February 08, 2010

Krugman: We have become 18th-century Poland

Op-Ed Columnist - America Is Not Yet Lost - NYTimes.com


Instead of fraying under the strain of imperial overstretch, we’re paralyzed by procedure. Instead of re-enacting the decline and fall of Rome, we’re re-enacting the dissolution of 18th-century Poland.

A brief history lesson: In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Polish legislature, the Sejm, operated on the unanimity principle: any member could nullify legislation by shouting “I do not allow!” This made the nation largely ungovernable, and neighboring regimes began hacking off pieces of its territory. By 1795 Poland had disappeared, not to re-emerge for more than a century.

Today, the U.S. Senate seems determined to make the Sejm look good by comparison.

Last week, after nine months, the Senate finally approved Martha Johnson to head the General Services Administration, which runs government buildings and purchases supplies. It’s an essentially nonpolitical position, and nobody questioned Ms. Johnson’s qualifications: she was approved by a vote of 94 to 2. But Senator Christopher Bond, Republican of Missouri, had put a “hold” on her appointment to pressure the government into approving a building project in Kansas City.
. . .
The truth is that given the state of American politics, the way the Senate works is no longer consistent with a functioning government. Senators themselves should recognize this fact and push through changes in those rules, including eliminating or at least limiting the filibuster. This is something they could and should do, by majority vote, on the first day of the next Senate session.

We love XKCD

I spotted Bruce Schneier, Wil Wheaton and Neil Gaiman. I'm sure there are a bunch more people in this video who I should know.

Is Iran just making medical isotopes with their reactor?

BBC News - Iran confuses again with 'further enrichment'

It's what they claim, and what every shred of evidence points to. But it still is sort of bewildering.


Iran's announcement that it will further enrich its stock of uranium adds to suspicion of its ultimate intentions but leaves the United States and its allies as confused as ever.

There are still no answers to the questions: Does Iran intend to build a nuclear device one day?

Is it simply acquiring some of the know-how so that it could do so?

Is it, as it says, just developing the peaceful use of nuclear power, exercising its rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (though this is for the moment superseded by the demands of the Security Council and the UN's nuclear watchdog the IAEA that it stop all enrichment activities)?
. . .
It has said that it will raise the level of its uranium enrichment only to a level not suitable for a nuclear weapon and only for a particular purpose.

Specifically, it has said it will take some of the uranium it has enriched to the 3.5% level needed for nuclear power station fuel and will further enrich it to 20%, but not to the 90% needed for a useable nuclear bomb. One assumes it can do this, though the IAEA will have to verify it. Iran is under monitoring, though not of the most intrusive type.

Mass Effect 2 -- All the romantic/sex cutscenes

The Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2's Romantic Interludes - mass effect 2 - Kotaku

Click through for all of them, below are two of the better ones.

MUNI bus runs over hydrant with extended wheelchair lift

Muni Releases Statement After 22 Fillmore Hits Fire Hydrant With Wheelchair Lift: News: SFAppeal

At approximately 5:45 p.m., a customer exiting a 22 Fillmore electric trolley bus fell from the extended wheelchair lift of the vehicle, which was stopped (pointed southbound) on Fillmore Street at Haight Street (the northwest corner). The customer was transported to the hospital with unknown injuries. At approximately 6:05 p.m., the Muni bus moved forward and the wheelchair lift hit a fire hydrant and sheared it from the sidewalk. The cause of the bus's movement is under investigation. The fire hydrant reportedly struck a Muni Inspector who had responded to the incident. The Inspector was treated at the scene. Water from the hydrant reportedly caused flooding in at least one nearby building.


This is my old block. Holy crap.

Die Antwoord Is "Fake," And So What?

Die Antwoord Is "Fake," And So What? - Backlashes - Videogum

Nothing about Die Antwoord ever really suggested that they WEREN'T art school drop-outs with a half-finished thesis paper on post-Weimar Republic performance art. Dude was wearing Dark Side of the Moon boxers for goodness' sake, and the girl had on a t-shirt that probably cost 599.419 South African Rand. If you looked at their website, which is beautiful and interesting, they give a shout out to their HAIR STYLIST. The "Ninja" video was a Keith Haring nightmare.

I am just saying: let us not turn our backs on Die Antwoord. Not now. I'm sure for some reason everyone would have liked it better if they were actually borderline mentally-retarded Poor Children from Ghettos covered in Generic Cheetoes Dust and Meth Crumbs or whatever, but none of these new revelations makes what they are doing any less great.

We all agreed that we should give them whatever they want, and I maintain that that is still the smart thing to do. It was always "give them whatever they want because what they are doing is great," not "give them whatever they want unless I find out that they are not actually addicted to Jenkem in attempt to escape from their abject misery." The joy that we felt at discovering them was unapproachable, and nothing can take that away from us.

February 07, 2010

The Four Horsemen of the Obamapocalypse: Rahm, Robert, Valerie and David

emanuel jarrett axelrod gibbs 100th day.jpg

Steve Clemons: Core Chicago Team Sinking Obama Presidency

Financial Times Washington Bureau Chief Edward Luce has written a granularly informed insider account about those who hold the keys to the inner most sanctum of Obama Land -- Rahm Emanuel, Robert Gibbs, Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod. ...

"What went wrong? Pundits, Democratic lawmakers and opinion pollsters offer a ...smorgasbord of reasons... those around him have a more specific diagnosis - and one that is striking in its uniformity. The Obama White House is geared for campaigning rather than governing, they say...."

Luce's brief paints a picture of even a well-meaning, policy-focused "Obama the man" being warped out of shape by "Obama the team." ...

But one thing essential to understand is that the kind of policy that smart strategists -- including by people like National Security Adviser Jim Jones, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other advisers like Denis McDonough, Tom Donilon, James Steinberg, William Burns, (previously Gregory Craig) -- would be putting forward is getting twisted either in the rough-and-tumble of a a team of rivals operation that is not working, or is being distorted by the Chicago political gang's tactical advice that is seducing Obama towards a course that has not only violated deals he made with those who voted him into office but which is failing to hit any of the major strategic targets by which the administration will be historically measured.

Kids in the Hall -- Three for the Moon

KITH - Three For The Moon

Next Time Someone Gripes About Borders Hiring Supermarket CEOs, Remember This Study

Bad Decisions May Be Contagious -- Torrice 2009 (1110): 2 -- ScienceNOW

Galinsky believes that the results suggest that companies trying to reverse results of bad decisions should find true outsiders. He points to troubled automaker Ford as an example. Instead of hiring from within--as General Motors (GM) recently did--Ford made Alan Mulally from Boeing, an aerospace company, their chief executive officer. Many experts believe that Ford is now recovering quicker than GM. "It's true that insiders have more knowledge," Galinsky says. "But when you are already down the road of a failed course of action, you really need ... a true outsider."

Prop.8 judge outed in the Chron today

Judge being gay a nonissue during Prop. 8 trial

The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay.

Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise - or advertise - his orientation.

They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing - whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians.

"There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view," said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8.

After mocking Obama for using a teleprompter, Palin refers to notes written on her palm

It's not just that Sarah wrote notes on her palm--but what sh... on Twitpic

So. Weird.

And what's wrong with a teleprompter? I never saw anyone complain when Bush or Clinton or Bush or Reagan used them.

Afghanistan considering military conscription

BBC News - Karzai considers introducing Afghan conscription

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told a conference of the world's top defence officials in Germany that he is considering introducing conscription.

The Afghan president said at the summit in Munich he wants to build an army and police force of 300,000 by 2012.

His comments come as US-led forces are poised to launch a major offensive in Helmand province against the Taliban.

The Nato commander, General Stanley McChrystal, said the operation would "send a strong signal".

Fighting corruption with a zero-Rupee note

Paying Zero for Public Services | Exploring the interactions among public opinion, governance, and the public sphere

This is genius. A professor traveled across India and saw that bribery of local officials to get routine affairs accomplished was disastrously widespread. If you wanted a thing done, you needed to slip a government worker a little bribe. So this professor printed up thousands and thousands of zero-notes for people to slip officials.



According to Anand, the idea was first conceived by an Indian physics professor at the University of Maryland, who, in his travels around India, realized how widespread bribery was and wanted to do something about it. He came up with the idea of printing zero-denomination notes and handing them out to officials whenever he was asked for kickbacks as a way to show his resistance. Anand took this idea further: to print them en masse, widely publicize them, and give them out to the Indian people. He thought these notes would be a way to get people to show their disapproval of public service delivery dependent on bribes. The notes did just that. The first batch of 25,000 notes were met with such demand that 5th Pillar has ended up distributing one million zero-rupee notes to date since it began this initiative. Along the way, the organization has collected many stories from people using them to successfully resist engaging in bribery.

One such story was our earlier case about the old lady and her troubles with the Revenue Department official over a land title. Fed up with requests for bribes and equipped with a zero rupee note, the old lady handed the note to the official. He was stunned. Remarkably, the official stood up from his seat, offered her a chair, offered her tea and gave her the title she had been seeking for the last year and a half to obtain without success. Had the zero rupee note reached the old lady sooner, her granddaughter could have started college on schedule and avoided the consequence of delaying her education for two years. In another experience, a corrupt official in a district in Tamil Nadu was so frightened on seeing the zero rupee note that he returned all the bribe money he had collected for establishing a new electricity connection back to the no longer compliant citizen.

Anand explained that a number of factors contribute to the success of the zero rupee notes in fighting corruption in India. First, bribery is a crime in India punishable with jail time. Corrupt officials seldom encounter resistance by ordinary people that they become scared when people have the courage to show their zero rupee notes, effectively making a strong statement condemning bribery. In addition, officials want to keep their jobs and are fearful about setting off disciplinary proceedings, not to mention risking going to jail. More importantly, Anand believes that the success of the notes lies in the willingness of the people to use them. People are willing to stand up against the practice that has become so commonplace because they are no longer afraid: first, they have nothing to lose, and secondly, they know that this initiative is being backed up by an organization—that is, they are not alone in this fight.

Apparently Sarah Palin giving a speech to 600 people is big news?

Professor Juan Cole from the University of Michigan has some devastating remarks on her blisteringly mean and stupid speech.

Joe. My. God.: Sarah Palin's Teabagger Keynote

Return of The Baffler

baffler.jpgThe Baffler is back, relevant as ever - chicagotribune.com

In the 1990s, the literary journal made its name as a fearless, equal opportunity deflator of conglomerate-orchestrated alternative rebellions, a muckraker that found its targets in the co-opting of cool and breathless hyping of killer apps. It swung to the left, but the piety of any ideology was never outside its crosshairs. Or as Frank put it, the real target was "the bubble of the moment."

So, yeah, it's relevant.

Indeed, the new Baffler looks a lot like the old Baffler, at least from the masthead up. ...

Thomas Geoghegan, a Chicago lawyer and old friend of the editors' who ran last year for Rahm Emanuel's U.S. House of Representatives seat (but lost to Mike Quigley). He's now onboard as a "senior adviser," O'Neil said.

Said Geoghegan: "It's a strange and interesting publication. Its take on the world was so non-American but defiantly Chicago at the same time. You got this sense its literary heroes were old-fashioned Chicago progressives like Studs Terkel. But it wasn't pushed in your face." ...

In late 1992, The New York Times ran an item about grunge slang that Seattle scenesters supposedly used for everyday objects such as shoes and pants. The slang was entirely contrived by an employee of the Sub Pop record label, irritated with the carpetbagging media descending on her town. Word of the prank filtered down to Frank, and the Baffler ran an expose a few months later.

Poor Mojo's Almanac(k)
Issue #472 -- Thurs., Feb. 4, 2010

This post will remain here for one day. Scroll down for new news.

No, you may not go to the restroom

Giant Squid: Ask the Giant Squid: Raise High Your Roofbeams, as You Would Lift Your Hats in Respect by The Giant Squid

... As Wycliffe translated Gensis II.7:

"Therfor the Lord God formede man of the sliym of erthe, and brethide in to his face the brething of lijf; and man was maad in to a lyuynge soule."

So, we may see man's life itself as posthumous, after the earth, and the breath of life is in man's face.

Is it fair to say that a thing here has ended? Is it fair to say that you should hold on to your divine breath?

I dare include myself in this statement (though it be slightly etymologically askew): We are all of us posthumous, and all of us held in the breath of God. ...

Fiction: The Problem with Tats by Eric Bennett
...Puella dips the pin in the ink then pokes Anson. Dip and poke. Dip and poke. Dip and poke. Using a damp rag, Puella wipes away the excess ink. Anson talks nonstop while Puella pokes and pokes and pokes mild-eyed and silent. After hours pass, the room becomes quiet except for the sound of two sets of lungs inhaling and exhaling in response to one another. And hours after that, a blue whale materializes bloody and black on Anson's arm. Puella wraps the whale in white bandages....
Poetry: Seizure by Chris Butler
... She's been seized
by these seizures,
after overexposure to
strobes shining
epileptic suns, ...
Rant: Craigslist Ad by Emily Dufton
... What do you think you'll use it for anyway? Storage? Baking? Holding bottles of wine? It's ridiculous, you know, this line of thought. That thing'll get covered in mountains of shit, you'll never be able to find your keys, and it'll be this one giant dunghill of shitbombs before you've had it for a total of two weeks. Good luck getting to that electric bill. You might want to store that in the overstuffed file drawers you got on sale at CB2 since they were, like, super cool last fall.

Idiot. ...

February 06, 2010

Map: Countries that *don't* use the metric system

Joe. My. God.: Three's Company

FreakAngels | Episode 0085

FreakAngels | Episode 0085

FA0085.JPG

FREAKANGELS is a free, weekly, ongoing comic written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Paul Duffield.

February 05, 2010

YouTube - Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja (dirty version)

YouTube - Die Antwoord - Enter The Ninja (dirty version)

Slate Insists this is a Real Political Ad

The weird genius behind Carly Fiorina's "demon sheep" ad. - By Christopher Beam - Slate Magazine

Carly Fiorina's ad for the governorship of California is the greatest ad ever

YouTube - FCINO's Channel

This is the notorious "demon sheep" ad. Watch it at the link before Fiorina's people realize what a batshit insane ad this is.

The Colbert Report: Hermaphrodites Can't Be Gay

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Hermaphrodites Can't Be Gay
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorEconomy

The Daily Show: Congressman Anthony Weiner

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Anthony Weiner
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis

Krugman: The deficit is fine, ignore the posturing

Op-Ed Columnist - Fiscal Scare Tactics - NYTimes.com


So why the sudden ubiquity of deficit scare stories? It isn’t being driven by any actual news. It has been obvious for at least a year that the U.S. government would face an extended period of large deficits, and projections of those deficits haven’t changed much since last summer. Yet the drumbeat of dire fiscal warnings has grown vastly louder.

To me — and I’m not alone in this — the sudden outbreak of deficit hysteria brings back memories of the groupthink that took hold during the run-up to the Iraq war. Now, as then, dubious allegations, not backed by hard evidence, are being reported as if they have been established beyond a shadow of a doubt. Now, as then, much of the political and media establishments have bought into the notion that we must take drastic action quickly, even though there hasn’t been any new information to justify this sudden urgency. Now, as then, those who challenge the prevailing narrative, no matter how strong their case and no matter how solid their background, are being marginalized.

And fear-mongering on the deficit may end up doing as much harm as the fear-mongering on weapons of mass destruction.

Let’s talk for a moment about budget reality. Contrary to what you often hear, the large deficit the federal government is running right now isn’t the result of runaway spending growth. Instead, well more than half of the deficit was caused by the ongoing economic crisis, which has led to a plunge in tax receipts, required federal bailouts of financial institutions, and been met — appropriately — with temporary measures to stimulate growth and support employment.

Hockey in Afghanistan

Hockey in Afghanistan, where it's 'game on' after warning sirens - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports

The Marx Brothers -- Everyone Says I Love You

Marx Bros - Everyone Says I Love You

Stick with it for Groucho at the end.

What if Wes Anderson directed the Spoder-Man reboot?

Warcraft auction house app on its way to the iPhone

WoW auction house app coming to iPhone | Crave - CNET


Blizzard has announced that it will shortly be expanding its hugely successful Armory app to include an all-new mobile version of the in-game auction house, where players buy and sell the items they find and make.

The existing Armory application allows players to check out characters, statistics, and achievements from their iPhone. The coming expansion will build on that by giving gamers access to the game's virtual marketplace, Pocket-lint reports. The mobile version will reportedly feature all the functionality of the "real" auction house, and will allow iPhone-equipped players to continue their financial wheeling and dealing on the move.

Sometimes the World is So Awesomely Beautiful that There Aren't Exactly Words for It

Axe Cop

The AXE COP saga began on a Christmas visit to see my family. My Father, a man with very healthy loins, has managed to produce a variety of children, ranging from me, a 29 year old comic book artist, to my 5 year old brother Malachai, a 5 year old boy genius, with four other siblings in between. During the visit Malchai was running around with his toy fireman axe and he said he was playing “Axe Cop.” He asked me to play with him, and I asked what my weapon was… so he brought me a toy flute (actually a recorder). I told him I would rather be Axe Cop then Flute Cop, and he seemed just fine with being Flute Cop. The story that followed became more and more brilliant, until I couldn’t contain myself and I had to draw the whole thing into a one page comic.

If you don't read through at least Episode 4, you will regret it for the rest of your life. For real.

*thanks Adam!!!!*

Senator Shelby blocks all Obama's nominees, won't release them until his state is given billions in porky earmarks

Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks | TPMDC

Any senator can place a block on a nominee for any reason, at any time. It takes a supermajority to break the hold (though good old-fashioned bribery usually does the trick). This is an incredibly stupid system.


Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary "blanket hold" on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, according to multiple reports this evening. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

"While holds are frequent," CongressDaily's Dan Friedman and Megan Scully report (sub. req.), "Senate aides said a blanket hold represents a far more aggressive use of the power than is normal."
. . .
According to the report, Shelby is holding Obama's nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. The two programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From CongressDaily: "Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals." Federal Times offers more details on the tanker deal, and also confirms its connection to the hold.

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: "[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won't build" the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based "at the Army's Redstone Arsenal."