The Flamin’ Groovies were one the best, if underrated, rock and roll bands ever, IMHO.
“Slow Death” was their anti-drug song, learned the hard way no doubt, the way most of us did.
Attack ads, circa 1800
Politicians are still attacking each other. It’s been going on for quite some time
On the Rally to Restore Sanity / Fear
This is not a light-hearted moment. This is a not a moment that allows smug moral superiority about being “sane” in a chaotic era of political craziness.
This is a time of national emergency. This is a weekend that demands the firm leadership and vision of a commander-in-chief who can calm some fears, reassure some of the reluctant and re-motivate those who invested so much in faith in the promise of change.
He hopes that Obama will appear, do a strong rally and act like a leader, like in the glory days of the 2008 campaign. That ain’t going to happen. But he’s certainly correct about this not being a time to be smug or ironic.
Red America shows up for a raucous, passionate, blunt rally on the mall. Blue America shows up for a tongue-n-cheek, ironic, humor-based rally on the mall with no explicit reference to an authoritarian, fear-based society but a comedian in character who makes the point indirectly.
All of which translates into not much in terms of political change. I’m watching it live as I type this. It’s fun, humorous – and lightweight. It also seems to get close to making serious political points then pulls its punches.
Avoid ‘free public WiFi’ network at all costs
It’s a rogue network and could open you up to attack.
Make it stop. California GHG plan gives free permits to polluters
The state will give away 100 percent of permits through 2020 to oil drilling, cement and other industries that otherwise might shut down if forced to pay for permits. Sawmills, food manufacturing and others will get shorter-term aid. Within an industry, more efficient firms will get more allowances, which less efficient companies may need to buy.
So, the more efficient and cleaner firms are penalized while belching polluters get free permits, do I have this right?
Are they not insane? Or corrupt? Are we living in Bizarro World?
Driverless vans complete 8,000 mile trip
Using a system called the Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector, or GOLD, these two vans were able to pretty much guide themselves across the two continents. Lasers scanners and video cameras worked together to ensure the vans didn’t cause any accidents (and it is pretty remarkable they made it that far unscathed.) The researchers had to intervene in heavy traffic or at toll booths, but for the most part they did the driving themselves.
Added bonus. The vans are electric.
Facebook buys Drop.io, kills it
No word yet on whether drop.io technology will make it into Facebook, which may have wanted the developers not the software.
Mercedes Hexawheel concept. Drive like an insect
The premise is simple: ants (along with various other insects) benefit from an articulated design, meaning their various body sections can move independently of one another. Compare ants to say, a tortoise, which has a fixed body and moving legs (i.e, the same design as a traditional car/SUV), and it’s clear that the ant benefits from a much greater degree of agility on various terrains than the tortoise.
Welcome to Crazytown. Vote Sanity against the nutcases
The Rally to Restore Sanity says “Vote Sanity. Because you might be mad. But they’re crazy.” All true, and the video is fun and humorous so you should definitely watch it.
And sure, if wack-a-doodles are running in your area, absolutely, vote against them. But when it comes to the primary problem in the country, the ongoing looting of the public by the banksters with the full cooperation of the federal government, the Democrats are just as culpable and complicit as the Republicans. And it’s a given the Rally to Restore Sanity will mention nothing about that.
The blogger meeting with Obama. Questions too easy?
What Sean-Paul said, pretty much. Overall the questions were less hard hitting than I would have liked, but I can understand why folks might be intimidated by the President of the US. I expected nothing of Oliver Willis, and like Sean-Paul, I don’t read Kos.
However, I’ll say publicly what I’ve said privately: Obama reaches out to bloggers only when he’s in trouble. During the election, the only time period we were seriously consulted was during the brief period when Obama was behind John McCain.
As for the lack of hard-hitting questions, sure they may have been intimidated a bit, but the real question is, do you want to be in the club or not? If you want easy access to the White House, then ask puff-ball questions, because that’s how the process of co-opting works. But if you want real change, then tough questions need to be asked.
And they can be asked in a non-insulting way. Warren Olney is a master at this. Instead of asking Obama “Are you in an unholy alliance with Wall Street” say “How do you respond to those who say you are in an unholy alliance with Wall Street.” This may seem like a silly difference, but in reality, it puts the interview on a non-personal level.
As for the process of being co-opted, it’s subtle. As an example, I once worked at a music magazine. Record companies deluged us with free records and backstage passes, which was certainly nice. But once you get friendly with their PR staff and get used to the perks, well, it can be difficult to pan their new release if you think it’s a dog. So, instead, you might ignore it or farm the review out to someone who likes it. Journalists and bloggers often face the same type of situation.
PIIGS financial crisis is back. Ireland wobbling, in denial
Frankly, we blame all the other PIIGS for this
Irish bond yields just hit an all-time high, a sure sign that the financial crisis in the EU is back. In classic denial, they are blaming the other PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy,Spain, Greece) for making things bad for them.
Tea Party leader booted for anti-gay comments, heads another group
From an email conversation with reader Craig Woodward.
Not sure you heard yet, but the guy that got booted from the “Big Sky Tea Party” for asking for and “instruction manual” on how to lynch gay people, just got picked up by the Montana Tea Party as their new president. So much for not being a bigoted group…
OTOH, Karl Denninger, co-founder of the Tea Party, just slammed the current Tea Party big time, saying what they are now isn’t at all what they started out being, which was opposed to government collusion in bailing out the banksters. Also, one Tea Party group was appalled by the homophobia. It seems like the hard Marxist left to me sometimes, many shades of opinion and some outright haters and loonies as well.
The same could be said about all political parties. But the Tea Party has had it’s metamorphosis at a record pace. My argument against the Tea Party has never been that it was started as a hate-filled bigoted group. Rather that what it is now is a group we should not try to mingle with because of what it truly has become. Just like most kids don’t say “I want to be a crack-addicted hobo when I grow up”, this may not be what the founders had in mind when it started. But that doesn’t mean we can’t call it what it is, or what it has become.
I agree.
Protect yourself from Firesheep with a VPN
Surfing on open wi-fi is no longer secure. Someone using Firesheep on the same open net can grab your cookies and even login as you on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
A virtual private network will solve the problem. Mashable profiles several VPNs and also has info on how to install a VPN on your iPhone or iPad.
Far right violence and the lack of response from politicians
The lack of condemnation from politicians about far right violence speaks volumes as to their cowardice and duplicity, especially the silence from Democratic politicians. They could use this to their own political advantage if they wanted to. But that would require taking a stand regardless of consequences. So instead, they remain mute. This is beyond contemptible.
Look, I can understand why Republican politicians would be quiet here (either out of embarrassment, not knowing what to say, or secret agreement) but Democrats? They could use this as a weapon against the far right. Hey, I’ve got an idea. Instead of sending campaign contributions to Democrats, let’s all chip in and send them Depend adult diapers. Then the next time they piddle in their pants in fear, it won’t wreck their clothing.
“It’s been quite amazing over the last couple months, but really over the last two years,” said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups and extremism. “I’d date this, in many ways, to the rise to power of Obama. Many people we saw coming with AR-15s to town halls and so on, and all of that. But I do think that it’s gotten even hotter out there. I think the reaction to the stomping of that woman’s head has been quite amazing. The idea that the guy could say that he needed an apology and that he’s not being condemned by the political class from sea to shining sea is astounding.” …
The crazy old uncle now has commanding lead over the iceberg
Jerry Brown is now 10 points ahead of Meg Whitman, in what is a quite extraordinary resurgence.
