Yearly Archives: 2011


Airlines frequently repaint some of their airplanes for special occasions but this… 1

Airlines frequently repaint some of their airplanes for special occasions but this is definitely one of the more amusing examples I've seen as Quantas honors Movember.

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Airline Livery of the Week: Qantas Boeing 737 Gets a Mustache
That is one styl'n Boeing 737-800 with a mustache.Photo by Qantas.
For some reason, it seems that November is connected closely with men growing facial hair. A few years back the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia started promoting Movember with men growing mustaches to support prostate cancer research. Think of it as a pink ribbon to support breast cancer, but involving hair.
Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce is a survivor of prostate cancer and obviously the company has a special motivation for t…

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Nathan Brown is very likely putting his job at UC Davis in jeopardy but he deserves…

Nathan Brown is very likely putting his job at UC Davis in jeopardy but he deserves applause and more for calling out the chancellor for allowing this deplorable behavior by police.

Reshared post from +Bill Gross

This is an absolutely amazing, courageous letter, written by a NON-tenured UC Davis Assistant Professor.

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Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi
18 November 2011

Open Letter to Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi

Linda P.B. Katehi,

I am a junior faculty member at UC Davis. I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, and I te……

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Red Wattle pigs at Tilian Farm

Update I was actually mistaken about the structure of Tilian Farm. Tilian is actually a farming incubator with three different farmers participating including our neighbor Ben Fidler. This article gives a good rundown of the program http://annarbor.com/entertainment/food-drink/a-visit-to-tilian-farm-development-center-a-vision-of-our-local-food-future/

This afternoon we went out to Tilian Farm which is run by our next door neighbor, a young farmer just getting started. To help get the farm going, Ben started a CSA (community supported agriculture) in which we bought a half share. CSAs a great way for small farmers to ensure a fair income for their output while the shareholders get plenty of fresh, locally raised food. We've done CSAs before with farmers that grow vegetables and fruit but Tilian Farm has provided us with duck, chicken, goat, goat milk, goat cheese and more. Next month we get our finally batch which will consist of 42 pounds of pork.

Among the pigs we saw at the farm today were about a dozen young red wattles, a very breed that grows quite large. Mature red wattles (named for the fleshy flaps on the sides of the neck) are typically 600-800 pounds while some can grow to 1,200-1,500 pounds and eight feet long.

If you're interested in buying a share for 2012 go to http://bendingsicklecommunityfarm.com/

#tillian_farm #csa #community_supported_agriculture #red_wattles

In album Tillian Farm, November 19, 2011 (47 photos)

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NYC Michael Bloomberg and the New York police department should be the ones that… 2

NYC Michael Bloomberg and the New York police department should be the ones that are thrown in jail after the disgraceful raid on the Occupy Wall Street protest this week.

Who exactly are the police supposed to be serving and protecting anyway? After recent actions they have become the corporate thugs and mercenaries of the 1%. The people have every right to gather peacefully and protest and as long as there is no violence, the police should just back off and let it happen. Just because the Fox talking heads and investment bankers and politicos don't like what people are saying, it doesn't give them the right to interfere.

They also have no business seizing and destroying personal property and materials like the People's Library that had been set up in Zuccotti Park. It's time for the police to look at where they fit into society. They are part of the 99% and they should be protecting us from Koch brothers and their ilk, not the other way around.

#OWS #occupy

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ALA Condemns Seizure of Occupy Wall Street People's Library

Libraries, Schools Join In – School Library JournalArticles
Log In to your Account Free Newsletter Subscription. School Library Journal. Home; Print Issue. Latest Issue; Archive; Subscribe. Reviews. Preschool to Grade 4; Grades 5 and Up; Graphic Novels; Adult …

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EFF: Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk

Reshared post from +Alexander Howard

EFF: Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk

The EFF explains how SOPA could affect Etsy, Flickr and Vimeo.

If you use those sites, this is worth reading.

Don't use those sites? Ok. Substitute eBay, Instagram and YouTube.

Learn more. Get involved. It's your Internet. And if you live in the United States, you have Representatives in Congress. Let them know where you stand.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show
https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/112/hr3261
https://www.votizen.com/oppose-the-protect-ip-internet-censorship-bill/

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What's On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk | Electronic Frontier Foundation
What's On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk. Proponents of the latest disastrous IP bill , the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) insist it only targets the “worst of the worst”:…

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Let's hope that VP Biden's stance against the evils of SOPA and PROTECT-IP…

Let's hope that VP Biden's stance against the evils of SOPA and PROTECT-IP translate into actual action that prevents its passage.

#stop-sopa #stop-protectip

Reshared post from +Alexander Howard

VP Joe Biden's 'Internet freedom' speech at the London Conference on Cyberspace, applied to #SOPA & Protect IP

Whether you agree with the proposed bill or not (summary: http://cdt.org/paper/sopa-summary) this video is an excellent example of how a national politician's words that were voiced in one context (an international conference on cyberspace) can be brought to bear in another (Congressional lawmaking) using online video, particularly when the thing that the policy pertains to (the Internet) spans the world.

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It's a sure sign that things are getting weird when I actually agree with Darrell…

It's a sure sign that things are getting weird when I actually agree with Darrell Issa on an important issue.

Congress is currently considering the Stop Online Privacy Act (in the House of Representatives) and the corresponding PROTECT-IP Act (in the Senate). These bills are extremely dangerous and would give both media companies and the government unprecedented censorship powers over the internet without judicial oversight. Call your senators and representatives and encourage to stop this before it's too late!

#copyright #media #politics #stop-sopa #stop-protectip

Reshared post from +Alexander Howard

Dear Colleague: A Bipartisan Attempt To Regulate The Internet?

Last week, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Representative Zoe Lofgren sent out a “Dear Colleague” letter to the other members of the House of Representatives entitled “A bipartisan attempt to regulate the Internet?”

I’ve posted the letter below in its entirety, adding a link to the bill page for the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (H.R. 3261: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show ) on Thomas.gov and a PopVox widget embedded on the blog post linked below.

<begin letter>

From: The Honorable Zoe Lofgren
Sent By: Ryan.Clough@mail.house.gov
Date: 11/8/2011

Dear Colleague:

The Judiciary Committee is close to consideration of H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act. We write to call your attention to a recent article about the bill in the Los Angeles Times, entitled, “A bipartisan attempt to regulate the Internet?” (available at http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/10/technology-a-bipartisan-attempt-to-regulate-the-internet.html).

We agree with the goal of fighting online copyright infringement, and would support narrowly targeted legislation that does not ensnare legitimate websites. We also believe that a consensus on the issue between the content and technology industries is achievable. As the attached article makes clear, H.R. 3261 unfortunately does not follow a consensus-based approach. It would give the government sweeping new powers to order Internet Service Providers to implement various filtering technologies on their networks. It would also create new forms of private legal action against websites—cutting them off from payment and advertising providers by default, without any court review, upon a complaint from any copyright owner, even one whose work is not necessarily being infringed.

Online innovation and commerce were responsible for 15 percent of U.S. GDP growth from 2004 to 2009, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Before we impose a sprawling new regulatory regime on the Internet, we must carefully consider the risks that it could pose for this vital engine of our economy.

Sincerely,

Zoe Lofgren
Member of Congress

Darrell Issa
Member of Congress

</letter>

Previous coverage:
https://plus.google.com/107980702132412632948/posts/BMmaXAyrBYj
http://gov20.govfresh.com/issa-and-lofgren-dear-colleague-letter-versus-sopa/

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Reps. Issa and Lofgren warn that SOPA is “a bipartisan attempt to regulate the Internet” | Gov 2.0: The Power of Platforms
Tracking the tech that makes government better and empowers citizens.

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Incredible footage of the Earth from the ISS

Incredible footage of the Earth from the ISS

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We're 99% certain this is the most beautiful footage of Earth's auroras yet recorded
Boy howdy, this video definitely confirms that if you're going to gaze at our planet, the International Space Station is the best seat in the house. This video was shot during Expeditions 28 and 29 ab…

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