
On July 30th, 1202, King John was at Le Mans when a messenger arrived bearing desperate news. His mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the grand old lady of twelfth-century politics, had been trapped at Mirebeau and was on the point of falling into the hands of his enemies, headed by his nephew, Arthur of Brittany. Between Le Mans and Mirebeau in Poitou lay nearly 100 miles of twelfth-century roads. Forty-eight hours later, at dawn on August 1st, Arthur and his followers, having forced their way into the castle and driven Eleanor back into the keep, the last refuge, were enjoying a relaxed breakfast – pigeons were on the menu that day- secure in the belief that John was still far away, when their quiet meal was rudely interrupted by the sudden arrival of Eleanor’s royal son. They went for their weapons and did their best to put up some show of resistance. But it was too late. The cat was already among the pigeons.
By thinking and acting faster than they had imagined possible, John had turned the tables on his enemies. Now it was they who were in the trap and not one of them escaped. More than 200 knights were captured, half a dozen barons and, best of all, Arthur himself. John Lackland, once the runt of the Plantagenet litter, had defeated his enemies more decisively than ever his father or even his warrior brother, Richard the Lionheart, had been able to do. It was a magnificent victory. ‘God be praised for our happy success’, he wrote in exultation.
An 11-year-old boy from Russia’s north has stumbled upon a well-preserved woolly mammoth, in what scientists describe as the best such discovery since 1901.
Yevgeny Salinder, whose family lives near a polar station in the northern Taimyr Peninsula, discovered the frozen animal when he was strolling along the banks of the Yenisei River in late August.
“He sensed an unpleasant odour and saw something sticking out of the ground — it was the mammoth’s heels,” said Alexei Tikhonov, director of the Saint Petersburg-based Zoological Museum, who rushed to the tundra after the boy’s family had notified scientists of the historic find.
Tikhonov said the mammoth had died aged 15-16 around 30,000 years ago, adding his tusk, skin, an eye and an ear were clearly visible.
“His one-metre-long penis is also intact so we can conclude that this was a male,” Tikhonov told AFP.
Tikhonov said it was the best preserved adult mammoth discovered in more than 100 years.
“So far we can say it is the mammoth of the century,” Tikhonov said.
I am so upset about this KKK thing that I can’t even make a joke about a 3-foot long penis.
From the exhibition “Hollywood Costume,” at the Victoria and Albert Museum: Cate Blanchett’s regalia from Elizabeth, Charlie Chaplin’s getup from The Tramp, Kate Winslet’s ship-boarding ensemble from Titanic, Christian Bale’s Batman suit from The Dark Knight Rises, Meryl Streep’s coat from Out of Africa, Brad Pitt’s Fight Club outfit, Ginger Rogers’s dress from Lady in the Dark, Marilyn Monroe’s fur stole and sequined shift from Some Like It Hot, Judy Garland’s “Dorothy” dress from The Wizard of Oz, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s Elizabethan frock from Shakespeare in Love.
‘You can’t have a great movie without the costumes’ being great,” declares costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the senior guest curator of the exhibition “Hollywood Costume,” which opens this month at the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London. Landis and her team have spent more than five years searching out and gathering together 130 of the most unforgettable costumes designed for characters over a century of filmmaking. “Hollywood Costume” explores what an essential tool costume is in cinema storytelling and how intricate the relationship is between designer, actor, and director from script to screen.
“We most succeed when we’re most invisible,” explains Landis. “I want the audience to be fully immersed in the movie. I’m so not interested in the clothes—they’re so surface. I only care about the characters.” The exhibition will unite classics from the golden age, including iconic looks such as Scarlett O’Hara’s green velvet “curtain” dress from Gone with the Wind and Dorothy’s blue-and-white gingham pinafore from The Wizard of Oz, designed by Adrian (and made on a treadle sewing machine, as if by Auntie Em).
Read more and watch a video of the exhibit at the link.
Something very, very interesting is happening with Voyager 1, the human probe that’s the very farthest from Earth.
New data from the spacecraft, which I will discuss below, indicate Voyager 1 may have exited the solar system for good. If true, this would mark a truly historic moment for the human race — sending a spacecraft beyond the edge of our home solar system.
The visual graphs on this article are amazing…check it out:
there has been a dramatic and sustained drop in charged particles (principally protons) originating from the Sun that have struck the spacecraft.
Rate at which Voyager 1 is being bombarded by particles such as protons. (NASA)
See what I mean, isn’t that impressive. The graph even looks like a barrier of some sort. Please, go to the link and look at more information and possible proof that Voyager has moved on out of our solar system.
Just a side note… the link was picked up by Drudge, and it is unfortunate that these right-wing assholes have to make they typical comments. You can see how the discussion is ruined by these people ugh…anyway…
I will try and post some morning news links in the comments. Maybe I will be more calm and collected in the morning when I wake up…but I am not guaranteeing it.
Well, it is almost 6 a.m. and I still feel grumpy. However, there is hope because I found something to laugh at. SNL had a couple of good skits last night. I have to post this one with Big Bird, Big Bird Responds To Mitt Romney On SNL video at the link.
Another fascinating & eclectic roundup of stories. JJ, you are a true Renaissance Woman. I love the disparate stories you bring to us in your posts. Have to say the mammoth story & photo is my favorite (that’s a shock, isn’t it?). When I was that boy’s age, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. I can imagine how that child must have felt, still feels at this amazing discovery. It could well be life altering for him.
I watched the Stewart/O’Reilly debate last night, of course since I ADORE Jon Stewart. It was pretty good. I could’ve lived without the obligatory Fox blond with her microphone strategically protruding from between her ample breasts in her low cut. form fitting dress. I think it was mostly a Jon Stewart audience. The livestream sucked.
I have to give a shout out to Up with Chris Hayes again. One segment is/was about the usage of the term illegal immigrant/alien. I have to say that my head nearly explodes every time I hear that phrase. Persons or a people cannot be illegal. It’s basic bad grammar. A person can be in a country illegally, but the fact that person exists isn’t illegal. GAWD – it makes me nuts. Great discussion. Language matters. Check out the video later, please: http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.com/ Maria Hinojosa tells the panel what Elie Wiesel told her – powerful.
Finally the KKK. I cannot imagine what the intrusion of this horrid, criminal, monstrous group into your life must be like. I know it’s never gone away, but it’s never intruded into my life. However, groups like these call for a serious discussion of what exactly is Free Speech. LIes & hate speech should not be tolerated, IMHO. Hugs to you JJ.
I thought the same thing when I read about the boy who discovered the mammoth. It is a life altering thing…hopefully he has an opportunity to explore his options.
I can totally understand your anger, JJ, and I’m shocked by the notion of kids “liking” that KKK picture, but I must say they marchers look like a sparse and pathetic group of losers.
Yeah, that is the upside to it, just a few assholes. But supposedly there is a law in GA where you cannot wear a hood in a public place. Maybe this was one of the reasons for the small number of hoods in the picture.
U. of Denver Colorado state poll taken after the debate: Obama leads 47-43 with likely voters, 48-31 with Independents. Respondents think Romney won the debate by 68-19, doesn’t seem to have affected that many votes.
That’s what I hope happens once the panic dies down. Personally, the media spin and the panic among Dem supporters has a better chance of doing real damage than the debate itself, even though the debate was terrible.
I remember KKK marches in my hometown when I was growing up. Once they set fire to an African American-owned store and burned down a half block of businesses along with it. The fire happened very close to campus and not far from my elementary school. It’s one of those things you never forget.
My dad was substituting for a high school class this week, and there was talk in class about the KKK Rally, and how the students were all excited about attending. He spoke up, and told them a story about when he was five years old. His mother came home and shut out all the lights in the house, he can remember being just tall enough to peer over the window sill out to the street where the KKK were marching. They burned a cross on the lawn of the next door neighbor, who was a married interracial couple. He said he remembers how scared he was. He was five and understood what those hoods meant. That a 13 year old does not is very bothersome. I don’t know maybe I am just being sensitive.
Anyway, my dad mentioned that the KKK hates not only black people, but latinos, catholics, gay, etc…I am glad that he said something, and didn’t just sit there. In silence.
Well, perhaps the high school kids in your town are just ignorant about the KKK, rather than racist. I hope that is the case. Anyway, I’m glad your dad gave them a first-hand account of what it was like as a child to witness the KKK’s particular form of evil. I remember it as very scary.
Great post JJ. Especially loved the Voyager story and the mammoth find!
I know how you feel about that KKK thing. A couple of years ago, the KKK announced a big rally was going to be held here. The city mobilized tons of police for security and literally thousands of people showed up to counter protest. The big KKK presence consisted of 6 people who drove up in two pickup trucks with signs and hung around for about 10 minutes, then left.
Free speech is a right that I support completely but, in that case, the city spent tons of money for dozens of police officers to provide security for those 6 fools from the 1000s of counter protestors. Maybe we should be able to send a bill to the KKK?
OMG – I had no idea that Obama has taken away her right to be a Catholic. That’s tragic. Where have I been, under a rock? How could I have missed something as monumental as that? And, of course, the best reason to vote for someone as prez? He’s hot. Airheads Unite.
Fabulous round-up! I too am interested in biology & archeology, cultural translations and transference, fabric arts, paleontology, the cosmos, and lots more, like most of us here. SkyDancers do not have narrow minds!
It’s one thing for each side in the political divide to accuse the other of lying. But when someone suggests that the press is partly responsible for the fact that Americans are being misinformed, just watch the fur fly. Here’s the entire This Week panel attacking Paul Krugman for suggesting the press fell down on the job in reporting Romney’s epic lie fest in the debate:
The parents of a central Indiana boy are suing Ball State University, alleging their son was subjected to “horrific sexual abuse” by fellow second-graders at a university-run school who they say acted out scenes from pornographic videos they downloaded on school computers.
The lawsuit says the boy was 8 years old when he was forced to engage numerous times in sex acts with other children at Burris Laboratory School in Muncie in late 2011. Four second-grade boys, including the alleged victim and another student described as the “ringleader,” are believed to have been involved in the sex abuse, the complaint alleges.
Ball State spokesman Tony Proudfoot said in a written statement that the university learned in December 2011 of allegations of inappropriate behavior among four second-graders at the school. He said the matter was “reported promptly” to local law enforcement and the Indiana Department of Child Services.
I read the story, but I’m going to need more information. This sounds pretty incredible. Leaving 8-year-olds alone for long periods in a computer room? How did they find the porn sites? I guess it could be true, but I need more evidence. Law enforcement and CPS were notified in 2011.
The Sky Dancing banner headline uses a snippet from a work by artist Tashi Mannox called 'Rainbow Study'. The work is described as a" study of typical Tibetan rainbow clouds, that feature in Thanka painting, temple decoration and silk brocades". dakinikat was immediately drawn to the image when trying to find stylized Tibetan Clouds to represent Sky Dancing. It is probably because Tashi's practice is similar to her own. His updated take on the clouds that fill the collection of traditional thankas is quite special.
You can find his work at his website by clicking on his logo below. He is also a calligraphy artist that uses important vajrayana syllables. We encourage you to visit his on line studio.
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Here are a few newsy headlines for you this morning:
Check it out, from the Guardian…yes the world has picked up on the GA Republican Rep giving a sermon on the mount…well, sermon in front of a bunch of dead deer. Republican congressman Paul Broun dismisses evolution and other theories | World news | guardian.co.uk
Did anyone catch the debate between O’Reily and Stewart last night? The most memorable one-liners from the Bill O’Reilly-Jon Stewart debate
Charles Blow on Romney: Don’t Mess With Big Bird – NYTimes.com
iPhone and suicide nets? Yeah we have talked about them for a while, but new problems as Foxconn Denies Report of Unrest at iPhone Factory – NYTimes.com
A couple of serious world news items:
U.S. Agrees to Let South Korea Extend Missile Range – NYTimes.com
Turkey Says Syria Fires Again Across Border
News from The Associated Press Preserving a revolution’s graffiti
AP Photo
Another fascinating & eclectic roundup of stories. JJ, you are a true Renaissance Woman. I love the disparate stories you bring to us in your posts. Have to say the mammoth story & photo is my favorite (that’s a shock, isn’t it?). When I was that boy’s age, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. I can imagine how that child must have felt, still feels at this amazing discovery. It could well be life altering for him.
I watched the Stewart/O’Reilly debate last night, of course since I ADORE Jon Stewart. It was pretty good. I could’ve lived without the obligatory Fox blond with her microphone strategically protruding from between her ample breasts in her low cut. form fitting dress. I think it was mostly a Jon Stewart audience. The livestream sucked.
I have to give a shout out to Up with Chris Hayes again. One segment is/was about the usage of the term illegal immigrant/alien. I have to say that my head nearly explodes every time I hear that phrase. Persons or a people cannot be illegal. It’s basic bad grammar. A person can be in a country illegally, but the fact that person exists isn’t illegal. GAWD – it makes me nuts. Great discussion. Language matters. Check out the video later, please: http://upwithchrishayes.msnbc.com/ Maria Hinojosa tells the panel what Elie Wiesel told her – powerful.
Finally the KKK. I cannot imagine what the intrusion of this horrid, criminal, monstrous group into your life must be like. I know it’s never gone away, but it’s never intruded into my life. However, groups like these call for a serious discussion of what exactly is Free Speech. LIes & hate speech should not be tolerated, IMHO. Hugs to you JJ.
I thought the same thing when I read about the boy who discovered the mammoth. It is a life altering thing…hopefully he has an opportunity to explore his options.
My daughter calls all those big boob anchors “tits Magee”
I can totally understand your anger, JJ, and I’m shocked by the notion of kids “liking” that KKK picture, but I must say they marchers look like a sparse and pathetic group of losers.
I love the story of the boy finding the woolly mammoth. He must have been so excited! Maybe he’ll be inspired to become a scientist now.
Like minds. See my comment above.
Yeah, that is the upside to it, just a few assholes. But supposedly there is a law in GA where you cannot wear a hood in a public place. Maybe this was one of the reasons for the small number of hoods in the picture.
U. of Denver Colorado state poll taken after the debate: Obama leads 47-43 with likely voters, 48-31 with Independents. Respondents think Romney won the debate by 68-19, doesn’t seem to have affected that many votes.
http://debate2012.du.edu/archive/stories/poll
That’s what I hope happens once the panic dies down. Personally, the media spin and the panic among Dem supporters has a better chance of doing real damage than the debate itself, even though the debate was terrible.
I can understand why you are so upset, JJ.
I remember KKK marches in my hometown when I was growing up. Once they set fire to an African American-owned store and burned down a half block of businesses along with it. The fire happened very close to campus and not far from my elementary school. It’s one of those things you never forget.
The KKK fire bombed that African American-owned store in my hometown. I still recall the burned remains of the buildings that were destroyed.
My favorite civil rights song:
My dad was substituting for a high school class this week, and there was talk in class about the KKK Rally, and how the students were all excited about attending. He spoke up, and told them a story about when he was five years old. His mother came home and shut out all the lights in the house, he can remember being just tall enough to peer over the window sill out to the street where the KKK were marching. They burned a cross on the lawn of the next door neighbor, who was a married interracial couple. He said he remembers how scared he was. He was five and understood what those hoods meant. That a 13 year old does not is very bothersome. I don’t know maybe I am just being sensitive.
Anyway, my dad mentioned that the KKK hates not only black people, but latinos, catholics, gay, etc…I am glad that he said something, and didn’t just sit there. In silence.
Good for you dad!!!
Well, perhaps the high school kids in your town are just ignorant about the KKK, rather than racist. I hope that is the case. Anyway, I’m glad your dad gave them a first-hand account of what it was like as a child to witness the KKK’s particular form of evil. I remember it as very scary.
Rant away!
Hell, yes, they are wrong.
Great post JJ. Especially loved the Voyager story and the mammoth find!
I know how you feel about that KKK thing. A couple of years ago, the KKK announced a big rally was going to be held here. The city mobilized tons of police for security and literally thousands of people showed up to counter protest. The big KKK presence consisted of 6 people who drove up in two pickup trucks with signs and hung around for about 10 minutes, then left.
Free speech is a right that I support completely but, in that case, the city spent tons of money for dozens of police officers to provide security for those 6 fools from the 1000s of counter protestors. Maybe we should be able to send a bill to the KKK?
Yes, there were lots of cops surrounding the court house, for the safety of the assholes. Frustrating.
The Obama campaign should run clips from this video as a campaign ad.
That is too perfect.
OMG – I had no idea that Obama has taken away her right to be a Catholic. That’s tragic. Where have I been, under a rock? How could I have missed something as monumental as that? And, of course, the best reason to vote for someone as prez? He’s hot. Airheads Unite.
The right is all atwitter with the tweet from Snoop Dog…which I thought was pretty funny myself.
Fabulous round-up! I too am interested in biology & archeology, cultural translations and transference, fabric arts, paleontology, the cosmos, and lots more, like most of us here. SkyDancers do not have narrow minds!
LOL, we are an eclectic group here, that’s for dang sure! 😉
digby: The Villagers circle the wagons
Huffpo has the full 2012 Rumble video up here: Bill O’Reilly, Jon Stewart Debate In ‘Rumble In The Air-Conditioned Auditorium’
I can’t believe … no make it don’t want to believe this …
http://www.wect.com/story/19708247/suit-ind-boy-suffered-sex-abuse-from-classmates#.UHHa-Keos3E.twitter
I read the story, but I’m going to need more information. This sounds pretty incredible. Leaving 8-year-olds alone for long periods in a computer room? How did they find the porn sites? I guess it could be true, but I need more evidence. Law enforcement and CPS were notified in 2011.