...will he ever win?

The Daily Show presents the whole sordid Bohemian Rhapsody of Tiger Woods' adultery saga.

September 27, 2010 12:00 AM

The organization that oversees the Internet's unique identifier naming system has joined forces with the U.S. Department of Commerce and secure infrastructure specialist Verisign Inc to try and make our online lives a little safer. The Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has revealed that a solution has been found to a flaw in the security of the domain name system. The collaboration has announced the deployment of a new security extension to make sure that our website addressing requests are not hijacked by dishonest types looking to steal our savings... Continue Reading Internet gets security upgrade

Tags: ICANN, Infrastructure, Internet, Security, Upgrade

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July 31, 2010 07:09 PM

The main event of the Robotech exhibition held in Tokyo this past week featured the Robo-One Grand Prix event, pitting an assortment of bipedal humanoid robots against each other in an improvised octagonal wrestling ring. Many of you might have seen clips of Japan's rastlin' robots, but as there were more than a few impressive takedowns and attacks on show, I thought I'd share a few highlights... Continue Reading Video: Robot Wrestlers battle it out at Robotech

Tags: Exhibition, Humanoid, Japan, Remote Control, Robot, Robotics, Robots, Video

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July 31, 2010 07:03 PM

Admittedly, it's a little hard to see, but you can see the full thing here at GOP.gov (.pdf). And again, I must ponder whether the Republican Party is truly this clueless when they opt to illustrate their booklet of summer activities for Republican members of Congress with photos of Denis and Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, Ike and Mamie Eisenhower, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Winston Churchill and Jack Kemp. Let's see--they've used three foreign leaders (including one fervent labor organizer and Iraq War critic) and three (four, if you count Teddy Roosevelt bringing up the rear at the bottom of the page) American Republican politicians who have all long since passed away. This is "treading boldly"? They can't even find a living Republican to hold up? And really, Jack Kemp? What's that about? A fairly undistinguished Senate career, two failed presidential campaigns and then finally Secretary of Housing and Urban Development--this is the coverboy for the Republican Party's plan to sway those all important "independent" voters for the mid-term elections? Brilliant. But wait, it gets better. Take a look at page 6, where they outline a typical August calendar: it is literally re-tweeting the RNC talking points. That's it. The booklet recommends holding town halls and setting up media interviews...but never forgetting their daily re-tweet. Amazing. We're in the midst of two wars, the most severe economic dire straits since the Great Depression, and we have lunatics of the right wing noise machine all but directly calling for armed revolution and the GOP's answer is for its members to log on to Twitter. The second half of the booklet is ostensibly the GOP's platform. Are you surprised to learn that it's heavy on spin and provable falsehoods: "Most Americans do not want a government takeover of health care that was forced upon them and would like to see it replaced with common sense solutions that lower costs and protect jobs." and light on actual solutions (lower taxes! less regulation! repeal health care! That's it in a nutshell.). Energy is barely mentioned except as a way to point out those mean old Democrats' onerous regulations on energy is a job killer. In fact, there's a distinct lack of anything of substance in the kit. No discussion of immigration reform, other than the meaningless "secure the borders." Calls to reduce the size of government without the honesty to admit that it grew under their majority during Bush. Calls to stop runaway spending without acknowledging their own profligate ways. There's enough cognitive dissonance in that kit to keep an analyst busy for years.

July 31, 2010 07:00 PM

emad

July 31, 2010 06:45 PM

http://hackedirl.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/6f0127b4-d06c-4ced-aa7c-f0faa784c421.jpg

July 31, 2010 06:00 PM

Rhode Island's first congressional district, the eastern and northern parts of the state, including most of Providence, is an open seat this year because of the retirement of Patrick Kennedy. It's one of the safest Democratic districts in the country and McCain barely managed to scrape together a third of the vote. In 2008 Kennedy was re-elected with almost 70%. It's safe to say that whichever Democrat wins the September 14 primary will be the next Rhode Island congressman. There are 4 Democrats running: today's guest and the newest Blue America endorsee, state Rep. David Segal, Providence mayor David Cicilline, conservative businessman Anthony Gemma, and Bill Lynch, the Establishment candidate, a former Democratic Party state chairman and the brother of the state's Attorney General. There are no actual John Barrows or Bobby Brights or Parker Griffiths among the Democrats. And although David Segal stands head and shoulders above the rest on every single policy issue without exception, the reason Blue America has decided to endorse in this race has more to do with his leadership potential. Everyone is always telling John and Digby and I that we need more Members like Alan Grayson in Congress. They don't grow on trees-- but we found one. David Segal is one of us. He was elected to the Providence City Council in 2002 as a Green, and is now a lefty Democratic state Rep for Providence and East Providence. He has a very clear path to victory and he can win-- and if he does, he'll be among the strongest voices for progressives in the halls of the Capitol. David's worked on the meat-and-potato issues: Jobs, the environment, housing, progressive taxes, all with success. He's successfully pushed for expanded renewable energy, more affordable housing, against predatory lending, and for foreclosure prevention measures. But he's never shied away from the really controversial issues: He's been a vocal leader on criminal justice reform, standing up for the rights of immigrants and for gay rights, and has pushed as hard as one can from the state level against war spending. He's an ardent supporter of gay marriage, and was the sponsor of the last year's bill, which was passed over the Governor's veto, to allow gay partners to plan each other's funerals. He's a co-sponsor of marijuana decriminalization, and just convinced the Governor-- after two years of vetoes-- to allow a bill to become law that ensures due process for people on probation. He's sponsored the "Bring the Guard Home" legislation, and his first act on the City Council was to pass a resolution against the war in Iraq. But, most importantly, he's an organizer at heart, who is committed to joining the Progressive Caucus-- and making it function better. Here's an excerpt from an interview with David Swanson: "[I]n Rhode Island I've tried to develop alternative structures for legislators to lean on when the leadership makes such threats. I am the lead organizer for our progressive caucus. I founded a political action committee to support members of our progressive caucus so that if funding from sources dries up at leadership's request because something was done to offend them, that we would have at least some, some degree of money to fall back on to help fund our campaigns nonetheless. We funded ten, twelve races relatively modestly in the last cycle and hopefully we'll be able to do something in the forthcoming cycle." Last week, many of us were disappointed as 148 Democrats, including Patrick Kennedy, joined Boehner, Cantor and 158 other Republicans to vote for more unjustifiable billions of dollars to throw down the Afghan sewer. The disgraceful supplemental demanded by the Military Industrial Complex passed 308-114, more Republicans voting for Obama's proposal than Democrats! Among the candidates running in RI-1, only David Segal came out publicly to say he would have voted NO. I've been against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning. My first act on the Providence

July 31, 2010 06:00 PM

Toshiba has unveiled its new line of CELL REGZA 3D LED TVs. The new 3D TVs, CELL REGZA 55X2, CELL REGZA Slim 55XE2 and CELL REGZA 46XE2 all include "3D Super Resolution Technology" for upgrading the resolution of 3D content along with 2D-3D conversion. The 55X2 has dynamic contrast ratio of 9,000,000:1 while the other two models have 4,000,000:1. All feature 240 Hz refresh rate, support DNLA, are web enabled and feature a 3 TB hard drive with 2 TB dedicated to CELL REGZA’s Time Shift Machine, which allows you to record up to eight channels simultaneously. .. Continue Reading Toshiba unveils three new CELL REGZA 3D LED TVs

Tags: 3D, 3D TV, Cell Regza, High Definition, LED TV, Regza, Toshiba

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July 31, 2010 05:57 PM

MALIBU - Surfers at Zuma Beach were shocked to see a mermaid, especially when the mermaid is Halle Berry!

July 31, 2010 05:46 PM

I still get the San Francisco Chronicle delivered to my door, meaning that when summer arrives and Chron sports columnist Bruce Jenkins turns his attention to baseball, I find myself mourning the loss of FireJoeMorgan.com all over again.

First, a few nice words about Jenkins. He writes decently about the NBA, very well about tennis, passably about soccer and magnificently about the Mavericks surf contest. That’s quite a bit of subject matter. And considering that the Chron already has John Shea and Henry Schulman covering MLB in the Sporting Green, there’s absolutely no reason Jenkins should ever be called upon to write a single word about a sport he deeply misunderstands.

Jenkins was regularly pilloried by the FJM boys for a few typical Morganesque qualities — he hates baseball statistics that are more useful than batting average, lamely mocking anybody who seeks a better understanding of the game through more rigorous statistical analysis as a basement-dwelling nerd, and he generally just writes stupid stuff all the time.

Case in point, in today’s 3-Dot Lounge column, following a dumb appraisal of Stephen Strasburg’s arm injury (‘Limiting young pitchers’ workloads turns them into pussies because Tom Seaver!’) he writes this:

Now that the Phillies have added Roy Oswalt and fabulous outfield prospect Domonic Brown, they could win the NL East in a runaway — and the Giants need that to happen. You don’t want Philadelphia anywhere near the wild-card race.

I don’t want to go overboard and say that this is the most idiotic thing anybody has ever said about anything ever, but it is. The 59-45 Giants, with a .567 winning percentage as of today, lead the Phillies (56-47, .544) by 2 1/2 games in the wild-card race. Currently sitting above the Phils in the NL East standings is Atlanta (59-43, .578).

So Jenkins is basically saying that it would be GOOD for the Giants if a team they currently lead in the race to the playoffs started winning a lot more games, thus relegating another team that actually has a better record than the Giants from division leadership to the wild-card chase, which would of course decrease the Giants’ chances of making the playoffs.

Seriously, I see no other way to interpret what Jenkins has written here. He offers no explanation for how his preferred scenario for the rest of the season would actually help the Giants other than to simply state ‘the Giants need that to happen’.

Can’t link to the Jenkins column because it’s ‘exclusive to the print edition’ — but if anybody can tell me what the hell he’s getting at here, I’ll be as appreciative as Rich Lowry getting a free replacement graphic for the shitty mess of pixelated blah currently illustrating The Corner.

NOTE: The Phillies do face the Braves six more times this year, so while he doesn’t say it, maybe Jenkins is thinking the improved Phils will beat up on Atlanta in those games, thus helping San Francisco. But the Giants also have to play this new juggernaut Phillies team for a three-game set down the stretch as well, so even crediting Jenkins for this logic seems questionable (and I would bet a jillion dollars he never even considered the remaining schedule before blurting out the above brain fart).

UPDATE: It occurs to me that Bruce Jenkins is very likely to write about baseball again, so it would be helpful to explain to him why he is so stupid. I’ll try to put it as simply as possible:

Baseball is a sport in which two ‘teams’ try to score ‘runs’ at the expense of the other over the course of a ‘game’, at the end of which the team with the greater amount of runs is declared the ‘winner’.

Major League Baseball, the highest level at which this sport is played, pits 30 such teams against each other over a ‘season’, with each team playing 162 total games against some portion of the other 29 teams in MLB. This is called the ‘regular season’ because it is followed by an extra season — called ‘the playoffs’ — in which only the eight teams who had the most wins in the regular season are allowed to play. The winner of the playoffs is crowned the winner of that particular season of baseball, which is why everybody hates the Yankees.

Now each individual team can only control the outcome of the games in which they actually play — and even then, there is a lot of luck involved. Thus a team like the Giants can work positively towards defeating a team like the Phillies in a regular season game, thus improving the Giants’ chances of getting to play in the extra season and decreasing the Phillies’ chances of same — but only when the Giants are actually playing the Phillies. When the Phillies are playing, say the Braves, the Giants can only hope for a particular outcome of that game, but cannot do anything to effect it.

And it is not stupid for the Giants to hope for certain outcomes for games involving the Phillies, Braves, etc. even though they can only directly control a handful of them. In fact, it would be logical for the Giants to hope that they, the Giants, win all of their games while the other 29 teams* win half of theirs and lose the other half. This would be the optimal result for the Giants because it offers the maximum assurance that they will make it to the playoffs, which is their overarching goal in any given baseball season.

We can see how hoping for certain results that you cannot control for can be a smart thing to do, with the following example:

1. I value my life and want to continue living it.

2. A giant asteroid crashing into the Earth would almost certainly kill me, everybody I know and the vast majority of all human beings.

3. Humanity would not currently be able to do much of anything about
it if a giant asteroid happened to crash into the Earth.

4. Therefore, I hope a giant asteroid DOES NOT crash into the Earth.

5. Therefore, I am a smart person, because I smartly hope for outcomes that will positively reinforce the first premise listed here, my desire to continue living my life.

6. Conversely, I would be a dumb person if I were to hope for outcomes that threatened my life, given my assertion that I want to keep living it.

Similarly, it would be very, very dumb for the Giants to actively want one of the teams that they are competing with for one of the very few spots in the playoffs to actually become better and win more games. Because that would decrease the Giants’ chances of making the playoffs. Which is the whole fucking point of baseball, you dumbass.

Please make a note of it.

*I can say this because of inter-league play, though obviously the Giants will be more concerned about the performance of their National League competition than the teams in the American League.

July 31, 2010 05:44 PM

Right. Off to Australia.

July 31, 2010 05:27 PM

teferi

July 31, 2010 05:16 PM

The Haier PowerPad is a concept device shown at SinoCES which captures the energy contained within the water that runs off our bodies every morning in the shower, and returns said energy to the hot water tank. Haier claims the PowerPad is currently capturing and returning 15% of the energy coming out of the faucet and by the time it goes on sale six weeks from now, that figure will be 20-30%. Haier is one of the world’s most innovative companies and is hence foolish to bet against, but we’re struggling to understand the technologies being used and just how optimistic the claims are... Continue Reading Haier Power Pad takes energy from shower water and returns it to hot water system

Tags: CES China, Consumer Electronics, Dishwashers, Haier, Refrigerator, Shower, Washing Machine

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July 31, 2010 05:03 PM

We're approaching the dog days of summer in the northern hemisphere, and tech news shows no signs of cooling down.

Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are "fair use": Every three years, the Library of Congress approves a handful of exemptions to the DMCA, allowing consumers to break or bypass DRM in particular instances. On the list this time: jailbreaking an iPhone, ripping clips from a DVD, and investigating SecuROM on computer games.

Overkill as art: Ars reviews the Cyborg R.A.T. 7: It's not easy to justify a $100 price tag for a gaming mouse, but the R.A.T. 7 is adjustable in both size and shape, features multiple levels of DPI control, and offers more options than anything else on the market.

Read the comments on this post

July 31, 2010 05:00 PM

DOWNLOADS: (107) PLAYS: (875) As Karoli and I already posted, Rep. Anthony Weiner ripped into the Republicans for blocking the 9-11 Responders Bill. What neither of us had earlier was Rep. Peter King's hackery on the House floor that set him off. Since Countdown covered it, I thought I'd share it here. TPM also caught their exchange on Fox News the day after the dust up on the House floor where Anthony Weiner ripped into Pete King again. Peter King And Anthony Weiner Shout Their Way Through A Fox News Interview (VIDEO): Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) went on an apoplectic rant on the House floor last night, and apparently he hasn't cooled off much since then. Earlier this morning, Weiner and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) shouted and finger-pointed their way through a Fox News interview over a bill that would provide health care to rescue workers effected by the dust from the World Trade Center, which failed in the House last night. King accused the Democrats of orchestrating a "cruel hoax" with the bill, while Weiner called it "outrageous" that Republicans would vote against it. Weiner was furious last night that most of the "cowardly" Republicans voted against the bill and then blamed it on "procedure." Exclaimed Weiner: "You vote yes if you believe yes! You vote in favor of something if you believe it's the right thing! If you believe it's the wrong thing, you vote no!" On America's Newsroom today, King, who is the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Homeland Security, said that "the bottom line is the Democrats control the House, and they pulled a procedural gimmick starting ten days ago, and they lost the nerve to bring it to the floor on a real vote." He also called the whole situation a "cruel hoax," and accused the Democrats of "moral cowardice." "They control the House," said King. "They could have passed this." Weiner shot back: "You know for all the whining about the process, we had an up-or-down vote. Do you know what percentage of Republicans voted for it? Seven percent." Only twelve Republicans voted in favor of the bill. "Your rant last night about the process and how bad the process was gave cover for your colleagues," said Weiner adding, "Twelve Peter? That's all you could muster?"

July 31, 2010 05:00 PM

The details are out for the DefCon 18 badges. The new design has a lot of goodies packed into it, most notably a 128×32 LCD display. You can’t see it in the image above because it’s on the other side of the badge; the ribbon cable passes through a slit in the substrate to reach the connector on the back. The board has a mini-USB connector and is meant to get even the unseasoned novice up and running with some firmware tweaks. The Freescale processor (which is the same chip as last year’s badge) is running a bootloader that can be accessed and flashed using a terminal program. Yeah… impressive.

But it doesn’t stop with the component selection or firmware mastery, these badges are beautiful too. What you see above is the prototype, but the 7780 badges produced come in seven different flavors (as usual), laser etched on a PCB that uses Aluminum as the substrate. Line up all the badges side-to-side and you get a graphic art storyboard. [Joe] outdid himself this year, and he’s been nice enough to share the development details (PDF) which we spent way too much time drooling over.

[Thanks Kim]

July 31, 2010 04:04 PM

We knew Glenn Beck was going to deny any culpability for his role in inciting a right-wing nutcase named Byron Williams, who got into a shootout with Oakland police officers last week when they pulled him over en route to his planned attack on the San Francisco offices of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU. After all, Beck always cries, like his conservative cohorts, that eeeeevil libruls are just trying to "silence" him whenever he incites acts of violence. Personal responsibility? That's for liberals and black people, we guess. But his denial yesterday on his Fox News show went beyond mere cries of "bloody shirt!" -- though it contained that, too. What he attempted to do was claim some kind of equivalence and another Oakland incident involving shots fired at the police -- even though the claim is just nakedly false: The next thing is, they're painting people into terrorists -- painting people into dangers. Um, you know, we had a sniper in, um, Oakland, California, trying to kill police. At the same time we have another guy who appears to be against the Tides Foundation, uh, and he goes down and he's going to try to kill people at the Tides Foundation. I'm tied to the Tides Foundation in this story because, quote, how scary is this? We have searched all the television records and Glenn Beck is the only host that spoke about the Tides Foundation in the past year. That's terrifying. But I'm tied to that. But nobody's even talking about the sniper from the left trying to shoot the police officer. So where do you stand on violence? Let's parse this carefully, because it's important to understand just how deep Beck's mendacity is here. First, let's be clear that no one is "painting" Glenn Beck as a terrorist -- and there should be no question, frankly, that Byron Williams fully intended to be a terrorist. More significant, though, is the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that the sniper case in Oakland involved any political motive at all. As you can see from the Oakland Tribune report, this appeared to be largely a case of someone who was angered by a police drug bust, or simply hated cops. That stands in direct contrast to the Williams case, which was unmistakably motivated by political hatred. We know that particularly because of the information from Williams' mother about his motives: She said her son, who had been a carpenter and a cabinetmaker before his imprisonment, was angry about his unemployment and about "what's happening to our country." Williams watched the news on television and was upset by "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items," his mother said. ... She said she then checked the locked safe where she kept her guns, all legally purchased and owned, and found that they were also missing. Janice Williams said she kept the guns because "eventually, I think we're going to be caught up in a revolution." But she said she had told her son many times that "he didn't have to be on the front lines." And how did Byron Williams come to choose the Tides Foundation as a target? What television show did he watch that made him think the Tides Foundation was an evil entity worthy of being shot up and terrorized. Well, as Beck openly admits -- and as Media Matters explains in detail -- there was only one show that did so -- Glenn Beck's. Moreover, Beck is being disingenuous in the extreme to describe his role in this as merely "talking about" the Tides Foundation -- he viciously (and groundlessly) demonized them as an organization intended to "destroy capitalism", a "Trojan horse" engaged in "indoctrinating children" and "warping your children's brains" with the idea that "capitalism is evil", the "nastiest of the nasty," a bunch of "far left radicals" who are "infiltrating" and "failing capitalism" so they can "destroy it." These are all utterly false and base smears, of course. But if you were a violent and gullible right-winger prone to anger, you probably would be inspired by this kin

July 31, 2010 04:00 PM

From a Quick Hit early this week by counterspin:

(CO-Sen) How Bennet got rich and teachers lost their pension fund (counterspin)

From Cherry Creek News:

A young Bud Fox leaves Washington for Colorado, lands a job with Gordon Gekko, tycoon and corporate raider. Only in this case, young Bud is future United States Senator Michael Bennet, and Gekko, billionaire Phil Anschutz.

The job leaves Bennet wealthy, and allows him to take a giant pay cut and work for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, then the Denver Public Schools. It gives him financial experience, which in turn leads to a complicated interest rate swap that may leave Denver taxpayers in a billion dollar hole, as the fund for Denver teachers' retirement looks in need of an AIG-style bailout.

Ironically, the details of the source of Bennet's wealth are revealed largely in a lawsuit by Louisiana teachers, whose investment in theater chain Regal Cinemas went south after Bennet and Anshutz gained control of the company through the purchase of debt, forced other debtors and shareholder into taking losses, then sped off with $1.4 billion in cash, while jobs were lost...

Unelected Freshman Senator Michael Bennet was the 8th highest recipient of Wall Street cash in the current election cycle. ?As Denver School Superintendent, he entered into a swap deal that provided $3 million in fees to JP Morgan and is now $78 million underwater, forcing teacher layoffs. ?

In Congress, Bennet voted against mortgage cramdown, which would have provided bankruptcy protection and relief for homeowners. ?He also opposed a 15% cap on credit card interest rates. To cement his pro-Wall Street stance, the appointed politician stood against breaking up the banks. ?In a Roll Call article yesterday, he was described as having been born 'with a silver spoon in his mouth'.

An appointed senator who never ran for office before, but instead rose the ranks of corporate raidership under a notoriously anti-union mentor.  It makes perfect sense... for a Republican!

The appointment of Bennet was just one of a flurry of such moves by which the Democratic Party moved sharply to the right after the 2008 elections--a move with absolutely no credible foundations.

Today, Bennet's appointment stands out as part of a multi-front assault on public teachers and public education, which is about as inimical to traditonal Democratic Party values as it's possible to be.

Things happened so rapidly after the 2008 election that most folks simply had no idea what to make of it--much less how to react.

That is no longer the case.  The battle lines now are clear.

July 31, 2010 04:00 PM

This week the ACLU released a disturbing report documenting the permanent enshrinement of the Bush/Cheney definition of the Unitary Executive by the Obama administration. With the tacit acceptance of the Democratic Congress, the balance of power continues to shift heavily to the executive branch. While distressing, the report is unsurprising as it became clear in the first few weeks of the new administration that Obama’s campaign rhetoric of rolling back the Bush/Cheney power grab was just that – empty campaign rhetoric.

The ACLU report “Establishing a New Normal” is summarized here, and the full report linked here [PDF]. The report assesses the record of the first 18 months of the Obama administration across several civil rights categories and is well worth the read.

Excerpted here – a few ACLU report highlights lowlights:

It is easy to point to the hypocrisy of liberals and Democrats who railed with righteous indignation about the Bush/Cheney expansion of executive power, only to be complicit in the continuing erosion of our liberty now. Their deafening silence, kid-glove criticism, and/or rationalizations of the Obama administration’s continued expansion of executive power and consequent institutionalization of the Bush/Cheney Unitary Executive speaks volumes about their prioritizing partisanship over principles.

To be sure – there are principled voices on the left who have consistently and clearly pointed to this administration failure – notably Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher among others:

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These voices are too few. The first two years of the Obama administration represent a badly squandered opportunity to undo the damage done by the previous administration.

Worse than the routine partisan hypocrisy by administration apologists, is the complete abrogation of constitutional checks, balances, and executive oversight responsibilities by our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

Fro example, what happened to the soaring rhetoric of Senator Patrick Leahy – who campaigned passionately and relentlessly for the restoration of constitutional Habeas Corpus protections in 2006?

In 2007 I again supported the Leahy follow-on effort to restore Habeas Corpus:

If you click on the petition linked in this quote you’ll note the referenced campaign on the Leahy website no longer exits, replaced with a milquetoast request to send a letter to your senator requesting support. I guess it is just not as high a priority for Leahy if a Democrat has “power that nobody, no king or anybody else set foot in this land, ever thought of having.” I expect Democrats will not be as sanguine about the expanded and institutionalized power of the Obama Unitary Executive when and if a Mitt Romney or Sarah Palin steps behind the wheel of this supercharged presidential machine.

The ACLU report focuses on civil liberties, but the accelerating accretion of executive power over our economic liberties has been equally egregious. I won’t belabor the point in this post, but will simply point out the obvious. Regardless of what one thinks of the merits or politics of the legislation, it is beyond argument that Obamacare and Financial Regulation as passed, dramatically increase the power held by the executive branch. With these laws, Congress granted vast power to faceless bureaucrats in the executive branch with unfettered latitude to set industrial policy, create and enforce broad new regulations over the healthcare and financial industries.

Even beyond these laws, even when operating without a firm legal foundation, this administration has repeatedly demonstrated an eager willingness to push the the boundaries of presidential power.

You’d think, even allowing for partisanship, there would be enough institutional loyalty among our legislators to try to maintain some semblance of balance between the supposedly co-equal legislative and executive branches of government. It is simply not happening. In times of Single Party Rule (as we’ve had for eight of the last ten years) it is Party Über Alles, and the constitutional checks and balances envisioned by the founders between the executive and legislative branch just fade away. This was true with Republicans in 2000-2006, and it is true with Democrats now.

At the rate that the Senate and House have ceded power to the executive branch over the last decade, combined with the lap dog deference most legislators offer to an executive of the same party, the legislature might as well vote itself out of existence. Perhaps they could be functionally replaced by a Legolist e-mail listserv.

The only remaining restraint on executive power today is the judiciary. This is why I have supported and will continue to support Obama nominations to the Supreme Court. My fervent hope is that the new justices will help form a SCOTUS majority that will pull hard on the reigns of the executive branch, declare many of the Bush/Obama administration actions (civil and economic) unconstitutional, and restore some semblance of the rule of law.

Regardless of what you may think of the political leanings of ACLU, they are fighting the good fight for our constitutional protections in the courts and they are doing it regardless of the party in power. They deserve our support. Beyond the courts, the only other way to restrain the extraordinary economic overreach and fiscal irresponsibility of this executive branch is to vote Republican in 2010 and divide this government. Congress only seems to remember their executive oversight responsibilities when the president is not of the same party as the majority in Congress.

^{Cross posted from “Divided We Stand United We Fall“}

July 31, 2010 03:30 PM

I've always admired Howard Zinn, but it seems the radical historian wasn't all that popular with the FBI. Via Raw Story: On Friday, the FBI released a 243-page file on Zinn, who died in January at age 87. The release describes the historian as "radical." The documents show the bureau taking an active interest in Zinn since the late 1940s, when he was a student at New York University. The interest continued through the 1950s, as Zinn worked on his PhD at Columbia University. When the FBI again took an interest in Zinn in the 1960s, documents show the bureau evidently tried to have the historian fired from his job as professor at Boston University.In a document from the Boston FBI office (see PDF file here), an FBI "source," whose name was redacted from the publicly released documents, was quoted as being outraged over Zinn's comment at a protest that the US had become a "police state" and that prosecutions of Black Panther Party members were creating "political prisoners." The bureau's Boston office then indicated it wanted to help the source in his or her campaign to unseat Zinn. "[The] Boston [office] proposes under captioned program with Bureau permission to furnish [name redacted] with public source data regarding Zinn's numerous anti-war activities ... in an effort to back [redacted] efforts for his removal." The bureau's response to the request does not appear to have been included in the released documents.(Raw Story reporters will continue to mine through the documents for more details. If you want to help, you can view the FBI files here, here and here (PDF). Send us what you find to tips@rawstory.com.) The FBI notes that its investigations of Zinn -- three in total, over 25 years -- "ended in 1974, and no further investigation into Zinn or his activities was made by the FBI."Zinn had harsh words for the FBI during his academic career. In a paper published not long before his death, Zinn said the best thing the public could do to curb the FBI's powers was to "continue exposing them." Of the FBI, he said, "They don’t like social movements. They work for the establishment and the corporations and the politicos to keep things as they are. And they want to frighten and chill the people who are trying to change things. So the best defense against them and resistance against them is simply to keep on fighting back, to keep on exposing them."

July 31, 2010 03:00 PM

UK Guardian film-maker and photographer Sean Smith has just spent five weeks in Afghanistan, first with a US helicopter ambulance crew, and then with the US marines. This video summarizes what he saw.  The diary of his trip can be found here.

This is an open thread.

July 31, 2010 03:00 PM

I would very much like to school Ben Nelson on what his responsibility is with regard to Supreme Court nominations. Whether he likes it or not, Elena Kagan has no disqualifying factor that should cause him to oppose her. But in Upside-Down Contrarian SenatorLand, Senator Nelson is doing exactly that. From his official statement:

July 30, 2010 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson issued this statement on the president’s nomination of Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the seat of retired Justice John Paul Stevens:

“As a member of the bipartisan ‘Gang of 14,’ I will follow our agreement that judicial nominees should be filibustered only under extraordinary circumstances. If a cloture vote is held on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, I am prepared to vote for cloture and oppose a filibuster because, in my view, this nominee deserves an up or down vote in the Senate.

“However, I have heard concerns from Nebraskans regarding Ms. Kagan, and her lack of a judicial record makes it difficult for me to discount the concerns raised by Nebraskans, or to reach a level of comfort that these concerns are unfounded. Therefore, I will not vote to confirm Ms. Kagan’s nomination.”

Supreme Court nominations are not a question of "Nebraskans' concerns". They are not a popularity contest. This is why, by the way, Alito and Roberts slithered onto the court. Despite their politics, they had nothing in their history to disqualify them.

As far as judicial experience goes, once again Nelson labors under the false impression that a Supreme Court Justice must be disgorged from our Federal Court system -- an impression which is false, harmful, and gave us Alito and Roberts.

It's pretty pathetic when Arlen Specter, Republican-turned-Democrat, has a stronger record of supporting judicial nominees than Ben Nelson. Or unemployment insurance extensions. Or just about any other initiative that isn't Republican.

And hey, Nebraska? I don't really give two whits about your 'concerns'. You and your conservative pals gave us ... Roberts and Alito.

July 31, 2010 02:00 PM

Cow-dung toothpaste.

July 31, 2010 01:46 PM

“All My Friends Are Dead”, a hilariously morbid children’s book by Avery Monsen and Jory John.

If you’re a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you’re a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you’re a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children’s book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character’s unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.

An animated GIF of the book has become the most reblogged thing on Tumblr of all time.

via The Daily What

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz.

Here are a few other possibly related posts you might enjoy:

- Super Friends Cartoon Meets Friends Sitcom

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July 31, 2010 01:33 PM

cheques

July 31, 2010 01:31 PM

Better?! HUH?!

July 31, 2010 01:31 PM

A washing machine sets itself on destruct mode after trying to wash a rock.

via Arbroath

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz.

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July 31, 2010 01:20 PM

So, yesterday I put up a Shorter ridiculing Steve Spruiell, a blogger at America’s Shittiest Website.™ Steve had gotten all pissy over at ASW™ about Krugman limiting the length of comments on his NYT blog in order to deal with an influx of cut-and-paste trolls.

The point of my post, in addition to taking a jab at Spruiell’s David Cassidy-ish 70s do, was that Spruiell wasn’t fast enough on the uptake to realize that he looked like a complete idiot and a total hypocrite accusing Krugman of censoring blog comments given that Spruiell was doing this from a blog which doesn’t even allow comments in the first place. Sir, have you no sense of irony?

Unable to comment on Spruiell’s post itself, and learning that Spruiell was a Twitterer, Milou (“Snowy” for you Francophobes) and I rushed over to Twitter and set up an account and twittered this to Steve:

Spruiell mulled for quite some time over my shameless reference to his passé teen idol coiffure and finally manned up enough to fire off this limp riposte:

Well, as we say over here, Steve, “Sadly, No!” The post wasn’t “entirely” devoted to your physical appearance. It was mostly devoted to the hilarity of your dissing Krugman about his comments policy from the safety of comment-free blog.

Now, as to the physical appearance business, I do readily admit that commenting on the physical appearance of some of your colleagues is part of our comedy schtick. And I’ll also admit that in the case of say, Jonah Goldberg, this is perhaps a bit unfair because, after all, Jonah didn’t get to pick his mother. But you, dude, you picked that haircut. Voluntarily. You marched straight into some suburban Hair Cuttery of your own free will and accord and said “Make me look like this” while pointing to the cover of an ancient issue of Tiger Beat.

Of course, you got me on the anonymity charge. But sometimes anonymity is a good thing, as your son, whom you shamelessly hold up as some kind of human shield in your Twitter profile pic, would probably say if he could.

(Pixelation added by the Sadly, No! Graphics Studio)

UPDATE:

July 31, 2010 01:19 PM

DOWNLOADS: (263) PLAYS: (2647) I wonder if Sean Hannity fed Elisabeth Hasselbeck her talking points before President Obama appeared on The View this week? Hasselbeck got taken to school over jobs saved and unemployment by the President in this segment. Hasselbeck: I want to get to something that’s really important to so many Americans. You had promised that the stimulus bill would cap unemployment at 8 percent. We’re at near 10 percent across the country, 12 percent in my home state of Rhode Island. We are in a state of chronic joblessness. Yet, and we heard in the beginning of the show as well, you claimed that there’s "saved jobs", something, a standard that’s not been used before by any administration. [Sigh] It’s frustrating to hear that saved jobs boasting, because it doesn’t feel that way to Americans when they don’t have jobs and they’re losing jobs. How can you continue and your administration continue saying you’re saving jobs when in fact people are losing jobs? Obama: Well, actually Elisabeth what’s happened is that we’ve gained private sector jobs for the last five months. So, we were losing jobs when I was sworn in, as I said 750,000 jobs per month. We’ve now gained jobs for five consecutive months in the private sector. You’re absolutely right that it’s not enough. And if you don’t have a job right now, the only answer you want to hear is "I’m hired". Hasselbeck: Right. Obama: So, the frustration that people have is entirely justified. Now, I have to tell you though, this isn’t just my standard, Elisabeth, or my administration’s standard. There was a report that came out by a couple of economists just today, including John McCain’s former economist, that said had we not taken the steps that we had took, you would have actually seen millions of more jobs lost and we would be in a Great Depression. So, I know that’s not satisfying and it’s not good enough. But... Hasselbeck: I think it’s the word ‘saved’ is what’s troubling people cause they don’t feel it. Obama: Well, it makes a difference though if your job is one of the one that was one of the ones that was saved. Someone needs to ask Hannity in a skirt if she's seen Steve Benen's monthly jobs chart if she thinks that nothing's been done to improve things since President Obama came into office. Most on the left would argue that not enough has been done and we had a reversal in the trend last month but we're definitely moving away from the bottomless pit Bush was taking us into.

July 31, 2010 01:00 PM

[Image: Watership Down by Maier Yagod and Jon Reed at the Cleveland Public Library].

In a project for the Cleveland Public Library, designed by Toronto-based architects Maier Yagod and Jon Reed, "domestic fragments" have been embedded in the pavement, forming a surreal new kind of public bench:

Watership Down creates a scenario where five houses are frozen for a moment in a process of complete submersion into the ground of the Eastman Garden. Placed throughout the Garden, the gables of these houses project out of the earth at various angles. These create focal points of interest within the garden and become follies to climb, sit and rest upon.

Taken too far in one direction, of course, this idea could very easily become a kind of postmodern joke—architectural theme-props for a children's playground—but the installation manages to avoid explicit dramaturgy, its fragments more like Gordon Matta-Clark's Building Cuts emerging from the surface of the city.

[Image: Watership Down by Maier Yagod and Jon Reed at the Cleveland Public Library].

A fever of roofs pushing up from below, breaching ground level with the archaeological buoyancy of lost ships.

[Image: Watership Down by Maier Yagod and Jon Reed at the Cleveland Public Library].

While the deliberate use of simulated building fragments can run the risk, mentioned earlier, of simply repeating the PoMo theatrics of things like "upside-down buildings," the evocation of underground architecture, like tombs, scratching through the earth, buried by an orderly landslide of the urban fabric around them, is an interesting direction to take.

July 31, 2010 12:55 PM

Babble on, Babylon!  We're watching you!

It's that time of week, once again, and the question of the hour is: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who can spot the most blathering idiot of them all?"

It COULD be you!  But only if you participate by entering your nomination in the comments below.

Last week's winner was sb's picture-perfect nomination of Politico's Kiki Ryan:

From Politico's "50 Scenemakers" list: http://www.politico.com/news/s... "Absence may or may not make the heart grow fonder, but blogger Andrew Breitbart says it definitely boosts his buzz. "The secret sauce and the added value is the inadvertent mystery that is born from being absent from the scene," Breitbart told POLITICO, explaining why his moments on the D.C. social scene become events to remember. The conservative writer and personality lives on the West Coast - a fact that gives him a certain mystique among Washingtonians accustomed to seeing the same faces again and again. Breitbart says his political opposite, Arianna Huffington, has the same edge. "Arianna and I have a similar dynamic," he began. "We both live in L.A., so when we come to town on social business terms, we use it as a chance to finally get the face to face with the people you know through your BlackBerry. Then we go back to our lives." For him, that includes being a husband and a father of four children. Still, it's more than rarity that makes Breitbart a party get. He's an ideal guest. "Andrew's fun, provocative and obviously not afraid to speak his mind," Huffington said about her conservative counterpart. Raptor Strategies President David Bass, a Washington-based friend of Breitbart's, echoed Huffington. "He's dead-on and witty at the same time," said Bass. That opinion may not be widely shared as a result of Breitbart's posting of an edited - and misleading - video of Agriculture Dept. official Shirley Sherrod this week. While Breitbart seemed to revel in the ensuing controversy - "I am public enemy No. 1" he proclaimed in an interview with POLITICO - even some of his conservative allies said he had crossed a line. Breitbart is in D.C. only sporadically, but every year he reliably shows up at one party: Tammy Haddad's brunch on the weekend of the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. "I remember missing it [twice]," he said, "and having that sick sense of 'I can't believe that everybody is over there having fun and I'm not.'" Editor's note: The item on Andrew Breitbart was written before this week's controversy over his posting of a video of Agriculture Dept. official Shirley Sherrod. It has been updated to reflect that controversy." - Kiki Ryan

Rules on the flip.
The Rules:

(A) We're looking for inane blather that is blissfully indifferent to the actual facts of the matter being commented on. ?These are the "Chatty Cathy" Awards, not the "Archie Bunkers." ?Of course, this doesn't exclude wingnut punditry, it's just that cluelessness is what we're looking for, more than hatefulness. ?If you can find examples that combine both, though... I think you've got a real winner.

(B) You may nominate any pundit from the M$M-print, broadcast tv/radio or cable-or from any online extension or associated outfit. ?(If this really catches on for some reason, I may decided to break the awards into separate categories at some point.) Nominations should include the name of the person nominated (preferably in the subject line), the outlet and date, an exact quote of what they said or wrote, and a link to where it can be found-original, transcript, or first-hand report (such as Media Matters).

(C) You may submit as many nominations as you want, but each must be in a separate comment.

(D) People vote for each nomination by giving recommendations. ?There is no limit on how many recommendations you can give.

July 31, 2010 12:00 PM

MAL Contends: U.S. Army Clears War of Wrongdoing

Obsidian Wings: WTF? ANTI-Defamation League? Really? Really?

Left in the West:Tester, Baucus obstruct Senate reform

The Center for Public Integrity: Five of the nation’s largest health insurers are in serious discussions about creating a new nonprofit group and bankrolling it to the tune of about $20 million to influence tight congressional races and boost the image of their industry. Wonder who they'll support?

OurFuture: Where are the prosecutions? SEC lets Citi execs go free after $ 40 billion subprime lie

Danger Room: U.S ducks as cluster bomb ban takes effect

July 31, 2010 12:00 PM

do you perhaps mean http://www.ufunk.net/en/publicite/tatouage-sur-lego-pilot-extra-fine/ ?

July 31, 2010 11:31 AM

guys, have you heard about "computer crime"?

July 31, 2010 11:31 AM

pity it's a 'shop

July 31, 2010 11:31 AM

the only way to win is to not play the game

July 31, 2010 10:46 AM

http://canopycanopycanopy.com/9/mao__king_kong__and_the_future_of_the_book

July 31, 2010 10:16 AM

emad_

July 31, 2010 10:16 AM

emad

July 31, 2010 10:01 AM

Also nemo

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

muppets, that's trivial in CSS.

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

I can see how this really helps him escape his daily life

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

emad

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

bz2

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

http://www.slate.com/id/2262214/

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

gotta do laundry wit yer gun on

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

like photos from the great depression in the US

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

THE PERFECT DISGUISE

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

Vin Diesel?

July 31, 2010 09:46 AM

hurf durf

July 31, 2010 09:30 AM

emad

July 31, 2010 09:15 AM

nemo

July 31, 2010 09:15 AM

Translation: I am high as a kite. Give me money!

July 31, 2010 09:01 AM

emad_

July 31, 2010 09:01 AM

July 31, 2010 08:50 AM

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING

July 31, 2010 08:46 AM

http://identi.ca/notice/44555364

July 31, 2010 08:46 AM

I'll put up something good tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon!

July 31, 2010 08:23 AM

July 31, 2010 08:20 AM

July 31, 2010 08:20 AM

July 31, 2010 08:20 AM

http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100731after.gif

July 31, 2010 07:45 AM

carseats for babies

July 31, 2010 07:45 AM

the women around here just jump into the wading pool fully dressed, no special clothes or anything.

July 31, 2010 07:45 AM

emad

July 31, 2010 07:45 AM

ding ding ding!

July 31, 2010 07:45 AM

mmm, utf-8

July 31, 2010 06:31 AM

Dear Lazyweb, how do I use both SpamAssassin and Sieve at the same time?

Is the way this works that Postfix writes /var/mail/jwz via procmail, and then dovecot reads from there and moves the messages to ~/mail/ via sieve? I can't even tell.

Postfix main.cf has mailbox_command = /usr/bin/procmail.

/etc/procmailrc is:

DROPPRIVS=yes
:0fw
| /usr/bin/spamc -u $LOGNAME -x -s 100000000

/var/mail/jwz gets X-Spam-Status headers written into it. So far so good.

/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf (for dovecot 2.0) has:

protocol lda { ... mail_plugins = sieve ... }

Dovecot is managing to read messages out of /var/mail/jwz and deliver them to me over IMAP, with SA headers intact. But it's not running sieve, possibly not even running its own lda, and everything I have googled so far is a twisty maze of illiterate wikis that may or may not be written for versions of the software that is 5+ years out of date.

I thought maybe the answer was to add
| /usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver -d $LOGNAME
to the end of procmailrc, but that let me to discover that:

% cat testmsg | /usr/libexec/dovecot/deliver -d jwz
Exit 75
lda: Error: dlopen(/usr/lib64/dovecot/lda/lib90_sieve_plugin.so) failed: /usr/lib64/dovecot/lda/lib90_sieve_plugin.so: undefined symbol: tried_default_save
lda: Fatal: Couldn't load required plugins


So I guess I have the wrong version of the sieve plugin? I have: dovecot-2.0-0.18_114_rc3.el5 and dovecot-sieve-0.1.17-5.el5 on CentOS release 5.4 (Final)

July 31, 2010 06:03 AM

I’ve come to the conclusion that the future of all mainstream media news is Taiwanese animation. This piece from NMA News in Taiwan explains our 2012 presidential election prelims to a Chinese audience.

What is truly frightening (or sad) – Without understanding one word of Chinese, I completely understand every single frame in this story.

July 31, 2010 05:45 AM

Screwtape: huh?

July 31, 2010 05:15 AM

The Zombie Dice app for iPhone is now in the App Store! (Download it here!) And it's bargain priced: it's free.

You get the exact same play as in a two-person Zombie Dice game; it's you vs. a computer-controlled zombie, each trying to eat 13 brains and win. The zombie AI is, WE HOPE, not as smart as you. But it will give you a run for your money, and gloat when it rolls well, and heckle you and give you bad advice, and say "Braaaaainnns" a lot.

And if you like the free version, we will happily sell you a 99-cent upgrade that lets you include up to 8 players, by passing around the phone. The full version also has more animations and a setting that makes the zombies smarter. Still not really as smart as you, WE HOPE.

I now have a tiny sense of what it's like to be a "producer" on a digital game. And I know that if we go much farther, I'll have to hire a real, full-time producer. But this has been the most interesting thing I've done recently.

This took more and different talents than a physical game, and some really amazing work went into it. I am not a humble person, but it's humbling to look at this and realize all the talents that went into the digital version of my silly little zombie game . .

• Kira Hamilton's code
• Justin De Witt's graphic design
• Alex Fernandez' art
• Will Schoonover's voice and SFX
• Tom Smith's music, err, noise. (Honest! He wanted to be credited for "Background Noise.")
• And excellent bugfinding by Steven Marsh and Bob Hood!

I hope you like this. Please try it out, tell your friends about it, and send us 99 cents for the full version if you think the freebie is fun! Because I would really, really like to do more of these.

-- Steve Jackson

(Late update! As of 11:10pm Friday night, it's the #11 free dice game in the App Store – apparently, just on word spread via Twitter.)

July 31, 2010 05:07 AM

Tasmanian artist Cat Rabbit makes dolls you want to be your friends. They're a little odd, a little scary, and entirely, completely lovable (look at that face!). They're each unique, they've all got style, and they love just being themselves. Revel in their sweet personalities here and here, and get one to love for always and call your very own here.

(Photo via this amazing photo shoot here. Go look! The models and dolls are wearing matching costumes, and it is wonderful.)

(A big thanks to Dianna!)

July 31, 2010 05:03 AM

NEW YORK- You like leather ladies? Well, the hottest gigolo in town is waiting for you to ring his cowbell.

July 31, 2010 05:01 AM

quick joke URL

July 31, 2010 05:01 AM

emad

July 31, 2010 05:01 AM

changing he id doesn't seem to do anything here http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jokingcomputer/webversion/fulldisplay.php?id=133333

July 31, 2010 05:01 AM

Recently, Benji York joined Canonical’s Launchpad team. I asked him a little about himself and his work.

Matthew: What do you do on the Launchpad team?

Benji: I work on the Foundations team. Right now I’m concentrating on the web service APIs and improving the OpenID integration.

Matthew: Can we see something that you’ve worked on?

Benji: There’s not much to see yet. Most of my changes thus far have been bug fixes or purely internal.

Matthew: Where do you work?

Benji: I work from my home in Virginia, USA.

Matthew: What can you see from your office window?

Benji: Just the shrubs that border my lawn. Once the weather cools off a bit I want to try working from the wifi-covered park/beach near my house.

Matthew: What did you do before working at Canonical?

Benji: I worked at Zope Corporation for about 6 years, most of that time as the team lead for their main product. Before that I worked in the automotive industry, mostly writing supply chain and manufacturing software.

Matthew: How did you get into free software?

Benji: I think the first piece of open source software I used to any degree was Python 1.5. Since then open source software has slowly taken over almost every niche of my computing world.

Matthew: What’s more important? Principle or pragmatism?

Benji: Pragmatism. If a thing doesn’t do what it needs to do, it’s not worth much.

However, I believe that principles are there to help us be pragmatic in a scope larger than the immediate moment. It’s not pragmatic in the long term to skimp on good design or testing just to get something out the door. Any good principal is grounded in pragmatism.

Matthew: Do you/have you contribute(d) to any free software projects?

Benji: When I was in college the console (NES, SNES, Genesis, etc.) emulation scene exploded and I had a side project that let people connect console controllers to their PC. I was approached by one of the Linux input device guys about contributing some of that code. That was my first open source contribution.

Since then I’ve made large and small contributions to dozens of open source projects. Most of those have been in the Zope ecosystem.

Lately I’ve put most of my open source hacking time into Manuel, a system for writing better tested documentation and better documented tests — it’s sort of a spiritual successor to Python’s doctest.

Matthew: Tell us something really cool about Launchpad that not enough people know about.

Benji: I’m sure most readers of this blog will know, but I didn’t know that the Launchpad and Bazaar integration is as nice as it is. Being able to branch from LP, make changes, mark the branch as fixing a particular bug, push the branch to LP, view the diffs online and then generate a merge proposal that will be automatically emailed to reviewers is very convenient.

Matthew: Is there anything in particular that you want to change in Launchpad?

Benji: I’m not familiar enough with LP yet to have strong feelings about changing it. Give it a few months and I’ll be plenty opinionated.

[Discuss Benji York’s Interview on the Forum]

Originally posted by Matthew Revell here on Thursday, July 29th, 2010 at 12:44 pm

July 31, 2010 04:53 AM

I remember in one of the ST:TNG movies, Riker takes the enterprise to "manual mode", and a Gravis joystick rises out of the console. now, I don't know what to feel

July 31, 2010 04:46 AM

Looking down and suddenly seeing a giant void where water is supposed to be is disconcerting

July 31, 2010 04:46 AM

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jokingcomputer/webversion/getjoke.php

July 31, 2010 04:46 AM

Screwtape

July 31, 2010 04:31 AM

"It has been noted that Emacs, text editing software popular with computer programmers, and BOLIO, a text-formatting program, were developed within walking distance of a store near MIT."

July 31, 2010 04:16 AM

http://onproductmanagement.net/wp-content/uploads/stupid-question.jpg <

July 31, 2010 04:01 AM

FACT.

I've got three guest comics going up in August. One of them is particularly epic. STAY TUNED!

July 31, 2010 04:00 AM

Gladys from Austin, TX is hilarious. Especially at about the four-minute mark. Open thread below.

July 31, 2010 03:30 AM

Nice, except they need to mirror things so that Eastern Australia lines up with Eastern US.

July 31, 2010 03:16 AM

the original Harlem, since the 10th century

July 31, 2010 03:16 AM

Screwtape: http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/06/03/a-complete-look-at-the-new-subway-map/#more-6075

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

http://nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/system_1972.jpg is the controversial map that forced things back towards less-schematic

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

or http://nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/system_1966_a.gif

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

Screwtape: Compare to, e.g. http://nycsubway.org/perl/caption.pl?/img/maps/irvingtrust-july68.png

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

er, http://nycsubway.org/maps/historical.html

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

Screwtape: Here, pore through this: http://nycsubway.org/maps/

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

Screwtape

July 31, 2010 03:01 AM

Title: Range LifeArtist: Pavement The longer I was on the road as a touring sideman, the more I began to understand what Pavement were talking about in this song off of 1994's Crooked Rain Crooked Rain. I don't think Billy Corgan was too happy when he heard this though.

July 31, 2010 03:00 AM

I was in Portland, Oregon for a conference on Visual Communication in June. (Yeah, it’s almost August; yes, I’m that far behind). I just have to post about the whole darn city, it’s so great. Normally in any given town I only find about three shops that truly appeal to me… in Portland, there are whole neighbourhoods filled with them! Indie bookshops, Powell’s Books (the mother of all second hand book shops), vinyl record stores, vintage clothing, antique stores specializing in the weird, artist-run galleries, more artist run galleries, craft and art museums, restaurant patios, and multiple brew pubs. And it’s pretty affordable to be a tourist in, with good public transit, almost as many bicycles as Amsterdam, and cheap eats.

Normally we post on specific artists here on Drawn, but I’m going to praise the whole city, because a supportive city helps the arts flourish – and Portland seems to have done a great job of it. The civic planners and the artists deserve credit. I didn’t get to all the arts districts, but the Alberta Arts District really works well. There, you can find places like Together Gallery, and Monograph Bookwerks, which specializes in fine art books. The photo above MIGHT be from Together’s back area… it had a great selection of zines and other DIY… I didn’t do the greatest job of keeping track what I photographed. Maybe someone can confirm??? I also loved Ampersand Gallery, which has vintage ephemera, art books, and a lot of things related to photography.

If I were American, this is where I would go live and draw….

Below: street art on Alberta Street.

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Posted by Jaleen Grove on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Art, galleries, portland oregon

July 31, 2010 02:55 AM

Alley Oop had the best dinosaur and jungle drawings.No one can forget Catman.Felix and the bulb-noses - a kid favorite.Henry was once beloved by millions. The "Funniest Living American". He doesn't have a mouth. Is he Popeye's bastard son?.Smokey Stover must be the wackiest comic ever. A big influence on Clampett.I love this Oswald drawing!Comics are for everybodyWalt Kelly Snow WhiteDon't you

July 31, 2010 02:55 AM

Screwtape: http://mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm

July 31, 2010 02:46 AM

New map for the Moscow Metro.

July 31, 2010 02:46 AM

As of 2:30 this morning I was certain I'd be blogging again today. I'd just sent off the finished draft of the Doctor Who script, and I was done.

The two characters are similar enough to suggest that either Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn
is derivative of Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn or it is the same character to which plaintiff owns
the copyright.

Much as defendant tries to distinguish the two knight Hellspawn, he never explains
why, of all the universe of possible Hellspawn incarnations, he introduced two knights from
the same century. Not only does this break the Hellspawn “rule” that Malebolgia never
returns a Hellspawns to Earth more than once every 400 years (or possibly every 100 years,
as suggested in Spawn, No. 9, exh. #1, at 4), it suggests that what defendant really wanted to
do was exploit the possibilities of the knight introduced in issue no. 9. (This possibility is
supported by the odd timing of defendant’s letter to plaintiff on February 14, 1999, just
before publication of the first issue of Spawn The Dark Ages, to the effect that defendant was
rescinding their previous agreements and retaining all rights to Medieval (Gaiman) Spawn.)

If defendant really wanted to differentiate the new Hellspawn, why not make him a
Portuguese explorer in the 16th century; an officer of the Royal Navy in the 18th century, an
idealistic recruit of Simon Bolivar in the 19th century, a companion of Odysseus on his
voyages, a Roman gladiator, a younger brother of Emperor Nakamikado in the early 18th
century, a Spanish conquistador, an aristocrat in the Qing dynasty, an American Indian
warrior or a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I? It seems far more than coincidence
that Dark Ages (McFarlane) Spawn is a knight from the same century as Medieval (Gaiman)
Spawn.

Anyway. That's that round done with.

July 31, 2010 02:26 AM

I don't see how the gal who made this chart can get off telling me my science facts are insufficiently accurate.

July 31, 2010 02:15 AM

Welcome to Mackertosh.

July 31, 2010 02:01 AM

(The leopards attempt at changing spots) DOWNLOADS: 284 PLAYS: 284 When Iran, under Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized Iran's oil production in March of 1951, it put a crimp in the relations between Iran and Britain, who had enjoyed massive profits from drilling operations going back to 1909 and who, by 1950 had come to rely (as did the U.S.) on Middle East oil for 70% of its consumption (even back then). After a hotly contested dispute, which brought in the League of Nations to re-negotiate in 1933, Iran got slightly more of a percentage and by 1946 had negotiated to get 30% profits to Britain's 70%. After Mossadegh took over and nationalized Iran's oil production, Britain quickly attempted to negotiate a 50/50 split, but Mossadegh would have none of it. The dispute between Britain and Iran went on for two years. So on August 22, 1953, with the help of our very own CIA the Mossadegh government was overthrown and The Shah was reinstated. Shortly after, Britain and Iran were negotiating oil. And shortly after, The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company became British Petroleum. And the rest, as they say, is history. This clip comes from a CBS newscast of August 21, 1951 when the negotiations had broken down.

July 31, 2010 02:00 AM

Well, frankly, at this point, I mostly say these things to see what new burn she'll come up with.

July 31, 2010 01:46 AM

Rosemary has taken to shooting down my Calvin's-Dad-style Informative Nature Facts with increasing harshness.

July 31, 2010 01:46 AM

Exhibit B, a diagram from Apple's "travel application" patent (see the top right)

July 31, 2010 01:46 AM

Exhibit A, a currently-shipping third-party iPhone application

July 31, 2010 01:46 AM

so stupid

July 31, 2010 01:01 AM

http://www.cullmantimes.com/local/x1037665242/Underwear-packaging-reportedly-recalled-from-Walmart-after-Cullman-pastor-s-complaint?fark the fuckk

July 31, 2010 01:01 AM

DOWNLOADS: (320) PLAYS: (614) Looks like Lindsey Graham is worried about appeasing the nativists in his wingnut base. On Greta Van Susteren's show the other night he announced he might introduce a bill that would change the law granting citizenship to children of immigrants born in the United States. As Steve Benen noted: ...as far as much of the media is concerned, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is a reasonable, pragmatic Republican, with whom Democrats should have no trouble finding common ground. He's proving once again here he doesn't deserve that label. Lawmakers Consider Ending Citizenship for Children of Illegal Immigrants: Lawmakers since last year have been kicking around a proposal to bar U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens. Such a move, which has been ridiculed by legal scholars, would be a drastic reinterpretation of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. But those supporting the move say it removes a key incentive luring illegal immigrants over the border. And with Arizona lawmakers now prohibited from requiring police to check immigration status, the option might be back on the table. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News after the Arizona ruling came down that "birthright citizenship" needs to be changed. "I'm a practical guy, but when you go forward I don't want 20 million more (illegal immigrants) 20 years from now," he said. "Let's have a system that doesn't reward people for cheating." Though other lawmakers have called for a change in U.S. or state law, Graham said he might introduce a constitutional amendment. "We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child's automatically not a citizen," he said Wednesday. "They come here to drop a child -- it's called 'drop and leave.' ... That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons." As Steve also noted, Jamelle Bouie at the American Prospect did a very good job of pointing out just how extreme Graham's position is -- What Ever Happened to the Maverick of South Carolina?: Of course, we should be careful not to confuse independence with moderation. Yes, Graham has been willing to work with Democrats, but he's consistently brought a conservative approach to the issues. And when working on his own, he doesn't hesitate to champion conservative causes. For instance, Graham isn't too fond of children born to illegal immigrants in the United States -- "anchor babies," as the right-wing describes them. Indeed, Graham is so incensed by this that he wants to amend the Constitution to end it. [...] It's genuinely difficult to overstate the radicalism necessary to seek a transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was designed to ensure that slavery could never again happen in the United States and is now integral to keeping the United States free of a permanent underclass of immigrant workers. At its core, birthright citizenship gives immigrants a reason to stay and provide lasting contributions to the United States. In assaulting birthright citizenship, Graham is attacking an incredibly important part of the American social contract. If the media has any sense, this should kill the narrative that Lindsey Graham is a maverick or a reasonable Republican. Even the Fox article pointed out that this is not likely to happen and how crass this political game being played by the right wing is. The amendment process is drawn out, and success is almost always unlikely -- it would take a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress as well as ratification by three-fourths of the states. That's 38 states. Michael Wildes, an immigration lawyer and former federal prosecutor, called the push "pie in the sky" no matter how lawmakers go about it. He said any law altering the 14th amendment would never survive a court challenge and questioned the intent. "It's spiteful," he said. "These are U.S. citizens. ... They're babies that by the grace of God were born in one country instead of another.

July 31, 2010 01:00 AM

We take a closer look at the new and improved portable gaming laptop.

July 31, 2010 12:32 AM

July 31, 2010 12:32 AM

teferi

July 31, 2010 12:31 AM

I've always had a silly aversion to armadillos. I think it stemmed from a strange taxidermy situation from my childhood, which is certainly not the armadillo's fault. But I went on a hike the other day near the beach and I saw a pair of armadillos for the first time in the wild -- going about their business, being friends, having fun. And it hit me in a flash -- these animals are super cool.

Which makes this armadillo ring by designer Up To Much super cool. Bonus: I'm pretty sure it can double as a weapon.

(link) : (via)

July 31, 2010 12:24 AM

it was actually a real prototype

July 31, 2010 12:16 AM

Shorter John Hayward, AKA Doctor Zero, AKA Jim Treacher Stand-In, The DC Trawler
Undocumented Brutality

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‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard. We are aware of all Internet traditions.™

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July 31, 2010 12:04 AM

what.

July 31, 2010 12:01 AM

Iran starts feeling heat

• Whoa, whoa... I'm starting to get a funny feeling in my pants... I haven't felt this way since 2003... what could it be? Oh God! OOOOHHH GOD, YES!!! WE MIGHT HAVE ANOTHER WAR!!!! YESYESYES!!!! OOOOOOOHHHHH GOD!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

  *pant, pant*

  So, Iran, was that as good for you as it was for me?

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'Shorter' concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard. We are aware of all Internet traditions.™ Graphics and postscript shamelessly pilfered from my pals at Sadly, No!

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July 31, 2010 12:00 AM

New Cyanide and Happiness Comic.

July 31, 2010 12:00 AM

Jon shows off his new wife and family and reminisces about tooling around the West Village on Liev Schreiber's motorcycle.

July 31, 2010 12:00 AM

Jon shows off his new wife and family and reminisces about tooling around the West Village on Liev Schreiber's motorcycle.

July 31, 2010 12:00 AM

July 30, 2010 11:49 PM

July 30, 2010 11:49 PM

July 30, 2010 11:49 PM

July 30, 2010 11:49 PM

July 30, 2010 11:49 PM

Rhythm Zone (PC)
The gaming equivalent to an out of tune piano.

July 30, 2010 11:42 PM

Researchers have identified rocks that they say could contain the fossilised remains of life on early Mars.

July 30, 2010 11:40 PM

From Zerg rushes to creepy spiders, there's something for (almost) everyone.

July 30, 2010 11:32 PM

From Zerg rushes to creepy spiders, there's something for (almost) everyone.

July 30, 2010 11:31 PM

July 30, 2010 11:31 PM

As Rep. Charlie Rangel continues to twist in the ethical wind, we named Rep. Zoe Logren, the California Democrat tasked with conducting the trial into alleged wrongdoings by the New York Congressman, as our "Worst Week in Washington" winner. We write in the dead-tree edition of the Post: "Like a narc (the Fix loved "21 Jump Street" back in the day) or a hall monitor, sometimes doing your job makes you the least popular kid in school. For the foreseeable future -- or until Rangel cuts a deal, thus ending the prospect of a congressional trial -- that role will be played by Lofgren." Thanks to everyone for their submissions. And, if your pick didn't win this week, there's always next week! Check out our past "Worst Week in Washington" winners here.


Washington - California - Democratic - Zoe Lofgren - New York City

July 30, 2010 11:30 PM

From Zerg rushes to creepy spiders, there's something for (almost) everyone.

July 30, 2010 11:30 PM

Have the copyright enforcers been caught with their hands in the cookie jar? The blog TorrentFreak today published its claim that the US Copyright Group, which has filed more than 14,000 lawsuits against anonymous P2P movie sharers, ripped off another copyright settlement group in crafting its own settlement website.

The site was tipped off by a reader, who claimed that US Copyright Group had jacked code and visual elements from Copyright Settlements, which is in a similar business: sue P2P users, then send them letters demanding a settlement to avoid trial.

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 11:08 PM

http://nedroid.com/imagesb/tricerotops.png

July 30, 2010 11:01 PM

http://twitter.com/Atrios/status/19940633401

July 30, 2010 11:01 PM

you don't even have to go past the editors note

July 30, 2010 10:46 PM

good times

July 30, 2010 10:46 PM

nice hack

July 30, 2010 10:46 PM

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC)
Taking a look at a cut scene from Low to Ultra.

July 30, 2010 10:41 PM

"The operating system is called Windows," claimed Steve Ballmer when asked about Microsoft's plans for the tablet/slate/pad form factor at the company's annual Financial Analyst Meeting on Thursday. He expressed dismay at the iPad's strong sales figures, "[Apple has] sold certainly more than I'd like them to have sold," he said. Ballmer then promised that Windows-powered devices will be shipping "as soon as they are ready," going on to explain that they would get a boost from Intel's low-power Oak Trail platform next year.

The message was clear: Microsoft still doesn't understand why its Tablet PC concept has repeatedly bombed over the best part of a decade. Apple sold more iPads in its first three months of availability than PC vendors sold Tablet PCs in the whole of last year; in fact, the number of iPads sold in that period is likely to eclipse the number of Tablet PCs sold both last year and this. But still the company is persevering: stick a regular PC operating system on a laptop, give it a touchscreen, and then take away the keyboard and pixel-perfect pointing device. Ballmer even reiterated the company's position: slates are just another PC form factor.

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 10:40 PM

Corroborating a rumor from The Wall Street Journal earlier this summer, a new Bloomberg report cited "two people familiar with the company's plans" to build an iPad-like touchscreen device and release it this fall. Dubbed the "Blackpad," the device will ostensibly run the as-yet-unreleased BlackBerry OS 6, and help RIM deflect further encroachment from Apple into its declining mobile market share.

Bloomberg's sources note that the device will rely on BlackBerry's usual enterprise e-mail advantage, but it will also include features that Apple's iPad lacks. In particular, it will have both rear and front-facing cameras for video conferencing and image capture, as well as the ability to pair with a BlackBerry phone over Bluetooth to share its 3G connection.

But jumping into the current tablet market—already dominated by Apple's iPad and with Windows 7 and Android-based products expected soon—might be easier said than done. "With the success of the iPad, RIM faces an uphill battle," William Power, an analyst at Robert W Baird & Co, told Bloomberg. "RIM really has yet to demonstrate that it can roll out touchscreen technology to match the leaders in the space, most noticeably Apple."

The Blackpad is expected to be launched in November, not long after RIM launches a long-rumored BlackBerry Bold 9800. That device will be a touchscreen-only device and the first to be offered with the more consumer-oriented BlackBerry OS 6.

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 10:33 PM

By Felicia Sonmez Unlike other large states, Florida does not have a long history of wealthy candidates successfully self-funding their pursuits for political office but this cycle may change that. Billionaire real estate developer Jeff Greene (D) and former health care executive Rick Scott (R) have surged to leads in their respective Senate and gubernatorial primaries, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Both Greene and Scott entered their respective races at the 11th hour and have been propelled themselves to frontrunner status against more established politicians due to their willingness to spend of their own personal fortunes and voters more willing than in years past to consider candidates with unconventional resumes. (Greene has spent about $6 million, while Scott has spent a staggering $22 million). What's surprising about the rises of both Scott and Greene is not only how quickly they came about but that no one like them (ie,


Florida - Jeff Greene - Primary election - Rick Scott - United States Senate

July 30, 2010 10:26 PM

July 30, 2010 10:26 PM

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/bad-for-the-jews/

July 30, 2010 10:16 PM

The problem with head injuries is that people who receive them often don’t realize how serious they actually are, until it’s too late. That’s why BAE Systems developed the Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System (HEADS) helmet sensor back in 2008. Used by the US Army and Marine Corps, the sensor is mounted inside soldiers’ helmets, and indicates when it has received concussive force sufficient to cause a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Last week at the Farnborough International Air Show, BAE announced the launch of the second generation of HEADS sensors. .. Continue Reading HEADS Generation II helmet sensor unveiled

Tags: BAE Systems, Brain, Combat, Helmet, Military, Protection, Soldiers, Trauma

Related Articles:

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• BAE to develop next-generation night-vision goggles
• Retro-fit heads-up display system for motorcycle and bicycle helmets
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• Mini sensor to improve detection of greenhouse gases

July 30, 2010 10:15 PM

We’ve certainly seen some high-tech wonders over the past week at AirVenture 2010, but sometimes it’s the relatively low-tech aircraft that are the most inspiring. That’s certainly the case with the Maverick, a flying car from Florida’s I-TEC (Indigenous People's Technology and Education Center). The Maverick could fairly accurately be described as a combination dune buggy and powered parachute, not unlike the Parajet Skycar. While I-TEC initially plans on raising funds by selling Mavericks to recreational users, they ultimately hope to put the vehicles to use in impoverished African nations, where missionary pilots can use them to deliver medical supplies... Continue Reading The Maverick flying car

Tags: Aircraft, AirVenture 2010, Flying Car, Oshkosh

Related Articles:

• Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod demonstrates Maverick missile compatibility
• UK's VTOL Harrier Jets upgraded
• The flying motorcycle - road-registered and available now
• The Chillow - a Non-Electric, Self-Cooling Cushion
• An "affordable" personal jet aircraft
• Start-up plans 330 MPG hybrid for under US$20,000

July 30, 2010 10:14 PM

Quite a few people have heard of wheelchair basketball and sledge hockey, but perhaps not so many are familiar with Hardcore Sitting. That’s what wheelchair athlete Aaron Fotheringham calls his sport, which involves doing BMX/skateboarding-style stunts on a wheelchair at a skatepark. Los Angeles-based industrial designer Joven De La Vega was so inspired by Fotheringham, he decided to design a wheelchair tailored specifically to the sport. The working prototype – dubbed the HXC Wheelchair – can be compared to a freestyle BMX street bike... Continue Reading The BMX-inspired HXC sport wheelchair

Tags: Athlete, Industrial design, Skateboard, Wheelchair

Related Articles:

• The WheelChair Mover - an Ergonomic Mobility Solution
• NTU builds a better wheelchair
• Panasonic's robotic-bed-cum-wheelchair helps maintain independent lifestyle
• Gizmo of the Week: the US$44.40 wheelchair
• Chunc an innovative design in wheelchair technology
• The wheelchair-accessible limousine

July 30, 2010 10:03 PM

The old "Ubuntu doesn't contribute back" argument cropped up again when Dave Neary released a report of the talk he gave at GUADEC on the contributions made to the GNOME desktop environment. He found that Red Hat and Novell contributed the most and that Ubuntu and Mandriva (primarily a KDE distribution) was among the lowest. more>>

July 30, 2010 10:01 PM

Fred Clark of Slacktivist writes one of those blogs that I just love. He's smart, compassionate and very, very perceptive. This piece on the credit report industry is timely -- go read the rest: Kevin Drum makes a helpful comparison between your credit history and your medical history: In the same way that medical records are available only to people with a legitimate medical need, I think that credit records should be available only to those who actually extend credit. Beyond that, they're private. Employers don't get them, the FBI doesn't get them, journalists don't get them and my neighborhood association doesn't get them. I don't care how much each of these people really, reallythinks it would be handy to have a peek at them. Short of a subpoena or a court order, my financial records are my business. You can't have them.... The credit reporting agencies [have] been placed in a privileged position where they're allowed to collect sensitive private information — just as doctors and banks and census takers are. That privileged position means they have a heightened responsibility for maintaining privacy, not a license to use their databases for anything that can make them an extra buck or two. I think that's exactly right.It also seems to be exactly the opposite of the current relationship between citizens and credit reporting agencies. Right now, the credit reporting agencies are permitted to collect and evaluate sensitive private information about anyone and everyone. (Although, again, "evaluate" may be too elevated a term for the crude reductionist number-crunching of their secret "scoring" formulas.) Almost no information about you and your money and how it is spent is off-limits to them. They are further permitted to sell this information to anyone to whom they wish to sell it, repackaging and marketing your private financial information for sale to insurance companies, your boss or your prospective employer. Fred goes on to describe the carelessness with which those agencies treat your information, and why protecting consumers from the consequences is a political winner: There are at the moment Democratic attorneys general in 31 states. Of those, I'm guessing, about 31 are hoping some day to be governors or senators. Advocating for their constituents against the costly and predatory negligence of credit-reporting agencies seems like a promising step toward fulfilling such ambitions. (I forget who it was who first observed that some seek power in order to enact policies while others seek policies in order to attain power, but I think this should appeal to those in either category.) The Federal Trade Commission estimates that about 9 million Americans are victims of identity theft every year, so it's a safe bet that each of these AGs (or A's G) has thousands of constituents whose credit histories are scarred by such theft and who are therefore being forced to pay premium rates for everything from mortgages to consumer loans to insurance and utilities. Some of these constituents may have been denied employment or promotion on the basis of these lucratively inaccurate and uncorrected credit scores. These costs are real and therefore they can be measured and quantified and added up into a single Very Large Dollar Amount -- the amount that constituents have been inaccurately and unfairly overcharged due to the negligence and irresponsibility of others. That VLDA is the basis for the class-action lawsuits that these attorneys general ought to be filing on behalf of their constituents. Whether or not such lawsuits can succeed in achieving restitution for the millions of citizens who have paid dearly for the carelessness of the credit-reporting agencies, the lawsuits ought to be able to achieve at least a bit more of what is desperately needed and sorely lacking in the current system: accountability and transparency. Without transparency and accountability, the power that credit agencies have will be abused and expanded and exte

July 30, 2010 10:00 PM

Bethesda outlines panel and presentation list.

July 30, 2010 09:59 PM

July 30, 2010 09:48 PM

July 30, 2010 09:48 PM

July 30, 2010 09:48 PM

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (PC)
You think that you can kill me?

July 30, 2010 09:45 PM

Microsoft has announced plans to release of an out-of-band update on Monday to address the Windows Shortcut flaw revealed less than two weeks ago. The software giant has been keeping a close watch on the use of .LNK files exploiting the vulnerability and has concluded that it needs to act faster than usual.

Microsoft typically releases security patches on the second Tuesday of each month, with the next slated for August 10. Redmond is releasing this fix eight days early, at approximately 1PM EDT Monday. All currently supported versions of Windows are vulnerable, including Windows 7, so the majority of Windows users should be receiving this patch.

There have been multiple malware families that have picked up the .LNK attack vector, including a highly virulent strain named Sality.AT. Not only is Sality a very large family, but it is known to infect other files (making full removal after infection challenging), copy itself to removable media, disable security, and then download other malware. Microsoft has seen an increase in attack attempts as well as a change in the geolocation of the attack attempts across the systems it protects. In short, this new attack vector is becoming more widespread. The security team at the company believes more families will continue to pick up the technique, leading it to get the patch out as soon as possible.

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 09:33 PM

“Space Hygiene and the People Who Stopped Bathing for Science”, a hilarious video promo for “Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void”, a new book by Mary Roach that comes out on August 2nd.

The best-selling author of Stiff and Bonk explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

via Amy Kugali

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz.

Here are a few other possibly related posts you might enjoy:

- The Science Creative Quarterly

- Photo of Space Shuttle Atlantis & Hubble Space Telescope Transiting The Sun

- Wonderfest 2009, The San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science

- Bob Dylan Stopped By Cops While Walking In Long Branch, New Jersey For Looking Suspicious

- NASA Tweetup At Kennedy Space Center For Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-129

July 30, 2010 09:28 PM

ATI chip maker becomes new market leader.

July 30, 2010 09:27 PM

http://www.GiantITP.com/comics/oots0739.html

July 30, 2010 09:19 PM

Don't squid me, bro.

July 30, 2010 09:17 PM

It's been one helluva week on the education front, and I'm sure Jeff will have plenty to say in his Left Ed column this Sunday (new time, for those not paying quite enough attention: 1 PM, EST).  It began on Monday, when Jeff noted in a quick hit that a coalition of civil rights groups had issued a document critical of Obama's education policies.  Although there would be a somewhat confusing walk-back of criticism afterwards--particularly as Arne Duncan and President Obama both addressed the Urban League--it seems clear that the cat's out of the bag, and it's going to be a whole lot harder going forward for Obama and Duncan to pretend there aren't problems.  On Wednesday, data was released showing in the reform showcase NYC schools, the racial and ethnic achievement has shot back up to 2002 levels.  Links to a number of related stories can be found here, including one by Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzales. And speaking of Democracy Now!, today its first half-hour was devoted to a renewed look at Obama's initiative and the mounting criticisms.  To start things off, here's what Jeff wrote on Monday:

From Valerie Strauss at WaPo:

"a 17-page framework for education reform  being released Monday by a coalition of civil rights groups amounts to a thrashing of President Obama's education policies and it offers a prescription for how to set things right"

Excerpts from the report highlighted by Strauss . . .

on Race to the Top:

"By emphasizing competitive incentives in this economic climate, the majority of low-income and minority students will be left behind and, as a result, the United States will be left behind as a global leader."

on charter schools:

"while some charter schools can and do work for some students, they are not a universal solution for systemic change for all students, especially those with the highest needs."

on so-called reform:

""Rather than addressing inequitable access to research-proven methodologies like high-quality early childhood education and a stable supply of experienced, highly effective teachers, recent education reform proposals have favored "stop gap" quick fixes that may look new on the surface but offer no real long-term strategy for effective systemic change."

Right on!

An update to the blog post that Jeff linked to explained the first shift of the week:

Now we know why civil rights leaders suddenly cancelled today's press conference at which they were going to talk about their new powerful framework for education reform, which includes a withering critique of the Obama administration's education policies.

They met instead with Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., head of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, said in an interview that he and other leaders felt that meeting with Duncan to discuss policy differences was "a better use of our time" than holding a public press conference.
Considering that most press conferences are a waste of time, Jackson makes a point.

But in this case, the postponement -- or, perhaps, cancellation -- left the impression among some that the civil rights leaders chose not to publicly criticize President Obama's education policies any more than the framework already does.

Later, on Wednesday, Edweek coverage of Duncan's speech began:

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan defended the Obama administration's education reform agenda before the National Urban League today, declaring that some of the arguments being made to justify a new framework that several civil rights groups released on Monday were flat out wrong.

The Urban League, which joined at least six other civil rights groups in calling for Duncan to reverse course on Race to the Top, charter schools, and turnaround models for low-performing schools, welcomed him with open arms. They interrupted his 30-minute speech several times with applause. Hugh B. Price, the former president of the Urban League, even called the Obama-Duncan education agenda the "most muscular federal education policy I've ever seen," adding, "We've got your back."

This is a fairly dramatic about-face from the run-up to Monday's release of the highly critical framework, which was supposed to be unleashed with a public relations boom-complete with a press conference featuring prominent black leaders such as the Revs. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson calling for a new education direction. Instead, the whole thing fizzled, and left this blogger puzzled as to how strongly the groups still support their own framework.

After reporting on more confusion, particularly on the part of Al Sharpton, the account continued:

In answer to the group's call that he forgo competitions like Race to the Top and concentrate on increasing spending on all students, Duncan said: "Some people say that grant programs like Race to the Top are bad for low-income and minority students. ... But the fact is, Race to the Top has done more to dismantle the barriers to education reform ... than any federal law in history."

He said those who think the Education Department isn't investing heavily in formula programs, too, are either "intentionally misleading or profoundly misinformed."

And to answer their charge that he back off from his enthusiasm for charter schools, Duncan said: "Should we stifle the growth of high-quality public charter schools? ... Absolutely not. Tens of thousands of minority parents are on waiting lists for these schools. ... To suggest that charters are bad for low-income and minority students is absolutely wrong."

Readers of Open Left know very well who is "intentionally misleading or profoundly misinformed."  And it's highly doubtful that this sort of empty bluster will prove successful over the long haul.

The Edweek report on Obama's speech began:

President Barack Obama offered a forceful defense today of his signature education initiative, the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program, which rewards states for making progress on raising standards, improving teacher quality, establishing data systems, and turning around low-performing schools.

The program-and Mr. Obama's prescription for turning around those low-performing schools-has come under sharp criticism lately from civil rights groups, who say distributing funds through competitive grants hinders poor and minority students, whose schools may not have the resources to compete for the dollars. His speech to the National Urban League this morning offered a rebuttal to such criticism and echoed much of what U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan said to the same group yesterday.

Mr. Obama argued that the steps that Race to the Top encourages states to take, including lifting the cap on charter schools and using student data to inform teacher evaluation, are the right ones.

"None of this should be controversial. There should be a fuss if we weren't doing these things," Mr. Obama said.

In an end-of-the-week roundup, Valerie Strauss wrote:

It's a little hard to make sense of what happened this week in the world of education, but, let's give it a fast try:

*President Obama gave a speech to the Urban League convention in which he joked about the Jersey Shore's Snooki and also said the following: "Now, over the past 18 months ... I think the single most important thing we've done is to launch an initiative called Race to the Top."

Yes, that's what he said: His terribly misguided $4.35 billion competitive grant program is, apparently, more important than health care reform, the economic recovery program, improving the student loan program, increasing Pell Grant payouts, and, well, anything else he has accomplished since becoming president.

Does he read this stuff carefully before he says it?

Yes, folks, I'm not the only one who talks like this by this point in time.  The incoherence is getting to be positively Bushian.

She continues:

*The administration did its best to mute the power of a scathing critique of Obama's education policies issued by a coalition of civil rights organizations, who also offered presciptive ways out of the mess.

According to several sources involved in the drama, the "Framework for Providing All Students an Opportunity to Learn" was actually ready to be released about a month ago, but the administration has been holding meetings with civil rights leaders in an effort to ease the criticism.

A decision was made to finally release it on Monday, the same week as the Urban League convention, and a press conference was scheduled for leaders of the groups to discuss it publicly. The groups were: Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Schott Foundation for Public Education, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Coalition for Educating Black Children, National Urban League, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

But pressure from the administration -- including, apparently, a threat that Obama would not speak, as scheduled, to the convention -- prompted the cancellation of the press conference and a hastily scheduled meeting between the civil rights leaders and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Monday.

That became news in our education world, along with a few statements released by some of the civil rights groups that talked about working cooperatively with Duncan.

What was missed in the coverage is that none of the civil rights leaders walked away from the powerful framework, except, that is, Rev. Al Sharpton, who was expected to sign onto the framework, but then didn't at the last minute.

So, Obama intimidated his black critics, but only in the short run.  (Sharpton is actually more of a booster when it comes to charter schools.)  Forget what does or doesn't want to do.  It's increasingly hard to see how this "no carrot, all stick" approach to his one-time base can be a winning strategy over any sort of long run.  More and more I'm beginning to think that a primary challenge really could emerge.  And it doesn't have to come anywhere close to winning in order to fatally wound the President.  Two dates for him to look up: 1952 and 1968.  

Finally, from Democracy Now!

JUAN GONZALEZ: .... In his address, Obama said his plan for education is working, but he acknowledged it has come under criticism.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: But I think the single most important thing we've done is to launch an initiative called Race to the Top. We said-we said to states, if you are committed to outstanding teaching, to successful schools, to higher standards, to better assessments, if you're committed to excellence for all children, you will be eligible for a grant to help you attain that goal. And so far the results have been promising, and they have been powerful.

I know there's also been some controversy about Race to the Top. Part of it, I believe, reflects a general resistance to change. We get comfortable with the status quo, even when the status quo isn't good. We make excuses for why things have to be the way they are. And when you try to shake things up, some people aren't happy.

That sounded pretty damn clueless, arrogant and out of touch to me.  Downright Bushian, like I said before.  One Edweek commentator put it this way:

I watched on TV President Obama's speech before the Urban League. As much as I still admire him, his defense of Arne Duncan and RttT was hard for me to take.

His dismisses legitimate concerns about his administration's agenda as resistance to change or defense of the status quo. He is so insultingly wrong. Critics of RttT want to improve education just as much or more as he and the tycoons who pull Duncan's strings.

Finally, here's an extended comment from Diane Ravitch on Democracy Now!

AMY GOODMAN: .... Let's begin with you, Diane Ravitch. Your response to President Obama's major address yesterday on education?

DIANE RAVITCH: Well, I think that what happened in New York City is-shows that the direction he's taking is wrong, because everything he is proposing in Race to the Top and also in his blueprint will rely on exactly the kinds of methods that led to a massive fraud in New York state-that is, that Race to the Top is requiring states to judge teachers by the student test scores, and we now know, based on this immense fraud in the city and in the state of New York, that the test scores are not reliable. So teachers will be judged by unreliable data, and we're going to dismantle the teaching profession in pursuit of this mechanical fix that won't work.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, Diane Ravitch, one of the reasons President Obama gave that particular speech was that he's coming under increasing fire even from civil rights organizations who are questioning not only the emphasis on testing, but the push for more and more charter schools regardless of the quality of those schools. And your sense of how the ground is shifting around the country, among parent groups, among civil rights groups, around the whole issue of school reform?

DIANE RAVITCH: Well, you know, I think this week, in the last week of July of 2010, turns out to be a pretty momentous week. First of all, six civil rights groups came together and issued a joint statement that blasted Race to the Top and also the blueprint, the Obama blueprint, because he is building-although he doesn't admit it, he's building his education agenda right on top of the Bush education agenda, which is to test and punish, to close schools, to evaluate teachers in ways that are unfair and unsound from a research point of view, to increase the number of privately managed charter schools. All this is going to be immensely destabilizing, and it's going to hit hardest on minority communities, because most of the schools that will be identified as the lowest-performing schools will be in poor Hispanic and black communities. And there will be massive-excuse me, massive destabilization. This is not good. And the civil rights groups recognize this.

There was a second report out that came out this week from a group of community-from an organization of community groups from across the country, echoing the same complaints: we don't want more community schools, we don't want more charter schools, we want better public schools-help our public schools get better, not by more testing, not by more charters, but by sensible approaches like more pre-kindergarten, smaller class size, more support for the people who are teaching in those schools-commonsense approaches, which this administration seems to be avoiding and looking for the quick fix that George Bush pursued and that Mayor Bloomberg pursued, and it didn't work. So I think there are immense implications here.

And we also saw in the Congress where Congressman Obey tried to strip money away from Race to the Top, away from merit pay and away from charter schools. And the administration's response was, "Don't take money from Race to the Top. Take it away from food stamps." And Joel Klein said to take it away from Title I. These are all programs that benefit the neediest families in our society, and there were prepared to harm people who are in need of help in order to preserve the President's favorite program.

So I think that the implications of this week, with the test score explosion, the blowup of the fraud in New York City, and these two grassroots groups saying, "This is not working, and take a more commonsense approach, and stop this destructive test and measurement and punishment approach," this is big, because up 'til now everybody seems to have gone along with the rhetoric of President Obama. But you have to separate his rhetoric, which is always very elegant, from what his administration is actually doing, which is just more Bush, more No Child Left Behind.

What we're seeing is still well below the radar of the braindead Versailles media.  But the push-back against Obama's Bush-lite agenda is clearly growing at an ever-increasing rate, and things came to a sort of head this week.  With the mid-terms looming, there's no telling what the short-term dynamic is going to be.  But it seems virtually certain that opposition is only going to grow stronger and stronger.

Just like with Afghanistan,  tweaking a fundamentally flawed policy that the Democratic base despises is simly not a viable strategy.  And the more you think about it, the more you just have doubt whether Obama is really anywhere near ready for the office he now holds.  He's a great campaigner, there's no doubting that.  But when it comes to governing, he just doesn't seem to get it.

July 30, 2010 09:15 PM

Students care about Facebook privacy more than the world thinks, and their use of privacy controls has skyrocketed recently, according to two researchers. Eszter Hargittai, Associate Professor of Northwestern University, and Danah Boyd, Research Associate at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society published their findings in the online peer-reviewed journal First Monday, noting that young people are very engaged with the privacy settings on Facebook, contrary to the popular belief that their age group is reckless with what they post publicly.

The researchers surveyed first-year writing students at the University of Illinois-Chicago during the 2008-2009 academic year, and then followed up with them again in 2010. The large majority—87 percent—said they used Facebook in 2009, which went up to 90 percent in 2010. Among frequent and occasional users, more than half posted their own status updates in addition to checking up (and leaving comments) on those of friends.

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July 30, 2010 09:10 PM

Sly Lebulleur makes beautiful, gigantic soap bubbles. Set to music and filmed in slo-mo against a stark forest, Sly’s creations become eerily proto-lifelike. You can see more of his nebulous creations on YouTube and his Flickr stream.

via Vancouver’s favorite art/design blog, Booooooom

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July 30, 2010 09:03 PM

When Glenn Beck speaks, a little more truth dies. In usual right-wing echo chamber fashion, they just can't let go of Shirley Sherrod. They're milking her story so dry the cows are screaming.

The latest accusations, which I have seen repeated verbatim on the Illinois Review and the Washington Examiner so far, and which appear to be from a press release sent out for posting across all conservative blogs in an effort to game the Google, are nearly unintelligible. But I'll try. (h/t BillieGirlToo)

Oh noes! Shirley Sherrod's group, New Communities, was involved in the Pigford lawsuit against the USDA

Oh, seriously. They were, that's true. And who better to hire to actually make reparations than the person who actually understood the damages?

From the press release:

... Over the years, USDA refused to provide loans for farming or irrigation and would not allow New Communities to restructure its loans. Gradually, the group had to fight just to hold on to the land and finally had to wind down operations.

... The cash (settlement) award acknowledges racial discrimination on the part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the years 1981-85. ... New Communities is due to receive approximately $13 million ($8,247,560 for loss of land and $4,241,602 for loss of income; plus $150,000 each to Shirley and Charles for pain and suffering). There may also be an unspecified amount in forgiveness of debt. This is the largest award so far in the minority farmers law suit (Pigford vs Vilsack).

This particular round of crazy asks a series of questions that are irrelevant, not particularly interesting, and attempt to suggest that hiring her was the USDA's effort to "shut her up", and she was summarily fired so as to cover up the dastardly news that she was involved in the Pigford suit.

This question really takes the cake, though:

Given that New Communities wound down its operations so long ago (it appears that this occurred sometime during the late 1980s), what is really being done with that $13 million in settlement money?

Oh wow, wingnuts! She must have STOLEN IT. RIGHT?

The release then goes on to suggest that the USDA might be worried about possible waste, fraud and abuse (you know, that bill the Republicans all voted AGAINST?).

Step back, think. If a court-ordered settlement is to be made from the government to people who were wronged, how is that waste, fraud or abuse? It's only in the minds of the crazy folks like Breitbart, who is desperately trying to intimidate Sherrod out of suing him, as far as I can tell.

Meanwhile, over at the Illinois Review...

Writer Teri O'Brien manages to conflate the New Black Panthers, William Ayers, AND the Pigford case, citing the strength of character and discernment in Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Somewhat breathlessly, Ms. O'Brien heaves forth the knowledge that Sherrod's husband...

...was a former honcho in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee back in the 1960’s. You can read more about it in Bill Ayers book “Fugitive Days.” Yes, that Bill Ayers. He was involved in SNCC as well.

Now see? That's how you take an apple and an orange and make it into a prune. You find out about a group, link up 'scary guy' Bill Ayers without any corresponding direct link between the two or between the SNCC and the Weather Underground and all of a sudden it's a story! Who needs journalists when we've got Breitbart and his merry minions to keep us stupid?

Media Matters has a thorough debunking of this story and all of the companion versions here.

Here's a newsflash for conservatives: Shirley Sherrod is not going to be your tea party wedge issue for August. You don't have health care reform to kick around anymore and your conduct in Congress should earn you a one-way ticket home. It might be time to quit milking dead stories and get on with life on the Planet Earth. Planet Teabag can't be reached by normal humans yet.

For a palate cleanser after this tripe, I highly recommend Joan Walsh's essay on the Shame of Right Wing Journalism, and especially, this brilliant essay from her about the wrong lessons of the Sherrod story.

July 30, 2010 09:00 PM

Woman gets screwed over by tech support, comes back for seconds

July 30, 2010 08:46 PM

haha, gj randall http://s1.b3ta.com/host/creative/29424/1280172144/knifeforkspoon.gif

July 30, 2010 08:46 PM

Apple launched the iPhone 4 in 17 additional countries today, causing another round of debate over whether or not the iPhone 4's external antenna design is flawed or not. A UK consulting firm says its tests show the "death grip" problem is real, and "significantly" worse for the iPhone 4 than other smartphones. A review from Norway is less critical, suggesting the iPhone 4 gets better signal than competing phones and may be victim to AT&T's less "robust" wireless network.

Shortly after the iPhone 4 began shipping in the US last month, users started to notice a problem: gripping the device in a certain way led to signal attenuation and, in some cases, dropped calls or poor data connections. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs was somewhat dismissive of the issue early on, testing conclusively demonstrated that the iPhone 4 had a higher signal attenuation than other smartphones when bridging a small gap on the lower left side of the device's stainless steel bezel. 

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 08:44 PM

July 30, 2010 08:38 PM

BREAKING — MUST CREDIT SADLY, NO!

Everybody knows that Pamela Geller is one of the bravest voices against Islamic jihad that we have. Blogging as ‘Pam Atlas’, the Long Island-based spitfire has for years defended Israel, America and freedom-loving people everywhere from the ululating hordes of deepest, evilest Islamistan.

It’s common knowledge, right? Not so fast.

First, some background. It goes without saying that anybody who has been as vocal in denouncing radical Islam as Pam has been over the years will necessarily have a fatwa, or Muslim call for assassination, placed on them. See Salman Rushdie for the positive proof of this fact, Barack Obama for the negative.

And lo and behold, Pam also has had a ‘fatwa’ placed on her — this very day, as it so happens. If we are to believe this development, as John Jay puts it:

If you think this threat is aimed just as [sic] Pamela Geller you simply do not understand the dimension of the problem. This death threat is aimed at all of you, and Islam means to impose this threat on all who do not submit to its dictates.

And if you think this threat is just a single, dumb-ass tweet by some asshole who finally rose to the bait after years of provocation from Geller, you also need to just shut up.

But what if there is more to all of this than just garden-variety fatwa-ing? How is it that Pamela Geller managed to stay fatwa-free for so very, very long in the first place? And how is it that she was conveniently fatwa’d just when questions were being raised in certain circles about the implausibility of her years-long fatwa-less run as a supposed she-man muslim hater?

These questions do not prove that Pamela Geller is secretly in cahoots with al-Qaeda to establish a New Global Caliphate stretching from Rangoon to Greater Teaneck, N.J. What these questions do do is raise questions. Questions like these:

- Was the real Pamela Geller replaced at birth by a deep sleeper agent of the Islamic Brotherhood so that her unsuspecting parents would raise her as an almost stereotypical JAP — the last person anyone would suspect of secretly preparing the world for sharia law?

- Was Pamela Geller recently seen secretly praying to Mecca five times a day for the last 40+ years and reciting the Hadith Qudsi in perfect Classical Arabic in accordance with the Ibn ‘Amir ad-Dimashqi school of Qira’at — suggesting a Yemeni origin for the ‘Pamela Geller’ sleeper agent that has been fomenting jihad in our midst lo these many years?

- Given that Muslims are forbidden to drink alcohol, does ‘Pamela Geller’ appear grossly intoxicated so often in order to throw off would-be discovers of her jihadist secret?

- Was ‘Pamela Geller’s’ very public split with erstwhile anti-Muslim ally Charles Johnson an elaborate charade? Is Johnson himself under a secret, time-delayed fatwa that will only go into effect if he reveals that he discovered that ‘Geller’ is in fact a deep-cover agent of global jihad?

- Did Geller’s — widely suspected — multiple plastic surgeries include anti-aging treatments that hide the fact that as a 35-year-old woman, she conspired with Malcolm X in the early 1960s to help him impregnate dozens of unsuspecting co-eds in the hopes of producing the ultimate prize — an eventual Black Muslim president in the first decade of the 21st century — as part of an Arab League-funded social engineering project codenamed Operation Horsecock Kill Infidels?

We do not claim to know with full certainty the answer to this question: ‘Is Pamela Geller really a female clone of Carlos the Jackal who was hidden in plain sight in our Judeo-Christian country in order to undermine reasonable arguments against radical Islamic practices by saying ridiculously stupid and insane shit all the time?’

But the answer is yes.

July 30, 2010 08:33 PM

“Mr. Potato Head Anatomy”, the latest anatomical toy illustration by Jason Freeny.

via Hi Fructose

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz.

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July 30, 2010 08:20 PM

[Kenneth] built this scoreboard for use at a ballpark that lacks such luxuries. We think this a phenomenal application for his skill and his pocketbook. He laid out PCBs for each digit in Eagle and etched them himself, then installed the indicators for home score, visitor score, inning, balls, strikes, and outs in a laser cut case. A pretty beefy battery along with the folding stand make this quite portable.

In the demo video after the break he’s connected to the scoreboard via telnet to update the score. This trick is accomplished using SparkFun’s WiFly GSX breakout board to set up an adhoc wireless network. The goal is to write an iPhone app that will be used to control the board in the field (or the outfield as it were).

This could definitely be used for different types of scoring during the off season.

July 30, 2010 08:14 PM

Shogun II: Total War (PC)
Take charge of any of the nine major factions of Japanese feudal history.

July 30, 2010 08:10 PM

Rich Trumka, the current president of the AFL/CIO, has been fighting to protect Social Security for a very long time. (Take a look at this video from 1994, when he asks, "Where is the crisis?" and points out that Social Security is the target of "draconian" proposals while it was in surplus.) He is one of a very few voices standing up for working people in this country, and here's the speech he made this week at the National Press Club for the press conference announcing the Strengthen Social Security coalition: Good morning. Working people around the country know the value of Social Security, and the Labor Movement has long been one of its staunchest supporters. The American Federation of Labor was there in 1935, advocating for passage of the Social Security Act. In the decades following, the AFL-CIO played a lead role in designing the evolving Social Security system -- supporting efforts to strengthen and broaden the program, and opposing weakening of its protections. During the last Administration, we were key to defeating privatization. In a misplaced effort to reduce the deficit, Social Security is under attack again --this time by proposals to raise the retirement age. And the right wing spin machine has convinced many Americans that Social Security won’t be there for them, anyway. Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, goes door to door every night talking to thousands of people a week. What they hear is that working families -- including young people -- are deeply worried about their retirement security. They are hearing that their Social Security benefits may be cut --- and they don’t see how they can possibly make up the difference. At a time when retirement is less secure for working Americans than it has been in many generations, only Social Security remains a defined and stable retirement benefit -- not to mention the important family protections it provides when a worker is injured or dies. Unions know exactly what is happening to retirement income in this country because we see it at the bargaining table. Fewer traditional pensions. More riskier 401(k) plans -- not a great benefit for workers with stagnant incomes who find it difficult or impossible to save. Now is the time, to strengthen, not weaken, Social Security. Raising the eligibility age for a full Social Security benefit would be disastrous for millions of Americans. It is a benefit cut, plain and simple. It is a cut that is unnecessary and one that Americans can ill-afford. For those born in 1960 or later, the retirement age for a full Social Security benefit is now 67, rather than 65. These younger workers have already been hit with a 13 percent benefit cut -- and some now want to impose another cut on top of that. A 62-year old worker who would receive $800 a month if the retirement age for a full benefit were 65, will get only $700 a month when that retirement age becomes 67. Further increasing the retirement age for a full benefit to 69 (and some are even saying 70) means another 13% cut in benefits -- for a total benefit cut of more than 25% for anyone who is now 50 or younger. That probably includes many of you in this room. An age increase is a particular hardship for workers in physically demanding jobs who don’t qualify for disability -- workers like my father who spent his life in the mines and couldn’t work another day by the time he qualified for Social Security -- and those older workers who may no longer be able to find work due to age discrimination. I know that America can do better than this. And that’s why the AFL-CIO, as part of a broad campaign, is mobilizing to protect Social Security. I look forward to working with our many coalition partners to create a secure retirement for our baby boomers, our children, and grandchildren. Thank you.

July 30, 2010 08:00 PM

François Vautier installed an ant colony in a scanner, scanning it each week for 5 years to create a time-lapse video.

This is a blog post from Laughing Squid, subscribe via RSS, Email, Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz.

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July 30, 2010 07:57 PM

Most U.S. shoppers will be familiar with the Nutrition Facts label on foods which, amongst other things, tells consumers how much fat and salt is in their food. With the Digital Food Scale from Perfect Portions, users can obtain that information whilst weighing out their serving. Ten key nutritional elements are displayed when users type in an appropriate food code from a database of nearly 2,000 foods, empowering users to take control of their daily intake or cut down on foods that may do more harm than good. .. Continue Reading Perfect Portions food scale features built-in nutrition guide

Tags: Kitchen, Nutrition, Scales

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July 30, 2010 07:49 PM

Friday. Last day off work of vacation, weekend a-comin’. Let’s do this.

• Re: Penny Arcade’s PATV season one finale. Wow. Just watch it.
• Re: Skin Horse book2 pre-order on Kickstarter ends in 23 hours (as of this writing). Hint: the minimum pledge that will get you a physical book (which includes a sketch) actually works out about the same as what you’d pay for a non-sketch edition of the book once you take shipping and handling into account.
• Re: The unique ability of comics to reach audiences (particularly those underserved by traditional media); sometimes this approach provokes a WHAT reaction that may undermine the intended message, but sometimes it works really well. For an example of the latter, may I refer you to Adrean Clark’s Eight Ways To Be Deaf?

  Originally run as a B&W webcomic, 8 Ways is now fully colored and available as an e-book, with print coming next month. This is how you teach somebody about your culture, cause, or goal — organically, with a bit of humor, and remembering that people are people. Over-the-top cliched demonization? That just gets you laughed at. Not “with”. At.

• Re: Missed it entirely. Blank It, the webcomic forced to be creative by trapping its only characters in an infinite, featureless plane, has shaken things up first by constraining the characters, then by transferring the cast to the opposite of the infinite, featureless plane: the interior of a box. Interesting.

July 30, 2010 07:47 PM

Rhythm Zone (PC)
Unlock the music.

July 30, 2010 07:44 PM

Medal of Honor (PC)
Also, Battlefield 3 is coming!

July 30, 2010 07:38 PM

The forthcoming ST80 point-and-shoot from Samsung will allow users to upload photos and videos while on the move. The 14.2 megapixel camera has built-in Wi-Fi to cater to the immediate sharing of important moments with friends and family via email, or through social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube. The slim compact also features in-camera editing and comes with technology to sync with other wireless devices such as digital photo frames... Continue Reading Samsung introduces the Wi-Fi enabled ST80 point-and-shoot

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July 30, 2010 07:34 PM

As I've said before, Brad DeLong is well to the right of me politically. Matt Miller, too. (Miller used to hold down the "center" in KCRW's "Left, Right and Center" back in the mid-90s when Arianna Huffington represented the "Right", before the "Left" Robert Scher completed the work begun by Al Franken... ah, but I digress....)  Point is, Miller can actively participate in some pretty intense, creative, and ultimately mind-changing debates, and still not think anything terribly novel or surprising.

But what's now being done by Obama and his appointees in the name of "sensible centrism" is about to give poor Matt a heart attack.  This is yet another, highly significant data point in the argument that Obama is not only not a progressive, but not even centrist or "third way" neoliberal as they were once understood.   Of course, I would argue that the "third way" never actually had any sort of firm foundations, and so sharp rightward slippage under Obama is not really all that surprising.

But even without deep, firm intellectual foundations, it's possible to maintain some sort of pragmatic sense of direction, meaning and purpose.  It's called "muddling through" and in some ways it's a very admirable tradition.  But now--per Brad--it's at wit's end:

It Always Looked Like Alan Simpson Was a Mistake to Co-Chair a Deficit-Reduction Commission. Now It Looks Like Erskine Bowles Was an Even Bigger Mistake

Numerology is not a science. And there is no reason to think that 21% is a particularly auspicious number.

Matt Miller--like me, part of the sensible, technocratic bipartisan center--looks at what is coming out of the Obama deficit-reduction commission, and is as horrified as I am:

A spending goal too small for aging America: I don't want to overreact. I'd hate to prematurely diss President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which held its fourth public meeting Wednesday. But the commission's Democratic co-chair, Erskine Bowles, may have already blown it.... Bowles suggested that the long-term goal the commission should adopt for federal spending should be 21 percent of gross domestic product. This sounds like a bookkeeping matter. But... federal spending under Ronald Reagan averaged 22 percent of GDP. Under Bowles's view, therefore, the outer limits of the Democratic Party's 21st-century aspirations would be to run government at a size smaller than did a 20th-century conservative icon. What's more, Reagan ran government at this size at a time when 76 million baby boomers weren't about to hit their rocking chairs. In 1988, 32 million retirees received Social Security and 33 million were on Medicare, our two biggest domestic programs. By 2020, about 48 million elderly Americans will receive Social Security, and 62 million Americans will be on Medicare (then the numbers really soar).... [Total] health costs in the Reagan era were around 10 percent of GDP, while they're now 17 percent, headed toward 20. Obviously we need a national crusade to make health-care delivery more efficient. But until there's progress on this front, the 21 percent goal would be tantamount to Democrats agreeing that Uncle Sam should handle health care, pensions, defense and little else....

Bottom line: There isn't anything remotely sensible about any of this.  And even sensible centrists are starting to notice that it's not just a here-and-there problem--it's utterly central to the new "third way" project under Obama.

I repeat my claim: The aim here is for an American version of the conservative welfare state, one whose overarching objective is to serves elites.  21% is more than enough to do that, provided nothing is "wasted" on anyone else.

July 30, 2010 07:30 PM

Lost Horizon (PC)
Head into the unknown in September.

July 30, 2010 07:25 PM

Tycho: Child's Play is incredibly vast, so vast that - even though Gabriel and I ostensibly created it - it extends far beyond our influence. That's how it had to be: in order for it to endure, it needs its own strength. But it's still surprising for me to realize the extent of its autonomy sometimes. The toy drive used to be the focus, but Child's Play is a banner now for a broad array of charitable impulses. For example. Gears of War is soliciting feedback on a story point - namely, whether or not this game's Carmine will survive. You ...

July 30, 2010 07:24 PM

Colorado is single-handedly keeping political junkies from falling into the typical August doldrums with a trio of fascinating intraparty fights. The most compelling -- in the sense that a slow-motion political car crash can be described as compelling -- is the Colorado Republican primary for governor. Former Rep. Scott McInnis' campaign has been hamstrung by plagiarism allegations but, despite a number of his staffers jumping ship, he is refusing to leave the race. Which might be just as well given that the other GOP candidate -- Dan Maes -- has had to contend with campaign finance violations. Add former Rep. Tom Tancredo, who is running as a third party candidate this fall, and you have what amounts to a political soap opera. The two Senate primaries in Colorado are slightly less dramatic but are interesting nonetheless. On the Republican side, Weld County prosecutor Ken Buck's comments about Lt. Gov. Jane


Tom Tancredo - Colorado - Republican - Scott McInnis - Primary election

July 30, 2010 07:24 PM

There are many good reasons to promote a free software project, but perhaps the biggest is to attract more users and contributors; it's difficult to do anything with an application that you don't know about. But many projects fail to effectively get the word out about their work, which means that it's less likely a community will spring up around it. At both SCALE 8x and GUADEC 2010, I have had the opportunity to talk about ways that projects can improve their promotional activities and present an organized, interesting look to the rest of the free software world. Hopefully, a summary of the ideas presented will be helpful to the wider community.

July 30, 2010 07:21 PM

It has been more than four years since LWN first reported on the AppArmor security module and the opposition to its addition to the mainline. Over that time, there has been much discussion of pathname-based security, the value of having multiple security modules, and more; meanwhile, AppArmor has mostly faded from view. Canonical developer John Johansen has picked up this module, though, and has been working toward its inclusion. The latest "what's coming" post from security maintainer James Morris (click below) now shows that AppArmor has been queued for the next merge window (the "YAMA" security module from Canonical is also queued). Unless some last-minute opposition turns up, this should be the end of a long-running story.

July 30, 2010 07:15 PM

School will be starting again in a few weeks but it’s not too late to enjoy a little time with your kids. This water rocket launcher lets you do just that. Built using the frame from an old grill, a soda bottle takes its place on the upturned PVC pipe. There’s a connection for your garden hose that allows you to inject water into the bottle. From there, a compressor connection pressurizes the bottle in preparation for launch. Watch it happen in the video after the break. That bottle could use some fins and a nose cone but there’s no denying the delight the kids are enjoying when they chase after the downed craft.

If you’ve already got a compressor and some empty 2-liter bottles you might also pick up some extra PVC to make this pressurized water cannon.

July 30, 2010 07:13 PM

DOWNLOADS: (325) PLAYS: (1599) This has to be one of the most bizarre things I've seen in a long time. Chris Matthews has Howard Dean and Joan Walsh on to discuss the Shirley Sherrod debacle and what Andrew Breitbart did to slime her and the Obama administration's response and when both Walsh and Dean point out to Matthews that despite his assertions to the contrary, Breitbart's video was highly edited, Matthews goes ballistic on them and claims that the nearly hour long video wasn't edited because Breitbart included this bit. Sherrod: That's when it was revealed to me that's it's about poor versus those who have. It's not so much about white... it is about white and black but it's not, you know... it opened my eyes. Because I took him to one of his own. Apparently in Tweety's mind, Breitbart including that somehow absolved him from the editing of the tape he did. The more Walsh and Dean tried to point out to Matthews that the tape was edited and that what he was saying wasn't true, the more agitated he got. Digby was kind enough to transcribe some of this nonsense for us and I've got a couple of theories for why Matthews acted the way he did. Her transcript along with what MSNBC aired in place of this along with part two of the segment they apparently didn't want anyone to watch below the fold. Here's part two of the segment from Hardball. DOWNLOADS: (30) PLAYS: (382) From Digby's place here's some of the transcript that I'm sure we won't see on MSNBC's site since the video isn't there either... Chris Matthews Is An idiot Part XXVII: Dean: I'm not a lawyer Chris, but there are two things about this first of all he cut off the tape he didn't show the whole story.... Matthew: He didn't? What did he cut out? Dean: No, he cut off the stuff about the redemption part Matthews: I thought that was in there Dean: No it was not on the tape that was aired on Fox News Mattews: yes it was Dean: It was not on what Fox news reported on their blog Joan Walsh: It was not on the Brietbart ... Matthews: Of course it was on Breitbart. He didn't edit it. Not that I know about. Joan Walsh: Chris, Chris. He did. He says he didn't edit it ... Matthews: Well he didn't edit it. What did he edit? Walsh: it's a 43 minute tape I'm sorry Governor Dean, you can do this ... Dean: No go ahead Joan Walsh: It's a 43 minute tape Chris. It walks through her whole racial history. He clipped about three minutes where she seems to be saying I didn't do my best for this white farmer because he was white. And that's where it ends. And then later Chris she goes on to tell this amazing ... Matthews: oh I thought that in the tape that he did put out that it did include that part in it. What he did that mischaracterized it was to suggest that it was in current time in her role as a federal official, not back when she was in the cooperative. Dean: No, he did that too Walsh: He did that too. There were two lies but he absolutely clipped, or someone clipped the tape before she could say that powerful message of redemption that Democrats believe in. Matthews: I am right and you're wrong. Do we have the tape that we can show this because I'm believe is this guys narration is the problem where he said that this is something that goes on in this administration and it suggested heavily that this was her point of view as an appointee of this administration... Dean: he did that but he also clipped the tape... Matthews: No it includes in the tape that she changed Walsh: No it doesn't Chris you have to trust me and the Governor on this.... it's not in the tape that Breitbart put out. Matthews: Yes it is! Yes it is! I've got to wonder if Tweety was pissed at the Obama administration for lumping in all cable news and his show with Fox and was going to put the blame on them for how they looked at this edited tape and then Walsh and Dean stepped all over his narrative for the segment and he lashed out, or if he just had someone on his staff tell him that he looked like an idiot for def

July 30, 2010 07:00 PM

Metro 2033 (PC)
More content coming next week.

July 30, 2010 06:55 PM

Gene Lyons at Salon ("Media fooled by right-wing propaganda -- again") and Eric Altermann at the Nation ("Journalism's Age of Shame") both make a simple point regarding the now-exposed Andrew Breitbart against former USDA official Shirley Sherrod.  Lyon's subhead says it all: "Reporters and editors are too scared of the 'liberal media' label to fact-check the right." And Altermann's lede paragraph says much the same:

The black political art of "working the refs" with constant and vociferous complaints of "liberal bias" in the media has a long and distinguished history. Few of its practitioners, however, have succeeded so frequently-and nakedly-as the ex-Drudge drudge and Arianna acolyte Andrew Breitbart. The estimable E.J. Dionne terms Breitbart to be the MSM's virtual "assignment editor" and, indeed, it's hard not to be impressed. Breitbart has already been exposed as a provocateur who cares not a whit for honesty or accuracy in his self-declared war on all things liberal. Yet reporters, editors and producers remain so frightened by his accusations that they continue to trumpet them as they search their souls to purge themselves of the bias that prevented them from seeing the world from a Tea Party point of view.

The failure is so blatant and obvious that no one can possibly believe that the press as it is today will ever cure itself of this terminal illness.  Nothing internal to the system will do.  It is the power structure that is at fault.  It's not a matter of writing or editing, or anything like that.  It's a matter of ownership, groupthink, and brainwashing.

Lyons' takes an interesting tack, going back to the media scandal he knows best--Whitewater--having covered it on the ground, as well as writing a book on it, Fools For Scandal: How the Media Invented Whitewater and co-writing a second, The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton with Joe Conason.  Lyon's writes:

I go back a long way on these politicized hoaxes. Courtesy of the Clinton administration, Arkansas journalists got an early introduction into the creepy methods of conservative political operatives and their ability to hoodwink the national press. The local version of the Shirley Sherrod story was an equally admirable public servant named Beverly Bassett Schaffer.

As long ago as 1992, Schaffer found herself implicitly accused of "Whitewater" corruption in the New York Times. Although she'd provided the reporter with documented evidence that she'd done everything in her power as Arkansas savings-and-loan regulator to close Jim McDougal's Madison Guaranty S&L years before federal regulators got around to it, once the Times committed its prestige to a bogus narrative there was no turning back. Schaffer soon found herself hounded through the streets of Fayetteville by "mainstream" TV crews with GOP oppo researchers openly riding shotgun.

Most surprising to me then was the national media's pack behavior. Even incontestable, dispositive facts could be ignored for years if it meant keeping the longest political shaggy-dog story in recent American history going. It wasn't that reporters were stupid, mainly cowardly and career-driven. Indeed, they always understood precisely which facts couldn't be admitted into the narrative if they wanted to keep feeding out of Kenneth Starr's hand. By the time Schaffer's vindication came, they'd lost interest in her.

While the parallel between Sherrod and Schaffer is compelling, what's even more informative is a wide-angled view of how the New York Times and the Washington Post basically created the "Whitewater" scandal.  Oh, of course, they didn't originate it--it originated with Clinton's rightwing enemies.  But those enemies could not have created the media scandal over a non-existent financial scandal, which in turn provided the scaffolding for Clinton's eventual impeachment--and, of course, the media's "revenge" on Al Gore for not playing along with them, which in turn brought us the unelected President G.W. Bush.  For that, they needed the Post and the Times to do their dirty work for them.  It takes a whole book for Lyon's to tell the story, but a key episode encapsulates the entire thing, so far as practical and moral lessons are concerned, and that is how the Post and the Times ignored the 1995 Pillsbury Report, clearing the Clintons of any wrongdoing.  The report was commissioned by the Resolution Trust Corporation, and by all rights it should have halted the Whitewater investigation dead in its tracks. But because it totally contradicted their own scandal-monger, the Post and the Times chose to bury the report--a key turn of events in condemning American to more than decade-long nightmare.
Lyon's first told this story in Fools for Scandal, and repeated it in The Hunding of the President.  The most expeditious way I can retell it now is to quote from a Daily Howler column from 2000, discussing a hacktackular NYT review of the latter book by Neil Lewis:

This book, like Lyons' Fools for Scandal, makes remarkable assertions about the mainstream press corps-assertions which are never mentioned, not one word, in the course of the Lewis review.

And some of these assertions involve Lewis' paper-its handling of the Pillsbury Report, let us say. L & C begin that discussion with an overview of the report:

CONASON AND LYONS (page 199): A moment of truth intruded in the midst of D'Amato's hearings on December 13, 1995 with the release of the second volume of the Resolution Trust Corporation's $3.6 million Pillsbury Report...[T]he San Francisco law firm of Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro was obligated to deliver its conclusions about the Clintons and Whitewater by December 31.

The RTC had commissioned the firm to investigate and report on the Whitewater matter. The authors describe the report's contents:

CONASON AND LYONS (page 199): The firm's findings could hardly have been more favorable to the White House. Based on the Clintons' sworn interrogatories, interviews with forty-five other witnesses, and some two hundred thousand documents, the report concluded that the president and first lady had told the truth about their Whitewater investment: The Clintons were passive investors who were misled about the actual status of the project by Jim McDougal from the start. The report failed to challenge their account on a single substantive point.

The writers quote from the text of the report:

CONASON AND LYONS (page 199): The Pillsbury Report found no evidence that Whitewater's losses had been subsidized by taxpayers in the savings and loan bailout. But even if they were, it concluded, the Clintons were not at fault: "There is no basis to assert that the Clintons knew anything of substance about the McDougals' advances to Whitewater, the source of the funds used to make those advances, or the sources of the funds used to make payments on the bank debt..."

The recitation of the report's text continued. The Clintons had no primary, secondary or derivative liability for misdeeds in the case, the report said. "There is evidence that the McDougals and others may have engaged in intentional misconduct."  But "on the evidentiary record," the Pillsbury Report said, there was no sign that the Clintons were liable for that conduct.

Most American adults have never heard of the Pillsbury Report; have no idea what it pertained to or said; and would surely be surprised, more than four years later, to learn of its detailed findings. Lyons and Conason explain why the report is unknown; the press corps buried the info. Are Lyons and Conason mixed-up  or delusional? If not, they have quite a story. Here is what their book says:

CONASON AND LYONS (page 200): On December 18, the Wall Street Journal ran a straight, clear summary of [the report's] findings, written by Viveca Novak and Ellen Joan Pollock. But other newspapers with a substantial investment in Whitewater virtually buried news of its contents. The Washington Post stuck a brief mention of the report's existence into a story devoted to the battle over William Kennedy's notes. The New York Times waited until Christmas Eve, then hid Stephen Labaton's perfunctory summary on page 12.

And what did Labaton say in his summary? Conason and Lyons
limn it:

CONASON AND LYONS (page 200): Judging by [Labaton's] dismissive tone, no reader could imagine that the Pillsbury Report answered every one of the accusatory rhetorical questions the Times had urged the president and first lady to come clean about for years. Labaton's story ignored the passages pointedly exonerating the ClintonsFor the great majority of the Washington press corps, and thus for their national audience, the Pillsbury Report and the facts and conclusions its authors had painstakingly assembled didn't exist.

Are Lyons and Conason deranged? Incompetent? If not, this is just one of the astonishing episodes contained in The Hunting of the President. (The episode takes up just two pages of a 373-page book.) For the record, this may be one of those familiar-old-stories about which the recumbent Peter Jay bitterly complained, because the burying of the Pillsbury Report also was described in Fools for Scandal, in substantial detail-in 1996! And how did the New York Times explain its odd coverage of the Pillsbury Report, back when Fools for Scandal first described it? What has the press corps come to believe about the report since that time? The answers: The Times didn't explain its conduct at all, and the press corps sent the Pillsbury Report down the memory hole, and never came to any conclusions about a report which it never discussed. In 1996, the Washington Post didn't review Fools for Scandal-didn't acknowledge the book at all-and the Times review scolded Lyons for his rude ideas, without citing a single example, not one, of errors in the books' actual presentations (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 9/1/99). Along with everything else in Fools for Scandal, Lyons' remarkable
account of the Pillsbury Report was completely ignored by the press-swept aside. So it goes when the national discourse is in the hands of a group like our press corps.

I quote this at length because it shows how deeply embedded and invested in the rightwing worldview both the Times and the Post were all the way back in 1995, before there even was such a thing as Fox News.  That is to say, there is nothing new about the character assassination of Shirley Sherrod, or the hegemonic structures involved in representing her as her own exact opposite.

The only thing new here is the growing power that you and I and millions others like us have in supporting her in fighting back.

July 30, 2010 06:30 PM

The GNOME and KDE projects have announced that they will be holding a joint desktop summit in Berlin in August, 2011. "The 2011 Desktop Summit will build on the first Summit's success. More than 1,000 contributors from more than 50 countries are expected to attend the 2011 event in Berlin. In addition to members of the GNOME and KDE development community, the conference will also attract many participants in the overall FLOSS community from local projects, organizations, and companies."

July 30, 2010 06:23 PM

Fossil fuels may be doing an even more efficient job of warming the planet than we thought. A new study shows that black carbon generated by fossil fuels seems to warm the planet more than other sources, and sulfates generated by burning cheaper fuels help the black carbon absorb even more energy. The scientists who authored the paper note that policies will likely need to tamp down on both substances in order to make a dent in the rate of global warming.

Researchers have long considered black carbon a culprit behind the increasingly warm atmosphere, as it holds incoming heat rather than reflecting it. They haven't been able to decisively point fingers, though, because it's difficult to pinpoint how much warming the black carbon causes. The source of the carbon seemed to play an important role, as did the ambient amount of other substances, like sulfates.

Read the comments on this post

July 30, 2010 06:14 PM

July 30, 2010 06:12 PM

Debian has updated openldap (denial of service).

Fedora has updated kvirc (F13, F12: remote command execution) and F12: pidgin (denial of service).

Red Hat has updated java (multiple vulnerabilities) and freetype (RHEL 3, RHEL 4&5: multiple vulnerabilities).

SUSE has updated firefox, thunderbird, seamonkey (multiple vulnerabilities).

July 30, 2010 06:02 PM

So that Android app which was stealing all your data? Turns out maybe not so much

July 30, 2010 06:01 PM

[Jason Statham] [Martin Magnusson] wrote in to tell us about his adventure in building a wearable computer. The device in its current state is a Beagleboard running Angstrom Linux tethered to an iPhone for internet. A bluetooth keyboard allows for input, while output is displayed on monocle-ized Myvu. And last but not least, the entire setup is powered by 4 AA batteries for 3 hours of life.

Its not as small as some of the wearable computers we’ve seen before, but if you wanted to whip out your own it sure takes a lot less soldering.

July 30, 2010 06:00 PM

Here's your daily Wall Street-related laugh -- after getting busted for knowingly selling self-described "sh*tty deals" to clients, Goldman Sachs has now decided that it must stop employees from using naughty words in company emails:

The New York company is telling employees that they will no longer be able to get away with profanity in electronic messages. That means all 34,000 traders, investment bankers and other Goldman employees must restrain themselves from using a vast vocabulary of oft-used dirty words on Wall Street, including the six-letter expletive that came back to haunt the company at a Senate hearing in April.

"[B]oy, that timberwo[l]f was one s— deal," Thomas Montag, who helped run Goldman's securities business, wrote in a June 2007 email that was repeatedly referred to at the hearing.

Mr. Montag, who couldn't be reached for comment, wouldn't be allowed to send that email under Goldman's sanitized communications policy, which is being enforced by screening software. Even swear words spelled with asterisks are out.

Oh, now where's the fun in that! How can get an accurate picture of the Real Wall Street works if traders aren't allowed to email each other messages such as "LOL OMG I CANT BELIEVE THE DUMB-A** C***S***ER BOUGHT THAT S****Y M*****F***ING DEAL I CAN'T WAIT 2 SHORT THAT B***H ROFL!!!!1!"

Man, it's hard out here for a pimp these days. Continuing:

A Goldman spokeswoman said: "Of course we have policies about the use of appropriate language and we are always looking for ways to ensure that they are enforced."

"We always tell our f***ing traders not to mouth the f**k off about the s****y deals they make over email," he added. "That sort of talk must be reserved for company restrooms only."

The new edict—delivered verbally, of course—has left some employees wondering if the rule also applies to shorthand for expletives such as "WTF" or legitimate terms that sound similar to curses.

Traders are now banned from writing things like, "OMFG THAT MF HAS NO IDEA WTF IS ABOUT 2 HAPPEN LMAO! I PURCHASED CDS ON THOSE POS SECURITIES FIVE MINUTES AFTER HE BOUGHT THEM FROM ME -- NOW WHEN HE BLOWS UP I WILL BE EFFING RICH LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!"

This new Goldman policy is a classic example of what we professional philosophers call "Missing the damn point." No one is taking offense at the fact that they used four-letter words in company emails. The offensive thing is that they allegedly designed collateralized debt obligations filled with crappy mortgages and then sold them to unwitting clients and then shorting securities in the CDOs through credit default swaps.

This sort of behavior, needless to say, is much more offensive than using the s-word over and over again in emails.

July 30, 2010 06:00 PM

MapleStory (PC)
Unleash your skills.

July 30, 2010 05:50 PM

Selling fear:

The Vivos network, which offers partial ownerships similar to a timeshare in underground shelter communities, is one of several ventures touting escape from a surface-level calamity.

Radius Engineering in Terrell, Texas, has built underground shelters for more than three decades, and business has never been better, says Walton McCarthy, company president.

The company sells fiberglass shelters that can accommodate 10 to 2,000 adults to live underground for one to five years with power, food, water and filtered air, McCarthy says.

The shelters range from $400,000 to a $41 million facility Radius built and installed underground that is suitable for 750 people, McCarthy says. He declined to disclose the client or location of the shelter.

"We've doubled sales every year for five years," he says.Other shelter manufacturers include Hardened Structures of Colorado and Utah Shelter Systems, which also report increased sales.

[...]

The Vivos website features a clock counting down to Dec. 21, 2012, the date when the ancient Mayan "Long Count" calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year era, at which time some people expect an unknown apocalypse.

Vicino, whose terravivos.com website lists 11 global catastrophes ranging from nuclear war to solar flares to comets, bristles at the notion he's profiting from people's fears.

"You don't think of the person who sells you a fire extinguisher as taking advantage of your fear," he says. "The fact that you may never use that fire extinguisher doesn't make it a waste or bad.

"We're not creating the fear; the fear is already out there. We're creating a solution.

Yip Harburg commented on the subject about half a century ago, and the Chad Mitchell Trio recited it. It's at about 0:40 on the recording, though the rest is worth listening to as well.

    Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelter,
          worthy of Kubla Khan's Xanadu dome;
    Plushy and swanky, with posh hanky panky
          that affluent Yankees can really call home.

    Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelter,
          a push-button palace, fluorescent repose;
    Electric devices for facing a crisis
          with frozen fruit ices and cinema shows.

    Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a shelter
          all chromium kitchens and rubber-tiled dorms;
    With waterproof portals to echo the chortles
          of weatherproof mortals in hydrogen storms.

    What a great come-to-glory emporium!
    To enjoy a deluxe moratorium,
    Where nuclear heat can beguile the elite
          in a creme-de-la-creme crematorium.

July 30, 2010 05:47 PM

uhh, that's good marketing actually. if I pay a $150 setup fee and save $15/mo, they make money if I cancel before 10 months, and I save money if I stay for over that (and they now have a long-term customer)

July 30, 2010 05:46 PM

hahaha, genius

July 30, 2010 05:46 PM