Taxing & Spending 10 | ***Dave Does the Blog

Unblogged Bits (Sat. 17-Sep-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

John Boehner: ‘Job Creators Are Essentially On Strike’ – I think someone’s been reading too much Ayn Rand.
After Claiming To Support Infrastructure Investments, House GOP Blocks Infrastructure Investment Plan | ThinkProgress

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 16-Sep-11 1731)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Hagee: Harry Potter, Secular Humanism Ruining America – Can you find me a case of a kid being “taught witchcraft” by Harry Potter? Because I keep trying all those spells in the books, and I just can’t seem to get them right.
Robert Reich Debunks the Six Big Lies About The Economy – “The greatest enemy we have is mass cynicism. When people really get to the point where they think nothing can be done, the other side wins.”
If You Already Hate Windows 8 Then You Hate Technology [Windows 8] – “If you’re not intrigued by Windows 8 and Metro, if you can’t recognize that it’s a big leap forward, if you’re not excited about what it means for you, personally then you don’t really care about technology; you care about brands. You care about platforms. You care about politics. You’re a fanboy.”
Update on the Cranston West High School God Banner Lawsuit – I, for one, marvel at the cognitive dissonance of one school committee member asserting (favorably) it’s an explicitly moral and religious expression, and the others trying to argue that, no, it’s just “tradition.”
Superman is a profane dick – Wait, “as a Christian” this guy is okay with Batman or Green Arrow or Green Lantern taking the Lord’s name in vain, but he “draw the line” at Superman? (And a just-off-the-farm pre-classic Supermman at that?) That’s just … silly.
Perry, Texas and Stimulus Spending – “You can argue over whether the stimulus bill created enough jobs given the amount of money spent. You can argue over whether the cost of those jobs was too high because of the debt increase that resulted from the spending. But to argue that the spending didn’t create a single job is so mind-numbingly idiotic that it could only be said by a Republican presidential candidate.”
Metro-style Internet Explorer 10 ditches Flash, plugins – While it’s an interesting idea, I’m not particularly interested in living without my LastPass or my Xmarks. Sorry, IE10Metro.
Dr Oz crosses the line – Don’t let your fancy-schmancy chemistry get in the way of my big publicity moment!
Do users change their settings? » UIE Brain Sparks – I’m one of those obnoxious types who makes a beeline to the Options / Preferences menu. I learn a lot about a program that way.
You Don’t Make Social Security More Solvent By Eliminating Its Funding Base | ThinkProgress
Perry Once Bashed Financial Industry For Being ‘Run On Greed,’ Now Wants To Repeal Wall St. Reform | ThinkProgress – Sorry, “overregulation” of the finance industry is part of what “problem,” Rick? Certainly not Wall Street bank profits, which are looking extremely healthy.
Texas School District Looks To ‘Abstinence-Plus’ Curriculum After ‘Abstinence-Only’ Proves Ineffective | Mediaite – Well, there’s a bit of sanity for a change. Personally (and as the father of an 11yo girl), I think abstinence is a fine goal, but including realistic info on contraception and safe sex is critically important, too.
The Colbert Report doing a segment on DIA’s conspiracies | The Spot — Denver, Colorado politics and government news — The Denver Post – Exxxxxcellent. (And, btw, that’s the first pic of the Demon Horse of DIA that actually looks halfway decent.)
Epic fight choreography: Kirk vs. Gorn – Boing Boing – Ha! We actually just watched this ep last night. The sad thing is, this is the best action sequence in the episode.
Colorado’s 300 days of sunshine claim: It’s a myth, and state’s climatologist tells us why – Denver News – The Latest Word – But I still like the weather here. 🙂
Google LatLong: South Sudan is now official on Google Maps
John Lewis And 50 Other Congressmen Ask Georgia Parole Board To Grant Troy Davis Clemency | ThinkProgress – Nobody’s suggesting setting the guy loose (which is a completely different question), but there seems way too much doubt to morally support an execution in this case.

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 2-Sep-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Chinese want to capture an asteroid into Earth’s orbit | DVICE – Yeah, another one of those “What could possibly go wrong?” moments.
Breaking News: Obama Calls On EPA To Pull Back Ozone Standards – Brilliant move! We’ll save money for private industry today, at the cost of of increasing spending for medical care tomorrow! It’s a win-win … for someone!
Debunking Austerity Madness: ZERO Job Growth in US, Gloomy Europe – Yet an Argentinean ‘Tango’ – Cutting government spending does not mean a huge spike in private spending (or private employment). It too often means less overall spending, which depresses employment, which reduces corporate revenues. There’s no easy answer, but spending too little is demonstrably as bad a problem as spending too much.
Snape is voted favourite Harry Potter character | Children’s books | guardian.co.uk – Go, Snape, go!
Futurity.org – Threatened pikas hang on in the Rockies – Go, pikas, go!
It’s Official: 17 Banks Slapped with Mortgage Lawsuits – Deal Journal – WSJ – Good.
Erect Bum House | Bizarro Blog! – Best paleontological cartoon you will read today.
DC Women Kicking Ass – A little 6-panel SUPERGIRL/BATGIRL… – Fun.
bookshelves of doom: I’ve never particularly liked… – That might actually be tempting.
Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman wants Peace Corps out of China – The Denver Post – So Coffman’s worried about a few million dollars being spent through the Peace Corps to support the global use of English and to establish ties with Chinese. Sound like worthy causes to me, but for him it’s all about how arrogant the Obama administration is. Hey, Mike — have you actually been in support of US government funding for higher education? Then why use that as a club here? Especially when there are hundreds of billions of dollars being frittered away on even less worthwhile programs and tax incentives?
Amazon’s Kindle Tablet Is Very Real. I’ve Seen It, Played With It. | TechCrunch – Well, it certainly sounds interesting, though the very proprietary setup is something of a turn-off, and it’s not clear that it will be as reader-friendly (whizz-bang interface aside) as the simple e-ink Kindle. It being WiFi-only makes it less attractive at this point as well (an e-reader doesn’t need 3G, but a tablet kind of does). May wait for version 1.1, unless I hear a lot more positive press beyond this.
GOP Rep. Declares War On Peace Corps, Demands End To Program In China | ThinkProgress – How is it I’m so unlucky that I’ve gone from Tom Tancredo as my US Congressman to Mike Coffman? Granted, I’d like to hear more about the reasoning for this particular aspect of the Peace Corps program … but Coffman tackling it the way he has simply makes it partisan politics, not good government.
Are Finns White? – Granted that humans are big into both categorizaton and Us-vs-Them labels, but the identification of “races” (and the attempt to neatly slip folks into one or another of them) continues to astonish with its too-frequent silliness.
“The Art of Clean Up”: El arte de ordenar – OCD, anyone?
As it nears 30 years, Denver’s 16th Street Mall teems with characters – The Denver Post – One of the cool things about working in downtown Denver is the 16th Street Mall.
Contrary To GOP Claims, Small Businesses Say Taxes And Regulation Aren’t Holding Back Hiring | ThinkProgress – Don’t let your facts get in the way of our talking points! We have an election to win!
DC Women Kicking Ass – Farewell Mr. & Mrs. Kent – Sad to see them (as a couple) go.

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 12-Aug-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Al Mohler on Adam and Eve vs. The Facts – A nice examination of skepticism vs denialism.
Democratic Dolchstoßlegende by David Atkins – I got a call today from the Obama 2012 campaign, which started with thanking me for my support and invoking Karl Rove to trigger my fear response. And I cut off the nice lady and said, “I’m not giving anything right now, thank you,” and hung up. I have little doubt that, as things presently stand, I’ll be voting for Obama next year, and I’ll probably make contributions — perhaps even to the presidential campaign. But I also don’t mind letting the Obama campaign know that I’m not just automatically forking over the moolah and support just yet, and they can’t just assume my devotion to the cause.
KOA 2011“TIME LAPSE” | Don’t Panik! – If you always were wondering about that big campout we go on each June … well, here’s a better rendition than all of my posts combined. Thanks, Mark!
United Nations Affirms the Human Right to Blaspheme | Politics | Religion Dispatches – If God is angered by blasphemy, God has the prerogative to punish it, not the state.
Joe. My. God.: TX Gov. Rick Perry: Social Security And Medicare Are Totally Unconstitutional – And here’s the man who wants to be President so he can follow up on just that belief.
Fischer: God Only Allows A Woman To Be President As A Last Resort – Hmmm. Will anyone ask Bachman or Palin what they think about that?
Can’t Emphasize This Enough – “The movement conservatives have all come out of the closet – even the ones on the federal bench. They smell a final victory: a return to Gilded Age America.” Which is great, if you’re one the lucky fractional percent who have the gilt.
Microsoft Awarded With Patent For Sliding Mobile Device. Wait, What? – What the –?
Book Ban: Virginia Bans Sherlock Holmes From School Libraries – Stupid, stupid rat creatures …

Unblogged Bits (Sun. 7-Aug-11 0530)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 29-Jul-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Why No Nation Can Endure Half Fox News and Half Free: House GOP Believes Pell Grants Are Welfare : Mike the Mad Biologist – Once we were proud of how much we helped kids get into college. Now it’s just another bit of parasitism to cut. “I never thought aspiring college students would become the new ‘welfare queens.'”
If You Ever Fall Into Thinking Democrats Are “Just As Bad” As The GOP, Think About The Environment And The Future Of Mankind: DownWithTyranny
Conservatives Demand No Defense Cuts at All Costs – Who cares if the elderly are hungry, children are poorly educated, bridges are crumbling, earth and air and water are toxic, and farmland is blowing away into dust — we need more nuclear aircraft carriers and cruise missiles, dadgummit, so we can be the greatest nation on the globe!
Batman logo in equation form – Rocks.
Bill Harming Online Privacy Moving Through Congress – Because why wouldn’t we want the government to have carte blanche permission to know everything we’ve done on the Internet, gathered into databases that will, to a moral certainty, be prone both to data theft and hacking.
From Pranks to Prison – It’s the next logical step from stupid-ass Zero Tolerance policies — stupid-ass and destructive imprisonment.
Feds stonewall on cell phone tracking of Americans – Don’t you feel safer?
The latest Goldman scandal – stockpiling raw materials – No, that’s exactly how the free (Darwinian) market is supposed to work — which is why a certain amount of government/social regulation of the marketplace is so important.
U.S. National Debt Chart Shows Bush Created Much More Debt Than Obama – Does this (and similar charts) put all Afghanistan/Iraq costs into the Bush court because of his being responsible for those efforts (which have been continued under the Obama administration), or because under his administration those items were considered “off budget,” whereas Obama at least rolled them into his budget submissions? Regardless, between the Recession (and the largely though not exclusively GOP policies that allowed it) and the Bush tax cuts and “off budget” war effort, yeah, it’s largely a GOP responsibility. Which is why, of course, they’re interested in shifting the pain onto everyone else.
Long time coming: Current insanity – “It’s been a long time coming, no doubt about it. You could say it started decades ago, with that famously loopy math: ‘Let’s balance the budget by cutting everyone’s taxes and spending more on the military! That’ll work!’?”
Judge Finds Apple in Violation of HTC’s Newly Acquired Patents – It sure seem these days that these companies are spending more time in court than in the labs.

Unblogged Bits (Sun. 24-Jul-11 1731)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Who Commits Terrorist Attacks In Europe?: Matthew Yglesias
Palin documentary bombs during second week in theaters. – Maybe real patriots were off seeing Captain America. At least when he wraps himself in the flag, he stays with the job until it’s done.
First trailer for Avatar: The Legend of Korra shows off the new steampunk metropolis – Sweeeeeeet! (And, glad to hear they are still using the music.)
How the Deficit Got This Big – NYTimes.com – “A few lessons can be drawn from the numbers. First, the Bush tax cuts have had a huge damaging effect. If all of them expired as scheduled at the end of 2012, future deficits would be cut by about half, to sustainable levels. Second, a healthy budget requires a healthy economy; recessions wreak havoc by reducing tax revenue. Government has to spur demand and create jobs in a deep downturn, even though doing so worsens the deficit in the short run. Third, spending cuts alone will not close the gap. The chronic revenue shortfalls from serial tax cuts are simply too deep to fill with spending cuts alone. Taxes have to go up.” It’s not that difficult, except that politics are trumping reality. And, ultimately, reality will bite back.
Ikea’s opening has metro-area furniture retailers on edge of their seats – The Denver Post – They really expect people to be driving to Ikdea from Wyoming, Nebraska, and Kansas? Really? I mean, it’s IKEA, people! It’s cool and fun, but it’s really not all that!
Captain America Rules at the Box Office | The Disney Blog – Glad to hear of Cap’s success. I still am very apprehensive about folding the Marvel properties into the Disney resorts.
The true story behind Noah’s Ark : Pharyngula – That’s … awesome. (Crap animation, but it’s the dialog that’s worth listening to.)
WI Governor Scott Walker to cut DMV centers in Democratic districts « progressivetoo – Stay classy, Scott!
Wikimedia blog » “Rate this Page” is Coming to the English Wikipedia – Just noticed this today. I think it’s probably of value for quick feedback — though I suspect there will still be folks trying to game the stats for pages they really like/dislike.
Harry Potter vs. Twilight – I will confess that I have never read nor seen anything Twilight. Nor have I seen anything that’s made me want to.
Never underestimate the power of spite – George Will has completely gone over the deep end.
With nine days to go – Aren’t it the Republicans who have been lambasting the Dems for creating “uncertainty” in the markets, up until, oh, about a month ago?

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 19-Jul-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Carmageddon: Forget planking, trio holds ‘dinner party’ on empty 405 [Updated] – latimes.com – Bravo.
Texas Schools Just Suspending Everyone on Principle – Well, not just everyone, but certain … shades of everyone.
Rep. Allen West Calls DNC Chair ‘Vile… Despicable… Not a Lady’ – Whoa, Allen … lay off the bourbon before you send emails!
Through The Overton Looking Glass – “I can’t wait till next November, when the party that wants to cut Social Security and Medicare squares off against the party that wants to cut Social Security and Medicare while raising taxes slightly.”
The Decline of the Aspirational Baby Name – Brainiac – Though Katherine’s name is shared by various prominent types (from actresses to czarinas), we chose it as a name of protean flexibility, as well as something intentionally non-trendy.
HijiNKS ENSUE » Live By The Sword – Joel Watson on the final Harry Potter film (incl. spoilers).
Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling goes Beyond the Epilogue – Beyond Hogwarts – Massively multiple spoilers for those who haven’t seen the final movie. For those who have, here’s Rawling’s interviews re the final disposition of the various characters.
Sign Fixer – YES!
Wednesday’s hail storm in Denver metro area resulted in $164.8 million in damage to cars and homes – The Denver Post – Dagnabbit … we need a major hailstorm down HERE. It’s getting to be time to replace the roof …
Heat buckles Colorado 83 south of Parker – The Denver Post
One More Crisis on Infinite Reboots Trifecta: Good, Bad, Weird – I may be the only person out there who actually doesn’t mind the jeans-and-t-shirt outfit. On the other hand, the 52 Hardcover Archive sounds like pretentious twaddle.
Newsarama.com : LEE, DIDIO: Rebuilding DC To Counteract ‘Shrinking Market’ | DC reboot | DCnU – Still not feeling any joy from this reboot. And I’m really getting tired of the idea that you can’t have as dramatic a story if someone has a spouse.
Loss of Genetic Diversity in U.S. Food Crops – There are obvious dangers in putting all of one’s eggs (or strawberries) in one genetic basket.
Obama Admin To Whitebark Pines: Drop Dead – Sigh.
Time Magazine Builds Web Pay Wall – Peter Kafka – Media – AllThingsD – So Time is positioning itself as an historical archive, rather than a news source. Got it.
Safe Playgrounds Are Destroying Society – And my brother has a scar on his chin from where he fell off a slide onto an asphalt surface. Now, there’s a still a lot of cool playground equipment these days, but what you see is still kids pushing the boundaries, climbing up where they aren’t supposed to be, etc. Which is (when I take my Dad Hat off) a good thing.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 19-Jul-11 1731)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

How to get naked, Victorian style – Man, there are days when I thank the Lord I live in the time I do.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Call For The Reinvention Of The Toilet, Offers $42 Million In Potty Grants – Which offers up all sorts of jokes and puns, but is really serious business in a world where billions lack proper sanitation.
More Than 50 Legal Academics Blast Obstruction of 7th Circuit Nomination | People For the American Way Blog – The system is broken.
Report: Mortgage Companies Continue To Use Robo-Signers – The foreclosures must flow!
Poll: Overwhelming Majority Of Voters Want A Strong, Undiluted CFPB – What the voters vaguely want about this sort of thing is meaningless — the GOP are more interested in who’s making sizable donations to their campaigns (hint: financial institutions).
TOM THE DANCING BUG: Harry Potter and the Deathly Deficit! – Heh.
Barber: Gays Don’t Want The White Picket Fence, They Want To Burn It Down – Matt Barber’s a dolt. And a hateful dolt as well.
GOP Wants to Cut Indigent Defense – Let them be represented by cake!
Ben Dimiero: Flashback: When News Corp. Poisoned Fox News Employees For Christmas – If Fox reports the sky is blue, it’s not only worth checking first, but assuming it’s actually red.
Mom Charged With Vehicular Homicide For Crossing Street After Kid Killed By Hit-and-Run : TreeHugger – Disgusting.

Unblogged Bits (Mon. 18-Jul-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Who Benefits from the Mortgage Interest Program? – People who deduct their mortgage interest? Yup, that’s a “government benefit” and “social engineering”. It’s just a “general welfare” program that benefits the middle and upper classes more, and thus is seen as an “entitlement” by the movers and shakers. (One I’m happy to take advantage of, to be sure.)
Liberty Counsel: Abuses By Obama “Exceed Those Of The King Of Great Britain” Causing American Revolution – King George III is the new Hitler.
Is Marriage Equality Scarier Than War? – Mr Richey seems to think that recognizing gay marriages means he has to be gay, or marry gays, or be pro-gay. None of which, in fact, is true, but it makes for some great, scary sermons.
Hagee: U.S. Can’t Win Wars Because Of Satan Worship – Hagee demonstrates that his knowledge of military history is just as goofy as his knowledge of the Constitution and comparative religions.
Borders to liquidate remaining stores – Jul. 18, 2011
Harry Potter Still Harmful
REPORT: Murdoch Considering Stepping Down As News Corp. CEO: Travis Waldron
Kids’ lemonade stand shuttered by police chief – This is why we can’t have nice things.
From Google’s “in-house philosopher,” a beautiful credo in defense of studying the humanities « The Teeming Brain – Huzzah for the humanities!
First Openly Gay Federal Judge Confirmed | ThinkProgress – Wow. Must have caught the Senate GOP on a mellow day.
That Wonder Woman Pilot: No wonder this didn’t get picked up – Wow. I have a morbid desire to see the finished product — but sounds like it’s just as well we didn’t see it broadcast.
mental_floss Blog » Plus: Grading Systems

Unblogged Bits (Sun. 17-Jul-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

‘Carmaggedon’ Not Really That Big a Deal, Actually – Not surprising. People are a lot more adaptable, when required to be, than they think they are.
AMERICAblog News: Murdoch cuts off Fox News anchor who asks about News of the World scandal, anchor complies – Honest journalism at its best. Can’t question the boss, after all.
Manufacturing deficit fear | Dean Baker | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Why the Wealthy Need the Welfare State – “The Gilded Age plutocrats who first acceded to a social welfare system and state regulations did not do so from the goodness of their hearts. They did so because the alternatives seemed so much more terrifying.” The ones of this age might consider just that.
Where Exactly Have the Mainline Churches Been for the Last Forty Years? – I’ve seen a lot of the above in the Episcopal Church as I’ve belonged to it for the last 15 years (and learned about its past before that). And, yes, I see a number of positive signs that the church is beginning to address the problems described.
Harry Potter: the anti-geek – That’s an interesting analysis — and one that rings true (though there’s more to the story than just that).
Chief Rabbi: Equality laws leading to new Mayflower exodus – Telegraph – I’m bitterly glad to see the nonsense of “If I’m not allowed to discriminate against others, then I’m being discriminated against” isn’t restricted to this side of the Atlantic.
Warren Buffett: I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. – That would certainly end it — but it begs the more important issues of (a) when it should be ended and (b) how to do so. Which are the real sticking points.

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 7-Jul-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Unaccompanied Minor – Kitten gets to fly home on her own (with dropoff and pickup) on Saturday. Coolness!
New! Pick your favorite inbox style – Official Gmail Blog – Some cool options … and an interface that learns your behavior. Nice.
Barack Obama Tears Down Reagan-Era Tree
Richard Dawkins Torn Limb from Limb—By Atheists – Look! Human Skeptics are Humans! May contain 15-48% rationality, with the rest made up of emotions, hormones, and cultural conditioning! Throw in an Internet flame war, and, hey-presto!
Love, Hell, Consciousness, and the (Current) Impossibility of ‘Church Unity’ – Waving or Drowning? – ‘Just yesterday I had a spiritual conversation with an old friend, and I shared with him my growing discontent with the label ‘Christian’. So you’re a Christian. That really doesn’t tell me anything about your faith. Are you a “torture is OK against bad people” kind of Christian, or a “Jesus was a pacifist” kind? A “God hates homosexuals” kind, or a “God loves everyone” kind? And now we can add a believer in “eternal conscious torment” or in “Rob Bell’s idea of hell” to the list.’
IKEA will put a 550-seat restaurant in Centennial — but Casa Bonita is bigger! – Denver Restaurants and Dining – Cafe Society – Yes, but I actually WANT to go to IKEA, whereas I’d much rather suffer a coronary to get out of going to Casa Bonita ever again. At least not until I have grandkids. In, oh, 20 years or so.
Denver’s five best plates of fried-chicken – Including White Fence Farm! Kay will be so pleased …
Prison Ships, Ghost Prisoners, and Obama’s Interrogation Program – Because we are, of course, the Good Guys, which excuses all evils. Right?
Trying . . . not . . . to . . . pop a vein . . . . – Yeah, let’s stick it to the poor, the consarned parasites!
Rep. Paul Broun compares Progressives to Al-Qaeda – Dolt.
Debt Ceiling News: Pelosi, Democrats, broad array of groups object to including Social Security-Medicare cuts in talks – Glad to see someone on the Dem side has the balls to say no.
Supreme Court Ignores International Law By Denying Stay Of Execution – SIGH
Google vs Microsoft vs Apple
Clarence Thomas and *The Fountainhead* – sigh
Does Michelle Obama Know About This? – Ah, the old HOA/City Garden Code strikes again. We only want grass! And flowers! And we want you to bounce your ball STRICTLY IN TIME with all the other kids on the block here in Camazotz City!
I Flunked My Social Media Background Check. Will You? [Privacy] – Interesting …
Early Buzz: ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2′ – Glee!

Unblogged Bits (Sat. 2-Jul-11 1130)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

snopes.com: Kulula – Flying 101 – Fun.
Tommy Gun: For Shooting Dangerous or Delicious Animals: Robert Farley
PA Gov. Corbett Slashes Education and Health Care, Refuses To Tax Natural Gas Drilling – Best government money can buy …
BP Is Holding Gulf Restoration Process ‘Financially Captive’: Guest Blogger
DOJ: Court Should Not Dismiss Karen Golinski’s Health Benefits Claim, Should Instead Find DOMA Unconstitutional – Poliglot – That’s pretty darned big news (albeit timed to be hidden by the holiday weekend).
JP Morgan Calls For Corporate Tax Break That JP Morgan Analysts Found Won’t Work – ” Congress already tried such a holiday in 2004.The companies that benefited most wound up cutting jobs, and companies started stowing even more money offshore in anticipation that another repatriation holiday could be wrung out of Congress.”
Quote of the moment: John Adams, celebrating the 2nd of July – “The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. . . . It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.” Though, with the high fire risks in so much of the country, I suggest we refrain this year a bit from the Bonfires and Illuminations.
Team John Jay – Jay’s an interesting guy. Like all of the Founders, he refuses to be put into a simple ideological box. There are things he did that were admirable, others I disagree with. Why we want to have the Founders as some sort of monolithic set of demogods who deigned to create the perfect nation for us — a concept they, themselves, would have been appalled by — is beyond me. Heroes? Sure, albeit with more than a few feet of clay. People to admire, to study, to consider and remember? Definitely. But attempts to both deify them and to scrub their records are not only unworthy of the freedom they fought for, but dangerous besides.
It’s Reagan’s party no more – “Or more to the point, doesn’t it bother Republicans, just a little, that Barack Obama is more in line with the Reagan legacy than they are?” It sure bothers the Democrats …
Pawlenty and the line that cannot be crossed – The fact that Reagan could never be nominated — let alone elected — in today’s GOP makes the situation even more laughworthy (or sad).
The Craig T. Nelson problem – Of course, one could see this, in perspective, as a sign of how we’re all in this together, how we all help one another as an organized society over the rough spots, promoting the general welfare and acting as a unified nation. Unfortunately, that idea is anathema to the “I got mine, you go pound sand” devotees of Ayn Rand.
When a party refuses to consider bipartisanship – It’s difficult to tell whether the GOP are simply being gone crazy, or if they figure by staking out increasingly extreme positions they can wangle increasingly extreme “compromises.” Neither bodes well.
The discontent of the GOP elder statesmen: Steve Benen
Bill Bennett Explains Why Freedom Is Slavery – Do I particularly want an incremental increase in public intoxication and the attendant safety issues? No. But as a trade-off from the massive costs of the pot-based War on Drugs? Sure. We know how to manage public intoxication, etc.; we do it now with the very legal but regulated alcohol industry. To argue that the sky will fall if pot is legalized (or decriminalized) is ludicrous.

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 17-Jun-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

After David Koch Leaves NIH Board, NIH Hands Down Long-Delayed Classification Of Top Koch Pollutant As A Carcinogen | ThinkProgress
New Hampshire’s GOP Budget: Low Cigarette Taxes More Important Than Education, Health Care: Guest Blogger
Wisconsin Planned Parenthood Next Target in GOP Attack – “The Hyde Amendment may have prevented any taxpayers from paying for abortion services since the 1970s, Planned Parenthood may only spend less than three percent of its budget on abortions and hundreds of thousands of patients may depend on these clinics for their health needs, but conservatives will stop at nothing to have a pro-life talking point for their next campaign.”
Fox’s Greta Van Susteren: GOP needs to explain “why they give Vitter a pass” | ThinkProgress – Greta’s a hack, but it’s interesting that she and O’Reilly both have picked up on this.
U.S. Life Expectancy Lags Behind Most Industrialized Nations [Health] – Best Health Care In The World (if you can afford any of it)!
Bovine Breakout – And in the morning there was a spider-web over her head that said “SOME COW!”. (Good stuff after 1:10 on the video.)
Ten Reasons Why BlackBerry Is Screwed – Gizmodo – RIM is the Palm of the decade — a once mighty trend-setter and market giant that sat on its laurels way, way too long, convinced it was in an unassailable position.
As Richest Pay Lowest Taxes In A Generation, Bachmann Would End Income Tax For 23,000 Millionaires – “Although it is impossible to surmise their exact intentions, it appears that Bachmann’s campaign is operating under the notion that the rich in America don’t have it good enough and that expanding the deficit is not a problem — as long as you’re continuing to cut taxes for the richest Americans.”
Paul Ryan And His Family To Benefit From The $45 Billion In Subsidies For Big Oil In His Budget – Best government money can buy!
Kid Gets School Ban On Pokémon Overturned [Justice For All] – That rocks.
Watch two guys run wild in an empty airport [Video] – Usually by the time I’m stuck at an airport, I’m too exhausted to do much of anything …
Bill O’Reilly: ‘I Don’t Think Vitter Should Be There. Absolutely Not’ | ThinkProgress – Give the man credit. Now, that said, I don’t think either man “sinned” enough to be forced out of office — that’s up to their constituents to decide. But if Weiner’s going to be hounded out for his conduct, the GOP’s welcoming embrace of Vitter is appallingly hypocritical.
YouTube – HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART II FINAL TRAILER – Holy freakin’ crap. I so much want to see this movie.
Escape to the Movies : Green Lantern – Well, that just freed up a couple of hours of my life. Unfortunately.

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 28-Apr-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Video Chat on Your Android Phone – Which would be cool, if the camera and the screen on my Android phone pointed in the same direction.
Are Trump and the birthers hypocrites? Racists? – Nice …
Letter from George Washington to an annual meeting of Quakers – Particularly given the persecution of Quakers in most of the colonies, I see nothing here that doesn’t sound like Washington would apply it to any religious faith.
David Barton on Thomas Jefferson – Did Jefferson approve church in the Capitol? – Sounds like an exercise in fellowship more than ministry to my eyes.
John Yoo Discusses Limits to Executive Power – The guilty man flees where no one pursueth.
Too cute Disney Duck Picture (Not Donald) – TEH CUTE! (And I know exactly where that is.)
Wingnut Mob Now Boycotting Superman, Because He Hates America – Yeah, there’s no surprise. No actual examination of the storyline, nor even consideration of what the statement might be about. Yeah, cause that’s “nuance.”
Oh look. The Birthers are already playing with the new toy President Obama gave them. – I think it was probably a reasonable timing to convince Hawaii to make an exception to provide the long form birth certificate. But the point was not so much to shut up the birthers (who are so deranged that they’ll come up with new conspiracy theories) as to finally put paid to the “why doesn’t he show his birth certificate?” crap. Which, one would hope, would further discredit (to the rest of the nation) the whole right-wing zaniness that is birtherism.
Facebook shoots first, ignores questions later; account lock-out attack works (Update X) – Ah, the joys of active management of an Internet monoculture.
Rick Santorum: U.S. Shirking Its Responsibility To Fight “Militant Socialism” – The Red Menace is back!
Ayn Rand and the Conservative Contradiction – “Any politician or media figure who claims to be an admirer of both Rand and Jesus is either hopelessly confused or an out-and-out liar.”
Oklahoma GOPer: It’s A Fact That ‘Blacks’ Don’t Work As Hard | TPMDC – Stay classy, Oklahoma GOP!
Letter from Mark Twain to a snake oil peddler – Lovely.
The Only Thing You Can Do Legally If You’re on the Terror Watch List Is Buy a Gun [Gun Control] – The only rights the Right wouldn’t be willing to take from even terrorists.
The Ancient Japanese Tsunami Stones Kept Villagers Alive [Japan] – It’s fashionable to poke fun at tradition and ancient community wisdom. And there’s sometimes reason for that. But it’s worth at least considering they might know what the heck they were talking about …
Facebook Games Could Be Responsible For Demise Of Soap Operas – Innnteresting. Not quite sure whether that’s a good thing (interaction!) or a bad thing (Facebook Games!).
Watching Shows On DVR Might Save Them From Being Canceled – This is good news. Especially since I rarely watch TV shows any other way.
E.T. call waiting – SETI just costs $2.5MM? Damn, I’ll bet I could find that money in about 15 minutes in the federal budget.
Sarah Palin Mocks Katie Couric For Leaving CBS – Stay classy, Ms. Sarah!

Unblogged Bits (Thu. 21-Apr-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Beck Calls Huck “Progressive,” Huck Calls Beck An Idiot – See, it’s moments like these when I say, “Hey, Huckabee is actually a pretty rational, all-right king of guy.” Then he turns around and pals up with (also-Beck-friend) David Barton.
David Barton Refuses To Debate His Bogus History – Ah, how wonderful it must be to be so certain of your truth that you refuse to discuss it with anyone who might disagree …
Have a happy Zombie Weekend – Heh. Yeah, I noticed that passage whilst doing the Passion reading on Palm Sunday. That particular aspect of the Crucifixion doesn’t usually make it into the movies.
Gruber: iOS location storing is a bug, getting fixed in future iOS update – That’s certainly possible (I’ve seen crazier bugs), but Apple’s silence on the matter is not doing it any favors.
Raising The Sunken Swifboats – Anyone who’d pay any attention to something coming out of WorldNutDaily is beyond cognitive redemption anyway. Yeesh.
GIF: Platypus on the Prowl – Oh, there you are, Perry …
Why Are Tech Founders Such Assholes? [Startups] – “What is it about computers and money that instills villainy?” Computers have nothing to do with it. Power (and money) corrupt … and, really, the folks most likely to strive to achieve either are most likely to be corrupted by them (or by their pursuit). I mean, really, is Gates any worse than Carnegie, or Zuckerberg than Rockefeller?
Hubble Comes of Age With Dramatic New Image [Space Porn] – Oh, come on –that’s gotta be fake. It’s too gorgeous. (Plus, the Hubble is 21 years old! Eek!)
The thing I don’t understand is why so often one hears discussion of the fruits of human labor as if it’s all the creation of some alien race – Lovely. Islamic art, usually eschewing depictions of objects and people, makes up for it with remarkable patterns.
Maundy Thursday – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – There are times that it is so cool to belong to an Anglican denomination.
Super Google Reader Converts All Partial RSS Feeds into Full Feeds [Downloads] – Sweet. Now if only GReader on Chrome weren’t having a Note in Reader problem with YouTube, it would be perfect.
Small Screw Encyclopedia
Senator questions Apple over iPhone tracking – Good questions all. Thanks, Sen Franken.
Wonkette Thinks It’s Okay To Mock Trig Palin. Bulletin: It’s Not – Making an ass of yourself in the name of snark knows no political boundaries, unfortunately. This kind of humor (even its marginally weaker form that Wonkette is so infamous for) is one reason why I don’t read her.
Paul Ryan Collected Social Security Entitlements Until Age 18 – I’m sure Ayn Rand would approve — take what you can get away with, then make sure nobody else can take more.
Astoundingly Detailed LEGO Serenity – Shiny!
The Post Office Railway (Mail Rail) | Silent UK – Urban & Underground Photography – Awesome. A modern-day dungeon-crawl.

Unblogged Bits (Mon. 18-Apr-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Obama Is Now and Will Be a Great President – There’s a lot here I do very much want to believe in — and, to be sure, there’s a lot that Obama has managed to accomplish (esp. of one contemplates, shudder, a McCain/Palin administratino). I still think there’s a lot (in health care and budget matters) that he’s negotiated very poorly on, and other areas (in homeland security / civil rights) where I don’t see much difference between him and Bush.
Brewer vetoes birther, campus gun bills – Good Lord — sanity from Arizona?
Speechless On The House Floor | MoveOn.Org – There are election priorities, and then there are governing priorities. Sometimes they differ because folks have a different perspective once in office. Sometimes they differ because the election priorities were lies.
DIA, developers want more stations on RTD east rail line – The Denver Post – I’m sure they do — but nobody wants to pay for it. Honestly, I think this is a case where it’s more important to get the line built, then get added stations and tracks lain. (I’m obliged to note my employer is involved in this project.)
Watch the first clip from Harry Potter’s final movie, The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 [Video] – Oooooooh. (And, let me say, it’s so cool seeing more of John Hurt as Olivander …)
“Hello Megan” drives him crazy, too – Actually, I don’t mind the “Hello, Megan!” bit, but this was still funny. In that “Hitler movie re-subtitled” way.
If Aqualad could get be with the team on the right, I’d… – Fun. I’m enjoying the current YJ cartoon a lot — but the David/Nauck YJ comic rocked. Even if Superboy looked super-lame in those days.
Organizational Levels – Hmmmm, wonder what you get at 221?
When members of Congress forget who was president in 2008 – I’m a Congressman, dagnabbit! Don’t let the facts get in the way of my talking points!
Pam’s House Blend:: The Bizarre Behavior Of An Apparently Hate Filled Man – Of Course It’s Peter LaBarbera – And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, right? I mean, isn’t that how the song goes?
Box Turtle Bulletin » Leader of Maine’s Yes on 1 Campaign Admits to Lying – But of course, when the cause is great enough, the ends justify the means, right? Even when you’re doing it for Jesus?
Christian protesters destroy controversial Andres Serrano art “Piss Christ” – But … but … but … I thought it was only Muslims who were intolerant and violent!
Good Husbands Choose Marijuana – Heh. Though there are at least a couple of these I don’t need to be high for …
7 Basic Things You Won’t Believe You’re All Doing Wrong | Cracked.com – Some more interesting (and good) pieces of advice.
8 Movie Special Effects You Won’t Believe Aren’t CGI | Cracked.com – I already knew most of these (T2 and LotR especially) — but it’s still pretty cool.
Michele Bachmann Tax Day rally draws sparse crowd – Andy Barr – POLITICO.com – Aw, man, if all the lunatic GOPers get abandoned by the voters too early, how will we have any fun in 2012?
ThinkProgress » Boehner Hires $5 Million Lawyer To Defend Unconstitutional Law – “Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that Boehner brought the nation within inches of a government shutdown because of his alleged fears that the United States is spending too much money. Apparently, Boehner’s commitment to fiscal responsibility isn’t nearly as strong as his need to ensure that no gay American receives their constitutional right to ‘equal protection of the laws.'”
The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science | Mother Jones – On the surface, this indictment of human reason is pretty depressing. But what it really means is that humans integrate facts with feelings, and that we need to engage where people are coming from emotionally and “values”-wise in order to get them to listen to what the facts are. Which, really, isn’t that unusual a piece of advice when communicating to (and trying to persuade) an audience.

Unblogged Bits (Fri. 15-Apr-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Victim of Prosecutorial Misconduct Speaks : Dispatches from the Culture Wars – The inability to trust in the law and the justice systems means that the population will feel no need or duty to align with them. Dishonest prosecutors not only harm (or even kill) the innocent, they attack the bedrock of our nation and society.
Dishonest Use of Budget Numbers : Dispatches from the Culture Wars – Of course they’re going to blame Obama for what Bush did (and set up to be done to this very day). What other choice do they have?
A Tax Day Special—The U.S. is a low-tax country – But … but … we’ve been assured by the GOP that we’re paying humongously high taxes and that no civilization could possibly endure with our horrific tax burden, especially on the rich!
Rick Santorum Swears “Most Seniors . . Are More Than Willing” To Sacrifice Their Medicare Plan – Hey, they were the Greatest Generation, right? They gotta be eager to sacrifice still more!
Doctor Who – Premiere Week – Woot!
Chickens roosting – Amusing, if true.
iOS, Android gobbling Nintendo’s share of portable game market – Hadn’t considered this before but, yeah — handheld game systems are pretty much doomed.
Ayn Rand vs Jesus Christ – That’s pretty much correct. And, yet, Rand seems to give so many on the Right, many of them ostensibly conservative Christians, giggles of glee.
NationalJournal.com – Fox News Removes Story Linking Obama to a College Suicide – Friday, April 15, 2011 – Stay classy, Fox News!
Dilbert Creator Pretends to Be His Own Biggest Fan on Message Boards – As funny as I find Dilbert (even now), I’ve long had the impression that Scott Adams was … well, not the nicest guy in the pool.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 12-Apr-11 2330)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Bathroom Remodeling Video is Unintentionally the Funniest Thing Ever – I think anyone who’s done a house rennovation has these same kind of afterthoughts. Most of us, though, only bug our friends about them, rather than shooting an online video.
Jon Stewart Grills Mike Huckabee On His Praise For David Barton – I watched the on-air portion of this, and it really made me wonder how soon Huckabee will return to the show, since Stewart grilled him fairly well and all Mike could do was deke and dodge and answer different questions than what he was asked. I need to watch he unabridged interview.
Oregon State Legislature Gets Rickrolled – This actually somewhat restores my faith in the American political process. At least in Oregon.
Restaurant to retrain staff after mixed-drink mixup – Yahoo! News – Hmmm … sounds kind of like he got served a pisco sour instead …
Charlie sorry – Ben Smith – POLITICO.com – Sweet.
Which Airports Have the Most Unfair Fares? – NYTimes.com – (1) Margie found this article very interesting. (2) Look, another reason to fly into Houston Hobby vs IAH. (3) Amusement that two of the top 5 most overpriced large airports are named after Republicans. (4) Woot, Denver is “competitively-priced.”
No Halt to Planned Parenthood Fight – NYTimes.com – I’m sure that will make Bryan Fischer happier with John Boehner. Or at least Eric Cantor.
Exclusive: The Bleak Financial Numbers From The MySpace Sale Pitch Book
How to Turn DCA Into a Parking Lot – There was always something magical about which section you were parked in at Disneyland. That said, I’m happier to see a second park (even DCA) than a vast parking lot.
The 0.00014 percent solution – Remarkable that the GOP, oh-so-concerned over the budget, spent so much rhetoric on stuff that really doesn’t affect the budget all that much.
Religious Right Panics Over Marriage Equality – Could it be … SAAAATAN?
When Alan Met Ayn: “Atlas Shrugged” And Our Tanked Economy – Dolts.

Unblogged Bits (Tue. 12-Apr-11 1730)

Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries ….

Newly-released FBI memo from 1950 confirms “flying saucers” crashing in New Mexico [Mysteries] – Well, the memo confirms something — now, who’s confirming the memo (and its writer, and his sources)?
Rand And The Conservatism Of Doubt – Ah, Ayn Rand — is there anything more you can get wrong with your crazy philosophy?
Stop Being The “Annoying Phone Guy” During Meetings With BusyMe for Android – Seriously checking this out.
Senator To Propose New Internet Sales Tax – Certainly people (cough) are more likely in many circumstances to purchase something tax-free through Amazon than taxed from their local bricks-and-mortar store (unless they want it in their hands RIGHT NOW). On the other hand, the taxpayer “impact” of Amazon, vs. Best Buy, is much lower. So the only issue is the “fairness” of states getting or not getting money for what I buy. Let’s not make it any more noble than that.
150 Years Later, Tea Partiers Still Aren’t Over The Civil War: Travis Waldron
Religious Right Ramps Up Attacks on Judicial Nominee Goodwin Liu – Thanks goodness — we’d almost forgotten all about the GOP zaniness in the Senate …
Fischer Likens Boehner To Pontius Pilate Over Planned Parenthood Compromise – Dolt.
Liberty U Blocks Access To Local Paper – Liberty? You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means …
Robertson On Burqa Ban: Don’t Like It? Go Back To Africa – Religious freedom for me, but not for thee.
Scientist accidentally experiments on himself, wife – Not now, honey — you’re not out of quarantine yet!
Kindle now available for $114 — with on-screen ads – And now we know why Kindle hasn’t offered folks (since very early days) the easy ability to load their own screen savers. Ugh.
$39bn budget cuts also target safe drinking water and heating subsidies. So where are cuts to GOP programs? – What did the Republicans want that got cut? The amount of budget money they (eventually) said wanted cut. “We really wanted $100B!” they claim, “And that got cut to only $40B! So, see? We’re cutting, too!” Yeesh.
Huckabee/Trump 2012? Former Gov. Open To Sharing Ticket With Birther Mogul – I’m trying to figure out if Huckabee is following the McCain “I’ll say anything to get a vote” course, or if he’s always been as flaky as he’s seemed of late.
Why Does it Take so Much Less Milk to Lighten Iced Coffee? [Giz Explains] – And knowing’s half the battle!
Private Records of 3.5 Million Texans Were Mistakenly Leaked by the State [Wtf] – Okay, let’s just assume, from now on, that any record kept about you, whether governmental or private, can and will, eventually, be leaked. How do we, as a society, mitigate that?
If a Byte Were a Gram a Floppy Disk Would Weigh 10 Cats [Factoid] – A pint’s a pound the world around!
Meet the Man Who Invented the Digital Camera [Video] – It’s amazing to think of how much photography has changed with the advent of digital — for the vast part the better, I think.
Why Everyone Loves Yuri Gagarin, the First Human to Reach Space [Video] – “The Earth is blue. How wonderful. It is amazing.” Lovely. There are times when I wish spending time in orbit was a requirement for every one of our Congresscritters.
Peter Jackson Explains Why He’s Shooting ‘The Hobbit’ at 48 Frames Per Second – An interesting technological push — and, to my mind, probably a bigger difference than 3D (though it goes hand-in-hand with it).