billkarwin's Comments (141)

“Correction: sugar pumpkins aren't necessarily white in color. My wife happened to buy a white one, but that variety of pumpkin comes in orange too.”

“We're going to bake a pumpkin, in lieu of the traditional squash. It's super easy:

1. Slice a small sugar pumpkin (the kind with the white skin, not orange) like you would an orange, into eight wedges.
2. Scrape out the seeds and pulp. Much easier than scraping out a jack-o-lantern!
3. Place wedges in a baking pan and drizzle with maple syrup. Add a layer of water at the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake at 350 F for one to two hours. Longer makes the pumpkin more tender. The tips should be browned but not burned.

Even without any sugar or spices, it tastes like eating pumpkin pie. You can eat the whole rind, but there's a papery skin on the very exterior that I peel off.

This does occupy your oven, so I recommend cooking it a day in advance.”

“The anecdote about Sarah Palin not knowing Africa was a continent turned out to be a hoax. Martin Eisenstadt, the reported source for this leak about Sarah Palin is himself a fictional character, played by filmmaker Eitan Gorlin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/arts/television/13hoax.html

I'm all in favor of calling Sarah Palin out for her many lies and fabrications. She should be discrediting so she never has influence in American politics again. Just be sure you have fully vetted and confirmed the real facts that you use to discredit her.”

“Sarah Palin is neither Republican nor Democratic. She's a Sarahpalinican. Every move she's made in her political career has been nothing but self-serving.”

“It makes perfect sense for Lieberman to be in favor of subsidies but against the public option, if he is working for the benefit of Aetna and other companies. If not for the subsidies, these insurance companies would be losing out on some of the juicy new customers. Why not feed more taxpayer dollars into those corporate coffers? Some of that money will doubtless end up in Lieberman's own pockets as a thank you gift.”

“Thank you Senator for your sponsorship of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009! Also for clear words and advocacy against laws that seek to enforce cultural values. I have often thought that it's both ineffective and unjust to try to legislate matters that are purely moral in nature (i.e. the victimless crime flavor of law).

The only comment I have about your opening paragraph is that you're giving too much credit to the DOMA as ever having been appropriate, or representing "a more tradition-bound time and culture." You may be using gentle words to avoid fanning the flames unnecessarily, and I understand that. But let's be clear that the DOMA is and was an application of social injustice, just as anti-miscegenation laws were in their time.”

“Like many other people commenting on this thread, I disagree with Arianna's suggestion that Joe Biden should quit in protest. That'd make a dramatic statement, but only momentarily. After that, the decisions would be left to a room full of yes-men, and the escalation would continue.

I do agree that the war in Afghanistan seems to be on auto-pilot with no criteria for completion. And the point about the Bush-era tactic of constantly moving the goal posts is well made.

It's like the Groucho Marx joke: "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others."”

“Thank you for these thoughts, Mr. Moore. During the Bush administration, I kept thinking, "he's done so much damage to America, it'll take fifty years of sustained effort to fix it." No way can it be done in a single presidential term. Probably the man or woman who will see that effort through hasn't even been born yet. So why do we expect Obama to do in eight months what should realistically take a generation to accomplish?

Unfortunately, Superman and Thor are ineligible to serve as President, since they aren't native citizens of the US. And in Thor's case, I think that's just as well, because to him every problem looks like a nail.”

“Thanks, I didn't take your comment as negative at all!”

“That is a good point. Some people claim homosexuality is a behavior preference, not the natural way some people are born. You're right that it's hard to argue rationally against voices of fear and ignorance.”

“I'm saying he should compare past intolerance to current intolerance.

In both eras, the voices seeking to prohibit marriage that they may view as "different" are advocating social injustice based on fear and ignorance.”

“I heard an interview with Harvard Prof. Michael J. Sandel (author of "Justice") last week. He observed that in Obama's speech to Congress about health care reform, the most stirring part was in the last passage, where he framed the discussion by "connecting political questions -- policy questions -- to a larger moral framework. I think that's his great strength, and the great hope, for that matter, of his presidency­."

Obama should do the same while discussing gay rights. He can relate his own bi-racial heritage to the controversy in an earlier era over "miscegena­tion." That controversy seems so antiquated today, it makes one shake one's head to think that it was a serious debate at one time. Yet the arguments against mixed marriages then are largely the same ones used today against same-sex marriage. Those arguments are just as false and unjust today as they were in the past.

Generations that follow ours will shake their heads as they think of the debate we are having today. Let's make a change today, that will advance the ideals of freedom and justice, and let us show more wisdom for the eyes of future generations.”

“The truth is that SDSL (sometimes called "business DSL") with high-speed upstream bandwidth and static IP addresses has been available for as long as ADSL.

SDSL isn't advertised as much as ADSL because there's less consumer demand for it. If telecom companies have built more ADSL infrastructure, it's more likely because of market demand than because they have some kind of agenda.

SDSL is also typically more expensive than ADSL. That's no doubt partly because of the economy of scale, but also because if you prefix any product with "business-class" or "enterprise" you can immediately charge three times as much for it.

With respect to running your own web server, it's far less expense and work to use an inexpensive hosting service. If you still really want to run a web server from an ADSL or SDSL connection to your home, have you looked at dyndns.com or similar services? This is a solved problem.

I think you're seeing problems where there are none.”

“This is a very good analogy, and the words of Teddy Roosevelt that "you and we are the government" are spot on. The government is not some outside invader who wants to exploit Americans -- it *is* Americans.

As another Republican, Abraham Lincoln, said: government is "of the people, by the people, for the people."

For the record, Ulysses S. Grant was president when Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872. I was in Yellowstone this summer, and I asked a park ranger there who was the president who signed that into law.”

“Why the rush? MONEY.”

“Jeanne Devon clearly reminds us of Sarah Palin's duplicity and sense of self-entitlement. Palin is the antithesis of a public servant. Yet some voters still love her and defend her, saying "she's just like me!" Are so many Americans are fooled by Palin's lies, or do they know exactly what they're seeing -- and like it? Some Americans apparently do think egoism, greed, and self-interest are the foundations of morality. Ayn Rand would be proud.”

“Thank you Kathleen Wells for doing this substantive and eye-opening interview with Senator Wyden. The Free Choice aspect of health insurance reform has certainly been overlooked in the debate.”

“Wow, yes that's creepy. On the other hand, the ad for the assistant/companion is nothing if not plain. Anyone reading it ought to know exactly what they're signing up for.”

“LOL! Well, actually, no, we're not still fighting in Iraq. We've outsourced the fighting to contractors like Xe (aka Blackwater).”

“This isn't only a recent trend since the GOP was routed in the 2006 and 2008 elections.

Remember the "Freedom Fries" incident in 2003? After France opposed the US decision to launch the War in Iraq, US representatives Robert Ney (R-OH) and Walter Jones (R-NC) had french fries and french toast removed from the menus of restaurants and snack bars run by the House of Representatives.

Talk about petty and immature!”

“The point about framing is right on. By refuting an attack, you only repeat that attack's framing, and that lends credibility to it, even if it was in reality totally unjustified. George Lakoff talks about this in his books such as "Don't Think of an Elephant."

Barack Obama is an inspiring speaker, but he apparently still needs to learn this lesson about rhetoric. I cringe when I see Obama reinforcing the opposition's framing. It doesn't matter that he puts the word "not" before it -- the damage is done. Even more so now that he is the president.

As much as we disagree with the goals of the GOP, you have to admit they are much more successful at staying on message and defining the framing. They have absolute discipline with their choice of words. They didn't say, "we are [not] launching a war of choice against a nation that is no threat to us." They said, "we are protecting American security by neutralizing a mad dictator."

Again -- I'm absolutely opposed to the GOP goals and their corruption and war crimes. I'm just saying they have employed rhetoric much more effectively that the Democratic leaders.”

“The fallacy of Bob McDonnell's views is that there's some mythical "1950's America" to recapture.

In 1950, my grandmother became a widow when her husband died from a heart attack. Her family was not wealthy, as her husband had worked as a postal carrier. My grandmother joined the workforce to support herself and her two children. She barely had a high school diploma, and worked at manufacturing jobs and later as a ten-key data entry clerk and computer punch-card operator at IBM. My mother grew up as a latchkey kid.

That's the 1950's America that I picture, and I'm sure there are many more stories like it than people like Bob McDonnell can admit.”

“I can easily imagine all the conservative pundits and politicians receiving their daily orders and talking points -- like the FUD about politicizing Ted Kennedy's funeral -- from a Heritage Foundation broadcast every morning.

People like Bill O'Reilly and Laura Ingraham and Bill Kristol dutifully spread that kind of FUD on their media outlets with amazing speed and coordination.

It seems like the talking points must come to them in the form of bulletins from some central strategy organization. There's no way so many people could experience the same fears and delusions so consistently and so uniformly.

I don't have proof, but I have observed this as a pattern.”

“Mr. Faddis, I respect your heartfelt words.

But don't blame Attorney General Holder for this. He is doing his duty. If someone deserves blame for any damage to the CIA resulting from this investigation, it is the leaders who directed the CIA to break international law and, frankly, standards of moral behavior.

Launching an investigation directly against Bush administration leaders would appear politically motivated. It's appropriate to connect the dots through a careful and impartial legal process. This will build up a collection of admissible evidence that leads to a case against the top levels of the Bush administration. It's important that the wheels of justice move slowly, by the book, and with absolutely no hint of political prejudice.”

“Nice post Mr. The Nerd! Feel free to pace yourself. There were about four blog postings worth of ideas there. :-)

Great point about supporting talk radio that is more moderate. Here's a good quote: "be the change you want to see in the world" (from Ghandi).

Speaking of which, I saw more advertisers have withdrawn from Glenn Beck's show over his controversial remarks. What I'd like to see is consumers reward those companies with their business. Turning the "boycott" concept into positive actions instead of negative.”