links for 2010-01-31
Wikipedia: Mottainai Mottainai is a Japanese word that refers to “a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized.” 2004 Nobel Peace Peace winner Wangari Maathai thinks this is the best term and concept to explain the importance of protecting natural resources. Which is a [...]
Bob McDonnell on The Daily Show.
McDonnell’s appearance runs from the 1:20 mark through 3:10. It’s pretty funny, and encapsulates my response to his Potemkin SOTU.
links for 2010-01-29
The Nation: Blackwater's Youngest Victim This story about the dozens of innocents killed and maimed by Blackwater at Nisour Square in 2007 is hard to read, especially since it focuses on the death of nine-year-old Ali Kinani, a boy who loved American soldiers. He was shot in the head during the just-for-fun shooting spree led [...]
Perriello proposes prohibition on foreign corporate donations.
Rep. Tom Perriello is introducing a bill to make a brilliant modification to campaign finance law. It’s a bit breathtaking in its simplicity and utility. With the recent Supreme Court ruling (which is simultaneously legally correct and practically stupid), corporations can make unlimited contributions to candidates for political office. This will be, as anybody can [...]
links for 2010-01-28
Charlie Booker: How to Report the News A very funny meta-news video, in which the reporter narrates his own reporting process in real-time. (tags: journalism media bbc parody humor) Unhappy Hipsters Photos from Dwell magazine, with high-larious new captions. (tags: humor hipster) Axe Cop A comic written by a five-year-old and illustrated by his 29-year-old [...]
The Tea Party: Just like any other political party, only hopelessly naïve.
The Tea Party presents itself as a grassroots, jus’ folks, not-gonna-take-it-any-more uprising, consisting of regular people who were so fed up after several weeks of Barack Obama’s presidency that they just couldn’t take it anymore and they just had to do something. But that’s basically the opposite of what we’re seeing here in the fifth [...]
links for 2010-01-27
Wikipedia: Mid-Atlantic English You know that ridiculous quasi-British accent affected by people from the northeast back in the mid-1900s? Most of those people are now very old or dead—Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn both talked like that. It turns out that's called "Mid-Atlantic English," aka a "boarding school accent." Or, as I think of it, [...]
McPadden on “when the going gets tough.”
This Fifth District Republican primary is really separating the men from the boys: [Robert] Hurt is a likable person personally, [Mike] McPadden said, but “Democrats and moderates like Hurt will vote to raise taxes when the going gets tough.” That’s right—if the U.S. were (say) invaded by China, that namby-pamby Tom Perrillo or the spineless [...]
links for 2010-01-26
New York Times: With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday The latest details on the Apple tablet—due to be announced tomorrow at 1PM—are very promising. Conceptually, I'm totally with them on this. The only question for me now is how much it'll cost. (tags: tablet apple media) TPM: Filmmaker Behind ACORN Stings Arrested [...]
links for 2010-01-25
The Oatmeal: How to use a semicolon Don't be scared. They're for your own good. Note that I did not separate those last two sentences with a semicolon; tempting, but inaccurate. (tags: writing comic humor) Technology Review: Solar Shingles See the Light of Day Dow's solar shingles are a real thing now! Just in time [...]
A majority thinker.
Given the new math of the Senate, aren’t Republicans nineteen seats from a Senate majority, rather than ten?
Siting our house.
The great majority of my time in the past couple of years—and certainly the past six months—has been spent on the design and construction of our new house, which is slated for completion by the end of winter. The process has been enormously educational, and I’ve been intending to share some of what I’ve learned [...]
links for 2010-01-13
You Say Offset, I Say Tax? Study Suggests Labels and Political Affiliation May Influence Preferences A Columbia University study found that, when presented with identical taxation proposals, Republicans favored the one that was labelled a "carbon offset," but strongly opposed the one that was called a "carbon tax." (tags: psychology environment taxes) Fleshmap: Listen: Music [...]
links for 2010-01-12
BBC: Guantanamo guard reunited with ex-inmates This former Guantanamo guard, ashamed of having held innocent men hostage in wretched conditions, tracked down his former prisoners on Facebook to apologize to them. The video interview is great. These former prisoners are just a couple of regular Brits who went to Afghanistan to visit, maybe smoke a [...]
links for 2010-01-11
New York Times: Mr. Smith Rewrites the Constitution I've never favored changes to filibuster rules in the Senate. The majority always hates it, and the minority uses it. So it goes. But what I did not realize is that the filibuster changed in 1975. A filibuster no longer involves somebody talking and talking. It's a [...]
links for 2010-01-10
TinEye Reverse Image Search This is a great little service: provide it with an image, and this search engine will tell you everywhere on the web where that image also appears. It can even find resized, recolored, and recropped versions, although within limits, of course. (tags: search images) A Comparison of the Effects of Three [...]
7 West has wrapped up.
After three and a half years and 400 posts, Kris Amundson and Bob Brink are wrapping up their blog, 7 West. Del. Amundson has retired from the legislature, leaving Del. Brink like one half of a horse costume (I’m not saying which half), so he intends to start blogging on his own website before long. [...]
links for 2010-01-09
New York Times: 2008 Campaign, All Over Again in New Book Just weeks prior to the eleciton, Sarah Palin coudn't explain why North and South Korea were different countries, had no idea of the purpose of the Federal Reserve, and believed that Saddam Hussein had attacked the U.S. on September 11. I wonder—seriously—if there has [...]
links for 2010-01-08
The Most Trusted Name in News? It looks like Al Jazeera should be reconsidered. (tags: journalism) Best and Worst Jobs 2010 – The Wall Street Journal Online – Interactive … A listing of the 200 best and worst jobs in the country, based on a half dozen criteria. The best job is actuary, followed by [...]
About
Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
Recently
Et Cetera
← Back to Home
© Waldo Jaquith. Powered by WordPress using the DePo Skinny Theme.