Leaving Tampa, we knew no more about the big Medicare issue than when we arrived. The biggest Republican talking point is that the Obama health care reform will, in the words of Mitt Romney, “hurt today’s seniors.” That’s all about the $716 billion in projected long-term savings, except that Ryan had the same cut in his budget plans and what the heck are we supposed to make of that?
Fortunately, Fortune magazine asked the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, that question during the convention, and Cantor was able to clear it all up thusly: “The assumption was that, um, the, the, ah, again — I probably can’t speak to that in an exact way, so I better just not.”
Friday, August 31, 2012
Now that Ryan's in it, we can have a Serious Debate On Teh Issues!!!1!
Line of the Day: 2012:08-31
... there should be a "minimum of 30Mbps for every remaining home and business in the country—no matter how rural or remote."
-- a senior official in some civilized country
And it's not just nice talk. The government there is going to put up money "to support the market’s failure to deliver broadband in rural areas."
The horrors of socialism.
Oracle: You know how we said we fixed that Java hole? Uh ... never mind.
If you've applied the patch mentioned in the previous post, and not just disabled/uninstalled Java as recommended, you should be aware of this:
Researchers said they've uncovered a flaw in the Java 7 update released by Oracle on Thursday that allows attackers to take complete control of end-user computers.
In retrospect, I should have been more skeptical about a patch that got shipped after four months of silence, seemingly only because enough of a stink started getting made about it.
Oracle says they have patched that four-month-old hole in Java
[Added] Be sure to read the follow-up to this post -- the patch is itself buggy.
This is a follow-up from yesterday.
Dan Goodin from Ars Technica reports that "Oracle has updated its widely used Java software framework to fix critical vulnerabilities that criminals were actively exploiting to take full control of end-user computers." His subhead says it all:
Install it immediately, or better yet, completely uninstall Java altogether.
You already know my feelings on the matter.
Uninstall instructions for Windows here. If you must have Java on your machine, get the latest version here. (Uninstall any old versions first, for extra safety.) You can check which version you have installed here. If you're checking the version number after installing the latest version, be sure to restart your browser first.
Many layers of meaning
Two shots of "Rainbow Serpent," a sculpture by Romuald Hazoumé, made from discarded gas cans.
Pics swiped from Sarah Wolf Newlands.
(h/t: NYT)
The Accordian Killer
Al Yankovic (really!) captioned this "In case you ever needed proof that Jimi Hendrix was cool." I'm gonna go with "Polka Haze."
(h/t: Leahtrice)
Thursday, August 30, 2012
You should disable Java in your browser. Now.
Here's how.
Here's why. More here and here.
I'll add that I have not had Java running in my main browser since forever, and I can't think of any site I care about that's hampered by this absence. So, do it. It'll take you one minute (unless you're an IE user, in which case, here's yet another reason to switch!), and you'll be measurably safer.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
One good result from redistricting
Results from Arizona (story | data):
Jim Newell has an appreciation.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Line of the Day: 2012-08-27
He had a pet rock, which ran away from home because it was starved of affection.
("He" being The Least Interesting Man In The World, Mitt Romney.)
Great line! Who said it?
You would not believe me if I told you, so I will just link and then we can all sit around wondering how it got to be April 1st so quickly.
(h/t: Gabe Ortiz)
Spider less scary during daytime
Remember that nighttime shot?
A couple of snaps of someone who had to come out during the day, because the stupid rain wiped out her web:
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Shortly before the scrum
I wondered if I had been missing something interesting about the scientists I spent so much time with, or if I was just mistaking two tattoos for a trend. So I posted the question on my blog at Discover Magazine, The Loom. I immediately received a comment from a scientist who said that he knew an old geneticist with a DNA tattoo as well. Then a physicist wrote in. "A former student got a tattoo of a cartoon atom on the back of one of his legs," he recalled. "He told me that the first day after he got it, he went to rugby practice, and was showing it to someone when one of the seniors on the team (also a physics major) walked by. The senior looked at it, said 'Oh, please. The Bohr model?' and walked off."
That's from Carl Zimmer's column in the Guardian, which he pointed to in response to a tweeted question:
RT
— carlzimmer (@carlzimmer) August 26, 2012@tauriqmoosa: What sparked the interest in tattoos? Do you have any? CZ: I have none. Here's the spark: guardian.co.uk/science/2011/n…
Here are two of the tats (slides 8 and 9) from the gallery accompanying the column. (There's a whole book of these!)
'I'm an evolutionary biologist who investigates the evolution of sperm form, sperm-female interactions and sperm competition. So... yeah, it's pretty much about sperm,' says Scott Pitnick, an associate professor at Syracuse University.
The tattoo adorning Paula Zelanko, a chemist at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, represents a machine called an isotope ratio mass spectrometer.
Ed. note: I have added periods to the ends of the quoted captions, because obviously the Grauniad's style guide is broken yeah, I'm like that.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
That's one giant loss for humankind
Neil Armstrong died today. He was 82.
[Added] (Everything below. Bumped this post to top after second added item. Orig post time was 4-something this afternoon.)
• ThinkProgress tweeted another nice picture.
• This, via Phil Plait.
Deep thought
I wonder how long it will be before someone he listens to will tell that Papa John© guy, "Seriously, you do not come across as likeable on camera. Not. Even. Close."
Such is blogging
Deadspin, 24 Aug 2012, 4:25 pm:
So, Gonzalez, Crawford, and Beckett for Loney and parts. … L.A. can't possibly be dumb enough to actually do it.
Deadspin, 24 Aug 2012, 9:08 pm:
Reports: Boston Red Sox And Los Angeles Dodgers Agree To Crazy Trade
[Update 2012-08-25 17:02 EDT] The NYT is now quoting Bobby Valentine calling the trade "semi-official." Bosox press conference might be happening now; Dodgers do theirs at 5:30 EDT.
[Update 2012-08-25 17:40] Now a done deal. Deets from the LAT.
Friday, August 24, 2012
New Wikipedia coolness
Not sure how new, and apologies if I'm lagging behind, but I do check the sources on Wikipedia all the time (no really, I do), and this is the first time I've noticed this feature. If it's not clear from the screen shot (even after clicking to enlarge), what happens is this: If you hover your mouse pointer over a link to a reference (a footnote number), a balloon tip sort of window will appear, and the text within will be what's found at that link. (Try it on the actual Wikipedia page.) Saves scrolling down to the bottom of the page and back. Even better, if the reference note contains a link to the source, as they often do, that link will be displayed in the balloon tip window, ready for right-clicking and opening in a new tab. Very handy!
Thanks, Wikipedians. Or MediaWiki people. Or both.
Line of the Day: 2012-08-24
Mitt Romney would do a soccer potluck with Idi Amin and the Tamil Tigers if it got the Family Research Council off his back for a week.
-- Jesse Taylor
Oh no he di'n't!
Mitt's birther comment has officially gone viral. 8+ pages on Google now.
Capping off another week of talking about everything EXCEPT the economy. His advisers and apologists will be spending the whole weekend explaining it, walking it back, etc. Woo hoo! This, along with the Aiken mess translates into a very bad week for the Mittster.
Looks like!
Dude doesn't even know how to dog-whistle.
(h/t: The Artist Formerly Known As GingrichIdeas | pic. source)
Scenes from the book sale III: bottled goodness
Actually taken the night before, at Moe's Tavern:
You better believe my eyes zoomed right in on one of them:
Scenes from the book sale II: MAD magazine come to life
Remember their occasional feature, "Very Thin Books?"
Cover price for the new book: $1. Sale price for the used book: $2. Nice to think that those sweet little old ladies at Lenox Library have a sense of irony.
And now that I reflect about that arrangement . . .
![Book spines: 'I am not [Esther]' next to 'Good in Bed'](http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/bjkeefe/120824_0002.jpg "I did not rearrange to get this shot. I admit I almost rearranged another book, over in the Science section: Hoagland's 'The monuments of mars'. And by rearranged, I mean hurl across the room.")
Not sure I endorse this 100%, but it's too good NOT to pass along
From the comments under a post on CT, via Chris Mealy:
dsquared 05.01.12 at 8:33 pm77
I tell this anecdote every time the subject comes up on CT, but it’s true so I will repeat it again. In a career as a stockbroker, I have met:
A Japanese person who reads the Economist every week to find out about the USA and Europe, ignoring the Asian coverage.
An American who reads it to keep up with the overseas news, although of course the US coverage is a bit crazy.
Numerous Europeans who read it because the American coverage is great, but you have to ignore every word they write about Europe.
Personally, I used to read it a very long time ago, while ignoring the awful crap they wrote about Britain and about economics. I stopped, and so, eventually, did everyone else I’ve mentioned above.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Much More Mittens!
They are written by the indefatigable and incomparable Steve Benen.
Romney Document Dump
In case you missed my tweet:
The Bain Files: Inside Mitt
— bjkeefe (@bjkeefe) August 23, 2012#Romney's Tax-Dodging Cayman Schemes | "more than 950 pages" on@gawker gawker.com/5936394/the-ba… h/t@140elect#tcot
Today, we are publishing more than 950 pages of internal audits, financial statements, and private investor letters for 21 cryptically named entities in which Romney had invested—at minimum—more than $10 million as of 2011 (that number is based on the low end of ranges he has disclosed—the true number is almost certainly significantly higher). Almost all of them are affiliated with Bain Capital …
Aside to Willard: this doesn't excuse you from releasing your tax returns.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
"Democalypse 2012 - The New New Low Edition"
This originally aired on 15 August 2012, but I didn't see it until last night. If you missed it, please enjoy five minutes of IOKIYAR. (After a pre-roll commercial, but whaddya gonna do?)
Blast from the past: Ron and Nancy's pro-drug stance
Thinking about Hugh Atkin's "Song of Mitt's Self" brought to mind this oldie but goodie:
So, uh, do I type "thanks!" into the search box?
Bet your google.com looks different from my google.com, today.
Talk about a stew of conflicting emotions . . .
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Willard "Mitt" Romney in his own words
At this point, it's not clear whether this man would buy a used car from himself.
(h/t: Alex Halperin)
[Added] Follow-up.
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