Pie and Coffee

New GI Rights Hotline number/website
GI Rights Hotline: 877.447.4487

See also: our interview with Mike Schorsch of the GI Rights Hotline on “How to Support the Troops.”

Tin Cup at Our Lady of the Road

I love this dog. More Our Lady of the Road pix.

Two from Doc Searls
On valuing freedom more than cushy jail cells: “. . . I believe that the final success of Linux, and of free and open source software, will be an economy that values freedom and choice as much as it values scarcity.”

Maybe they should call it ButtBook: “What we call ‘online social networks’ mostly are not. They are private walled gardens that exist for reasons that are far more commercial than social. We need to remember that.”

Good Globe article about Northboro Netflix facility
Apparently staffed by temps from Worcester:

The Northborough hub processes between 60,000 and 110,000 DVDs daily, and weekend returns make Tuesday the busiest day. Even as Cotto and her colleagues are tearing through hundreds of returned DVDs, they take moments to read the angry notes (“This doesn’t play – defective!”) or occasional rave reviews (“Very funny movie, check it out!”) that customers scribble on the paper sleeves.

“Mr. Hetero” huckster’s church robbed
An interesting blog post about a lousy event.

Great City Council quotes #1: Rick Rushton
A reader writes: “I offer up this stellar quote from the pool meeting at City Hall.”

“The word betterment is a good word, because you have the word better in it.”
—City Councilor Rick Rushton

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Sister Madonna Buder finishes the Ironman

Cinnamon suggested this cool video of 76-year-old Sister Madonna Buder finishing the Ironman triathlon.

Waterloo (Iowa) Catholic Worker turns 25!
Congrats:

The Catholic Worker House, because it is not a non-profit and does not receive federal dollars, operates with less paperwork and more flexibility than many social service organizations. Also, the Waterloo operation, and others like it, do not receive or give tax write-offs, and pays property taxes. This practice, in [Dorothy] Day’s perspective, is a way to identify with the poor.

Any man, woman and child who comes looking for a temporary bed or a hot meal is welcomed, no questions asked, Quirk said. Though visitors, called guests by volunteers, must abide by house rules. Waterloo’s Catholic Worker House includes a home for about six men and a home for about five women and some children.

Snow Ghost podcast #4: Bon Scott vs. Brian Johnson
On this week’s podcast, Bruce and I are joined by Messrs. Paulukonis and Villani to discuss AC/DC, Metallica, and Bruce getting picked up by the police.

Download the mp3, see more formats, subscribe to the podcast feed.

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Bye Nicole!

Darfur death toll
Interesting NYT op-ed on how some think the Darfur death toll has been exaggerated. Eric Reeves responds. Back in 2005, when we made our Darfur movie, we used a very high number based on Eric Reeves’s latest estimate, which he later revised downwards. I think that criticizing Darfur stats is an important part of public discussion of this issue, and is very different from attempts to claim there’s nothing untoward happening in Darfur; I’ve criticized that sort of attempt before.

Worcester, an immigrant sanctuary?
Buck Paxton:

So in reality, the only bad that could come from Worcester becoming a sanctuary city is a 450% increase in the quality of local food offerings and maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to afford to have a guy mow my lawn. But, Worcester being what it is try explain that to the locals who feel compelled to scapegoat anything that may out their own failings.

Related: Should newspapers run letters that aren’t factually accurate?

South Bend: mural vanishes (2006 vs. 2007)

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