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Monday Open Thread

by Nomad Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 12:57:09 PM EST

Ready

Display:
Monday Open Thread | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
President Paasikivi Olympic speech (none / 1)

The Finnish elite have somewhat improved their diplomatic presentation skills over the years.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:11:03 PM EST
English by the Finns (none / 1)
Former PM Anneli Jäätteenmäki, olkaa hyvää...



You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:14:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: English by the Finns (none / 1)
Both daughters have me in stitches with their improv impersonations. The Singing D does a wicked 'well-educated Finn using school English mispronunciation'. While my other does a slightly overdrawn young Swedish-speaking airhead.

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:22:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: English by the Finns (none / 0)
Swedish valley girl?
by stevesim on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:35:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: English by the Finns (none / 0)
Sort of, but with the whine that says nothing is good enough for me.

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:43:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
The forecast said it would rain heaily here. So we have had light dirzzle all day. Just enough to fill a birdbath, but not actually wet the ground

Every plant in the garden is gonna die once the summer comes.


keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:16:22 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)
Oh, please, Universe, have a thought for the tomatoes, the dear wee tomatoes.

'tis strange I should be old and neither wise nor valiant. From "The Maid's Tragedy" by Beaumont & Fletcher
by Wife of Bath (kareninaustin at g mail dot com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:32:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 1)
Can we get rid of the damned snow first!

You can't be me, I'm taken
by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:43:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
Ha, the snow has gone down here below the Arctic Circle

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:45:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
The tomatoe will grow in the greenhouse and so will always be able to be can fed from the domestic supply. But anything we plant out in the garden will have to fend for itself in concrete come June

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:44:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
Can you run a hose from the greenhouse? And what about rain barrels?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:18:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
We have rain barrel, but not enough for the full summer in the greenhouse, let alone anything else.

We have a hosepipe ban already, so any movement of water has to be carried.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:27:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
When was the last time, previous to this decade, when there was drought in East Anglia?

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:38:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
We have been having summer hosepipe bans on and off since the mid 70s. But nothing this early...ever.

The issue is that we have had no extra water storage provision built since the early 60s, but the population has increased 400% in that time. Something's gotta give

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:45:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
A wheelbarrow with two front wheels might be a good work-around. You could fit several five gallon containers, or however they size them 'over there', into the wheelbarrow and trundle them out for watering in one go. For that matter you could use empty milk or soda bottles in a garden or child's wagon.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 05:04:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)
While I do not anticipate similar problems here, I am still relieved that we have a working well I use for irrigation.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:40:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)
I don't know how real this is but this development could be amusing

Orange Satan - The GOP Bloodbath: Rick Warren, Birthers Attack Romney's Mormonism

The closer that Mitt Romney is to locking up the nomination, the more the Republicans are bringing out their guns and eating their own. The PUMAs are out in full force. In addition, Obama has seen a slow rise in his approval ratings among evangelicals, meaning that some people are starting to realize that maybe he is not the closet Muslim that the FOX News establishment would have you believe.
[....]
Some of the same people who filed court cases questioning Obama's citizenship are now filing papers in court challenging Mitt Romney's citizenship. After all, his dad was born in Mexico. Birther candidates John Dummett and Markham Robinson are in the forefront of this effort


keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 01:50:03 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 9)
It's nice to see the right wing have to deal with self-righteous doctrinal wankery when the left has always suffered from the "herding cats" problem.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 02:06:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
wankery ... I love that word. Will have to use it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wp4O7v5320
by THE Twank (yatta blah blah @ blah.com) on Tue Apr 10th, 2012 at 09:14:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)
Well, the key sticking point for evangelicals and actually for many is the issue of the Trinity," the evangelical pastor explained. "Orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians, Protestant Christians, evangelical Christians and Pentecostal Christians all believe in the Trinity; that's the historic doctrine of the church, that God is three-in-one. Not three gods; one God in Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A few presidents have been Unitarian, which obviously isn't Trinitarian. Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ don't require admission of the Trinity, and a bunch of presidents have been in those denominations.

FYI, in colloquial evangelical conversation here, the word "Christian" is reserved for evangelicals. Catholics, mainline Protestants, and Orthodox Christians--never mind Mormons and Jews and Buddhists--are not regarded as Christians. I suspect that guys like Warren talk privately, that's how they express themselves, but in public they want to capture a wider audience--and end up going overboard...

by asdf on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 03:19:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 4)
The whole fundamentalist movement is a revolt against the direction in which theology had moved since the 19th century, which was more and more to see the context behind statements in the bible and to de-emphasize literalism. This approach appealed to the wealthier and better educated segments of mainline protestant denominations. The fundamentalist revolt has taken on totally anti-intellectual and anti-scientific views and appeals to the less well educated, or those educated in fundamentalist colleges - those who might think that The Flintstones was science based. Now they are busy rewriting history, especially those awkward bits about the beliefs of Franklin, Washington and Jefferson.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:31:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)
I always thought there was also a reverse snobbery to it enabling a holier-th-thou attitude amongst people who would normally be looked down upon for their lack of education; they can wrap themselves in their piety.

 Kinda like islam in the west where you see women doing a Cook's tour of islamic dress, starting off with loose headscarf and then progresing through various cultural expressions till they end up with the full bag on the head, thinking each is more pious than the last.

so with xtians, the more literal they are, the more close to Jee-sus they are

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:40:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
That too. Anti-intellectualism definitely seems to me to be based on reverse snobbery, and what a bane it is on politics.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 05:08:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 11)
The Singing D is at number 4 on the Yle-X chart for coming week. Yey.

also: Scandipop review

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 02:33:11 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
wow!
by stevesim on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:03:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
blink (none / 0)
(h/t to Barbara Morrill on dKos.)

Fox Orlando Affiliate Calls Neo-Nazis `A Civil Rights Group':

A Fox Orlando affiliate decribed Neo-Nazis as "a civil rights group" on a television broadcast and online. The group of Neo-Nazis, known as the National Socialist Movement, has been conducting armed patrols of the streets of Sanford, Florida, the town where Trayvon Marting was shot dead.


Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere
by ATinNM on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 03:24:38 PM EST
Re: blink (none / 0)
I guess that makes Hitler their MLK.
by stevesim on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 03:26:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: blink (4.00 / 4)
The way Fox talks this doesn't even surprise me, nor would it surprise me to see this being the next phase of the Republican party.

Ever since McCarthy, this strain within republicanism has been ever present and the last couple of decades have simply brought it back from the shdows where it lay skulking

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 03:45:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
WE in Berlin (4.00 / 4)
I spent part of the WE in Berlin to visit a relative who lives in what used to be East Berlin.

I hadn't been to Berlin since the 1970's when our family resided in West Berlin for a couple of years. It's amazing to realize that I spent more time "in the East" this single week-end than during all three years I've lived in the city.

Noticed this interesting way of framing the energy debate (we should see posters like these in Paris):

We strolled Unter Den Linden all the way to the Brandenburger Tor (that I only knew from behind the wall):

 I was puzzled to see plenty of bird feather on the ground; well, here's the key to the enigma:

International Pillow Fight day in Berlin « Flickr Blog

Easter Sunday was International Pillow Fight Day. The images here are from the Berlin feather fest.

And finally, this one for CH:

One more reason to visit the city next summer...

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:00:55 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
I have a half-written diary with graphs and all, but no good place to host the graphs. I normaly use bayimg but for some reason the graphs are not embedding properly this time.

So anything decent and free of cost that I could use?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:20:46 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
I use Photobucket.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:41:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
Been a while since I saw any French presidential election polls. So whats going on?

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
by A swedish kind of death on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:33:37 PM EST
Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)
This site shows the results of the different pollsters. The tendency is Sarkozy slightly ahead of Hollande in the first round, Hollande winning by at least 6 points in the second. The only difference between one poll and another is whether Mélenchon is supposed to be ahead of Le Pen, or the contrary.

The campaign is pretty much devoid of interest.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 04:49:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Monday Open Thread (none / 0)
Want to import some whackos?

We've got lots, o'er here.

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Mon Apr 9th, 2012 at 05:09:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Monday Open Thread | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)


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