American Exceptionamalism!

Rarely do I think well of The Mouse. This headline doesn't help:

Disney tries to trademark 'Seal Team 6'

(h/t: MK, via email)

Nerd alert!

JPL:

Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space , away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems.

[...]

The discovery indicates there are many more free-floating Jupiter-mass planets that can't be seen. The team estimates there are about twice as many of them as stars. In addition, these worlds are thought to be at least as common as planets that orbit stars. This would add up to hundreds of billions of lone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone.

[...]

The study, led by Takahiro Sumi from Osaka University in Japan, appears in the May 19 issue of the journal Nature.

The survey is not sensitive to planets smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, but theories suggest lower-mass planets like Earth should be ejected from their stars more often. As a result, they are thought to be more common than free-floating Jupiters.

[...]

"Our results suggest that planetary systems often become unstable, with planets being kicked out from their places of birth."

[...]

I am now going to depart from the Internet to write about ten million words of science fiction.

Ken Layne has already connected it to that French Dominatrix guy, bin Laden, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, and, oh yeah, the end of the world, on Saturday. Also.

Excitement++!

Why is Barack Obama ...

... so disrespectful of what ®ealAmericans believe???1?

(embiggen)

See also, see also.

(x-posted)

[Added] Let there be Blingee! (Especially when you can steal from Mrs. Polly at Rumproast.)

Make it stop

NYT media reporter David Carr recapitulates Halperin, with yet another long tongue bath for guess who?

But if you believe that his huge traffic numbers are a byproduct of an ideologically motivated readership, consider that 15 percent of the traffic at WashingtonPost.com, which is not exactly a hotbed of Tea Party foment, comes from The Drudge Report.

I'm not sure what's worse, the innumeracy or the clinging to the notion that The WaPo is still the same paper it was when Woodward and Bernstein were cub reporters.

Or that in order to ensure balance, Carr got quotes from some clown from the Weekly Standard, a co-founder of the rePubOLITICO, and Andrew Breitbart.

Thanks for the warning, but ...

... not to worry.

Although I suppose staffers for Republican congressmen might want to make sure the anti-virus software is up to date on the boss's machine.

(pic. source: The Related stories sidebar on Naked Security, as it happens. Post here.)

Sen. Al Franken's Latest Email on Net Neutrality

Brendan --

The sky is red. The world is flat. And two plus two equals pancakes.

These statements aren't just false -- they're downright ridiculous. And so is the claim that net neutrality amounts to a government takeover of the Internet.

Let's get this straight: Net neutrality isn't a change -- it's the status quo. It's the way the Internet operates right now: free and open. And it isn't the government that's attempting an Internet "takeover" -- it's the big corporations who want to undermine net neutrality and the Republicans who want to let them.

It's important that everyone we can talk to DOES know the truth -- because this anti-Internet-freedom, pro-corporate-takeover legislation is coming to the Senate.

I'm asking you to make a commitment to standing up for truth, logic, and the free and open Internet by clicking here and taking action to help us get the truth out.

• Forward this email to five friends
• Share what we're doing in this fight on Facebook or Twitter
• Add our campaign as your instant messenger status
• Tell at least three other friends the real story of net neutrality -- no clicking required!

The sky is blue. The world is round. Two plus two equals four. These are truths. Here's another one: Net neutrality isn't a government takeover of anything -- in fact, it protects the Internet from a corporate takeover.

And here's one more truth: It'll only stay that way if we stand together and fight back against misinformation. Will you take a few minutes today and help save the Internet?

Al

(x-posted)

Blog Post Lede of the Week

Have you ever had one of those days when you just suddenly started thinking about fish that live in the rectal cavities of sea cucumbers?

Fun science! A really good post from Chris Mah at The Echinoblog. You'll never think of invertebrate zoology the same way again.

(h/t: Smut Clyde, in Comments at the House of Substance)

The Great Contender

So, I saw the name Edward Luskin mentioned on some wingnut's blog that doesn't bear mention, and not knowing who that was, I Googled him. The second and third hits describe him as "The Stupidest Man Alive." (The first hit is his Wikipedia entry, where the same title is mentioned.)

Turns out he's also a contributor to the WSJ op-ed page, so the plausibility of the title cannot be overstated.

But, I thought, what about that other guy? (clickety, clickety) Hmm. I suppose a distinction could be made: Donald Douglas Feith's crown of "the dumbest fucking guy on the planet" does not necessarily mean he's alive.

Okay then! Trophies for everyone!

Oh, hey, there's a new Feyman book out!

And it's by Lawrence Krauss, to boot!

You can read the first chapter for free at Amazon.

Sadly, this event has occasioned one of the more boneheaded conclusions in any book review I've ever read. Robin McKie complains that Krauss "concentrates a little too heavily on the science."

If you know anything at all about Feynman*, you know the stories of Feynman-the-personality have been told to the point where even Feynman fanboys like me are a little sick of hearing them. Kudos to Krauss, I say. At least as far as I can tell from this review. "[P]ages and pages on the minutiae of electron interactions and photon exchanges" is a feature, not a bug.

(h/t: Twin)

[Added] A follow-up.

---

* However, if you don't know anything about Feynman, you're in for a treat. Even if you would say you don't like science. Seriously. A truly fascinating and heroic person. Read Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman and What Do You Care What Other People Think? and then read James Gleick's biography.

Blog Post Title of the Day

Just another great one from M. Bouffant.

Newt Gingrich still doesn't know how the Internet works

The disgraced former Speaker of the House is now for the Ryan "plan." Though he was against it yesterday, and for it before that.

Maybe his candidacy is being funded by Romney?

[Added] Ah, good. Noted Internet personality Rick Santorum is coming to stepping up to clarify matters.

(pic. source)

Even if you swore never to read another thing about Social Security, ...

... please read this post by Digby.

It's recommended by Mr. Riley, also. So now you really have no reason to say no.

This will only make you hate him more

In a surprise to absolutely no one with a pulse strong enough to get the blood above the neck, The Donald has announced he's not going to run for president after all. But, he says:

"I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election."

Silver lining, though: I think there's some inadvertent admission about how rich he actually isn't farther down:

In the end, however, his decision almost certainly had more to do with his lucrative NBC television contract for his "Apprentice" franchise than anything else. Trump was running out of time to decide whether he would sign on for another season of the "Celebrity Apprentice." Sources close to Trump said negotiations ran to the 11th hour with reports of Trump on hourly calls with NBC executives throughout the weekend who were trying to convince Trump to continue to helm the show.

Some news reports cited NBC offering Trump as much as $60 million to renew his contract, and sources said that NBC had told Trump that the network had lined up three years worth of sponsors for "The Apprentice" -- but only with Trump's participation in the show.

If you're a billionaire who wants to be President of the United States, you don't need "as much as" $60 million, much less spread out over the next three years. If you had a billion dollars, you'd only need to earn 2% interest on it to make "as much as" $60 million over three years.

So, he's lying about believing he could win or about how much money he has, or both. Release the long-form financial disclosure or STFU, Chump.

(h/t: Uncle Ebeneezer)

"The Golden Age"

One of the great things about the Internet is how quickly you can get an answer that would have been almost inconceivably hard to find back in the dark ages. For example, you see a commercial on teevee and think, "Hmmm. That is a pretty catchy song playing in the background there. I wonder if that song was written just for this commercial, or if it's a real song. And if it's a real song, is that the real band you see, just for a second there, at the end?"

Took one (1) search query on YouTube, a glance at the comments for the first video I clicked, one (1) Google, and one (1) click to get to Wikipedia, and I am now happy to tell you that, yes, "The Golden Age" is a song that was recorded in 2009 by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour, a Danish duo ("vocalist Mette Lindberg and producer Lars Iversen") who flesh themselves out to a full band when playing live. They have been around FOREVER. (Since 2008.)

(alt. video link)

And here is a video that will probably seem more familiar if you have been watching the NBA playoffs the past few weeks:

(alt. video link)

I am also informed by that Wikipedia page that this song was used as a promotion for a teevee show called Mad Men, which is something that apparently everyone but me has seen, so I apologize if the above is all old hat.

Anyway, good tune. And here is the band's website (which at the moment appears to be just a frame-embed of their MySpace page), their Facebook page, and their Twitter feed.

---

Aside to KK: From the comments of the first version I found on YouTube, WolfataDoor: "The most interesting man in the world's son." So I guess you are more in tune with the zeitgeist than I am.

Line of the Day: 2011-05-14

It's no accident that American Exceptionalism joins Islam and Christianity as the holy trinity of systems whose Absolute and Unshakable Universal Moral Certitudes can be shattered if someone happens to frown in their direction.
    -- Doghouse Riley

__________

[Added] A comment I would have left under that post, had not Blogger gone all 503 on me:

The only thing better than Rudy Giuliani winning the Ed Meese Award was Atlas Shrugged, The Movie, "Part 1," winning the Ronald Reagan Great Communicator Award.

Late-Stage Growth

The guy who signed DADT and DOMA into law is now lending his name in support of Freedom to Marry in New York.

So there's that.

"We turn now to an agreement between Florida State's Department of Economics and ...

... the Charles G. Koch Foundation," says an op-ed by two FSU professors (original, cached). They continue:

In 2008, the foundation signed a memorandum of agreement with FSU in which they committed to a proposed budget of $6.5 million over a period of six years, with most of the effort to be located in the economics department. The provisions called for the hiring of five professors and other staff; establishing a program for the Study of Political Economy and Free Enterprise (SPEFE) and a program for Excellence in Economic Education (EEE); and the development of educational programs for undergraduate students.

A careful reading of the memorandum reveals a number of strings attached to the "gift." [...]

This op-ed led the St. Petersburg Times to look into it, and Ed from Gin and Tacos noticed. (Ed is a professor at another college.)

PRAGMATISM vs. THE GAG REFLEX

The great but largely forgotten journalist Sydney Harris once said, "You may be certain that when a man begins to call himself a 'realist,' he is preparing to do something he is secretly ashamed of." That quote kept coming to mind as I read this:

A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university.

A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G. Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State University's economics department. In return, his representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a new program promoting "political economy and free enterprise."

Traditionally, university donors have little official input into choosing the person who fills a chair they've funded. The power of university faculty and officials to choose professors without outside interference is considered a hallmark of academic freedom.

Under the agreement with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, however, faculty only retain the illusion of control. The contract specifies that an advisory committee appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be considered. The foundation can also withdraw its funding if it's not happy with the faculty's choice or if the hires don't meet "objectives" set by Koch during annual evaluations.

My favorite Calvin and Hobbes panel features Calvin lamenting not that everyone has a price, but that the price is always so low. [...]

Probably just a coincidence (via) that the dean of the College of Social Sciences at FSU is named ...?

David W. Rasmussen, dean of the College of Social Sciences, defended the deal, initiated by an FSU graduate working for Koch. During the first round of hiring in 2009, Koch rejected nearly 60 percent of the faculty’s suggestions but ultimately agreed on two candidates. Although the deal was signed in 2008 with little public controversy, the issue revived last week when two FSU professors — one retired, one active — criticized the contract in the Tallahassee Democrat as an affront to academic freedom.

Rasmussen said hiring the two new assistant professors allows him to offer eight additional courses a year. “I’m sure some faculty will say this is not exactly consistent with their view of academic freedom,” he said. “But it seems to me it would have been irresponsible not to do it.”

Not exactly consistent? Rasmussen, meanwhile, sang quite a different tune in a letter to the Tallahassee Democrat responding to the professors, striking a strident tone, accusing the profs of “ideological bias,” and asserting something that appears to be demonstrably untrue: [...]

We don't actually know that Dean Rasmussen is related to every conservative's favorite pollster. But we do know something: FSU's department chair is a total tool (new archive link):

Bruce Benson, chairman of FSU's economics department, said that of his staff of 30, six, including himself, would fall into Koch's free-market camp.

"The Kochs find, as I do, that a lot of regulation is actually detrimental and they're convinced markets work relatively well when left alone," he said.

Benson said his department had extensive discussion, but no vote, on the Koch agreement when it was signed in 2008.

He said the Koch grant has improved his department and guaranteed a diversity of opinion that's beneficial to students.

"Students will ultimately choose," he said. "If you believe strongly in something, you believe it can win the debate."

Benson makes annual reports to Koch about the faculty's publications, speeches and classes, which have included the economics of corruption.

Orwell wept.

Of course, FSU is still at the fluffer stage compared to another school we could name:

The big exception has been George Mason University, a public university in Virginia which has received more than $30 million from Koch over the past 20 years. At George Mason, Koch's foundation has underwritten the Mercatus Center, whose faculty study "how institutions affect the freedom to prosper."

To save the lurking glibertarians the effort of huffing and puffing that THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE HERE, we will link to ex(?)-Reason employee and perennial liberal-basher David Weigel, who says THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE HERE. (But at least he gave the backstory and the link to the op-ed.)

P.S. A Facebook page has just been launched to protest this Kochtopus purchase.

(h/t: graz | x-posted)

[Added] On 2012-07-30, I added a label to this post, which somehow caused the posting date to be set to today. I changed it back by hand to a reasonable guess as to when it actually was posted.

Hitchens Speaks

Even though his vocal cords no longer work.

(h/t: Uncle Eb, in the Bhtv forums)

Further Proof of Better Living Through Unprotected Sex

In news that will come as a shock to almost no one, ...

MORE »

Multimillionaire who attended multiple colleges beloved by poor and uneducated

According to Gallup, Sarah Palin is favored to be the 2012 Republican nominee for president by nearly twice as many Republicans who do not have a college degree as she is by those who do (16%-9%). Breaking things down economically, she does best with those earning less than $24,000/year, and progressively worse with each income group up the ladder (22%, 16%, 11%, 7%).

What about Romney?

Exactly the opposite. If you're a Republican, you're more likely to prefer him if you have a college degree, and the more money you have, the better you like him.

ELITISTS.

(h/t: Jack Stuef | pic. sources: The Pout, The Glove | x-posted)

Just in case you need an example of a rhetorical question

Is Fox News Inflating The Turnout At Bachmann's Latest Rally?

Hilariously, the lede for everyone else reporting on this event was how sparse the crowd was. Including a local Fox affiliate.

A good idea, at least: WebCite

I haven't played around with it enough to give it a review, but I applaud the thinking behind WebCite, at least.

The idea is to combat link rot (or wingnut bloggers, who disappear their posts after being proved wrong!) by archiving a copy of a Web page that you use as a reference, exactly as that page appeared when you linked to it.

Imagine if someone were to write a script to go through Wikipedia and WebCite all of the reference links. How fabulous would that be?

Submit a link for WebCite archiving here. More info here.

__________

(I came across this in a TPM post about Donald Trump telling Fox & Friends that he is totally not at all a racist, because he had that one black apprentice that one time.)

She's too sexy for you

Hillary Clinton Photoshopped Out of Situation Room Photo

[...]

The religious paper never publishes pictures of women, as they could be considered "sexually suggestive."

Wow. Those Muslins are really out of control, aren't they?

Wait, what?

[Jezebel via Wonkette]

(title: cf. | x-posted)

Small Amusement of the Day

This morning, I had one message in my Gmail spam folder. It was an offer from Google Analytics.

"The Republicans' Magic Calendar"

Click it to big it.

(h/t: Twin)

[Added] In Comments, Twin gives his source for the image: Jon Perr, of Crooks and Liars.

Deep Thought

Portmanteau ... that word's been around for a while, hasn't it?

Today's GOP: Big Balls? Small Brains?

Oh, you guessed it. Why not both?

Forty-four of your Republican Senators, led by Richard Shelby of Alabama (pictured at left), have "sent a letter to President Obama" calling for "common sense reforms" to his proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Here is the best:

• Establish a safety-and-soundness check for the prudential financial regulators, who oversee the safety and soundness of financial institutions. This would help ensure that excessive regulations do not needlessly cause bank failures.

Emph. added.

Thers and DDay have more detailed analysis of this latest hamstringing attempt by the GOP.

(pic. source | x-posted)

The Laffer Curve Applies Everywhere!

An official state analysis of the bill also says that the proposed tax change would increase consumption of chewing tobacco and that sales "would rebound sufficiently" so that the state's tax coffers wouldn't be negatively affected.

Yes, you read that right: the Texas House, as part of its efforts (?) to deal with the state's budget deficit, has passed a bill to lower taxes on chewing tobacco.

If the "official state analysis" is correct, should we worry about the increased consumption leading to increased incidence of mouth cancer and other long-term health concerns?

No, silly. By the time anyone gets the cancer from chewing tobacco starting today, we'll long since have passed Dreamy McSerious's Magical Sparkle Pony Health Care Vouchers That Cover Everything Practically Always.

(h/t: Jack Stuef | pic. source | x-posted | also)

Any comment would be superfluous

The headline:

Blackwater’s New Ethics Chief: John Ashcroft

(h/t: Ken Layne | x-posted)

The Most Entertaining Piece of Architectural Criticism I Have Read All Year

Okay, so ... not such a high bar to clear, I admit. Nevertheless, this Joe Queenan thing is fun.

It begins:

An Iowa-based philanthropist and architecture aficionado has offered a $300 million reward to any city anywhere in the world that dares to hire someone other than Frank Gehry to design its gleaming new art museum.

(h/t: Matthew Yglesias)