| EpiBlogue
Main Entry: epiblogue Function: noun Date: 21st century Etymology: Net English epi- + blog, from Middle English epiloge, from Middle French epilogue, from Latin epilogus, from Greek epilogos, from epilegein to say in addition, from epi- + legein to say -- more at LEGEND : an afterthought posted online
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Archives May 2000 |
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Friday, July 25, 2003
NY Times :: 11-Week Countdown to California Recall Begins
Article > In a sign of the real-world impact of California's > upheaval, the bond-rating house Standard & Poor's today > downgraded California debt three notches, to BBB, the > lowest of any state and just two grades above junk-bond > status. The company said that "with political focus on the > recall, the prospects for meaningful structural budget > reform resulting from any enacted budget are diminished." > > The office of Phil Angelides, the state treasurer, > estimated tonight that the downgrade could cost the state > an additional $1 billion in borrowing costs over the next > 30 years. In all the frenzy over the recall effort, I've still yet to hear a clear explanation of what exactly Gov. Davis did wrong, apart from winning the last election. As far as I can tell, he handled the energy crisis about as well as anyone could. He administered triage back at its peak by signing costly but stabilizing long-term contracts when the spot markets were spiraling out of control. He then agitated for the investigation of energy company business practices and has doggedly pursued retribution from these scofflaws after details of their criminal conduct came to light. His gravest mistake appears to have been succumbing to the pressure of those who forever insist on reducing government excises below a level sufficient to meet costs on the services and entitlements which people expect and upon which many have come to depend (foremost, the middle class and their college-swarming offspring.) But the most reckless advocates for these ill-advised refunds, rebates, and rollbacks are typically the same people leading his ouster. Meanwhile, their extracurricular pursuit of power has only worsened the financial crisis. » Add Comment (0 comments)
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Touchstone :: Dreams
Dreams themselves may have an important cognitive/emotional function, and REM may simply be a vehicle for bringing this about. For example, they may enable you to try out various hypothetical scenarios that would be potentially destabilizing if rehearsed during wakefulness. In other words, dreams may allow a sort of 'virtual reality' stimulation using various forbidden thoughts that are ordinarily eclipsed by the conscious mind; such thoughts might be brought out tentatively to see whether they can be assimilated into the story line. If they can't be, then they are repressed and once again forgotten. V.S. Ramachandran, Phantoms in the Brain, p. 283 Tuesday, July 22, 2003
Onion :: Bush Asks Congress For $30 Billion To Help Fight War On Criticism
Article Link > Critical activities, Bush noted, have not returned to > pre-Sept. 11 levels, when well-organized, coordinated > attacks on his administration were carried out on a > near-daily basis. But in spite of the National Criticism > Alert Level holding steady at yellow (elevated), admin- > istration officials warn of severe impending attacks. For details on the latest skirmish in this ongoing battle, see Maureen Dowd's most recent column: "Blame Canada" Monday, July 21, 2003
NY Times :: Early Voices: The Leap to Language
Article Link > In the 70 million years since people and mice shared a > common ancestor, there have been just three changes in the > FOXP2 protein's 715 units, Dr. Paabo reported. But two of > those changes occurred in the last six million years, the > time since humans and chimps parted company, suggesting > that changes in FOXP2 have played some important role in > human evolution. The Soul gene? |
