Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….
- Sharpie liquid pencil – Wow — that sounds pretty darned cool. If it works as advertised.
- Comparing his party to a 5 year old – That’s just about right.
- Colson: “Go Build the Mosque Somewhere Else” – “And that is the Religious Right’s understanding of “religious freedom” in a nutshell.”
- Brian Blessed to voice TomTom SatNav systems – That would be awesome. Now, can I get him to do the voices on my Google Navigation?
- Specialized Drill Robot to Unlock the Final Secrets of the Great Pyramid of Giza [Robots] – Can’t we get Geraldo to cover this?
- Fascinating Church/State Ruling from Texas – “All of this goes to show, I think, that David Souter was correct when he said that much of the work of judging is weighing competing rights against one another and applying broad principle in sometimes difficult ways.” Yes, what’s interesting here is that whole “umpires calling balls and strikes” argument from Chief Justice Roberts when he was being confirmed is wholly belied. This is not a trivial, simple, easy, straightforward case; judges looking at this are going to have to weigh multiple interests, multiple constitutional principles, and come up with a coherent, usable decision. That’s why, especially as you get up the appellate chain, judgment matters, and decisions can be facilely painted as “activist.”
- Jamison Foser: Ross Douthat’s nonsensical attack on gay marriage – ‘Let’s say you think, as I suspect Ross Douthat might, that Christianity is “one of the great ideas of Western civilization.” Are we “giving up on” Christianity by allowing people to practice Judaism and Hinduism and Buddhism and Islam and Atheism? Repeal the First Amendment! Or let’s say that you think democratic elections are “one of the great ideas of Western civilization.” Does it follow that it should be illegal to decide not to vote? Teachers are pretty important to Western civilization, too — so perhaps we should make it illegal to be a police officer, bank teller, florist or ditch-digger?’
- Washington’s Muteness on Prop 8 a Sign of Cynicism, Not Progress – “Congratulations, gays! You’re no longer the dweebiest kid on the playground. Republicans will be beating up on Manuel, whose parents just moved here from Mexico, instead. And when they get done with him, there’s Faisal, whose father wants to build a mosque. At best, you’re third in the pecking order. You’re not even on the short list any more, frankly. But don’t get too full of yourselves. If the economy improves, you could be facing another round of noogies and swirlies all over again.”
- Secession, secession-lite, and the politics of temper tantrums – Secession and nullification would have been laughed at by the GOP mainstream not too long ago — or else they would have been considered treasonous. And yet today it’s become rhetoric from key leaders in the party. Creepy.
- Abuse of the rules isn’t something to “get used to” – I think what he means is that we’d BETTER get used to it, as he has no intention of changing it — at least until the GOP has 51 votes in the Senate.
- In the wealthiest country on earth – “The demand is for ‘spending cuts,’ ‘smaller government,’ and fewer ‘public services.’ Americans should fend for themselves. We’re all on our own. If the wealthiest country on the planet can’t afford buses or streetlights, so be it — just don’t raise taxes a penny or we’ll run you out of town.” What shall it profit a nation if it be the wealthiest country on Earth but be unwilling to spend any money on behalf of the nation’s people?
- MediaPost Publications Google Lawyer: ‘Hot News Becomes Cold In A Nanosecond’ 08/06/2010 – In a world of aggregators, search bots, and instant media, is it possible to “own” any news, even briefly?
- 5 Real Historical Death Stars (Complete With Baffling Flaws) | Cracked.com – Some great examples to use for business plans that “can’t possibly fail!”
- Marriage and the role of the state – Glenn Greenwald – Salon.com – “Just as is true with a whole host of questions on which the State takes no position, private actors are completely free to venerate some marriages and stigmatize others. Churches, synagogues and mosques are free — as they should be — to sanction only those marriages which their religious dogma recognizes. … And columnists like Douthat are free to argue that the relationships they want to have are not just best for themselves but are, as an objective matter, morally and theologically superior. They just can’t misuse secular law to institutionalize those views or coerce others who don’t accept them into having their legal rights restricted based on them.”
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