Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A Noun, A Verb, POW
And the absurdity continues.
Interviewed Sunday on CNN, Mr. Warren seemed surprised to learn that Mr. McCain was not in the building during the Obama interview. A spokeswoman for Mr. McCain said he was en route to the church.
Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions. “The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.
Changing Spaces
The suburbs are different. I may not be thrilled when someone knocks on my door to ask me to vote for them, or whatever, but I don't feel like they've violated my space or anything. My door is right on the sidewalk, which conceptually makes a difference as unlike in the burbs you don't have to actually walk onto someone's property before you can get to the door. Well, other than the stoop.
Anyway, too late on a Sunday for especially deep thoughts, but we do interact very differently to our geographic spaces and to each other depending on how things things are organized spatially. It matters, perhaps a lot.
Anyway, too late on a Sunday for especially deep thoughts, but we do interact very differently to our geographic spaces and to each other depending on how things things are organized spatially. It matters, perhaps a lot.
Meanwhile
Over there.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber on a motorcycle struck a checkpoint in Baghdad manned by U.S.-backed neighborhood guards on Sunday, killing 15 people and wounding 29, police said.
The Way We Live
The joys of private property.
But a Frisco man says his truck is being targeted simply because his homeowners association doesn't think it's classy enough.
Jim Greenwood said he never dreamed his HOA would have a problem with his new Ford F-150 pickup. Then he received the first of three notices threatening him with fines.
"Mr. Greenwood, you're violating a subdivision rule that prohibits pickup trucks in your driveway," the notice reads.
Stonebriar HOA rules allow several luxury trucks on driveways, including the Cadillac Escalade, Chevy Avalanche, Honda Ridgeline and Lincoln Mark LT.
Condo Hell
I imagine this sort of thing is incredibly common but you don't read about it all that much.
After years of deferred maintenance, compounded by tightfisted members' unwillingness to pay higher monthly fees, condominium associations are facing a looming financial crisis, condo experts say.
“In order to maintain the assets, you have to have long-term thinking, but what we've seen is short-term people not planning for long-term futures,” said Karen Conlon, president of the California Association of Community Managers.
When repeated Band-Aid fixes no longer suffice, condominium owners find themselves on the hook for hefty special assessments, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Increasingly, homeowner groups are having to take out loans to soften the blow of high levies.
Contempt For Their Audiences
Some smart cable news programmer might, at some point, rethink the "no liberals allowed on the teevee" rule.
Public Works
Indeed, repairing some bridges and building some SUPERTRAINS would seem like much better policy ideas than small tax rebates and endless wars. In addition to providing much needed stuff, it would provide employment in construction and related industries which are seeing declines.
About 800 thousand fewer construction jobs than a year ago.
About 800 thousand fewer construction jobs than a year ago.
Stop Lecturing
I suppose there's no chance the widespread lecturing tone of newspaper editorials will ever die, but tone aside they could, you know, stop lecturing people.
As much as I love the SUPERTRAIN, I also generally assume that people don't need the Philadelphia Inquirer to decide whether they should take it or their cars. Sure there are some people who, if they could be prodded to give it a try, would decide that mass transit worked for them. But most people are evaluating the options and making choices based on time, cost, and personal preferences.
Such exhortations should be accompanied by the commuting methods of everyone on the editorial board.
High gas prices finally have persuaded more commuters to do what they should have been doing all along - using mass transit. It eases congestion, saves wear and tear on your car, reduces greenhouse gases, and lowers the demand for foreign oil. Higher gas prices made people see the financial advantage of taking the train. And if you can find a seat, the trip is usually less stressful, too.
As much as I love the SUPERTRAIN, I also generally assume that people don't need the Philadelphia Inquirer to decide whether they should take it or their cars. Sure there are some people who, if they could be prodded to give it a try, would decide that mass transit worked for them. But most people are evaluating the options and making choices based on time, cost, and personal preferences.
Such exhortations should be accompanied by the commuting methods of everyone on the editorial board.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Document the atrocities.
- ABC's "This Week" — Defense Secretary Robert Gates; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.; former Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D.
___
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.
___
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Rice; Govs. Bobby Jindal, R-La., and Tim Kaine, D-Va.
___
CNN's "Late Edition" — Gates; Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M.; Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.
"Fox News Sunday" _ Rice; former Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa.; Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; White House press secretary Dana Perino.
Rude awakenings
You would have thought so:
Not Atrios
Pure speculation by Yvonne Ridley and Aijaz Zaka Syed? Perhaps. Anti-American rhetoric by a disgruntled Arab? It's certainly possible. Ten years ago I would have dismissed this report out of hand. After all, surely no civilized government would behave in such a fashion, and, if it did, surely our free press would have gone through walls to uncover the behavior.Signed,
Not Atrios
Saturday, August 16, 2008
In Case I Wasn't Clear
The characteristics of the audience will be greatly influenced by the price of admission.
Prosperity Gospel
Not bad.
Public criticism over the ticket policy has sent church officials scrambling to explain itself as the big day approaches — although many would-be attendees remain unsatisfied by their explanation.
Church officials said they'd hoped to have some tickets available for the public but ran out when they couldn't satisfy demand among church members, who got the first crack at tickets that sold for $500 to $2,000.
Church officials said they decided to charge admission for people who wanted a chance to see the Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls because of the expenses to stage the event and provide television feeds to a host of networks.
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