Okay, so this was kind of spammed to an email list I am on. It is:
1) hysterical
2) too true
3) about a critical problem here in the US.
My family is very fortunate that we have good healthcare (my husband is military and they have comprehensive healthcare), but I am often concerned about others I know who do not. Many of my friends have no insurance. My own brother had none and ended up with $20K in medical bills in the last year alone. This is something that simply HAS to change and the vested interests will not allow it. Enjoy the video, it's an amusing take on a very serious subject.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Ego Surfing in Technicolor...
So, a friend of mine, JulieAnn Henneman got a meme from someone else and didn't know what a meme was... for those who don't, it's an idea that propagates itself across the net in a viral fashion. Anyway, the meme amused me and I decided to try it. Basically, you had to look up your own name and see what kind of images popped up. Since I can't seem to contact some of the illustrators for permission, I am only going to list links where appropriate.
I started with my nickname "dejah." It came from Burroughs Princess of Mars via Heinlein's The Number of the Best--the two Dejah's are very different characters and I reference the namesake rather than the original. But most of the art out there is of the Princess of Mars (who never seemed to wear any clothes). Of the variety of really graphic ones, I like this Dejah Thoris by comic artist Frank Cho.
Interestingly, the shorter version of my nickname "dej" brought up a wealth of unusual photos. Here's what looks like an Indian Chieftain Dejazmatch Balcha Aba Nefso:
Another was a webcam of a town in Romania called Dej.
And this, the Dale Earnhardt Jr Wishbike.
Then I went looking for my real name Mary E Tyler, and among the many images of the book cover for Google Analytics, I found this odd image of a gravestone for a woman with my exact name.
Darn, JulieAnn had a lot of interesting artwork. I get weird sex pictures, motorcycles (how apropos!) and gravestones. Not even a little lamb to temper my amusement!
I started with my nickname "dejah." It came from Burroughs Princess of Mars via Heinlein's The Number of the Best--the two Dejah's are very different characters and I reference the namesake rather than the original. But most of the art out there is of the Princess of Mars (who never seemed to wear any clothes). Of the variety of really graphic ones, I like this Dejah Thoris by comic artist Frank Cho.
Interestingly, the shorter version of my nickname "dej" brought up a wealth of unusual photos. Here's what looks like an Indian Chieftain Dejazmatch Balcha Aba Nefso:
Another was a webcam of a town in Romania called Dej.
And this, the Dale Earnhardt Jr Wishbike.
Then I went looking for my real name Mary E Tyler, and among the many images of the book cover for Google Analytics, I found this odd image of a gravestone for a woman with my exact name.
Darn, JulieAnn had a lot of interesting artwork. I get weird sex pictures, motorcycles (how apropos!) and gravestones. Not even a little lamb to temper my amusement!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Survery Jones: My Political Compass
It's been a while since I have updated this blog. I've been overwhelmed this summer. For most of the month of June, I was down with kidney stones, a sprained ankle and moving. Since I got better, I have been working my behind off trying to get the city house ready to sell (JUST in time for the housing market to go completely south). But, I was reading Crooks and Liars yesterday morning (as usual) and I came upon this nifty little political test.
The idea behind it is that there are two components to conservatism. There is an economic scale defined by the extremes of Communism (communalism) vs neo-liberalism (libertarianism) and there is a social scale defined by its extremes Authoritarianism (fascism) vs Libertarianism (anarchism). Put more simply: authority vs anarchy and communism vs unrestrained free markets. For example, here's how some famous world leaders rate on the political compass:
So, I took the test (I'd really love to see my neo-con friend Heather take this test. It's interesting!). Here's where I fall:
It appears I am just to the right of Gandhi, which I do not mind. I am a bit more liberal than I though of was, perhaps because of my libertarian leanings (and libertarians normally consider themselves on the right). But on this scale libertarian socially is left while libertarian economically is right and I tend to be more libertarian socially than economically.
But what's really telling is this image from Crooks and Liars about where the candidates fall. Even the MOST liberal of the democrats are FAR more authoritarian and far more economically libertarian. They are not very darned liberal AT ALL. No wonder I am not terribly thrilled about ANY of the presidential candidates!
I should note, at times, I found the test to be a bit too black and white. There were questions where I didn't exactly agree or disagree. Where the question itself seemed unreal. Anyway, so much for my survey jones. I'll be quite pleased when skating season begins again and when I have time to follow it.
--
In other news, my husband made Chief (E7). In the Navy, this is a BIG deal. They put you through a six week indoctrination that involves a lot of silly stuff, more volunteer work, and a whole lot of working late. I am presently conducting my marriage my cell phone. And after 5 years of not smoking, it took exactly five days for the indoc process to stress him out enough that he is back to killing himself.
No, I'm not very happy/
Five weeks and counting til pinning.
--
I've joined a new team blog. I haven't posted yet, due to email problems but when I do, the new blog is Mama Needs a Book Contract. It's a blog about writing and parenting (or in my case, women's issues). Looking forward to seeing you there!
The idea behind it is that there are two components to conservatism. There is an economic scale defined by the extremes of Communism (communalism) vs neo-liberalism (libertarianism) and there is a social scale defined by its extremes Authoritarianism (fascism) vs Libertarianism (anarchism). Put more simply: authority vs anarchy and communism vs unrestrained free markets. For example, here's how some famous world leaders rate on the political compass:
So, I took the test (I'd really love to see my neo-con friend Heather take this test. It's interesting!). Here's where I fall:
It appears I am just to the right of Gandhi, which I do not mind. I am a bit more liberal than I though of was, perhaps because of my libertarian leanings (and libertarians normally consider themselves on the right). But on this scale libertarian socially is left while libertarian economically is right and I tend to be more libertarian socially than economically.
But what's really telling is this image from Crooks and Liars about where the candidates fall. Even the MOST liberal of the democrats are FAR more authoritarian and far more economically libertarian. They are not very darned liberal AT ALL. No wonder I am not terribly thrilled about ANY of the presidential candidates!
I should note, at times, I found the test to be a bit too black and white. There were questions where I didn't exactly agree or disagree. Where the question itself seemed unreal. Anyway, so much for my survey jones. I'll be quite pleased when skating season begins again and when I have time to follow it.
--
In other news, my husband made Chief (E7). In the Navy, this is a BIG deal. They put you through a six week indoctrination that involves a lot of silly stuff, more volunteer work, and a whole lot of working late. I am presently conducting my marriage my cell phone. And after 5 years of not smoking, it took exactly five days for the indoc process to stress him out enough that he is back to killing himself.
No, I'm not very happy/
Five weeks and counting til pinning.
--
I've joined a new team blog. I haven't posted yet, due to email problems but when I do, the new blog is Mama Needs a Book Contract. It's a blog about writing and parenting (or in my case, women's issues). Looking forward to seeing you there!
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