Here and Gone

They were very good but only stuck around a short time. More cherries!

Jonathan Richman

The Ignobility of Ignorance

I thought Ariel Gonzalez summed it up pretty well:

For the past year, Andrew Sullivan has kept a running tally of Palin’s numerous prevarications. Clearly the woman has a problem. But a reader of Sullivan’s blog suggested that many Christian fundamentalists are untroubled by her cognitive dissonance because they live in a state of constant denial themselves, about evolution, homosexuality, torture, etc. And as Purdum observed, Palin’s lack of intellect wins her praise from right-wing Republicans, who listen daily to the wisdom and profundity of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. In fact, all this talk by Limbaugh and Co. of principles is one reason why Palin may have a shot at the nomination in 2012. Anybody can espouse principles; policies require brains. So when you hear them go on ad nauseum (I mean you, Sean, you’ve really got to see somebody about that ideological Turette’s) about principles, it’s because they have no substantive ideas to propose. But liberals and independents must not let down their guard. Palin’s resignation does not mean she’s out of the picture. John McCain’s unforgivably reckless act of choosing her for a running mate gave her one-hundred-percent name recognition, an invaluable commodity in politics. We must remind the public why that name should never be preceded by any title other than governor.

Anti-intellectualism is a real problem for this country. Glorification of “gut instinct” and “natural talent” tells kid that education doesn’t matter.

Unfortunately, a lot of those pushing anti-intellectualism want nothing more than an ignorant and malleable public. If you are uneducated, you will be unable to accurately evaluate what you are being told. What you don’t know will hurt you.

Microsoft XP Security Issue

Policeman in Samarkand. c.1905-1915 Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, photographer (Library of Congress)

(DenPo) Microsoft Corp. has taken the rare step of warning about a serious computer security vulnerability it hasn’t fixed yet.

The vulnerability disclosed Monday affects Internet Explorer users whose computers run the Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 operating software.

It can allow hackers to remotely take control of victims’ machines. The victims don’t need to do anything to get infected except visit a Web site that’s been hacked.

Microsoft has a temporary patch.

Microsoft Security Advisory: Vulnerability in Microsoft Video ActiveX control could allow remote code execution

Sun-sterilized jars.

Fruit jars being sterilized on old lady Graham's back fence in berry season. Near Conway, Arkansas. "We just gather and can peas, beans, berries, and sausage when we butcher the hogs in the winter. We put up seventy-five quarts of berries, sixty of beans, sixty of kraut, thirty of grapes and twenty of peaches. I swapped two bushels of grapes and got two bushels of peaches and I swapped one bushel of grapes for one bushel of apples" c1938 June. Dorothea Lange, photographer. (Library of Congress)

Do not attempt to sterilize your canning jars on a fence. I have always used the old boil ten minutes system, but apparently you can sterilize jars in the oven too. That seems like a great system to me because I always wind up scalding myself getting the jars out of the boiling water.

Oh, yeah, off topic, but only slightly:

Health care companies are spending $1.4 million per day on lobbying against better care and lower costs for YOU.