Sigh

This is appalling: WikiLeaks Haiti: Let Them Live on $3 a Day

Apt Word at Times

golgotha, noun – a place or occasion of great suffering.  Literally means "the place of the skull."

Amusing Quip

“The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.”

George Carlin

Favorite Christmas Carol

I grew up in my family that was enthusiastic about Christmas carols, gingerbread cookies, Christmas lights, gløgg, peace on earth, and goodwill to all men and women.  As a result, I always look forward to this time of the year.  I am beginning my celebrations early this year.  As such the first order of business is music.  So this is my favorite Christmas carol: "Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle."  What is yours?

Things to Read on a Dark Sunday

• Cat’s can recognize their person’s voice according to this article.  Of course that does not mean they will deign to come to your call.
• This article shows that the security protocols for our nuclear missiles were not always so robust, as the launch codes for more than two decades were 00000000.
• Here is a good podcast speculating on the idea that that we are all living in a computer simulation.
• This a very fine article about attempts to understand how Vermeer got certain effects in his paintings.
• Apparently there is a fungus in Chernobyl which feeds on radiation,.

Guarding the Refrigerator

Useful Word

facund, adjective – eloquent.

Things to Read

• You should read this very good short story, "Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu.
• It probably is a good idea to delve deep into your search results before you buy, if you want to pay less, according to this post.
• This is an amusing retro website, proving the adage that some things never change.
• When I was in school, tracts and tomes by Wittgenstein were the most profound things that I read.  This article explains some of the reasons why he is still relevant.
• This is a well reasoned article as to why taking and posting “selfies,” can be good for young women.

It Begins

Holiday Libation

It is almost time for the Thanksgiving Holiday in the United States, and I naturally have a cocktail ready for you to start the festive season.

Cosmopolitan

• 1.5 ounces of vodka
• 1 ounce of an orange liqueur (I prefer triple sec)
• 1.5 ounces of lime juice (freshly squeezed!)
• .5 ounces of cranberry juice

Pour the ingredients, carefully, into your remarkably handsome cocktail shaker.  Shake the contents with verve and élan.  Strain the mixture into your exceptionally fashionable azure cocktail glass.  Sip slowly as you complete your plans for world conquest.

Thought for the Day

“I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain.  One always finds one's burden again.  But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks.  He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile.  Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world.  The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart.  One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”


Albert Camus

The Things That You See

No Sequels

I read this absurd article today, telling of a sequel in the works to the seminal and beloved Christmas film, "It's a Wonderful Life."  I have to say that the idea of doing a sequel to this film is not so wonderful.  Instead, perhaps, new and creative projects could be pursued, rather than the endless chase of empty profits and tired already mined ideas.

Oblivious

I woke up thinking that I might try and take a stroll as I try to return to some semblance of fitness after my protracted illness.  I didn't think to check the weather as in November it is seldom noteworthy in Chicago.  For some unknown reason I did check, only to discover that it is bizarrely 70 degrees, and they are expecting tornadoes and wind gusts up to 75 mph.

"Chicago Tribune ‏@chicagotribune

Possible tornadoes top list of Sunday weather worries trib.in/1hNOLWQ"

"Kevin Pang ‏@pang

National Weather Service issues "extraordinarily rare" tornado warning over NE Illinois including downtown Chicago http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-forecast-warm-windy-and-stormy-weekend-20131116,0,3131638.story …"

UGH!

Useful

Here is a good blog post dealing with useful anti-surveillance tools.  There is very little privacy left in the modern world, but the good fight must still be fought.

Quae nocent, saepe docent.