2010 archive
Astroturf Wars 0
In the Guardian, George Monbiot describes astroturfing. A nugget:
Rowell and Matthews found that one of the messages Mary Murphy had sent came from a domain owned by the Bivings Group, a PR company specialising in internet lobbying. An article on the Bivings website explained that “there are some campaigns where it would be undesirable or even disastrous to let the audience know that your organisation is directly involved … “
The whole thing is worth the four minutes it takes to read it and will leave you wondering realizing what astroturfers have to hide and why they have to hide it.
Afterthought:
Sounds awfully like “bearing false witness” to me.
It’s Awards Time 0
Who cares about the Golden Globes?
Place your nominations for TPM’s Golden Dukies in these categories:
1. Meritorious Achievement in The Crazy
2. Unrefudiated Champion of Tea Party Wackiness
3. Most Outrageous Election Season Fib Issued By A Politician
4. Most Over-The-Top Campaign Ad
5. The George Allen Honors For Best Tracker-Captured Freak-Out
6. Best Scandal — Sex and Generalized Carnality
7. Best Scandal — Local Venue
8. Best Scandal — General Interest
Christine O’Donnell should have a lock on categories 1, 2, and 4.
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
Is free checking on the way out? McClatchy reports:
The loss of free checking means that unlike in the recent past, more customers will have to maintain minimum balances, agree to write only so many checks a month, or receive their monthly statements electronically to avoiding paying monthly fees on their checking accounts.
If I recall correctly, when I got my first checking account, it came with a $.10 per check fee. Later on, I moved to a bank with an “average minimum balance” account.
I don’t particularly like fees, but I’d rather see them than the kind of under-handed games that banks were playing to run up overdraft and other penalty fees.
I would much rather knowingly pay for a service I’m using than have my pocket picked.
The Entitlement Society 0
Irish bonus babies:
“They were told that the bonus for 2008 was being brought forward and would be paid out on 25 February – two months before the normal date.
“The staff were explicitly told that the meeting they were then having constituted a verbal contract which was legally binding.
“In other words, senior managers at the bank created a legal obligation to pay the bonuses in AIB as it was effectively being nationalised. Staff were told to keep all of this to themselves.”
Pain Street, USA 0
I have visited Disney World a couple of times. Disney does a wonderful job at make-believe.
After a week in a Disney hotel on the Disney World property, you can feel as if you have become completely disconnected from the rest of world, at least until you check your bank balance. Some persons enjoy it so much that they buy timeshares and take Disney vacations every year.
As much as I enjoyed the show, I found the disconnection to be slightly eerie.
Now, for some, the fantasy has turned dark.
(snip)
Celebration’s foreclosure rate is about double the state’s pace as homeowners who paid a premium for a vision of utopia fall behind on their mortgages. Earlier this month, a resident on the verge of losing his house shot himself after a 14-hour standoff with police. Three days before that, the town had its first murder when a man was bludgeoned with an ax.
Disney, by the way, no longer has a business interest in Celebration.
He Can Now Proceed to the Boarding Area . . . 0
Robert Hurst tells The Picayune Item newspaper that he shed his clothes because he believes skin is the best canvas to show spirits’ orbs of energy.
Really, is it indecent if no sees you but a few ghosts?
We Need Single Payer (Updated) 0
My reading of Virginia blogs tells me that this ruling from this judge was not a surprise. Right now, he’s the “one” in the phrasel “two-to-one against.”
Importantly, Judge Hudson did not take the next step and rule that the entire law must be declared void immediately, as the state of Virginia had insisted. The individual mandate does not kick in until 2014, but other provisions of the law are already being implemented. The adverse ruling doesn’t stop that.
Addendum:
TPM looks at legal flaws in the ruling:
Kerr and others note that Hudson’s argument against Congress’ power to require people to purchase health insurance rests on a tautology.
What To Do? 0
Comically Vintage answers.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
The “underwater housing price” problem is coming under control:
About 10.8 million homes, or 22.5 percent of those with mortgages, were “underwater” as of Sept. 30, the Santa Ana, California-based real estate information company said in a report today. That was down from 11 million, or 23 percent, at the end of June, the third straight quarterly decline.
In other news, brisk trading in homeless shelter futures.
Snowpocalyse 1
We seem to be getting sideswiped by the remains of the storm that had the temerity to interfere with the NFL. I hear it was penalized fifteen inches and ordered to sit out the next blizzard.
WikiHysteria (Updated) 0
In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tracy Rubin goes ga-ga because Visa’s, MasterCard’s, and Amazon’s websites got slow for a little while.
This is a serious overreaction, founded in ignorance of how computer networks actually function. Her “expert” is Richard Clarke, who (surprise, surprise) has a scary book to sell.
For a sane view of the cyberterrorism drumbeaters, read Dick Destiny.
Addendum, later that same week:
Dick Destiny, whose background in these matters is far stronger than mine, considers Ms. Rubin’s reasoning. The results are not pretty.
“How WikiLeaks Stole Christmas” 0
The Boston Globe tells the story.
Underwear Undercurrents 0
The Chicago Tribune reminds the gullible that there was no Otto Titzling and offers up other tidbits about the history of underwear.
Christmas Music 0
Sick of commercials?
Go to Shoutcast, plug “Christmas” into the search field, and take your pick.
My netbook is jacked into the stereo and there are speakers all over the condo.
Used Up and Thrown Away . . . 0
. . . like a rake’s old conquest of last week. From Kiko’s House:
While the bill, which passed the House in September, could be inserted into the already top-heavy tax-cut bill that may yet be passed before the 111th Congress adjourns, the Republican obstructionism — based on a stated concern that the $7.4 billion in medical care was too dear — betrayed an immorality that makes a mockery of claims of fiscal responsibility, and the bill will be deader than a doornail when the 112th Congress convenes in January.
When the dew was no longer on the rose,
when votes no longer came from the pose,
support for the rescuers, well, away it goes.