Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.
1115 Wal Mart and China
Sorry, Ted, but that”s utter crap, complete bull.
You say that your rules “go without saying.” Apparently so. You hired bloggers with clear opinions who are involved in their communities but then when you find that they contributed to campaigns – which in any other quarter would be considered a mark of civic participation – you accuse them of being unethical. That is grossly insulting. You are imposing YOUR standards on the perfectly normal and acceptable behavior of citizens whom you hired to be citizens. But you didn”t know what to do with it.
i found your column appalling. You can keep denying your meme about political pressure. But the bottom line here is that you revealed yourself to be utterly clueless about blogging and citizenship, You didn”t try to listen or learn. You imposed your worldview on them.
You embarrass me. Jeff Jarvis
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, “Do you know her?”
“Yes,” I sighed. “She’s my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago and I hear she hasn’t been sober since.
“My God!” said my wife. “Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?”
So you see, there really are two ways to look at everything.
My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the border between science and spirituality by John Horgan.
“If you think you are advancing toward unity with God or the absolute,” he said, “and are not growing in love and charity toward your fellow person, you”re just deluding yourself.” p. 22
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: If a goal is overwhelming, chances are it is too general. Cut it into manageable chunks. p. 83
I’m doing my best to stay on top of events in Myanmar/Burma and it’s not surprising that the best sources are not inside the United States. I’m reading The Independent, The Guardian, The BBC, Irrawaddy, New Mandala and the Asia Times. I’ll daily post a digest of headlines from stories I just couldn’t get to.
Today’s batch includes:
Myanmar tycoon blacklisted by US attacks sanctions
Myanmar Tourism: That’s a Big Topic on the Internet
PTT Exploration pushes to develop Myanmar gas fields
China supports ASEAN’s constructive role in Myanmar issue
Myanmar invites UN special rapporteur back
Little joy for UN envoy in Myanmar
UN human rights envoy, barred since 2003, welcomes invitation
Not realistic to expect Myanmar changes after few diplomatic trips
Myanmar and India’s realpolitik conundrum
BURMA. EU: FASSINO APPOINTED SOLANA’S SPECIAL ENVOY
Burma: International power play?
UN rights chief given Burma date
Burma: Do-it-Yourself Democracy
Seminar to discuss Burma ahead of ASEAN summit
Burma’s Buddhist monks in spotlight
Right Here in Ithaca, Two Voices from Burma
Burma Global Action Network Announces Protest of Total Oil
UN says Burma talks make no progress
Burma: not yet a saffron revolution
Video Dateline: Myanmar:
And from the blogosphere:
UN Rights Expert to Visit Myanmar Next Week
Burma Campaign UK welcomes DFID’s decision to double aid to Burma
Making friends in Rangoon – RANGOON, Myanmar
A Keyhole into Burma – A boy and his bike
Sentiments of Burmese Blogger, May Nyane
Generals keep Gambari at arm’s length
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Jewish Protesters Counter Anti-Israel Groups at Anti-war Rally.
Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.
1059 Vote for Jason
I enjoy many pleasures from blogging, but the greatest comes when I make a connection with a reader like I did last night. I was wrapping up an evening at the Mayfield Road Phoenix when Blogger Brian Emerson approached me and asked if I was Jeff Hess. Brian introduced himself and we shook hands.
He said some very nice things about Have Coffee Will Write and we had a short conversation about blogging, blogger MeetUps and the need to have more of them on the east side.
Thanks for saying hello, Brian.
It’s been a busy week in Wally World: the Universe’s source of cheap plastic crap. On The Writing On The Wal — the blog USA Today says should be on its readers’ radar — Jonathan Rees, Robert Feinman, Peter Sayles and I continue our work dedicated to drawing back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth’s corporate disinformation and other flackery.
WAY NO. 17 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: learn more about what the International Day Of Action is all about.. Keep reading…
A PRETTY KETTLE OF LEAD-PAINTED FISH… [A special note: it was after the fact that I realized that this is post No. 3,000 for The Writing on the Wal. I would like to take this moment to say well done to Jonathan, Robert, Peter and all those other bloggers who saw a need in the beginning to roll back the curtain on the Bentonvile Behemoth”s corporate disinformation and other flackery. Thank you all.] Yesterday I wrote about how the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission had gotten all pissy about how Wal-Mart conducted its voluntary recall of a line of toy animals painted with an undercoating of lead paint. Keep reading…
IS BLACK FRIDAY TURNING RED…? The gnomes are restless. If former Fed chief Alan Greenspan was the zen master weaving through the intricate labyrinth of Wall Street, Wal-Mart is The Incredible Hulk yellin” It”s Clobberin” Time and busting down walls. Keep reading…
WAL-MART”S DOUBLE-SECRET HIDDEN WEBSITE… Regular readers know about all the hoopla over independent websites posting all of Wal-Mart”s secret price cuts for Black Friday. Well now that Black Friday has gone down the drain, Wal-Mart has created its own secret site that, surprise, seems to be a secret. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 16 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Hold a press conference outside a local supermarket or big box retailer. Explain to the press the negative effects that the store has had on your community and how it impacts international trade and labor conditions. Keep reading…
WAL-MART WANTS $30.2 MILLION TAX REFUND… When I served aboard the USS Bainbridge, CGN 25, back in the “70s, the image that greeted crewmembers reporting aboard to work in our nuclear power plants was a stack of qualification manuals more than six feet high. So I know that look… Keep reading…
CLINTON TEAMS WITH WAL-MART… No. Not presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She”s doing her best to forget about her days as a the only female member of Wal-Mart”s corporate board. President Bill Clinton, in his capacity as head of the Clinton Climate Initative, agreed to: Keep reading…
HMMM… MIGHT THIS HAVE BEEN A FACTOR…? Over the last few days I”ve been following the back-and-forth between Wal-Mart and the United States Consumer Product Saftety Commission. As Robert noted, the commission has problems with political influence. Keep reading…
AT THE WALLY PLEX… There are sound stages on Hollywood”s back lots smaller than Bentonvile”s behemoths, so it”s no surprise that budding video talent has been sneaking cameras in at odd hours. And now for the midnight show at the Wally Plex featuring piercedpoetry11. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 15 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Hand out info sheets or flyers to customers entering a supermarket or big box store. Keep reading…
IS IT A SALE IF NOBODY COMES…? The super secret Black Friday wanna-be came and went and at least one Wal-Mart the secret was too well kept. It may be weeks or even months, if ever, before we find out what really happened in Wal-Mart stores across the country yesterday. Keep reading…
ANY LEGAL TYPES WANT TO PARSE THIS…? We”ve all written extensively about the saga of Julie Roehm vs. Wal-Mart. It”s a tale with twists, turns and drama worthy of a cheap thriller but now it appears that the story has dribbled to an end with a news release and the sound of closing briefcases. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 14 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Deliver letters to the managers of local stores, outlining your group”s concerns. Keep reading…
WHEN IS A WIIMOTE NOT A WIIMOTE…? When you buy it at Wal-Mart, of course. When you shop at Wal-Mart you usually know when you”re buying cheap plastic crap (just as you know when a politician is lying; their lips move) its in Wal-Mart. Slashdot yanks the mask off another Wal-Mart dissapointment. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 13 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Hold a demonstration. You can include street theater, chanting, signs, etc. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 12 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Hold a community film screening. Show something, such as the documentary Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price that speaks to both your group”s and your community”s concerns. Keep reading…
“YOU”RE NOT IN ARKANSAS ANYMORE… The above quote from Eduardo Castro-Wright, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores USA, gave me pause. I”ve made the erroneous assumption that Wal-Mart store managers are home grown; that the company trains managers locally and fills posts as more stores open. Keep reading…
THE BONNIELESS CLYDE ENDS HIS SPREE… Eric Rivera turned himself in today. Don”t recognize the name? That”s understandable, but you might recognize the crime: walking into a Wal-Mart, using a key to unlock closed cash registers, scoop up the money and walk back out the door. Keep reading…
AUSTINIANS GET THEIR DAY IN COURT… I”ve written here before about the continuing battle between the residents of Austin, Texas, lead by Responsible Growth For Northcross, and a developer with the original idea of dropping a Wal-Mart supercenter on a dying mall. Keep reading…
WAY NO. 11 TO SAY NO TO BIG BOXES… Today”s way to Say No To Big Boxes is: Organize a religious service around the themes of the Day of Action. Keep reading…
SLAPPED FOR THUMB PAPER ON THE SCALE… Back in the day when you”d go to an actual butcher who would cut up an actual piece of meat from an actual freezer and weigh it on an actual scale for the customer, crooked butchers would add an ounce or two by pressing down on the scale with their thumb. Keep reading…
TAKING A PAGE FROM THE VP”S PLAY BOOK… A developer in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, thinks that just because 90 percent of his money comes from the government and that”s he”s meeting in a public building doesn”t mean that he has any obligation to hold open meetings. Keep reading…
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
What Made Me Me
Long ago and far away,
In a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan,
Or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents,
And they were you and me,
Long ago and far away
In the Land That Made Me Me.
Oh, there was truth and goodness
In that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges,
And Peyton Place was porn.
For Ike was in the White House,
And Hoss was on TV,
And the sky was as blue as heaven
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We learned to gut a muffler,
We washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry
In circles on the lawn.
And they could hear us coming
All the way to Tennessee,
All starched and sprayed and rumbling
in the Land That Made Me Me.
We longed for love and romance,
And waited for the prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz,
And no one’s seen him since.
We danced to “Little Darlin'”,
And Sang to “Stagger Lee”
And cried for Buddy Holly In the Land That Made Me Me.
Only girls wore earrings then,
And three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts,
Except for Jean McKinney.
And only in our wildest dreams
Did we expect to see
A boy named George, with Lipstick
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We fell for Frankie Avalon,
Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie,
They never made it twice.
We didn’t have a Star Trek Five,
Or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rockey-Rambo Twenty
In the Land That Made Me Me.
Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,
And Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat
Whose co-star was a chimp.
We had a Mr Wizard,
But not a Mr T,
And Oprah couldn’t talk, yet
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We had our share of heroes,
We never thought they’d go,
At least not Bobby Darin,
Or Marilyn Monroe.
For youth was still eternal,
And life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever,
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We’d never seen the rock band
That was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren’t named Jefferson,
And Zeppelins weren’t Led.
And Beatles lived in gardens then,
And Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We’d never heard of Microwaves,
Or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed,
But they weren’t grown in jars.
And pumping iron got wrinkles out,
And “gay” meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We hadn’t seen enough of jets
To talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at
The bottom of the bag.
And Hardware was a box of nails,
And bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction
In the Land That Made Me Me.
Buicks came with portholes,
And side show came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough
To cover both your cheeks.
And Coke came just in bottles,
And skirts came to the knee,
And Castro came to power
In the Land That Made Me Me.
We had no Crest with Fluoride,
We had no Hill Street Blues,
We all wore superstructure bras
Designed by Howard Hughes.
We had no patterned pantyhose
Or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms
In the Land That Made Me Me.
There were no golden arches,
No Perriers to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda,
And cats were not called Bill.
And middle-aged was thirty-five
And old was forty-three,
And ancient was our parents
In the Land That Made Me Me.
But all things have a season,
Or so we’ve heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline
We swear by Retin-A.
And they send us invitations
To join AARP,
We’ve come a long way, baby,
From the Land That Made Me Me.
So now we face a brave new world
In slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they’re using
Smaller print in magazines.
And we tell our children’s children
of the way it used to be,
Long ago, and far away
In the Land That Made Me Me.
My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the border between science and spirituality by John Horgan.
“Smith has no desire to take entheogens again. “I”d had the message,” he said. “and I felt no wish to go back.”” p. 21
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: You must commit yourself to having your datebook organizer with you always, carrying it with you wherever you go. You never know where or when a flash of inspiration will occur or a useful idea be presented to you. p. 69
I’m doing my best to stay on top of events in Myanmar/Burma and it’s not surprising that the best sources are not inside the United States. I’m reading The Independent, The Guardian, The BBC, Irrawaddy, New Mandala and the Asia Times. I’ll daily post a digest of headlines from stories I just couldn’t get to.
Today’s batch includes:
Junta threatens political activists in Arakan State
Paranoid And Newly Rich, Nukes Are Burma’s Dream
UN Envoy Continues Mission to Burma
Beijing Olympic Boycott Over Burma Will Only Alienate Chinese
Monks continue protests on streets of Burma
Burma: Diplomatic Graveyard
UN in Myanmar: a history of failed efforts
SYED NADZRI: It”s all a charade by the Myanmar generals, no less
OPINION: Give Myanmar a big taste of democracy
India gives exim loan to Myanmar for Thahtay Chaung project
India bends over for Myanmar’s generals
ASEAN health warning: Myanmar stunts your growth
Incentives for Myanmar ‘premature’: US official
Myanmar tycoon denounces US sanctions
Group Fears for Myanmar Activists’ Safety
Myanmar army chief to skip regional meeting this month
Video Dateline: Myanmar:
And from the blogosphere:
A Keyhole into Burma – When the tourist becomes the sight
Burma Update: November 5, 2007
Letter from a group of responsible citizens in Burma
Commentary: Burma, a diplomatic graveyard
Agence France Presse: Myanmar tycoon denounces US sanctions
Myanmar – Behind the Scenes
The Cynical Traveller Goes to… Myanmar (Part 4)
US tells Singapore to cut bank ties with Myanmar
Myanmar junta seeks exit of UN official (AP)
Part of being a good citizen of the blogosphere is visiting, reading and, most importantly, taking the time to leave a comment on other’s blogs. It’s all about the conversation. In the interest of setting an example I’ve decided to link to those blog posts that have compelled me to leave a comment.
1545 My Last Boring Plain Dealer-Wide Open Follow-up Post
1536 A Jewish Tawana Brawley?
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF VERY STUPID MONSTERS.
Doug Templeton: Why would I want to read Doonesbury.com”s The Sandbox? Not because I have a couple posts in it, not because I have my ugly mug on the back jacket, but because it tells the human story. Contained in its pages are gems of knowledge about what it is like to be there, and how to bridge the gap between cultures, and proof posi…
I could never bring myself to forward all the email jokes, cartoons and other Internet comedy that land in my inbox. But then I started posting the ones my dad sends me. Judging from my comments and emails, my dad has become one of my greatest blogging assets. So for your morning blog chuckle I present: From My Dad.
If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port,
And the bus is interrupted at a very last resort,
And the access of the memory makes your floppy disk abort,
Then the socket packet pocket has an error to report.
If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash,
And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash,
And your data is corrupted cause the index doesn’t hash,
Then your situation’s hopeless and your system’s gonna crash!
If the label on the cable on the table at your house,
Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse,
But your packets want to tunnel to another protocol,
That’s repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall…
And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss,
So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse;
Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang,
‘Cuz sure as I’m a poet, the sucker’s gonna hang.
When the copy on your floppy’s getting sloppy in the disk,
And the macro code instructions is causing unnecessary risk,
Then you’ll have to flash the memory and you’ll want to RAM your ROM,
And then quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your Mom!
My name is Jeff Hess and I’m a biblioholic. I own hundreds of books. Not valuable books, mostly Science Fiction paperbacks and text books, tomes rescued by the bag from library book sales. A few years ago, in the interest of not burying myself, I began reading more books from the library and taking notes. My electronic chapbook was born.
This is a passage I copied from Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the border between science and spirituality by John Horgan.
“Many young people turn away from religion, Smith lamented, because it is presented to them in the worst possible way. “What came through to them were two things: dogmatism, ‘We”ve got the truth, everybody else is going to hell”; and moralism, ‘don”t do this, that and especially no the other thing”.”
Smith”s missionary parents had imparted very different religious precepts to him: “first, we”re in good hands. And second, in gratitude for that, it would be well if we bore one another”s burden.” After a lifetime of studying many religions, Smith found no better formula.” p. 19
Today, as I go about my tasks, I’ll think about: Projects coming at you from all directions can easily fall through the cracks. You need a place for them because somewhere down the line they may become significant. That place is your grass-catcher list. p. 68
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