RT @JRMcGrail: RIP 2016 — Carrie Fisher hologram is a nice touch. https://t.co/jblGpuh7Io

RIP 2016 — Carrie Fisher hologram is a nice touch. https://t.co/jblGpuh7Io

— J.R. McGrail 📎 (@JRMcGrail) December 31, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

RT @DanielPink: Has the world been getting better or worse? @MaxCRoser has the answer -- in charts. Happy New Year.… https://t.co/CpW7Uk3KYI

Has the world been getting better or worse? @MaxCRoser has the answer -- in charts. Happy New Year. https://t.co/Iys01Uvt4P http://pic.twitter.com/UIZGYH4wrb

— Daniel Pink (@DanielPink) December 30, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

RT @NASA: Our #EPIC camera was collecting Earth data when the moon photobombed its way into the shot: https://t.co/z5VNJEWHQS https://t.co/pjO0At9Y5R

Our #EPIC camera was collecting Earth data when the moon photobombed its way into the shot: https://t.co/z5VNJEWHQS http://pic.twitter.com/pjO0At9Y5R

— NASA (@NASA) July 11, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

Citizenship Pro Tips

Remember that email is skywriting. 

http://qz.com/846940/a-yale-history-professors-20-point-guide-to-defending-democracy-under-a-trump-presidency/

The title relates to Trump, but the advice is timeless.

Classic Milton Friedman 2x2

Four ways to spend money:

1. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money.

2. You can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost.

3. I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch!

4. I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get.

Because everyone needs another coffee mug

https://www.etsy.com/listing/290826397/teacher-mug-teacher-gift-idea-being-a

In defense of Scrooge https://t.co/At4keYaQ8l

In defense of Scrooge https://t.co/At4keYaQ8l

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 20, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians https://t.co/FWhsmSuER4 via @YouTube

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians https://t.co/FWhsmSuER4 via @YouTube

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 20, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

'All I Want for Christmas' Carpool Karaoke https://t.co/s31Rih7XQ2 via @YouTube

'All I Want for Christmas' Carpool Karaoke https://t.co/s31Rih7XQ2 via @YouTube

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 16, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

Lessig on Elector Ethics https://t.co/4N0NoySBRU via @YouTube

Lessig on Elector Ethics https://t.co/4N0NoySBRU via @YouTube

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 16, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

RT @alanferrier: Who would have believed that the perfect Wikipedia photo caption could have been improved upon? https://t.co/pLedKWbs1o

Who would have believed that the perfect Wikipedia photo caption could have been improved upon? http://pic.twitter.com/pLedKWbs1o

— Alan Ferrier (@alanferrier) December 13, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

[F]eminists ... [are] motivated by the belief that men benefit from a safer, more equal and more just world. https://t.co/fbXJfPzKeW

[F]eminists ... [are] motivated by the belief that men benefit from a safer, more equal and more just world. https://t.co/fbXJfPzKeW

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 14, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

RT @cegriff3: A cliche, but he had the Right Stuff. Hero, humble, great American. Served his country his entire life. #johnglenn https://t.co/M6CSnVRUhh

A cliche, but he had the Right Stuff. Hero, humble, great American. Served his country his entire life. #johnglenn http://pic.twitter.com/M6CSnVRUhh

— Charlie Griffith (@cegriff3) December 9, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

[A] lack of. . . predictability can be destabilizing because it forces all states to plan for the worst. https://t.co/ypLkEIM97G

[A] lack of. . . predictability can be destabilizing because it forces all states to plan for the worst. https://t.co/ypLkEIM97G

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 5, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

James Bond Theme by The Skatalites. https://t.co/cq1EYZnIpx

James Bond Theme by The Skatalites. https://t.co/cq1EYZnIpx

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 5, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

Report on Yale's Committee on Renaming https://t.co/dr28MkXMy5

Report on Yale's Committee on Renaming https://t.co/dr28MkXMy5

— Douglas Allen (@DouglasHAllen) December 2, 2016

from Twitter https://twitter.com/DouglasHAllen

Jon Stewart at the Rally

"These cars — that’s a school teacher who thinks taxes are too high…there’s a mom with two kids who can’t think about anything else…another car, the lady’s in the NRA. She loves Oprah…An investment banker, gay, also likes Oprah…a Latino carpenter…a fundamentalist vacuum salesman…a Mormon Jay Z fan…But this is us. Everyone of the cars that you see is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear — often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers.

And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile-long, 30-foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river…And they do it. Concession by concession. You go. Then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go — oh my god, is that an NRA sticker on your car, an Obama sticker on your car? Well, that’s OK. You go and then I’ll go…”Sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute. But that individual is rare and he is scorned, and he is not hired as an analyst.

Because we know instinctively as a people that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light we have to work together and the truth is, there will always be darkness. And sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land. Sometimes it’s just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together.

If you want to know why I’m here and what I want from you I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. You’re presence was what I wanted. Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. To see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you.”

- Jon Stewart in his closing address

http://www.nola.com/stewart-colbert/2010/10/readwatch_jon_stewarts_closing.html

All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan

All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace

I like to think (and
the sooner the better!)
of a cybernetic meadow
where mammals and computers
live together in mutually
programming harmony
like pure water
touching clear sky. 

I like to think
(right now, please!)
of a cybernetic forest
filled with pines and electronics
where deer stroll peacefully
past computers
as if they were flowers
with spinning blossoms. 

I like to think
(it has to be!)
of a cybernetic ecology
where we are free of our labors
and joined back to nature,
returned to our mammal
brothers and sisters,
and all watched over
by machines of loving grace.

Linda Pastan Poem -- Algebra

     Algebra     by Linda Pastan

     I used to solve equations easily.
     If train A left Sioux Falls
     at nine o'clock, traveling
     at a fixed rate,
     I knew when it would meet train B.
     Now I wonder if the trains will crash;
     or else I picture naked limbs
     through Pullman windows, each
     a small vignette of longing.

      And I knew X, or thought I did,
     shuttled it back and forth
     like a poor goat
     across the equal sign.
     X was the unknown on a motor bike,
     those autumn days when leaves flew past
     the color of pencil shavings.
     Obedient as a genie, it gave me answers
     to what I thought were questions.

      Unsolved equations later, and winter now,
     I know X better than I did.
     His is the scarecrow's bitter mouth
     sewn shut in cross-stitch;
     the footprint of a weasel on snow.
     X is the unknown assailant.
     X marks the spot
     towards which we speed like trains,
     at a fixed rate.

"Algebra" is in Pastan's collection Carnival Evening:  New and Selected Poems 1968-1998 ( W W Norton, 1998).