The Wordsmith's Forge

Some Highlights of Na'vi

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:49:39 GMT

I was fascinated by this article about Na'vi, the alien language composed for the movie "Avatar." It is a subtle, flexible, and intricate tongue. I am strongly reminded of some Native American languages, which can stack and weave affixes in ways that seem odd to English speakers. I can't quite get my mind around Na'vi yet ... I need to hear it in my ears ... but there's something familiar about it.

Chip Carved Plates from Scotland

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:22:02 GMT

I like chip carving, and these are lovely. Over my altar there is a chip carved plate with a unicorn and a star on it.

Wildlife Victories in 2009

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:01:46 GMT

It's been a challenging year in many ways, but we've had some worthwhile victories along the way. Here's a slideshow of some wildlife victories.

Call for Good News

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:54:14 GMT

I often blog a lot about intense and controversial topics, because part of my responsibility includes spreading information. Too much of that can lead to burnout, though, both for readers and for bloggers.

So, I'm making an effort to increase the amount of positive, noncontroversial news. What "good news" have you heard recently? In what ways is the world becoming a better place? What cool discoveries or inventions have people made? Please share links or stories in the comments below. Remember, "Energy flows where attention goes." Let's send it somewhere good!

First Lines Meme

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:33:35 GMT

I ran across this while looking for something else. The idea is to quote the first line(s) from your fiction in progress. So here is a brief tour of some stories in varying stages of completion...

In her thirty-third year, Raheem stepped upon a tarkan, a place where someone had died. ("Adornments for the Dead")

The sunlight was escaping. ("And To Her We Shall Return")

The Ships descended on wings of silent thunder. ("A Cacophany of Loss")

Negotiations sputtered to a halt when Licia Blaine shoved a bowl of jerky across the table to the Friskie delegate and said, "Here, bowser, have a chewie and shut up so the rest of us can get some work done." ("Copper's Game")

My job is to make mistakes. ("Copycat, Copycat")

Why did our core programming have to include love? Brien wondered. Unfair, of course, to blame those long-ago humans for the challenges brought on by emotions, when they had not meant to create silicon personalities in the first place. (">Delete<")

Fringe-of-Emerald had swallowed a gun. ("Diving for Pearls")

Fala ran up the path, towing her mother by the hand. ("Fala the Leader")

The wind blew them into the oasis in the late afternoon. They rode single-file: Kubraa in the lead on her dark horse Dusk, fleet Chardae and cheerful Bahaar sharing a riding camel, Shaaf the Healer on the gray mare Frond, Nimeh who had once been a prostitute now perched on their pack camel, and the warrior Gulaara bringing up the rear on sturdy Sandstorm. ("False Sugar, Honest Salt")

It all began when Gertrude Forrester bent down to pick up what turned out not to be a penny, and knocked over her walker. ("Find a Penny, Pick It Up")

“My career is mulched – hardly even started, and it’s already over!” I said, covering my face so I wouldn’t have to look at my empty message screen. “Nobody wants to come to your Pangalactic Plant Show, huh?” said my roommate, Twer. ("Foreign Customs")

In the Summer of Dancing Grass, a strange woman came from the sky riding a flying fish. ("In the Eyes of the Children")

The corpse-candles guttered in an icy draft, tattered flames casting mad shadows on the wall. ("The Last Match")

It took four crossbow bolts to pin Eshana to the wall. ("The Most Dangerous Place")

Anjali Beck sat at the safety board, her slim strong hands sweeping over buttons and touchpads. Seven screens framed her station. Each showed her a different part of Verdigris, a separate team of workers on the moon’s surface. ("Nirvana Moon")

I sold my soul on eBay today. ("¿Que Tiene Tumbao?")

The year that Tessie turned two, things began to happen. The first thing is that Mama went back to doing magic, which she hadn’t done while Tessie was a baby and needed her all the time. ("Tessie and the Door")

"My father thinks he raised me wrong, but I can't change his mind from prison," wrote Dandy Man, in response to a question from his girlfriend. ("Turf")

The day that Amoretta first showed signs of magic, her father’s friends beat her and bound her and locked her in a tiny room at the top of a tower. ("The Wizard's Wallflower Daughter")

How to Become a Reviewer

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:38:17 GMT

This started out as the answer to a question, but I'm going to repost it separately because it's information I share frequently. The most effective way to get established as a reviewer goes like this, and it will work for books/music/products/whatever.

1) Of the books you buy for yourself, pick your favorites and review them. Submit those reviews anywhere that will take them; what matters at first is building publication credits, rather than making money. Whenever you get a review published, send a copy of it to the publisher (and author if you have their address) of that book; this is called a "tearsheet" (because before copy machines and internet, it involved tearing a page out of a magazine). Note that tearsheets used to be customary; now they are not. So if you send tearsheets, publishers and authors will love you, and give you oodles of books, and tell all their friends about you.

2) Once you have some published reviews, watch for regular reviewing gigs to open; then apply to them, including some of your tearsheets as an examples of your skill. The first one or few you get will probably be volunteer. However, many review markets provide you with free review copies to read. This saves you money because you don't have to buy all your own books now.

If you can't find author contact info directly, watch for people on the "attending guests" list at conventions. You just print off tearsheets of your reviews for anyone who's at a con you're attending, and catch them after a panel, signing, or other activity they're scheduled to do. It's a way to make a lot of friends very quickly, because Feedback Is Candy. This trick also works for publisher parties at conventions, but it's easier to find publisher contact info: theirs is usually printed inside the book.

3) At this point, you can send some tearsheets to a favorite publisher and say, "I am a reviewer with a column in (market name). You may have seen my reviews in other markets such as (list). I have enclosed some tearsheets so that you can see my work. Please add me to your list of reviewers. You can send catalogs or review copies to me at (address)." If you want to get fancy, you can specify whether you want just final ("shelf") copies or will also review from Advance Reading Copies (ARCs), galleys, manuscript pages, electronic files, etc. Some publishers also save their "seconds" (shelf copies with a bent cover or other minor flaw) as review copies rather than destroying them; this custom saves trees and is to be encouraged.

If you've made friends with authors, you can also ask them to put you on the list of people to whom their publisher will send copies of their new books coming out. Most publishers have a publicity form for authors to fill out, and it has a space for "please send a review copy to these people." This can add up to a nontrivial amount of free books, for which consideration you provide reviews and tearsheets.

4) Now that you have some good publication credits built up, you can hunt seriously for paying markets. It's easier to break into those if you've written a goodly number of reviews already. Most review markets pay modestly ($10-20/review is common) but if you already enjoy reading, this is a pretty good deal when you count the free books and the fact that reviews are short and only take half an hour or so to write. Some review markets pay quite a lot more than that -- I've seen listings for $100 and up, though I've never managed to get into those markets.

Here is my cute monster!

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:20:21 GMT

This is the cute monster that buymelove drew for me as part of Free Monster Day. If you go back to the original post you can see links to many other monsters; they're delightfully wicked creations.

Cakes with Sharp Teeth

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:47:16 GMT

I was bemused by this post about architectural cakery, in which some of the "cakes" have teeth with which to defend themselves. I'm sure someone could use this for inspiration in a horror story.

Due Process Is Dead

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:35:23 GMT

"Notes from Underground" has a post (unfortunately, without a direct link; here is a related one) about the official sanction of nonpersons in America, and how it's now considered okay to torture people. Unless you consider that pesky Constitution thing an impediment.

Dear Mr. President: Please remove your cranium from your lower intestinal tract and stop asking the Supreme Court to commit treason and war crimes. Unlike your predecessor, you have actually READ the Constitution. You might want to review it. And maybe pull down some Afro-American history too, on the topic of declaring human beings to be nonpersons legally and what a bad idea that is. Of course it looks tempting from your current seat, but check out the list of other people who believe that sort of thing is acceptable; that's not company you want to be keeping.

Looking for Reviewers

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:21:59 GMT

xjenavivex is looking for people interested in a regular reviewing slot. It doesn't pay, but if you're just getting started as a reviewer, this is a good opening. I did several nonpaying columns before I started getting review gigs that paid -- and it's enough that some publishers will start sending you books if you ask. This particular slot will be for a short fiction review site that's planned to start this coming year, and it will be open to cyberfunded projects.

Recipe: "Egyptian Leg of Lamb"

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:13:42 GMT

This was the main dish at our Yule feast yesterday. We had eight people, and just enough lamb left over to make a nice shepherd's pie later. (I'm still tinkering with the recipe for that one.)

Egyptian Leg of Lamb

Ingredients:
3-5 lb. boneless leg of lamb

For marinade:
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
pinch fennel seed
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

For coating:
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Directions:

In a mortar and pestle, combine 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon cumin seed, 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander, and a pinch of fennel seed. Grind coarsely. Pour the combined spices into a gallon ziplock bag.

Add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar to the bag. Shake to distribute spices.

Rinse the leg of lamb, then shake off excess water. Place the lamb inside the bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible, then seal. Turn and squeeze the bag to distribute the marinade and spices evenly around the meat.

Place the sealed bag in the refrigerator for 2-5 hours. Rotate it several times so that all parts of the lamb are evenly exposed to the marinade.

Preheat oven to “rotisserie” setting (about 450ºF) for 10 minutes.

Remove lamb from bag. Rinse briefly; don't worry about getting all the spices off. Set the lamb on a plate or cutting board.

In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, and 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin. Stir spices together. Sprinkle spice blend evenly over all surfaces of the lamb.

Insert rotisserie rod through center of lamb. Fasten the rotisserie forks into the ends of the meat. Insert the rod into the oven. Place an oven rack in the lowest position with a shallow pan to catch the drippings. Set the oven to the “rotisserie” function and turn it on. Set the timer to allow 20-30 minutes per pound of meat. So for a 3 lb. leg of lamb, 60-90 minutes; for a 5-lb. leg, 100-150 minutes. (20 minutes per pound leaves the meat quite rare, 25 should leave it medium, and 30 leaves most of it well done with just a few pink spots.) Lamb should register at least 145ºF when done.

Remove from oven. Remove rotisserie forks and rod. Set the lamb on a serving platter and cover with aluminum foil. Allow lamb to rest for 5-10 minutes before carving.

Notes:

Lamb is a tender and delicate meat with a rich flavor. It benefits from rotisserie cooking, as this allows the fat to melt nicely into the meat and develop a tasty crust with the herbs.

This recipe uses many traditional Egyptian spices, and lamb is a classic feast food in Egyptian culture. The flavor is quite different from the more common Greek recipes using leafy herbs.

Ideally, the marinade should be made with all whole spices, freshly ground in a mortar and pestle. I used ground coriander because I couldn't find whole coriander seed.

If you don't have sea salt, ordinary table salt will do. The vinegar needs to be robust in order to complement the flavor of the meat; if you can't find red wine vinegar, a dark apple cider vinegar will work. Don't use plain white vinegar.

Funding Social Programs That Work

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:31:57 GMT

I'm not a fan of throwing money at problems without making sure the solution actually works. So I'm really intrigued by this article about the White House seeking to identify social programs that show measurable improvements so that they can be funded and expanded. If you know of a local or regional program in your area that is working, consider tipping them to this.

White House Embraces Social Innovation

We all know that our nation is currently struggling with serious social problems ranging from increasing homelessness, to worsening public health, to failing schools.
However, there's tremendous hope in the capacity of social innovators to address these far-reaching problems.
It's in this spirit that the White House just launched new regulations for the Social Innovation Fund, which aims to identify some of the most promising, results-oriented nonprofit programs and to expand their reach throughout the country.
Policy strategist Tom Sheridan – the man that The Hill newspaper has dubbed "A powerbroker for those without a voice" - writes for Change.org this week that this Social Innovation Fund has the power to radically shift the way Washington addresses social problems.
http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org/blog/view/white_house_embraces_social_innovation
Rather than continuing to attempt to solve community problems in a top-down way from Washington, the Social Innovation Fund will invest in programs run by social innovators already showing measurable results on the ground in their communities.
This makes the Social Innovation Fund one of the most promising new vehicles for scaling social change in the country, and one of the most important steps the Obama administration has taken thus far to support innovative nonprofit solutions to the problems Americans faces. It's also why we'll continue reporting on its progress at Change.org in the weeks and months ahead.
As always, visit www.change.org for all the top stories across the world of Change.

Yule Event Report

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:57:28 GMT

We had fun with our Yule event yesterday. A lot of people arrived late, but we managed to juggle the schedule so that everything got done and we didn't run too much overtime. We sang holiday carols, exchanged gifts, and shared stories about holiday traditions. The feast included Egyptian leg of lamb, couscous, eggplant mousaka, rice pudding, pomegranate punch, and spice cake. We also had a couple of birds carved from apples -- very cute!

The main ritual was done entirely by candlelight. We started out with a few altar candles and then lit many more candles around the room. This ritual had an Egyptian theme, working with Isis, Ma'at, and Horus. We even had some myrrh resin burning on charcoal.

Today was the cookie exchange, and we just got home from that. I'm looking forward to sampling the results.

December One-Card Draw

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:39:18 GMT

stonetalker is doing the December One-Card Draw today. Drop by and ask for a card. It's free and fun!

Changes in Publishing

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:30:07 GMT

Here is a great article about changes in publishing.

White Yule Pictures

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:21:20 GMT

Today is our Yule ritual. It snowed just enough to dust the ground with white, so I took a few snapshots with my cheap camera.

Here is the hopper birdfeeder covered with snow.

This is one of my herb gardens.

The huge tree is Home Base, and you can see part of our yard.

This is the Midwinter Grove.

... and the best of today's snapshots, cat tracks in snow.

Where Our Priorities Are

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:50:37 GMT

Apparently, Americans consider it more important to kill people and take their stuff than to save lives and give people what they need to survive. This is where our money goes. I'm disgusted by it.

Jeremy Scahill | Stunning Statistics About the War Every American Should Know
Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports: "Contrary to popular belief, the US actually has 189,000 personnel on the ground in Afghanistan right now - and that number is quickly rising."

Jo Comerford | $57,077.60 Surging by the Minute
Jo Comerford, TomDispatch.com: "$57,077.60. That's what we're paying per minute. Keep that in mind - just for a minute or so. After all, the surge is already on. By the end of December, the first 1,500 US troops will have landed in Afghanistan, a nation roughly the size of Texas, ranked by the United Nations as second worst in the world in terms of human development."

VIDEO | Keith Olbermann: Ruined Senate Bill Unsupportable
Keith Olbermann, MSNBC: "Finally, as promised, a Special Comment on the latest version of H-R 35-90, the Senate Health Care Reform bill. To again quote Churchill after Munich, as I did six nights ago on this program: 'I will begin by saying the most unpopular and most unwelcome thing: that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat, without a war.'"

Dangerous Things

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:06:50 GMT

Toddlers and infants need to be protected from dangerous things, because their common sense hasn't grown in yet. Once they're old enough to understand "No!" and "Don't!" however, they need to start learning how to handle dangerous things safely. This works best in gradual increments, as they start to play with toys such as blocks and trucks that can hurt if you hit someone (or yourself) with them. Then come safety scissors, which are blunt but can cut some things. When they're old enough to be careful, they get to use a sharp steak knife at the table instead of a dull case knife. One hopes that by the time they're old enough to use important things such as cars and condoms, they have learned to be careful enough not to hurt anyone. And then they're adults.

This process breaks down horribly if children are overprotected from everything that might be the least little bit dangerous. Not only do they fail to learn how to handle tools, they are woefully -- and sometimes fatally -- unprepared to deal with nature, which can never be made wholly safe. So here's a look at how the learning process should work, and some possible activities...

50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do
Gever Tulley , founder of something called the Tinkering School, a place where kids build things with power tools, has written a new book, 50 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do. (Number 46 is "Super Glue Your Fingers Together - Experience life without a thumb!") Here are the top five hazards that kids should be encouraged to explore.

Space: It's Wet Up There!

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:25:06 GMT

I was delighted by this space exploration news.

Glint of Sunlight Confirms Liquid in Northern Lake District of Titan
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on the part of the moon dotted with many large, lake-shaped basins.

Cassini scientists had been looking for the glint, also known as a specular reflection, since the spacecraft began orbiting Saturn in 2004. But Saturn's northern hemisphere, which has more lakes than the southern hemisphere, has been veiled in winter darkness. The sun only began to directly illuminate the northern lakes recently as it approached the equinox of August 2008, the start of spring in the northern hemisphere. Titan's hazy atmosphere also blocked out reflections of sunlight in most wavelengths. This serendipitous image was captured on July 8, 2009, using Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.
The new infrared image is available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and
http://wwwvims.lpl.arizona.edu.
This image will be presented Friday, Dec. 18, at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
"This one image communicates so much about Titan -- thick atmosphere, surface lakes and an otherworldliness," said Bob Pappalardo, Cassini project scientist, based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "It's an unsettling combination of strangeness yet similarity to Earth. This picture is one of Cassini's iconic images."
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has captivated scientists because of its many similarities to Earth. Scientists have theorized for 20 years that Titan's cold surface hosts seas or lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, making it the only other planetary body besides Earth believed to harbor liquid on its surface. While data from Cassini have not indicated any vast seas, they have revealed large lakes near Titan's north and south poles.
In 2008, Cassini scientists using infrared data confirmed the presence of liquid in Ontario Lacus, the largest lake in Titan's southern
hemisphere. But they were still looking for the smoking gun to confirm liquid in the northern hemisphere, where lakes are also larger.
Katrin Stephan, of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin, an associate member of the Cassini visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team, was processing the initial image and was the first to see the glint on July 10th.
"I was instantly excited because the glint reminded me of an image of our own planet taken from orbit around Earth, showing a reflection of sunlight on an ocean," Stephan said. "But we also had to do more work to make sure the glint we were seeing wasn't lightning or an erupting volcano."
Team members at the University of Arizona, Tucson, processed the image further, and scientists were able to compare the new image to radar and near-infrared-light images acquired from 2006 to 2008.
They were able to correlate the reflection to the southern shoreline of a lake called Kraken Mare. The sprawling Kraken Mare covers about 400,000 square kilometers (150,000 square miles), an area larger than the Caspian Sea, the largest lake on Earth. It is located around 71 degrees north latitude and 337 degrees west latitude.
The finding shows that the shoreline of Kraken Mare has been stable over the last three years and that Titan has an ongoing hydrological cycle that brings liquids to the surface, said Ralf Jaumann, a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team member who leads the scientists at the DLR who work on Cassini. Of course, in this case, the liquid in the hydrological cycle is methane rather than water, as it is on Earth.
"These results remind us how unique Titan is in the solar system," Jaumann said. "But they also show us that liquid has a universal power to shape geological surfaces in the same way, no matter what the liquid is."
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team is based at the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Monsters Slowly Appearing

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:32:18 GMT

The monsters from the recent Free Monster Day are slowly appearing as links in the comments here.

50 Reasons Why Global Warming Isn't Natural

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:06:09 GMT

Here is a detailed rebuttal of many global warming denial points. A majority of them are apt, although I spotted a couple of ad hominem attacks (in essence "don't believe this person's complaint because their own work is shoddy"). The points rebutted are actually half of a 100-point list posted in an attempt to deny climate change; the original list would've been more relevant if it included links or other sources for its claims.

Wearing out the Military

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:31:51 GMT

This article takes a detailed look at several ways in which America is wearing out our military.

“They’re Wasted”: The Price of Pushing Our Troops Too Far
When I was on active duty in the military, an Army friend used to remind me: “Any day you’re not being shot at is a good Army day.” Today’s troops, especially if they’re “boots on the ground” in Iraq and Afghanistan, don’t have enough good Army days. Many of them are on their fourth or fifth deployments to a combat zone. They’re stressed out and tired; they miss their spouses and families. And often they’ve seen things they wish they’d never seen.

Remember, all the soldiers who don't get shot dead in the Middle East come back to America, at which point their problems are likely to become your problems.

Something We Can Fix

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:30:29 GMT

Here is an article about high rates of post-partum depression in American mothers -- which is about 10-20% compared to 1% in Fiji. The difference? Women in Fiji, and some other cultures with low rates of PPD, have strong social support. American women get depressed more often because they are ignored by society and overburdened.

This is something we can fix. We don't have to wait for anyone else "important" to make a plan, and we don't need expensive drugs. What we need is networking and the determination to repair this gap in the social fabric. The few women with solid biochemical imbalances will hopefully be handled by the health care system. The social system should be able to push those numbers to a biological minimum. This would not only save a lot of misery, it would save considerable money as well. It can be done, because other cultures are managing to do it quite well.

Do you know a woman who is expecting? Talk with her and see if she would like some help after the baby arrives. Figure out where your skills could be useful -- are you good at doing laundry, cooking, watching older children, yardwork? If the expectant mother is a member of your family or very close circle of friends, push hard to arrange support for at least a month; longer is better. This is especially important for first-time mothers who will benefit from having an older female relative or friend with parenting experience. Some women may not want this, but common sense and cultural comparisons indicate that it's a really good idea we should be doing more often, for as many people as will do it. For that matter, social support for new fathers is probably a good idea too.

Are you an employer, or do you have the ear of one? Encourage a family-friendly policy for parental leave. An employee strung out on lack of sleep and baby stress is not going to do your company much good. Make sure they have leave so they can return to work refreshed by the new life in their family. In a really big company, especially if it's one with a lot of female employees, you might talk about the interface between family and work, and how social networks can support both. Maybe if people hear the idea of social support for new mothers, they'll get together and plan something with each other. You could also have a little party when someone goes on parental leave, and make sure to welcome them back when they return. Customs differ in various places, so don't push too hard, but see what kind of things people are open to in your area.

This sort of thing isn't easy. I can remember that it was going on in my area about 30 years ago, though, because my grandmother and her friends talked about making arrangements for new mothers. I've made a few attempts in that direction myself, with only minor success. It's not really my strong suit. But I can keep trying -- and I can put the word out.

The World as a Village

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:10:12 GMT

I think there's a lot of truth in this article:

Jean-Marc Vittori | The World Is a Village Without a Mayor
Jean-Marc Vittori, Les Echos: "More and more, the world is a village. What happens at one end of the planet may directly influence the events that take place at the other end. Technology has turned the world upside down - giving humanity a power to act on nature that is beginning to be visible on a global scale, by making the circulation of people, goods, information and capital incredibly easy. But this village has no town council, much less a mayor, just neighborhood committees jealous of their independence.
This situation is untenable in the long term, but inevitable for now."

... and one reason it's a problem is that so many people have lost (or never learned) a lot of social skills for getting along with other folks. On the bright side, I think there is a slowly growing awareness of how interconnected nature is, and how interconnected humanity is becoming. People in America are starting to realize that being without community tends to suck, and taking steps to improve the situation. I'm seeing more people talking, and especially writing, about community.

So there is some hope...

Health Care and Christmas

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:56:12 GMT

I note that all the politicians making decisions about other people's health care enjoy a lovely taxpayer-funded socialized medicine insurance package. I think if they botch this, they should all get coal in their stockings. Because hey, most of them are in bed with that industry too.

Obama Might Not Get Health Care Overhaul for Christmas
David Lightman, McClatchy Newspapers: "President Barack Obama tried mightily Tuesday to jolt the Senate's stalled health care overhaul effort, but after an hour-long closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats, the fate of his top 2009 domestic priority remains unclear."