WENDY: Is it true what you said? That if there’s one thing you hate more than scientists trying to take over the world, it’s scientists who twist innocent primates with computer enhanced mind control to live out their sick and perverted fantasies of criminal power?
THE MIDDLEMAN: Why would I lie about that?
WENDY: It’s a very specific thing to hate.
THE MIDDLEMAN: Self-knowledge is the gateway to freedom.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Self-knowledge
The Middleman, pilot episode:
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Snark about show business
Score!:
Look, I don’t know who the PR wizard is behind the rollout of Britney Spears‘ new album is but he or she is doing a masterful job. It’s like pre-meltdown Britney is back. But with the added benefit of knowing that any second she could pull out an Uzi and take out the entire crowd at the American Music Awards. Score!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Drama!
In the 83rd minute, with Hearts less than 10 minutes away from winning their first championship since 1960, Kidd scored the opening goal with a close-range finish from a corner kick. Six minutes later, Kidd effectively ended Hearts' chances by scoring a sublime second goal to make the final score a 2–0 win for Dundee. Remarkably, Kidd had not scored all season[2] before scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes of the season. Celtic won their game 5–0[5] to win the championship on goal difference by three goals.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
No longer recognizing marriage?
An interesting take on the marriage wars...
I no longer recognize marriage. It’s a new thing I’m trying.
Turns out it’s fun.
Yesterday I called a woman’s spouse her boyfriend.
She says, correcting me, "He’s my husband,"
"Oh," I say, "I no longer recognize marriage."
The impact is obvious. I tried it on a man who has been in a relationship for years,
"How’s your longtime companion, Jill?"
"She’s my wife!"
"Yeah, well, my beliefs don’t recognize marriage."
Fun. And instant, eyebrow-raising recognition. Suddenly the majority gets to feel what the minority feels. In a moment they feel what it’s like to have their relationship downgraded, and to have a much taken-for-granted right called into question because of another’s beliefs.
Just replace the words husband, wife, spouse, or fiancé with boyfriend, girlfriend, special friend, or longtime companion. There is a reason we needed stronger words for more serious relationships. We know it; now they can see it.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Basic Civics
Some of the economics questions are biased, but whatever: I got 32 out of 33 correct. Woot to me.
Apparently our elected officials need to be schooled. US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.
Apparently our elected officials need to be schooled. US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent, the group that organized the exam said Thursday.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Inter Win
Inter won against Juventus. It was a good game, and in reality Inter deserved the win, although they had trouble converting attacks into goals.
Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Barca game.
Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Barca game.
Liverpool and Chelsea
Two good results for Manchester United as both Liverpool and Chelsea draw today. Hopefully Manchester United will capitalize and come away today with a win.
The Chelsea game was good, with two controversial, but spot-on, refereeing decisions. Chelsea dominated the ball and generally looked like winners. But were stymied, I believe, on their reliance on their midfield to create opportunities. The Chelsea strikers were not good enough to break down a determined Newcastle defense -- a defense that was essentially a 'team bus' approach (parking the team in front of goal). Chelsea should have won today, but the opportunities they created were slight and would have depended on luck to make them come through. Really they should have worked harder to create better opportunities.
Update: Well boo. Man Utd held scoreless and fail to capitalize.
The Chelsea game was good, with two controversial, but spot-on, refereeing decisions. Chelsea dominated the ball and generally looked like winners. But were stymied, I believe, on their reliance on their midfield to create opportunities. The Chelsea strikers were not good enough to break down a determined Newcastle defense -- a defense that was essentially a 'team bus' approach (parking the team in front of goal). Chelsea should have won today, but the opportunities they created were slight and would have depended on luck to make them come through. Really they should have worked harder to create better opportunities.
Update: Well boo. Man Utd held scoreless and fail to capitalize.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Beat him with a hammer, beat him with a stick
I agree, but there are many more reasons than this one:
While the derisive comment about Tom Wolfe resonated (with me), the post is worth reading because its subject matter is not Tom Wolfe, but rather War Memorials (read the comments too).
all of which, having seen in person, you really, really wish you could use to beat the shit out of Tom Wolfe.
While the derisive comment about Tom Wolfe resonated (with me), the post is worth reading because its subject matter is not Tom Wolfe, but rather War Memorials (read the comments too).
Monday, November 17, 2008
Redknapp should start Alnwick
Just my 2p: Redknapp should start Alnwick, then in January alternate between Gomes and Alnwick to decide the top job. Gomes is rumored to be a great keeper; he needs a breather to reset his head.
I knew that offloading Robinson would be a wrong move.
Watching Tottenham since the end of last season has been like watching one of those Italian operas where everyone stabs everyone else. It has been dramatic, but not v. effective.
I knew that offloading Robinson would be a wrong move.
Watching Tottenham since the end of last season has been like watching one of those Italian operas where everyone stabs everyone else. It has been dramatic, but not v. effective.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Farce in reality
The record for most goals in a game, and most own-goals in a game:
The world record for goals scored in senior football, which has stood steadfast ever since Arbroath thumped Bon Accord 36-0 in 1885, has been smashed by a team from Madagascar.
Farcical scenes quicky led to a basketball score as league champions AS Adema won a match 149-0, more than quadrupling the existing record - and without gaining possession between the first goal and the 149th.
Their opponents, Stade Olymique L'Emyrne, took complete control of the national league game, reducing Adema to the role of onlookers, as they deliberately plonked the ball in the back of their own net 149 times, in protest over a refereeing decision.
The English Football Association believe that the 149-0 scoreline represents a new world record. "I certainly think it's a world record," said the FA's historian David Barber.
"I've heard of a local league game in Nottingham that finished 50-2 and there was a 43-0 in an Austrian regional game before the second world war - but nothing this big."
Radio Madagascar reported on Friday that SOE scored the own goals against Adema as a protest after their coach Ratsimandresy Ratsarazaka lost his temper with the referee.
Adema's players reportedly stood around looking bemused, doing nothing to stop the opposition from self-destructing.
Strangely, SOE were no part-timers either - they were last year's Malagasy champions who surprisingly won through to the second round of the African Champions League this season.
Adema clinched the Malagasy title last weekend.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Spain and football
This strikes me as utterly crazy and illegitimate: The Spanish state prosecutor has recommended an eight-year jail term for a Marseille fan detained after the French side's Champions League match against Atletico Madrid last month.
Reading up accounts of what happened suggests that much of the problems were caused by Atletico fans, and that Spanish police were v. one-sided in their response.
Reading up accounts of what happened suggests that much of the problems were caused by Atletico fans, and that Spanish police were v. one-sided in their response.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Navigating the dynamic
One thing I am looking forward to is seeing how President(-elect) Obama navigates the political nuances of the fact that one of the greatest and strongest shared values of his followers is a belief in individual liberties and the right to one's self.
Basically, how will American society change, now that we are beginning to (re-)embrace the long forsaken notion that we are all in this together, while at the same time our commitment to personal freedom is, if anything (given the erosion of personal freedoms over the past eight years) stronger than ever before?
Now, as we stand on the threshold of a new political era, is a good time to reflect on the unfulfilled aspirations of the past, and to weigh these aspirations when calculating and reflecting on our own. I am thinking in particular of FDR's four freedoms which discussed frankly the tenuous position America found herself in at the beginning of 1941 with the rest of the world at war and concluded:
Basically, how will American society change, now that we are beginning to (re-)embrace the long forsaken notion that we are all in this together, while at the same time our commitment to personal freedom is, if anything (given the erosion of personal freedoms over the past eight years) stronger than ever before?
Now, as we stand on the threshold of a new political era, is a good time to reflect on the unfulfilled aspirations of the past, and to weigh these aspirations when calculating and reflecting on our own. I am thinking in particular of FDR's four freedoms which discussed frankly the tenuous position America found herself in at the beginning of 1941 with the rest of the world at war and concluded:
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression--everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want--which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear--which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor--anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
To that new order we oppose the greater conception--the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change -- in a perpetual peaceful revolution -- a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions--without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound!
Henry Louis Gates, Jr on the election.
We have all heard stories about those few magical transformative moments in African-American history, extraordinary ritual occasions through which the geographically and socially diverse black community—a nation within a nation, really—molds itself into one united body, determined to achieve one great social purpose and to bear witness to the process by which this grand achievement occurs.
The first time was New Year's Day in 1863, when tens of thousands of black people huddled together all over the North waiting to see if Abraham Lincoln would sign the Emancipation Proclamation. The second was the night of June 22, 1938, the storied rematch between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, when black families and friends crowded around radios to listen and cheer as the Brown Bomber knocked out Schmeling in the first round. The third, of course, was Aug. 28, 1963, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed to the world that he had a dream, in the shadow of a brooding Lincoln, peering down on the assembled throng, while those of us who couldn't be with him in Washington sat around our black-and-white television sets, bound together by King's melodious voice through our tears and with quickened-flesh.
But we have never seen anything like this. Nothing could have prepared any of us for the eruption (and, yes, that is the word) of spontaneous celebration that manifested itself in black homes, gathering places and the streets of our communities when Sen. Barack Obama was declared President-elect Obama. From Harlem to Harvard, from Maine to Hawaii—and even Alaska—from "the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire … [to] Stone Mountain of Georgia," as Dr. King put it, each of us will always remember this moment, as will our children, whom we woke up to watch history being made.
"I love this guy."
That was Chris Matthews' comment about the Mayor of Newark's comments on the election. Cory Booker is inspiring, and could represent part of the new generation of politicians that raise in prominence in Obama's wake.
Awesome.
Awesome.
364
Assuming Indiana and NC hold up: Obama's tally will be 364.
That is not counting Missouri, which is too close to call, or Montana, which will most likely go for McCain.
Wow.
That is not counting Missouri, which is too close to call, or Montana, which will most likely go for McCain.
Wow.
Obama's Victory Speech
Coupled with McCain's gracious and American concession, will stand as a document, a declaration of principles which will guide the next twenty-forty years of America.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
An African-American Family in the White House
A new Cosby Show.
I expect high ratings.
(Nat Cole, here's looking at you.)
I expect high ratings.
(Nat Cole, here's looking at you.)
News items
Strange Portal Connects Earth to Sun. How can something be strange if it happens all the time?
Bizarre espionage case in Miami. Two suitcases full of money, weeks of flim-flam.
Bizarre espionage case in Miami. Two suitcases full of money, weeks of flim-flam.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The birth of a meme
Where "Tire Swinging" comes from:
Those halcyon days when the press loved McCain and McCain loved the press.
There are worse ways to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than swinging lazily back and forth on a tire swing strung up under a massive sycamore tree in a quiet Arizona canyon, the sound of a gushing stream nearby. Almost grazing the ground and hung on rope that looked to have been tied and retied again over the years, the swing belonged to John McCain, who stood several dozen yards away, carefully monitoring giant slabs of pork ribs on a smoking grill.
Those halcyon days when the press loved McCain and McCain loved the press.
A defining moment
Colombian hostage dragged to freedom
I expect that in a future history of the FARC, this particular event will crystallize its descent into insignificance.
I expect that in a future history of the FARC, this particular event will crystallize its descent into insignificance.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Callie Shell's photos of Obama
Intimate, telling, moving. Well worth a look. (Warning: many large images.)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Understanding the other
Peter Sagal on understanding the Obama Conspiracy Theorists.
In the real world, Barack Obama seems like he’s going to be elected President. This, as unlikely as it might have seemed as little as two years ago, is easily explained: the Republicans have done a poor job running the country, have a very unpopular incumbent President, and our nation likes to switch parties about every 8 to 12 years. Plus, Obama is a charismatic politician who’s run a very competent campaign.
Nonetheless, this reality is intolerable to some, and they have created an alternative narrative. In this narrative, Obama is “a Marxisant radical who all his life has been mentored by, sat at the feet of, worshipped with, befriended, endorsed the philosophy of, funded and been in turn funded, politically promoted and supported by a nexus comprising black power anti-white racists, Jew-haters, revolutionary Marxists, unrepentant former terrorists and Chicago mobsters.” Once elected, presumably, will reveal himself to be the monster that he is, in the manner of Kang and Kodos in that classic 1996 Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Cuba to become a petro-power
20bn barrel oil discovery puts Cuba in the big league
Oil drilling starting soon. Three-five years before Cuba sees significant returns.
Oil drilling starting soon. Three-five years before Cuba sees significant returns.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Surprised it lasted this long
Madonna divorcing Guy.
Not the sort of thing I normally blog about, but I remember thinking when they were married that it wouldn't last more than four years. Madonna doesn't seem to be a "happily ever after" type of person.
Not the sort of thing I normally blog about, but I remember thinking when they were married that it wouldn't last more than four years. Madonna doesn't seem to be a "happily ever after" type of person.
Economic racism?
So... there really are people who believe (i.e.: Bryon York) that giving "mortgages to people, particularly minorities, who could not afford them" was a prime cause of the nation's economic crisis.
It is a bit like arguing that the reason the I-35W Mississippi Bridge collapsed is because poor people were allowed to have cars.
It is a bit like arguing that the reason the I-35W Mississippi Bridge collapsed is because poor people were allowed to have cars.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Some guy makes an observation
Some guy:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has talked to more American news reporters than Sarah Palin. Not just in his lifetime. I mean, in this year.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Crazy Talk
I thought McCain's 'League of Democracies' was crazy talk. Apparently it is a conservative plan to kill the UN.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
No more...
Please, no more Tolkien books, no more Dune books, and no more Hitchhiker's books... Nooooooooooooo...
/sigh
/sigh
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
AIG now owned by the USA
U.S. Seizes Control of AIG With $85 Billion Emergency Loan
I guess we should change Manchester United jerseys...
I guess we should change Manchester United jerseys...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The changing face of bloggage
I've been blogging off and on since January 2001--the stolen election was a pivotal moment for me, I stopped yelling at the TV to an audience of one (my girlfriend at the time also liked to vent) and I started yelling on the internet to an audience of one (or two).
The first Vlogs I saw were annoying. I still do not like talkingheads.
But I think it is quite normal now to post video on blogs. That has changed.
And it is amazing.
The first Vlogs I saw were annoying. I still do not like talkingheads.
But I think it is quite normal now to post video on blogs. That has changed.
And it is amazing.
International Polar Year
International Polar Year:
The International Polar Year is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009.
IPY, organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is actually the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8. In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007-8 covers two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and will involve over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. It is also an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with, cutting edge science in real-time.
Rikki Don't Lose that Number
A jazzed up Rikki Don't Lose that Number, performed live by Steely Dan in 1996.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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