June 2008
“Following instructions from Obama HQ, almost no Obama supporters have shown up...”
– THE NEW REPUBLIC | Blogs
May 2008
Smoky Back Rooms
I’m watching the Democrats debate the fate of Michigan and Florida. Apparently this is how politics actually happens. It looks like they’ll seat Florida at half a vote each. Michigan is currently beign debated. Edit: It looks like Michigan will be seated in some random fashion. It sounds like Clinton’s supporters are chanting “Denver! Denver! Denver!” ...
Obama resigns from controversial church →
This is too bad.
CNN is streaming the democrats discussing what to... →
I’m not sure exactly what mood you would have to be in to enjoy watching this…but it’s happening now.
“A gesture cannot be regarded as the expression of an individual, as his creation...”
– Milan Kundera, Immortality. Is it disheartening to note the myth of individuality (in a behavioral, not experiential, sense), or is it liberating? (via mills) I think disheartening and liberating are the wrong words to use when talking about limits to individuality. Both focus on the individual as...
david: Just saw an ad for Implantable Defibrillators. That’s kind of badass. My brother has one of these. If you have reason to believe your heart might suddenly and inexplicably stop, it’s a nice thing to have. Additionally, if it goes off … in coitus your partner might feel “a slight tingle.”
Flip-Flopping
I think most people, including politicians and political journalists, are confused by why that “flip-flopper” label was so damaging to Kerry in 2004. Afterall, shouldn’t nuance and changing your position when you’re wrong be a good thing? The “flip-flopper” label stuck not because Kerry changed his mind, but because people thought he frequently changed his...
“… Whereas the humerus (upper arm) and femur (thigh) bones of the average horse...”
– Deb Bennett, Principles of Conformation Analysis, Volume I. (via larkspur) This snippet sort of highlights why racehorses seem to break down more frequently than we might expect.
The Internet's Ventillation Problem
When angry, people have a tendancy to tendancy to say stupid things. They say they hate their friends or parents and wish various forms of death on people they may not sincerely want dead. We call it venting. Blowing off steam. Perhaps extreme statements allow us, even in frustration, to achieve some critical distance from the immediate problem and contextualize our current pain. Perhaps...
Vegetarianism: My week without meat →
Fraser Lewry is doing experimental vegetarianism wrong. A week without meat? That would be like me going a week without coffee. By the time the withdrawal headaches ended, the week would be over.
I solved Michigan and Florida
The Democrats have a somewhat impossible problem with Michigan and Florida. On one hand, it looks really bad to disenfranchise entire states—so excluding them is impossible. On the other hand, neither election was even remotely democratic. Clinton won Florida on name recognition and Michigan by being the only person on the ballot. The Democrats can’t count Michigan and Florida but...
“We learn that Sadr was once nicknamed ‘Moqtada Atari’ for his love of video...”
– Kyle Bingman (who offered an extraordinary Paul Tillich quote a few days ago) shares this article about Moqtada al-Sadr, which describes his cruel sense of humor and some of his formative years. While our differences are many, Sadr and I both made poor students, and I’m sure this sentence will...
“The celebrated novelist, screenwriter and playwright Hanif Kureishi has launched...”
– guardian.co.uk Books (via somethingchanged) Technically the last two were a chemistry student and a sociology student…but why let facts get in the way of your glib social commentary?
Recipe: Deep Fried Butter →
Apparently it’s not a joke.
The Emperor Has No Clothes
The circulating 60 minutes segment on “millenials” has drawn a host of negative reactions, as well as some thought-provoking discussion of what exactly distinguishes our generation. If we’re not “narcissistic praise-hounds,” what are we? I don’t think our values are fundamentally different than our parents—but our perspective is. The stereotype of...
“…if his abilities in government are in any way similar to the skills he has...”
– Barack Obama is master of the new Facebook politics | Andrew Sullivan - Times Online (via election08) (via somethingchanged) I’d have to disagree with Andrew Sullivan. Most Republicans I know are supporting Obama.
WatchIn the past week, I’ve heard that my generation doesn’t work, that my generation works too hard, that we have these absurdly prolonged childhoods, and that we never have a chance to be kids. I was frustrated by U.S. News’s ranking of high schools—but this 60 Minutes piece has trumped it. Apparently 60 Minutes has decided that ageism is now okay? The promotion of blatant...
“Oh wow, they just blamed Mr. Rogers for our generation’s unwillingness to...”
– Marco on this 60 minutes clip. Now I have to actually watch this clip. You just don’t say Mr. Rogers set a bad example.
“McCain opposes the measure, as does the Pentagon, out of concern that providing...”
– The Boston Globe I think our difficulties in recruiting a volunteer army may be tied to the way we’re using our army. My suggestion? Fewer wars.
Bill Clinton says more crazy stuff. →
Apparently, somebody is trying to cover up Hillary’s electability. It must be a vast right wing conspiracy! Or perhaps a vast left wing conspiracy! Of course, swing state polls are now showing Obama winning at least as many electoral votes as Clinton. But electability not the real issue. The Democratic voters have indicated a clear preference for one candidate—and it’s not...
Appeasement
johnbrissenden: Errorgorilla’s continuing refusal to put comments on his tumblthing is nothing more than a grotesque scheme to hold his followers to ransom, by forcing us to reblog everything he posts. It gives me no pleasure to admit that I’m as guilty of submitting to his diabolical plan as anyone else. What is to be done? As an American, I suggest unfollowing him, sanctioning him, and...
The Rabbits
Carolyn wants to put up a tent in the yard in case the rabbits try to eat her basil seedlings.
Krugman and the Tumblrs are wrong about suburbs
I’m don’t think population density will solve all the problems it is supposed to. For one thing, you need to truck things in to feed, house, and cloth that dense population. Purchasing local goods doesn’t work if few local people are producing goods. I see a problem less with where people live and more with the environments that they work in. If (for reasons of preference or...
Clinton's made an unfortunate reference to Bobby... →
It’s the sort of comment that looks kind of malevolent if it’s dark and you squint at it funny. Perhaps it invoked some real fears people have. But this flap is really about people reading too much into a clumsy comment. I assume Clinton meant to highlight that there have previously been nomination fights going into June.
Obama: Cuba policy to be based on ‘libertad’ →
I initially misread this headline as “Libtard.” As in, “Obama has some libtard Cuba policy.” Also, what’s up with this?
Margins of Victory Map →
Here’s an updated map on the margins of victory map. If you look carefully at it, you’ll notice there’s not a whole lot of unexpected wins and losses. Obama has a few areas (Southeast and Northwest) where he does very, very well. Clinton had an edge in the Southwest and Appalachia. I expect Obama to win South Dakota and Montana. Ultimately, Clinton’s recent victories...
Swing State Polls →
CNN just released an article that claimed Clinton polled better than Obama in “swing states.” There is a major problem with this claim. It pays attention to Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—but leaves out the other swing states. Obama does better against McCain than Clinton in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Oregon,...
“I don’t feel obligated to let strangers vandalize my site, in front of the...”
– Marco on comments I once thought that allowing unfiltered comments was a critical element to allowing free speech, healthy discourse, and so forth. As I’ve taken an increasing pride on what I’ve put up on the web, my thoughts have shifted. Part of free expression is my ability to...
johnbrissenden: What did I put in with my washing to make the machine sound like it’s about to explode? This happened to me once. The dryer was going click-rattle-thump, click-rattle-thump, as if it was particularly disappointed. The click sounded like a metal button on jeans, which made since, since I was doing a load entirely of pants. The rattle, sounded like a housemate had left empty...
Obama Adopted by Native Americans →
This article, along with the accompanying video, is awesome in a lot of ways. Perhaps most impressively, Obama’s comments reflect both an understanding of and a comfort with the unique government-to-government relations that comprise the U.S. governments interactions with the tribes.
Little Orphan Artworks.
bunnynico: “Congress is considering a major reform of copyright law intended to solve the problem of ‘orphan works’ — those works whose owner cannot be found. This ‘reform’ would be an amazingly onerous and inefficient change, which would unfairly and unnecessarily burden copyright holders with little return to the public.” — Lawrence Lessig (via NYT) Usually Lawrence Lessig is insightful on...
“Why don’t you meet me for dinner on Wednesday in my South parlor. I...”
– - Part of my latest response to Uchenna Hilary, the spammer in Ghana who says she will kill me if I don’t pay her. Apparently I’m supposed to meet her in person in Ghana to pay her off. I don’t understand why I have to go to Ghana so she can kill me. (Also, if you found this post...
The voters had their say...
Barack Obama has now won a majority of the pledged delegates. Clinton’s only recourse is changing the rules or convincing the insiders to overrule the voters.
The problem with anonymity
The problem with anonymity is that you can’t take credit for it. There are all sorts of posts that I would love to reblog into a private group (like, “here’s what I ate for dinner tonight” or “I got a new couch!”) but there’s no way to step out five seconds later and say, “Just kidding. I’m not actually a stalker.”
“Sometimes the expressed will of the voters is disregarded by federal judges, as...”
– John McCain on Roper v. Simmons. What you may or may not also recall is that the case was about whether or not it is constitutional to execute juvenile offenders. The “discourse on international law,” as Jeffrey Toobin points out here, was Justice Kennedy’s observation that the...
“On Sunday, U.S-Iraqi forces increased a parallel operation in regions between...”
– The Associated Press: Iraq reports arrest of al-Qaida figure in Mosul Fleeing to Syria? I need to pay more attention to this war. It may be going better than I thought it was.
On "the Issues," specifically, abortion.
SDS and I have been having a comment discussion on whether Obama (who I think everybody will agree is left of center) could accomplish anything to end the partisan gridlock in Washington. SDS suggested that the differences many have with Obama are too great to overcome. I think these differences (commonly called “the issues”) are a relatively insignificant relative to the overall job...
Chocolate
sisterpearl: On top of it all, my husband rearranged the kitchen, which made me temporarily unable to find the chocolate. I once thought that chocolate was a tasty food, but that all the hype about its semi-divine powers was mostly a joke. Then I married Carolyn. She’s been writing a paper on transnationalism in 19th century literature—and it’s driven her to chocolate. ...
“I also think these folks should lay off my wife.”
– Barack Obama Seriously. Are the Republicans trying to self-destruct? Because if we’re going after spouses in the general election, somebody’s going to run an ad about Cindy McCain stealing drugs from her own charity—and that wouldn’t be polite. 