TACTICAL CANNED BACON.
I think of this as more of a Strategic Bacon Reserve.
Archive for 2009
October 8, 2009
BAD MONEY AFTER BAD: Mickey Kaus: GM Bailout II Right On Track. Since our leaders have invested their prestige in saving GM, it must not be allowed to fail, at least until after the next election.
CONFUSED: “The latest spin-filled explanation for the stalemate on our Afghanistan war strategy comes from the Washington Post. You see, the civilian leadership didn’t really understand that a full counterinsurgency strategy meant, well, a full counterinsurgency strategy. . . . If so, this is a fundamental breakdown in policy formulation and communication that makes the Guantanamo debacle look like small potatoes.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Intelligence Fiasco Footnote: The authors of the 2007 Iran NIE have some explaining to do. “When it comes to politicized intelligence in the Bush years, the critics may finally have a point. Perhaps the work of America’s intelligence agencies was manipulated to suit the convenience of a small group of willful officials, intent on getting their way against the better judgment of their colleagues. Except the intelligence was about Iran, not Iraq, and the manipulators weren’t conniving neocons but rather the Administration’s internal critics on the left.” As I said earlier, the purpose of the N.I.E. was to paralyze us until after the election, and it worked.
SOUNDS LIKE THESE FOLKS COULD HAVE USED A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER: Community Leaders Excluded from Duncan and Holder Meeting. “Community leaders and parents outside Fenger are in disbelief that they are not at the breakfast table with Arne Duncan and Eric Holder. Attorney General Holder and Secretary of Education Duncan are in town to speak, ostensibly, with the community about youth violence — a blight on Chicago neighborhoods so vividly brought to national attention by the videotaped beating of Derrion Albert.”
RON BAILEY: The Cultural Contradictions of Environmentalism: Fast Breeder Reactor Edition. “So here’s the aggravating aspect of Speth’s preening self-congratulation about being part of the effort to stop the commercialization of breeder reactors: in an alternative universe in which 200 reactors come online, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions would be about 35 percent lower than they currently are. In other words, the reactors that Speth opposed could have been a huge part of the solution to what Speth claims is humanity’s ‘biggest threat.’ Like I said, really annoying.”
And utterly predictable. The only technological innovation these guys ever really liked was the wet blanket . . . .
THIS DOESN’T FIT THE NARRATIVE. Neither does this.
October 7, 2009
LEDE OF THE DAY: “A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat.”
WHEW: Big Asteroid Less Likely to Hit Earth. But it’s the ones you don’t see that get you . . . .
OKAY, MAYBE IT WOULD BE TOO MEAN TO ACTUALLY DO, but reading this report of the “stimulus” debacle in Detroit gave me an idea:
There was some confusion at the sites after word spread that checks for $3,000 were being given away. That was not the case. Only applications were handed out. In fact, because of the heavy demand, the city halls had to stop handing out applications.
If you really were a Merry Prankster type, it would be funny to spread rumors that the local member of Congress was handing out stimulus checks, then watch the ensuing confusion. . . .
But that would be wrong — though it’s fun to imagine.
UPDATE: No, no, I’m not raining on the idea of pranks in general. Just pranks that might produce a riot . . . .
IF TRUE, THIS’LL COST ‘EM: Senate GOP Folding Over Health Care Reform. I can think of no better way to spur a third-party challenge in 2012.
UPDATE: See the update on the post — they may have a backbone after all!
HOLD ‘EM RESPONSIBLE: How anti-nuclear power hysterics kill.
FORGET CHEESE AND WINE: Pairing books and beer.
ADVICE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM JON STEWART: “You’re the President of America!”
But with certain tastes.
IT’S A LITERARY QUAGMIRE!
MORE CREEPINESS: School Kids Sing For Health Care Reform On Set Of CNN. “Kids from the Ron Clark Academy are on CNN singing for health care reform set to Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the USA.’ The song mentions ‘Obama says everyone needs health care now.'”
RESVERATROL UPDATE: “Resveratrol, a molecule found in red grapes, has been shown to improve diabetes when delivered orally to rodents. Until now, however, little has been known about how these beneficial changes are mediated in the body. A new study accepted for publication in Endocrinology, a journal of The Endocrine Society, shows that the brain plays a key role in mediating resveratrol’s anti-diabetic actions, potentially paving the way for future orally-delivered diabetes medications that target the brain.” Of course, the usual cautions about mice vs. people apply . . . .
PJTV SALUTES: Mr. Faithful-Like-A-Trial-Lawyer. “A man who knows that victory comes to those who are on the winning side.”
I have to say, though, that comparing Arlen Specter to trial lawyers is deeply unfair to trial lawyers. Once you hire trial lawyers, they stay on your side . . . .
ANDREW BREITBART: Shaping the Agenda!
QUERCETIN: Great for mice, not so great for people. That’s as a performance enhancer. Some are also pushing it as a longevity-promoter; these studies didn’t look at that, though they certainly underscore the iffy nature of extrapolation from mice.
FIGHTING BREAST CANCER at the Blogger Boobiethon.
FIGHTING COLONY COLLAPSE by breeding super-hygienic bees.