TPM wonders After Kashkari, Who Runs TARP?. Kashkari is 35 year-old Neel Kashkari, the interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability and ex-Goldman Sacks VP that Henry Paulson appointed to the position. He's still in charge, apparently because of Geithner's confirmation delay.
Friday, February 06, 2009
The Meaning of Sarah Palin
THis is is a good article on The Meaning of Sarah Palin. It's a little long but worth a read. It starts off I think being quite fair about how both sides distorted her image for their own purposes. It then fits that into this vision of American politics:
"In American politics, the distinction between populism and elitism is further subdivided into cultural and economic populism and elitism. And for at least the last forty years, the two parties have broken down distinctly along this double axis. The Republican party has been the party of cultural populism and economic elitism, and the Democrats have been the party of cultural elitism and economic populism."
I was thinking it was was being too sympathetic to her and got to this...
"But having finally gotten voters to listen, neither Palin nor McCain could think of anything to say to them. Palin’s reformism, like McCain’s, was essentially an attitude devoid of substance. Both Republican candidates told us they hated corruption and would cut excess and waste. But separately and together, they offered no overarching vision of America, no consistent view of the role of government, no clear description of what a free society should look like, and no coherent policy ideas that might actually address the concerns of American families and offer solutions to the serious problems of the moment. Palin’s populism was not her weakness, but her strength. Her weakness was that she failed to tie her populism to anything deeper. A successful conservative reformism has to draw on cultural populism, but it has also to draw on a worldview, on ideas about society and government, and on a policy agenda. This would make it more intellectual, but not necessarily less populist."
Again it's worth a read. But I think it missed something. Yes she started off strong and the media distorted things, but she didn't say anything more than stump speeches for weeks after her introduction. It's not just that the campaign couldn't think "of anything to say" it didn't have her say anything. Given the void, the media filled it. Then when she did give interviews, she performed poorly. She complains about being asked "what do you read up in Alaska" when in fact she asked to name the title of anything she read; and she didn't.
It's not just that she didn't display the intellectual elitism required by Washington. She said nothing of substance and at times couldn't even form coherent sentences. Some of Tiny Fey's skits included lengthy direct quotes. Her actual words qualified as comedy routines. It's not just that she didn't have an ivy league education, it's that she demonstrated no depth of understanding on issues she would need to make decisions on.
It still annoys me when people say she had more executive experience than Obama. Both brought different experiences to their positions. She didn't have legislative or Washington experience. Evaluate them as a whole, and don't forget the small detail that he was a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago for 12 years. That's a depth of knowledge I thought would be very useful in fixing the constitutional messes that Bush had gotten us into. I thought that was more useful for the job of President than hunting skills, and I don't think that's elitism.
"In American politics, the distinction between populism and elitism is further subdivided into cultural and economic populism and elitism. And for at least the last forty years, the two parties have broken down distinctly along this double axis. The Republican party has been the party of cultural populism and economic elitism, and the Democrats have been the party of cultural elitism and economic populism."
I was thinking it was was being too sympathetic to her and got to this...
"But having finally gotten voters to listen, neither Palin nor McCain could think of anything to say to them. Palin’s reformism, like McCain’s, was essentially an attitude devoid of substance. Both Republican candidates told us they hated corruption and would cut excess and waste. But separately and together, they offered no overarching vision of America, no consistent view of the role of government, no clear description of what a free society should look like, and no coherent policy ideas that might actually address the concerns of American families and offer solutions to the serious problems of the moment. Palin’s populism was not her weakness, but her strength. Her weakness was that she failed to tie her populism to anything deeper. A successful conservative reformism has to draw on cultural populism, but it has also to draw on a worldview, on ideas about society and government, and on a policy agenda. This would make it more intellectual, but not necessarily less populist."
Again it's worth a read. But I think it missed something. Yes she started off strong and the media distorted things, but she didn't say anything more than stump speeches for weeks after her introduction. It's not just that the campaign couldn't think "of anything to say" it didn't have her say anything. Given the void, the media filled it. Then when she did give interviews, she performed poorly. She complains about being asked "what do you read up in Alaska" when in fact she asked to name the title of anything she read; and she didn't.
It's not just that she didn't display the intellectual elitism required by Washington. She said nothing of substance and at times couldn't even form coherent sentences. Some of Tiny Fey's skits included lengthy direct quotes. Her actual words qualified as comedy routines. It's not just that she didn't have an ivy league education, it's that she demonstrated no depth of understanding on issues she would need to make decisions on.
It still annoys me when people say she had more executive experience than Obama. Both brought different experiences to their positions. She didn't have legislative or Washington experience. Evaluate them as a whole, and don't forget the small detail that he was a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago for 12 years. That's a depth of knowledge I thought would be very useful in fixing the constitutional messes that Bush had gotten us into. I thought that was more useful for the job of President than hunting skills, and I don't think that's elitism.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
50 Beautiful And User-Friendly Navigation Menus
Design Showcase in Smashing Magazine lists 50 Beautiful And User-Friendly Navigation Menus. Pretty impressive stuff.
Obama Wants Appliances to Use Less Energy
Reuters reports Obama wants appliances to use less energy.
Here's the first paragraph:
"U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the Energy Department to set energy efficiency standards for a broad range of common household appliances, which will save Americans billions of dollars in electrical costs and reduce power plant emissions. The department was charged with slashing the energy use of more than 30 product categories."
This is a good thing, but of course it's longer term. It doesn't help until people replace existing appliances which does cost money.
Here's the last paragraph:
"A U.S. District Court approved rolling deadlines for backlogged standards in 2006, after environmental groups and 14 states sued the Bush administration for not meeting efficiency deadlines."
Ugh.
Here's the first paragraph:
"U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the Energy Department to set energy efficiency standards for a broad range of common household appliances, which will save Americans billions of dollars in electrical costs and reduce power plant emissions. The department was charged with slashing the energy use of more than 30 product categories."
This is a good thing, but of course it's longer term. It doesn't help until people replace existing appliances which does cost money.
Here's the last paragraph:
"A U.S. District Court approved rolling deadlines for backlogged standards in 2006, after environmental groups and 14 states sued the Bush administration for not meeting efficiency deadlines."
Ugh.
Ginsburg's Cancer May Have Been Caught Early Enough
ABC reports ABC News: Ginsburg's Cancer May Have Been Caught Early Enough. I think it's just based on the report that it was a 1cm sized tumor. If it was Stage I and therefore hadn't spread, that's a good thing.
Last month's Wired had an interesting article Why Early Detection Is the Best Way to Beat Cancer. It's the first I learned of the Canary Foundation which is concentrating on "solving cancer" by finding early detection techniques.
Last month's Wired had an interesting article Why Early Detection Is the Best Way to Beat Cancer. It's the first I learned of the Canary Foundation which is concentrating on "solving cancer" by finding early detection techniques.
Oscar Shorts
About the Oscar nominated short films. They're showing in Boston at the Coolidge Corner Theater starting tomorrow and apparently they'll be on iTunes on Feb 17th.
Justice Ginsburg Has Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer
The Blog of Legal Times writes Justice Ginsburg Has Surgery for Pancreatic Cancer.
"The Supreme Court has just announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery today in New York City for recently discovered pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, 75, had what she described as a 'long bout' with colorectal cancer in 1999, but recovered and has worked at full strength since. Always frail, she has been the subject of retirement rumors in recent years, but last year sent strong signals that she had no plans to leave the Court anytime soon. "
Jan Crawford Greenburg adds "The Court said she will be in the hospital recovering from surgery for 7 to 10 days. She could well return to the bench, when the Court goes back in session Feb. 23. If not, she still can participate in the cases -- even if she misses the oral arguments. The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist participated in some cases when he was off the bench, after he underwent treatment for thyroid cancer in 2004 and 2005. Rehnquist returned to the bench after nearly four months off to lead the Court, serving out the remainder of the 2004-2005 term before his death that summer."
"The Supreme Court has just announced that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery today in New York City for recently discovered pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg, 75, had what she described as a 'long bout' with colorectal cancer in 1999, but recovered and has worked at full strength since. Always frail, she has been the subject of retirement rumors in recent years, but last year sent strong signals that she had no plans to leave the Court anytime soon. "
Jan Crawford Greenburg adds "The Court said she will be in the hospital recovering from surgery for 7 to 10 days. She could well return to the bench, when the Court goes back in session Feb. 23. If not, she still can participate in the cases -- even if she misses the oral arguments. The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist participated in some cases when he was off the bench, after he underwent treatment for thyroid cancer in 2004 and 2005. Rehnquist returned to the bench after nearly four months off to lead the Court, serving out the remainder of the 2004-2005 term before his death that summer."
Countdown to the UNIX Epoch time being 1234567890!
Countdown (actually up) to the UNIX Epoch time being 1234567890! "Only 1 week, 1 day, 3 hours, 55 minutes and 16 seconds until the Epoch Time is 1234567890! (Friday, February 13th 2009, 23:31:30 GMT)"
Daily Show on Tom Daschle
I have to hand it to The Daily Show for Tuesday's Moment of Zen. They found this old Tom Daschle campaign commercial from 1986...
ClearCam For Clearer iPhone Pictures
iSmashPhone writes ClearCam Is The Rapid-Fire Way To Clearer iPhone Pictures. "ClearCam takes six pictures in rapid succession (around 2.5 seconds), automatically picks the sharpest of the six, then -- using that sharpest shot as a baseline -- merges the frames together to generate a super-resolved 4 megapixel image."
Pretty clever stuff, though it takes a while for the post-processing. The top of the article lists other useful camera enhancing iPhone apps.
Pretty clever stuff, though it takes a while for the post-processing. The top of the article lists other useful camera enhancing iPhone apps.
Berkeley Class on The Wire
If I were at Berkeley I'd be all over this class, What so great about The Wire? (nice copy editing by the way). I hope they release open courseware about it.
"Discerning critics and avid fans have agreed that the five-season run of Ed Burns and David Simon’s The Wire was “the best TV show ever broadcast in America”--not the most popular but the best. The 60 hours that comprise this episodic series have been aptly been compared to Dickens, Balzac, Dreiser and Greek Tragedy. These comparisons attempt to get at the richly textured complexity of the work, its depth, its bleak tapestry of an American city and its diverse social stratifications. Yet none of these comparisons quite nails what it is that made this the most compelling “show” on TV and better than many of the best movies. This class will explore these comparisons, analyze episodes from the first, third, fourth and fifth seasons and try to discover what was and is so great about The Wire. We will screen as much of the series as we can during our mandatory screening sessions and approach it through the following lenses: the other writing of David Simon, including his journalism, an exemplary Greek Tragedy, Dickens’ Bleak House and/or parts of Balzac’s Human Comedy. We will also consider the formal tradition of episodic television."
Update: Another class on The Wire, this one at Middlebury College in VT.
"Discerning critics and avid fans have agreed that the five-season run of Ed Burns and David Simon’s The Wire was “the best TV show ever broadcast in America”--not the most popular but the best. The 60 hours that comprise this episodic series have been aptly been compared to Dickens, Balzac, Dreiser and Greek Tragedy. These comparisons attempt to get at the richly textured complexity of the work, its depth, its bleak tapestry of an American city and its diverse social stratifications. Yet none of these comparisons quite nails what it is that made this the most compelling “show” on TV and better than many of the best movies. This class will explore these comparisons, analyze episodes from the first, third, fourth and fifth seasons and try to discover what was and is so great about The Wire. We will screen as much of the series as we can during our mandatory screening sessions and approach it through the following lenses: the other writing of David Simon, including his journalism, an exemplary Greek Tragedy, Dickens’ Bleak House and/or parts of Balzac’s Human Comedy. We will also consider the formal tradition of episodic television."
Update: Another class on The Wire, this one at Middlebury College in VT.
Melting Lakes Release Methane - Playing With Fire
At Al Gore's TED talk yesterday he showed this video from over a year ago of someone lighting fire to methane being released from a lake in Alaska. Cool and very scary.
Apparently yesterday's TED was very depressing. As David Pogue tweeted: "Massively depressing first day of TED. Climate change, plastic-choked oceans, depleted fish, melting ice caps, dead coral. sigh."
Apparently yesterday's TED was very depressing. As David Pogue tweeted: "Massively depressing first day of TED. Climate change, plastic-choked oceans, depleted fish, melting ice caps, dead coral. sigh."
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Evolution of the Household
Woman's Day has an article, Evolution of the Household. This is something I never would have seen before the web. :) It's an interesting pictorial presentation by decade, but it's hard to compare the data since it's not next to each other like in a table and each decade has different statistics.
Five Mysteries of the Universe
Michael Brooks writes in the Guardian Five Mysteries of the Universe. It's not a list I would have expected.
Effectiveness of Apple and Microsoft Ads
Gizmodo pointed me at this New York TImes article about the Apple and Microsoft TV ads, In Campaign Wars, Apple Still Has Microsoft’s Number. Apple is spending a lot on it's ads and it seems to be helping.
Gizmodo quoted this paragraph: "On the other hand, Microsoft’s “Shoe Circus,” in which Mr. Seinfeld helped Mr. Gates buy shoes, failed miserably with consumers. After seeing the ad, both Apple and Microsoft users had a more negative perception of Microsoft in the areas of innovation, technology, trouble-free design, and warranty and pricing. “When you see an ad perform this poorly,” said Amy Shea, the executive vice president at Brand Keys who conducted the research, “you’ve got a real problem.”"
But left out this one: "The news was not all bad for Microsoft, though. “I am a PC” — the egalitarian response to Apple that Microsoft has settled on for its ongoing campaign — has worked well to lift PC users’ perception of the brand as technologically and environmentally advanced."
I blogged about the ads back in September in this post which got a few comments and in this one where I said the "I'm a PC" ads were better.
I also saw this Google Answer that says companies that advertised during the Great Depression did ok. "studies have demonstrated that during times of recession, companies that maintain advertising during these periods experience higher sales and profits during the downturns and afterward than companies who cut their advertising budgets."
Gizmodo quoted this paragraph: "On the other hand, Microsoft’s “Shoe Circus,” in which Mr. Seinfeld helped Mr. Gates buy shoes, failed miserably with consumers. After seeing the ad, both Apple and Microsoft users had a more negative perception of Microsoft in the areas of innovation, technology, trouble-free design, and warranty and pricing. “When you see an ad perform this poorly,” said Amy Shea, the executive vice president at Brand Keys who conducted the research, “you’ve got a real problem.”"
But left out this one: "The news was not all bad for Microsoft, though. “I am a PC” — the egalitarian response to Apple that Microsoft has settled on for its ongoing campaign — has worked well to lift PC users’ perception of the brand as technologically and environmentally advanced."
I blogged about the ads back in September in this post which got a few comments and in this one where I said the "I'm a PC" ads were better.
I also saw this Google Answer that says companies that advertised during the Great Depression did ok. "studies have demonstrated that during times of recession, companies that maintain advertising during these periods experience higher sales and profits during the downturns and afterward than companies who cut their advertising budgets."
Analysis of the Financial Costs and Benefits of the “No-Fly” List
Homeland Security Affairs writes Just How Much Does That Cost, Anyway? An Analysis of the Financial Costs and Benefits of the “No-Fly” List.
"The purpose of this article is to identify the financial costs relative to the benefits of the ‘no-fly’ list. Numerous scholars, security experts, lawyers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, and bloggers have commented on the well-known flaws in the current terrorist watch list system. Lawyers have pointed out the many civil liberty issues associated with the list and its hindrance of due process. 1 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has repeatedly published the many flaws it sees in the way that the list is administrated. 2 Bruce Schneier, a popular security columnist and blogger, documents the various reasons why the no-fly list serves no benefit at all, providing only ‘security theatre’ rather than actual protection. 3 Each of these analyses is useful and contributes to an understanding of whether or not the no-fly list is, in aggregate, helpful in protecting citizens against terrorism, and at what social and civil liberty cost. What is missing, however, is an analysis of the no-fly list from a financial perspective. This article is interested in understanding the monetary costs of the program."
It's a good reasoned article. Their medium estimate for the year cost of the No-Fly List is $89 million.
Also, ars technica has an article, racial profiling no more effective than random screen pointing to a recent study on the topic.
"The purpose of this article is to identify the financial costs relative to the benefits of the ‘no-fly’ list. Numerous scholars, security experts, lawyers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, and bloggers have commented on the well-known flaws in the current terrorist watch list system. Lawyers have pointed out the many civil liberty issues associated with the list and its hindrance of due process. 1 The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has repeatedly published the many flaws it sees in the way that the list is administrated. 2 Bruce Schneier, a popular security columnist and blogger, documents the various reasons why the no-fly list serves no benefit at all, providing only ‘security theatre’ rather than actual protection. 3 Each of these analyses is useful and contributes to an understanding of whether or not the no-fly list is, in aggregate, helpful in protecting citizens against terrorism, and at what social and civil liberty cost. What is missing, however, is an analysis of the no-fly list from a financial perspective. This article is interested in understanding the monetary costs of the program."
It's a good reasoned article. Their medium estimate for the year cost of the No-Fly List is $89 million.
Also, ars technica has an article, racial profiling no more effective than random screen pointing to a recent study on the topic.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Pope Un-Excommunicates Holocaust Denying Bishop
German pope becomes an embarrassment in homeland "Nearly four years after a rare outburst of national pride over the election of a German pope, Germans are falling out of love with Pope Benedict because of his rehabilitation of a bishop who denies the Holocaust."
Monday, February 02, 2009
Unix Utility: Pipe Viewer
I've never heard of Pipe Viewer (aka pv) but this articles says it's A Unix Utility You Should Know About. It's basically cat with an ascii progress bar. It isn't preinstalled on my mac.
Don't Open a Coffeehouse
Slate has an article, My coffeehouse nightmare "I opened a charming neighborhood coffee shop. Then it destroyed my life."
Google & the Future of Books
Interesting article from The New York Review of Books, Google & the Future of Books.
"How can we navigate through the information landscape that is only beginning to come into view? The question is more urgent than ever following the recent settlement between Google and the authors and publishers who were suing it for alleged breach of copyright. For the last four years, Google has been digitizing millions of books, including many covered by copyright, from the collections of major research libraries, and making the texts searchable online. The authors and publishers objected that digitizing constituted a violation of their copyrights. After lengthy negotiations, the plaintiffs and Google agreed on a settlement, which will have a profound effect on the way books reach readers for the foreseeable future"
I also liked this quote: "One of my colleagues is a quiet, diminutive lady, who might call up the notion of Marion the Librarian. When she meets people at parties and identifies herself, they sometimes say condescendingly, "A librarian, how nice. Tell me, what is it like to be a librarian?" She replies, "Essentially, it is all about money and power.""
"How can we navigate through the information landscape that is only beginning to come into view? The question is more urgent than ever following the recent settlement between Google and the authors and publishers who were suing it for alleged breach of copyright. For the last four years, Google has been digitizing millions of books, including many covered by copyright, from the collections of major research libraries, and making the texts searchable online. The authors and publishers objected that digitizing constituted a violation of their copyrights. After lengthy negotiations, the plaintiffs and Google agreed on a settlement, which will have a profound effect on the way books reach readers for the foreseeable future"
I also liked this quote: "One of my colleagues is a quiet, diminutive lady, who might call up the notion of Marion the Librarian. When she meets people at parties and identifies herself, they sometimes say condescendingly, "A librarian, how nice. Tell me, what is it like to be a librarian?" She replies, "Essentially, it is all about money and power.""
Social Media and the Federal Government
Interesting article on the Social Media and the Federal Government: Perceived and Real Barriers and Potential Solutions. There are problems with terms of service that prevent the user from suing the provider, choosing a free service without a competitive bidding process, accessibility and privacy guarantees, etc.
On another angle, the Sunlight Foundation sponsors several web projects (including Congresspedia and OpenCongress) making the government more transparent. "The Sunlight Foundation is committed to helping citizens, bloggers and journalists be their own best congressional watchdogs, by improving access to existing information and digitizing new information, and by creating new tools and Web sites to enable all of us to collaborate in fostering greater transparency."
On another angle, the Sunlight Foundation sponsors several web projects (including Congresspedia and OpenCongress) making the government more transparent. "The Sunlight Foundation is committed to helping citizens, bloggers and journalists be their own best congressional watchdogs, by improving access to existing information and digitizing new information, and by creating new tools and Web sites to enable all of us to collaborate in fostering greater transparency."
Sunday, February 01, 2009
HOME Fort Lauderdale
My friend Aron had his home photographed in the December/January 2009 issue of HOME Fort Lauderdale. I can't link directly to it, click on "Comfortably Eclectic".
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