SocraticGadfly

• Screw you, Evan Bayh

  The blue dog Democrat, self-billed as both “war hawk” and “deficit hawk,” throws principles out the door on paying for the Afghan war upgrade, or even its current level, in full.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 7:20pm EST
  

• Another reason Russia doesn’t trust us

  We kind of mislead Gorbachev over whether or not we would expand NATO. And, Gorby didn’t get anything in writing from us.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 7:09pm EST
  

• Tiger Woods now an ostrich?

  His injuries might or might not prevent him from playing at the Chevron Challenge, but he could still appear as the tournament’s host, in a non-playing role. Entirely ducking the tournament, on the other hand, is questionable.
  
  Maybe he has to stay home to let police serve [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:21pm EST
  

• I would worry if I were Democrats too

  In a commissioned national poll, DailyKos notes that Democrats' enthusiasm for voting in 2010 is FAR lower than Republicans. And, though some liberal bloggers poo-poohed fears after the 2009 off-term elections just a few weeks ago, The One won't be on the ballot with "The Politics of Hope Personality" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 7:36pm EST
  

• Tiger had fight with wife, plus other woman?

  Boy, the T. Woods situation gets even more interesting! And, his halo slips a bit.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 12:39pm EST
  

• Toyota still doesn't really get it

  It's nice that it's starting to install a "smart" gas pedal, but its refusal to consider whether drive-by-wire throttle systems might not just be the cause of sudden acceleration-based crashes is still ostrich-like.
  
  That said, Toyota's not alone on that. And, federal regulators appear to be behind the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2009, 1:53am EST
  

• Was Tiger Woods intoxicated?

  Contra the initial sketchy story, where alcohol was ruled out of Tiger Woods' car crash, the full story gets a lot more interesting, even serious. What was Tiger doing driving at 2:30 in the morning? Why did it take 12 hours to get the info released? And, "in'" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 7:11pm EST
  

• The gift of Christmas scat - Friday scatblogging

  No, I kid you not. Courtesy of Bloomington, Ill.'s Miller Park Zoo, you can once again give the gift of scat for Christmas!
  
  And, it's reindeer scat, no less.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 6:02pm EST
  

• Woman sees 'iron Jesus'

  A Massachusetts woman who recently separated from her husband and had her hours cut at work says an image of Jesus Christ she sees on her iron has reassured her that “life is going to be good.”There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 4:01pm EST
  

• Tiger Woods in serious car wreck

  Initial, sketchy information here.
  
  Update: Not so serious, after all. I was going to say... hitting a fire hydrant, unless at 90mph, usually isn't that serious.
  
  Meanwhile, even if the accident didn't have serious injuries, the story itself gets more interesting, perhaps even serious, by [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 2:14pm EST
  

• Robbie Alomar should be a first-year HOFer

  The first-year eligibles, and returning eligibles, for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame have officially been announced.
  
  Among the first-year candidates, one stands out - Robbie Alomar. If not for the Doug Hirschbeck spitting incident, he wouldn't have a worry. His only other "shortcoming" is not getting' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 2:02pm EST
  

• Internet: A tool for empowerment, or tyranny?

  Via Facebook and blogging friend Leo, I got to read this great essay, which a couple other Internet and blogging friends, who seem to me to tout too avidly only the plus side of the Internet, especially but not only in new media, also need to read.
  
  A [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:46am EST
  

• The filibuster hyporisy of Jeff Sessions

  is matched only by the editorial page stupidity of the Washington Post, where Fred Hiatt et al give Sessions a column to hypocritically vent.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:35am EST
  

• Why did John Ashcroft hate America?

  In the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, Michael Bloomberg and Thomas Kean want to know.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:28am EST
  

• Geithner again on wrong side of financial regulation

  And, assuming Timmeh the Treasury Secretary speaks officially for his boss, U.S. President Barack Obama, he's not alone in being wrong in opposing a tax on financial transactions. And, he's clearly in the pocket of Goldman Sachs, et al, just as when he was chairman of the NY Fed.
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 10:56am EST
  

• China promises 45 percent CO2 cuts - but, nothing new

  Well, this all sounds great.
  
  BUT, if it really is true, Beijing, then why won't you commit to even nominal mandatory cuts for the Copenhagen round?
  
  This is why. China is not promising anything that won't happen already, anyway:
  Michael Levi, a senior fellow for energy and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 1:34am EST
  

• Obama CO2 plan won't hurt your wallet much

  No, seriously. Stop believing the bullshit from the GOP and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
  
  Here's the actuality, or some good estimates on it.
  
  The biggest thing you'll notice? A doubling of your electric bill. BUT.. that's if you keep the AC, and heater if you have electric' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 27, 2009, 12:19am EST
  

• Another incentive for Pakistan to clean up Taliban

  And, that is the loss of tourism and threats to its cultural heritage.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 26, 2009, 10:58am EST
  

• Pujols unanimous for third MVP

  No, he's not (yet) a five-time MVP, as I blogged about a year ago, as far as what his trophy world would be like without Barry Bonds' roiding. But, he won No. 3 unanimously, and joined a select group of back-to-back winners, too.There is no god and I am' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:39pm EST
  

• Big Three lied about people wanting SUVs

  And, Detroit's biggest carmaker, General Motors, even got a hired gun economist to do the lying for it.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:31pm EST
  

• Fed slightly more optimistic about 2010

  The Federal Reserve has gotten slightly more optimistic about 2010 economic growth and unemployment rates, but says unemployment could remain fairly high into 2012.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 5:29pm EST
  

• Cheap solar power needs Obama help

  But, so far, Stan Ovshinksy isn’t getting government love.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 1:30pm EST
  

• 34K troops for A-stan

  OK, President Obama, if this is what you want, then bring on David Obey’s surtax bill. And, bring it on fast.
  
  And, if it doesn’t come, then hopefully enough Democrats have the stance to vote against any more Defense Department appropriations bills in general.
  
  Even worse is [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:40pm EST
  

• Obama, chess and end games

  Some interesting thoughts from Ed Cohen.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:37pm EST
  

• India hopes to address Obama miscue

  That miscue being Obama’s welcoming China taking an expanding role in South Asia. I can’t blame Indian Prime Minister Singh for being miffed, even if he plans careful handling of the issue while in Washington. That said, it’s another sign of Obama’s kowtowing, brought on in part by Bush [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:25pm EST
  

• Time to regulate leveraged buyouts

  There may still be time to at least ameliorate what could be the next financial meltdown. But, as the story notes, four of the last eight Treasury Secretaries — across party lines — have background in “private equity firms.”There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:17pm EST
  

• Obama’s callous sellout on civil liberties

  Or, why Gene Craig was pushed out as White House counsel — he had a conscience.
  
  Here’s the White House bullshit line:
  The White House says Obama hasn't changed, just adjusted. "He and the Administration have adapted as we have learned more and the issues have evolved, but'" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:09am EST
  

• Health care, victimhood, bad politicians, permanent campaign

  A former Senate staffer weighs in at Talking Points Memo with his laundry list of reasons why he thinks national health care could fail in the Senate.
  
  They include Dems wanting to play victims, and that being tied to the permanent campaign; the permanent campaign upping minority intransigence [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:06am EST
  

• Blair busted on Iraq cover-up?

  Supposedly former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was so determined to hide from the British public the fact that his government had already determined to go to war with Iraq that his ministry did NO planning for post-invasion events. And, arguably, that’s a war crime, a violation of Geneva [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:14pm EST
  

• Birthers – the international division

  Neil Sankey, with a career as one of Scotland Yard’s top cops, believes his expertise will let him smoke out the ‘truth’ about Obama.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 11:06pm EST
  

• Rogue cops not limited to US – look at UK

  Supposedly, British cops have been arresting people just to add their DNA to national database. Orwell is turning over in his grave.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:53pm EST
  

• U.S. to offer target numbers for Copenhagen

  But, this bit of good news has two big caveats.
  
  First, climate negotiator Todd Stern notes it’s conditioned on the U.S. legislative process. So, if the Senate doesn’t pass Waxman-Markey in three weeks, does that mean no numbers?
  
  Second, Obama’s attendance is still up in the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:46pm EST
  

• A-stan top lawyer takes aim at Karzai

  Well, to be specific, Mohammad Ishaq Aloko, the Afghan attorney general, wants to prosecute two cabinet members. But he needs President Hamid Karzai to remove them of immunity from prosecution.
  
  This coming just after a corruption-tainted election, followed by the US and other western countries pushing Karzai to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:28pm EST
  

• Pull the troops out of Iraq, election or no

  I don’t really care if Iraq has to postpone its election past January. We need to maintain the same withdrawal timetable for our troops, both to not enable Iraqi disorganization in government, and because we can’t afford to be there any longer.There is no god and I am his [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 10:24pm EST
  

• Why Obama isn’t a populist

  Salon points out some of the messy details about how he and his campaign sold their souls to Goldman Sachs last year, to the point of having the company and staff break up larger checks into smaller donations to try to extend the “everyman” image even as Team Obama [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 9:40pm EST
  

• Light at end of economic tunnel in three-five months?

  Possibly so, according to the National Associaton of Business Economists.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 3:21pm EST
  

• Obey wants surtax to pay for A-stan

  The powerful chair of the House Appropriations Committee says that if President Barack Obama wants to send more troops to Afghanistan, he, Obey, will bring a surtax bill to the floor.
  
  It’s about time. And, Obey isn’t alone. On the Senate side, Carl Levin has similar ideas. This [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 2:30pm EST
  

• White to run for Texas gov, NOT Senate?

  Looks like Kay Bailey Hutchison’s delay in leaving her Senate seat is affecting both parties and not just the GOP.
  
  It also would seem to indicate White doesn’t think the Texas Cheerleader will beat Gov. Helmethair in the GOP primary. It's also an indication of which race he [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:01pm EST
  

• White to run for Texas gov, NOT Senate?

  Looks like Kay Bailey Hutchison’s delay in leaving her Senate seat is affecting both parties and not just the GOP.
  
  It also would seem to indicate White doesn’t think the Texas Cheerleader will beat Gov. Helmethair in the GOP primary.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:01pm EST
  

• The truth about GM ‘repayment’

  Is that you and I, the taxpayers, are hugely on the hook for mega-millions that will likely never be repaid and could become a campaign issue next year.
  
  No wonder the Obama Administration wants an IPO, just to get away from the General which, as noted, makes cars [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:54am EST
  

• Douthat reams Palin, Huckabee and GOP

  First, the two 2012 presidential frontrunners are chewed out for leaning to celebritydom. After that, the rest of the party gets it for being vacuous on serious economic issues in part because the folks at the top are chasing celebrity.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:43am EST
  

• The conscience of a true health care Democrat

  Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman need to listen to Colorado colleague Michael Bennet to find a concscience on national health care.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 22, 2009, 8:35pm EST
  

• Rowan pissed at Benedict

  Specifically, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is in high dudgeon at Pope Benedict XVI for his blatant sheep-stealing move on trying to get Anglican priests to scurry to Rome.
  
  But, at the end, they kissed and made nice, in a way.There is no god and I am [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 22, 2009, 1:32am EST
  

• David Broder’s self-righteous budget hand-wringing

  All that and more are in the latest column of the man Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just recently derided as the retiree who rites an occasional column.
  
  And rightly so, on Reid’s derision. Broder refuses to accept the word of the Congressional Budget office about the bill. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 22, 2009, 1:12am EST
  

• Wanted: better citizens

  After starting his latest column with his “flat earth” schtick, Tom Friedman then goes Pogo-esque and, talking about America’s political dysfunctionality, essentially says, “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
  
  That said, while descriptive, Friedman isn’t very prescriptive on HOW to change that. (Often, columnists aren't.)' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 22, 2009, 12:50am EST
  

• The stimulus is working – although too small

  Mainstream economists are weighing in a general thumbs-up for the results of the Obama economic stimulus plan. Mark Zandi says unemployment would be above 11 percent without it. And, as President Obama and Congressional leaders talk about a jobs bill, they should note that folks like Zandi all agree [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 21, 2009, 11:06am EST
  

• Karzai would 'fall in weeks'

  If the US and NATO forces pull out of Afghanistan, that is.
  
  That’s not my prediction of the possible future of Afghanistan’s president, either, though I largely concur. Rather, it’s the words of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. Miliband argues that’s why the UK, and the US, and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 21, 2009, 2:23am EST
  

• Krugman: What Geither got wrong

  Clearly refuting fellow columnist David Brooks’ love fest for little Timmeh Geithner, Paul Krugman says the current Treasury secretary was a clusterfuck at the NY Fed, and hasn’t looked a lot better on his current job.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:52pm EST
  

• Vatican researcher claims Shroud is real

  Barbara Frale claims computer enhancing let her see Greek, Latin and Aramaic words on the Shroud of Turin.
  
  First, I want a list of the experts to whom she showed her photos.
  
  Second, I want her to show the photos to the general public. Especially to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 20, 2009, 12:29pm EST
  

• Crowdsourcing, New Media and bad media

  The Big Money’s good article on the perils of TripAdvisor should give you crowdsourcing touters, especially ones who are also New Media touters (I’m thinking of a science editor in North Carolina, among others!) something to think about.
  
  Preferred media may just be crappy media; another reason to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:27am EST
  

• One big reason Senate health care bill is good

  This one reason, from Ezra Klein, is enough:
  7) Forcing insurers to spend 80 percent of all premium dollars on medical care (75 percent in the individual market), thus capping the money that can go toward administration, profits, etc.
  Assuming it's enforced, without loopholes, the Scrushys of the insurance [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:22pm EST
  

• Note to AP: Learn some American Indian history

  St. Augustine, Fla., is NOT "the oldest permanent city" in the United States. By best reckoning, it's the Sky City pueblo of the Acoma Indians. (The Hopi Indians have their own claim.)There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2009, 8:02pm EST
  

• Rabbi offers cocaine for sex

  This news of the weird story is certainly more proof of the power of, ultimately, multiple addictions, not just one.
  
  And, I love the claim the rabbi made that coke helped him sleep!There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:31pm EST
  

• The ‘war industry’

  Gene Lyons is right. Misguided dunderheads of David Broder ilk aside, the increased privatization of the U.S. military means that, far beyond Ike’s famous “military-industrial complex” line, there is a “war industry” sounding the tocsin of battle all in the name of the almighty dollar — even as more [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2009, 1:13am EST
  

• Reich: Raise interest rates!

  Yes, you heard me right. Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich says raising U.S. interest rates might be part of what’s need to make the “Wall Street recovery” into the “Main Street recovery.”
  
  Of course, Reich should recognize that President Barack Obama cares little more for bottom-up Main Street [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:38am EST
  

• Obama kowtows to China on Fox News

  That about says it all, doesn’t it? Apparently afraid after a Beijing lecture, US President Barack Obama talked to what he used to consider The Dissed Network to turn into a deficit hawk, even to the point of warning about a double-dip recession if he doesn’t act like a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 10:53am EST
  

• Global warming: 6C rise by 2100, and carbon offsets exposed

  The Guardian reports there’s more and more evidence, supporting that likelihood, namely that natural carbon sinks are possibly becoming less effective.
  
  More on the fading efficacy of carbon sinks, in this case, the oceans’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide, is here.
  
  Hence, the “carbon offsets exposed.” [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 2:45am EST
  

• My latest resume – online

  Here you go, folks. Trying to use the Web to get myself in the door somewhere. A full copy of this is available as a Word doc to anyone interested
  STEPHEN J. SNYDER
  3727 Andrews Hwy., #702
  Odessa, TX 79762
  936-419-1539 (cell); 432-362-1820 (home)
  E-mail: socraticgadfly@hotmail.com
  
  OBJECTIVE: A communications [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 12:18am EST
  

• McCain aide: Palin book 'fiction'

  And, Nicolle Wallace said this as part of a TV interview, even though Schmuck Talk Express himself has asked his campaign staff not to do that. The long knives are out for Palin.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:11pm EST
  

• Goldman Sachs now Guilt-ridden Sachs? Or PR Sachs?

  Or, rather, are Sachs and fellow financial bailout hog-trougher Warren Buffet just buying PR with their $500 million small business capital line of credit?
  
  You know the answer? $500M is a drop in Buffet's bucket, let alone that of Sachs.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:03pm EST
  

• Fox boo-hoos AP's Palin fact-checking

  Fox calls it overkill and politically motivated for the Associated Press to have used 11 people to fine-tooth-comb "Going Rogue."
  
  Well, she's told enough whoppers, the AP was simply being prepared.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 18, 2009, 11:01pm EST
  

• The US-China joint sellout on Copenhagen

  The popular German magazine Spiegel wonders if the two nations didn’t deliberately cook up their APEC announcement that the Copenhagen climate summit would have no legally binding agreement, including accepting that each country would blame the other, for domestic consumption.
  “China and the US have more room for maneuver [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2009, 11:59am EST
  

• Spiegel reams Obama on climate change

  The popular German magazine says U.S. President Barack Obama lied in Berlin a year ago, has sold out to the lobbyists he said he would fight, and has forfeited his claim to be a world citizen.
  
  The magazine then faults average Americans’ notable insularity:
  For most Americans, the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:44am EST
  

• No love for Tricky Ricky Perry in top Texas GOP

  Ten of Texas’ 20 GOP Congressmen have already endorsed Kay Bailey Hutchison; the rest are likely to sit it out. At least one, Rep. Kenny Marchant, thinks Gov. Helmethair has already served long enough and shouldn’t even be running again.
  
  Geez, Kenny has more sense than I knew.There [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:13am EST
  

• Why not stimulus money for the Small Biz Admin?

  Big Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, is the latest person Washington mahatma to rue the lack of bank lending to small businesses. So, why not give the SBA a bunch of stimulus money?There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2009, 11:04pm EST
  

• Tim Geithner, best bud of AIG and Sachs

  An audit faults the New York Federal Reserve Bank, then led by Tim Geithner, now our Treasury Secretary, for being too kind to AIG’s trading partners when it was bailed out last year. And, of course, a huge AIG partner was Goldman Sachs.There is no god and I am [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:37pm EST
  

• A new philosophy for pledging allegiance

  First, yes, Michael Lind is spot on. We should be pledging to other people, not the government.
  
  Second, I like that a 10-year-old kid whose parents have gay friends refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance in school because it’s not liberty and justice for all.There is no [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 16, 2009, 10:05pm EST
  

• Big Pharma pockets Obama bribery

  And raises drug prices 9 percent. That’s just enough to cancel out any savings pledges from the top drugmakers. Gee, what a surprise.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 7:30pm EST
  

• Wingers should blame W, selves for alleged Obama kowtow to China

  To the degree it’s true that President Barack Obama is allegedly soft-shoeing China on civil rights and other issues, blame George W. Bush’s massive war debt.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 1:01pm EST
  

• Google, AP and paywalls

  Here’s some very interesting thoughts from Josh Cohen of Google News.
  
  Very interesting, indeed. I wish he’d been asked more, by the interviewer, Danny Sullivan, about the *rates* AP and other wires charge Google, et al, whether they're high enough, whether they should be set high enough to' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:44am EST
  

• How China helped Pakistan get the Bomb

  And then lied about it. And still does.
  
  As this Times of India story notes, US President Barack Obama probably isn’t happy about having details of this leak out in the midst of his first Asian trip.
  
  But, before Mao died, even, China was sending uranium compounds [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 2:35am EST
  

• China bemoans low US interest rates

  Ahh, well, you dance with who brung you, Beijing. I was going to suggest you might want to revalue the yuan, but the Bloomberg piece suggests that’s already in the possible works.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 2:27am EST
  

• Pakistan ISI hoist by own petard

  It’s an open secret that the Taliban in Afghanistan is to some degree a creation of Pakistan’s “military within a military,” it’s Inter-Services Intelligence. Well, first, the Taliban expanded into border agencies of Pakistan, along with allied but independent groups. Now, they’re attacking the ISI.
  
  That said, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 15, 2009, 1:15am EST
  

• Copenhagen climate round gutted

  In one sense, this decision is political realism, both here in the US and internationally.
  
  On the domestic side, I hope that President Obama and Congress use the breathing space to get serious about a jobs bill. Out of both political need and political smarts.There is no god [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:37pm EST
  

• Dear GOP: If you want more A-stan troops, cough up the bucks

  It’s that simple. For that matter, the same applies to you, Mr. President.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 1:59pm EST
  

• It’s about the jobs, Obama and Democrats

  Both Bob Herbert and Charles Blow recognize and stress that.
  
  That said, on Obama’s job summit, or Senate Majority Leader Reid’s jobs bill, what sort of jobs? How much help to get them?
  
  You’re losing the country’s confidence.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:17am EST
  

• Child abuse affects the child brain

  More and more, through things such as human physiological research, specifically on suicide victims, and discussed more here, it’s clear that child abuse, especially to younger children, can change both the structure of the human brain and how it expresses itself.
  
  The first study, albeit with very [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 2:15am EST
  

• Nothing corny about global warming

  Literally, that is. Due to corn’s temperature sensitivity, global warming could severly hit US corn harvests, barring some lucky new round of genetic engineering.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 14, 2009, 12:13am EST
  

• German tourists' remains found in Death Valley?

  German boyfriend and girlfriend tourists, and their two kids, who had the "bright" idea of taking a minivan on some of Death Valley National Park's worst unpaved roads, in the summer of 1996, went missing. Their apparent remains have apparently finally been found.
  
  "Bright"? Three of the four' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 8:02pm EST
  

• Palin goes 'rogue' on facts

  The AP gives her a thorough checking, and finds, among other things, that she blames Bush II-initiated bailouts all on Obama, claims Reagan abolished estate taxes and more, including glossing over her big-donor campaign money and Alaskan ethics issues.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 7:57pm EST
  

• Could US-China talks spur climate agreement?

  Oh, the idea sounds optimistic on paper, or in the paper, but, color me somewhat skeptical. That said, Copenhagen climate summit expectations are now so low, any achievement at all next week between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao would get trumpeted.There is no god and [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 7:25pm EST
  

• Easy on the drones, Obama

  Ed Cohen notes President Barack Obama’s high use of Predator drones is another case of a big difference between Obama the candidate and Obama the president. He also says we need to be talking more about ethical issues behind drone use.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 12:16pm EST
  

• Indian claims global warming NOT melting Himalaya glaciers

  Well, claims like this are a guarantee New Delhi will go slow on wanting to address global warming.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 12:06pm EST
  

• Obama immigration plan includes amnesty

  Hmm, in the middle of a high-unemployment recession, I am wondering how amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens will play in Peoria. Or, on Capitol Hill.
  
  AG Janet Napolitano was defending the idea as part of a “three-legged stool” in its initial rollout.There is no god and I [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 13, 2009, 10:51am EST
  

• Jay Rosen's new media 10 Commandments are wrong

  Starting wit his claim media atomization has been overcome. It hasn't, because of the price level of new media. To the degree it consolidates, then it will professionalize, with some of the issues of "old media."
  
  For instance, more than three years ago, in Dallas, a group of' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:12pm EST
  

• Not so fast on more A-stan troops

  That’s the word from Karl Eikenberry, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and also a retired three-star general. From the tone of the story, it appears he may well be behind President Obama now asking “exit strategy” questions.
  
  It’s amzong that Bush was too dumb, arrogant, or both, to ask [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 12:57pm EST
  

• A dinosaur ‘missing link’

  A new South African fossil illustrates how quadriped sauropods may have evolved.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 12:53pm EST
  

• Iraq WAS about the oil

  At least, for John Kenneth Galbraith’s son.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 10:36am EST
  

• ‘Internet triumphalism is not a public good’

  Near the end of a long article in the New Republic, arguing why transparency in government issues can sometimes have ambiguous results or worse, Lawrence Lessig goes beyond that near the end he jumps into how the Internet has more generally been a two-edged sword:
  Reformers rarely feel [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:11am EST
  

• Ego, skill, taste and citizen journalism

  At Tech Crunch, in the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, Paul Carr totally nails a lot of things on my mind about what happens when you mix “new media” social media tools with “citizen journalism.” It ain’t pretty.
  
  CJR has some good follow-up. But Megan Garber [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 12, 2009, 12:19am EST
  

• Reid plans Senate jobs bill

  While I wish the Senate would move more quickly on a climate bill, I understand indeed that something like this is both a social and a political reality and need. Let’s hope that, unlike Obama’s stimulus bill, it’s not watered down.There is no god and I am his prophet.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2009, 11:03am EST
  

• David Brooks, even worse than normal

  Just Muslims, and only them, are ultimately to blame for Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. No mention of neocons. No mention of Huntington’s “clash of civilizations,” etc.
  
  At the local level? Nidal Hasan was a dirty, stinking, Muslim fanatic, not a person under stress who then turned to more radical [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 10, 2009, 10:41am EST
  

• US in A-stan for the long term

  Or, at the least it certainly looks that way, as we build as much military infrastructure as we did in Iraq.
  
  And, a lot of it is going toward “contractors” of various sorts. It’s ridiculous.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 10:57pm EST
  

• Three dates: Berlin Wall, 9-11, Lehman collapse

  Michael Lind weaves a compelling story of how they link together as three transition points of the last 20 years most worth note and why.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 8:52pm EST
  

• Did Chrysler lie to government?

  With it now rejecting plans to build an electric car, one most wonder whether Chrysler really planned to do that in the first place, or just said that as part of angling for government bailout money.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:53pm EST
  

• Why? The government doesn’t even have a ...

  Why? The government doesn’t even have a handle on how much imports, whether manufacturing or services, actually contribute to the economy.
  
  Brilliant!
  
  So, the economy could suck even worse, and perhaps has been for some time, while the current neolib occupant of the White House is [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:04pm EST
  

• Murdoch ready to cut Google out of the loop?

  Rupert Murdoch says that, as part of putting paywalls up on News Corporation websites, the company will remove its articles from Google searches. Sounds like a smart idea.
  
  And, he claims it’s what the Wall Street Journal already does with the part of its content that is paywalled. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 11:08am EST
  

• ‘The G.O.P. has been taken over by the people it used to exploit’

  Krugman nails it, using last week’s tea-party rally sponsored, officially, by the GOP, as his starting point.There is no god and I am his prophet. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 1:40am EST
  

• You thought the housing bubble was bad?

  Commercial real estate prices are already further off their peak than housing values, and pwith a turnaround even further out of sight.
  
  Unlike housing, it wasn’t overbuilding, but too much money sloshing around the system, spiking prices in commercial real estate as investment.
  
  Full recovery could be [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 1:18am EST
  

• 'Old media' vs. 'new media' and media vs. messages

  "Old media" vs. "new media"? The difference is ultimately in the medium more than the message quality. Yes, blogs have broken news stories before the "MSM" and Twitter has added color to stories, but Twitter has releasd just as much inaccurate info as the MSM outlets at breaking news events, [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 09, 2009, 11:41pm EST