DAVID ZUCKER commits Hollywood treason.
Archive for 2008
August 21, 2008
TOM MAGUIRE: No basement.
TURNING WASTE INTO ETHANOL, using nanotechnology.
I TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS A BAD IDEA for Obama to bring up houses again. “Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?”
Plus, more Rezko reminiscences. “On June 15, 2005, Obama bought a gorgeous house in Hyde Park for $1.65 million – $300,000 below the list price. Rezko bought the empty but attractive lot next door from the same seller at the same time; Obama would later buy part of Rezko’s lot, overpaying him. The transaction was shady, but not obviously corrupt. The overall Obama-Rezko relationship looks worse.” And now the McCain people have an excuse to bring it up.
But wait, there’s more:
Obama is more vulnerable on this stuff than he thinks. Not only because of Rezko but because of Jim Johnson, his former go-to-guy on veeps who was instrumental to the mortgage crisis we have today as Chairman of Fannie Mae.
Indeed.
MORE: The McCain battle plan revealed. Plus this:
You don’t want a President who’s managed to become rich, do you? So pick Obama, who lives in a hut. No, wait, that’s Barack’s brother George. Obama lives in… that Chicago house that cost… how much?
It’s not just Obama who seems to have lost his mojo. It’s the whole staff.
STILL MORE: Trap closes!
MORE STILL: John Hinderaker: “The truth is that McCain isn’t out of touch with ‘ordinary people’ because he’s rich, he’s out of touch with his own domestic arrangements because he cares little about material things, and for many years has devoted his extraordinary energies not to enjoying his wife’s money, but to serving the American people. Given the number of nights he’s spent in hotels or on military bases over the last few years, it’s no wonder he hasn’t seen much of his wife’s condos.”
DANIEL WILSON ON the top 5 mad scientists of all time. Note, however, three out of five are fictional.
WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE? A service that lets you bypass phone trees.
DOING OPEN-SOURCE SCIENCE. “Openness has always been an integral part of science, with scientists presenting findings in journals or at conferences. But the open-science movement, with many of its leaders in the Boston area, encourages scientists to share techniques and even their work long before they are ready to present results, when they are devising research questions, running experiments, and analyzing data. In such open forums, the wisdom of the crowd could offer the ultimate form of peer review. And scientific information, they say, should be available without the hefty subscription fees charged by most journals.”
PAUL BERMAN: The Death of 1989. “We have been living in the age of 1989–an age of democratic revolution. The damage is to those revolutions and their legacy.”
THOUGHTS ON RUSSIA, GEORGIA, AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, from Eric Posner.
REASON TV: The United States v. John Stagliano.
JOHN STOSSEL ON ENERGY INDEPENDENCE: “It’s amazing how ideas with no merit become popular merely because they sound good.”
SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, COVERED IN LOVE (CONT’D): Obama shops for snacks! But no questions on the things he’d rather not talk about.
NOT OVER YET: “A massive e-mail and Internet campaign is under way aimed at derailing the nomination of Barack Obama and making Hillary Clinton the Democratic Party’s standard bearer next week at the national convention in Denver.”
OBAMA IS GOING AFTER MCCAIN OVER HOUSES — but did any of McCain’s houses come via assistance from Tony Rezko? It seems to me that bringing up houses might be a mistake . . . .
MICHELE CATALANO: PETA Becomes A Parody of Itself.” Becomes?
BETTER ALL THE TIME: The Speculist publishes its 34th roundup of good news from around the world that you probably missed.
ANOTHER INSTA-POLL: Based on the energy-saving/late-start item below.
MI5 SAYS THERE’S NO COMMON FACTOR AMONG BRITISH TERRORISTS: “British-based terrorists are as ethnically diverse as the UK Muslim population, with individuals from Pakistani, Middle Eastern and Caucasian backgrounds. MI5 says assumptions cannot be made about suspects based on skin colour, ethnic heritage or nationality.”
ANOTHER ELECTORAL-VOTE PROJECTION shows McCain pulling ahead.
ACADEMIC INBREEDING: Study: 36% of Profs Married to Another Prof.
PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE: Why I don’t use the Socratic method.
Like many states, Massachusetts has an income tax. But in Massachusetts, people are trying to do something about it. Libertarian activist Carla Howell organized an initiative in 2002 that would have abolished the state income tax. It got over 45% of the vote, and now she’s back with another effort.
We talk to her about libertarian politics, politicians and taxes, and whether this initiative might start a national anti-tax trend. Plus, what you can do, if you want to help.
You can listen to the file directly — no downloads needed — by going right here and clicking on the gray Flash player. Or you can download the file and listen at your leisure by clicking right here. And, of course, you can always get a free subscription via iTunes. Free!
Music is by Audra and the Antidote (“Revolution”) and Carla Howell (“The Tax Song.”) Show archives are at GlennandHelenShow.com.
LOOSE LIPS can sink ships.
THE KEY TO A LONG LIFE: Polygamy?