2009 archive
Obama’s “Trust” Problem in a Nutshell 0
There is much gnashing of teeth in Left Blogistan and Left Journalististan because President Obama has been unable to wave a magic wand and get our elected officials incongruously assembled to do his (and their) bidding. Persons are starting to fulminate about a “trust” problem.
Anyone who paid attention during the campaign would know that Mr. Obama is not a doctrinaire (in Republican terms, “wild-eyed”) liberal. He did not campaign as one and has neither portrayed himself as one nor voted as one.
But he does have a “trust” problem.
He trusted that the Republicans would deal in good faith and with truth.
They don’t.
Stray Thought 0
Does hurricane Bill mean no hurricane Guillaume?
Aside: The weather system that Bill caused to stall over Delaware dropped 1 1/2″ of rain on my backyard. YMMV.
Advanced Placement 0
He’ll probably do a better job than most members of bank boards of directors:
Six-year-old Sam Pointon from Leicester wrote to the museum and applied to replace retiring director Andrew Scott.
Growth Industry 2
The Guardian reviews the history (herstory?) of Rigby & Peller, a British fashion institution. A nugget:
Our Stupid Public Discourse 0
Elizabeth Wellington pretty much sums it up.
Twits on Twitter 0
Twitter fails to trademark “tweet.”
Unsafe Waters 0
No Exit 0
The Guardian looks at health care for the uninsured in America. Read the whole thing. Here’s a doctor’s comment on the fight against reform:
Hole Card 0
Several months ago, I noticed that my bank’s ATMs were inhaling and exhaling cards much more slowly than previously.
Thinking something was screwy, I reported it to the information clerk at the branch. She told me that they had slowed down the feeder motors to defend against skimmers. I guess it’s related to the same thing that causes you to have to swipe the card again if you swipe it too slowly.
What a ATM skimmer looks like:
Not very noticeable, is it?
Click the picture to see more and to read the article.
Via the Network Security Podcast.
Dustbiters 0
One down. So far.
Like flies:
The hits just keep coming.
Afterthought: The FDIC has a great website. It reloads faster than any other website I regularly visit. Then, again, with all the failures, it has to.
Framing 0
It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it (emphasis added):
(snip)
In asking its question SurveyUSA used the same exact words that NBC/Wall Street Journal had used when conducting its June 2009 survey. That one that found 76 percent approval for the public option: “In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance–extremely important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?”
Think there’s a reason the WSJ/NBC poll’s wording was changed? Nah. Couldn’t be.
Via Noz.
The Triumph of Delusion 0
Johann Hari, writing in the U. K. Independent, considers how unreason took over the Republican Party. It’s a long article, but worth the 10 minutes it takes to read it. A nugget:
In their gut, they saw the US as a white-skinned, right-wing nation forever shaped like Sarah Palin.
When this image was repudiated by a majority of Americans in a massive landslide, it simply didn’t compute. How could this have happened? How could the cry of “Drill, baby, drill” have been beaten by a supposedly big government black guy? So a streak that has always been there in the American right’s world-view – to deny reality, and argue against a demonic phantasm of their own creation – has swollen. Now it is all they can see.
The Republican Toolkit 0
Revealed in an article at MasterNewMedia. A snippet:
- A potentially dangerous news story may be ignored by mass media. Most people believe that something which has not been reported just does not exist.
- A news story may be presented as a “wild accusation”, especially by someone authoritative. People that have a large consensus or cover important positions in politics, economics or the military may leverage their reputation to label a a fact as false and preposterous.
- A big media coverage of an important event may create enough distraction to deviate the attention of people from a real issue.
- A rumor that is neither confirmed or denied may generate confusion and doubts in a large audience.
- An individual or group of people may be forced or payed to provide false information that generate fake news stories.
Sound familiar?
Via GNC.
Brendan Writes a Column 0
Read it here.
Hawaii Celebrates 50 Years of Statehood 0
Somebody better tell the rest of the country.
In his latest, Todd recounts flying back to Hawaii, where he settled after retiring from the Navy, and being asked by a fellow American visiting Hawaii for the first time,
By the way, what kind of money do they use there in Hawaii?
International Perspectives 0
One of my favorite podcasts is Linux Outlaws, primarily because the two hosts, an English geek and musician and a German university student, have so much fun and laughter in recording it (fun fact: they had been podcasting for almost a year before they met in person).
Yesterday, I listened to their latest. About two-thirds of the way through, the conversation drifted to American health care. A summary of their views:
They are amazed and disheartened that Americans are upset because the President wants everyone to have health care.
Frankly, so am I.