tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125962602024-03-12T21:04:22.809-04:00Ramblin' with Roger: LINKORAMA<strong>I've moved the blog, but here is the blogroll, mine and others I follow.</strong>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.comBlogger2017125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-38161629133918446852021-10-31T10:12:00.001-04:002021-10-31T10:12:00.260-04:00The office suite dream (not so sweet)I<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">In October, I had a dream that was surprisingly vivid after I awoke. </span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> was in an office with a long and narrow hall. Entering one hall, a friend of mine, who used to work in the music business, was sleeping at their desk. They had been working a second job in the evening, related to the music industry, and they were tired. One office appeared to be unoccupied, but, going around the corner was a guy at a desk. He was annoyed that I barged in, but I just needed an empty space. Another (real-life) friend I couldn't find.</span></span><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">What is the meaning of this?</span></span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">There appears to be two sources of this dream. One is a friend of mine who was complaining that they now have to share a space with another, both full-time workers, in order to facilitate a couple of part-time employees. The other involved my last job location at 10 North Pearl Street. I came back to work in October 2015, just after my hernia operation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">To say that I was disappointed would be a gross understatement. Everyone save for the secretary and two of the librarians had doors. The secretary at least had this fortress and was front-facing. The other librarian had a wall on one side of the cubicle. But mine was right on the corner. There was no way to sit without someone coming up from behind me. I was startled regularly.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">On Day One, I requested a glassine attachment to the top of the cubicle. It would have made the walls about six feet tall, rather than five. And though I re-requested this at least twice more, I never got them. And because I was in this open space, visitors, repair people, and folks who got lost were always asking me for directions, which was truly distracting.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Finally, ten months later, startled one more time, I said that I needed to move. The only place I could go was this large storage area, actually only three meters from where I was sitting. And I was given this option early on, but I wanted to try to be geographically closer to the others in a team-like setting. Still, the move involved a loud discussion, during which I left the office for a time, lest I say something regrettable.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal;">Going to the closet</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">So I got my move. People in the other department on our floor didn't understand why I'd move to a glorified closet. It's because I could be front-facing with no one coming up behind me. I stayed there and it was tolerable. Well except that some anonymous person ratted me out for taking off my shoes while I was sitting at my desk, and it got written up. Such petty BS, and I'm pretty sure I know who it was.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Finally, an office with a door became available in November 2018. I was not all that interested in moving yet again, since I knew I'd be departing soon. But I took it anyway, and l left at the end of June 2019. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">For the last year and a half of work, I was seeing a therapist. They believed that it'd all be better once I retired. And I should note that I don't think much about the place. (And there's lots more I could note, but won't.)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">But I was talking to my good friend in France in early September. She's a therapist. When she mentioned my former job, I displayed a flash of anger she found surprising.It's not that I spend any real time thinking about the place consciously. But the subconscious must still be ticked off. </span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-73611571159193519652013-11-23T06:46:00.000-05:002013-11-23T06:46:00.118-05:00holiday of many parentshttp://www.pilgrimhall.org/f_thanks.htm nuanced <br />
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The eldest niece: Although this tradition was born from the horrible deception and tragedy that came to the Native people of this land and we should never forget that, I am really happy that we have turned it to be for good, to be thankful for what we do have, for we never know how long we will have it, how long we will be here to enjoy it, and how long we will have those we love around us.<br />
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http://www.pilgrimhall.org/daymourn.htm<br />
http://americanindiansource.com/mourningday.html<br />
Text of Plaque on Cole's Hill<br />
"Since 1970, Native Americans have gathered at noon on Cole's Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US Thanksgiving holiday. Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims and other European settlers. To them, Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their culture. Participants in a National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native Americans continue to experience."<br />
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/21/lincolns-historic-thanksgiving-proclamation-of-1863/?tid=pm_local_pop Thanksgiving proclamation that Abraham Lincoln issued on Oct. 3, 1863, setting the precedent for the national holiday we celebrate today.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-69466333342123926812013-03-30T04:45:00.000-04:002013-03-30T04:45:01.132-04:00March Rambling, about ME - oh, and other thingsI may have mentioned (once or twice?) that it was my birthday this month. Thank you for the 70-odd comments on Facebook, and a couple tweets, not to mention comments at this blog. <a href="http://www.dustbury.com/archives/16089" target=_new>Dustbury cited my March 8, day after my birthday, post</a>. <br />
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But the person who best got into the "celebrate Roger" spirit has to be Jaquandor. He <a href="http://byzantiumshores.blogspot.com/2013/03/answers-seventh.html" target=_new>answered my Ask Me Anything questions to him</a>, AND he ASKED me an Ask Me Anything question before I even requested it!<br />
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He also linked to the March 8 post, AND he wrote a <a href="http://byzantiumshores.blogspot.com/2013/03/roger-roger.html" target=_new>whole post for me</a>. Yay! The first YouTube clip in his piece features Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as Roger, and others, in a wonderful comedy segment from the movie Airplane! <br />
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Here's some weird trivia. The winner of the game show <a href="http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=872" target=_new>JEOPARDY! episode on Friday, November 6, 1998</a> was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a celebrity tournament. The winner of the <a href="http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=874" target=_new>JEOPARDY! episode on Monday, November 9, 1998</a>, the next one aired, was MOI. Kareem and me - likethis. <br />
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<a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/regret-the-error/205816/5-ways-robots-can-improve-accuracy-journalism-quality/" target=_new>5 ways robots can improve accuracy, journalism quality</a><br />
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<a href="http://melanie.boudwin.net/grandfather/" target=_new>Melanie's grandfather</a> and <a href="http://melanie.boudwin.net/h-is-for-human/" target=_new>her humanness</a>. <br />
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SamuraiFrog <a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2013/03/health-report-update.html" target=_new>needs help</a>, and <a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2013/03/another-health-report-update.html" target=_new>is getting it</a>. Huzzah!<br />
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An Olympian with a physical disability; no, not Oscar Pistorius, but <a href="http://shootingparrots.co.uk/2013/03/06/h-is-for-oliver-halassy" target=_new>Olivér Halassy</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://www.soulseeds.com/grapevine/2013/03/this-article-is-stupid/" target=_new>Some religion, and any philosophy that claims certainty, creates a false sense of security that leaves people sucking their finger rather than going where the finger is pointing.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.openculture.com/2010/03/mark_twain_captured_on_film_by_thomas_edison_1909.html" target=_new>Mark Twain Captured on Film by Thomas Edison in 1909</a>. It’s the only known footage of the author.<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sequential/stripped-the-final-push" target=_new>STRIPPED: The Final Kickstarter Push</a> for a feature documentary on the world's best cartoonists: Talking about the art form they love & where it goes as papers die. <br />
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Ken Levine's comment about the late Bonnie Franklin, and her <a href="http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2013/03/in-memory-of-bonnie-franklin.html" target=_new>TV show ONE DAY AT A TIME falling between the cracks</a> prompted the question about <a href="http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2013/03/friday-questions.html" target=_new>why some shows remain perennially popular while others fade out</a>? "It doesn't necessarily seem to be question of quality." Interesting responses in the comments section<br />
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<a href="http://boingboing.net/2013/03/12/the-day-my-grandfather-groucho.html" target=_new>The day Andy Marx and his grandfather Groucho saved ‘You Bet Your Life’</a>. In the comments, an interesting link to a story of <a href="http://bostonreview.net/BR25.2/bissell.html" target=_new>how much of our cultural history depends on one person's decision to preserve something instead of throwing it away</a>. <br />
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<a href="http://byzantiumshores.blogspot.com/2013/03/answers-fifth.html" target=_new>When going back to edit your writing, how do you determine what to keep and what to weed out?</a> <br />
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<a href="http://byzantiumshores.blogspot.com/2013/03/exterior-suburban-buffalo-kfc-afternoon.html" target=_new>EXTERIOR: Suburban Buffalo -- KFC -- Afternoon -- Winter</a>. My, some people are...<br />
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http://boingboing.net/2013/03/04/inside-the-prosecution-of-aaro.html<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-4158423194538662272013-02-01T23:21:00.000-05:002013-02-01T23:21:56.254-05:00Feb 1, 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iQC1pcq2aQbF27cmC9u1CrsLbPJRJ4G-tP2ppW_xuBZdc78M7qBqZIemnkB9x1Somyv7-Vd9dGepMKHjrVTq7ROakCoQn79895YkIyVRURuxc9r-rjGTA8vwWx_KohbHzJpJ/s1600/roger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3iQC1pcq2aQbF27cmC9u1CrsLbPJRJ4G-tP2ppW_xuBZdc78M7qBqZIemnkB9x1Somyv7-Vd9dGepMKHjrVTq7ROakCoQn79895YkIyVRURuxc9r-rjGTA8vwWx_KohbHzJpJ/s320/roger.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-40206827157397165252012-11-06T12:16:00.001-05:002012-11-06T12:16:40.506-05:00Question<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjso9B-HSj-ttO5UfvB7qeFiJZkvJu5uNdjKfY7d5v-2Gcw_OltpFOEfr4NhpA4SjxGh2JANkNXBaxKvpw2GmPEwq-zBdS3hTZqEkme5tuIAi45yAtE8oU6W-XVVi4l_tClS92htw/s1600/Question.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjso9B-HSj-ttO5UfvB7qeFiJZkvJu5uNdjKfY7d5v-2Gcw_OltpFOEfr4NhpA4SjxGh2JANkNXBaxKvpw2GmPEwq-zBdS3hTZqEkme5tuIAi45yAtE8oU6W-XVVi4l_tClS92htw/s400/Question.gif" width="303" /></a></div><v:rect fillcolor="white [7]" filled="f" id="_x0000_s1056" insetpen="t" o:cliptowrap="t" o:preferrelative="t" strokecolor="#606" style="height: 929.75pt; left: -97.63pt; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 2.88pt; mso-wrap-distance-left: 2.88pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 2.88pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 2.88pt; position: absolute; top: -34.01pt; width: 706.32pt; z-index: 1;"> <v:fill color2="white [7]"> <v:stroke color2="white [7]"> <o:left color2="white [7]" color="black [0]" v:ext="view"> <o:top color2="white [7]" color="black [0]" v:ext="view"> <o:right color2="white [7]" color="black [0]" v:ext="view"> <o:bottom color2="white [7]" color="black [0]" v:ext="view"> <o:column color2="white [7]" color="black [0]" v:ext="view"> </o:column></o:bottom></o:right></o:top></o:left></v:stroke> <v:imagedata o:title="imagesCAGD4JIC" src="file:///C:\Users\Denise\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg"> <v:shadow color="#ccc [4]"> <v:path o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> </o:lock></v:path></v:shadow></v:imagedata></v:fill></v:rect><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-85104067859751302252012-08-31T21:26:00.000-04:002012-08-31T21:26:00.087-04:00August Rambling: Punctuation, Crowdfunding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3-Bed0z45XXbHpA4yPqeDfgE18m82VuR8N4vBoaML0EMHJ74tiS2iQvoA7cX2LRD0rBnhmhc4AGxlWWRpWtLVK3CabRyd3VVDqpxlNpIVjRqIt1afbaXfTFgkw-gwH8Gd7XT/s1600/wordchoice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="369" width="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3-Bed0z45XXbHpA4yPqeDfgE18m82VuR8N4vBoaML0EMHJ74tiS2iQvoA7cX2LRD0rBnhmhc4AGxlWWRpWtLVK3CabRyd3VVDqpxlNpIVjRqIt1afbaXfTFgkw-gwH8Gd7XT/s400/wordchoice.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Listen to the <a href="http://kunstlercast.com/shows/kunstlercast-212-health-technology-update.html" target=_new>KunstlerCast podcast #212: Health & Technology Update</a>. James Howard Kunstler gives listeners an update on his recent health issues, and discusses the importance of advocating for oneself when dealing with medical professionals, rather than taking their word for it.<br />
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My favorite new blog: <a href="http://blog.grammarly.com/" target=_new>Grammarly</a>, from which the accompanying graphic was purloined. I'm also fond of this one about an English professor who wanted students to punctuate the sentence: <i>A woman without her man is nothing.</i><br />
The men wrote: <i>A woman, without her man, is nothing.</i> <br />
The women wrote: <i>A woman: without her, man is nothing.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/160338-thats-progressive-charlie-brown-on-schulz-lgbt-issues-and-integrity/" target=_new>That’s Progressive, Charlie Brown: On Schulz, LGBT Issues and Integrity</a>.<br />
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Someone I know sent me <a hre="http://www.creators.com/comics/one-big-happy/94457.html" target=_new>this edition of the comic strip One Big Happy Family</a>. Actually, I have a MUCH better percentage.<br />
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Here's an article about <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/geekindustrialcomplex.com/www/articles/crowdfunding-report-part-3" target=_new>crowdfunding</a>. Even though the topic is Role Playing Games, and I'm not a participant in that world, I thought the discussion about why people do or do not choose to fund a project is right on. As someone who has funded a dozen <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/" target=_new>Kickstarter</a> projects, I recognize the insight. <br />
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<a href="http://www.savagereflections.blogspot.com/2012/08/berownes-129.html" target=_new>A Date With a Countess</a><br />
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<a href="http://shootingparrots.co.uk/2012/08/01/c-is-for-mary-ann-cotton" target=_new>Mary Ann Cotton</a>, Britain’s first recognised serial killer <br />
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<a href="http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2010/09/who-wrote-the-worst-paleo-poetry/" target=_new>Dinosaur poems</a>, including one by Carl Sandburg. <br />
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<a href="http://www.treehugger.com/endangered-species/shark-week-infographic-discovery.html" target=_new>Status of the Shark Infographic</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBRYsAfchkY" target=_new>The Doors Sing "Reading Rainbow" Theme</a> (Jimmy Fallon as Jim Morrison) <br />
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<a href="http://www.dustbury.com/archives/14937" target=_new>Keyboard Waffles</a>. (But if they were REAL nerds, they would have spelled <i>nerd's</i> correctly!)<br />
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<a href="http://jewishworldnews.org/2012/07/27/take-that-nazi-scum/" target=_new>Take that, Nazi scum!</a> How Moses became ‘Superman’ and other exciting tales from the annals of comic books, a Jewish-American art form.<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-52022045944479620642012-03-09T16:05:00.000-05:002012-03-09T16:05:37.105-05:00NYPL Eases the Way For Searching 1940 CensusThe National Archives releases census records once a decade, and on April 2 it is making available the information from the 1940 census. But the records won't immediately be searchable by name.<br />
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For those whose relatives lived in New York City, the New York Public Library is aiming to make it simpler to search this holy grail of information about what life was like during periods such as the Great Depression and the lead-up to World War II.<br />
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The library is launching an online tool to allow users to type in names and, potentially, locate census forms listing a host of details on every person living in the family household at the time of the census.<br />
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More <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204781804577269690613682920.html" target=_new>HERE</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-25535405723606798892011-01-01T01:11:00.002-05:002011-01-01T01:11:00.277-05:00So, it appears I've turned my old blog...into my new home for all my links!<br />I LIKE IT!<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-63381287812709973842010-05-03T05:32:00.001-04:002010-05-03T05:32:00.273-04:00I've Got A New Drug Blog<b>I am now blogging at: <a href="http://www.rogerogreen.com/" target="_new">www.rogerogreen.com</a>. That's ROGER O GREEN dot COM.<br /><br />Since I'm pretty sure I NEVER quoted or even paraphrased Huey Lewis and the News in five years on this blog:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6uEMOeDZsA" target="_new">I Want A New Drug</a></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-1252714228942603372010-05-02T04:22:00.004-04:002010-05-02T04:22:00.170-04:00Five Years<b>Stealing the idea from Bacardi, here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq3EZhT3G7U" target="_new">Five Years by David Bowie</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7zF89PeWTBZbQ9ZhJW6cL51ry2yzQNmpVy6BACKiWbdcZ8Y6Z9MYmUOwy10Y5pjexQy0DMEU8HOWvmYMj11l0_p94w3kGgUAkZABL3hLoRRw6XGHN3C3x_4rwqQVAGhZOxeN_g/s1600/blog2010.bmp"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 277px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465629630299072498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib7zF89PeWTBZbQ9ZhJW6cL51ry2yzQNmpVy6BACKiWbdcZ8Y6Z9MYmUOwy10Y5pjexQy0DMEU8HOWvmYMj11l0_p94w3kGgUAkZABL3hLoRRw6XGHN3C3x_4rwqQVAGhZOxeN_g/s400/blog2010.bmp" /></a><br /><br /><br />Frankly, I'm surprised I made it here. Five years of blogging every day, at least once a day. I have to work REALLY hard NOT to blog MORE than once a day, but I was reasonably successful; only 367 blogposts in the last 365 days, and I'm sure one of those was a prominent death that JUST COULDN'T WAIT.<br /><br />But the other reason I'm surprised I made it is that, last summer, I got REALLY discouraged. I'm not one of those people who cares about having hundreds of hits a day. When my monthly numbers dropped from 4109 in May 2009 to 3041 in June, it didn't bother me overmuch. But when it sank to 1575 in July, THAT was really bothersome. What did I do wrong? I started posting notices of my blogposts on Twitter and Facebook, which actually did help a little, but I am not great at doing that regularly.<br /><br />BTW, #1: I signed up with some service on the web to automatically post my blog post links to Facebook and Twitter. Instead, it was posting annoying advertising stuff to my Twitter account. So I canceled it, as soon as I saw it on my blog sidebar. Sorry about that.<br /><br />BTW, #2: two people asked me why I have two Facebook accounts within 30 minutes when I went to the comic book show in Albany last Sunday. It's easy: I started one, using my work e-mail, then I couldn't find it. so I started ANOTHER one with my home e-mail. Now I know what both of them are. If I had the time, I'd just cancel one, but since there are people on one who aren't on the other...well, it'd be work. Someday. When I retire, maybe, or take a long vacation where I actually just play on the computer. That is to say, not any time soon.<br /><br />Then I noticed something: this blog, which had been on the first page of Google, disappeared from Google. It didn't just fall off the first page; it seems to have vanished altogether.<br /><br />Now, *I* can be found on a Google search. My <a href="http://twitter.com/ersie" target="_new">Twitter</a> and my <a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/rogergreen/" target="_new">blog on the Times Union</a> can be found in the top 10. One of my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/people/Roger-Green/605936936" target="_new">Facebook</a> pages and even my seldom-used <a href="http://www.library20.org/profile/ersie37" target="_new">Library 2.0</a> account - check out the vintage of the picture - are in the top 30. Even comments, <a href="http://troublewithcomics.tumblr.com/post/488219784/guest-reviewer-month-roger-green-on-marvel" target="_new">articles I've written for other blogs</a>, and specific pieces from the TU blog show up. But not this one.<br /><br />This has pretty much forced a momentous decision.</b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-17424720712996058252010-05-01T05:13:00.000-04:002010-05-01T05:13:00.233-04:00You just can't have too many computers<b>I had the idea for my presentation for the Underground Railroad conference months earlier. But on long-term projects, I procrastinate. (Or, conversely, I do it right away, because I know I tend to procrastinate.)<br /><br />So it's the Monday before the Saturday of the conference. I've taken the day off from work. The plan: in the morning, finally watch Hurt Locker on DVD. In the afternoon, go to the library and work on the presentation. Neither of these things happen, though; the daughter is home sick for the 10th time this school year. and as usual, she's not SO sick that she's sleeping, but rather needs regular attention from daddy. <br /><br />So it's now the Thursday evening before the Saturday of the conference. I blow off Bible study and choir, stay at work until 8 pm and actually get the presentation into some sort of narrative shape. It's not finished, but it's quite far along.<br /><br />So it's now the day before the conference. I dig out the thumb drive I was given which I had never used, and copy the program. My intention is to finish it up at home on the wife's laptop. Except the wife's computer doesn't seem to have a cursor anymore.<br /><br />So now it's the morning of the conference. I still cannot get the laptop to work. As for my desktop computer, not only is it slow, it is so old that it actually doesn't have a compatible slot for the thumb drive. I'm thinking I may have to go to the downtown branch of the library; the local branch doesn't open until 1 pm, and that's too late.<br /><br />Then I play with the daughter's new Netbook that her aunt and uncle just gave her for Valentine's Day. I can't get the Internet to work on it, but the word processing is fine, and the presentation is finished Just In Time. <br /><br />Eventually - I have no idea how - I've gotten the cursor to work again on the wife's laptop. I mean I'm a Luddite, but not as bad as <a href="http://realtegan.blogspot.com/2010/02/theres-reason-i-dont-do-tech-support.html" target=_new>this guy</a>, at least most of the time. <br /><br />So here's the question: do you consider yourself technologically savvy, or do you go around screaming when technology fails? I'm not a screamer, but...well, let's put it this way: DON'T hire me for IT. <br /><br /></b><br /><br /><br /> ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-70813856544066906602010-04-30T05:19:00.002-04:002010-04-30T05:19:00.662-04:0035 Years After Vietnam<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46K-h5UdV33yrkKLW5oMXp8KJ2goMIWcr3QhF8B-Fuqxkv6EZ1QyLCCTayNEf6clxCA3HEMmCae97esCXT12mEkslCjE1v0Bf7GFxBSAY0G6HDpmfMjW4JFf5KnIsdwaqxScVrw/s1600/Vietnam60s.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 398px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 332px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461637775067356866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg46K-h5UdV33yrkKLW5oMXp8KJ2goMIWcr3QhF8B-Fuqxkv6EZ1QyLCCTayNEf6clxCA3HEMmCae97esCXT12mEkslCjE1v0Bf7GFxBSAY0G6HDpmfMjW4JFf5KnIsdwaqxScVrw/s400/Vietnam60s.jpg" /></a><br /><b>Was it only six years ago when I realized that the Vietnam war, contrary to the historic record, was not over after all? I'm talking, of course, about Vietnam vet John Kerry and what he did (or didn't) do in protesting a war he once fought in, dredged up during the 2004 Presidential election between Kerry and George W. Bush, whose own military record also came into question.<br /><br />I admit to have been one of those people who actually supported the Vietnam war in the beginning of 1967. After all, it was an American war, I was an American, ipso facto, Q.E.D. My opposition to the conflict evolved over the next year or so, starting with the <a href="http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/058.html" target="_new">Beyond Vietnam speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.</a> on April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he died. (Was that just coincidence?)<br /><br />The group that most influenced me at the time was the VVAW, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. It was one thing for civilians to oppose the war. It was quite another thing to see soldiers who had been fighting the war then come out against it.<br /><br />In time, I found about some of the history of conflict in Vietnam, the fighting against the Japanese and the French, among others. The French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 might have signaled the end of colonial occupation, but it led to greater involvement by the Americans, first in small numbers of analysts in the 1950s to massive numbers troops in the mid-1960s, facilitated in no small part by the prevarication that was the <a href="http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2261" target="_new">Gulf of Tonkin resolution</a> in August of 1964.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj00tE-P-bfPqa3x-y8Srk1EMNE5X_5mk8p6hZEWp1cstjvB4UxNvyyhVz3-zD5sbn2CZdsH7sXlYt_EMdfE63bqA8-MDyXjf87DQveJ0BZk4aHJkrVjRdNHEJEGbee8hzJKsPg/s1600/vietnam-war-protest-m.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 325px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461637389263268898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj00tE-P-bfPqa3x-y8Srk1EMNE5X_5mk8p6hZEWp1cstjvB4UxNvyyhVz3-zD5sbn2CZdsH7sXlYt_EMdfE63bqA8-MDyXjf87DQveJ0BZk4aHJkrVjRdNHEJEGbee8hzJKsPg/s400/vietnam-war-protest-m.jpg" /></a><br />No doubt that many of the soldiers may have operated honorably, but it's also true that the <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840403,00.html" target="_new">My Lai massacre in 1968</a> was not the only atrocity in this drawn-out engagement. My buddy Steve Bissette wrote a piece about <a href="http://srbissette.com/?p=7922" target="_new">a couple films delineating military failings during Vietnam and a more recent conflict.</a> (I actually chuckled when I discovered his post was dated February 2, for that was the date in 1972 when the draft for those born in 1953 took place; that's a LONG story.)<br /><br />My general disinclination towards war is fueled by the belief that even in a "good war" (a true oxymoron), bad things, unintended things occur. Even the "good guys" get it wrong sometimes, regardless of the safeguards. Thus war should always be a last resort, not a first option.<br /><br />In a bold attempt to be "fair and balanced, I point out to you <a href="https://members.humaneventsonline.com/order.php?offer=1864" target="_new">The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to the Vietnam WarK</a> -- "the latest installment in Regnery Publishing’s bestselling Politically Incorrect Guide™ (“PIG”) series -- [Phillip] Jennings gives you the surprising truth, and backs it up with facts that liberals ignore."<br /><br />I should note that I haven't read the book. Among the assertions:<br />*The Tet offensive was a debacle for the North Vietnamese<br />*Communist Vietnam is now trying to emulate a more capitalist approach<br />I actually agree with both of those statements, but not with most of the others.<br /><br />Thirty-five years after Vietnam and we're still fighting the war.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvsucLLdCFPD8kihnpJ15JS1d6ytauivST45Se8rxr2uCwbCfPoFntadqGfnEbNxiyObpLHxqavuy_VptwU1xUZf43V3jXoCWhbdWQ526fGOl5_B5rlh60D4t-rvpNswhZzIVEQ/s1600/vietnam.catg40.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 261px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461636757714366754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHvsucLLdCFPD8kihnpJ15JS1d6ytauivST45Se8rxr2uCwbCfPoFntadqGfnEbNxiyObpLHxqavuy_VptwU1xUZf43V3jXoCWhbdWQ526fGOl5_B5rlh60D4t-rvpNswhZzIVEQ/s400/vietnam.catg40.jpg" /></a><br />***<br />Pete Seeger: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4" target="_new">Waist Deep in the Big Muddy</a> from the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Pete turns 91 on Monday.<br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-1036871756333514752010-04-29T05:26:00.004-04:002010-04-29T05:26:00.531-04:00I am painting<b>I am painting the attic. The daughter helped me with the primer coat, but still--<br />I am painting the attic because, after we got half of the attic insulated - in JANUARY - the Wife said we had to paint that half of the attic.<br />I am painting the attic, even though she didn't mention painting it BEFORE we got the attic insulated.<br />I am painting the attic, since she thought it was "obvious" that we would have to paint it after the insulation.<br />I am painting the attic, even though the only time painting is "obvious" to me is when paint is peeling or obviously faded.<br />I am painting the attic, even though I think it's "just the attic". <br />I am painting the attic because all of the items in the one half of the attic are now jammed in the other half of the attic, making everything in the attic inaccessible.<br />I am painting the attic because I want to play my LPs.<br />I am painting the attic because I want to access my summer clothes.<br />I am painting the attic because it's the only way to get to about half of my books.<br />I am painting the attic because there are things on the second floor, including the Christmas decorations, that really need to go up to the attic.<br />I am painting the attic despite the fact that I hate painting - the feel of paint, the smell of paint. Don't tell me that modern paint has "no smell".<br />I am painting the attic despite the fact that I can't see the difference between the current light gray walls, the white primer and the yellow paint, so I keep painting over the same areas. Maybe I'm just colorblind. <br />I am painting the attic now, even though it would have been better to paint the attic in the winter, when it's not as warm.<br />I am painting the attic, even though it takes time away from writing a decent blog post.<br />***<br />Go look at these quite spectacular <a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/more_from_eyjafjallajokull.html" target=_new>pictures of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano</a>. <br />***<br />May Day, May Day! <a href="http://www.freecomicbookday.com/" target=_new>Free Comic Book Day</a>, the Kentucky Derby and May Day all converge on May 1. <br />***<br /><a href="http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/04/26/pacifier_anxiety?source=newsletter" target=_new>Do pacifiers lead to drug addiction and masturbation?</a><br /><br /> </b><br /><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-46909158757189076392010-04-28T04:43:00.000-04:002010-04-28T04:43:00.306-04:00TV Fandom Meme<b>From <a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2010/04/tv-fandom-meme.html" target=_new>Mr. Frog</a>. <br /><br />Pick five of your favorite shows, in no particular order, before you read the below questions, then answer them!<br /><br />1. M*A*S*H<br />2. The Mary Tyler Moore Show<br />3. The Dick van Dyke Show<br />4. Homicide: Life on the Street<br />5. The Twilight Zone<br /><br />01. Who's your favorite character in 2?<br />Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White), who came across as very sweet, but who in fact was incredibly nasty.<br /><br />02. Who's your least favorite character in 1?<br />Klinger (Jamie Farr), after he gave up the dresses. He used to be a one-trick pony, but then became a no-trick pony.<br /><br />03. What's your favorite episode of 4?<br /><a href="http://www.tvrage.com/shows/id-3889/episodes/84091/04x16?epguides=1" target=_new>Requiem for Adena</a>. "Pembleton and Bayliss have to deal with the body of a young girl who was assaulted and killed, bring back memories of the Adena Watson case. The reflection on the old case dredges up bad memories and bad feelings which they try to put behind them." Here's a full <a href="http://epguides.com/HomicideLifeontheStreet/" target=_new>episode guide</a> for this great show, that was written by the guy who later wrote The Wire.<br /><br />04. What's your favorite season of 5?<br />It was so long ago...not the first season and not the last. Probably Season Three. An <a href="http://tzone.the-croc.com/original-twilight-zone-episode-guide.html" target=_new>episode guide</a>. <br /><br />05. Who is your favorite ship in 3?<br />The Alan Brady Show. (What does this question mean?)<br /><br />06. Who is your anti-ship in 2?<br />Ted Baxter (ditto).<br /><br />07. How long have you watched 1?<br />I watched virtually every show from the first eight seasons twice each, but the last three seasons only once each. Occasionally catch a rerun now.<br /><br />08. How did you become interested in 3?<br />It was just there. But I admit to being fascinated by Laura Petrie's (Mary Tyler Moore) capri pants.<br /><br />09. Who's your favorite actor/actress in 4?<br />Andre Braugher as Det. Francis Xavier "Frank" Pembleton<br /><br />10. Which do you prefer: Show 1, 2 or 5?<br />Well, I love them all, obviously. But the hometown connection forces me to pick TZ.<br /><br />11. Which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?<br />M*A*S*H, but only because it ran six seasons longer.<br /><br />12. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?<br />Richard Belzer as Det. John Munch, who's been on about a half dozen different shows as the same character. <br /><br />13. How would you kill off your favorite character in 1?<br />Hawkeye commits suicide trying to stop the war.<br /><br />14. Give a random quote from 1.<br />"It's nice to be nice to the nice." Frank Burns. My wife and I STILL use this line. <br /><br />15. Which character from 5 would be a good guest star on 2?<br />Well, since TZ is an anthology, plenty to pick from. How about the William Shatner character from Nightmare at 20,000 Feet first visiting WJM-TV, going crazy from listening to Ted. Ted could be what the Shatner character sees on the wing.<br /><br />16. Would a 3/4 crossover work?<br />The Dick van Dyke Show and Homicide? I'm having a difficult time imagining it. Rob Sally, and Buddy go rogue, kill Alan and Mel...nah. <br /><br />17. Pair 2 characters in 1 that would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple.<br />Staff Sgt. Luther Rizzo (G. W. Bailey) brought around by the patient Nurse Kellye (Kellye Nakahara)<br /><br />18. Has 5 inspired you in any way?<br />Yes, to read a lot, to follow the career of Rod Serling, and to have pride in my hometown of Binghamton.<br /><br />19. Overall, which show has a better cast, 2 or 4?<br />Probably 2, only because there were more transitions in 4. Massive regular and recurring cast on Homicide.<br /> <br />20. Which has better theme music, 3 or 5?<br />Well, van Dyke's was more melodic. TZ was more atmospheric. I guess the latter might be slightly more memorable to the current generation, but they're both great. <br />***<br />Oh, heck, might as well do <a href="http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/2010/04/trek-meme.html" target=_new>this one</a>, too. <br /><br />1. What is your favorite Star Trek movie? (not including STXI)?<br />Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, of course. It's the best Trek movie of the first five..<br /><br />2. What is your favorite scene in STXI?<br />XI? Is that the new movie? Haven't seen it yet.<br /><br />3. When were you first introduced to the Star Trek franchise?<br />My father watched it when it was on NBC 1966-69; I wasn't interested. Think I saw the CARTOON version, which I liked, then started watching the original series, by then in syndication. <br /><br />4. Is there anything Star Trek around the room in which you're currently sitting?<br />No, actualloy. I thought I had an episode guide, but I'm not seeing it. <br /><br />5. Vulcan ears are: A) cute, B) sexy, C) neither, D) both.<br />D. Both.<br /><br />6. If you could be any other species than human in the Star Trek universe, you would be:<br />Vulcans. I know it's the obvious answer; there you go.<br /><br />7. Which pet would you rather have: a sehlat or a tribble?<br />well, not the Tribbles. <br /><br />8. Who might you cast in the role of reboot Nurse Chapel? Khan? Other reboot character?<br />Kate Beckinsale was the first person I thought of for Chapel; don't know why.<br />Khan I'd leave be.<br /><br />9. Kirk and Spock are:<br />Brothers of different blood types. <br /><br />10. If you could give any Star Trek character a chance to be captain of the Enterprise?<br />Uhura.<br /><br />BONUS. Think fast! Give one Star Trek quote from memory.<br />"Please, Spock, do me a favor... and don't say it's `fascinating' -- Dr. McCoy <br /></b><br /><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-84195186685580696592010-04-27T04:58:00.001-04:002010-04-27T14:34:33.837-04:00O is for Olympics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2FZYQlWrCLgC4NZ7kNAsUpBt7IMC0aSJxjIpS5RVJnBDmV-T-6KleOjlG8NT3ReZ1G03oirxWxkCu_-UyJqBrfqe4t1QdAAnChu5Q4LA62gWUhm0_chsT-EGXoEwm4x4pO7cmw/s1600/para.vancouver2010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 340px; display: block; height: 253px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464385361646426034" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2FZYQlWrCLgC4NZ7kNAsUpBt7IMC0aSJxjIpS5RVJnBDmV-T-6KleOjlG8NT3ReZ1G03oirxWxkCu_-UyJqBrfqe4t1QdAAnChu5Q4LA62gWUhm0_chsT-EGXoEwm4x4pO7cmw/s400/para.vancouver2010.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><b>You thought that when the closing ceremonies took place in Vancouver, BC at the end of February, the high-caliber athletes had almost all left town. But there would be, in March, a parallel "Olympics", <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Winter_Paralympics" target="_new">he Paralympics</a>, coming to the Canadian city. This involves a number of athletes who compete at the highest levels despite their physical disabilities.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDH_y0h0hvjk-IWtiQfrRjsqMRWJIkOPB6xhU_tkGPDBv60fNB3D1AWEWg8o92d_HwkVQGlKtzSGTni7iKV-Hy6Kg5Z0m-UzW2IeNCBCTyMbDevfPQSCjlQFMh4drz7NUUqCC5A/s1600/para.kareem_paralympics_curling.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464384828068632338" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDH_y0h0hvjk-IWtiQfrRjsqMRWJIkOPB6xhU_tkGPDBv60fNB3D1AWEWg8o92d_HwkVQGlKtzSGTni7iKV-Hy6Kg5Z0m-UzW2IeNCBCTyMbDevfPQSCjlQFMh4drz7NUUqCC5A/s400/para.kareem_paralympics_curling.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/" target="_new">Paralympics</a> started in 1960 (summer) and 1976 (winter), and has its own governing board, separate from the IOC. Yet, since the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea in 1988, the location of these games have paralleled the locations of the Summer and Winter Olympics. At least for the next Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the Olympics and the Paralympics <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sochi_2014_Olympic_and_Paralympic_Organizing_Committee" target="_new">share a common organizing committee</a>. I called the U.S. folks in the Paralympic movement to clarify the relationship between the two groups, but the public relations person was not available.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybBmY_c5GdILKIv-MbpOvxGlhHO1A43hvJWEaNwiLfKHUtoRce3fBAIOyWEqvfPb7vy8MUDfkrhcVgK8B3gv5rqxoJKfgAmdU6wit6-VsZGwdyybJCLQuOiaWNEcbZUxXXpBhqg/s1600/para.kareem_paralympics_delegation.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464384993854430610" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybBmY_c5GdILKIv-MbpOvxGlhHO1A43hvJWEaNwiLfKHUtoRce3fBAIOyWEqvfPb7vy8MUDfkrhcVgK8B3gv5rqxoJKfgAmdU6wit6-VsZGwdyybJCLQuOiaWNEcbZUxXXpBhqg/s400/para.kareem_paralympics_delegation.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralympic_Games" target="_new">summer and winter games</a> include the following sports, governed by the IPC: Alpine Skiing, Athletics, Biathlon, Cross-Country Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, Powerlifting, Shooting, Swimming, Wheelchair Dance Sport, plus several sports <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/IF_Sports/index.html" target="_new">regulated by international federations</a>, and a handful of others under the jurisdiction of <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/IOSD_Sports/index.html" target="_new">International Organization of Sport for the Disabled</a>.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GqWLdPFe4VDdC30uS4_uKMEGQrPfOCqmwwmSq4cTpFwAcH7vt3x8EOBAT1TJ7T-O2VGmBmJipbjZRhhlT8UHMSF-NhAGD6AJlei0NcMdQJsFi6s07Y2GiIyzhpHpfU1eDmkiww/s1600/para.kareem_paralympics_hockey.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 300px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464385165221926434" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9GqWLdPFe4VDdC30uS4_uKMEGQrPfOCqmwwmSq4cTpFwAcH7vt3x8EOBAT1TJ7T-O2VGmBmJipbjZRhhlT8UHMSF-NhAGD6AJlei0NcMdQJsFi6s07Y2GiIyzhpHpfU1eDmkiww/s400/para.kareem_paralympics_hockey.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The Paralympics are not to be confused with the <a href="http://www.specialolympics.org/" target="_new">Special Olympics</a>, founded by the late <a href="http://www.specialolympics.org/eunice_kennedy_shriver_biography.aspx" target="_new">Eunice Kennedy Shriver</a>. "For people with intellectual disabilities, Special Olympics is often the only place where they have an opportunity to participate in their communities and develop belief in themselves."<br /><br />Not incidentally, this year is the premiere of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Olympic_Games" target="_new">Youth Olympic Games</a>;you can find more <a href="http://assets.olympic.org/YOG/en/index.html" target="_new">here</a>.<br /><br />Of course, there are the Olympics, which ran for about 1000 years, then was canceled for over a millennium, with a few furtive attempts to restart during that time. I'm not going to talk about the modern Games, which started in 1896, except for three things:<br />1) if I ever get to Switzerland, I MUST go to the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/en/content/The-Olympic-Museum/Practical-Information/" target="_new">Olympic museum</a><br />2) a really cool feature on the olympic.org site is feature that can retrieve <a href="http://www.olympic.org/en/content/All-Olympic-results-since-1896/" target=_new>all the Olympic results from 1896 through 2008</a>; Vancouver is not yet represented.<br />3)<a href="http://www.olympic.org/en/content/Media/?articleNewsGroup=-1&articleId=78536" target="_new">Juan Antonio Samaranch</a>, former IOC head, recently died. Got to say that he really modernized the financing of the games, though there were some issues over the Salt Lake City Games. And, except for American Avery Brundidge, he was the only IOC head I could name.<br /></b><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AEtGLp-ZCRzIw57sTdppdsBKTzsvWXZyUDPJ8yL8mZf1AdChjiobJSpqLsakMiysZvjH8LakOutpC2BQAvNNoTIKnWLPNnoWZ79pwpCzcgNbhB6N0_fq9Q_scaHmXG83F9mp4A/s1600/paralympics.2010.Sumi.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 184px; display: block; height: 173px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464385501733491650" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AEtGLp-ZCRzIw57sTdppdsBKTzsvWXZyUDPJ8yL8mZf1AdChjiobJSpqLsakMiysZvjH8LakOutpC2BQAvNNoTIKnWLPNnoWZ79pwpCzcgNbhB6N0_fq9Q_scaHmXG83F9mp4A/s400/paralympics.2010.Sumi.png" border="0" /></a><br />Sumi, the Paralympics mascot<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHjHvJg38bZsMH2fngSVa5ksrW7Df4raK4NioYYcx5VGRY5woUEet2fmkttorQJq3sXNEW2GE9Y4BzJV2-4zPqtmpZIWVvgYdCZZnvvCWDaViAnQtg8HmE2mCn-Y1iMraUa4c/s1600-h/ABC+WEDNESDAY6.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 131px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436291888132568162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHjHvJg38bZsMH2fngSVa5ksrW7Df4raK4NioYYcx5VGRY5woUEet2fmkttorQJq3sXNEW2GE9Y4BzJV2-4zPqtmpZIWVvgYdCZZnvvCWDaViAnQtg8HmE2mCn-Y1iMraUa4c/s200/ABC+WEDNESDAY6.gif" /></a><br /><a href="http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/" target=_new>ABC Wednesday</a><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-89025972681200048542010-04-26T05:19:00.005-04:002010-04-27T04:12:05.956-04:00The Lydster, Part 73: The Health Report<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yFpvcIaAIqRKZaYY0XxYClZfRQkaIncdq8aRKBl37PDpCPeujuxP_6QYOAU_gH2_v9BP10a5tyH9lcgFU4SDiLWf2uHmSj5gjhBFDEE7TsL2VkjZXMimSygj-oeaaKwMTOd2Xw/s1600/IMG009_lydia.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460378233489167586" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yFpvcIaAIqRKZaYY0XxYClZfRQkaIncdq8aRKBl37PDpCPeujuxP_6QYOAU_gH2_v9BP10a5tyH9lcgFU4SDiLWf2uHmSj5gjhBFDEE7TsL2VkjZXMimSygj-oeaaKwMTOd2Xw/s400/IMG009_lydia.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><b>A bunch of pictures from last fall. The reason I don't use a digital camera is the very real likelihood that I would lose it. I took these on a one-use camera, then lost it, then recently found it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-r7XdZFDtv7JPdpZOwI1bO9Yntw5iKlmO8uM5Nlq9Nt0fALbB_wLmLJ0AL1S_ZVcJK1YfEWnvslWhaWw7hkC0jW1Wdr00COb87TkbD6UxOv3Mimc2EKr9t72x-BGiSYEB6A5tw/s1600/IMG006_Lydia.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460378397967428962" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX-r7XdZFDtv7JPdpZOwI1bO9Yntw5iKlmO8uM5Nlq9Nt0fALbB_wLmLJ0AL1S_ZVcJK1YfEWnvslWhaWw7hkC0jW1Wdr00COb87TkbD6UxOv3Mimc2EKr9t72x-BGiSYEB6A5tw/s400/IMG006_Lydia.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNyl8nI9yKBVa1Ti655phV3iA2YaXRwZJGJEkxkAMQ2DAIBsJIMv0t1fQ1_Z_TsCou5lvtl0vUgcjzQWGXXETMOcZnYzDd7mb-02JSS62i6Iz95oVfo0fCdaB-krel3P2Zp64GQ/s1600/IMG007.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px; display: block; height: 267px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460378464283055986" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNyl8nI9yKBVa1Ti655phV3iA2YaXRwZJGJEkxkAMQ2DAIBsJIMv0t1fQ1_Z_TsCou5lvtl0vUgcjzQWGXXETMOcZnYzDd7mb-02JSS62i6Iz95oVfo0fCdaB-krel3P2Zp64GQ/s400/IMG007.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />In any case, Lydia is 4'2" (50 inches) and 70 pounds. She's over the 97th percentile for her height and her weight. She's very active. Not only does she take ballet once a week, but she dances in front of the TV to the music of her favorite TV shows. Usually it's quite graceful, though the thing she was doing to one particular song from the Backyardigans looked more like thrash dancing.<br /><br />She loves to run. In a 50-yard race, she will beat me because she has great acceleration; eventually, I can catch her, but it is by using maximum effort. She'll race me up the stairs and always beat me, but to be fair to me, she usually has the inside track.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XWN_V-HlU98Q4cR53BbjzE7SkidvOcDMF8J6O-0eiBXldm3zo1o_KPa0QbUQy_hzp5Cwn4JFUEFXXfEuuFXMHJ5_Y95NQbOHE_Rvun60r9k4hBIhQWjlb-Csg48apBbum6gDDQ/s1600/IMG008_Lydia.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460378169294041970" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9XWN_V-HlU98Q4cR53BbjzE7SkidvOcDMF8J6O-0eiBXldm3zo1o_KPa0QbUQy_hzp5Cwn4JFUEFXXfEuuFXMHJ5_Y95NQbOHE_Rvun60r9k4hBIhQWjlb-Csg48apBbum6gDDQ/s400/IMG008_Lydia.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />She has various and sundry allergies, some seasonal, others year-round. She takes Zyrtec practically daily, plus her fluoride and vitamin, and other medicines seasonally, as needed. She was tested again, and she's still allergic to peanuts; she's never been allergic to tree nuts, but we have to avoid them too, since they tend to be processed in the same location.<br /><br />She lost her eighth (or is it her ninth?) baby tooth this week, and has one adult tooth (top center). I must say that the Tooth Fairy is WAY more generous with her than she was with me.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQrqmbIpbyiASGYMOaXImCBE2KA3Gkw2sUnlbIZAq9tnUyv6mpx5-36R6Us7XXmyNulJKDXIFJ_4uXdcBZpeeN_cqrejp1ZQ7bqPaTP9B1oQbKjThtW_flXjlhZfwVzdghciYeg/s1600/IMG026_Lydia.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460377100925030402" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBQrqmbIpbyiASGYMOaXImCBE2KA3Gkw2sUnlbIZAq9tnUyv6mpx5-36R6Us7XXmyNulJKDXIFJ_4uXdcBZpeeN_cqrejp1ZQ7bqPaTP9B1oQbKjThtW_flXjlhZfwVzdghciYeg/s400/IMG026_Lydia.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />As I've noted she's doing well in school. Initially she fretted that she wasn't ready - the source of the glum look (above) is that this was the first day of school back in September - but now she loves it.<br /><br />I generally help her with her homework. Recently, he had to add coins, two quarters, and she guessed 51 cents. I explained that if 5 plus 5 equal a number ending in zero, than any two numbers each with the last digit of 5 added together would end with zero. She hugged me and said, "Thank you for showing me that, Daddy!" She REALLY loves to learn. The curse of being the child of a teacher and a librarian, I suppose.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM7AWr5WFH5XBUnxD4gpy7jnJkcq27CfrvHjCBckWwV-wECt6jrQVHEFCxzgb1N-epJSiwy7mpv0iiCp3B1mGQVbTb5COGk-dp_ZARHVENzcMxleYFNpOo1mlWVHuWsNXtQMV3w/s1600/IMG010_Lydia.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 267px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460378026575093906" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpM7AWr5WFH5XBUnxD4gpy7jnJkcq27CfrvHjCBckWwV-wECt6jrQVHEFCxzgb1N-epJSiwy7mpv0iiCp3B1mGQVbTb5COGk-dp_ZARHVENzcMxleYFNpOo1mlWVHuWsNXtQMV3w/s400/IMG010_Lydia.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />EDIT: Found picture.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLLeTZUxSO12cijForTRLIRotH5z1vW4vE-XtyKppjue4FVOApOPhKzM2j6LNOnat1dwHHiBTYUUPmKz1ZeqNlJKu5wHg7Sq4ENaEtEDAvR65FCoBRtIUnwibgEiPPplPg75kBg/s1600-h/LydiaGREEN.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLLeTZUxSO12cijForTRLIRotH5z1vW4vE-XtyKppjue4FVOApOPhKzM2j6LNOnat1dwHHiBTYUUPmKz1ZeqNlJKu5wHg7Sq4ENaEtEDAvR65FCoBRtIUnwibgEiPPplPg75kBg/s400/LydiaGREEN.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398484559843413938" border="0" /></a><br /></b><br /><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-64557051702043782492010-04-25T05:03:00.013-04:002010-04-25T20:45:41.280-04:00April Ramblin'Fun Interpretation of the Google Books Settlement<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VjCumVj9hNwJRVm_Bm860-YAL1q0E7M48IfATEbkk27ErcuaUYdnqCGbZpFbyhNUpmPpCI62mHiM0EX1q3XIhDA_WTlQ9uYYATjGIBX3X5OWiulHtkhmSBcUoPqPjb4nKC0n3g/s1600/Google+Monster+Asaf+Hanuka.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 307px; display: block; height: 400px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459296182162179762" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VjCumVj9hNwJRVm_Bm860-YAL1q0E7M48IfATEbkk27ErcuaUYdnqCGbZpFbyhNUpmPpCI62mHiM0EX1q3XIhDA_WTlQ9uYYATjGIBX3X5OWiulHtkhmSBcUoPqPjb4nKC0n3g/s400/Google+Monster+Asaf+Hanuka.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b>What I love about my Bible study: we talk a LOT about current affairs. Part of the conversation recently, in reading the 23rd Psalm, was "What IS evil?' One of the examples I thought of was the <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yykp7x9" target="_new">deliberate misrepresentation of the truth with the intent to incite</a>.<br /><br />We also were distressed about the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0423/What-will-Washington-do-about-the-Arizona-immigration-law" target="_new">new Arizona immigration law</a> Two thoughts on that. Remember the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWENNe29qc&feature=related" target="_new">Sun City</a> (video) album from the 1980s? Sun City was the resort town in South Africa, which, during apartheid came to symbolize the difference in conditions for blacks and whites. On that album was the song, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P325qEtt3HQ" target="_new">Let Me See Your ID</a> (video).<br /><br />The other thing is that famous quote by theologian <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Niem%C3%B6ller" target="-new">Martin Niemöller</a><br />"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,<br />and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.<br />THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,<br />and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.<br />THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,<br />and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.<br />THEN THEY CAME for me<br />and by that time no one was left to speak up."<br />Having been profiled one or twice (yeah, right), this really disturbs me.<br />***<br />MSNBC's Rachel Maddow: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9KjQUSZXqE" target="_new">FOX News, GOP further 'the un-mooring of politics from fact'</a> (video)<br />***<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEiwBCpiA0E" target="_new">Gunn High School Sings Away Kansas Hate Group</a> known as the Westboro Baptist Church (video).<br />***<br /><a href="http://thomwade.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/the-vengeance-of-bernie-goldberg/" target="_new">The vengeance of Bernie Goldberg</a> on the Daily Show (Link to video). I don't recall Goldberg being quite so wack when he was on CBS.<br />***<br /><a href="http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20100423/NEWS01/4230353/Plaque-in-honor-of-activist-William-Moore-unveiled" target="_new">Plaque in honor of activist William Moore unveiled</a>. He was a civil rights activist from around my hometown of Binghamton, NY, who was murdered in Alabama in 1963. The local branch of the Congress of Racial Equality, with which my father worked, was named after him. It even rhymed: The William L. Moore chapter of CORE. <br />***<br />Very soon, you can <a href="http://gcn.com/articles/2010/04/22/seti-opens-et-quest-to-anyone.aspx?s=gcndaily_230410" target="_new">listen to the sounds of the cosmos yourself</a>. All of the data from the SETI program will soon be available at <a href="http://setiquest.org/" target="_new">setiQuest.org</a> to download or play.<br />***<br /><a href="http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1003/gallery.national_park_quarters/index.html" target="_new">New national park quarters unveiled</a>: U.S. Mint debuts designs for the first five coins in its America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which will honor 56 national parks. The rest will be released through 2021. I probably WON'T collect them; still haven't found most of the 2009 quarters.<br />***<br /><a href="http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/mad-jack-davis-nbc-tv-guide-14276/" target="_new">MAD Artist Jack Davis’ Illustrations of NBC’s 1965-66 Season</a> for TV Guide is really cool, especially if you remember the shows, which I do.<br />***<br /><a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20361820_13,00.html">Angelina Jolie is in the summer movie I can't wait to see</a>, Salt, which was filmed in part in Albany, NY. The filming caused massive traffic delays for days.<br />***<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETaYP1bVg6g" target="_new">Siren's Crush Receives Rave Reviews from NAMM</a> (short video). This is my niece's group; Rebecca is the brunette female.<br />***<br />My friend <a href="http://ateliermends.blogspirit.com/" target="_new">Deborah</a>, who I met in 1977 in Manhattan, and who's been living in France for the past quarter century, recently bought a beautiful old stone house in Brittany with a plan of partly financing the loan by renting it out as a holiday home.<br /><br />The <a href="http://saintehelenerental.blogspot.com/" target="_new">Kan ar Vouac'h website</a> and its <a href="http://www.vrbo.com/299884" target="_new">listing on VRBO</a> are finally done, and she's hoping to be putting the final touches on buying the final necessaries over the month of May.<br /><br />I'm told it's a lovely and reasonable place to stay in Brittany.<br />***<br />Retiree Bathtub Test<br /><br />During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, "How do you determine whether or not a retiree should be put in an old age home?"<br /><br />"Well," he said, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the retiree and ask him or her to empty the bathtub"<br /><br />"Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the bucket because it is bigger than the spoon or the teacup."<br /><br />"No" he said. "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?”<br /><br />ROG<br /></b><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-84052130349948797382010-04-24T05:18:00.001-04:002010-04-24T05:18:00.635-04:00Public Figure Punishment and Race<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbNjMZyFEEfUJ6RXejdOv_4sJ-KQ1up-RKHHUJ8HTYyYKMHg1USDScjkj5S1IFCeEiAJtb9MuhBmHaMYdW8D6Q5z7w08SnfI0nn85bknU2WEcJs5pc9KxmHU9uxZx4RdJknd6Og/s1600/Ben-Roethlisberger-Posters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbNjMZyFEEfUJ6RXejdOv_4sJ-KQ1up-RKHHUJ8HTYyYKMHg1USDScjkj5S1IFCeEiAJtb9MuhBmHaMYdW8D6Q5z7w08SnfI0nn85bknU2WEcJs5pc9KxmHU9uxZx4RdJknd6Og/s400/Ben-Roethlisberger-Posters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463500817735471490" border="0" /></a><br /><b>As you may have heard, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who helped his team win the Super Bowl a couple times, will be <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5121614" target="_new">suspended the first six games of the 16-game season</a> for "violating <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/21598/nfl-personal-conduct-policy" target="_new">the NFL's personal conduct policy</a>." The punishment, handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, involved "a 20-year-old college student who accused him of sexually assaulting her in a Georgia nightclub in March." The district attorney declined to prosecute, fearing he could not make his case, but he spoke in rather damning terms at a press conference <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liHs6C7ajzg&feature=related" target="_new">HERE</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaRGdYizw7g" target="_new">HERE</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PsdE_KudoY&feature=related" target="_new">HERE</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apBOClZNRzY&feature=channel" target="_new">HERE</a>. I didn't to the whole thing, maybe 10 of the 40 minutes, but it was enough. This is not the first time allegations about Ben's sexual improprieties have surfaced.<br /><br />What surprised me, but should not have, is this barrage of comments suggesting that he <a href="http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/the_state_of_black_america_news/18131" target="_new">fared better</a> or fared worse because he is white. Just Google <i>Roethlisberger race</i>. Some people complained that Michael Vick, dog killer, got only a two-game suspension; however, he also went to jail.<br /><br />1. Is the punishment adequate, too much or too little?<br />2. What does race have to do with it, if anything?<br />3. Should Ben get traded to another team? CAN he get traded?<br />4. Does the NFL Commissioner have too much authority as "judge, jury and executioner", as one pundit called it? In other sports, there is an appeals process, but the only appeal to the NFL Commissioner is to the NFL Commissioner.<br /><br />My thoughts: it's a judgment call, it got the QB's attention, but I wish action had been taken on some of these earlier incidents; much ado about not much, but race still gets infused in EVERYTHING; another team would be crazy to take him; yes.<br /><br />--ROG</b><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-75450234054998646172010-04-23T05:13:00.001-04:002010-04-23T21:59:48.309-04:00The Copyright Law Is A Ass<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsHWYsxSTDvoL6uhcWaDjY9uKWHA_RZsY3keNUcGpo3b_DJwi6aigvlARNlfsxyGh6OXU3zHML_cgleBOULFgW8NerENpGzVUCfaA76dS-lQzITyOGZSXt2fkgd3E5q__BHNkLA/s1600/Disney-infinite-copyright_svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 220px; float: left; height: 220px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461964239674189490" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJsHWYsxSTDvoL6uhcWaDjY9uKWHA_RZsY3keNUcGpo3b_DJwi6aigvlARNlfsxyGh6OXU3zHML_cgleBOULFgW8NerENpGzVUCfaA76dS-lQzITyOGZSXt2fkgd3E5q__BHNkLA/s400/Disney-infinite-copyright_svg.png" border="0" /></a><br /><b>Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, known as the Copyright Clause, the Copyright and Patent Clause (or Patent and Copyright Clause), the Intellectual Property Clause and the Progress Clause, empowers the United States Congress:<br />“ To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.<br /><br />Note the word "limited".<br /><br />The current law says that copyright is for the "life of the author plus 70 years and for works of corporate authorship to 120 years after creation or 95 years after publication, whichever endpoint is earlier. Copyright protection for works published prior to January 1, 1978, was increased by 20 years to a total of 95 years from their publication date."<br /><br />I'd like to say that the continuing extensions of the copyright law is unconstitutional. I'd LIKE to say that, but I can't, because the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldred_v._Ashcroft" target="_new">Supreme Court ruled otherwise</a> in 2003.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoH1t8WtptoKwdnOIYrBVm_ApuOK-Q-wzplL-NbN6Yy2y5YYNwu13YyClJNaf0VMOXfifuBk-iIEGznKob7VNuWEfPSDkGy7Czk-_27T8O5CrYEwzN4Nz0ffETolT-OCt1gTMHg/s1600/Copyright_term.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwoH1t8WtptoKwdnOIYrBVm_ApuOK-Q-wzplL-NbN6Yy2y5YYNwu13YyClJNaf0VMOXfifuBk-iIEGznKob7VNuWEfPSDkGy7Czk-_27T8O5CrYEwzN4Nz0ffETolT-OCt1gTMHg/s400/Copyright_term.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462537762558414322" border="0" /></a><br />To be fair, this law is more or less consistent with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works" target="_new">Berne convention</a>, signed by the United States in 1988<br /><br />But in a more fundamental way, there seems to be a gross lack of understanding about copyright generally. Copyright protection is not an absolute. People can use other people's copyrighted materials all the time through <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html" target="_new">fair use</a>, use in reviews, parody.<br /><br />An <a href="http://rapponthis.blogspot.com/2010/03/22510-gootube.html" target="_new">interesting take on copyright</a> comes from Paul Rapp, intellectual property lawyer from around these parts. He is also F. Lee Harvey Blotto, drummer of the almost legendary band Blotto. <br /><br /><i>Web portals like YouTube are protected by the "safe harbor" provisions of a law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which says that YouTube generally doesn’t have to actively monitor what’s being posted on its site. Once the portal is informed that there’s infringing stuff posted, it has a duty to investigate and take down offending material. This merely reaffirms that it’s the copyright owners’ duty to police its copyright, not someone else’s. In other words, it’s Viacom’s job, not YouTube’s.<br /><br />This makes perfect sense. Because often the copyright owner is fine that their stuff has been posted without permission. A few years ago I noticed that folks had posted Blotto’s old videos on YouTube. My reaction was "great, now I don’t have to do it." I’d been meaning to do it myself but was too lazy to figure out how. We wanted the videos up, for whatever promotional value they might bring. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlyqKa1p78" target="_new">Somebody even posted "Lifeguard" under the heading "Worst 80’s Video Ever."</a> It’s closing in on a quarter-million hits, and the comments are amazing. And I ain’t touchin’ it.<br /><br />And I’m certainly not alone here. Lots of copyright owners turn a blind eye to "unauthorized" posts...<br /><br />Several times a day someone sends me a YouTube link, usually of some old music video that’s brilliant, funny, or revealing, often all three at once. Does somebody own the copyrights to these things? Undoubtedly. Did they put them up themselves? Maybe, maybe not. And are they mad that their stuff’s on the internet? Probably not. They’re probably delighted.</i><br /><br />So copyright, both in law and as a practical matter, is not as "obvious" or "simple" as it may appear.<br />***<br />And speaking of intellectual property gone awry, I think it's reprehensible that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/02/health/main6168631.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;9" target="_new">one company can "own" a patent on human genes</a> and I was thrilled when the company <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-29/myriad-loses-ruling-over-breast-cancer-gene-patents-update1-.html" target="_new">Myriad lost a ruling over breast cancer-gene patents</a>, a suit brought by the ACLU, plus the March of Dimes and a number of medical organizations. <br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-77642254756280040392010-04-22T05:07:00.004-04:002010-04-22T05:07:00.143-04:00Earth Day 2010<b>It's been forty years since the first Earth Day. 40 years since I was on my knees Picking up over 1300 cigarette butts from the lawn of my high school, which has forever made me irritable about smokers using the ground as their ashtray. Hey, people, those filters don't break down very easily.<br /><br />Since then, there have been very definite successes. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830104575172022098335174.html" target="_new">Consumers increasingly have sought out products or services that promise to improve the environment. </a> Well, sometimes. The Hummer, for instance, was initially unfathomably popular, then, done in by higher gas prices, became the poster child for wretched excess. <br /><br />The Environmental Protection Agency was formed in 1970, under a Republican President, Richard Nixon, with <a href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/William_Ruckelshaus" target="_new">William Ruckelshaus</a> as its first head. In a recent wall Street Journal piece, Rucklehaus discusses what should happen next <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151640963114892.htm" target="_new">here</a>.<br /><br />(Nixon wasn't that bad a President, except for, you know, the war and Watergate. Ruckelshaus, BTW, was fired as Deputy Attorney General a result of the Watergate "Saturday Night Massacre"; here is <a href="http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/10/08/ex-nixon-official-gives-riveting-account-of-saturday-night-massacre/" target="_new">his recent account of that event</a>.)<br /><br />But there continues to be a debate <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704100604575145883291288098.html" target="_new">green or growth</a>, as though one could not have both, that \environmentalism is somehow anathema to capitalism. As a business librarian, I just don't believe that is the case.<br /><br />Much has been made of all the "green" jobs the Obama administration has promised that have not yet come to fruition. Thinking back to the Industrial Revolution, in some ways, it was more evolutionary in that the old ways didn't disappear overnight. Patience is required.<br /><br />Meanwhile, we need to respect those canaries in the coal mine, those polar bears drifting on ice floes, those penguins that have to travel 25% further for food, the potential loss of species, not from natural selection, but rather from human activity.<br /><br />Yet there are people who not only think that the earth's temperature rise is a naturally occurring phenomenon - I don't believe that, but people are allowed to disagree - but that the earth isn't warming at all. They take examples such as the especially snowy winter in parts of the United States as "proof". MY proof is this chart from NASA: <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm-akflZek8RMyV9WhRwgS-Ybay9JpJh3frIDtnX8PZLi-kQYW0c1-y7nCjzgqKhBqpsR7PkpZvifNE2zNl1Kr9-s56SOeOB_IS_XwzHMyDleMfxhTSqsY63dBqDS_8RkO2XrhA/s1600/global_temp_change.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjm-akflZek8RMyV9WhRwgS-Ybay9JpJh3frIDtnX8PZLi-kQYW0c1-y7nCjzgqKhBqpsR7PkpZvifNE2zNl1Kr9-s56SOeOB_IS_XwzHMyDleMfxhTSqsY63dBqDS_8RkO2XrhA/s400/global_temp_change.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462518020242046194" border="0" /></a><br />No, not every year is warmer than the last. But the trend line is clear. We ignore it, literally at our peril.<br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-29198345382490435162010-04-21T05:05:00.000-04:002010-04-21T05:05:00.723-04:00No, I'm NOT Doing Kill Your TV Week<b>The annual tradition of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.turnoffyourtv.com" target="_new">encouraging people to forgo their television viewing</a> is upon us again. Frankly, I had forgotten this until my wife sent an e-mail.<br /><br /><i>Have you thought about how much TV you have watched this year? I think you will be surprised to see the statistics on <a href="http://www.tvturnoff.org/" target="_new">this web site</a>. For example the number of hours the average youth spends watching TV in a year is 1500 hours! YIKES!<br /><br />National Turn off the TV week begins today. See if you can challenge yourself and your children to "turn off" to TV and "turn on" to reading!</i><br /><br />This is all well and good. The problem is this: I LIKE TV. I don't get to watch it all that often, sharing it with The Wife and the Daughter. Not that the Daughter watches it all that much either. She watches maybe 15 minutes in the morning, when she's getting her hair done, then less than a half hour at night when she takes her medicines, including using her nebulizer. The average youth may watch over 1500 hours a year, but our youth sees less than 300. And all of it, on PBS Kids and Nick, Jr. with some legitimate educational content; I'm actually all right with that. In fact, in honor of Earth Day, Nick, Jr. is going to have a series of new shows on the topic which I had recorded for her. <br /><br />So when the Wife came home Monday night and said to the Daughter, "Hey, how would you like it if I read you a story while you nebulize instead of watching TV," and the Daughter frowned and said, "I don't want to do that," I was a bit sympathetic to the Daughter. I told the Wife that she had to sell the concept. So, a half hour later, AFTER I HAD WATCHED THE NEWS, BTW, the Wife repeated what she said before. The Daughter said, "Daddy doesn't want to stop watching his news, does he?" Well, no, actually he does not.<br /><br />By "selling it", I mean to find the key to MOTIVATE the Daughter not to want to watch TV. There was this article a book review, really, in TIME magazine a couple months ago. Regarding <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1960268,00.html#ixzz0lZ1F7QT5" target="_new">Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard</a>, the piece begins: "Whether you're a manager, a parent or a civic leader, getting people to change can be tricky business. In Switch, brothers Chip and Dan Heath--authors of the best-selling Made to Stick--survey efforts to shape human behavior in search of what works.<br /><br />"Lesson No. 1: tell people what you want them to do in a way that will make intuitive sense to them." Not watching TV, rather out of the blue, made no sense to her. She was going to get a story anyway before bed. Perhaps discussing how others were also doing this across the country, aligned with some reward, might have worked. <br /><br />Besides, since I watch very little in real time with the DVR - even the news is taped - I don't really want to give it up myself. Does no TV mean that we just fill up the DVR and watch more NEXT week? The DVR's hovering around 50% full already.<br /><br />In parenting, we really try to do the united front thing. But in this case, my heart simply wasn't in it. <br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-38092975182410647622010-04-20T05:01:00.007-04:002010-04-20T05:01:00.446-04:00N is for New Zealand<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpb0z6zNW3nCRa8ETSAZ7N6Rk8HhWcj7llgWKlOWJBZ_GBwaMnmrrPzPp9k6SlsXHEtIPkANSQC5v4tcGjO1FXKprgCwcdbVeIITQvevsGvcGrJJZsQMvtyL87MHQgDc9kEPxrnQ/s1600/NewZealand.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 277px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461868497829241330" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpb0z6zNW3nCRa8ETSAZ7N6Rk8HhWcj7llgWKlOWJBZ_GBwaMnmrrPzPp9k6SlsXHEtIPkANSQC5v4tcGjO1FXKprgCwcdbVeIITQvevsGvcGrJJZsQMvtyL87MHQgDc9kEPxrnQ/s400/NewZealand.gif" /></a><br /><b>I have not traveled extensively. I've been to about 30 US states. Outside of the country, I've only been to Canada, Mexico and Barbados, only the former more than once. So I get to "travel" through a number of blogs.<br /><br />One of the blogs I visit is Nik Durga's <a href="http://spatulaforum.blogspot.com/" target="_new">Spatula Forum</a>. Nik is "an American journalist who now lives in New Zealand with my kiwi wife and son." Somehow, this led me to <a href="http://amerinz.blogspot.com/" target="_new">http://amerinz.blogspot.com/</a>. Arthur is another American expat living in New Zealand, of longer tenure, who writes: "I moved to New Zealand from Chicago in 1995 to be with my partner. I've worked in the printing and publishing industries for about twenty years." It's possible I found Arthur through <a href="http://spatulaforum.blogspot.com/2008/02/ack-ive-been-podcasted-its-blog.html" target="_new">Nik's appearance on Arthur's podcast</a>, but I don't recall.<br /><br />Regardless, Arthur celebrated the third anniversary of his <a href="http://amerinz.blogspot.com/" target="_new">podcast</a> last month, March 28, to be precise. In honor of that, he posed 20 questions, for which he kindly also presented the answers, which people were supposed to send him in order to win a "Kiwi prize pack"; alas, I did not win. Being a tad librarianish, I decided to send along links with the answers, which was not required. It later occurred to me that those links could be the basis of THIS VERY blogpost.<br /><br />The information will not be in the order that Arthur gave it, since his was intentionally all over the place chronologically.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-TayPast-t1-body-d14-d22.html" target="_new">Waitangi Treaty was signed February 6, 1840</a>. This "extends to the Natives of New Zealand Her royal protection, and imparts to them all the Rights and Privileges of British subjects."<br /><br />The First_Taranaki War, fueled by a land dispute between the Maori and the Europeans,<br />began on <a href="http://colonialwars.suite101.com/article.cfm/the-first-taranaki-war-new-zealand-1860" target="_new">March 17, 1860</a> and ended on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Taranaki_War" target="_new">March 18, 1861</a>.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-DLDijCcsWCNmuv8F-cXFlKVEd_tchpCJ87ErtgFiUC3Xdp8Nunooyylm4vnxyrnc2NO1h4r2bRBgXO31cokAjIbShrNAgiMfG2AoV633v19-FooAN99kGXP6P6RoYlcr0WjbQ/s1600/nzcross.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 216px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461868806562943362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy-DLDijCcsWCNmuv8F-cXFlKVEd_tchpCJ87ErtgFiUC3Xdp8Nunooyylm4vnxyrnc2NO1h4r2bRBgXO31cokAjIbShrNAgiMfG2AoV633v19-FooAN99kGXP6P6RoYlcr0WjbQ/s400/nzcross.jpg" /></a><br /><br />The New Zealand Cross was created on <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/timeline&new_date=10/03" target="_new">March 10, 1869</a>, important "because New Zealand's local military were not eligible for the [British] Victoria Cross."<br /><br />"New Zealand became the first self-governing nation in the world where women had won the right to vote" on <a href="http://archives.govt.nz/womens-suffrage-petition" target="_new">September 19, 1893</a>.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4AQCQrgvdZVr1zDaNt6Fx_PNUBrtE-MCImSCCcz2byyPxJxHH0nHUpFdiV635Ho4uVFR4J8DcKY_ertUy4PESw6NKPo_Z9JIqw-Y9YPTyrRV5GXHSCk5SJMcRs7gCQh6dLAqfA/s1600/nzbrunner.IMG0075.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 291px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461868720092419426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4AQCQrgvdZVr1zDaNt6Fx_PNUBrtE-MCImSCCcz2byyPxJxHH0nHUpFdiV635Ho4uVFR4J8DcKY_ertUy4PESw6NKPo_Z9JIqw-Y9YPTyrRV5GXHSCk5SJMcRs7gCQh6dLAqfA/s400/nzbrunner.IMG0075.jpg" /></a><br />The Brunner mine disaster took place on <a href="http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/kids/nzdisasters/brunner.asp" target="_new">March 26, 1896</a>.<br /><br />New Zealand achieved dominion status on <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/dominion-day/nz-in-1907" target="_new">September 26, 1907</a>.<br /><br />There are <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/about-the-memorials-register" target="_new">453 New Zealand World War I memorials</a>.<br /><br />An agreement of Australian-New Zealand cooperation was signed in Canberra on <a href="http://www.info.dfat.gov.au/info/historical/HistDocs.nsf/(LookupVolNoNumber)/7~26" target="_new">January 21, 1944</a>.<br /><br />The Wahine Shipwreck disaster occurred on <a href="http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/kids/nzdisasters/wahine.asp" target="_new">April 10, 1968</a>.<br /><br />The Homosexual Law Reform Act was signed on July 11, and went into effect <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/homosexual-law-reform" target="_new">August 8, 1986</a>.<br /><br />The first Kiwi to win an Academy Award took place in <a href="http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0149895.html" target="_new">March 1994</a>, the 21st in Los Angeles, when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElXtoO_WmA" target="_new">Anna Paquin was named Best Supporting Actress for "The Piano"</a>. Anna was <a href="http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/transformations/photos/0,,20290120_20287349,00.html" target="_new">born in Canada, but raised in New Zealand</a>.<br /><br />The Prostitution Reform Act was passed in <a href="http://www.bayswan.org/newzea.html" target="_new">2003</a>.<br /><br />Nationwide elections in New Zealand are held <a href="http://www.fact-index.com/n/ne/new_zealand_elections.html" target="_new">every three years</a>, "or earlier, should it be necessary." At this writing, the ruling party is <a href="http://www.national.org.nz/" target="_new">New Zealand National Party</a> and the leading opposition party is the <a href="http://splash.labour.org.nz/" target="_new">New Zealand Labour Party</a>.<br /><br />There are about <a href="http://www.geobytes.com/citydistancetool.htm" target="_new">13200 km from Chicago, IL US to Auckland, NZ</a>.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jokHTOjlvOQDe8KzldIjSSqn3zEeDH185XwiHeaJadEF63BGBTu6lmbVo2Gj8IVgb0JfTBIG9TtjPy5T_7KAl2NZac7mMFNzvOBFp8TpIEeBcEBdmpmcaXCgT_ZXjE-7HHNJCg/s1600/new-zealand-flag.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461868574819626818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6jokHTOjlvOQDe8KzldIjSSqn3zEeDH185XwiHeaJadEF63BGBTu6lmbVo2Gj8IVgb0JfTBIG9TtjPy5T_7KAl2NZac7mMFNzvOBFp8TpIEeBcEBdmpmcaXCgT_ZXjE-7HHNJCg/s400/new-zealand-flag.gif" /></a><br /><br />As at Tuesday, 20 April 2010 at 02:58:46 am (local time), the <a href="http://www.stats.govt.nz/methods_and_services/population_clock.aspx" target="_new">estimated resident population of New Zealand</a> was 4,364,669.<br /><br />Most of the questions Arthur got from New Zealand History online, which celebrated its <a href="http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/about-this-site" target="_new">11th anniversary</a> last month.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHjHvJg38bZsMH2fngSVa5ksrW7Df4raK4NioYYcx5VGRY5woUEet2fmkttorQJq3sXNEW2GE9Y4BzJV2-4zPqtmpZIWVvgYdCZZnvvCWDaViAnQtg8HmE2mCn-Y1iMraUa4c/s1600-h/ABC+WEDNESDAY6.gif"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 131px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436291888132568162" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVHjHvJg38bZsMH2fngSVa5ksrW7Df4raK4NioYYcx5VGRY5woUEet2fmkttorQJq3sXNEW2GE9Y4BzJV2-4zPqtmpZIWVvgYdCZZnvvCWDaViAnQtg8HmE2mCn-Y1iMraUa4c/s200/ABC+WEDNESDAY6.gif" /></a><br /><a href="http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/" target="_new">ABC Wednesday</a><br /><br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-38057171031276101522010-04-19T05:13:00.001-04:002010-04-19T05:13:00.292-04:0035 Questions Meme, Part Two<b><a href="http://sundaystealing.blogspot.com/2010/04/35-questions-x-2-meme-part-two.html" target=_new>Sunday Stealing</a>, redux.<br /><br />36. If you suddenly became single or are single, do you think you could last in a relationship for 12 months or more?<br /><br />I'd like to think so. Probably. <br /><br />37. Do you forgive or forget?<br /><br />Forgive, usually; forget, seldom.<br /><br />38. Do you trust people?<br /><br />Probably less than I used to. That said, probably more than more people. I had the laptop in the hotel, and one of my sisters suggested that I lock it up somewhere; it would not have occurred to me. <br /><br />39. What are you not looking forward to?<br /><br />Painting the attic. It's HOT up there by fairly early in the day. <br /><br />40. Do you get mad easily?<br /><br />I don't think so. But when I do, it can be furious, so don't push it. <br /><br />41. Tell us about the last time you were told you that you have pretty eyes.<br /><br />I don't recall. There was this woman about 25 years ago. <br /><br />42. Do you have strange dreams?<br /><br />Oh, goodness YES. Sidebar: I gave up caffeinated soda on March 16 because I wasn't sleeping. More correctly, I was going to sleep, but I wasn't STAYING asleep. Then I prettyy much NEEDED the caffeine so that I didn't fall asleep at my desk.<br /><br />So now, I still wake up in the middle of the night, but I roll over and go back to sleep. And all these latter-part-of-the-night dreams innvolve distorted versions of my childhood, and all sorts of mayhem that are so vivid, yet so ALMOST plausible that I have to recollect it and realize that it COULDN'T have happened. <br /><br />43. Ever licked someone's cheek or forehead?<br /><br />Undoubtedly, as some sort of torture. <br /><br />44. Tell us about the last time you fell asleep in someone's arms.<br /><br />As opposed to just cuddling, I suppose. It was probably the Wife, and I was probably ill.<br /><br />45. When did you last play a game?<br /><br />Uno, Saturday with the Daughter.<br /><br />46. What do you have on you at all times?<br /><br />My wedding ring.<br /><br />47. Do you go out in public without getting all dressed up?<br /><br />I'd do it more often, if i could get away with it. <br /><br />48. Do you like fruity or minty gum?<br /><br />Mint - spearmint.<br /><br />49. Favourite musician or group?<br /><br />Beatles.<br /><br />50. Do you like anyone?<br /><br />Define "like". I like quite a few people. Even love a few.<br /><br />51. Favourite computer game?<br /><br />Backgammon, except that when I play with someone, they often bail too early. Hearts with no real opponents I can at least finish. <br /><br />52. First album you ever went and bought with your own money?<br /><br />Beatles VI.<br /><br />53. Think back five months ago, were you single?<br /><br />No, and not 5 months before that either.<br /><br />54. Do you believe in celebrating anniversaries?<br /><br />Goodness, yes. Of all kinds.<br /><br />55. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?<br /><br />How could they not?<br /><br />56. Last thing you bought?<br /><br />Lunch on Friday. <br /><br />57. Are you a jealous person?<br /><br />I tend not to be, though there have been moments in the past. <br /><br />58. Does it take a lot to make you cry?<br /><br />Not really. A beautiful piece of music can make me cry. <br /><br />59. Do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to?<br /><br />Yes. Actually, for the longest time, about 90% of my best friends were female; now, it about 60%. <br /><br />60. Have you ever had your heart-broken?<br /><br />I mean, if you haven't, you are really lucky, I think.<br /><br />61. Have you ever done something while drunk that you still cannot believe you did?<br /><br />Back when I would drink in college, I was very flirtatious, but no, I don't believe <br /><br />62. Is there anyone you secretly wish you could be spending your time with right now?<br /><br />No secret. Myself. Don't get enough Roger time. <br /><br />63. Do you text?<br /><br />Generally not.<br /><br />64. Do you wish someone would call or text you right now?<br /><br />Sure, why not? And if they call me and I DON'T want to speak with him or her, well, that's what Caller ID is all about. <br /><br />65. Is your life anything like it was a year ago?<br /><br />Pretty much.<br /><br />66. Go back one year on your blog. Leave us a link to your favorite post.<br /><br /><a href="http://rogerowengreen.blogspot.com/2009/04/m-is-for-money.html" target=_new>M is for Money</a>. <br /><br />67. You can only drink ONE liquid for the rest of your life, what is it?<br /><br />Ginger ale. <br /><br />68. Tell us about someone that you have lost contact with someone you wish you didn't.<br /><br />There are so many people I manage to regain contact of, some of whom I had lost contact with. But there was this woman named Diane in college; actually mostly after college when I was still hanging out in New Paltz. We used to just talk, play board games and generally hang out. Totally platonic. Lost track of her. She isn't in the alumni directory that came out in 2006, can't find her in Google, and I wonder how she is, WHERE she is. <br /><br />69. What is the last thing you said out loud?<br /><br />Good night, sleep tight.<br /><br />70. Will this year be better than last?<br /><br />Difficult to say. Last year was pretty good. <br /></b><br />ROG<div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-23217571134179968462010-04-18T05:11:00.000-04:002010-04-18T05:11:00.547-04:00The Health Report<b>Had my physical this week. Other than too much weight (no surprise) and too high "bad " cholesterol, I'm OK. My last "annual" checkup was in November 2008. I took Lipitor for a couple months at the time, then forgot to get a blood test, which I needed to get befoe getting a refill, but forgot and let it slide. I'll do better this time.<br /><br />Even before this, though, I made a major change. I had become, if not addicted, then habituated to caffeinated soda, usually diet. It had the annoying habit of allowing me to go to sleep, but then had me wake up in the middle of the night, brain on overload, unable to sleep. Then I "needed" a soda while I was at work lest I fall asleep at my desk. Vicious cycle. But when I last gave blood, on March 16, and my blood pressure upper number was 138 - it's always been between 110 and 125 - I becan to worry, and I quit the soda cold turkey. After about three days of utter exhaustion, I'm actually sleeping better.<br /><br />I wonder if it was the soda, or merely <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/seasonal-affective-disorder/DS00195" target="_new">SAD (seasonal affective disorder)</a> that made me feel crazy in February. Someone said something that annoyed me greatly - and I had a right to be annoyed - but it seemed to have captured me for about a month, with me withdrawing from things, feeling melancholy and alone. It's passed, even before quitting the soda, but it was very peculiar.<br /><br />Thus endeth "true confessions".<br /> ROG</b><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12596260.post-29911405948013150822010-04-17T05:19:00.000-04:002010-04-17T05:19:00.799-04:00Privacy, identity<b>My daughter went to the pedetrician she's seen since she was born last week for her annual physical. The ofice required proof of her insuance - it has not changed, but OK - and proof of identity for her or her parents.<br /><br />This week, I went to see my primary care physician for MY annual physical doctor. I've had this doctor for over 15 years. The front staff know who I am. In fact, when he asked me for MY ID, the staffer said, almost giggling: "We KNOW who you are." I also prsented my insurance card, though it hadn't changed.<br /><br />Now I understood it when I went to St. Peter's to get X-rays; I'm not exactly a regular. <br />***<br />A bit off topic, but it did get me to think about issue privacy and personal information. The type of info I hate giving up is the type I believe will harm me. For instance, one of my providers STILL uses my Social Security number as my patient identification. This makes me VERY nervous. And isn't that in violation of the <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/" target=_new>HIPAA law</a>? <br /><br />Meanwhile, there are <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/04/15/stupidest" target=_new>members of Congress complaining about the "invasive" Census</a>. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed that, with all the money being spent on it, they didn't ask for more. <br /><br />Newspapers, when I write a letter to the editor, require my name, address, and phone number. But if I write to their blogs, I can hide under a pseudonym and say pretty much what I want. The blogger can block it, but still the conversation is far more incidiary than the print letters. I'm not sure that folks online shouldn't be subjected to the same rules of contact as their pen-and-paper cohorts.<br /><br />***<br />The question: what issues of privacy do YOU worry about? Census, online transactions, the restaurant worker with your credit card ?</b><div class="blogger-post-footer">ROG</div>Roger Owen Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05298172138307632062noreply@blogger.com1