Here some excellent folk music from Sweden for what I hope is a relaxing Sunday for you. =)
Latest Entries »
Not sure who this luscious man is but he is definitely a dream guy.
Here is the latest selection for wordpress’s The Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge. All the way from the collection of our photography contributor, Linda Kuster, is this entry covering the theme of HOPE. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. =)
Question? Why is Viktor Orban trying to pull a Mugabe in Central Europe? Apparently power is not only corrupting but also stupifying…with stories like this continuing, I am seriously reconsidering my decision to teach English in Hungary and reviewing some of my other potential choices. Here is a snippet from the New York Times:
To some critics, the biggest problem with the Hungarian economy is Mr. Orban himself. “The fundamental numbers are good,” said Mr. Oszko, who now runs a venture capital fund. “If the government decided to become more credible and predictable, it would help a lot.”
Backed by a two-thirds majority in Parliament, Mr. Orban has passed a flurry of laws that have concentrated power in his hands, weakened competing institutions like the central bank and alienated international lenders as well as an increasing number of Hungarians. One law nationalized private pensions in order to make the budget deficit look better. Such actions last week prompted the European Commission to threaten to take legal action against Hungary, a move many Hungarians regarded as long overdue.
Mr. Orban also faces pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which may be Hungary’s only hope to avoid defaulting on its national debt, much of which is also denominated in euros.
Faced with rising borrowing costs, the country could run out of money by May or sooner if bond investors become more skeptical. Yields on longer-term Hungarian bonds rose above 10 percent this month, a rate that bodes ill for the government as it seeks to sell more than $1 billion in debt through April, a large sum for a country of 10 million people.
Washington State appears to be next in line to legalize gay marriage. I am particularly happy about Washington because it is one of the states where I may someday settle. In a story on this development, New York Magazine’s Dan Amira makes a pithy quip on the common complaint by conservatives that gays marrying is an existential threat to the institution:
But what about the threat of gay marriage to the sanctity of Newt Gingrich’s ability to marry a woman, cheat on her, divorce her, marry his mistress, cheat on her, ask her for an open marriage, divorce her, and marry his second mistress? What about that?
This has to be one of the most succinct and devastating ownings on hypocrisy I’ve seen in some time. Nicely done.
Rebecca Rosen over at The Atlantic presents a graphic which illustrates the climate crisis in worrying detail:
More from Rosen’s article:
Higher temperatures today are the result of higher concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide. In 1880, when the study’s temperature record-keeping begins, the concentration of carbon dioxide was 285 parts per million. Today it is more than 390 parts per million and rapidly increasing. Many top climate scientists, including NASA’s James Hansen, have argued that a level not exceeding 350 parts per million is necessary “if humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.”
The bold was added by me for emphasis as I believe that Mr. Hansen’s words are a succinctly stated warning for us all.
For this week’s ‘D’ archive, you will see an enchanting photo of Westminster Palace taken from Westminster Bridge of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. As a big fan of parliamentary democracy, Westminster for me is a symbol of democracy. Here is an entry from the archives of our photography contributor for Nascence, Linda Kuster. Also, please check out Frizz who founded this photo challenge.
One of my great heroes is cited as the source for the quote below which articulates an article of faith that animates my efforts to defend human rights:
“All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family.”
We are taught this plain truth by the religions of our ancestors but how often does this ideal rise above the practical considerations of everyday life? How often in your daily life do you recognize the fact that you are a special part of a vast family of immense diversity and spectacular beauty?
I am hoping to maintain an unblemished track record in failing to predict the race to the Republican presidential nomination…So here’s my prediction for the South Carolina GOP primary tonight:
Newt Gingrich- 37%
Mitt Romney- 29%
Ron Paul- 20%
Rick Santorum- 11%
Herman Cain- 3%
After the total inaccuracy of my previous two predictions, I will be shocked if even one of these numbers is spot on. =)
This was my favorite cartoon as a kid and today proved it still makes me belly laugh. =)
Here is the latest selection from the photo library of Nascence photography contributor, Linda Kuster. This week’s theme is Simple.
Sometimes simplicity and humor in signs says it all…
I had an appointment with an orthopedic specialist this week. And I now have a tentative diagnosis. He showed me the MRI and it may be weird but I was excited to see my internal images. It was really fascinating. My spine appears to be healthy…thick discs, smooth vertebrae… and he could see no structural degeneration. So, no autoimmune disease such as Ankylosing Spondylitis. He had me do some movements to test my range of motion and strength in my limbs and after a more detailed review of the notes and images from the MRI tentatively diagnosed sacroiliitis and muscle spasms. So, it seems to be an acute condition thankfully. Instructions? A month of physical therapy and scrip for the anti-inflammatory drug Mobic. Checkup in a month.
Comedian Todd Glass came out of the closet during a stand-up show recently. Here he explains why:
“I cannot listen to stories about kids killing themselves any longer without thinking [to myself], ‘When are you going to have a little blood on your shirt for not being honest about who you are?’”
We must come out of the shadows and teach those that fear to love life.
I found this while perusing the blog FourFour. It appears to be one of the latest entries in the Sh*t______say meme and I am sure that I am guilty of at least a few of these because my friends know that I love my kittens.
For this week’s ‘C’ archive, you will see a glorious photo of a Parisian café on the corner of Avenue Kléber. Here is an entry from the archives of our photography contributor for Nascence, Linda Kuster. Also, please check out Frizz’s archive entry who founded this photo challenge.
Besides the auditory definitions and the sunday music segments I usually don’t share music here on Nascence. But I ran across an interesting story over at Gawker re: Lana Del Rey’s recent performance on SNL. I had never heard of the singer until reading the Gawker article, and the story and later comments were brutal in response to what was clearly a performance marred by nerves. Now for me, being a naturally anxious person, this served as an endearing humanization of a celebrity and so I went to check her out on youtube performing the same song in a different venue. She was also clearly nervous again but also clearly excelled. She has a new fan in me. I hope you like her too.
As a part of honoring the work and remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. I wanted to post one of his speeches which I think is particularly relevant now. In a speech entitled “Why I am opposed to the War in Vietnam” he railed against “the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism.”
One of the largest metropolises in the world and once the home of one of my most admired: Erich Fromm. Mexico City is the largest urban area in the Western hemisphere and my first hints of wanderlust for this city came during a steamy summer when I was taking a college course called History of the Mexican Republic. Besides the fact that I have an enduring affection for Mexican men it is this city’s rich history, culture and progressive outlook that make me want to catch the next flight southward.
