Looks like it’s been a while since I last said happy birthday, so here goes…
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Here’s a playlist I started today with a few more classics (and more to be added, I’m sure).
20 years ago yesterday, I was watching MTV. Then the house started shaking (I jotted down a few more details of this memorable incident in this 2006 post).
Here’s a recording of ABC7 News’ live coverage immediately following the quake.
Only a matter of time until the next one hits.
20 years ago I entered the US for the first time. John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, traveling TWA, on my way to California. I would spend the 1989/90 school year as a foreign exchange student in the San Francisco Bay Area, by far one of the best things I’ve ever done.
I’ll be going on a trip to Germany next week to visit the family (been a while).
Remote chance I make it to PolitCamp ‘09 in Berlin first weekend in May. Otherwise staying near Cologne for the most part.
Holla if you wanna meet up.
Jay Rosen, professor of journalism at NYU and avid Twitterer (btw, must-follow for anyone interested in the future of media and journalism), was preparing an essay recently on “why I use Twitter”: Help Me Explain Twitter to Eggheads
He asked his readers for contributions on one particular item:
9. And then, the thing I need your help with: what do I actually use Twitter for?.
I have a number of answers to that, which I will lay out in the piece, but I would like to feature some others. The intent of my question is to put the accent on “useful.” What do you use Twitter for? I’m especially interested if you’re an academic—student, teacher, PhD—but my interest is not limited to those groups.
Here’s my answer (sent via Twitter, natch):
@jayrosen_nyu To follow people outside my liberal, Bay Area echo chamber. Hard to bear at times, but can be great sanity check.
Following last year’s trip to DC (Politics Online conference, eDemocracyCamp) and Austin (SXSW), I made a deliberate attempt to follow more people who are not like me (in terms of where we fall on the political spectrum — we all have in common that we are hooked on Twitter, apparently): Republicans, conservatives, evangelicals etc.
This has proven to be my most valuable use of Twitter by far. It has provided me with a glimpse into the other half of this nation’s soul, which has been so deeply divided over the last eight years (and still is, though I’m hopeful that now is a good time for new beginnings, and maybe we will see some of this division disappear).
It’s been fascinating to read up on some of the articles, stories and other resources that are being passed on by conservatives, to listen to their instant feedback to news of the day, and to follow the discussions around the need for change in their own party.
It is easier today than ever to blend out any news source we don’t agree with and only engage with people who will confirm our views. It is important, in my view, that we resist this temptation, and Twitter seems to be a good antenna into anywhere outside the bubbles of our own limited world views.
Following a long year of lackluster garden engagement, the time has come to once again green the backyard.
In an effort to fully maximize value, this year will be herbs only (strawberries didn’t yield enough results, and the vegetables were pretty much all eaten by our little friends on four feet).
Sorry, mates, not this time!
Basil, rosemary, Italian parsley have already been added in large quantities. Mint and a few other weeds will follow shortly.
Journalism here in the US suffered a big loss today: NBC’s Tim Russert dead at 58
Of his background as a Democratic political operative, Russert said, “My views are not important.”
“Lawrence Spivak, who founded ‘Meet the Press,’ told me before he died that the job of the host is to learn as much as you can about your guest’s positions and take the other side,” he said in a 2007 interview with Time magazine. “And to do that in a persistent and civil way. And that’s what I try to do every Sunday.”
You did a good job, Tim!
When the topic of guns came up at the debate tonight, actually what I wanted to do is twitter the number of annual firearm-related deaths in the US. Instead, I came across these four rules for gun safety, originally proposed by some Colonel Jeff Cooper back in the day.
You know, just in case. Might come in handy next time you find yourself in a situation. prices drywall sheets test
Just for the record:
Since then:
Of course, none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the curiosity, open-mindedness and drive of a number of other people at Oracle (both inside and outside the sphere of influence a small team like ours can command). That’s what’s made this job such a fun experience over the past few months. And while I’m well aware that I can’t claim credit for all the good things that have been coming together lately, I’m glad that I was able to give some of the right queues at the right time.
Back in September 2005, I wrote about Richard Paey. According to Wikipedia:
Richard Paey is a Florida man who was incarcerated in 2004 for drug trafficking. There was no evidence he ever distributed or intended to sell any pills, but drug laws in many states, including Florida, allow officials to prosecute for trafficking based solely on the quantity an individual possesses. Paey spent three and a half years in prison, until he was granted a full pardon by Florida Governor Charlie Crist in September of 2007.
As the St. Petersburg Times reports, he was freed from prison today: Paey given full pardon; Crist orders him freed today
The people responsible for his spending 3 1/2 years in prison should be ashamed of themselves.
Sometimes I seriously worry about this country…
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