Friday, August 01, 2008
Their Own Side
Hotline:
Yes, because Dana Milbank's a liberal just like John Weaver is a conservative.
Please kill me.
In other news, liberal bloggers are buzzing about ex-McCain strategist John Weaver's criticism of the McCain camp's recent tactics, which they see as evidence that the McCain camp's negativity is causing a backlash. Conservative bloggers, meanwhile, are linking to Dana Milbank's column that mocks Obama for being "presumptuous." The excitement that Weaver's and Milbank's respective words are generating in the blogosphere illustrates how people in politics are never more influential than when they're criticizing their own side.
Yes, because Dana Milbank's a liberal just like John Weaver is a conservative.
Please kill me.
Drill Here Drill Now
That's what John Culberson twittered. It's conveniently the slogan of this group, "American Solutions," Newt's club for billionaires.
Credit Where Credit Due
Kevin Martin, for the moment, doing the right thing.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided Federal Communications Commission has ruled that Comcast Corp. violated federal policy when it blocked Internet traffic for some subscribers and has ordered the cable giant to change the way it manages its network.
In a precedent-setting move, the FCC by a 3-2 vote on Friday enforced a policy that guarantees customers open access to the Internet.
The commission did not assess a fine, but ordered the company to stop cutting off transfers of large data files among customers who use a special type of ''file-sharing'' software.
Twits
Congress is no longer in session, and the Republicans have taken to the House floor to twitter their objections to the world.
Funny.
Funny.
Maddow
She is good. And as this blog has been pointing out for years, no sensible programmer would look at the big ratings bump Olbermann gets relative to the shows before and after and not think that it would be smart to try to keep some of that audience. So there must be some other reason other than ratings driving that decision.
Probably For The Best
In a different world where our discourse wasn't so stupid, it'd probably be a lot of fun to go through the roll call vote at the convention. But given the way that our media would cover it (DEMOCRATS DIVIDED!!!), it would come across poorly.
A Conversation Between Richard Cohen And His Doctor
Cohen: Hi Doc. I was wondering, um, could you prescribe some Cipro for me?
Doc: Uh, what for? Do you have a severe bacterial infection that I'm unaware of? I mean, it isn't really effective against Chlamydia anyway.
Cohen: No, just because. I want some.
Doc: Okay, here you go!
Doc: Uh, what for? Do you have a severe bacterial infection that I'm unaware of? I mean, it isn't really effective against Chlamydia anyway.
Cohen: No, just because. I want some.
Doc: Okay, here you go!
Houston
Echoing one of Matt's commenters who brings up something I've been meaning to mention for awhile. It is true that Houston has no zoning in the sense that you can stick commercial buildings next to housing (though the extensive use of land use covenants have established a kind of de facto zoning in many places), but Houston still has land use regulations which place serious restrictions on the type of structure you can put on a piece of land.
In other words, Houston doesn't tell you what you can do with a structure, but it still tells you what kind of structures you can build.
In other words, Houston doesn't tell you what you can do with a structure, but it still tells you what kind of structures you can build.
In Cipro They Trusted
Glennzilla also reminds us of Richard Cohen:
Years later it apparently does not occur to American's Funniest Pundit to ask why a "high government official" was warning media figures to start popping Cipro in the aftermath of 9/11. I can see why, at the time, the obvious interpretation would be that there was intelligence about possible biological attacks. But now that we know that the US gov't believes that anthrax came from the inside, shouldn't Cohen be a wee bit curious about what this warning was based on?
The attacks were not entirely unexpected. I had been told soon after Sept. 11 to secure Cipro, the antidote to anthrax. The tip had come in a roundabout way from a high government official, and I immediately acted on it. I was carrying Cipro way before most people had ever heard of it.
Years later it apparently does not occur to American's Funniest Pundit to ask why a "high government official" was warning media figures to start popping Cipro in the aftermath of 9/11. I can see why, at the time, the obvious interpretation would be that there was intelligence about possible biological attacks. But now that we know that the US gov't believes that anthrax came from the inside, shouldn't Cohen be a wee bit curious about what this warning was based on?
Zoning
Good idea or not, it's perfectly normal and happens all the time. In my area opening any kind of place will generally require making the local neighborhood association happy, then zoning board approval, then of course pleasing (and paying) Licenses&Inspections, etc. That isn't to say all of this is good, but it is utterly mundane.
I actually wouldn't mind if the more libertarian-minded people would focus more of their attention on this stuff instead of, you know, helmet laws and smoking bans. That isn't to say that I'd necessarily agree with them, but this stuff tends to get in the way of the economic freedom libertarians like to talk about a lot more than, say, minimum wage laws.
I actually wouldn't mind if the more libertarian-minded people would focus more of their attention on this stuff instead of, you know, helmet laws and smoking bans. That isn't to say that I'd necessarily agree with them, but this stuff tends to get in the way of the economic freedom libertarians like to talk about a lot more than, say, minimum wage laws.
Forgot To Bet
Jobs report is out.
The U.S. unemployment rate climbed to 5.7 percent in July, its highest in more than four years as employers cut payrolls for a seventh month in a row, though less severely than predicted, according to a government report in Friday.
The Labor Department said 51,000 non-farm jobs were eliminated in July, bringing losses for the year to 463,000.
Where We Are
Glennzilla:
And only a few crazy bloggers are even interested.
ABC News already knows the answers to these questions. They know who concocted the false bentonite story and who passed it on to them with the specific intent of having them broadcast those false claims to the world, in order to link Saddam to the anthrax attacks and -- as importantly -- to conceal the real culprits behind the attacks. And yet, unbelievably, they are keeping the story to themselves, refusing to disclose who did all of this. They're allegedly a news organization, in possession of one of the most significant news stories of the last decade, and they are concealing it from the public, even years later.
They're not protecting "sources." The people who fed them the bentonite story aren't "sources." They're fabricators and liars who purposely used ABC News to disseminate to the American public an extremely consequential and damaging falsehood. But by protecting the wrongdoers, ABC News has made itself complicit in this fraud perpetrated on the public, rather than a news organization uncovering such frauds. That is why this is one of the most extreme journalistic scandals that exists, and it deserves a lot more debate and attention than it has received thus far.
And only a few crazy bloggers are even interested.
Does Anyone Remember Anthrax?
Something missing from this article...
what is it... um... ah, right.
Still unlikely to have been this I suppose.
Funny reading that article now. Less than a month after 9/11 they were pinning anthrax on Iraq, and in the middle of that article there's a link to another article pushing the Iraq/9/11 connection. One reason idiots like me opposed the war is that we noticed this horseshit in real time.
WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. biodefense researcher apparently committed suicide just as the Justice Department was about to file criminal charges against him in the anthrax mailings that traumatized the nation in the weeks following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a published report.
what is it... um... ah, right.
Still unlikely to have been this I suppose.
A second test of the anthrax-laced letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle points to the presence of a troubling chemical additive, sources tell ABCNEWS.
MORE INVESTIGATIVE NEWS: • Atta Met Iraqi Official in Prague
Four well-placed and separate sources told ABCNEWS that initial tests detected bentonite, though the White House initially said the chemical was not found.
...
As far as is known, only one country, Iraq, has used bentonite to produce biological weapons, but officials caution that the presence of the chemical alone does not constitute firm evidence of Iraqi involvement.
Funny reading that article now. Less than a month after 9/11 they were pinning anthrax on Iraq, and in the middle of that article there's a link to another article pushing the Iraq/9/11 connection. One reason idiots like me opposed the war is that we noticed this horseshit in real time.
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