Just Go Listen. Just Go Watch.

Two great hours of your life can be had by obeying the following instructions.

1. Listen to this week's On the Media.   If you know me, you already know what a fanboy I am in this regard, but this week's was especially good, even by the very high bar I set for this show. You get Seymour Hirsh talking about breaking the story of the My Lai massacre (40th anniversary of that event is tomorrow), and comparing it to another story he broke: the Abu Ghraib scandal. You get Amar Bakshi talking about his conclusions from an eight-month study of the perception of America abroad. You get a piece on the über war photographer, Robert Capra, and a related interview with Jim Lewis, a guy with a different take on war photojournalism. You get an interview with David Samuels, who is the latest figure not nicknamed McMegan being blamed for killing the reputation of The Atlantic. Finally, you hear what newspaper people love and hate about The Wire. You can stream it or download the MP3.

2. Watch this week's episode of "Science Saturday".   (Fanboy disclaimer, op. cit.) Science writer John Horgan, one half of the regular pairing, interviews a guest, theoretical physicist Sean Carroll. Carroll is one of the greatest elucidators of science I have ever encountered. He's up there with Sagan, Dawkins, and Feynman in making the cutting edge of his field both comprehensible and exciting to the lay audience. Following is a clip in which Carroll addresses the familiar question, "Is the Big Bang theory in trouble?" This might be the best two-and-a-half minute introduction to cosmology ever given. The whole show is available as a video stream, or you can download the video (WMV) or audio (MP3).

BTW, you gotta love a guy who can use PC-speak so ironically: "… the non-crackpot physics community …" Expect to see evidence of my larceny early and often; e.g., Obama supporters will henceforth be referred to as the non-wingnut political community.

Link of the Day: 2008-03-13

Have a look at, and bookmark, An Index to Creationist Claims.

For some of you, this might be like recommending a hymnal to the choir, but it's always nice to have facts gathered up in one convenient location.

Excerpt from the site's intro:

Creationist claims are numerous and varied, so it is often difficult to track down information on any given claim. Plus, creationists constantly come up with new claims which need addressing. This site attempts, as much as possible, to make it easy to find rebuttals and references from the scientific community to any and all of the various creationist claims. It is updated frequently; see the What's New page for the latest changes.

Since most creationism is folklore, the claims are organized in an outline format following that of Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature. Sections CA through CG deal with claims against conventional science, and sections CH through CJ contain claims about creationism itself.

This collection is intended primarily as a guidepost and introduction. The explanations are not in depth (with a few exceptions), but most responses include links, references, and sources for more information.

As I noted on the recommending site: From my time on the site, I am reminded of the same sort of pleasure I used to get flipping through an encyclopedia.

(h/t: Rational Resistance)

Web Weirdness

Starting last night and continuing through part of today, I could not get to IMDb by going to http://www.imdb.com/, or any other page beginning with that, whether by following a link or by typing in the URL explicitly. However, http://imdb.com/, and all URLs so beginning, worked.

The problem seemed to have cleared itself as of a moment ago, but now it's back. (One minute later) Nope, they both work again.

Anyone else notice this? What happens when you follow the above two links?

Publicity? Priceless.

(Updated below)

As has been said by many, I don't care what the newspapers say about me, as long as they spell my name right.

Now that Ashley Alexandra Dupré has made it to page one of the NYT, and received a sympathetic write-up which included a link to her MySpace page (300,000 additional page views, just in the time it took me to compose this post*), the first questions that comes to mind is: How much do you suppose her hourly rates will rise?

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* Upon further review, it doesn't seem like the Profile Views counter is accurate. It's now down to 1.2 million, from 1.4 million. Or maybe it already went around once?

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Update

2008-03-15 20:53

The NYT seems to have removed Ashley's MySpace link from their story, but I think she deserves (in a good way) to have it kept readily accessible. FWIW, the count of page views is now up to 8,464,450.

Uncarefully Couched Language

You know how the wingnuts love to whine about Democrats being the "nanny state" party?

In yet another chapter in the endless saga of IOKIYAR, we have Republican state legislator Tim Couch introducing a bill into the Kentucky House that would ban anonymous posting on the Internet.

You know how the wingnuts used to like to scream about Democratic presidents (it's been a while, I know -- act like you remember) and their unfunded mandates?

Couch's bill would require the owners of web sites to collect, verify, and maintain real identification information, under threat of heavy fines.

You know how the wingnuts love to gush about law and order and the original intent of the framers? If I hadn't already told you, this would have revealed the party affiliation beyond all doubt:

Couch ... acknowledges that the bill is probably unconstitutional ...

And the kicker?

... [H]e wanted to call attention to the phenomenon of unkind and often untrue comments about people being posted online by Kentuckians hiding behind the cloak of anonymity.

"Some nasty things have been said about high school kids in my district, usually by other kids," Couch said. "The adults get in on it, too."

Ah, yes. Protect The Children^TM. The all-purpose cover story for Republicans who squirm at the thought of different tastes and opinions.

Now, I have gone on a bit in the past about weenies who flame from behind the cloak of anonymity, I'll admit. The difference, though, is this: I am trying to persuade people to change their behavior. That's all. If you want to post anonymous comments on my blog, for example, go right ahead. I simply state that I respect you more if you use your real name. The typical Republican, on the other hand, wants to drag it out of you by force.

Those Republicans sure do love some accountability for personal actions, don't they? With very few exceptions, of course.

Above: was frequently
pantsed in high school

Reading between the lines, it seems obvious that a big motivator behind this bill is the frequent appearance of anonymous comments that say mean things about … Tim Couch.

So, Rep. Couch, as long as my real name and contact info are available right here, I presume it's okay to mess with your photo? And to say that you have a silly name, a stupid face, less sense about the Web than Ted Stevens, and less respect for civil rights than the Commander-of-19% himself?

kthxbai

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(h/t: Buzz Out Loud. Pic. source: you guessed it!)

Patch Tuesday

If you don't have Windows Updates turned on, today's the day to visit Microsoft (using Internet Explorer) and check for updates. There are a number of Office patches being pushed out, as well as the usual monthly update to the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Brian Krebs has a nice write-up with details and handy links. Among the highlights:

• Some of the patches apply to the various viewers for Office files, as well, so even if you don't have, say, PowerPoint, be sure to check, in case you downloaded PowerPoint Viewer some time in the past and forgot about it.
  
  
• Mac users: Office for Mac also has updates. I don't know whether Software Update handles this for you or not. Sorry.
  
  
• Office 2000 users: The regular Windows Update procedure won't work for you (and me). Instead visit the Office downloads page, again using IE, and click the link in the sidebar labeled "Office Update." Annoyingly, you'll need to have your Office 2000 installation CD available to perform the updates.

That last bit really irks me. Microsoft's site requires you first to download and run an Active X plugin to make sure your copy of Office is "genuine." Mine is, and even the trolls of Redmond are forced to admit that. However, my CD vanished two moves ago, and there is no way to get around the requirement. I looked around Microsoft's site for as long as I could stand the corporate-speak on their help pages, and as far as I can tell, the CD requirement has only to do with reducing the download size of the updates. Or so they claim. Even though their own tool tells them that I have a legit copy of Office, the only way to deal with the problem of the missing CD, they suggest, is to "contact the vendor" who originally sold me the CD.

To be fair about it, I'm really grumbling about a non-issue. I long ago quit using any Office product, and have been happily using OpenOffice.org for years. You should, too. You get a fully featured word processor, spreadsheet, PowerPoint clone, Visio clone, and equation editor. The look and feel is familiar. You also get the ability to read, edit, and save-as Office docs. If you're on a slow connection, you can get a CD, cheap, to do the initial installation, but you won't ever need to have the CD, certainly not to do updates. And it's free and open source. And no Clippy.

End of rant. End of sermon.

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(pic. source, some minor hacking by me)

Food for Thought

While in the middle of a discussion of dietary choices on the BloggingHeads.tv forums, Uncle Ebeneezer related one of his favorite bits from The Simpsons:

At the ballpark, Homer comes back from the food vendors with a stack of ribs, hot dogs, burgers etc. and he asks Lisa if she wants anything to eat.

Lisa: "Do we have any food that wasn't brutally slaughtered?"

Homer: "Well, I think the veal died of loneliness."

New Poll: Nip and Tuck Edition

Now that Tucker Carlson has had his second TV show canceled, for poor ratings and general dickitude, what do you think lies ahead for him? Go over to the sidebar and vote!

Poll closes 18 March 2008, at 9:00 PM.

The results from the last poll were a landslide:

Q: What's your take on Ralph Nader running for president?

(46%) I will never vote for him. I still blame him for 2000.

(23%) I admire his past accomplishments, but he's past his Sell-By date.

(15%) I admire him for tilting at windmills, but I doubt I'll vote for him.

(7%) I will vote for him if Obama does not win the Democratic nomination.

(7%) I will vote for him.

(0%) I will vote for him if Clinton does not win the Democratic nomination.

(0%) I will vote for him unless the Republicans dump McCain in favor of someone I like better.

(0%) Doesn't matter. I always vote for Lyndon LaRouche.

Thanks for voting!

Hate the restrictions of multiple-choice questions? Please feel free to expand upon your vote in the Comments.

Shut The Tuck Up

"Kick Me" sign
not shown

Proving to be a weenie right to the end, here's Bowtie Boy whining about being canceled to the NYT:

In a telephone interview Mr. Carlson said his conservative point of view was "out of sync" with the more liberal bent of MSNBC's other marquee shows, including "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" and "Hardball" with Chris Matthews.

"I don't think I was a perfect fit in the lineup," he said. "I think that was obvious to anyone who was tuning in."

Still, he said, "It's not my nature to cry bias."

It's also not in his nature to accept reality.

It his, however, in his nature to get video store clerks fired, to brag about his bravery in going all vigilante on teh gays, and to refer to presidential candidates as wusses and chicks.

Or, as Jon Stewart much more succinctly noted (video, transcript)

You know what's interesting, though? You're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show.

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(pic source: Too Sense, caption added)

Perspective of the Day: 2008-03-10

Actually given a couple of weeks ago, but still:

In truth, no one expects Mr. Nader’s latest candidacy to be anything more than a passing oddity, as it was four years ago, when he captured about 450,000 votes — or fewer than one-tenth the number of people who have watched the “Obama Girl” video on YouTube.
-- Matt Bai

Chait's Case Against Hillary Clinton

It's a good one.

The only thing I don't like about this tag line ...

... is that I didn't think of it first.

Great ad:

(alt. video link)

DST

If you live in most places in the US, you might be an hour behind right now. Or your machine might be, if you use an older version of Windows. My Win2K box updated itself properly, but I think I had to apply a patch last October or something to make that happen. Ping me if you want a link; I'm too lazy to look for it now.

As to the time of this post and the fact that it shows an hour later than I feel it ought to be, I am unsure whether it suggests that my night owlism is further out of control or that I am become Teh Early Bird Beyond All Others.

Always envied hated those smug people who bounced out of bed first.

Crunch This

Following a link from Roy to a post by Rod Dreher, I was moved to post the following comment. I expect it to be deleted, so here is a copy for the record. I have fixed one typo here, as noted in square brackets.

Rod:

I myself do not often visit your blog. Your appearances on BloggingHeads.tv convinced me that you were beneath consideration. I have had my say about your worldview in the forums over there (username bjkeefe). Occasionally, I drop by when Roy or someone else links to something that you've said that's particularly ludicrous, just to be sure you're not being quoted out of context. Invariably, you aren't.

In answer to your question about why people keep visiting your blog if they apparently hate it, I can only say: it should be obvious. Some of us find it a worthy use of time to shoot down wingnuttia where ever we find it. Some of us are convinced that the only way to defeat the right-wing noise machine is to fight fire with fire. We've tried reasoned discourse, and that didn't work. I[t] seems that the only option left open is to pound down the caffeine and rebut every single one of your specious claims, every time you all repeat them. You all named the tactics, starting at least three decades ago. This is the blowback.

Even without reading Larry Parker's words, I'm inclined to bet that he's right in everything he says that's critical of you. I can only salute him for his persistence on this particular front. I fight alongside him, but in different theaters.

You say that you are contemplating "the possibility of ending this blog." I can only say: promises, promises. Guys like you rarely stop proselytizing, and you all never miss a chance to play the victim card. I'd be willing to bet that you'll still be pouring out your patented woe-is-me, different-types-of-people-are-scary drivel twenty years from now.

I dare you not to delete this post.

And Speaking of Memes

(John Evo: still working on my assigned one. I promise.)

I never did play Dungeons and Dragons. I was more of a wannabe jock during the time that I might have picked up the game. Even on rainy days, I was all about chess and Strat-O-Matic.

Truth be told, I have to admit that the scare stories about D&D worked on me a little bit. In my own defense, I was an altar boy at the same time as the book everyone was reading was The Exorcist. I hope you can forgive my moment of susceptibility.

Anyway, it will come as no surprise that most of the blogs that I read have had plenty to say about the recent death of the game's co-inventor. Here are two of my favorite bits. First, from defective yeti:

Rest in peace, Gary Gygax. Einstein once said that God does not play dice with the universe, but I'm sure you'll convince Him to start.

Next, xkcd:

(click pic to enlarge)

Wyoming!

Just got back inside from shoveling snow in a sleet storm, and I couldn't ask for anything more warming than the first headline I'd see: Obama with another decisive win. Looks like a 59-40 spread, if the first 96% of the vote is any indication. [UPDATE: 61-38 is the final score.]

The Monster Campaign tried hard to win this one, it sez here, but I'm sure they'll be out bright and early tomorrow, spinning it as "just another caucus in just another unimportant state." They might want to watch it, though. Let's not forget whose home state it is.

Yes We Can.

Monster!

Oh, the horror. Samantha Powers called Hillary Clinton a monster. Seems spot-on to me: She does keep coming back right when you think you've defeated her, and there is that creepy laugh. Evidently, though, the M-word is the new B-word, because Powers resigned shortly after word got out.

One thing's for sure. The next few news cycles are going to be dominated by three words: Hillary. Clinton. Monster.

And that's not entirely a bad thing.

Googlebomb, anybody? Monster. (Yeah, right. As if Hillary wouldn't have Google fired if it ever worked.)

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(pic. source)

Get Me Rewrite

I just finished reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. (I have heard there is a movie out with the same name, but I have not seen it).

On the cover appears a blurb from the WaPo, probably an excerpt from their review, reading in part: "The most accessible of all his works."

Given this book's abhorrence of apostrophes in contractions and sheer refusal to use quotation marks around passages of dialog, I can only assume this means McCarthy's previous books were printed in four-point type, using yellow ink.

It was a pretty entertaining yarn, especially if you like a bleak mood and a high body count, which I do, but the affectation of improper punctuation really distracted me. If I have to struggle to read a piece of fiction for a reason like this, all it does is prevent me from losing myself in the story. I feel like the author is standing over my shoulder, saying, "Look at me! I'm writing! Aren't I clever?"

It's one thing to make mistakes on purpose when writing in the first person, a la Flowers for Algernon; it's quite another to do so when writing in the third. The narrator has the God's eye view, right? You'd think God would know something about proper punctuation.

IE 8 Beta

(Updated below)

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I see that Microsoft has released the first beta version of Internet Explorer 8. I'm disappointed to note that, as with IE7, it will not run on Windows 2000. I don't have any burning desire to use it, but it would be nice to be able to run it occasionally, to verify how people who do prefer IE see my blog.

There has been a lot of spin from MS about the embrace of Web standards in the newest version of IE. Makes you wonder what else they're throwing under the hood, then, that it can't run on their own older operating systems. After all, Firefox runs on a variety of operating systems -- pretty much all flavors of Linux and Unix, all versions of Mac OS X, and Windows down to Win98.

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Update

2008-03-06 19:26

Doesn't sound at all good. I know beta is the new alpha, especially for Microsoft, but this one really sounds not ready for regular users. Also sounds like IE 8 will try its best to direct you to Microsoft services for generic Web 2.0 tasks. Ick.

(h/t: Buzz Out Loud)

Java Update

There's a new version of Java available: Version 6 Update 5.

If you use a browser, chances are you have Java installed. Visit http://java.com/en/ and click the "Do I have Java?" link to check your current version. If you're behind, you can download the latest version right from that page.

I can't find a page detailing what's new. Various security sites just say this patch addresses some "known vulnerabilities." (Scare quotes intended!)

If you do download and install a new version, you'll need to close your browser and restart it for the changes to take effect. Everything seemed to work fine for me, for whatever that's worth.

Says a lot about America

Reporting on last night's broadcast television coverage of the election results, Alessandra Stanley notes:

All three networks stuck to their scheduled shows, even though none of them had anything remarkable to offer: NBC showed obese people climbing ropes on “The Biggest Loser” then a rerun of “Law & Order: SVU.” CBS held on to “Big Brother” and its low-rated drama “Jericho,” and on ABC even “Primetime,” which is part of the news division, stayed with a lurid hidden-camera show, “What Would You Do?”

Does just about anybody who wants cable TV now has it? Probably. And yes, there is also the Internet, for people like me who prefer a different form of idiot box. And of course, the radio.

Still.

(I'm not sure if this is punditizing or spinification)

Just had another look at the Ohio returns, and it appears that the all-nighter in Cuyahoga County paid off: Obama won that one after it looked for a long time like he might not. The total popular vote for the state, with 99% of the vote counted, now shows a ten-point win for Clinton. Bad, but not as bad as it seemed while watching the ticker last night, when it was running at 20 for hours, and finally started creeping down to the mid-teens. The big population in the greater Cleveland area and their tardily reported but eminently sensible preferences probably mean a difference of about five or six delegates. Hard to believe that's important in the context of the 4000+ delegates up for grabs, but there it is.

I kept thinking last night, as it appeared that the delegate count from the four states would end up being a wash, of an old "West Wing" episode. The whole team was hanging out on Josh's stoop late Election Night after the mid-terms, and it turned out that after all the sturm und drang, the Dems had picked up exactly one new seat for every one old one that they had lost. All that time, all that effort, all that money spent just to be back where we started.

I now propose a new term: Pyrrhic stalemate.

One Good Thing About Waking Up Too Early

The resident felines refused to acknowledge how late I was up last night/this morning. If there's one thing cats admit to liking, it's consistency, and the first crack of daylight through the curtains will always means one thing and one thing only: Time to start pacing across the resident human's neck and forehead, stopping every third turn to knock something off the nightstand and to recoil in pretend surprise at the consequent crash.

Also as is their habit, now that they've succeeded in rousting me, they've each had three mouthfuls of food, a short patrol around the house, and are now basking in droopy-eyed comfort on the still-warm spot on the bed.

I am sitting upright, drinking leftover coffee to match my mood: lukewarm, no cream, slightly bitter.

Fortunately, there is The Doghouse. I'm pretty sure I'd have loved his clear-eyed appraisal of William F. Buckley, Jr., in any state of mind, but the takedown was just what I needed for a pick-me-up. Go read.

Excerpts from Obama's Speech In San Antonio

Assembled by TPM/Veracifier from a speech given about two hours ago:

Note the part where he almost makes it sound like he's now running against a McCain/Clinton ticket. Pretty spot-on -- the two have certainly sounded awfully similar in the way they've been attacking him of late. And I have always seen this race as the same old same old versus the real promise of something new.

The good news is, the relative delegate counts probably don't change much at all, which means Obama still has the lead. Ah, well. I was hoping it was going to be over after tonight.

(alt. video link)

The Rest of the Way

Well, it's not looking like anything else will be settled for a while, not in Texas (narrow Clinton victory in the primary, expected Obama win in the caucus), and certainly not in the Democratic race. To that end, here are the rest of the Democratic primaries and caucuses, and the delegates at stake for each, adapted from NYT data:

08 Mar	Wyoming	18
11 Mar	Mississippi	40
22 Apr	Pennsylvania	188
03 May	Guam	9
06 May	Indiana	84
	North Carolina	134
13 May	West Virginia	39
20 May	Kentucky	60
	Oregon	65
03 Jun	Montana	24
	South Dakota	23
07 Jun	Puerto Rico	63

Gonna be a long couple, three more months. Don't forget your calculator.

Oh-bye-oh

Looks like it's over: Ohio to Clinton.

Best we can hope for now is a surge from late reporting districts that include big cities -- Obama territory -- to knock down the delegate count.

More Texas Strangeness

I am looking at the nice rollover map that the NYT offers, and I notice a number of counties where the pop-up report reads: "100% reporting, 0 votes."

It does not seem that any of the counties that do show this show it for both the Democratic and Republican maps/results. Is it possible that some of the counties in Texas are entirely composed on members of one party or the other? Anyone got a better answer?

Uphuck

Josh, a few minutes ago:

Can someone get Huckabee off the stage and end the most painfully embarrassing concession I think I've ever heard?

Another reason to be glad I don't have a TV.

Added: Andrew apparently agrees. Full post:

Jeez. Enough already.

Up[c]huck Motivator II: Word 'round the campfire is that McCain will fly to Washington, D.C., to pose while receiving the endorsement from some guy who won't be living there that much longer. And you know what that means.

Don't Blame Me. I Moved Out Long Ago.

Rhode Island goes to Hillary, ending Barack's streak at twelve consecutive contest wins.

No word yet on whether her gratitude will result in the choice of Buddy Cianci for running mate.

The Only Reason I'd Want Hillary to Win

Via TPM's Political Wire comes this from CNN (emph. added):

There were concerns that Republican voters would participate in large numbers in the Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas Tuesday and cause mischief, following a call by Rush Limbaugh for listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Early exit polling shows 10 percent of the voters in Ohio's Democratic Primary identified themselves as Republican, along with 22 percent who said they were independents. It was the same story in Texas: 10 percent of the voters in the Democratic primary identified themselves as Republican, along with 25 percent who said they were independents.

The November cranial explosion of the Dittohead-in-Chief would be something to see.