CERN globe
I keep finding stuff about 1968 - I guess this historical hand-wringing will continue throughout the year - From The Barricades. Maybe if I read it all, I can finally purge it from my system.
Poor America... The end is nigh? 29 years ago today. Having trouble paying the bills? Ann Wolner wishes the Fed could help her when she's bad. When things go bad for Hillary, she turns to Richard Mellon Scaife. Maybe she'll end up in the Dole-drums. A different kind of boom town. When sharing isn't good. Siegelman is free and dusting for prints, while Mukasey sheds tears.
Still separate and unequal.
Still separate and unequal.
Feints from the Hermit Kingdom. Things will begin unraveling soon. And then the suburbs will die. So, how did Siegelman end up in jail in the first place? Scott Horton over at Harper's has the answer. Another problem solved? A beautiful place.
• Hallelujah! Something good happened. The Siegelman case has drawn a lot of attention - I've even seen a home-made sign in Beaverton that said "Free Governor Siegelman!"
• Glenn Greenwald takes a look at Fred Kagan - it isn't pretty. But then again, neither is Fred...
• For twenty-odd years, right-wingers have been complaining about PBS and NPR. Has it worked? Sure! Look at the NewsHour - it's about as cutting edge as Jim Lehrer's ties. But what's happened to NPR?
• What happens next?
• The Incomplete Revolution? Let's say it's done, and not finish it. Please.
• The more things change, the more they stay the same.
• Violent interrogations are counter-productive? That's a revelation!
• Forget Alan Greenspan...
• Glenn Greenwald takes a look at Fred Kagan - it isn't pretty. But then again, neither is Fred...
• For twenty-odd years, right-wingers have been complaining about PBS and NPR. Has it worked? Sure! Look at the NewsHour - it's about as cutting edge as Jim Lehrer's ties. But what's happened to NPR?
• What happens next?
• The Incomplete Revolution? Let's say it's done, and not finish it. Please.
• The more things change, the more they stay the same.
• Violent interrogations are counter-productive? That's a revelation!
• Forget Alan Greenspan...
D'Alessandrius the Wise has all you need to know about the Nets playoff hopes, and the future of Lawrence Frank. Also, Curly needs to get... Curlier. The Blazers are hurting as the season comes to a close.
Gee, where to begin? Corrupt war profiteering? Political attack presented as analysis? The young don't bogart their political news? Pipelines attacked near Basra as things spiral out of control in Iraq (is that even news?)? Miserable monks? Oh, I give up!... you decide. All this bad news is giving me That Sinking Feeling.
Tariq Ali wonders where has all the rage gone? , and Roger Kimball (he of the bowtie) declares that Tariq Ali is the Fool of '68.
The concerns of 1968 have dominated politics for 40 years - nearly my entire life - and little has been resolved, and yet the positions on left and right have only become more entrenched. Maybe it's time we dump the issues of '68 and take a look at the very real problems of 2008... or maybe we'll just have to wait until all the Baby Boomers die off.
The concerns of 1968 have dominated politics for 40 years - nearly my entire life - and little has been resolved, and yet the positions on left and right have only become more entrenched. Maybe it's time we dump the issues of '68 and take a look at the very real problems of 2008... or maybe we'll just have to wait until all the Baby Boomers die off.
The Costs of War are almost unimaginable. New Strategies appear to be failing. The public knew too little, too late. And we're spending our kids future to fund the unsuccessful wars. Many thanks to CommonDreams.org.
The Economist has a decent report on What Went Wrong, and Salon celebrates The Resurrection of John Maynard Keynes.
I've been having some trouble with some posts, and I've had to pull some down to fix them. I'm now working with the program MarsEdit to improve my posts, and will continue to add links and new graphics later on. Thanks for your patience.
Raising NBA entry age is hypocritical at best. Yeh, but since every NBA player is an injury away from irrelevance, maybe it's a good idea if they get an education so they have something to fall back on.
I saw that Charlie Rose episode the other night. Charlie looked bemused at times, as if he didn't want to break it to them that no matter what Iraqis think, the US is gonna do what it wants. Of course, Charlie also spoke to the likes of Richard Perle and some other neocon dipshit to see what they were thinking after five years - why bother? These people were "mugged by reality" a long time ago, and ever since then they've been going around mugging everybody else.
• Stupid question: Is It Fair to Ask Chelsea Clinton About Lewinsky? No, it isn't. Now move along.
• Democrat Gravel Switches to Libertarian. Won't help.
• Many thanks to D'Alessandrius the Wise, who passed along this: What can and cannot be spoken on television
• Fed Up With Fed Investors Trek to Bhutan to Grasp Gross National Happiness. Sounds like a plan.
• Stepping up: Carter taking it to a new level
Good morning! Howya doin'?! Howya doooowiinnn?! Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind! Thank you! Hey, it's great to be here in... my blog! Got some coffee handy? OK, let's go...
• Is there something in this that Glenn Greenwald hasn't covered before? The Maverick and the Media - sounds like Marshall McLuhan to me.
• Now, here's a surprise: Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study. Says here that the researcher's study "has caused an appearance of bias." Oh, really?
• For the sake of balance an fair gamesmanship, I present to you an op-ed piece by David Brooks entitled, The Long Defeat... even he makes sense sometimes. But just in case, here's The GOP attack plan for Hillary Clinton
• Things are looking much better now that Taxpayers May Be Liable for Billions in Fed, Treasury Mortgage-Rescue Bid, don'tcha think? Thank goodness we live in the age of the anti-Cassandra.
• Time to change the innersoles: all politics is local (Tip O'Neill?) - Nike back for another round in Beaverton
• Via Daring Fireball, Steve Jobs on Paul Rand
...
D'Alessandro's blog, Nets Blast. Below is a selection of that work -
enjoy!
People -
Thanks for visiting The Home Office on the initial launch day! Sorry things are a bit spartan at this point. I'll be updating the graphics, adding tons of links, and posting some stuff I created for Dave D'Alessandro's blog, Nets Blast, later this evening. We're off to buy buy growies at Lowe's...
In the meantime, here's some things to contemplate:
Wish I was in Tokyo now... the cherry blossoms must be lovely.
Why do we have a "Hillary Clinton"? Why, at this point in History, do we have the Hillary Clinton running for President of the United States of America? It's simple, really. Since the entrenched white-male establishment has placed a glass ceiling to the advancement of women, only a bitch as big as Hillary Clinton could do it. This is the common wisdom - I have no reason to doubt this. My objection isn't to Hillary, per se; I cannot vote for her because to do so would be to allow this country to become oddly and frighteningly dynastic. However, if the fight came down to Hillary vs. McCain, then I would have to swallow my objection to dynasties and vote for Hillary/Billary, which would only make me hate her/them more. Not a good start to a potential four-year contract between me and the Powers That Be. But if it does come down to Billary vs. McGruff, I'll be so disappointed; more Washington Insiders maneuvering the same, corrupt system towards their favorite budgetary excesses, pandering to the big boys. Gore Vidal once said that there were (roughly) thirty companies that you had to pay attention to when you were President, and you'd better be willing to do their bidding, or else you're done. That sounds about right, when you think about it.
What I think most Baby-Boomers don't really get is that the younger folks have moved on. The issues that fascinated The Class of '68 don't resonate with the younger generations in the same way. They support Barack Obama for a reason. He doesn't BS too much. He speaks as if he's actually thought about things himself, things both large and small. He's uncharacteristically honest for a Person Seeking High Office. He seems willing to discuss many difficult issues. He embodies Difference - Change. He speaks eloquently of Change - Change that can be built upon the successes of the past. For the most part, tolerance - that bulwark of democracy - has increased in the last fifty years. That is something to build upon, to forge a better future for us all, and for our children - and Barack Obama sees this as something to build upon and to unite us. That is a noble enough idea that I find it's call almost irresistible. To unite us in nobler purpose than greed or fear - wouldn't that be nice!? Then one could breath freely again, and offer a hand to his brother or sister, and work together for something better.
I never thought I'd see in my time a man or woman who would so clearly embody the last bit of hope for this country that I have left. I have never been drawn strongly to any politician before - really. My more common emotion has been one of repulsion, of wanting to keep a distance from them. It started with Nixon. But then I figured out that they're all like that; they are all serpents and reptiles trying to survive in a very real swamp.
Above all else, I am skeptical of what is possible to achieve in Washington. This is not to diminish Obama's potential. No, the concern is that the system is so entrenched, so devilishly serpentine and constricting upon the government that there is little any one man could do to change it, and to hope for that is naïve and romantically foolish. And this is no time for a messiah-like figure to fall against the sharp, rocky cliffs of The Establishment. That would only make matters worse.
Bush used The Establishment to his advantage - that's what made him successful for a while. The exact opposite would be true for Obama; he would be standing headlong into the full, gale force winds of The Establishment. Everyone's wondering, both critics and supporters alike, "Is he up to it"? Y'know what? I've got a better question: Are we up to it? Are we up to giving our support and taking action?
It's not sane to have Hope, but there he is - Obama. He's Possibility. His voice sounds like yours and it sounds like mine - well, only better - but he doesn't seem remote, differentiated and debilitated by his political life. His reasoning and concerns resonate with mine, and with so many others. He's a Bridge, a path to a new era. And it is a change we desperately need. This is a soft revolution. Count me in.
and posting processes around The Home Office:
We've hit some bumps in the road to posting today, and I hope to have the technical issues and some new graphics loaded later today. I apologize for the delay. Meantime, here's some Morning Links (PST) to get things going... I'm posting this via email as a test of the system - keep your fingers crossed!
• Things go from bad to worse: Heavy Fighting in Basra Kills At Least 22
• Things go from bad to worse, Part 2: Britain Is World's 7th Most Stable and Prosperous Nation; US at 22nd
• Should this frighten us?: Iceland's Central Bank Unexpectedly Raises Benchmark Interest Rate to 15%
• Hear, Hear!: Get rid of the White House press secretary
• Optimistic: Learning to love robots
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