I leave you with two thoughts...

On the Intriguing Possibilities side, there's the idea of vertical farms, which could bring fresh produce into large cities without the need for long-distance shipping or agricultural run-off. I hope to hear more about one of these being brought into existence.

On the Goofy Bits front, apparently you can now buy Froot Loops straws, which somehow reform their cereal into a crusty cylinder for getting that cereal-flavored milk effect even when you're not eating cereal. Inspired or eeeevil?

(via boing boing)

Sleepy kitty!

Flopped in haphazard ball as only a tiny cat can do...

Adventures in produce III: More leafy novelties

Ok, finally managed to get these uploaded. Some things we've seen before, but of course a few that send us on a recipe hunt...


Cabbage, red-leaf lettuce, peas (not just tendrils!)


Cauliflower, zucchini (big ones this time)...


Swiss chard, kale, and a bunch of cilantro
We found a great recipe for "South Carolina kale" (involving tomatoes and cumin) -- mmmmm -- and other things underway.

Quote of the day (esoterica edition)

Is it a wolf I hear,
Howling his lonely communion
With the unpiloted stars,
Or merely the self-importance and servitude
In the bark of a dog?

How many millennia did it take,
Twisting and torturing
The pride from the one
To make a tool,
The other?

And how do we measure the distance from spirit to spirit?
And who do we find to blame?

from Quell's "Poems and Other Prevarications"
quoted in Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan)

Cynicism: Part of the problem or part of the solution?

I'm not certain of the answer, but these biting e-cards are an excellent demonstration of the form!



(via Dana Goldstein, via XOverboard)

More things I cringe to read about

1. The Senate is close to approving a national ID card, forcing it as an unfunded mandate on the states. Let your legislators know what you think of all this!
   
   
2. The Supreme Court rules that school desegregation plans are racist, or some crap like that -- so much for good-intentioned local plans involving busing and other means of integrating regional schools... Bye-bye, Brown!

Holy crap!

Mr. Smells-so-manly apparently thinks it's perfectly ok to strap a dog on top of the car for a major road-trip. Needless to say, jury-rigged wind-screen or not, the dog wasn't totally thrilled...

(via Atrios)

Wasn't there some other Republican nut who took pride in beating his daschund? Ah yes, the lovely Rev. Dobson.

Bad news round-up

A new day for abhoring the Republican jihadis and the way they have raped the Constitution and the fuctioning of this nation over the last six years...

• Dick Cheney's offics is so cavallier about classified information that most of the White House security office has quit. His being above the 3-branch division of our government is just the tip of the iceberg -- there's evidence here that our national security matters not at all to the VP.
  
  
• Republican Senators, long decriers of the evils of the filibuster, are now blocking the progress of approved legislation by putting a hold on the House-Senate conference process. And in order to block what dire legislation? Ethics reform and implementation of the 9/11 Commission report recommendations. Again, national security getting the boot (over the spectre of unionization, apparently).
  
  
• Going a bit farther back, the Republican Congress allowed hunting of endangered animals outside the US, and now the NRA is arguing that polar bears are doomed anyway, so why not enjoy the hunting while it lasts? I guess they're not worried about either climate change or our national legacy to our grandchildren...

These stories make more than my head hurt.

The power of free time

Some wacky kids have turned their entire apartment into a huge Rube Goldberg device, utilizing everything from the kitchen tap to a pair of cell phones (the latter of which vibrates to start the next action). Mesmerizing . . .

(via boing boing)

Quote of the day

For those who have come to grow, the whole world is a garden. For those who have come to learn, the whole world is a university. For those who have come to know God, the whole world is a prayer mat.

– M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

(via A Mindful Life)

Another reason not to flee to the suburbs

Just being around folks of different races makes them seem less "other" -- from infants on up. Some scientists have argued that such "tribal" biases are innate, but this evidence supports the (really, more logical) explanation that we learn to define what's normal by what we spend time with. Fight on, crazy liberal multiculturalists! Perhaps some day nobody will understand what a test like this one was intended to reveal...

Questions I would never have thought to ask

Luckily there are sociologists of the modern age. A study of social networking sites claims that the MySpace/Facebook division corresponds to the class division in our society, with high achievers, military officers, and other hegemonic elites on the latter, and outcasts, grunts, and other less priviledged groups favoring the former. A fascinating dichotomy, and one which indicates how organic the growth of social networks can be.

Why do they even bother reporting this stuff

A scary incidence of deja vu: military lackeys have been giving the exact same forecast for Iraq (cutting back by fall, starting to pull out next spring) every year. Does anybody have the nerve (or intelligence) to call them on this crap? Or is everybody just keeping their fingers in their ears (LALALALALALLA!) all the time now?

Friday fun bits

Just a few amusements for your weekend...

• Here's something you might have wondered about: a comparison of how fast food looks in ads versus in real life.
  (via boing boing)
  
  
• Here's something I bet you never wondered: how to use your (analog) watch and the sun to find North.
  (via GirlHacker)
  
  
• Here's an amusing take on wireless two-way communications, based on a set-up you may have used as a kid...
  (via boing boing)
  
  
• Here's a guy who will write a song on any theme you suggest -- the Tetris one is among the great ones highlighted there.
  (via kottke)
  
  
• Need to show up for a videoconference but really want to stay in your pajamas? Here's an upper-half suit for just that eventuality!
  
  
• Speaking of disguises, here's a poodle outfit for (misunderstood) dobermans.
  (via Cute Overload)

Finally, here's a quote to cap it all off:

Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that’s not true. Some smaller countries are neutral.

– Robert Orben

(via A Mindful Life)

Kitty toes!

This photo captures what I hope to get out of the coming weekend . . . (the snoozing, that is, not my own pink toes!)

The fourth branch

Good to see that Rahm Emmanuel has a sense of humor, even if I'd prefer that Cheney's notion that his office is a fourth branch of government (somehow spanning executive and legislative) were a joke . . .

(via Medley)

Running (from?) the numbers

I knew Bush's approval ratings were down, but 26% is pretty impressive. (Heh, it's more like 6% among Democrats.)

(via Talking Points Memo)

More arguments against paranoia

That is, concerns about antibacterial soaps and other products that have taken over supermarket shelves in the last five or so years. Basically, the residues they leave behind create a perfect selective-pressure environment for the generation of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, which could become a nightmare for us a few years down the road. I've been worrying about this for some time, but it's good to see a major publication raise the alarm...

(via boing boing)

Wow, just wow

Bush is the king of verbal missteps, but I can't think of any way to read this that isn't jaw-droppingly offensive.

(via XOverboard)

Gratuitous cat photo

I just need a little kitteny cuteness today . . .


Pixel lounging in the front window.