bodhi tree swaying

• @rogerhyam My mother’s cat used to love frozen peas. #
• Primeval episode 4. Lucy Brown has a delightful wee lisp. The parasites were rather buffyesque. The dodos were hilarious. In a good way. #
• I’m off on retreat this weekend. It’s funny being on retreat two miles from your own house. #

I found this extensive and useful comment on Digg today, in response to one of the many conservative posters there who deride Obama for his supposed lack of accomplishments.

[added later:] PALIN: “There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate.”

COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:
Obama holds assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans’ Affairs, and he is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

————————-

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In August 2005, he traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. The trip focused on strategies to control the world’s supply of …

• In bed, reading Le Carré by the light of my iPod. #
• @amoghavajra You mean THE Olympic village? In Beijing? #

• In bed, reading Le Carré by the light of my iPod. #
• @amoghavajra You mean THE Olympic village? In Beijing? #

Actuarial tables suggest that John McCain has between a 14.2% and 15.1% chance of dying in his first term of office should he be elected president. The chances rise to 1 in 3 of him dying before the end of a second term.

“And that doesn’t factor in individual medical history, such as McCain’s battles with potentially lethal skin cancer,” as the article points out.

Why is it that Jon Stewart seems to be the few people in the media doing what journalists are supposed to do — speak truth to power? And he’s a comedian.

This giant, robotic, helium-filled manta ray is very cool:

But this giant, robotic, helium-filled jellyfish is even cooler:

Despite John McCain’s ongoing assurances that Sarah Palin was thoroughly vetted (and this is rather at odds with the fact that the vetters didn’t head up to Alaska until after he’d announced Palin as his running mate) interesting and disturbing news continues to emerge.

This is from the New York Times:

Shortly after becoming mayor, former city officials and Wasilla residents said, Ms. Palin approached the town librarian about the possibility of banning some books, though she never followed through and it was unclear which books or passages were in question.

Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin

…

During the 2004 election season, [Palin's pastor, Ed Lanins] praised President Bush’s performance during a debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal candidate preferences. “I’m not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I’m sorry.” Kalnins added: “If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time.”

So there we have it — Kerry supporters are going to hell.

And that church’s nonprofit status should surely be in question — telling people they’re likely damned for voting for a particular party is outside the pale for a tax-exempt organization that’s forbidden to engage in political campaigning.

Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. “I hate criticisms towards the President,” he said, “because it’s like criticisms towards the pastor — it’s almost

…

author: Murray Leinster name: Bodhipaksa average rating: 3.50 book published: 2007 rating: 3 read at: 09/08 date added: 09/02/08 shelves: review: This World Is Taboo is classic sci-fi from 1961, although there’s very much a 1950′s feel about the dialog and characterization. The hero, Calhoun, is an itinerant medical worker but with the quick wit and instincts of a Sam Spade. The plot does have some points to make about discrimination, although the sex roles are pure 1950s. Leinster wrote well for a science fiction author of his era, and at times he writes with a good deal of psychological insight. This short novel is worth a read as one of the better sci-fi novels of its time.

More: continued here

• The tree frogs are really loud tonight. #
• @Dassini Same for Newmarket. Lots of lovely sun. #

• Watched 3 episodes of Primeval now. Lightweight but enjoyable. I like the sexual tensions in the team. Henshall’s accent still puzzles. #
• Had to take Maia for a drive to get her to nap. For a small kid she has a large carbon footprint. #
• @rogerhyam Wow! I wonder if starlings can pass these things on from generation to generation — and for how long? #

As an avid devotee of Battlestar Galactica, the story of the last remnants of humankind voyaging through the galaxy, pursued by their nemesis, the Cylons, in search of the “13th colony” — Earth — I often found myself thinking “Laura Roslin for President!”

Roslin was the education secretary and the last surviving member of the cabinet when the Cylons nuked humanity’s home worlds, and so was thrust unprepared into the role of President of the Twelve Colonies, where, it must be said, she proved to be a wily and resourceful leader. Similarly, Palin (note the similarity of the names Palin and Roslin is a woman with no political experience on a national level, who may end up being thrust into the position of Vice President, or even President, should McCain be elected and should anything befall him in his term of office.

The comparison with …