The critics have weighed in on the Zarqawi news: * greg.org: Wow, if there was any doubt about where the contemporary art market is going, they were dispelled this morning at Christie’s Baghdad, where the US Government paid a record-setting $286 billion–plus $240 for framing–for this portrait of the dead Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. […]
June 8, 2006
Mapping Dialogue
Fantastic 86 page research report on the fundamentals, forms, and usage of ten different dialogue approaches. [via Chris.]
May 26, 2006
So That Explains It
I always wondered why so many people voted for Bush when his policies are in direct opposition to their own interests. I remember this most vividly when a relative, who was pro-Bush and a big proponent of lower interest rates and taxes, realized in retirement that low interest rates meant that fixed-income returns were also […]
May 25, 2006
Which is Weirder, the Beard or the Tie?
VT Senator Patrick Leahy with Bob Weir, May 23, 2006. It looks like a good time was had by all. More.
May 20, 2006
The Principles Underlying Our System Are Actually Better
This post at TPM sums up my feelings on the US national security situation exactly: […] is just this dogmatic post-9/11 insistence on acting as if human history began suddenly in 1997 or something. The United States was able to face down such threats as the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany without indefinite detentions, widespread […]
May 12, 2006
What The President Does
Here is what’s in store for President Bush next week: TONY SNOW: Okay, let’s do the week ahead. Here we go. And thank you all for your forbearance. Sunday, the presentation of a White House tree at the Australian Ambassador’s Residence. Monday, remarks at the Annual Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the United States Capitol. […]
May 10, 2006
Political Action Videos
Wow. Check out this political ad (1:23) from a US Senate race in PA. “Our President is a criminal….” Handheld, black & white + color, kids, aggressive language, no holds barred. Of course, in one sense it’s still cynical – taking advantage of our unrest with The System, but still, you gotta hand it to […]
April 30, 2006
Bush Does Not Laugh
The Happy Tutor educates us on the meaning of Steven Colbert’s savage roast satarizing Bush. [video]
April 19, 2006
More on Police Solicitations
Good morning Julia and Nicholas, When I woke up today I had more questions about the police solicitations. — Is Jim Reid an employee of the Hanover Police Department? The voicemail said “with” the Hanover PD, so I assume he is, because if he isn’t he should have said “for” the Hanover PD. — If […]
April 18, 2006
Police Solicitations
Hello Julia and Nicholas, I received a voicemail today from Jim Reid. The message was (exact transcription), “Mike this is Jim Reid calling with the Hanover Police. Please give me a call at 448-1108. No emergency, just gotta talk to you. Thank you.” So, I’m sure you know where this is going: This was a […]
April 12, 2006
Let’s Just Dwell On It
Here’s a good analysis from Bill Arkin at the Washington Post: A war with Iran started purposefully or by accident, will be a mess. What is happening now though is not just an administration prudently preparing for the unfortunate against an aggressive and crazed state, it is also aggressive and crazed, driven by groupthink and […]
April 11, 2006
Speculative Is Not a Synonym For Untrue
Billmon conducts a thought experiment. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been at least a little bit surprised by the relatively muted reaction to the news that the Cheney Administration and its Pentagon underlings are racing to put the finishing touches on plans for attacking Iran – plans which may include the first wartime use […]
March 17, 2006
Sandra Day O’Connor Worries About Dictatorship
Here is Slate’s story on the media ignoring O’Connor’s Georgetown University speech: The smoke drifting out of your computer over the weekend was not the result of a fried motherboard but the scent of bloggers setting themselves on fire in response to Nina Totenberg’s NPR Morning Edition Friday, March 10, dispatch. Totenberg had attended a […]
March 2, 2006
Getting Real About Politics
Spend ten minutes and read these two posts: Only the Dead Sleep Well: The problem with John Kerry’s email campaigns, thoughts which IMO apply to all the current email campaigns (MoveOn, Democrocy for America, etc). Don’t Think of a Donkey: The problem with “framing” and trying to replicate the right-wing think tanks. via WB. Let’s […]
March 1, 2006
Bush Katrina Briefing Video
We take a break from our deep reflective practice to consider the implications of the just-leaked video of Bush’s Katrina briefing. This is going to be very big news for the next few days, well into the Sunday talk shows. The video presents a sequence showing FEMA’s Michael Brown and various experts specifying the dangers […]
February 22, 2006
Inability to Produce Subjectivities
UFO Breakfast checks in with a powerful post on our liberal plight: What’s at stake is liberal complicity in the destruction of a lifeworld that would produce qualities of character that would make sustenance and resistance possible, not just for the next electoral brouhaha but for generations to come, and not just in news-junkie blog […]
February 14, 2006
This Is What’s Wrong With The Democrats
In a nutshell, right here: Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio’s closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders. Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry […]
February 14, 2006
Life During Wartime
We got computer, we’re tapping phone lines, I know that ain’t allowed The Administration says they can do anything they want. Legal scholars are not so sure. It’s an election year, so expect it to get ugly. It’s not surprising that folks in San Francisco think that these are high crimes and misdemeanors, especially given […]
January 31, 2006
What Google Knows
John Battelle, author of Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture, asked Google: 1) “Given a list of search terms, can Google produce a list of people who searched for that term, identified by IP address and/or Google cookie value?” 2) “Given an IP address or Google […]