Watching Obama’s acceptance speech with a classroom of Mexicans

Submitted by TCampbell on 11/08/12 3:51pm
Analyzing a political speech

It’s true that Obama has a good image in many parts of the world, especially Europe. In some countries like Mexico (where I live and teach university), although the U.S. government in general isn’t much loved, people tend to like or at least have a forgiving attitude toward Obama. “He’s not Bush,” they say.

But, for many, the way he’s portrayed in the media is all they really know about him. None of the students in my university class of 20 had ever watched one of his speeches. I showed them his acceptance speech in class Wednesday and asked for their thoughts.

The first comment was about how Obama said the U.S. would get free from foreign oil dependency. The student said this was impossible. Another pointed out that this idea is in direct conflict with Obama’s green agenda. The U.S. has a lot of oil reserves, but doesn’t drill it in places like the Alaska wildlife refuge, preferring to buy it from places like Mexico.

A few students were shocked by the ending when Obama reminded us that “America is the envy of the world.” My students thought it was an arrogant, aggressive thing to say. They didn’t know that there is an idea called “American exceptionalism,” or that the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center because they hated our freedoms.

I asked them to notice how he repeated key words in his speech, a common propaganda trick. All the students said that “hope” was Obama’s most repeated word. It would be a good drinking game, to drink every time he says “hope.” I’m sure it would work for any of his speeches.

They noticed how Obama mentioned several times that his victory was a victory for all of the U.S., not just for those who voted for him, but all the Romney supporters and everyone else too.

Finally, most of them commented on the similarity of this speech to speeches made by Mexican politicians, none of whom my students trust. The politician brings up the biggest problems in the country and infers or outright states that he is going to solve them. 

My university students don’t believe it from their politicians, and now they don’t believe it from ours either.

Style Profile: Taylor Swift

Submitted by Penny Lane on 11/08/12 3:50pm
Evening gowns, high waisted shorts and red lipstick

Yours truly might be the biggest Taylor Swift music and fashion fan ever. There, I said it. True confessions on Seattle in Style this afternoon. That said, let's have a look at some of T. Swift's most recent and distinguishable styles. Between her signature blonde hair, frequent red lipstick and and flat shoes while performing, Taylor has definitely established a reputation for doing her own thing and doing it very well.

After releasing her newest album RED in October, Taylor announced a RED Tour beginning in March 2013. Pacific Northwest fans might be interested to know that Taylor will be performing in Vancouver BC, Portland and Tacoma during June and August next year. Taylor is also Rolling Stone's October cover girl, Glamour's November cover girl, Marie Claire's November cover girl and Cosmopolitan's December cover girl. This young star is going places and making a fashion statement on her way.

Taylor donned a chiffon gown by Jenny Packham with a V-neckline, fluttery sleeves

and red beaded flowers for the 2012 CMA Awards.

Taylor chose a clean white J. Mendel gown with gold details and cutouts for the

2012 ACM Awards when she was awarded Entertainer of the Year.

Taylor has been performing hits from her newest album RED in sheer sequin tops, high waisted shorts

and sparkly flat, lace-up shoes like at the BBC Radio Teen Awards.

Taylor when casually nautical at the 2012 MTV Music Awards when performing

"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" in a red striped shirt, black shorts and flat, red lace-up shoes. 

While filming "Begin Again" in Paris, Taylor perfected French chic in red trousers,

an off-white sweater with a bow and bright yellow flats. 

Taylor pairs a tiered leather skirt with a flirty blouse, pattern tights

and knee-high boots at the Roberto Cavalli runway show in Milan.

Kentucky’s World’s Largest Machine Gun Shoot

Submitted by TheLostGod on 11/08/12 3:44pm
Rent guns, shoot guns and blow things up as this uniquely American event

If it’s one thing that Americans are known for world-wide, it’s our love of guns.  More than one citizen of the country insists that their weapons won’t leave their possession unless pried from their dead hands.  In order to celebrate this love of bullet-spewing weaponry, the town of West Point, Kentucky has organized an even that lets people get their hands on some of the biggest guns in the world and shoot them at random objects.

 

The World’s Largest Machine Gun Shoot takes place twice a year, in April and October, at the Knob Creek Gun Range, a former military munitions test range.  If you decide to attend, you don’t even need to bring your own guns if you don’t want to.  They’ll rent you pretty much everything you need, from pistols to seriously high-caliber miniguns.  You can even try out a flamethrower if you feel so inclined.  Also, they have a policy that lets you bring whatever you want to the event to shoot at.  If you can haul it onto the range, you’re allowed to fill it full of bullets.

In order to test your ballistic skills, the folks at Knob Creek have organized a number of events.  There’s a police training course you can run through, taking along a shotgun or a pistol to shoot up some silhouettes.  There’s the Sub Gun Jungle Walk, where one grabs a submachine gun and runs through a jungle course looking for hidden targets.  And everything culminates in the Saturday Night Shoot, when all the gun-lovers get together and fill the night sky with tracer rounds or pump a few shots into barrels filled with gas and explosives.  There’s also a market for anyone that wants to buy or sell. 

People come from all over to take part in this festival of firearms.  If you happen to be a lover of guns, this is a great place to meet like-minded people.  Whether going to collect, to deal or just to shoot off as many rounds as possible, the World’s Largest Machine Gun Shoot is an event that gun aficionados should not miss.  The next event is in April of 2013, from the 12th to the 14th.

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Submitted by erika on 11/08/12 2:59pm
A fun, thoughtful read

This kind of thing has come to be derisively called "stunt reporting." The sort of thing where you do something for a year, write about it, and get a book contract. But in the case of Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I honestly don't think it would have worked any other way.

The overarching idea is that Rubin decides to try out new paths to happiness, one new thing a month. It's a simple idea, one of those things that seems obvious in hindsight. But Rubin brings alive the collision between "do as I say" and "do as I do." She is also blunt and honest about the things that didn't work for her, which frankly is just as valuable to the reader as hearing about the things that did work.
 
I think one of Rubin's most interesting (and counter-intuitive) discoveries was that "not everything works for everybody." This too sounds obvious in hindsight. But Rubin learns the hard way that what works for a lot of people won't always work for you. For example, she flat-out refuses to do meditation. She has tried it in the past and didn't care for it, so she won't do it. She also takes issue with the Buddhist ideal of "non-attachment," pointing out that she seeks to inspire MORE involvement with her life and relationships, not less. And yet she also makes it clear that hey, it might work for you, if you're so inclined.
 
This "be true to yourself" ethos has a lot of interesting ramifications for the "one size fits all" form of self help that is commonplace. (Not to mention the busybodies among your friends, families, and coworkers who are always telling you what you should and shouldn't do in order to improve your life. In fact, Rubin confesses that at one point she realized she had become an "advice bully," which other people found off-putting and alienating.)
 
I myself was surprised to learn that Rubin's gratitude trick actually works. Really well, too. Whenever I am faced with a frustrating, exasperating, or otherwise sub-optimal situation, I stop and think, "I am grateful for this because…." And inevitably, I am able to immediately fill in the blank. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. 
 
The book is greatly helped by Rubin's fresh, breezy tone. It never weighs down too heavily on the religious stuff or shakes its finger in your face. This is a wonderful read, and well worth the time.

The Provo Canyon Bigfoot Video

Submitted by erika on 11/08/12 2:44pm
I have a pretty good hunch what these kids caught on video.

The latest "blobsquatch" video to go rocketing around the internets is this little gem from Utah. The ostensible backstory is that a couple of backpackers saw a big shape, started filming it, and when it appeared to stand up in a human-like fashion, they screamed and ran. The footage is - unsurprisingly - blurry, grainy, and entirely unclear.

Provo Canyon Bigfoot Encounter?

 
A lot of people think they see a black bear being filmed from a strange angle. I can certainly understand this point of view. The bear is sitting with its back to the camera, and eventually decides to get to its feet and walk away. There might be a bit of a slope that is not easily visible in the footage, which could account for the "head and shoulders" angle.
 
Some people are saying that they see a five fingered hand. I don't see that. I could zoom in more, but all you get is pixels. I don't think there's enough data in the video to say whether or not a hand is visible.
 
Knowing a lot about animals, and being familiar with their movements, I think this is probably a human. Specifically, I think it's a guy in a ghillie suit.
 
Everything about the shape and proportions of the creature in this video matches up to those of a man in a ghillie suit. If you are not familiar with these suits, they were popularized by elite military commandos, and now people use them to go deer hunting. It's basically a sheet of canvas netting with strips of camouflage print fabric attached. It makes you look like the Swamp Thing or Cousin It. And in fact, ghillie suits have been used by sasquatch hoaxers in the past.
 
The video was originally posted to YouTube on October 30, which matches the fall foliage and bare branches seen in the video. 
 
Why wouldn't a person in a suit just say "Hi guys"? Why would a person in a suit just get up and quietly walk away? Well, I have a pretty good answer for that. 
 
Clue #1 is that a ghillie suit is used in deer hunting. Clue #2 is that the area where this video was shot is also known as "Deer Creek." And clue #3 is that deer hunting has become tightly regulated in Utah this year. Fewer permits are being handed out than ever before, and permits are available only on a lottery basis.
 
Furthermore, the date of this video (October 30) falls outside the legal hunting dates for deer. According to the state's Big Game Hunting Handbook, deer hunting season ends on October 28th. 
 
I have a pretty good idea what these kids caught on tape: a poacher. 

Which 'Real Housewife' just got divorced?

Submitted by LauriePerry on 11/08/12 2:28pm
What could have been nasty turned almost nice in the end.

After one of the more sensational splits of 2012, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Adrienne Maloof and her husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Paul Nassif, is now officially divorced. Early on, it really did seem like this would be one of the nastiest Hollywood divorce and custody battles ever. What changed?

I honestly was expecting a massive, hideously ugly divorce scandal with these two. I was seriously concerned for this couple's children. Thankfully, Adrienne and Paul came to terms that both could live with, and everyone will be spared (hopefully).Just a couple of months ago, I read that Adrienne Maloof basically accused her husband of trying to choke one of their kids. The allegations were certainly shocking, of course. Adrienne got temporary custody of the three boys and the crazy tabloid stories began. Eventually she got a restraining order against Paul. He accused her of also being abusive. That's how bad it was getting.

Look, I'll be the first one to admit that The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills isn't exactly award-winning TV, but I watch it. It's part of our culture, right? OK, so fine, it's crap. But it's *my* crap and I actually like Adrienne Maloof. She's my favorite housewife, in fact. That's why I was so glad  to learn today that this feuding couple came to terms. As for specifics of those terms, we don't know. That will likely be kept private.

In a statement, Adrienne Maloof and Paul Nassif said, "We want the best for each other and we're confident we can help each other make a continuing positive impact with our children. We're happy to be moving forward with our lives in a positive way, not only individually but as co-parents."

I'm curious about what fellow Real Housewives think about all of this? Do you guys think Adrienne or Paul are to blame for the break-up (or both)?

App review: NYTimes Crosswords

Submitted by erika on 11/08/12 2:06pm
Crossword fanatics will find it well worth the subscription cost

It's funny how you forget things about yourself. Life gets so crazy, you know? Earlier this week I happened to be sitting somewhere with nothing to do for a good 15 minutes. I picked up a newspaper someone had discarded nearby and started filling in the crossword puzzle.

"I used to love crossword puzzles," I realized as I became engrossed in solving the puzzle. When they called my name, I tucked the paper into my purse. I brought it home and finished the puzzle later over dinner.
 
Back in The Day, I remember my excitement at learning that you could get the New York Times crossword puzzle online. It was always yesterday's puzzle, but I didn't care. It was in a Java pop-up window that frequently crashed. Again, didn't really care. Completing the puzzle isn't really the allure of it for me, as odd as that sounds.
 
And now here it is 2012 and you can get the New York Times crossword puzzle automatically delivered to your iPad every day. As I discovered once I finished that crossword I accidentally encountered, and found myself hungry for more.

The app doesn't let you cross out the clues as you complete them, which I know is kind of A Thing for people. However, when you click to highlight a row of boxes, it highlights the corresponding clue which is very helpful. 
 
The iPad version also has the advantage of filling in the squares with big legible letters (upper case sans serif font). And if you want to change them? Just click on the square and type in another letter. It works even better than pencil. Although "I do the whole thing in pen" purists will have lost something to brag about. 
 
I had difficulty figuring out how to log in at first. You have to make a separate login just for this puzzle app, even though it looks like it will log you in with your iTunes Game Center login. I eventually figured out that it wasn't that the Connection menu was blank, it was just extraordinarily slow to be populated. 
 
The app is free to download. It gives you a week's free trial, which gives you both the daily puzzles and access to over 6,000 puzzles in the New York Times archive. If you like it enough, you can subscribe after your week is up. Subscriptions are very affordable: $17/ year, or $3/month if you want to do it month-to-month. Crossword fanatics will find the cost very worthwhile.

The joy of agility with a senior dog

Submitted by CateCarson on 11/08/12 2:03pm
Sheltie Tyler votes for more agility

When we live with dogs, and especially it seems, when we train them for sports, we develop such a bond that our dogs seem to read our minds. I love that feeling of connectedness, and although two of my Shetland Sheepdogs are tottering around the 10 year mark, we still train for agility. We might not run as fast as we did years ago, but assuredly, we run with even greater joy. 

I no longer have the aspirations of greatness in the sport of agility that I once did. I had hoped to be one of the areas’ top handlers, and frankly I’m not. I stopped competing several years ago because of lack of time and funds, but we’ve enjoyed training, and we’ve continued to do that. 

 

As we’ve all heard, each day is a gift, and that is brought home to me each training day. When the dogs do well, which is often, I cherish those moments. When they decide to stop and sniff, all I can do is smile, and encourage to come back and finish the course. I realize all too well that this run could be their last. 

 

To accommodate their aging bodies, I set their jump heights to half the height they jumped when they were in their prime. They seem comfortable and happy at this height, and the lower height should extend their careers. 

 

Agility is not only a physical game, it is also a mental game, and in that respect, the two older Shelties are as strong than ever. We run advanced level courses in training, I’m so impressed by how quickly they learn new skills.

 

M's In on Josh Hamilton...

Submitted by jemanji on 11/08/12 1:46pm
(we suspect) ... the good news: rivals not in New York

.

If Dr. D reads 20 USSM articles, 19 of them remind him of the Jim Bowden - Gary Huckabay interview on Baseball Prospectus a few years back.  Saber consultants, Bowden sez, are useless because "there isn't a dime's worth of difference between you guys.  You like pitchers who strike out a lot of guys, who walk few, and who keep the ball on the ground.  Well, no kidding.  Us dumb-nuts scouts woulda never thought of that."

And 19 times in 20, reading Cameron's stuff, I smile at Bowden's self-aggrandizing complaint that sabermigos naturally agree on everything :- )

That's 19 times, though ... the 20th time was today's USSM article on Josh Hamilton.   The article is based on the idea of calmly buying out a player's missed time and risk, and it even comes to exactly the figure that Dr. D guesstimated:  6/130 for Hamilton.

Here is our Sept. 14th shtick on Hamilton.  To me the Mariners' roster is a sensationally precise fit for Hamilton:  when he misses 40 games in a year, well, those are 40 games per year that you wanted to give to other outfielders anyway.  The Mariners no longer have Ichiro, so they put Hamilton in CF and rotate 3-4 young outfielders around the corners.  

Also, Michael Saunders' best role is in flexing between CF and the corners; Josh Hamilton also has played RF as well as LF.  A 5-to-make-3 jobshare, revolving around Hamilton's 125 games, would be ideal for the Mariners.  You start next season with Saunders, Thames, then Wells, then Carp, maybe Robinson there; if Romero, Catricala, Franklin etc take over an outfield position, that's fine down the road.

.

=== Holding Our Breath, Dept. ===

We might assume that Seattle's a longshot; maybe they are, but their pursuit of Prince Fielder was serious.  Best guesstimates were that they offered Fielder $170-180M and Boras insisted on a 2.  Zduriencik held firm.

Will teams "get carried away" in the bidding?  Here's a reprint of Glenn DuPaul's take at the Hardball Times:

 

  • The Yankees won’t be in the market, as they are attempting to dip beneath the luxury tax threshold
  • The Angels still have Vernon Wells on the books, so I don't see Jerry Dipoto bringing in another aging outfielder long term, and should be more concerned with locking Trout up
  • The Dodgers can't be possibly be in the market for Hamilton... unless they're printing money or something
  • The Red Sox just freed up a ton of payroll flexibility and have no left fielder, but they're probably going to use that money on Jacoby Ellsbury and starting pitching, not on Hamilton, especially with what just happened with Crawford
  • The Nationals want to be a big market club, but they already have Werth on the books
  • The Marlins spent crazy money last offseason, but the likelihood of them venturing down that road again is slim 
  • The Phillies need outfielders and Ruben Amaro Jr. loves long-term deals, so I guess it's a possibility, but still feels like a long shot
  • The Tigers and Giants are possible mystery teams that could maybe make a run at Hamilton

If your main competition turns out to be in Milwaukee and Baltimore, that's still not a slam dunk, but it's better than if your main competition were New York and Boston.

.

=== Technical Term for This:  "Best Case Scenario" ===

The scenario in which Hamilton plays here, that is.  What production would you pencil in?  

  Games AVG OBP SLG HR RBI R
Josh Hamilton 125 .300 .360 .550 30 100 90
               

If he played 80 games and had a washout season, the M's could absorb it with at-bats given to Franklin, Liddi, Carp, Romero etc.  If Hamilton ran into substance trouble that brought on the worst-case situation, well, the standard MLB contracts provide for that.  And if Hamilton played 145-150 games, hit 45 homers and won the MVP, that'd be gravy.  He could.

Make it so,

Dr D

.

Reading Pile: 11/8/12

Submitted by wrathamon on 11/08/12 1:39pm
Deadpool, Freelancers & 47 Ronin

Deadpool #1-There’s a scale to which Deadpool stories tend to fall on that flip flops from the extreme side of silly (so most of the Deadpool Team Up) to the darker side (most of the Daniel Way run). My favorite runs from Joe Kelly, Christopher Priest, and Gail Simone all seemed to find the perfect balance between the two sides of the spectrum. This first issue seems to gravitate more on the silly side, which by no means is a bad thing. In fact so far this is a version I can actually tell parents isn’t too bad for their 13 year olds that desperately want a Deadpool comic. It’s still chock full of monsters, ugly fights, and plenty of gun play, but the only person really getting hurt is Deadpool, Presidential zombies, and other monsters. So far, at least, especially if you discount the civilians being eating by the mini Godzilla. Tony Moore is a great choice for artist as he has 'disgustingly gritty' down as an art form. Overall, this is an amusing first issue and if you just want a silly good time it hits the target. Twenty pages for the $2.99 price tag is ok, but it’s a decently dense enough read with nice detailed art so you don’t feel completely gypped. B+

Freelancers #1-I find it odd that the series is created by Matt Gagnon and Felipe Smith, but the main story is by Ian Brill and Joshua Covey, and then the backup story which is infinitely more amusing is by Matt Gagnon and Felipe Smith. The main story isn’t bad by any stretch, but  a series about two sexy bounty hunter ladies isn’t a new idea either (Body Doubles, Dirty Pair, Body Bags[well ok, only one of them was sexy and a lady]). The back-up story about the same characters as two little girls growing up in a kung-fu orphanage and learning to make themselves strong and independent while developing a lifelong friendship is amazing. The whole package is just $1 for this first issue, so I really shouldn’t complain. I’m just saying though, those back-up better appear in every issue. B

47 Ronin #1- There’s been a noticeable absence of Stan Sakai in the industry for nearly the past year, and considering how amazing (and consistent) Usagi Yojimbo is that’s a pretty large vacuum. The hiatus was mostly because he was putting all of his energy into this mini-series, and it is definitely worth the wait. Sakai’s linework and storytelling feel even more crisp than usual, and Mike Richardson provides solid plotting and scripting duties to bring this national legend to life. Well worth checking out. A

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