Here’s a video treat from ALL HAT NO CATTLE…

…the one blog I try to view every day. This is a video that Lisa put together Called “Back in the Good Old Days” which is a good indicator that Romney will bring Bushiness back to us.

 

Hope you enjoy it. I sure did!

 

When you shop for fruit and tomatoes, look at the stickers.

From Dear Ruth O’Donnell:

• Ruth O’Donnell shared General Knowledge‘s photo.

  

  
  

  Those stickers on fruits and veggies tell you quite a bit! 4 numbers mean they were conventionally grown. 5 numbers starting with number 8 means they are genetically modified (GMO). And 5 numbers starting with 9 means they were organically grown.

  Tag n share!

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My brain is exploding… put yourself in the (not so distant) future…

As you read this over the internet you realize that you have replaced what we used to exchange in print… or even, for Pete’s sake, by voice over the phone or while having coffee… with interactions by computer on our own time and only when we really want it. And it seems live and it can be interacted with in an eternal present.

But what comes next? What are the situations we can’t even imagine that will be our communication norm in less than a generation… that will make Facebook seem like the telegraph?

I just spent an hour and a half listening to a replay of a forum at the World Science Festival called Internet Everywhere. If you remember when we didn’t spend our time with a computer and a mouse or a touchpad and our finger bringing our minds together over the internet… not very long ago… then remember how we didn’t even begin to imagine where we are today.

You’ve got to watch/listen to this:

http://worldsciencefestival.com/webcasts/internet_everywhere
.

OK?

You can thank me later.

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I think I agree with Penn Jillette…

… and his views on Obama and his drug policy. Indeed, the 750,000 people in jail on minor drug busts are overburdening our economy and it is no joke.

Take a look:

Penn, of course, is NOT a drug user and I admire his position (I also like his glasses, which are Superfocus like mine).

Sleeping with my iPhone…

I saw a statistic that said 65% of cell phone users sleep with their phones.

Well, I’m one of them. My iPhone is next to me when I go to bed. Why? Because I like to play a podcast while I go to sleep… it only takes about 15 minutes and then the podcast turns itself off when it is over.

My favorite sleepy-time podcasts? Greg Proops‘ “Smartest Man in the World” is number one. Harry Shearer‘s “Le Show” is a close second, followed by “This American Life.” Lately, I’ve also been playing Jack Benny shows from the 30s and 40s.

I don’t know why others sleep with their cell phones… I certainly don’t expect calls overnight. If my secret of how to get to sleep with your iPhone helps anyone, then I am truly glad.

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• iPhone to Tackle Insomnia : Take an App Not a Sleeping Pill (prweb.com)
• New iPhone app lets couples sleep harmoniously (time4sleep.co.uk)
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I heard my name on a podcast as I was about to fall asleep…

When I take a nap, I usually turn on one of my favorite podcasts to listen to as I fall asleep… these include This American Life, Radiolab, The Smartest Man in the World, and Talkin Walkin (the weekly 1-hour broadcast by Kevin Pollak who interviews comedians while doing his right-on impersonation of Christopher Walken. If you’ve never heard it go HERE.) I clicked on Episode 6.

Anyway, I was just about asleep when I heard Pollak’s Walkin say my name (pronounced wrong, of course… he said “chak-ur-ee-deez” and I pronounce it “Chak-ur-eye-des.”) Apparently it was from my submission of a funny phrase  a couple of weeks ago, an ongoing listener contest that Pollak has put out. The phrase I gave him was “Beak a leg”, the theatre way of saying good luck. He and his guest, Corey Levin, went on to discuss the phrase for about 5 minutes before I fell asleep.

I must say, it made me feel connected to the internet.

Ongoing chapter of the Comcast battle…

Well… here I am after the Comcast installation didn’t show up this morning (although the man they call the site survey came yesterday and said our connection to the cable was there on the outside of the house and we were ready to go.)

Installation was supposed to show up between 8 and 10. At 11, after there was no sign of a Comcast installer, I called the delightful folks and, guess what? They had no record of an installation appointment, nor any record of our address.

So I asked the rep – Devin – (and this was the fourth guy I spoke with after 45 minutes of being on hold with three other people), how did your site survey guy know which address to come to yesterday? Devin said he didn’t know how to explain it… he tried four different ways and our address didn’t come up.

While I was holding on the phone as he checked, I got on line to Comcast.com and found on my billing account that they were billing my old home’s service to my new address… I had him look up my bill and he saw it was so. But he said the address still didn’t come up with any request to reinstall my service.

Finally, after an hour and a half on the phone, he gave me a new work order number, told me he was putting it on an emergency alert and would call me back as soon as it was set up. That was almost 2 hours ago.

I’m still waiting.

Not sure I can do the Podcast this morning…

BlogTalkRadio appears to be down at present. If it isn’t up by 10 AM, I won’t get to the Under The LobsterScope podcast today… stay tuned for more info.

- Bill

UPDATE: WE’RE CONNECTED AGAIN. GO TO  BlogTalkRadio…HERE .

Murdoch gives more to Democrats than Republicans?

Harry Shearer

Why is this man smiling?

Harry Shearer dropped an interesting stat on Le Show this weekend: last month Rupert Murdoch’s organization gave significantly more in campaign donations to Democrats than it did to Republicans. Of approximately $50,000 in contributions, $32,000 went to Democrats… and primarily those associated with committees relating to the judiciary… as if Rupert had predicted in June the problems he’d be in in July.

However, it also appears that in the last couple of years Murdoch’s empire has given somewhat more to Democrats than to Republicans across the board. As Shearer pointed out, if the Fox News fans realized this, wouldn’t they protest?

Hmmmm.

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My Podcast is at 10 AM Today if you want to tune in…

… we’ll be spending some time talking about the economy, the political future of the Middle Class, and a few other things.

That’s 10 o’clock this morning
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/billtchakirides/2011/07/19/under-the-lobsterscope.

Today’s Podcast is up…

If you missed the live broadcast you can click below and hear the recorded version. Today we discussed the 4th of July Holiday, The CATF season, and some politics.

If you miss it, the recording will be at BlogTalkRadio, HERE .

How has Fracking affected life in Pennsylvania (and how will it affect us)?

The Marcellus Shale

If you didn’t hear This American Life with Ira Glass this weekend, or if you don’t subscribe to its podcast, then you missed an excellent piece on the development of natural gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale. Don’t worry, though. Would Under The LobsterScope not pass on an important program like this?

Here’s the lead-in:

A professor in Pennsylvania makes a calculation, to discover that his state is sitting atop a massive reserve of natural gas—enough to revolutionize how America gets its energy. But another professor in Pennsylvania does a different calculation and reaches a troubling conclusion: that getting natural gas out of the ground poses a risk to public health. Two men, two calculations, and two very different consequences.

Now, to play the program entitled Game Changer, with excellent narration by Sarah Koenig, click HERE.

This is part of our continuing serious of articles and information on Hydraulic Fracturing, or “Fracking” and the effect it will have on our water and land right here in West Virginia (and New York State, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Ohio – all sitting on the Marcellus Shale and all targeted by the unregulated natural gas industry.

Did you think I was kidding? I really NEED your support…

… and I’m willing to make it worth your while:

Support this blog with $5.00 or more and get “Bill’s Modern Diner,” a great image font, e-mailed to you immediately.

So many of you have been following this blog since 2004 that I feel like a member of a huge web community.

I have enjoyed bringing you The Cartoon or Cartoons of the Week, the Quotes, The Muybridge Backgrounds, the Political and Arts News, the Blogrolls to the best sites in America and beyond… They are all a joy to put together. Often we get the breaking political stories before you see them anywhere else. And our wide open communication channels with readers can’t be beat.

Well, once again, I need YOUR help to keep it going. I’m hoping you will make a small contribution, by PayPal or credit/debit card,in support of Under The LobsterScope. You’d be amazed at how much $5.00 can do to help me bring more and more to these pages. And it is probably the LOWEST contribution asked by any publication… interactive or not.

And for a contribution of $5.00 (or MORE) you will receive a copy of my Picture Font, Bill’s Modern Diner (I send you the True Type versions for both Macs and PCs by email). It’s great for illustrating Menus and Ads, or just as a illustrated point set for blog posts.  I regularly sell this font for $29.95. (See the Sample Below.)

You should know, however, that even a contribution of only $1.00 adds to the ability of this blog to find things for your benefit. By clicking on the DONATE button below, you tell me that Under The LobsterScope makes a difference in your time on the web.

Thanks,

- Bill

 

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FCC has to change its rules, says Federal court…

I  just received this letter from Craig Aaron at FreePress.net and I pass it on to you. An important action has occurred:

Today, in a sweeping victory for communities across the country, a federal appeals court overturned the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to weaken media ownership rules.

Had these rules gone into effect, it would have unleashed a new wave of media consolidation across the country.

In 2007, the FCC ignored letters and calls from millions of Americans and tried to rewrite its media ownership rules to let companies own both newspapers and TV or radio stations in the same town. This change would have opened the floodgates to new media mergers, leading to even more layoffs in newsrooms while thinning out diverse perspectives from local news.

Image via Wikipedia

We sued the FCC for ignoring the public outcry. Today, we won. The court tossed out the FCC’s flawed rules, but also upheld all other media consolidation restrictions and told the FCC it needed to do better to support and foster diverse voices in the media – all crucial decisions for our fight to build better media.

This isn’t just our victory – it’s your victory, too.

The court pointed to public comments from people like you as deciding factor in overturning the FCC’s attempt to change its rules. Today it’s clear: Your voice and actions make a huge difference.

This court decision should send a wake-up call to the FCC: It must listen to the public and stand up against media consolidation in all its forms.

But the fight doesn’t end here. Right now around the country, local stations are using loopholes and backroom deals to get around media ownership rules and consolidate their coverage of local news. This court case makes clear that the FCC needs to strengthen their rules and address this growing epidemic as well. Click here to tell the FCC to stop this covert media consolidation.

Today’s victory is a big moment for the movement to build better media. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Onward,

Craig Aaron
President & CEO
Free Press

P.S. – We need your help sustaining our efforts. In court, at the FCC and in Congress we’re up against huge companies with lots of money and lawyers. We don’t take money from government, political parties or businesses – so we depend on you. Help us fight the next media ownership fight. Please donate today.

P.P.S. – Read more about the details and background of today’s big decision.

Don’t fool yourself, however. You and I both know what the big corporations trying to get complete control of the web will do: they’ll bring it to the corporation-loving Supreme Court. The FreePress.net folks are going to have lots of work ahead of them.

I urge you to give them your support.

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CATF reviewing is going along as planned.

From David Mamet's "Race"

I’ve seen four of the five CATF plays so far and I have the fifth one, We Are Here, at the Studio Theater at 8:30 PM. I won’t give any details of the shows yet, except to say they are certainly worth seeing and cover a range of dramatic experience that I’ve come to expect from this festival. I’ll be posting at some time tomorrow and will be doing the audio reviews on my podcast Tuesday at 10 AM (Click Here on Tuesday Morning).

Friday I am recording the reviews for WSHC FM (89.7) in Shepherdstown, where they will be individually scattered throughout the month while CATF is going on (July 8th-31st).

I would suggest you hurry to CATF.org and get reservations as some shows have several sold out performances, especially David Mamet’s Race, which started selling out a month ago.

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Podcast at 10 AM Today:

I’m scheduled to go on at 10 AM this morning. To hear it live go  HERE to  BlogTalk Radio.

If you miss it, the recording will be at BlogTalkRadio, HERE .

You can call in during the half hour that it’s on at 1 (661) 554-9186. I’ll be glad to discuss just about anything with you.

I’m making another stab at the Under The LobsterScope Podcast this morning at 10…

So, if you want to see if I get through or not (which always seems questionable) go  HERE to  BlogTalk Radio.

If you miss it, the recording will be at BlogTalkRadio, HERE .

You can call in during the half hour that it’s on at 1 (661) 554-9186. I’ll be glad to discuss just about anything with you.

________

UPDATE

_________

Success, Success! I only did about 15 minutes since I was testing out the iPhone and connections, but it worked.

I’ll plan bigger and better for next Tuesday.

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June is turning out to be a miserable month…

Do you know the feeling when you go in to your auto mechanic‘s operation to get a headlight replaced and walk out with an estimate for over $1,000.00 worth of work or your car is going to fall apart within the next 3000 miles?

Or how about having a computer with only two weeks left on the warranty that your local repair guy couldn’t handle and he sent you to another place 60 miles away and then this guy said it would have to be shipped to Apple to have them look at it… meanwhile you’re still waiting?

Or the little part-time job you were told you’d have in June when it was presented last April just never came through?

Or that your built in depressive personality is caught up in what seems like the destruction of government, especially relating to senior citizens like you who depend on Social Security and Medicare and you don’t feel like there is anything that can be done about it?

And don’t forget, you are five weeks away from the next Social Security check and this month’s problems have already eaten up the one you got last Wednesday…

Well, that’s where I am as the month ends… and, on top of that, I’m feeling more lost and alone than usual (Cymbalta or not) and, at many times during the day, these feelings keep me frozen in one place, unable to accomplish ANYTHING.

This morning I made one or two major screwups on the radio show… thankfully Ralph Petrie called in and corrected at least one… and I left having little or no confidence in my broadcast abilities. I’m not at all sure what will happen with tomorrow’s podcast… assuming the telephone connection doesn’t screw it up like last time…I still haven’t had one episode that sounded at all good or where I would listen to me given the choice.

I have to go do the dishes before Elly gets home and I don’t feel like getting out of my recliner (I also aid I’d make a pie… yeah, sure!).

I hope July is better… at least we’ll have the Contemporary American Theatre Festival to kick it off… and I can remember how my Theatre career fizzled in the seventies.

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Bloomsday

James Joyce by Brian Whelan

James Joyce by Brian Whelan

… and celebrated on June 16 by those who remember and reread the greatest (to some) of Joyce’s novels, Ulysses, and Leopold Bloom‘s excursion around the Dublin of 1904. Oh the sites visited that day, from #7 Eccles Street to the Byrne Pub to Martello tower… and then culminating in the brothels of Nighttown… and the thoughts and actions of all (the thoughts of Molly Bloom outstanding in the pile) on that June day so long ago.

The first celebration, indeed the invention, of Bloomsday was a pubcrawl in 1954 in Dublin with writers and poets assuming the identities of Joyce’s characters. It is now an event around the world and especially in the locales that Joyce lived and wrote…Trieste, Genoa… and farther places like Seattle and New York, Australia and South America, Budapest and beyond. Those may start with Buck Mulligan shaving in the tower, or the funeral procession that Bloom begins to Poor Paddy Dignam‘s wake… most end in a pint or two (or many more) of Guinness.

And now, we  remember Joyce and participate in oral readings of Ulysses and  share frivolity with those worldwide who got out of bed, or those who combed their bookshelves, or those who forgot …

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My Podcast is Live this morning at 10 Am Eastern Time…

Stop by and have a listen… Go  HERE to  BlogTalk Radio.

If you miss it, the recording will be at BlogTalkRadio, HERE .

You can call in during the half hour that it’s on at 1 (661) 554-9186. I’ll be glad to discuss just about anything with you

.

I’m not thrilled with the quality of this morning’s podcast…

… due to a lousy set of connections from AT&T (both cellphone and network). However, in replaying it (if you ignore the first minute where there seems to be no connection… stay on, however…please!), it still covers most of what I wanted to… so give a listen if you didn’t heatr it live.

Go to it HERE at BlogTalk Radio

And please come back to hear it online next Tuesday at 10 AM.   You can call in during the half hour that it’s on at 1 (661) 554-9186. I’ll be glad to discuss just about anything with you.

And tune in live next Tuesday at 10 AM by going HERE.

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Wow… three hours went by as I played with my new iPhone 4…

… so, of course, I didn’t do a damn thing on the blog (even though in the back of my head I could hear the broadcast of the House arguing about cuts to one thing or another and who is doing more to preserve Medicare) as I downloaded freebie apps and tried out the silliest ones I could find… moved my favorite iTunes songs over to the iPod in the phone and called Elly in Minnesota to tell her the phones came.

I’ll bet she can’t wait until Sunday to get back and play with hers.

At least the Podcast next Tuesday will have much better sound quality (and I finally found a music intro…a little snip from Offenbach) for those of you who tune in.

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If you missed this week’s Podcast, you can hear it at BlogTalk Radio…

Just go HERE.

We talked about Apple Computer‘s announcement of iCloud, the shortage of some generic medications in hospitals, the loss of memory with age, The loss of groundwater as seen from space by the GRACE project. and other things… If you sign in and listen, you can also add comments which will be available to all listeners, a list that grows every week.

btw: I’m getting a new cell phone, hopefully in the next week, which will improve the AWFUL sound quality of my current podcasts. And maybe I’ll have a music intro by next week.

- Bill

A petition worth signing… make sure everyone can vote, not just the friends of Republicans!

Stop Vote Suppression!

Now that they control a majority of statehouses across the nation, Republicans are attempting a bold power grab to disenfranchise voters and repeat the Florida election debacle of 2000.

Right now, states with Republican governors or new GOP majorities are ramming through bills designed to make it harder for people to vote.

They’ll stop at nothing to steal the Presidency.

We have to act now to stop these bills from becoming law. The Democratic Governors Association is the only organization devoted solely to electing Democratic governors who will veto any and all attempts to limit voter rights. Use the form at the right to stand with the DGA and demand that Republicans stop their politically-motivated attempts to suppress votes.

 

Go HERE.

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• My new podcast is at 10 AM… I’m getting ready. (underthelobsterscope.wordpress.com)

My podcast goes live at 10 AM…

Working on it now…hope you will tune in… if you can’t it will be available all week at the BlogTalkRadio site:

Listen to internet radio with BillTchakirides on Blog Talk Radio

Posted in Word from Bill | Edit

If you want to call in during the live show, the number is 1 (661) 554-9186.

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