HEY GOOGLE READER, OH GOOGLE READER...

...will you tell me the time? How much longer will it be till I am able to unsubscribe to websites on my Google Reader? Your video about how to set up Google Reader is clear and easy to follow, but when I try to unsubscribe to a site, I cannot succeed. I unsubscribe to several blogs almost daily, and the sites disappear until I go offline, but when I go online again, like ghosts from the past, they are back. These are sites which are no longer active and blogs which have new names or new website addresses. You see, I have no further use for them, and I want them gone when I unsubscribe. Please!!!

UPDATE: I seem to have successfully unsubscribed to the unwanted blogs on my reader for now. My virtual friend, Renz, suggested that I check to see which blogs I was following on Blogger. I tried to delete the blogs I wanted to be rid of there, but I could find no way, but there was a function which allowed me to hide them from my list. Once I'd hidden all the blogs I wanted gone, I went back to Google Reader, clicked on 'Manage subscriptions', checked the box for all the blogs I wanted off my list, clicked 'unsubscribe' at the top of the page, and they were gone. I'm not an optimistic person, so I can't quite believe the unwanted subscriptions are gone forever, but last night and today, they are not there. Thank you, Renz.

This process may not work for everyone, but I hope it helps a few of you out there.

UPDATE 2: Well, that didn't take long. The unwanted blogs are back in my Google Reader. They say nothing is forever, but once in my Google Reader, always in my Google Reader. There you have it.

UPDATE 3: Finally, finally the unsubscribed blogs are out of my Google Reader. The difficulty arose from fact that at the same time I was subscribing to the feed of blogs in Google Reader, I began following certain blogs on Blogger. When I unsubscribed from the sites on Google Reader, I was still following them on Blogger. The fix included not only the 'unsubscribe' function on Google Reader but also the 'stop following' function on Blogger. I'll quote my friend Renz's words on the instructions for how to stop following a site on Blogger.

OK, on Blogger Dashboard there's this box called "Reader" - it lists the blogs you are following and on the right shows you current posts. At the bottom of the box is the prompt to "manage" - and click on that. The pop up lists the blogs you are following - to the right of each one is "settings" - when you click on that you get an individual pop up for that blog and in it you find "stop following" - click on that and confirm witht he prompt. You should be done following then.

Then, I went back to Google Reader and unsubscribed to the sites once again. Voila! The deed was done!

I realize that not everyone will be helped by these instructions, but I hope a few people will. In the end, the difficulty was not with Google Reader but with the double subscriptions. I thank Renz for his patience with me and his suggestions to try this and try that before arriving finally at my goal of unsubscribing to the websites.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Our lives were simple when all we owned fit in our 1961 Ford Falcon.

Picture from LOVEFords.

OCCUPY NEW ORLEANS

From NOLA.com:

Hundreds of people, young and old, black and white, marched with signs held high and slogans spewing. It was a disjointed group: upbeat, angry, courteous, displeased, but united in unhappiness with the current economic and political climate. If there was a singular message shared among the masses, it centered on a simple idea: The status quo has got to go.

The "Occupy NOLA" protest and march was one of dozens of social actions held recently across the country, offshoots of a larger ongoing demonstration on Wall Street in New York City.

The marchers at Lafayette Square

Images from Occupy NOLA on Facebook.

Looks great doesn't it? I wish we had been there. Grandpère and I went to New Orleans yesterday, but we did not arrive at Lafayette Square until 3:00PM. By then the gathering at Lafayette Square in front of the Federal Building was over, and the group had moved on to Duncan Plaza in front of City Hall...the story of my life. The rally at Lafayette Square was tentatively scheduled to begin between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon when the marchers arrived. Alas, the march went faster than was expected, and the marchers arrived at the square at around 1:00PM.

Once we left home, we had no further access to the internet, what with being technologically old-timey and all. The details of the march were, no doubt, Tweeted and Facebooked, but we had no connection.

At Lafayette Square, we ran into a couple of stray marchers, and we decided to share a cab to Duncan Plaza, which was only about a mile away, but still.... When we arrived at Duncan Plaza, there were around 150 people left of the crowd, mostly spread out on the grass around the plaza.





A General Assembly of Occupy NOLA was held in Duncan Plaza later yesterday evening, and occupiers who were camping out spent the night in the plaza.



Below you see the signs which are homemade, not professional signs paid for by the Koch Brothers.



This nice guy in the red shirt was one of our taxi partners.



When GP saw TV cameras, he became antsy and wanted to leave. He did NOT want me on TV. I didn't particularly want to be on TV, but if the camera captured me, I would not have cared.

The visit to the scene of the protest was my thing, not his thing, and he was kind enough to accompany me. Being a democracy of two we had to negotiate our way through the process, as we each had our say, and then we arrived at consensus. I prevailed upon him to let me stay a while longer to talk to a few more people.

Below are some of the folks with whom I chatted as long as Grandpère would permit.





Some of the responses to my question, 'Why are you here?'

I've been waiting to do this for 10 years! There is so much that is wrong in this country, and no one is watching out for the 99%.

We want the 1% to pay their fair share of taxes.

One man wanted the police chief in New Orleans fired. He wanted me to know why there were so many criminals in NO. He said, 'Too many black people have no hope.'

We are the majority in the country, and no one is listening to us.

The big banks and the corporations run the country, and their executives get richer as the middle class and the poor get poorer.

The police accompanied the protestors during the march, and relations between the two groups were cordial. A few policemen were across the street from the plaza, but they apparently saw nothing to police. Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu paid an impromptu visit to the people in the plaza and chatted with them. It was not a photo op. You can follow the latest updates on the Occupy NOLA Facebook page.

Photo update from Occupy Wall Street/Foley Square/NYC:

Thanks to Roger Bishop Alan. It takes one to know one. (I am a retired librarian.)

THE HORSE

An out-of-towner drove his car into a ditch in a desolated area.

Luckily, a local farmer came by with Buddy, his big strong horse. He hitched Buddy up to the car and yelled, "Pull, Nellie, pull!"

Buddy didn't move.

Then the farmer hollered, "Pull, Buster, pull!"

Buddy didn't respond.

Once more the farmer commanded, "Pull, Coco, pull!"

Nothing.

Then the farmer nonchalantly said, "Pull, Buddy, pull!" And the horse easily dragged the car out of the ditch.

The motorist was most appreciative but very curious. He asked the farmer why he called his horse by the wrong name three times.

"Well . . . Buddy is blind, and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn't even try!"


Cheers,

Paul (A.)

A little like life.

WEIRDEST LOL OF THE DAY

Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin notes the following quote from presidential candidate Rick Santorum:

“When you look at someone to determine whether they’d be the right person for public office, look at who they lay down with at night and what they believe,” Santorum said.

Rick's is a mind that blows mine. Rick's body may leave the bed and the bedroom, but seemingly his mind stays behind.

Picture from Wikipedia.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DESMOND TUTU!

"Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don't want to repeat what happened."
— Desmond Tutu

Image from Wikipedia.

MATTHEW SHEPARD - IN MEMORIAM

From Wikipedia:

Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a student at the University of Wyoming who was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, in October 1998. He was attacked on the night of October 6–7, and died at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, on October 12 from severe head injuries.

During the trial, witnesses stated that Shepard was targeted because of his sexual orientation. Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to the contention of hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels.

In 2009, his mother Judy Shepard authored a book The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed. On October 22, 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Matthew Shepard Act for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Obama signed the legislation into law.

Sadly, as Craigkg at Daily Kos points out:

I wish that were the end of the story, but unfortunately it is not. Some 709 days after becoming law, the law has yet to be used in any hate bias motivated crime where the bias motivation was the victim's actual or perceived gender identity or sexual orientation.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to all who love Matthew.

ABOUT THOSE DEMONSTRATIONS....

Occupy New Orleans

If you're in the neighborhood and want to be in that number tomorrow, check out their Facebook page for the details.

Rush Limbaugh called the demonstrators 'a parade of human debris'.

And for lagniappe...



'Baby, Please Make a Change' performed by Hugh Laurie with Tom Jones and Irma Thomas from the album 'Let Them Talk'.

THE CALLING OF MATTHEW

CARPACCIO, Vittore - 'The Calling of Matthew' - 1502
Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, Venice

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.'

(Matthew 9:9-13)

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer)

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

THE USEFULNESS OF THE OXFORD COMMA

From Oxford Dictionaries:

What is the 'Oxford comma'?

The 'Oxford comma' is an optional comma before the word 'and' at the end of a list:

We sell books, videos, and magazines.

It's known as the Oxford comma because it was traditionally used by printers, readers, and editors at Oxford University Press. Not all writers and publishers use it, but it can clarify the meaning of a sentence when the items in a list are not single words:

These items are available in black and white, red and yellow, and blue and green.

The Oxford comma is also known as the 'serial comma'.

Rumors fly around and about on the demise of the Oxford comma, but it appears that the wee mark has life, yet.

From Linda Holmes on NPR:

For now, the Oxford comma lives on at Oxford. And it lives on in my heart. Life is nasty, brutish, and short (or, to introduce unnecessary ambiguity, "life is nasty, brutish and short"), and the least I can do for myself is to hold tight to the linguistic niceties about which I, for whatever reason, care. It's comforting. It's calming. And when it comes to taking a firm position about mostly unimportant debates, that's about all I can hope for.

The Oxford comma lives on in my heart, too, and I will continue to place the mark in a series. Even if the comma dies, I will flog the poor creature for my personal use, so long as I live.