Melançon Enterprises • a multidivision multinational since 1980

There is a great deal of cognitive dissonance for me to read a David Brooks column with nothing in it for me to violently reject.

I suppose I can complain about his history of the words geek and nerd. While coming very late to accepting any label whatsoever, it's nerd or nothing, due to the Theodore Geisel etymology.

Also-- as disturbing as I find the success of anti-intellectualism in U.S. politics, it is in part an outlet for a healthy anti-elitism that is denied more natural outlets opposing vast inequalities of power.

I left the Dijon mustard, turmeric, and the lemon at G's, so I substituted Nathan's Original Coney Island Deli Style mustard as close enough, Jamaican curry powder (turmeric, foenugreek, coriander, cumin, anise, star anise, pepper, pimento, cloves, garlic), and a little bit of juice squeezed from both halves of a small grapefruit (which I subsequently ate with sugar).

May 6, 2008

Dear Common Dreamer,

"98 percent of the US population will never see this article."

That's the comment one of our readers posted last week under our top headline.

The article? A news report on the latest insult by the Bush administration. Dick Cheney's lawyer now claims that Congress has no authority to investigate Cheney's conduct - not even his approval of torture tactics used at Guantanamo Bay.

That's right. A blank check for Cheney. Even if he lies. Even if he breaks the law.

Companies interested in making the world better, fairer, and freer for everyone.

(For "What other kinds of companies do you want to meet" at the Editor & Publisher conference this month in Las Vegas.)

Tonight, Tuesday evening, April 29, we count ten days, which is one week and three days of the Omer.

Day 10 - Tiferet of Gevurah: Compassion in Discipline

Underlying and driving discipline must not only be love, but also compassion. Compassion is unconditional love. It is love just for the sake of love, not considering the others position. Tiferet is a result of total selflessness in the eyes of G-d. You love for no reason; you love because you are a reflection of G-d. Does my discipline have this element of compassion?

sandal with metal stud in sole
sandle

asked a dozen Californians, Googled all over for it, finally had to ask Genevieve-- it's a bottle opener!

Metro North

This commuter railway operates from Grand Central station and serves the areas north of New York City with one branch reaching as far as New Haven in Connecticut. There is a major interchange with subway lines at 125 St and 12 stations lie in the Bronx. MetroCards are not valid and fares are according to distance.

http://www.urbanrail.net/am/nyrk/new-york.htm

http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/sched_results.cfm
http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/get_fares.cfm?orig_stat=NH%20%203&dest...

Bed & Breakfasts:

Many, many groups need a robust web presence with community tools but lack the resources to pay for such a thing to be created and made to look quality.

Groups like these are also natural allies of

This would make Ning a main competitor / collaborator. They spent three years funded with millions of dollars building their system, but we have Drupal.

Other organizations will provide subsidized hosting for PWGD-enabled sites.

the distributed model, at least in this sense, will be baked in to PWGD from the beginning.

People won't have to visit the PWGD site to participate.

Many hangups, data not being accepted in multiple submissions (particularly the charitable deductions page), and above all not submitting electronically due to a lack of a W2.

I DID NOT RECEIVE A W2 AND WASN'T SUPPOSED TO.

Oh yeah, and the horrible user interface of walking through everything in order to make one specific change.

So my socially responsible investment funds are busy losing money in a socially responsible manner. My question is how did the Domini European PacAsia Social Equity Fund do so badly? I knew the dollar and the U.S. economy would be toast, so how'd they ditch so much of my four grand so quickly if it's really invested outside of this meltdown?

Domini:

3782 - 3442
= 340

340 / 3782
= 0.0898995240613432

Pax World Balanced Fund:
15844 - 14761
= 1083

1083 / 15844
= 0.06835395102246907

The real stop I need is of course discontinued:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/rail/go/amtrak/stations/q_t/sunnyvale/index.cfm

San Francisco is technically a shuttle bus, not a train:
http://www.amtrakcalifornia.com/rail/go/amtrak/stations/q_t/san-francisc...

Priceline.com gave $300 round trip.

Amtrak to San Francisco gave
$184 X 2

Kara suggested Craigslist ridesharing, but neither the Boston nor San Francisco travel board had anything close to one another.

I suddenly have reason to go to the New Orleans jazz festival, someone I want to go with!

This is New Orleans though. An amazing city partially destroyed by government inaction on global warming and maintaining levies. And a rebuilding effort intentionally distorted to cast out the poor and black majority.

Example, by the indefatiguable Bill Quigley: http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...

I wrote back to everyone and a few others:

Even more: boycott ExxonMobil because of human rights abuses and environmental destruction, as well as the economic exploitation helping to bleed us dry.

http://www.stopexxonmobil.org/

http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.do?id=1101642

ChevvronTexaco is pretty bad too.

Buy Citgo!

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0516-25.htm

Reuters:

Iran's Jewish population has slumped to about 25,000 from 85,000 at the time
of the revolution, but is believed to be the biggest Jewish community in the
Middle East outside Israel.

Late last year, a prominent Jewish group in Iran sought to distance itself
from a secret exodus to Israel by 40 Jews. They rejected any suggestion they
were involved in the group's departure and said Jews enjoy good living
conditions in Iran.

An Israeli immigration official said the influx was the largest from Iran as

First day of Spring is the Iranian New Year

lots of celebration

jump over a fire [is Vafa's favorite part]

For about a year now, my mother can't get pictures developed decently.

This is a process that was perfected, worked great, cheap and available to everyone.

A little competition from digital, and suddenly no one even tries to do a good job at an affordable price of developing film photographs?

I'm not sure what the economic forces are at work here – except that with greater equality of wealth would come a greater emphasis on quality over being inexpensive.

fried in day-old canola oil are remarkably good. Whole mushrooms just cut in half with a fork, and the hot sauce (the label is long lost, but Dan said it was Texas Pete's or something like that).

I think it's the mushrooms that make it, but maybe it's the evaporated off-brand tabasco sauce. All the great flavor with none of the vinegar?

http://coanews.org/article/2008/what-dead-presidents-can-do

Excerpts:

Dead Presidents is the story of a black veteran who -- upon returning to The Bronx after volunteering for two tours in Vietnam -- robs an armored car with his fellow vets since he can't find a living wage job that'll allow him to support a family. The acting, the soundtrack -- everything about this motion picture is perfect, but after [a romantic interest] saw it for the first time with me, all [she] had to say was, "I don't think Anthony [the protagonist] tried hard enough to find a job."

Who would have thunk it.

http://midori-x.blogspot.com/2006/02/84-ways-to-know-if-youre-chinese.ht...

Hi ______,

Just to try to give the angle at which I come at the liberal / conservative question...