Carey Rowland's Blog

Carey Rowland recommended Any possibility that TPM management can turn on exporting tool so reader bloggers can transfer their blogs? by artappraiser

2010-09-06T15:03:20Z

Carey Rowland Commented on A List For Posterity ... In the Event the Archives are Kept by OldenGoldenDecoy

2010-09-06T21:58:39Z

What a surprise. Don't give up the ship.

Carey Rowland recommended Flash: Fiction by wwstaebler

2010-09-05T22:06:27Z

Carey Rowland Commented on The sky is not falling on disease-breaking stem cell research by Carey Rowland

2010-09-03T10:57:09Z

A human cloned or cultured stem cell has 46 chromosomes that are duplicated each time a new cell is generated by mitosis.
An new embryo, on the other hand, is the creative result of a union between two meiotic parent cells that have generated, together, a unique (it has never existed until that moment of conception) human organism which will develop on the basis of 23 chromosomes from the male combined with 23 from the female.
46=46, or 23+23=46.
That is the difference. Whether the "23+23" act of creation takes place in coitus or test tube, the result is the same: a new human being, which is entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of birth.

Carey Rowland Commented on A History of TPM Cafe--according to Bwakfat by Bwakfat

2010-08-29T22:42:31Z

My brief tagalong here has been educational and provocative.
Whatever happens, it has been a newsy, serendipitous thrill-ride, with many a memorable talking point, and no small amount of relevant info/stats, which serves well to lube the wheels of free speech and free press in this, the most politically literate nation on God's green earth.
Thank you, Josh, and thanks to all you wild-eyed, pitchfork-thumpin' TPMers out there in cyberspace.
Write on!

Carey Rowland recommended A History of TPM Cafe--according to Bwakfat by Bwakfat

2010-08-29T17:36:13Z

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-26T10:50:03Z

Although she plays the MSM like a guitar, somehow I don't think she has much to do with the "ruling class."
There is some very fundamental discontent fermenting at the grass roots, probably along the lines of that "ruined middle class" that Chuck mentioned. She is well-attuned to it, because that's where she came from.
You have to give the lady a little credit; she handles her fifteen minutes quite skillfully compared to others whose tenure in the limelight has driven them to obsessive destructive behaviors.

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-26T01:49:53Z

That is alarming. Which Hoffer book is that?

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-25T23:59:06Z

I like to disregard all class designations that might be assigned to me.
As a person of obstinately moderate inclinations,I consider the "mutual exclusion" factions on both ends a source of continuous amusement.
Hey moat, thanks for your insightful comments.

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-25T21:46:28Z

Thank you, moat, for so concisely identifying the difference.
Here's a sentence in the Fish article that got to wondering about this:
Paul Zarembka played (and was) the left-leaning academic economist. He said, “The ruling class will do anything to keep in power.”
It seems to me that the Left sees "the ruling class" as rich people, mostly Republicans, who carelessly disregard environmental and social responsibilities.
The Right sees the ruling class as an elite club, mostly Democrats, closely connected to the media that wants to take their money away.
I am amused that within a couple days time I saw that phrase "the ruling class" used by two sources on opposite ends of the spectrum.
I don't even like using "class" as an explanation for anything. Every man or woman is the captain of his/her own destiny.

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-25T17:31:18Z

Stilli, you've actually stated my point more clearly than I did. It's the "natural order of things," or survival of the richest.
And yet there is an ebb and flow to it. I suppose that in modern times, what reverses the tide is revolution, which sets the flow of resources and wealth back in the plebian direction for awhile until the potentates can muster their wealth-gathering machinations again.
Not that it's right, of course. There are moral remedies, you know, or at least buffers to minimize the abuses. In Mosaic law, for instance, the folks who have plenty are instructed to provide for the widows, orphans, aliens, slaves, and to leave the edges of their fields unharvested so that po'folks can glean grain from the fields of the rich.
We will always have the poor among us, but decency and the moral order of man demands that they not be exploited. Sometimes when they are exploited, they throw off the yoke of oppression, and I suppose that is part of the natural order of things too.
Some people have friends in high places; others have friends in low places. Every so often in history the sword and guillotine even things out a little bit. That's human history.

Carey Rowland Commented on A "Ruling Class"? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-25T14:56:02Z

Thanks for the data-rich link, wendy. I'll take a closer look at it it tonight when there's time.
Looks like these trends are cyclical, a little like the tides, eh?
Right now we're at a high point for some, low for others. I wonder what the leveler will be?
Last time, it was a war, sorry to say. But these days, we've had a war going on for ten years now, so there's something different going on.

Carey Rowland Commented on got them sharia-sheddin' blues again by Carey Rowland

2010-08-23T12:51:21Z

If men can figure out how to be hypocrites, can they also, on the other side of the coin, determine when and/or how to"occasionally "do the right thing?
And if they can make that determination, where the urge to act rightly come from?

Carey Rowland Commented on Your link in the Money Chain? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-20T10:16:00Z

I hear ya, cowboy. Good points. When the issues revolve around surplus or luxury goods, such as the MP3, your tale rings true. I can see it happening all over the place, especially in Washington, not far from Jersey where Stacy had her first experience with free enterprise.
The situation gets a little more complicated when we're talking about fundamental needs related to subsistence--like food, housing, and "health care."
If those are not addressed on a societal level, then peace and safety for everyone is at risk. And I think that's what we're approaching now.
The balance in public administration is to maintain order, fiscally, legally and morally, so that resourceful folks are relatively (not totally--those days are gone forever) unencumbered, unhindered by the demands of the welfare/graft state. Then the energetic ones can sell doughnuts, and pay 10% tax on their profits, without being hassled to death or bankruptcy by the entitlement crowd.

Carey Rowland Commented on Your link in the Money Chain? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-19T10:56:57Z

Granted, Ellen, we are not all going to be capitalists. I am not one myself; I am a working guy, but I appreciate energetic, resourceful people of any stripe who act constructively on behalf of themselves and those whom they love.
Flora sounds a little like Norma Rae, who inspired workers in Gastonia NC near where I live, many a year ago. I like what I read about Flora: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/at/tristan.html

Capitalism has gotten a bad rap in some quarters these days because of abuses of greedy people, but shit happens no matter how you set up a society, because we are humans.
What I'm advocating is getting back to the real roots of the good life--People acting in love to provide for, and educate, themselves and their loved ones.
My wife of thirty years, who, as a nurse, makes thrice my income, agrees with me; our, two journalist daughters are not sitting around waiting for life to land in their laps either, in spite of the condition of that profession.

Carey Rowland Commented on Your link in the Money Chain? by Carey Rowland

2010-08-19T10:30:05Z

Is that any way to live? Don't think so, and a lot of folks are nuts, preferring to live on the dole than take a shot at responsibility. This group includes many formerly affluent people. But it aint what makes life worth livin'.
We need to discipline ourselves to stay busy--remain engaged with the great wheel of human activity and enterprise. It makes for a better life, and contributes a helpful two cents, or two thousand dollars, to the general fund, and makes it just a little easier for others to also pull their own weight.

Carey Rowland Commented on 'Isma'il, chill out! Yitzak, go sit in the corner. by Carey Rowland

2010-08-17T11:16:08Z

Yeah, stilli, and I'm enjoying this life too. I'm not looking for an exit ticket.I see a rough road ahead for everybody on the planet.
But because of ancient revelations about the human propensity for trouble, we are forewarned. The forewarnings also include helpful instructions, pertaining not to gold and guns, but to mercy and forgiveness.
Christ, moreso than the other two, emphasized these two essential attributes--mercy and forgiveness-- of truly successful life.
His so-called followers who conducted the Crusades, the Inquisition, and turned a blind eye to the Holocaust--they'll have to answer to Him for their deeds.
And me--I'm following Him, not them. He didn't say attack the infidels. He said love them and pray for them. Whereas, Mohammed said, as much as I've heard and read--to attack the infidel.
And therein lies the problem for coexistence on this planet.

Carey Rowland Commented on 'Isma'il, chill out! Yitzak, go sit in the corner. by Carey Rowland

2010-08-16T21:56:44Z

'scuse me for bein ole fashioned, but imho the only deliverance from this three-ringed accident waiting to happen is when messiah returns.
I don't endorse the Crusades. It was a totally misguided effort, because according to Yeshua its not about real estate or temples or mosques on this earth, but its about a life to come in the eternal hereafter, a life that already thrives inside of me and inside of those who believe.
Isaac and Ismail are wasting their time. I wish they could take the sermon on the mount to heart. Come to think of it, I wish most Christians would give that discourse a more serious application to the world in which we live right here right now.

Carey Rowland Commented on 'Isma'il, chill out! Yitzak, go sit in the corner. by Carey Rowland

2010-08-16T21:46:04Z

Right, Kali can do it! such run-ons are tossed in just for fun. Provoking a yikes! from Kali has made my day.
And I know the metaphors were a little sloggy, er, sloppy. But this blogging thing is an indoor sport for me, and to write such a sentence and try to get away with it is a game that I enjoy, kinda like letting go of the handlebars, y'know. Did I detect a tone of amusement in Kali's yikes!?
If so, my mission is accomplished.
Thanks, jonnie, for chiming in, and for giving it a read.