the kids are alright

dear readers, i present for your enjoyment, the
artful juxtaposition of quotes taken out of context.


Studies: 90 percent of kids use computers

“About 90 percent of people ages 5 to 17 use computers
and 59 percent of them use the Internet — rates that are, in both
cases, higher than those of adults. Even kindergartners are
becoming more plugged in: One out of four 5-year-olds uses the
Internet.”


VC Guru on Coming of the ‘Next Big Thing’


Q: So, Guy, tell me… what will be the next big thing?

Almost by definition that is in the hearts and minds of young
people in educational institutions. The job of the early stage
investors is to find those people, and not necessarily to know what
that thing is. People have hazard at guesses — a real explosion in
biotech or wireless, but the wireless journey has already begun.
That may already be here so I don’t know if you can call it the
next big thing. Those are the ones mentioned most often — wireless
and biotech.”

on dogs and death

harper

jon katz hits the nail on the head in his bit in

“When Should You Put Your Dog Down? How to make a decision you
never want to make.”

:

“As the owner of three dogs, I spend more than I can
truly afford to keep them healthy and vigorous. But as my
conversations with Jack reminded me, they are not people. Their
lives and deaths ought not be conflated or confused with human
losses.

To love dogs is to know death and to accept that there’s never a
time we are more morally obliged to speak for them than when they
face the end of their lives.”

not so long ago, we had to make

a decision you never want to make

. luckily, our vet was empathetic yet pragmatic in laying out the
options.

language and politics

regular readers will know that

i’ve got a thing

for

george lakoff
,

which started around the time that i was exposed to

“metaphors we live by”

at
evergreen

[ the only school with a

molluscan mascot
!

].

apparently george has started a

progressive think tank

and, quiet naturally, he’s focusing on language :

“The background for Rockridge is that conservatives,
especially conservative think tanks, have framed virtually every
issue from their perspective. They have put a huge amount of money
into creating the language for their worldview and getting it out
there. Progressives have done virtually nothing. Even the new
Center for American Progress, the think tank that John Podesta
[former chief of staff for the Clinton administration] is setting
up, is not dedicated to this at all. I asked Podesta who was going
to do the Center’s framing. He got a blank look, thought for a
second and then said, “You!” Which meant they haven’t thought about
it at all. And that’s the problem. Liberals don’t get it. They
don’t understand what it is they have to be doing.”

[ via the always informative
rafe colburn

]

when dogs attack


ugh. a couple of hours ago, the dogs went crazy in the backyard and
we went outside to discover that they had cornered a big, fat and
unfortunate raccoon and were giving it a working over. the raccoon
was doing an ferocious job of defending itself, but it was clear
that it was going to end badly. i couldn’t do much beyond hollering
and waiving my hands wildly in a mostly useless attempt at convincing the normally docile dogs that
tearing a raccoon to bits was not really a great idea.

after a round of shaking the raccoon like a rag doll [ keep in mind
this is a rag doll that’s the size of a not-too-small dog ], mauja
decided to drop it and play a little. the raccoon was in no mood
for play and went after mauja with a vengeance. this suffiently
freaked out cadence enough that she decided that maybe it was a
good time to step away from the action. mauja then decides that
maybe he should get a little breathing room and stepped back, giving
the racoon just enough space to somehow climb up the fence and into the neighbor’s tree.

we called animal control and the police and both said that they
will not under any circumstances go anywhere near a wild, injured
raccoon.

now, hours later, if you go in the backyard, you can hear a slowly
dying raccoon, rasping and gurlging in the tree. i have no idea
what to do. the humane thing would be to just put it out of its
misery, but i haven’t got a gun and i’m not about to climb the tree
and do it in with a shovel.

{ intertwingled since 2000 }