Just throwing it out there

A correspondent says, after a lengthy exchange launched by mutual outrage and commiseration over the latest dumb-assery out of Tennessee (via), this:

I have some theories, but they haven't anything to do with politics. Modern economic reality, IQ distribution, automation and digitalization - I think average people have the sneaking suspicion they are doomed. And they are. So they are growing to despise those who are smarter, and the concept of being smart, and they are turning to people and institutions that abjure rationalism and critical thinking. Ergo, church, and Sarah Palin.

To which I replied (with an [added] bit that should have been there the first time I typed it):

I am aware of that aspect of your thinking. I don't completely deny agreeing with it, but I think, at least, this is hardly a new thing for humans, and maybe also, that if there is something different this time around, it is that this is the first time where the Luddites could take full advantage of the very technologies that represent their obsolescence to complain about their looming obsolescence.

On a very closely related note, this recent interview of Ken Layne bears a careful read, even if you are not as plugged into (dependent on) the Wonkette as I am.

I think on a really good day, I could listen to you and Ken talk about modern America for almost an hour before happily setting myself on fire.

On the upside, this recent online thing has for the first time in my life made me [realize that I am] NOT the gloomiest person I know. So there's that.

Drinking Irish whiskey right now. Tomorrow I will go fill a prescription for another substance which a trained professional, or at least an accredited one, tells me will make me feel even better about things in general.

Soma!

Till then, penguin.

Want

Well, almost. I took a look at the materials list. You'd think a $30 pizza cutter would include at least a couple dilithium crystals, but no.

Which is not to say I'm waiting for The Next Generation of them, you understand.

(h/t: @alexmwalker)

Surely there is a Conor Friedersdorf joke to be made here somewhere

But if Henke and Ruffini is all you can bring, bring it.

(h/t, not that they intended it: Atwood and Spolsky)

__________

Henke and Ruffini?       Friedersdorf?

Wait, Karl Rove's secretly funded PAC was caught lying? Again?

No one could have predicted that Crossroads GPS would earn another one of these:

Now they have a full house!

Entre la cruz y la espada

Which is Spanish for What's a teabagger to do?

(alt. video link)

Más.

(h/t: Amy Sullivan and Wikipedia)

(alt. video link)

[Added] See also this post by Amy Sullivan, in which she busts The rePubOLITICO for falling for Dreamy McSerious's spin.

Line of the Day: 2011-05-30

Godwin’s Law, Monetary Edition

Any mention of the advantages of a higher inflation target will evoke, almost immediately, claims that you’re trying to turn America into the Weimar Republic and/or Zimbabwe.
    -- Paul Krugman

---

Aside to Firefox: you should know better than to question Professor Krugman.

(embiggen)

Another Signpost on the Long Slow Decline

-- or --

"General Motors is not in the business of making cars. It is in the business of making money," repurposed for the 21st century.

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From the annals of Dumb Ideas On The Internet

Have you noticed that Facebook is reposting Wikipedia pages? Apparently, they started doing this in April 2010.

Why are they doing this?

The announcements from the Wikimedia Foundation (via) and Facebook (via) seem hand-wavy at best to me. I'm more inclined to think Wikimedia took a "donation" from Facebook to play ball, and this is really all part of Facebook's never-ending effort to become the new AOL by trapping n00bz inside their walled garden, but maybe that's just me and my cynicism.

In any case, the main immediate criticism I'd make is this: the pages on Facebook don't seem to be kept up to date; i.e., they don't reflect the changes made to the corresponding Wikipedia articles. For example compare the page for Alfred P. Sloan, Jr.: Wikipedia | Facebook. Note also a compounding of the problem: Facebook also has a page for Alfred P. Sloan (the same guy -- Junior is the only famous one), which appears to be a fragment of the English version mixed up with an excerpt of the Indonesion(?) version.

Yes, each of these Facebook pages has a link to the corresponding Wikipedia page, but so what? If I have to go over to Wikipedia to get the latest version, let alone if I want to add something to it, why even bother reposting it in the first place?

Also, LOL: Time-traveler or zombie?

---

[Added] And in the department of Either That's A Mighty Weird Coincidence Or We're All Now Being Watched Always, I just got an email welcoming me to the Indonesian version of Wikipedia. Selamat datang!

#obamasfault

Another boyhood hero lost, who, it turns out, was disturbingly not that much older than me

Gil Scott-Heron, who was one of the first people outside of my immediate family to raise my consciousness, has died at the age of 62. Back when I was a kid and first learned of him thanks to a lucky purchase from a sale bin at the record store, he was … you know, a grown-up, so therefore, incomprehensibly older.

The NY Times says, "His death was announced in a Twitter message on Friday night by his British publisher, Jamie Byng." (This looks like it.)

I wonder what the man most famous for his poem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" would make of that. More to the point, I wonder what he thought of the immense amount of social media coverage of the Arab Spring and other recent uprisings. I hope that made him happy, although I can well imagine he had mixed feelings about it.

Here is a live recording -- the original version, I think -- of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" where he is accompanied only by drums (via Peter Rothberg).

(alt. video link)

Here is the version I grew up with, where he is accompanied by a full band.

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Nice collection of images there by spuddy83. I liked that he is evidently too young to know who "Julia" was. (It is explained to him several times in the comments.) That speaks to the staying power of the poem, as does the number of other versions, covers, mashups, etc., to be found on YouTube.

The Guardian's obit is also worth a look.

(h/t: the "In the news" section on the front page of Wikipedia as of a few minutes ago)

---

[Added] Thanks to AemJeff in the Comments for reminding me of this one.

(alt. video link)

[Added2] Roy Edroso has a brief, smart remembrance and some recommended links.

Blogger Login/Commenting Problem Fixed (For Me, At Least)

If you're one of those poor souls suffering from the Blogger glitch mentioned a few days ago (and still not fixed, apparently), you might try the following.

First, save any work that you don't want to risk losing in any other tab or window, such as a blog post or email that you're composing. Then:

1. Clear all cookies that contain the string blogger
   
   
2. Clear your browser cache completely
   
   
3. Close your browser, restart, and log back into Blogger

That's probably a little more blunt than it needs to be, but it worked for me, anyway. Please feel free to weigh in with refinements.

A bit more detail for Firefox 4 on Windows below the fold. More details on request -- post a comment, @ me on Twitter, send me an email, etc.

hth

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Line of the Day: 2011-05-27

From Mr. Riley's "Olio, Carb-Day Edition:"

George Eff Will, "Pawlenty's time to move". May 25

It just seems to me that an article expounding on Tim Pawlenty's opportunities which doesn't feel much compelled to mention Tim Pawlenty says a bit more than it might intend.

Zombie Reagan Lives! "Trees Cause Air Pollution," v2.0

Or maybe Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is just taking one for the team -- dumbing things down even further to smooth the way for Sarah Palin's threatened entrance into the presidential race. In any case, he …

... needs to hit the science books, forestry experts suggest.

They reached that conclusion after hearing Mr. Rohrabacher declare during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday that clear-cutting the world’s rain forests might eliminate the production of greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.

(h/t: Wonkette Jr. | x-posted)

[Added] New information to me:

Rohrabacher served as assistant press secretary to the 1976 and 1980 presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan.[1] From 1981 to 1988, he was one of President Reagan's senior speech writers. During his tenure at the White House, Rohrabacher played a leading role in the formulation of the Reagan Doctrine. He also helped formulate President Reagan's Economic Bill of Rights …

Plenty of time to talk about the terrorist trees.

ZOMG Obama and Teh Libruls are Banning Light Bulbs!!!1!

Actually, not. Not even close.

I had some mistaken notions on this issue myself, due to the sort of hysteria indicated in this post title, so I thought I'd pass along a point of clarification.

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Having problems commenting? [UPDATED]

It's not you.

MORE »

More leaks from with the Palin camp mean more dish!

Apparently, someone sent The Daily Caller a bunch of Twitter Direct Messages that were originally sent by Rebecca Mansour, one of Sarah Palin's top aides.

The biggest buzz is Mansour's dissing of Bristol, but I like this nugget:

Red State Editor-in-Chief and CNN contributor Erick Erickson is “a total douchebag,” wrote Palin speechwriter and domestic policy adviser Rebecca Mansour in a May 22, 2010, message. “Greasy dumb ass with a talent for self-promotion. He threw himself in at the Gov’s SC rally. Self-promotion.”

(x-posted)

Funk Break

Those owls below reminded me of this old favorite.

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The chicks are more sooty than snowy

(embiggen)

From an article in the NYT's Scientist At Work series:

In owls with a facial disc, the ears are hidden behind it, and are asymmetrical — one is higher than the other. That allows the birds to locate prey both horizontally and vertically for more accurate detection.

I wonder if that's why dogs and cats sometimes cock their heads.

The article, which concentrates on owl researcher Denver Holt's work observing snowy owls in Alaska for what they can tell us about climate change, is worth a read for a variety of reasons.

(embiggen)

Isn't the aerodynamic sculpting just marvelous? Looks like a seal with wings.

Photo credit for both pictures: Daniel J. Cox. They are part of a slideshow that accompanies the article.

Not a list you want to be on (#twitter #fail)

Apparently, @spammer is not just an amusing dummied-up screen shot for a help page but is in fact a working Twitter account. One presumes it is for in-house use and demonstration purposes.

However, it does appear that the "Similar to" algorithm needs tweaking. Death to all "SEO" accounts, to be sure, but as far as I can tell, @mmatthews15 and @ktalbotmurph are perfectly nice non-spamming people.

(embiggen)

Clicking the view all link indicates the problem runs deeper.

Oh God. Oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod.

Oh, good lord. If you must.

I confess I clicked it.

Can a T be silent?

Listen.

Gallup: Majority of Americans Now Support Same-Sex Marriage

Following on the heels of March's ABC poll showing similar results, here's some more good news:

For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The increase since last year came exclusively among political independents and Democrats. Republicans' views did not change.

To be specific, Gallup says Democrats who approve went from 56% to 69%, Independents from 49% to 59%, and Republicans stayed at 28%. The results broken down by ideological leaning are similar: liberals went from 70% to 78%, moderates from 56% to 65%, and conservatives from 25% to 28%.

(h/t: Jon Terbush/TPM, who has links to other relevant polls, as well)

RedState RedFace

Intoned the GHEMRotRSTF and CNN employee one week ago today:

(embiggen)

Hat tip to Roy Edroso, whose latest wingnut wrap-up is all about the Republican candidates and ex-candidates, and what our favorite rightbloggers have to say about them. Intro here, full column here.

(x-posted)

In shocking news, Republicans caught playing dirty tricks

Have you been paying attention to the special election to be held Tue 24 May for the House seat in NY-26? (This is the seat that opened up after second-term Republican Chris "the Craigslist Congressman" Lee resigned this past February.) As you may know, this election has become of national interest due to its status as a referendum of sorts on the GOP's near-unanimous support for the Ryan plan to destroy Medicare, and the consequent panic by senior Republicans from Boehner to Rove as their erstwhile safe seat now appears to be winnable by the Democrat, Kathy Hochul.

There's a longish article in the NYT about this race, which fans of inside baseball might enjoy. Here's a particularly delicious nugget:

And like Republican leaders in Washington, Ms. Corwin has found it difficult to grapple with the Tea Party movement, as she tries to fend off the aggressive candidacy of Jack Davis, who is running on the Tea Party line after failing to win the Republican nomination.

Concerned that Mr. Davis was draining support from Ms. Corwin, Republicans produced a wave of attacks on him, including circulating a much-publicized video that party operatives said showed Mr. Davis assaulting a young Republican volunteer who was tracking him with a camera.

But the attacks backfired after it was disclosed that the volunteer was Ms. Corwin’s chief of staff, a development that led the Davis camp to claim that Mr. Davis had been set up. Ms. Corwin was then barraged with questions from local reporters about her role in the episode.

Another interesting wrinkle: both Marco Rubio and Allen West have recorded phone messages urging support for the Republican candidate, not the Tea Party candidate. You'll recall that both Rubio and West were favorites of the teabaggers way back in 2010. I wonder if there will be any backlash for either of them.

P.S. Don't forget to visit JaneCorwin.org!

(x-posted)

So much for that argumentum ad verecundiam

Nicholas Kristof's "Religion and Sex Quiz" is pretty entertaining.

Okay, we can officially stop saying "there's still a debate"

I mean, when even Fred Hiatt's editorial page concedes …

“CLIMATE CHANGE is occurring, is very likely caused by human activities, and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems.”

So says — in response to a request from Congress — the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, the country’s preeminent institution chartered to provide scientific advice to lawmakers.

In a report titled “America’s Climate Choices,” a panel of scientific and policy experts also concludes that the risks of inaction far outweigh the risks or disadvantages of action. And the most sensible and urgently needed action, the panel says, is to put a rising price on carbon emissions, by means of a tax or cap-and-trade system. That would encourage innovation, research and a gradual shift away from the use of energy sources (oil, gas and coal) that are endangering the world.

None of this should come as a surprise. None of this is news. But it is newsworthy, sadly, because the Republican Party, and therefore the U.S. government, have moved so far from reality and responsibility in their approach to climate change.

Seizing on inevitable points of uncertainty in something as complex as climate science, and on misreported pseudo-scandals among a few scientists, Republican members of Congress, presidential candidates and other leaders pretend that the dangers of climate change are hypothetical and unproven and the causes uncertain.

Not so, says the National Research Council. “Although the scientific process is always open to new ideas and results, the fundamental causes and consequences of climate change have been established by many years of scientific research, are supported by many different lines of evidence, and have stood firm in the face of careful examination, repeated testing, and the rigorous evaluation of alternative theories and explanation.”

Climate-change deniers, in other words, are willfully ignorant, lost in wishful thinking, cynical or some combination of the three. And their recalcitrance is dangerous, the report makes clear, because the longer the nation waits to respond to climate change, the more catastrophic the planetary damage is likely to be — and the more drastic the needed response.

Note to "skeptics," teach-the-controversy-ers, and still too many in the MSM: Read that last paragraph out loud a few times, and then read the rest.

(h/t: @ClimateDebate | x-posted)

You almost have to admire ...

... how hard he refuses to develop self-awareness:

… Florida pastor Terry Jones, who has generated controversy by burning, and threatening to burn, the Koran at public demonstrations … said nobody can predict when Judgment Day will arrive. Those who do are irresponsible, he said.

(x-posted)

A reminder of my lower station

But that's fine. It's good to have things to aspire to, and better still to be privileged to listen in.

I would not have thought it possible that I would link to a movie review (apart from a snarky one, I mean), but this is Edroso talking about Herzog filming cave paintings, so … well, I'd buy a ticket to that, for a dollar!

Stealing a part I really liked:

But there is no getting around the fact that the paintings themselves are the stars; they're incredible, not only because they remain in such good condition, but because they're so beautiful. If the film had been made by competent hacks it would still be worth attending just to see them. They're like Chagall, but infinitely simpler and more eloquent. Made when Neanderthals still roamed the earth, they have no trace of mannerism; they are what the painting of centuries built upon, and what the moderns tried to recapture; they are, no exaggeration, the very essence of art.

Can't you just feel the cold air blowing on the back of your neck?

That Al Franken is a pretty smart guy, isn't he?

Remember the email from Sen. Franken that I re-posted yesterday? Remember how he said this, among other things?

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 what do we learn in today's news?

Why, that it's perfectly fine if the government takes over the Internet, provided by "the government" we mean "the GOP and their corporate donors!" (Especially when they're afraid of competition!)

IOKIYAR. IOKIYAR. Always and forevermore, IOKIYAR.

(x-posted)

Prediction check

While looking for something else, I came across an old note to self. I thought you might enjoy it. The date of the original post was 4 Nov 2008.

Prediction   [Jonah Goldberg]

Now that McCain has lost, and Sarah Palin has time to reintroduce herself down the road, the anti-Palin conservatives will almost surely look foolish in retrospect.

(x-posted)

We Are All Brothers

The Taliban has a Twitter feed. However, they do not follow back, so we will continue to bomb them, until they learn some Netiquette.

(x-posted)