Monthly Archives: February 2010

Go Cheney Yourself, Dick Cheney

Dick Cheney poked his head out of his undisclosed location to share this wisdom with the world this morning:

Responding to Biden’s comments that Iraq may end up being one of the Obama administration’s greatest success, Cheney chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by my friend Joe Biden,” he said.

“I’m glad he now believes Iraq is a success,” Cheney said. “For them to try and take credit for what has happened in Iraq strikes me as a little strange. … So if they are going to take credit for [Iraq’s success] – fair enough – for what they’ve done while there are there – but it ought to go with a healthy dose of ‘thank you George Bush’ up front. And a recognition that some of their early recommendations with respect to prosecuting that war were just dead wrong.”

“I believe very deeply in the proposition that what we did in Iraq was the right thing to do,” Cheney said. “We got rid of one of the worst dictators of the 20th century.”

You know the success Biden is talking about – he’s talking about leaving.

Order An Army of These NOW

Please — City of Wilmington and State of Delaware, we need these Robot Snowplows now:

Yuki-taro takes in snow at the front, squeezes it into rectangular bricks, and excretes said bricks out the back. Try teaching your dog to do that! The bricks can be easily stacked and stored for summer cooling needs – unless those pesky neighborhood kids get at them first!

These Robot Snowplows won’t do much good on I-95 or Rt 1, but seem perfect for clearing side streets and development cul-de-sacs everywhere. And stacking those bricks seems more orderly than throwing more snow onto a pile that may come crashing down on your car as it freezes.

Though only a prototype at present, Yuki-taro’s creators in the snowy city of Niigata expect to have a marketable version ready within 5 years at a cost of under 1 million yen (about $9000). That may sound like a lot, but it’s likely that municipalities would pay the cost and deploy them where needed.

Ask Dr. Liberal

Dear Dr. Liberal,

I’ve recently read about the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement and it looks pretty good. Should I join?

Signed,

No Kidding (Get it?)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Dear No Kidding,

The good Dr’s knowledge of all things liberal is vast. I met Noam Chomsky and Kurt Vonnegut in a bar in Cambridge back in 1992 and I pwnd those bitches. And yet, I am man enough to admit that I had to google up some knowledge on the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. (http://www.vhemt.org/ )

I just skim stuff, but I get that the gist is that that these VHEMT folks think that things would be better for everyone if we all decided to stop having kids and gradually died out as a species. Certainly, the inspection line at the DMV would be a lot shorter. This is rooted in the observation that we are on track for an UN-voluntary extinction or, short of that, some really big mass dying events that will be wholly unpleasant and fuck up the planet like mad.

If you read the web site, you cant deny that they make a good case. Not only that they make their case in a very matter of fact and unconfrontational manner which is refreshing for one of these tree hugging enterprises. For example, read their FAQ page about abortion:

Q: Does VHEMT favor abortion?

Only when someone is pregnant.

Seriously though, pregnancy should be prevented whenever possible. Unwanted pregnancy is the cause of almost all abortions, and VHEMT certainly doesn’t favor unwanted pregnancy.

The Movement doesn’t even favor wanted pregnancies. Unfortunately, accidental conceptions still happen, so an available and safe safety net is essential for the well-being of girls and women. Criminalizing abortions has never prevented them from being performed, it just makes them unsafe: illegal abortions cause an estimated 68,000 to 74,000 deaths, with five million suffering from complications each year.

Abortion is inconceivable without conception, so contraception prevents abortions.

The issue of a woman’s right to a legal and safe abortion is somewhat beyond the scope of VHEMT. However, the first word is “Voluntary” and coerced births are not. A wide range of opinions on this subject exists within The Movement.

I’m down with all that. So, yeah…I guess. Sure. Go ahead. Don’t have any children and if it too late for that, indoctrinate your offspring so that your utterly average genetic code passes into history. And oh yeah. If you get discouraged by the fact that it is going to be pretty darn tough to convince the world that voluntary human extinction is a good idea – just remember that most people laughed when a guy from Nazareth told people that he was God, but also the Man, but also the Son of God here on a mission to bait the Romans into killing him so everyone who can say, “Yeah, I’ll buy that” can get off this stinking rock and live in an ice cream castle in the sky forever.

Sincerely,

Dr. Liberal.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Corrections: (crickets chirping)

Pour me a cup of your thoughts. Until then, the Doctor is out.

Top 20 Films Since 1992

According to Quentin Tarantino:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz4K-Rxx2Bk[/youtube]

This is an interesting list — most of his picks (that I’ve seen) are fairly kinetic and/or atmospheric movies that seem to be reflective of a man whose own movies don’t flinch from much. And it is an interesting mix of both film geeky and populist picks. What I think I like most about this list (even as I don’t like some of the movies on it) is that it is quite utterly his list — he doesn’t seem to care about categories of “art” vs. “popular” films and proceeds to tell us exactly what moves him. Nicely done.

1992 is the year that Tarantino became a director himself.

So what about you? Maybe you don’t have a Top 20 over the last 20 years, but what would be some of your favorites from that period?

Weekend Open Thread

I hope you’re enjoying a weather-event free weekend. We can leave the house this time! I am in Philadelphia, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, previewing the Picasso exhibit. Let’s get rolling. I declare this thread open.

The birth of a political dynasty?

Dan Quayle’s son is running for Congress.

Ben Quayle announced Friday that he will seek the Arizona House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. John Shadegg.

“My generation is going to have to clean up the mess made by the politicians in Washington,” Quayle said in a statement. “The reckless spending and crushing debt burden must be stopped.”

Of course, Dan Quayle is still a moran:

Former Vice President Dan Quayle appeared on Fox News this afternoon to chip in his two cents on the health care debate. Namely, he warned that using the reconciliation process would set a “very bad precedent” because a simple majority is just unconstitutional.

“They’re gonna go to budget reconciliation, which I believe would set a very bad precedent, because essentially — if they could do it, and I don’t know if they can do it, but if they could do it — what you have done, effectively, is to take away the filibuster in the United States Senate,” Quayle said. “So, therefore, you have 51 votes in the House and 51 votes in the Senate. That is not what our Founding Fathers had in mind. That is not the constitutional process.”

There are, of course, no rules in the Constitution about super-majority requirements in the Senate. There is also no provision for direct election of Senators, either.

There’s an app for that:

Coincidentally, Skeptical Science has just become available today as an iPhone or iPod app. The app lets you use an iPhone or iPod to view the entire list of skeptic arguments as well as (more importantly) what the science says on each argument. To download the app, go to http://itunes.com/apps/skepticalscience

How it happened was a few months ago, I was contacted by Shine Technologies, a software development company from Melbourne, Australia. The owners of the company are passionate about climate change and were interested in getting the science from Skeptical Science onto mobile phones. This is a good idea for two reasons. Firstly, because now more than ever it’s imperative that the climate debate focuses on science so the more readily available the science, the better. Secondly, well, an iPhone app is pretty cool.

So for the last few months, the boffins at Shine have been developing the app with Apple approving it today. How does it work? You browse arguments via the Top 10 most used arguments as well as 3 main categories (“It’s not happening”, “It’s not us”, “It’s not bad”):

Best of all: it’s free! I’ve already downloaded it to my iTouch.

The Daily Show Deploys More Republican Pwnage

It strikes me that sooner or later someone is going to create The Daily Show Party — filled with people who not only know their stuff, but who are quick on their feet at countering Republican bullshit. And who won’t be cringing behind polling or what the pundits say about them:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
The Apparent Trap
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Health Care Crisis

h/t to Jason330 who posted this in the Friday Open Thread. Take his advice and be sure to watch all the way to the end.

Polling: In Which We Find Republicans Still Have a Problem

It is fair to note that this poll shows a pretty toxic environment for both parties, but it seems clear that if you are a Congressional Dem, you have abit of an edge to build from. And if you are a Congressional repub, the massive media spin (and media lock) isn’t exactly getting you alot of traction. Not yet, at least.

The poll is a new NYT/CBS News Poll that was released this week. Some highlights:

  • The top issues facing America ranked by responders include: Jobs – 27%, Economy – 25%, Health Care 13%. The only other issue in the double digit range is Other;
  • 8% say members of Congress deserve re-election;
  • 31% say BushCo was responsible for the current state of the economy, 23% say Wall Street is, 13% say Congress is and only 7% say the Obama administration is responsible;
  • 41% blame the Bush admin for the current deficit problem; 24% blame Congress for it; only 7% blame the Obama administration for it;
  • To reduce the deficit:
    • 62% would not be willing to reduce spending on health care or education
    • 45% would be willing to reduce military spending, while 51% would not be willing
  • 56% say that Mr. Obama does not have a plan to create jobs;
  • 55% approve of the way that Mr. Obama is handling terrorism;
  • 56% want smaller government; 59% thought it was doing too much;
  • 62% support an end to tax cuts for the wealthy;
  • 78% say government is run by a few big special interests;
  • 80% thought Congress was more interested in serving special interests than the people they represent;
  • 60% said the President understood their problems, 42% thought the same about Congressional Democrats and 35% for Congressional Republicans;
  • 62% said Mr. Obama was trying to work with Congressional Republicans, while 62% said that Republicans were not trying to work with Mr. Obama;
  • 74% said Republicans should compromise more;
  • 50% said the Senate should change the filibuster rules to require a simple majority to pass legislation;
  • Clear majorities of Americans favor allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military but the way the question is worded makes a very big difference in the level of support: 75% Support Gays Openly Serving In Military; 66% Think It’s Discrimination To Not Allow It;
  • Only 18% of responders are supporters of the Tea Party movement.

I don’t think you can overstate how toxic this environment is to anybody in the Federal government right now.  But there is a pretty clear hierarchy of approval/good will here and President Obama is at the top of that hierarchy for now.  Why congressional Democrats don’t take advantage of that — and help themselves and Obama — is a real mystery to me.

The Death Of Irony

According to Paul Krugman, irony is dead and Republicans killed it:

“Don’t cut Medicare. The reform bills passed by the House and Senate cut Medicare by approximately $500 billion. This is wrong.” So declared Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, in a recent op-ed article written with John Goodman, the president of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

And irony died.

…

No, what’s truly mind-boggling is this: Even as Republicans denounce modest proposals to rein in Medicare’s rising costs, they are, themselves, seeking to dismantle the whole program. And the process of dismantling would begin with spending cuts of about $650 billion over the next decade. Math is hard, but I do believe that’s more than the roughly $400 billion (not $500 billion) in Medicare savings projected for the Democratic health bills.

What I’m talking about here is the “Roadmap for America’s Future,” the budget plan recently released by Representative Paul Ryan, the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee. Other leading Republicans have been bobbing and weaving on the official status of this proposal, but it’s pretty clear that Mr. Ryan’s vision does, in fact, represent what the G.O.P. would try to do if it returns to power.

The broad picture that emerges from the “roadmap” is of an economic agenda that hasn’t changed one iota in response to the economic failures of the Bush years. In particular, Mr. Ryan offers a plan for Social Security privatization that is basically identical to the Bush proposals of five years ago.

I thought no government takeover of healthcare/hands off my Medicare was incoherent. I guess I don’t doubt that Republicans will see gains in 2010 but it’s certainly not because of offering ideas or even being a partner in governing. This is the flaw of the the two-party system – you have to vote for one party or the other.

Friday Open Thread

It’s Friday of one of the strangest work weeks I’ve ever had. Two snowstorms in one week with two driving bans. It’s hard to say TGIF since I only had to go to work 3 days this week. Today’s open thread is a video-rich open thread. Enjoy!

Both Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart take on Fox News and their contention that the recent snowstorms means global warming is a hoax.

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
We’re Off to See the Blizzard
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Skate Expectations
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Unusually Large Snowstorm
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Rachel Maddow and Bill Nye the Science Guy explain the link between global warming and the recent snowstorms:

Snomaggedon: Critique The Governor’s Performance

There’s been a lot of chatter on Twitter and elsewhere about the Governor’s performance during the snowstorm. The critiques I’ve seen are the following:

  • The governor is on a boondoggle in Europe while Delaware suffers from the snowstorm.
  • The State of Emergency was too draconian and lasted too long. It should have been lifted earlier.

    • On the positive side, many have praised the responsiveness of the governor’s office. Both the Delaware Emergency Management Agency and a new account on Twitter called @DelStormInfo kept the public informed about road conditions, storm conditions and power outages.

    What’s your opinion? Did the Governor respond too zealously to the storm? Did he declare a State of Emergency too soon and did it last too long? What about his economic development trip to Europe during the storm, was this the wrong move?