January 2008
75 posts
“…the international superstar was escorted down Coldwater Canyon Boulevard...”
– It’s ridiculous that a derailed pop star being escourted to a mental hospital gets tax-payer funded security befitting Governor Schwarzenegger. [Source]
Investigators Left In the Dark
mreeco: In investigation shows, why do they always use flashlights instead of just flicking on the freaking lights? There are several reasons, mostly related to the initial raid by police: Avoid rubbing a surface that could have fingerprints (the switch) Pre-installed electrical fixtures can be used to booby-trap a room with explosives (“The Interpretor” features this in one scene)...
Endorsement
karmcity:Can a primary candidate reject the endorsement of a candidate who’s dropped out? Since Giuliani announced his decision to quit the race, he’s been at the podium praising John McCain’s campaign instead. The two have opposing views on many topics, including: - Abortion rights - Gun control - Same-sex marriage I wonder how a swing voter will handle Rudy’s words. I...
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“Most of the mainstream American teens I spoke with neither liberated themselves...”
– Tim Clydesdale, Assoc. Prof of Sociology at The College of New Jersey, discusses anecdotal evidence dispelling notions of Freshman year as transformational for college students. [February 1st Chronicle of Higher Education] The author summarizes - current teens are simply too practical.
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Driver drops bid to sue family of boy he killed →
CNN (Haro, Spain): “…Tomas Delgado had filed a suit asking the dead boy’s parents to pay him €20,000 ($29,400) on the grounds that the collision that killed their teenage son also damaged his Audi A-8. “ What a miserable person.
In the U.S. south, is Canadian a new racial slur? →
justine: In the U.S. south, is Canadian a new racial slur? — karmcity I have actually heard several people do this, in Kentucky and Indiana. “Canadian” is code for a black person. — musicbrain I hope that:1. this catches on 2. black people do the “own the word” thing and start calling each other “Canadian” 3. we start hearing it in rap songs I’ve heard...
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Rights vs. Rights: An Improbable Collision Course
I have a quotation in my mind while venting about the NY-NOW condemnation of Senator Kennedy’s Obama endorsement but only had the time to track it down today. It was in a debate over precedence in acquiring suffrage for disparate minority groups, namely women versus blacks (mainly black males); under the supposition that it had to be an either/or. The account is in a recent NY Times piece...
GTown Might Have Lost 38,000 Social Security #s. →
Key take-away: “…the hard drive was not encrypted.” So that data is more or less hanging from the vine. It’s not as embarrassing as the loss at UK’s Royal Navy; but how many more times does this have to happen before we agree to stop large organizations from putting unencrypted personal data on portable devices?
Buying Justice
vertigo: As advanced as our justice system is, it appears common sense is still lacking when it comes to ensuring justice is meted out. For some reason, judges are allowed to hear cases in which one of the plaintiffs has made campaign contributions to the judge. If that isn’t a conflict of interest, then I don’t know what is. A study by Tulane University’s Professor Palmer...
“This latest move by Kennedy is so telling about the status of and respect for...”
– The New York chapter of the National Organization of Women. Yikes. (via squashed) This is disaster-feminism, with advocacy fouls on a few fronts. Really, it’s not fair to feminists to call this feminism. Here’s the claptrap I picked out: Use of inappropriately extreme words, calling...
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Marijuana Vending Machines in US (California) →
“Once the users have been photographed, fingerprinted and have shown their prescription, they will be issued with a card which can be used in the machines, …” Not discussed is whether the pot’s plain vanilla or the real sticky icky icky…
“The guy who’s going to win my heart needs to have the whole package:...”
– Heather Barrs, “I’ve Got A Lot of Love to Barter” in the latest Onion.
The Next Sexual Revolution →
Short version: “When mass egg storage becomes feasible, [the number of births to women over 30] will likely increase dramatically, and include not just women in their late 30s and 40s, but also women in their 50s, even 60s.” Interesting read on vitrification that I meant to post some time ago.
A President Like My Father, By Caroline Kennedy →
Excerpt in her NYT article endorsing Sen. Obama: “I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.”
WatchHere’s a good tool, the Delegate Explainer, from CNNPolitics that tries to do exactly what it sounds like.
“The law, for all its failings, has a noble goal – to make the little bit of life...”
– Scott Turow, Author of Presumed Innocent and Limitations, also a Starbucks cup quote, 271.
“Exeter now has nearly $1 million in endowment assets for each of its students....”
– At Elite Prep Schools, College-Size Endowments - New York Times Gag.-doree Fairly or not, ”decadent” popped into my mind first. My top notch NYC Catholic high school, like Exeter, routinely makes national rankings. But, quoting a recent year’s annual fund report, “has never...
&%#king Economic Stimulus Plan
Let me just say that I am sick and tired of being raped by the Federal government. I am single. I am not married and have no children (fur-less ones, at least). I do not own property. I make over $100,000 a year. I pay more than my father’s annual pension in taxes. WTF? AND NOW…this is what I come to find out about this bullshit band-aid of an economic stimulus package:...
“‘Seeming impossible’ is practically a requirement for a truly great...”
– Joel Spolsky, confessing having thought neither eBay nor Wikipedia would catch on, with “Inspired Misfires” in February’s Inc. Worth a read if for no other reason than seeing him work in the history of naval gunnery! He stresses network effect (popularity leading to more...
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We Need a New GI Bill →
A good case for restoring the GI Bill to a full-education-coverage soldiers’ benefit. NY Governor Spitzer’s proposal to comp tuition at SUNY/CUNY for New Yorkers returning from active duty is also mentioned. Although the commentary specifically mentions Iraq/Afghanistan veterans, I don’t see why it shouldn’t include all combat veterans. It’s a sham to give these,...
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Coming To Terms
“…a word can have many meanings, especially an important word. If the author uses a word in one meaning, and the reader reads it in another, words have passed between them, but they have not come to terms. Where there is unresolved ambiguity in communication, there is no communication, or at best communication must be incomplete.” - How to Read A Book Here’s a spot-on...
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WatchBill Gates is getting a lot of ink today for his Davos talk about a kinder capitalism. I’m all for it. Too many people have a misapprehension that capitalism is mutually exclusive with broad prosperity. Laissez-faire may tend toward extremes, but American-style capitalism has always allowed for ballasting via market controls. It also allows companies and individuals to engage in activities...
“Say the word ‘pantsuit’ these days and everyone knows whom you are...”
– Christina Binkley discussing the perils of fashion for the high-powered woman, [with Hillary Clinton pictured]. Seems worthwhile to think about as you’re much more likely to see Nancy Pelosi pilloried in a tabloid for a fashion faux pas than Dick Cheney [as if there weren’t better things...
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“After years of sitting down to pee, permit me a bit of sexism…”
– Melanie Berliet, in her fun My View piece in today’s NY Metro, (PDF here). This begins her disection of modern man’s use of text messages - particularly lame emoticons - in the pursuit of, for example, sex with Melanie Berliet.
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Apple Shares Slide On Disappointing Forecast →
Before I learned anything about the stock market (not that I’m an expert now), I would have been mystified that a company could have a string of wildly popular products, post record results, release updated and new products at a big convention and then see it’s stock price drop by a third. Now, I’m not surprised. In general the pricing game is much more about performance compared...
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“In a race where you have an African American, a woman, and John….”
– Senator Obama, in jest, discussing the uniqueness of this campaign’s Democratic field.
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NYT: In Matters Big and Small, Crossing Giuliani... →
Summary piece of Mayor Giuliani’s dark side during his service in NYC. This may give pause to some lukewarm supporters or undecideds, but I suspect his supporters will take with the Mayor’s own line that these are sour grapes, misinterpretations, or frustration with his attempts to restore civility. In any event, why is it always revealed that successful, former prosecutors from New...
“…At its worst, [Digital Rights Management is] an invasion of what it means...”
– Tim Wu, Columbia Law Professor and Slate contributor in a recent NYT Bits Debates. As a producer of intellectual property, I’m sympathetic to the industry stand on DRM — but there’s got to be a better way. Hopefully discussions like this and early moves to more consumer-friendly,...
“Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good...”
– Carl Riener, who obviously figured the above out growing up in the Bronx.
“And they are always complaining about their work, or how they are not working....”
– Fabio, showing his sensitive side in a Details interview, while discussing that his lifestyle leads to him dating many aspiring actresses, etc.
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Sen. Clinton's Second Gore-style Victory
In the course of skimming the CNN recap of this weekend’s political primaries/caucuses, I came across the following interesting excerpt: “Clinton led rival Barack Obama by 6 percentage points with 98 percent of precincts reporting….Although Clinton won the overall state vote, Obama took more delegates because of the areas where he won. CNN projects that Obama will pick up 13...
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WatchCheck out 2:39 for one of the slickest live performance helicopter shots ever, and 3:05 for a pose that, were it me, would mark the high point of my live performance career. [Note: this will pop-up the video in another tab due to MTV’s lame “embed” option.]
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Canada's Foreign Ministry Adds US, Israel to...
This was an item in today’s Wall St. Journal front page round-up. It says this change was “likely to embarrass the government.” Embarrassing or not, we’d be hard pressed to argue that it’s unjustified. It seems that, in defense of water-boarding for example, our main reasoning that it’s not torture is that it doesn’t cause organ failure or death, which is...
WatchThe Google.org Executive Directors’s name is Dr. Brilliant! Mundane things like introductions and roll calls must always be fun for him.
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“[The GOP] has become so intolerant and exclusive that once orthodox views are...”
– From “How Mad Are the Republicans?” in today UK Times. It describes the anti-McCain sentiment in the Republican party. It also covers Republican’s troubled policy points, while picking apart the nominee rivals - especially Governor Romney, likened to Dorian Gray. [I should disclose...
“How ironic that those in opposition should resort to threats of violence to...”
– NY Times Letter to Ed. by John C. Hirsch, reacting to the rather odd anti-Pope protest at Sapienza University. How has the willfull disruption of speeches become an acceptable way to vent? Makes me think of that ridiculous spectacle at Columbia over the MinuteMan presentation.
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Arthur C. Brooks on Liberal Hatemongers →
Even if you disagree, interesting (non-scientific) piece on disposition of liberals versus conservatives. I’ve collected enough anecdotal experience with both stripes to know there’s something to this… reminds me of a (liberal) professor’s warning to (liberal) me as a politically engaged student “liberals tend to eat their own.” This follows on some other...
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None of the Above? Clinton beats no one by 15%
Not long ago I joked with college buddies - this may be the election when some eccentric runs a successful “none of the above” ballot line, like in Richard Pryor’s Brewster’s Millions. Sure enough, the Times reports: “Senator Hillary Clinton, who was the only player in a basically uncontested race, was given a good run for her money by uncommitted.” The author...
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Stormin Mormon
I’m glad Governor Romney pulled this one out in Michigan; not because I particularly want him as POTUS, but because it keeps things interesting. He also has some economic policy ideas that are downright reasonable compared to say, Governor Huckabee. I think, considering he is running only vaguely on social policy, and mostly on economic/security/foriegn policy that his purported flip-flops...