First Looks category archive

Evil has been done in the name of the people of the United States of America.

Influential Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy has proposed that an independent “truth commission” be established to investigate alleged abuses of power under the Bush administration. President Barack Obama has reacted cautiously to the suggestion, saying he is more interested in looking forward than backwards.

(lots of snippage)

But a USA Today/Gallup poll this month found that 62 percent of Americans support either a criminal investigation or an independent panel to look into allegations of torture and other abuses of power during the Bush administration.

As I have said before, I do not favor prosecutions. But I do favor the truth.

If you sweep evil under the rug, it just lies there waiting to bite you in the behind.

‘Tis better to expose it to the plain light of day.

More here.

Via PDA, who, methinks may have jumped the gun.

When I went to DL last night, I actually found a parking space on Chestnut almost right in front of the bar venue.

With 45 minutes left on the meter.

Metered parking in that area on Chestnut is eight minutes per quarter (still cheaper than the lots).

As one of my DL friends remarked, the previous parker must have been a tourist.

As anyone who watched Parking Wars knows, Philadelphians don’t do meters. Or park legally. (And you thought the show was about the exceptions, didn’t you?)

Mother of all coincidences. This came in from FactCheck dot org even as I typed the previous post (q. v.). As always, follow the link for detailed analysis:

Do some of the Republican claims you’ve heard about the stimulus bill sound too awful to be true? We find a few that are wildly exaggerated or downright false.

• It’s not true that the bill contains spending for “golf carts.” It has $300 million to buy fuel-efficient vehicles, some of which may be electric cart-like utility vehicles like those already in use on military bases and at other government facilities.
• Money claimed to be for “remodeled federal offices” is mostly designated for upgrading buildings to “green” status through such things as thicker insulation and highly efficient lighting, not new drapes or paneling.
• A widely repeated claim that $8 billion is set aside for a “levitating train” to Disneyland is untrue. That total is for unspecified high-speed rail projects, and some of it may or may not end up going to a proposed 300-mph “maglev” train connecting Anaheim, Calif., with Las Vegas.
• There’s no money in the bill specified for butterfly parks, Frisbee golf courses or water slides, despite a GOP congressman’s claim that the bill “will fund” those projects. He culled those silly-sounding items from a list of 18,750 city projects that the U.S. Conference of Mayors cobbled together as examples of “shovel-ready” projects.

Don’t look to us to defend any particular item in the bill, or to criticize it. We will, however, call out politicians for delivering trumped-up descriptions of the bill’s contents.

Later, folks.

Possible Secretary of Commerce nominee, according to the Left Shue.

Tuesday; Triumph Brewing Company; a hop, skip, and jump from Front on Chestnut; 6 p.

Come George your Soros.

All joking aside, this commercial is just obnoxious.

The premise is obnoxious, the pseudo-marine is obnoxious, the script is obnoxious, the concept is obnoxious.

Fisherman’s Friend, the best cough drop.

Full Disclosure: Fisherman’s Friend has no knowledge of nor interest in this blog post. All they do is make cough drops that work.

I agree with this post with a footnote.

Footnote: I have never been interested in the Academy Awards. Or the Emmies. Or the Golden Globes. Or any of the other entertainment industry self-abuse. I have no desire to sit in front of the teevee and watch the entertainment industry stimulate hair-growth on its palms.

The one that’s linked.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

From TPM:

Don’t believe what you see on teevee.

Crime laboratories around the country are grossly underfunded, lack a scientific foundation and are compromised by critical delays in analyzing physical evidence, according to a broad study of forensic techniques published Wednesday by the National Academy of Sciences, the nation’s premier scientific body.

Among its many criticisms, the study counted a backlog of 359,000 requests for forensic analysis in 2005, a 24 percent increase in delays since 2002. A survey of crime laboratories found 80 percent of them to be understaffed.

Sales pitchers retired from the mound:

A record 881 U.S. auto dealerships closed in 2008, with Detroit’s three struggling automakers representing 80 percent of the decline, according to data released on Thursday.

In the face of tight credit and a plunge in sales of cars and trucks, about 4.2 percent of the country’s 20,084 auto dealerships shut their doors, according to data firm Urban Science.

More vanishing retail: While I was in Concord Mall today buying socks, I noticed that the Burger King and three stores were gone and vacant and the Spencer’s Gifts had turned into a plush looking hearing aid place.

The Burger King and Spencer’s had been there since before I moved to these parts, through all the iterations of the Mall. I can’t remember what the other stores were, which leads me to think they were women’s wear stores of some description.

The camera shop is long gone, a victim of digital photography.

Go to Balloon Juice. Read the post. Play the video.

Do not drink anything while playing the video.

You will not regret it.

Shorter Peter Cappelli interview: In the long run, they don’t help companies. They help the stock price because “Wall Street analysts,” rulers of all things financial, think that layoffs help companies.

A description of the interview from the Radio Times website:

As the nation continues to shed jobs, some employers are searching for alternatives to layoffs like reducing salaries and work hours or asking employees to take voluntary unpaid vacations. We talk with Wharton professor PETER CAPPELLI about the effectiveness of such strategies vs. laying off workers.

Follow the link to the website and search the archives for February 18, 2009, or listen here (MP3).

I bought a pack of four pairs of socks today.

Couldn’t afford two packs for eight pairs.

See it here.