(h/t to McClatchy)
Monday, December 28, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Monday Kickstarter
We've seen static images of planetary size comparisons, but this video is wicked, and makes a much grander point. I love this stuff!!!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Quote of the Day
"The tea party nation announced that Sarah Palin will headline what is being called the first national tea party convention in February. It is expected to be the nation's largest ever gathering of misspelled signs." –Seth
It's the media, stupid.
I've been thinking quite a bit lately about all of those Obama supporters who have been so disappointed in him since the election, especially yours truly. Then it occurred to me that the same very reason why George W. Bush was able to get away with so much bullshit is exactly why Obama gets so much shit.
It's the media, stupid.
I've ranted plenty about the Mainstream Media (MSM, or Corporate-run media as I prefer to call them. It should have been immediately obvious what was going on. The bottom line is that the media - and not just Fox News - has been doing all the negative reporting on Obama that they can. This is in stark contrast to how the media bent over muscle-snapping backwards to do positive reporting on W and do as little negative reporting as possible until it just became unavoidable.
The majority of media outlets are owned and operated by huge corporate interests, we all know that. Large corporate interests are as anti-liberal and anti-progressive as can be. They are, at their core, in deep opposition to any politician that is not conservative. It only stands to reason that they would do their best to undermine politicians - and most importantly a President - who are not conservative. Obama may not be a liberal, but he is also not a conservative, er go, the media will do as much as it can to whittle away at Obama in a "death by a thousand cuts" effort to ruin his standing among his supporters, and the fencesitters.
The evidence is all around you, and often right in front of our faces. The Corporate-run media doesn't do the type of negative reporting that panders to right-wngers and tea-baggers, those people are already in the bag. No, the Corporate-run media targets their reporting to the aforementioned Obama supporters, and fencesitters. Often times, the reports may not start out negative, but frequently, buried in the reports are little jabs and swipes that serve to discredit Obama.
But don't take my word for it. Just keep your eyes fully open when reading articles, or columns, or listen to reports on TV or the radio, especially anything from the Associated Press. Keep track of all the little asides, swipes, jabs, and barbs. You'll see the pattern emerge clearly.
Then, eventually, you'll realize - like me - that you've been played like a fiddle. Once that happens, you can choose to not be played by the media, ad you can stop being a sucker for their bullshit games.
It's the media, stupid.
I've ranted plenty about the Mainstream Media (MSM, or Corporate-run media as I prefer to call them. It should have been immediately obvious what was going on. The bottom line is that the media - and not just Fox News - has been doing all the negative reporting on Obama that they can. This is in stark contrast to how the media bent over muscle-snapping backwards to do positive reporting on W and do as little negative reporting as possible until it just became unavoidable.
The majority of media outlets are owned and operated by huge corporate interests, we all know that. Large corporate interests are as anti-liberal and anti-progressive as can be. They are, at their core, in deep opposition to any politician that is not conservative. It only stands to reason that they would do their best to undermine politicians - and most importantly a President - who are not conservative. Obama may not be a liberal, but he is also not a conservative, er go, the media will do as much as it can to whittle away at Obama in a "death by a thousand cuts" effort to ruin his standing among his supporters, and the fencesitters.
The evidence is all around you, and often right in front of our faces. The Corporate-run media doesn't do the type of negative reporting that panders to right-wngers and tea-baggers, those people are already in the bag. No, the Corporate-run media targets their reporting to the aforementioned Obama supporters, and fencesitters. Often times, the reports may not start out negative, but frequently, buried in the reports are little jabs and swipes that serve to discredit Obama.
But don't take my word for it. Just keep your eyes fully open when reading articles, or columns, or listen to reports on TV or the radio, especially anything from the Associated Press. Keep track of all the little asides, swipes, jabs, and barbs. You'll see the pattern emerge clearly.
Then, eventually, you'll realize - like me - that you've been played like a fiddle. Once that happens, you can choose to not be played by the media, ad you can stop being a sucker for their bullshit games.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Rachel's Courage
Glenn Greenwald has a great post about Rachel Maddow's courageous Tuesday night demolishing of so-called "formerly gay" Richard Cohen. My favorite part is where he subtly - and rightly - implies that other Beltway media stars just don't match up to her intellectual capacity:
If you haven't watched Rachel go to work on that fraud, you can watch it here:
It really gets good here:
Rachel's guest last night was modestly smart, coy and well-prepared, and pinning him down this way was not an easy task. Rachel was able to demolish his statements only because she is extremely smart, intellectually quick and dexterous, and able to think critically on the spot. To put it as politely as possible, people like David Gregory or, say, Brian Williams and John King don't exactly have those instruments at their disposal. That deprivation is a major reason why they're selected for those positions. (Emphasis mine.)
If you haven't watched Rachel go to work on that fraud, you can watch it here:
It really gets good here:
Cohen: "You're taking it out of context..."
Rachel: "I'm reading it from your book, dude."
Young-earth creationist Kent Hovind's doctoral dissertation
From WikiLeaks:
Get your copy here:
Released December 9, 2009
SummaryYoung-earth creationist Kent E. Hovind's doctoral dissertation.
"Hello, my name is Kent Hovind. I am a creation/science evangelist. I live in Pensacola, Florida. I have been a high school science teacher since 1976. I've been very active in the creation/evolution controversy for quite some time."
Kent Kovind Hovind is a well-known "young-earth" biblical creationist. As such the strength of his dissertation is of broad interest.
According to our source, contrary to accepted practices in academia where doctoral dissertations are available to the public. Kent. Hovind, along with his alma mater, Patriot Bible University, has consistently refused to allow his dissertation to be offered for public reprint or scholarly inquiry.
- Help us create a just and corruption free world.
- DOWNLOAD/VIEW FULL FILE FROM
- fastest (Sweden), current site, slow (US), Finland, Netherlands, Poland, Tonga, Europe, SSL, Tor
Get your copy here:
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hitch on Palin
Christopher Hitchens has a deliciously prosaic post at Slate on the gloriously stupid Sarah Palin, and how it is that she manages to continue being insinuated into "polite circles", despite being such a political fraud:
What price the courageous frontier huntress now—an empty-headed echo chamber for rumor-mongers and freaks who shoots from ambush and then runs away? Some condescending right-wing intellectuals are calling her style "populist" and comparing it with Andrew Jackson and William Jennings Bryan. The true name for it is demagogy, descending from Joseph McCarthy, Robert Welch, and the nastier elements of the old Nixon gang—people to whom slander and defamation was second nature.
US+Israel+Iran=Depressing
Andrew Sullivan has an illuminating post about a recently war-gamed scenario at Harvard by some highly experienced foreign policy experts. The end result was far more depressing than anyone anticipated:
The fact that it was seasoned veterans of the policy process playing these roles makes it even more significant. The lesson was not so much that Iran could “win” this [game of Israel choosing to attack Iran without US approval] so easily; it was that the US and its allies were unable even to imagine any alternatives.
...the outcome was simply depressing!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday Kickstarter 2 - Ukraine's Got Talent!
I can't get enough of these sand animation videos. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Very inspiring!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Animal Farm Friday - Tardigrades
No, this has nothing to do with measuring the academic proficiency of those mentally challenged (though for some reason, Tea Baggers come to mind). Tardigrades - also known as "Water Bears" - are microscopic polyextremophiles, and they can survive incredible extremes, like a decade without water, near absolute zero as well as 300 degree temperatures, and even 10 days in the vacuum of space. They're one of the few - if not only - microorganisms that look kind of cute.
Pretty hearty little beasts. The next closing thing to a survival rate like that seems to be the political careers of Republicans swimming in ethics violations (since no one really seems to care).
Pretty hearty little beasts. The next closing thing to a survival rate like that seems to be the political careers of Republicans swimming in ethics violations (since no one really seems to care).
tardigrades (water bears) from Goldstein Lab on Vimeo.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christopher Hitchens smacks down the Catholic church like never before
In what is one of his most eloquent and passionate speeches, Christopher Hitchens tears apart the Catholic church to the point that any and every Catholic should feel complete and utter shame, if they have any dignity at all.
These are a must see!
Part 1
Part 2
These are a must see!
Part 1
Part 2
Friday, November 27, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The $2.5 trillion oil scam
Just when you think you've understood the level of criminality and corruption behind Big Oil and Wall Street, you find that the surface has barely been scratched.
Scared little boys and their dangerous toys
These toy soldiers running around scared in the woods are saying they're afraid of losing the Constitution, but I'd being willing to bet a bullet in their tiny little brains that they wouldn't be able to recite more than three of the first Amendments, let alone any of the original articles. Still, even a retarded monkey with a gun can be dangerous.
When the shooting starts, I know who I'll be lining up in my cross-hairs.
When the shooting starts, I know who I'll be lining up in my cross-hairs.
10-year-old Arkansas kid refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance
He's taking a stand against discrimination against gays and racism, declaring that until there "liberty and justice for ALL", it's not a real pledge.
My little hero!
My little hero!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday Kickstarter - The making of a space photo
This has a little more kick!
Wired.com has a great article on how you get a space photo like this:
look like this:
without any fakery. V. Cool!
Wired.com has a great article on how you get a space photo like this:
look like this:
without any fakery. V. Cool!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Surfer Dude's Theory of Everything
I was just thinking about this guy a couple nights ago, and I stumbled across this article today - complete with a great animation that explains the concept. I have no idea if this is heading in the right direction (away from string theory), but it's still fascinating.
Full article here.
Full article here.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Superbad Sea Shepherds
I just wrote about how awesome the Sea Shepherds are. I think I understated that a bit. The Sea Shepherds are Supremely Awesome! How awesome is that? Well, just take a look at their new Superbad Anti-Whaling Stealth Boat. HELLZ YEAH!
Sea Shepherds Sink Ships = Awesome!
“Our objective,” explains Paul Watson, the 56-year-old SSCS founder and Greenpeace co-founder, “is not to get there, hold up banners and say, ‘Oh please, please stop whaling.’ Our objective is to shut them down by physically blocking and intervening.”
but the organization has also garnered serious criticism from the Japanese whaling industry and members of the International Whaling Commission, who have equated SSCS policies with terrorism
I just love how every little inconvenience caused is now considered tantamount to acts of terrorism. Pretty soon, the word will be co-opted for so many things it has no relationship to that it will mean the exact opposite. Just like the way Republicans use the words Clean Air to mean pollution, and Freedom to mean restriction of rights.
Well, way to go Sea Shepherds. I wouldn't particularly mind if there were people on the whaling boats that you sunk. But good for you for not breaking the law.
...the brazen tactics of the SSCS are supported by the 1982 U.N. World Charter for Nature, which permits individual enforcement of international conservation laws. “The fact is that we don’t break laws, we uphold them,” Watson says, “and we will never abandon our campaigns.”
The Awesomeness Manifesto, by Umair Haque
This guy makes economics cool!
Innovation: it's the ultimate source of advantage, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the economic ring. Innovation is what every organization should be ruthlessly pursuing, right? Wrong.
I'd like to advance a hypothesis: awesomeness is the new innovation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
