Lovelace and Babbage, Adventurers!

From Making Light: Lovelace and Babbage:

Kate Beaton isn’t the only one doing historical webcomics. London-based animator Sydney Padua is doing a series of comics about an alternate-historical Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, seemingly as a form of work-avoidance:

• The origin of Ada Lovelace
• Babbage vs The Economy, part 1, part 2, and part 3 (with special guest appearance by Isambard Kingdom Brunel)
• Ada Lovelace in The Person from Porlock
• Babbage and Lovelace vs The Client (in progress)

…and a few more strips and random illos can be found if you explore the site.

the greatest privilege of the rich

Teresa at Making Light: Numinous collisions quoted this from The Poverty of Michael Novak:

Novak assures us … that capitalism is not all about greed but is romantic, it involves noble sentiments of the human heart like the yearning for innovation and human creativity. “In actual capitalist practice, the love of creativity, invention, and groundbreaking enterprise are far more powerful than motives of greed,” he writes.

That bit about romantic capitalism nagged at me. This was my first reaction at Making Light:

Someone's cribbing from a note about feudalism. There's always romance at the top of a system.

A few hours later, I added this:

Just found what that reminded me of. I've been reading Tristram Hunt's Building Jerusalem. He says of Sir Walter Scott's feudal fantasies, "It was the close-knit society conjured up in Ivanhoe and the Waverly novels in which the romantic development of individual character stood paramount." Perhaps the greatest privilege of the rich is they can imagine any damn thing they please about how the world is.

The Poverty of Michael Novak is short and well worth a read. I'm very fond of Catholics who understand that Jesus didn't preach obedience to kings, priests, and corporations.

Tell Media: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate

Tell Media: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate

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Mary in a tree stump

Residents attempt to save tree stump they say depicts Our Lady - The Irish Times - Thu, Jul 09, 2009

“While we do not wish in any way to detract from devotion to Our Lady, we would also wish to avoid anything which might lead to superstition,” he said.

Now, there's a hard line to walk.

why I love Gandhi

MEANWHILE : Gandhi, for one, would have found it funny - The New York Times

When a reporter asked him what he thought of Western civilization, he famously replied: "I think it would be a good idea." He did not spare journalists either, saying: "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers."

Even the mightiest were not spared. In order to identify with India's poorest, Gandhi used to wear a homespun loincloth all the time. Winston Churchill bristled at the thought of a "half-naked fakir" going to meet the British king thus attired.

But that's exactly what Gandhi did at the Round Table Conference in London called to discuss India's future in the 1930's. He went in his loincloth to Buckingham Palace and met the king. Later, when somebody asked him if he felt that was proper, Gandhi replied: "The king had enough for both of us."

Gandhi believed his life was his message, and, as such, he lived simply, usually traveling by the cheapest form of transportation — the third class of Indian Railways. To a reporter's question as to why he did this, Gandhi said, "Because there is no fourth class."

Is capitalism's smartest economist predicting socialism?

Robert Reich's Blog: When Will The Recovery Begin? Never.

...the current economy can't "recover" because it can't go back to where it was before the crash. So instead of asking when the recovery will start, we should be asking when and how the new economy will begin.

how the Honduran golpistas see Obama

 

Image via IKN: Honduras: Enrique Ortez, the first of many to go, where they note that the golpistas have realized their racist spokesman wasn't the perfect choice.

crazy racists on parade

It must be wacky racist season, because they're being very wacky:

"El negrito del batey"

Brian Kilmeade Would Like Species and 'Ethnics' to Remain Pure

other people's art

Low_Ink_by_Nocturnal_Devil.jpg

The Secret Origin of Spin-man by Andrew Drilon

health care post of the day

Also at Metafilter: How I lost my health insurance at the hairstylist's is one story among millions about the insanity of US health care. 59% of the American public and 59% of physicians support single-payer national health insurance, but in a recent prime time town-hall meeting on health reform proposals, ABC did not air a single question about single-payer. HELP is on the way. At a HELP hearing on single-payer, Kucinich pwned a doctor who claimed Canadian health care was worse than the US's.

Rosie The Riveter by The Four Vagabonds

George MacDonald, Universalist Fantasist

Fantasy Magazine » Mastery Or Moorditch: George MacDonald And True Faith

links of the day

Cool post: The Hermitage: The One Two Bird And The Half Horse

Mexico and the generals: We Bring Fear.

 Liking Obama: Obama comments boost Zelaya | Reuters

"America supports now the restoration of the democratically elected president of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies," Obama said.

"We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not," he said in a speech in Russia.

 Liking Mrs. Zelaya: Honduras crisis: wife of deposed president leads protest - Telegraph

Israeli heroes and villains: The Peace Now Blog » Peace Now activists assaulted on video

I stopped around #40: Last Words from Death Row on truTV.com's Crime Library

No justice for the poor:  Truthdig - Reports - The Crooks Get Cash While the Poor Get Screwed

two notes for Storytelling 101

1. The opinions of the characters may not be the opinions of the author.

2. The situation at the beginning should be different than the situation at the end. This applies to the three basic plots (action, relationship, and maturation) and to the exploration of ideas.

No, I won't tell you which blogger knows surprisingly little about stories. If she was the only one, I wouldn't bother posting this.

United Breaks Guitars

I wish I was French

HELP Is on the Way - NYTimes.com

...the French health care system covers everyone, offers excellent care and costs barely more than half as much per person as our system.

links of the day

Funny for people familiar with romance comics: Why Chicks Cry

How to save billions a year: Taxing the Rich « Working-Class Perspectives

The El Paso Miracle: How can a comparatively poor, high-immigration town that sits across the border from super-violent Ciudad Juarez be one of the safest big cities in America? - Reason Magazine

"If you want to find a safe city, first determine the size of the immigrant population," says Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. "If the immigrant community represents a large proportion of the population, you're likely in one of the country's safer cities. San Diego, Laredo, El Paso—these cities are teeming with immigrants, and they're some of the safest places in the country."

if politicians cared what people want: health care

Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

Polls show that single-payer is supported by 59 percent of the American public (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09) and 59 percent of physicians (Annals of Internal Medicine, 4/1/08).

...ABC recently aired a prime time town-hall meeting (6/24/09) on President Barack Obama's health reform proposals. The forum was supposed to feature "questions from every single vantage point," according to ABC host Diane Sawyer.

Yet ABC did not air a single question about single-payer national health insurance.

Add your name to FAIR's petition to the TV networks at:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/592/t/9039/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1993