Tony G Rocco

findingDulcinea

Happy Birthday, Steve Jobs, Creator of Apple Computers

I worked for a VP of engineering who had been on Jobs' Lisa team at Apple and told me he was a "jerk," on a personal level. I have always heard rumors that he was very hard to work for, which I guess is testimony to how driven he is to create the best products possible. He chews people out, fires them, pits them one against another - whatever produces the results he wants. Whatever his shortcomings, I do think he's a creative genius. The Macintosh computer changed my life, changed personal computing and made computers accessible to millions who otherwise would have never used one. I could never have fallen in love with a DOS-based PC, for God's sake :^(.  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #5)

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On this Day: Kentucky Holds Final Public Execution in the U.S.

The history of the death penalty is quite a sordid one. Public killings as a spectacle to satisfy collective blood lust and the desire for vengeance - commonplace. Now we kill people in a cold, clinical setting using drugs, so at least it's not a form of entertainment anymore. Why is it we feel the need to do this when most of the rest of the world has done away with the death penalty as a form of barbarism? What is it in our national character that makes us so violent?  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #7)

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Clinton Urges Congolese to Advocate for Rape Victims

I didn't support Hillary Clinton for president, but I support her as Secretary of State because she cares so much about issues like this. She has the international reputation to compel people to listen to her and I hope she makes a lot of progress on behalf of women worldwide.  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #4)

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Tomb May Hold Answer to How Much Shakespeare Actually Wrote

On the one hand we tout Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time, then say that other people wrote some of his stuff. Well, if that's true, then he wasn't the greatest, at least some others were just as good. No? And hasn't anyone done a textual analysis of his work that proves whether or not it all comes from the same author?  (Aug 15, 2009 | post #8)

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Peer-to-Peer Drivers Education Program Saves Teen Lives in Texas

Time to pull the plug on cell phone use while driving. More than drunk driving, it's a major cause of accidents not just for teenagers but also pretty much all drivers, regardless of age. This seems to be a controversial idea in some circles, but it's time to outlaw it, along with putting on one's makeup, grooming one's hair, and other distracting behaviors.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #4)

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NASA Lacks Funding to Track Potentially Dangerous Asteroids

Now we have to worry about asteroids - I guess if an asteroid could kill off the dinosaurs, it can kill us off as well. I just wonder how likely it is that Congress will appropriate the funds needed to fully implement this program. It's one of those things that seems so unlikely or so far off in the future that it would be hard to get support for dishing out a lot of money.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #2)

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Happy Birthday, Garrison Keillor, Radio Host and Author

I have a long-running addiction to Prairie Home Companion. Garrison Keillor is a rare talent, hysterically funny. His skits, his monologues - all of it is really special. I was disappointed in the film about Prairie made by the late Robert Altman because it didn't do a good job of capturing the funny content in each episode of the show. If you haven't caught this show, tune into NPR weekend mornings and listen. You won't regret it.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #6)

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Tanzaniaa s Albinos Targeted for Body Parts

The human capacity for discrimination and hate based on skin color is seemingly endless. I just finished reading a piece about Indians discriminating against dark-skinned Indians. Now I read a piece about people discriminating against those with light skin. What is this all about, anyway? Why do we care so much about skin color, one way or another? I'd love to hear some theories.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #2)

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India Challenged by Racism Within

I used to work in a California town with a large Indian population. I would walk past an Indian movie theater where I noticed that all the posters of Indian movie stars showed men and women with very Anglo-looking features, which are rare among most Indians. Also, I spent a week in India on a business trip once and noted that the models in advertisements also seemed quite Anglo looking. I think there is some kind of self-loathing among Indians, from what I have seen.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #2)

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On this Day: Congress Passes Social Security Act

Social security is a brilliant program and must be preserved and extended. The anti-government ideologues who claim that government isn't the solution, it's the problem, ignore the successes of such programs as social security and the numbers of people who depend on them for the very lives.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #2)

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On this Day: Charles Mansona s Cult Members Kill 5 in Los Angeles

Today's mass murderers are lone killers who have some grievance that causes them to feel angry and hateful. Sometimes they target specific friends, family or coworkers, other times they lash out against a class of people, like women, as in the most recent mass murder. Manson, by contrast, as fitting his times, had an ideology that gave rise to his murderous deeds. His ideology, crazy as it was, enabled him to find followers and create a "family" to do his bidding. It was a time when people were seeking things, and followed people who they thought could offer them wisdom or inspiration of some kind. Manson was able to pass for such a person.  (Aug 14, 2009 | post #6)

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Obama Threatens Partisan Reform as Health Care Rift Widens

As a non-partisan independent, I supported Barack Obama's desire to transcend partisanship, but the Republicans want no part of that and only want to intensify partisan rancor. Health reform, which Republicans only want to stop, is too important to sacrifice on the altar of non-partisanship. Obama has made more than just a good-faith attempt to get Republican cooperation. Now it's time to go for the jugular and get health care reform passed, with or without Republican support.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #7)

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Death by Politeness: How Brits on the Titanic Met Their Doom

What kind of idiot puts politeness over his or her own life? There's a time and place for everything, but when you're about to drown or die from sarin gas, I think you can be excused for being less than totally deferential.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #2)

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Can the Promise of College Save High School Dropouts?

I had a cousin who wanted to drop out of his school. One summer, his father made him dig the foundation for a patio he wanted to build. He spent three months in the hot sun digging a huge whole with a shovel. His father told him that if he didn't finish high school, he'd be doing that for the rest of his life. He finished high school.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #6)

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Changing Language: Shakespeare Is a Far Cry From the English of...

Language is a form of life in the Wittgensteinian sense, and no form of life can be officiated or arbitrated by some governing body somewhere. It's evolving and changing the way all forms of life do, and for better or worse, it will be what it will be. Get used to it.  (Aug 7, 2009 | post #5)