Strictly Personal - On the Fallibility of Institutions

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 18, 2006 · 1:44 PM PST

2006/01/18 · 13:44

Lord Acton, best known for his comments on the corrupting influence of power, also wrote that "Every institution tends to fail by an excess of its own basic principle." A sobering thought. Why is this? How do we see it? Can anything be done? And what are the lessons for us, here and now?

Look at our own democratic institutions. We have a Congress that has been designed to be free and open to anyone of proper age and US citizenship, and able to garner a majority of votes in their particular district. That has gradually been subverted into a Congress where seats are exceptionally safe for incumbents, and the ability to raise the huge amounts of money needed to challenge an incumbent has largely become a barrier to all but the wealthiest of independents. Democracy thus becomes twisted into an instrument for the purchase of access, and thereby, influence.

(more) Read More

Strictly Personal (an occasional series)

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 08, 2006 · 10:37 PM PST

2006/01/08 · 22:37

Welcome to an occasional series I'm undertaking, "Strictly Personal", which is also somewhat a token of homage to the late Sydney J. Harris, who I've referenced tonight here.

The point here is this: If you read this, and engage, we are conversing. And I welcome that. "4" me if you like, I won't complain, although replies are more valued here.

(Beyond this point there be not dragons, just more words!) Read More

On a long drive last night

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 04, 2006 · 2:35 PM PST

2006/01/04 · 14:35

Been quite a while since I diaried. Comments and recommends have been it for months now. Not that I lack things to say, I just hadn't felt compelled to go on at length. And I don't know yet to what length I'll go on about any one thing.

There is zero political content here. Read on if you don't care.

Last night, I drove back from Chicago. In fog and light "nuisance" rain. Alone, with The Grateful Dead, Duke Ellington, and Beethoven keeping me company on the CD player.

(more to come) Read More

An interesting study on religiosity and social ills.

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 27, 2005 · 8:52 AM PDT

2005/09/27 · 08:52

The Journal of Religion and Society has an especially interesting study on the relationship between the degree of religiosity in a society and a number of social ills, including STD rates, murder rates, and much, much more, and the dramatic inverse correlation with strong belief in a divine creator.

(read on...) Read More

bizarre Katrina story - killer dolphins

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 26, 2005 · 7:59 AM PDT

2005/09/26 · 07:59

The Observer has a truly strange story about a Navy-trained pod of dolphins that may be missing in the Golf of Mexico. The dolphins are trained to attack divers in wetsuits and may be armed with toxic dart guns. I swear I am not making this up:

Leo Sheridan, 72, a respected accident investigator who has worked for government and industry, said he had received intelligence from sources close to the US government's marine fisheries service confirming dolphins had escaped.

'My concern is that they have learnt to shoot at divers in wetsuits who have simulated terrorists in exercises. If divers or windsurfers are mistaken for a spy or suicide bomber and if equipped with special harnesses carrying toxic darts, they could fire,' he said. 'The darts are designed to put the target to sleep so they can be interrogated later, but what happens if the victim is not found for hours?'

(more below) Read More

The Coast Guard on CBS Evening News

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 19, 2005 · 4:05 PM PDT

2005/09/19 · 16:05

The CBS Evening News (Update: link here) had a wonderful piece on tonight about the US Coast Guard, their success rate in rescuing flood victims, and the approach that brought them that success. Bluntly put, they went in and said they'd worry about permissions and clearances later.

This, in that simple sentence, is what the rest of the US, state, and local governments need to adopt as a way of dealing with emergencies. It's not an everyday approach, to be sure, it's something for extreme circumstances. People needed help, and the Coast Guard went in and did what they had to do to help them.

I have a friend who worked a while back on the NatGeo series "Mission Rescue" with them. Some of the stuff they do is amazing, and they do not get enough recognition for their daring and effectiveness.

To say nothing of what the rest of just about everyone can learn from their approach.

Sorry, no extensive analysis, no lengthy list of links, just some kudos to real heroes here.

Katrina history project

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 05, 2005 · 8:00 PM PDT

2005/09/05 · 20:00

Recently, a diary suggested collecting the stories of the people who survived Katrina. In that diary, I suggested a video archive. I've thought about this some in the intervening time, and I'd like to put this idea out to the Kos community for a little bit of thought, possibly leading to serious development.

(more below...) Read More

The Inner Light

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday August 26, 2005 · 1:00 PM PDT

2005/08/26 · 13:00

OK, so I have nerd tendencies. Spike is just wrapping up showing the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light" this afternoon.

For those who are not Trek fans, it's an acting tour de force by Patrick Stewart, where he lives another man's lifetime in the course of an episode, as a way of preserving at least the memory of a long-dead civilization by the actions of a space probe.

It's regarded by many as the best episode of the Next Generation series. I think I agree. It never fails to get to me, and I've seen it many times.

And it got me thinking...

What a gift we would have if any of us was able to live another's life for even a short while. Imagine the development of depths of understanding not possible while trapped in our own skins.

Well, a guy can dream, can't he? Read More

R.I.P. Brock Peters

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 24, 2005 · 11:57 AM PDT

2005/08/24 · 11:57

From BBC News, actor Brock Peters, best known for his portrayal of Tom Robinson in the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 78.

Peters' film career began in the 1950s, when he appeared in the big screen versions of musicals Porgy and Bess and Carmen Jones.

In recent years his roles included Admiral Cartwright in two Star Trek films, while his bass voice won him parts in a number of animations, including television show Aaah! Monsters (1994).

He won several accolades, including a National Film Society Award and a Tony nomination for his Broadway performance in Lost In The Stars.

(more below) Read More

A Soldier Speaks: Kelly Dougherty

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 24, 2005 · 9:56 AM PDT

2005/08/24 · 09:56

The fourth and final entry in AlterNet's "A Soldier Speaks" series.

Kelly Dougherty is 27, from Colorado Springs, and after her tours in Kuwait and Iraq, has become a co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War and speaks nationally about her experiences and why she opposes the war and occupation.

(more below the fold) Read More

Becky Lourey and Colleen Rowley on the capitol steps

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday August 21, 2005 · 2:32 PM PDT

2005/08/21 · 14:32

I went there this afternoon - a fine day, puffy white clouds in a deep blue sky, gentle breezes blowing.

There was a modest crowd there to hear the two women. One, State Sen. Becky Lourey, lost her son Matt a while ago in Iraq. As fate would have it, when Nightline did their second reading of the names of the fallen, his was the last name read that night. She is a brave woman, who also had the class and courage to speak to another Gold Star Mother, who disagreed with her on her position, offering respect and condolence in amidst their differences. Would that the crabby right-wingers showed the same level of grace.

Read on... Read More

A Soldier Speaks: Jason Gunn

MN camera

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 18, 2005 · 7:52 AM PDT

2005/08/18 · 07:52

AlterNet continues their "A Soldier Speaks" series today.

Jason Gunn is 26, and lives in Philadelphia. He joined in 1997, has finished his eight years with the Army and says he will never re-up. He now works for a catering company, attends Veterans for Peace meetings, and receives therapy for PTSD.

More below the fold... Read More

Newer
Older

RSS