Dakota

Testing the Personality

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Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to have avoided taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator at sometime in your life. It is a personality test based on the work of Carl Jung.

A younger colleague of his [Freud], Carl Jung, was to make the exploration of this "inner space" his life's work. He went equipped with a background in Freudian theory, of course, and with an apparently inexhaustible knowledge of mythology, religion, and philosophy. Jung was especially knowledgeable in the symbolism of complex mystical traditions such as Gnosticism, Alchemy, Kabala, and similar traditions in Hinduism and Buddhism. If anyone could make sense of the unconscious and its habit of revealing itself only in symbolic form, it would be Carl Jung.

Taking the Myers-Briggs, however, is hardly a mystical experience. The test is standard equipment of psych 101 professors, team builders, H-R departments and management consultants. It provides you with a four letter description of yourself, which tells all, and let's you know why you have difficulty in relationships with others who have scored differently. In the moment, it can deescalate an interpersonal conflict, and relegate it to a style problem. In the long run, you will never remember what all those initials stand for, and you always knew you were an introvert anyway.

Just in case you forgot your four letters or feel compelled to put yourself in a box this morning, here's the test, right at our fingertips thanks to the internets.

But enough background, there is now a revised version of the Myers- Briggs which claims to be " more relevant in our evolving civilization", and is certainly more entertaining than the original . A sample:

ENTJ: The Evil Overlord

The ENTJ is best characterized by his charisma, his ability to grasp complex situations and to think flexibly and creatively, his keen and active intelligence, and his overwhelming desire to crush the world beneath his boot. ENTJs are naturally outgoing and love the company of other people, particulalry minions, henchmen, slaves, and the others they rule with ruthless efficiency.

ENTJs usually die at the hand of secret government agents in a fiery cataclysm that destroys their entire underground fortress. Often, Evil Overlords will have a secret clone whose implanted memories contain all the knowledge and ambition of the original, stored in cryonic suspension in a safe location. The clone will appear in a sequel.

RECREATION: ENTJs enjoy spending their leisure time in groups, seeking out the company of others with whom they can exchange strategies and ideas, and test their mind control rays. They also enjoy competitive games which challenge them intellectually, such as chess, go, and "tell me where the missiles are or I'll open the pirhana cage and the girl dies."

COMPATIBILITY: Ideal companions include ENTPs, whose inventive natures often most useful; and ESTJs, who make excellent henchmen once the neural realignment is complete. ENTJs often employ the services of ISTJs but don't usually make good romantic partners with them. Under no circumstances should an ESTJ ever date an ENFJ; no good can come of it.

Famous ESTJs include Ming the Merciless, John Bigboote, and Charles Montgomery Burns.ENTJ: The Evil Overlord

Enough about Cheney. In the mood for a more complex personality analysis that should make us all take heed?

Photo note: A very loose association, having to do with variations -- I never saw a flower with flowers for petals.

Lean Pickings

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Sometimes
the only
thing
a girl
has to
offer
is a
flower
picture
and
suggestions
for a
quiet mind

Considering a Coup

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Honestly when a person witnesses the blatant takeover of a democracy, the arrogance of the suzerain and his henchhogs, and the helplessness of a majority boondoggled by sociopaths, one's thoughts turn to coup d'etat.

It's not the American way, you say. Well folks, consider the saga of American Liberty League who gave it the old college try back in 1934. You can hear all about it on the BBC.

Smedley Butler, an unsung American hero, exposed the plot by big business and it was diffused, or maybe it just went underground. Ah, those were the days of courtliness, and Butler in spite of the fact that " the plan was for him to have held near-absolute power in the newly created position of "Secretary of General Affairs," while Roosevelt would have assumed a figurehead role" demured.

Why haven't you ever heard of this? Wikipedia tells an all too familiar story:

Several scenarios have been proposed in explaining why the affair did not become a cause celebre, among which are:

* The story was an embarrassment to people of influence, and it was best to sweep it under the rug as quickly possible.
* In 1934, newspapers were controlled by a relatively small elite — according to then-Interior Secretary Harold L. Ickes, 82% of all dailies had monopolies in their communities. Proponents of the theory thus suggest that the media downplayed Butler's testimony based on the interests of their advertisers and owners.
* Some of Roosevelt's advisors were in on the plot, and downplayed it when it was exposed to prevent their dirty laundry from being aired in public.

Smedley, you might know, went on to write the first expose of the Military-Industrial Complex, a classic entitled War is a Racket, which is still worth perusal should you choose to challenge yourself in the heat of summer.

Smedley, you "Old Gimlet Eye" you, where are you now that we need you?

Photo note: The American flag, snagged by the Bushes

Going to Seed

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in context -- look up mid frame to see how well the poof was disguised

There are those who say that all of us here at Dakota have been neglecting our spiritual journey lately. Or at least we haven't been documenting it much, since there hasn't been much to document. So we're just restating an intention to do so, in hopes that something will sweep us along.

(When searching for a clickie to position under "neglecting", we first tried "at the beach", then, "pinball" and found this image. It is entitled "Archangels don't play pinball". We shall take that message to heart, and assume it means something.)

Photo note: Shot in a field of knee high dandelion-like flowers which were in various stages of going to seed. Isn't it interesting that "going to seed" has such a negative connotation when it's really quite beautiful and full of new life.

Addendum: Women writers gone to seed

The Automotive Collection

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Some days
when
the news
is so
infuriating
and one's
helpless rage
in the face of
political
sociopathy
cannot
be managed
by meditation
alone

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it pays
to haul out
the automotive
collection
in order to
lower one's
blood pressure

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and provide
a more effective
diversion than
Lindsay Lohan's
bad behavior

Photo note: The automotive collection

Dirty Lame Duck

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Did you hear about the newest fascistic fact emanating from the White House? Keep your yap shut if you don't want your assets frozen. From Walter Pincus at the Washington Post:

President Bush issued an executive order last week titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." In the extreme, it could be interpreted as targeting the financial assets of any American who directly or indirectly aids someone who has committed or "poses a significant risk of committing" violent acts "threatening the peace or stability of Iraq" or who undermines "efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform" in the war-torn country.....

The executive order, released Tuesday, was designed to target "perpetrators of violence in Iraq including Shiite militia groups linked to Iran, Sunni insurgent groups with sanctuary in Syria, and other indigenous Iraqi insurgent groups," said Molly Millerwise, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, which will determine who is in violation of the order. ....

However, the text of the order, if interpreted broadly, could cast a far bigger net to include not just those who commit violent acts or pose the risk of doing so in Iraq, but also third parties -- such as U.S. citizens in this country -- who knowingly or unknowingly aid or encourage such people.....

Under the order, the Treasury secretary -- in consultation with the secretaries of defense and state -- creates the list of those whose assets are to be frozen. However, the targeting of not just those who support perpetrators of violence but also those who support individuals who "pose a significant risk" of committing violence goes far beyond normal legal language related to intent and could be applied in a highly arbitrary manner, said Bruce Fein, a senior Justice Department official in the Reagan administration and a frequent Bush administration critic.

Fein also questioned the executive order's inclusion of third parties, such as U.S. citizens who assist, sponsor or make "any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services" to assist people on the Treasury list. "What about a lawyer hired to get someone off the list?" Fein asked.

You can read the rest. Watch those assets Hillary, Nancy and Cindy.

As Paul Slansky points out

Surprise! Bush's approval rating is cratering and suddenly administration officials are emitting ominous warnings about the imminence of another 9/11. Knowing these loathsome people as we by now do, can there be any doubt that they would see such an event as their salvation, the thing that would send Bush's numbers rocketing, just as the original attack did six years ago, when, a mere seven months after his inauguration, he was already widely perceived as an ignorant, arrogant, in-over-his-head failure? And, can there be any doubt that a panicked nation would rally around the flag and his numbers would indeed soar?

So, to every Democrat running for president -- no, to every Democrat in the House and Senate -- I say, Why isn't a single one of you pointing out IN ADVANCE, so people can take it in and understand it IN ADVANCE, before post-disaster hysteria obliterates actual reasoning, that any such attack would be NO ONE'S FAULT BUT BUSH'S?

We are going to be very careful . No one here at Dakota wants a frozen asset.

Photo note: A metaphorophoto -Dirty lame duck next to a "Support Our Troops" magnetic ribbon faded beyond recognition

Addendum: Speaking of which ---from Jay Leno "Tomorrow, President Bush will undergo a routine colonoscopy. You know what they found the last time Bush had a colonoscopy? His head."

Posted by Dakota at 12:52 PM

The Purple Packet

guts splayed

I forgot to report that the letter to the editor I wrote complaining about funeral pyres on the beach bluff was published. I thought I might get my house burned down in response, but instead, the town fathers took heed and called a moratorium (so to speak) on further abominations of this sort.

I heard about my triumph through the grapevine last weekend. I am told that I am a heroine of sorts to the local good taste afficionados.

Emboldened by my success, I have decided to speak out once again. This time about a hideous purple and chartreuse (but that doesn't really matter), one pound, unsolicited, almost completely irrelevant, twenty-five piece (I counted) packet I received in the mail. It was sent by a professional organization to which I belong, in conjunction with the US Government, which I so admire.

Please remove my name from the mailing list for the compendium "Join The Voices for Recovery". Each year, to my dismay, it becomes more elaborate.

I am a -----------. The only useful pieces of information in this huge confusing packet are the directories, which weigh one ounce, and are one tenth of the whole. The literature in this mailing (which looks like it was sold to you by an advertising agency) seems more appropriate for ---------------s.

I am writing to you, rather than simply throwing a pound of high gloss paper into the recycle bin, because I believe that it is imperative that we all improve our sustainable living practices. In that light, a mailing of this sort, directed to me, is an unconscionable expenditure of taxes, dues and natural resources. Heaven only knows what all that purple ink will do to our landfills.

I would ask you to reconsider directing this information to a different audience (or at least survey the people to whom you sent it to see what they did with it), simplify your packet and print it on recyclable paper, if it must be printed at all.

Thank you for your attention.

Aren't I the smug citizen? Next I'm writing to Nancy about impeachment.

Photo note: a portrait that does not do its subject justice

Posted by Dakota at 08:52 AM

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In addition to Maine senators Olympia Snow, Susan Collins John McCain and Joe Lieberman there are still 25% of people in this nation that can find it in their hearts to support the most dangerous psychopath on earth in his headlong determination to destroy the world. Maybe that's inflammatory, but take a look at what they're thinking.

Max Blumenthal attended a meeting of College Republicans and made a little video, which is worth watching.

In conversations with at least twenty College Republicans about the war in Iraq, I listened as they lip-synched discredited cant about "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Many of the young GOP cadres I met described the so-called "war on terror" as nothing less than the cause of their time.

Yet when I asked these College Republicans why they were not participating in this historical cause, they immediately went into contortions. Asthma. Bad knees from playing catcher in high school. "Medical reasons." "It's not for me." These were some of the excuses College Republicans offered for why they could not fight them "over there." Like the current Republican leaders who skipped out on Vietnam, the GOP's next generation would rather cheerlead from the sidelines for the war in Iraq while other, less privileged young men and women fight and die.what they're thinking. The College Republican National Convention

British journalist Johann Hari took a cruise organized by the National Review and talked to the participants while they relaxed. A sample of the chit chat:

To my left, I find a middle-aged Floridian with a neat beard. To my right are two elderly New Yorkers who look and sound like late-era Dorothy Parkers, minus the alcohol poisoning. They live on Park Avenue, they explain in precise Northern tones. "You must live near the UN building," the Floridian says to one of the New York ladies after the entree is served. Yes, she responds, shaking her head wearily. "They should suicide-bomb that place," he says. They all chuckle gently. How did that happen? How do you go from sweet to suicide-bomb in six seconds?

The conversation ebbs back to friendly chit-chat. So, you're a European, one of the Park Avenue ladies says, before offering witty commentaries on the cities she's visited. Her companion adds, "I went to Paris, and it was so lovely." Her face darkens: "But then you think - it's surrounded by Muslims." The first lady nods: "They're out there, and they're coming." Emboldened, the bearded Floridian wags a finger and says, "Down the line, we're not going to bail out the French again." He mimes picking up a phone and shouts into it, "I can't hear you, Jacques! What's that? The Muslims are doing what to you? I can't hear you!"

The divine Glenn Greenwald comments on Hari's article:

We've invaded two countries so far, both of which we continue to occupy, and we have acted militarily in countless others. And Al Qaeda has strengthened as a result. So what do we do now? "Beat down the bad guys." Truly, that is how an 8-year old reasons.

Bingo.

Photo note: Two flags are better than one.

Sun "Protection"

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Here's a little something worth noting, a piece of info that will knock your socks off --- 84% of sunscreen products are harmful to your health.

"Skin Deep" the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Safety Database has a complete report on the hazards as well as a sunscreen summary

After 29 years of debate, the government has failed to set mandatory sunscreen safety standards. Companies are free to make their own decisions on everything from advertising claims to product quality. In lieu of setting final standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises people to stay out of the sun from 10 am to 4 pm. FDA now stands in direct violation a Congressional mandate requiring the agency to finalize sunscreen safety standards by May 2006, flouting not only Congress but also consumers, who are reliant on sunscreen to protect their health.

Do we smell the sulfurous fumes of the corporatocracy rising from this black hole of disinformation?

We shall say no more in hopes that you will read the report in full. If you can't, please note that there are only ten low hazard, highly effective products on the list and four of them are variations of California Baby SPF 30+ which just happens to be on sale. Order some before the line gets too long.

Mike Adams of TargetNews recommends taking Vitamin D as an internal sunscreen, and it looks like a good idea .

Photo note: A synchronous shot of an NStar truck taken today. Liked the way the light is reflected on the ladder. Metaphorophotographically speaking, it's not bad. NStar, by the way, is some kind of utility company, professionally named to confuse the consumer and cover more turf than Mass Electric or Bell Telephone

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As you can see, I have been playing with a dismantled 3-D Mirascope purchased for a septuagenarian birthday celebration. The intent of the Mirascope is to produce a mirage of an item that has been dropped into its bottom, so
said item floats mysteriously above the mechanism. This phenomenon is nearly impossible to capture photographically, even when poked by a birthday candle. I eventually gave up and shot the mirrored parabolas individually, for a set of about 1200 pictures of the same thing, as is my wont.

An observant relative noted in passing that this particular photo is the kabbalistic version of the series.

While we're on the subject of mysticism, in the past week I received several notices from friends more familiar with the woowoo than I, that the grid would be fired yesterday. I did my best to participate, though worldly demands pressed after fifteen minutes of intentional meditation. I am sorry that I was not organized enough to alert all of you beforehand, but it's probably not too late to give it the old college try. I hope an organized effort like this can turn things around while we still have the chance. Think of the miracle of the midterm election.

Photo note: the bottom of the parabola shot on the hexagram of a Chinese checkerboard. Note the light from the window and the closest thing to a self portrait that you'll ever find on this blog

The "I" Word

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In the interest of building better citizens all of us here at Dakota have to insist that you watch Bill Moyers excellent (and balanced) video (in two parts) on the issue of impeachment.

As John Nichols of "The Nation" says during the discussion "Do not mistake impeachment for a constitutional crisis, it is the CURE for a constitutional crisis."

Yale Law Professor and blogger, Jack Balkin agrees that this administration is playing "consititutional hardball" and does not think this issue should be left to dissipate;.

At this point in Bush's Presidency three things matter above all others. They motivate this final round of constitutional hardball: The first is keeping secret what the President and his advisers have done. The second is running out the clock to prevent any significant dismantling of his policies until his term ends. The third is doing whatever he can proactively to ensure that later governments do not hold him or his associates accountable for any acts of constitutional hardball or other illegalities practiced during his term in office.

If the NSA program and the Torture Memos were examples of the second round of constitutional hardball, the Libby commutation and Harriet Meiers' refusal to testify before Congress are examples of the third round. Although his Presidency now seems to be a failure, Bush's third round of constitutional hardball may be every bit as important as the first two. That is because if Bush is never held accountable for what he did in office, future presidents will be greatly tempted to adopt features of his practices. If they temper his innovations and his excesses only slightly, they will still seem quite admirable and restrained in comparison to Bush. As a result, if Congress and the public do not decisively reject Bush's policies and practices, some particularly unsavory features of his Presidency will survive in future Administrations. If that happens, Bush's previous acts of constitutional hardball will have paid off after all. He may not have created a new and lasting constitutional regime, but he will have introduced long-lasting weaknesses and elements of decay into our constitutional system.

As Robert Link, reminds us in the comments, the entire constitutional grab for power by the Bush administration is based on a crock of chowder, as he refers us to a much earlier piece by the Reverend Robert Thomas Hayes, "Why You Can't 'War"'on 'Terror'"

So Nancy, honey, take off those kid gloves. yYu are dealing with The Pirates of the Constitutuion, and the only thing they will understand is the cold water at the end of the plank.

Photo note: a metaphorophoto - yellow toad extending itself grotesquely through distortions under an umbrella, . Are we being too partisan?

Using Animation to Educate

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As an adult with the attention span of a sand flea, I always find a comic book version helpful when faced with complexity-- just for a quick overview, of course. Even though I fully intend to read the original Shakespearean play, scientific article, fill in the blank, a well done comic orients me, and helps me to vamp at cocktail parties while I''m getting around to reading the original source.

Recently I stumbled across two comics of the explanatory variety concerning topics about which one should be informed as a good citizen You may feel free to skip these, if you understand already..

The first is a simple explanation of net neutrality -- or, if you can relate more effectively to humans, Ask a Ninja explains it too

The second is a five part NPR series (although I cannot for the life of me find the fifth section) All About Carbon as in carbon footprint -- scroll around for all the parts.

Off for the weekend, and all those cocktail parties.

Photo note: The cover of a promotional cookbook for Spry, the transfat of the 50s,

The Latest Movies from Congress

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Harriet didn't show up for her appearance before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday which lead to an edifying discussion between those who did. Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo thinks Harriet committed a felony, but, as we know, committing a felony in this administration is no longer a crime.

At least the sumptuous Sara Taylor showed up. Doesn't Sara Taylor remind you of Monica Goodling? The only information she disclosed, and that only by inference, was that she had been prepped to the max. One wonders how Sara made it so far up in the administration without the usual Christian credentials (she graduated from Drake with a degree in finance). Perhaps it's the tresses. Robert Stein writes: "Meanwhile, watching Ms. Taylor today evokes speculation about how different Paris Hilton’s life might be today if she had applied for a White House internship." Mr. Stein includes Dana Perino in the Bushie Blonde Brigade, and let's not forget Ann Coulter, though she has yet to be offered an official staff position.

As long as we're watching congressional testimony, here's the former surgeon general Richard Carmona appearing before the Oversight Committee.

Photo note: A metaphorophoto - the American flag snaggled in branches ( in this case, the Executive).

larger

birds or
indications
thereof
gray skies
clapboard
shingle
roofs

larger

wires
strings
windows
triangles

seem
to make
a summer set
of sorts

larger

but we must
mark Chertoff's words
"It's important
as we go into
the summer
season,
which is
typically
a time
people
like to relax,
to remind people
that this threat
is very alive,
and the enemy
is continuing
to try to
improve itself
and carry out
its attacks."

Revisiting the Uncanny Valley

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As you may remember, we have touched upon the uncanny valley once or twice in our day. Two additions to this eerie collection follow.

The first is a poignant commercial which you will find to be a quick and worthwhile subject of your attention.

The second is a lengthier filmella entitled Guys and Dolls. Although it has its poignant aspects, it definitely falls into a far creepier category. You may not want to watch it in its entirety. Of course, none of us here at Dakota tear ourselves away.

Photo note: For lack of an android.- a shop window

Unbottled Water

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Weren't we just ranting about bottled water a few days ago over here at Dakota?

Well, wouldn't you know it, Charles Fishman has done a thoroughly wonderful piece on the subject entitled "Message In A Bottle".

Bottled water is the food phenomenon of our times. We--a generation raised on tap water and water fountains--drink a billion bottles of water a week, and we're raising a generation that views tap water with disdain and water fountains with suspicion. We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes.

When we buy a bottle of water, what we're often buying is the bottle itself, as much as the water. We're buying the convenience--a bottle at the 7-Eleven isn't the same product as tap water, any more than a cup of coffee at Starbucks is the same as a cup of coffee from the Krups machine on your kitchen counter. And we're buying the artful story the water companies tell us about the water: where it comes from, how healthy it is, what it says about us. Surely among the choices we can make, bottled water isn't just good, it's positively virtuous.

Except for this: Bottled water is often simply an indulgence, and despite the stories we tell ourselves, it is not a benign indulgence. We're moving 1 billion bottles of water around a week in ships, trains, and trucks in the United States alone. That's a weekly convoy equivalent to 37,800 18-wheelers delivering water. (Water weighs 81/3 pounds a gallon. It's so heavy you can't fill an 18-wheeler with bottled water--you have to leave empty space.)

Meanwhile, one out of six people in the world has no dependable, safe drinking water. The global economy has contrived to deny the most fundamental element of life to 1 billion people, while delivering to us an array of water "varieties" from around the globe, not one of which we actually need. That tension is only complicated by the fact that if we suddenly decided not to purchase the lake of Poland Spring water in Hollis, Maine, none of that water would find its way to people who really are thirsty.

A chilled plastic bottle of water in the convenience-store cooler is the perfect symbol of this moment in American commerce and culture. It acknowledges our demand for instant gratification, our vanity, our token concern for health. Its packaging and transport depend entirely on cheap fossil fuel. Yes, it's just a bottle of water--modest compared with the indulgence of driving a Hummer. But when a whole industry grows up around supplying us with something we don't need--when a whole industry is built on the packaging and the presentation--it's worth asking how that happened, and what the impact is. And if you do ask, if you trace both the water and the business back to where they came from, you find a story more complicated, more bemusing, and ultimately more sobering than the bottles we tote everywhere suggest.

Do not lose heart, tap water is regaining it's snob appeal, as the green movement sweeps into some of America's finest restaurants.

Bottled water's swift transformation from glass-encased luxury good to déclassé, plastic-wrapped menace was entirely predictable. Over the past century, we've seen numerous examples of products that, so long as they were available only to a select few, were viewed by those elites as brilliant, life-improving developments: the automobile, coal-generated electricity, air conditioning. But once companies figured out how to make them available to the masses, the elites suddenly condemned them as dangerous and socially destructive.

So long as only a few people were drinking Evian, Perrier, and San Pellegrino, bottled water wasn't perceived as a societal ill. Now that everybody is toting bottles of Poland Spring, Aquafina, and Dasani, it's a big problem.

There will be water tastings at spas. New York, a city with the "champagne of tap water" running through its pipes, is about to begin a tap water promotion campaign.

So whatever you do this summer, help keep your carbon footprint dainty -- don't get caught sipping that tacky bottled water-- ask for tap.

Photo note: unbottled water - (don't even get us started about wasting water on lawns, impending water wars or
rain water harvesting )

An Array From Which to Choose

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A little something to keep you busy over the weekend while we exeunt pursued by bear

Not quite up your alley? -- try this one

View some exciting pictures

Or do a little comparison shopping

Maybe you should tear yourself away from the little screen entirely, go to an air conditioned theater nearby, watch Sicko and be spurred to action .

You're on your own folks! Ta ta

Photo note: An array shot on location in Hong Kong -- notice the tags are in English

Tossing Another One Into the Bin

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As is his wont, Bush announced Scooter's commutation under holiday cover, hoping no one would notice. An act that shows a bit of trepidation, which is a hopeful sign, given that he behaves as if he doesn't give a sweet patootie about the law or what what the American people think ----that is when they do.

Since we were unplugged over the Fourth, we missed the initial reaction, and suggest a scroll around at Firedoglake (the folks that brought you live coverage of the Libby trial) where you can follow an informed discussion of the many facets of this travesty.

Digby points out that Bush's commutation sets a rather dreadful legal precedent that will have implications for years to come. Bet Bush didn't even think of that, given that he's an MBA, not a lawyer.

Keith Olbermann, proprietor of an oasis in mainstream media, elucidates the issues for all those who watch TV.

There is talk of impeachment in the air once again, or possibly censure.

As Josh Marshall the person who figured out the pattern of firings in the Department of Justice says "...the key here is that it's inappropriate for the president to pardon or commute a sentence in a case in which he (i.e., the president) is a party to the same underlying crime. Because it amounts to obstruction of justice. It's really not that complicated.".

Photo note: A bin of carelessly handled American flags --- shot on location at Ocean State Job Lot

.

It always takes us
an inordinate
amount of time to
get back to business
here at the blog
after a hiatus
however refreshing

Photo note: Three leaves and a tendril at dawn

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Happy Independence Day

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Let us celebrate the Fourth of July with this catchy idea for the do-it-yourselfer.

Remember if you make a flag like this one yourself, you can be sure of its origins -- though we find it a bit rigid.

More than $5 million dollars worth of American flags were imported from China last year. The Chinese anticipated our desperate need after 9/11 and increased their production.

Photo note: as above

Addendum: Minnesota's right on top of it