Monthly Archives: June 2009

Your dose of climate fearmongering

by Chris   –   June 30, 2009

Paul Krugman is now accusing global warming denialists of treason:
Still, is it fair to call climate denial a form of treason? Isn’t it politics as usual?
Yes, it is — and that’s why it’s unforgivable.
… the deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it’s in [...]

Why advertising will fail on the Internet

by Clint   –   June 29, 2009

The titans of traditional media are desperately trying to transfer their business models into the digital realm.  Since subscriptions have never produced sufficient income, all these models depend on advertising revenue.
Unfortunately for them, the Internet rejects advertising.
Mass marketing flourished in print, on TV and on the radio, but only [...]

Losing the debate before it begins

by Chris   –   June 26, 2009

Let’s say you’re about to sell a car. You’ve decided that you can’t part with your wheels for less than $10,000, but you think it could be worth as much as $12,000. When it comes time to post the Craigslist ad for your car, what asking price do you put down?
If your name is Barack [...]

Restructuring Humanities

by Clint   –   June 25, 2009

If your last trip to the video store taught you anything, it’s that the cashier made a serious mistake by pursuing an undergraduate degree in Philosophy. Sure, she spends her days near DVD copies of “Waking Life,” but we imagine she’s probably unsatisfied.
She’s not the only one that can’t get no satisfaction. In the space [...]

To have a liberal political party

by Chris   –   June 24, 2009

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a liberal political party? How about one, that unlike the Democrats, supported ending our two wars. Or one that wasn’t trying to sabotage efforts at creating a universal health care system?
On that point, here is an excellent video rant by Bill Maher (h/t Chris Dierkes):

For those of you who [...]

'Counting the money'

by Chris   –   June 23, 2009

Yesterday I quoted Matt Taibbi on Goldman Sachs:
Imagine a meat company that bred ten billion rats, fattened them on trash and sewage, ground their bodies into chuck, and then sold it all as grade-A ground beef to McDonald’s and Burger King, right under the noses of the USDA: this is exactly the same thing, only [...]

Roundup for Monday 6/22/2009

by Chris   –   June 22, 2009

How Goldman Sachs played a key role in destroying the economy, and still managed to come out ahead at the end:
“Imagine a meat company that bred ten billion rats, fattened them on trash and sewage, ground their bodies into chuck, and then sold it all as grade-A ground beef to McDonald’s and Burger King, right [...]

Health care system GFX

by Chris   –   June 19, 2009

Update
Congressional proponents of health reform originally hoped it would cost $1 trillion or so over the next decade. It was a nice arbitrary number they thought they could sell. But the Congressional Budget Office thinks their plans are going to cost approximately $1.6 trillion.
So now, instead of making the plan more efficient, we’ll get to [...]

The Democrats War

by Chris   –   June 18, 2009

Looks like there are only 32 House Democrats that are actually against the war in Iraq. The other 224 are either openly for the war, pretending to oppose it to get votes, or just following orders.
In 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi excused her failure to stop the war funding, despite a Democratic majority in Congress, [...]

Quote of the week on the Iranian election

by Chris   –   June 17, 2009

“The absurdity of avidly cheering Mousavi’s supporters, who voted for a man likely instrumental in the creation of Hizbullah, a few days after avidly cheering the so-called ‘crushing defeat’ of Hizbullah in Lebanese elections earlier in the week should be apparent to everyone…” – Daniel Larison
I readily admit that Mousavi and his supporters are very [...]