Volvo Applies For Supernatural Status

Next, actually bringing back people from the dead.

See NYT Wheels Blog: Volvo Sets a Lofty Safety Goal

“Our aim for 2020 is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo,” said Thomas Broberg, Volvo’s senior safety adviser, in a recent news release.

Dr. Hart And Ardi

Dr. Hart has been studying the African rift valley for a long time and been a part of many hominid discoveries over the past 20 years.

The latest discovery is the oldest hominid yet.

See DaytonDailyNews: Miami geologists part of history-making ‘Ardi’ dig

Freakin' Lieberman

I never liked that Gore picked him as running mate in 2000. It was a bad idea. His latest antics show why.

Harper's: Lieberman Shills for the Healthcare Industry

Slate: The Lieberman Option

I Hate Hate Crimes

Bloomberg: Expansion of Hate-Crime Law Gets Final Congressional Approval

This is a problem. There's no such thing as love crimes. Crime is crime. When it is associated with what someone thinks then that is a problem.

For example, I hate people who drive Pontiac cars; I don't hate [insert a minority here]. But if you cut me off in traffic and later I punch you in the face that is a crime. I don't get extra punishment because I hate you for choosing a ridiculous car; however, if you can convince a jury that I hated you because of your minority status then I get in extra trouble. That's not right.

You cannot legislate morality. You cannot make what people think a crime.

Fox News, The White House, Apple, Verizon, And Strategy

Much hubbub has been made lately about the spats between Fox News and the White House and Verizon/Motorola and Apple/AT&T.

See:
-Droid Does: Verizon Launches Anti-iPhone Ad for Motorola Droid
-Verizon Tweaks AT&T With "There's A Map For That" Commercial
-The Battle Between the White House and Fox News

All of the analysis has been wrong.

Have these commentators never had an ex they wanted to get back or teach a lesson to? Ask a guy who was dumped by his hot girlfriend how he reacted then look at Verizon/Motorola or The White House for comparison. It is the same reaction. These spats and battles are strategy. They aren't trying to break things up completely; they're trying to hook back up by teaching a lesson that they don't need them. No, it is not rational but then people aren't either.

Yes, Fox News is awful and the iPhone's hotness cannot be debated. But that is not the point. Because Verizon still wants the iPhone on their network. And I bet Obama would grant Fox News' Chris Wallace an interview.

In the end, these fights are like a guy trying to get his hot girlfriend back so I will not be surprised when Fox News gets an exclusive interview with Obama and Verizon gets an Apple device.

If only the pundits listened to Jawbreaker and paid attention to 'Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault'

I ran into this guy I knew
But hadn't seen in years.
We went into the neon kitchen and stole a couple beers.
He said his girl had dumped him
But there was another guy.
He said that he still liked her.
All I could say was,
"Why, why, oh why, oh why,
Why is it always like this?
Either you're too mean, or you're too nice."
He said, "I even cooked her breakfast."
So we went into the living room.
Someone was blasting Zeppelin.
It sounded good.
I felt ashamed.
I knew every drum fill.
Anyway, there she sat,
Totally kissing this guy.
They looked good, I mean like in love.
Then I remembered my friend.
He said, "How could you do this?
You said that you needed your space.
He's wearing the shirt that I gave you."
Then she said, "Why, why, oh why, oh why,
Why are you always like this?
If I'm having fun then it's breaking your heart.
Besides, you said I could have it."

Public Options

There's been a lot of hyperbole about the public option for health insurance. So I made a list of services that have thriving private industries that compete with a basic option offered by the government. And in these cases it seems that by the government offering or sponsoring a similar service it is allowing private companies to focus on their core competencies rather than driving private industries out of business.

- the post office competes with UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
- Social Security competes with all of the other retirement savings plans
- private mercenaries take jobs from the U.S. Military
- electricity in the first half of the Twentieth Century (See: How FDR Enacted his “Public Option”)
- telephone service in rural areas (See: History of Rural Telecommunications)
- Amtrak competes with other commuting and traveling options
- roads are paid for with taxes yet there are still private roads
- School. This may be the biggest one of all. Almost everyone sends their kids to public school (a public option). Use private school and you're elitist; home school and you're a little odd yet earnest. And education is very much in your hands. Like health... how you take care of yourself influences how healthy you are. A government paid insurance plan would still allow people to get their own private insurance but you could still take care of yourself at home if you choose.

So my question for people is: if you're against the "public option" does that mean you avoid all of the public options?

And what is interesting is in reading the history of these various policies all of the arguments were made then as we're hearing now regarding health insurance. Namely, government has no role in providing education/electricity/phone service and that private companies cannot compete with a public sponsored service. It really is like they all work from the same template. Or mad lib.

More Evidence Conservatism Is A Psycological Disorder

After reading all 18 pages of Democracy Corps' study The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans I'm left wondering when do we stop looking at this as politics and start recognizing that these people are paranoid and need help.

See this earlier post: Is Being A Conservative A Mental Defect?

Example from the study:

An Oppressed, Mocked Minority
Conservative Republicans passionately believe that they represent a group of people who have been targeted by a popular culture and set of liberal elites – embodied in the liberal main-stream media – that mock their values and are actively working to advance the downfall of the things that matter most to them in their lives – their faith, their families, their country, and their freedom...

The notion of a liberal media using its reach and power to advance a radical agenda is a given for these voters. If you do not see and understand this reality, you are not a part of their collective group and you cannot possibly understand the current political environment in our country. This creates an almost siege-like mentality, in which these conservative Republicans are always on the defensive, at all times looking for any slight against them and their beliefs and seeking to link it back to a broader effort rooted in the liberal media.

Although I find it interesting that they now see themselves as the minority after oppressing other minorities for generations. And, they would not be mocked if they stopped this. (yes, I am an elitist.)

Interview With Rick Bayless

I was introduced to Rick Bayless (lots of recipes at his web site!) while watching Top Chef Masters and thought he was very deserving of the win (and I was also pleased that Oprah's smarmy personal chef was knocked out early on). I look forward to using some of his simple Mexican recipes to add some heat this winter.

Via the ChiTrib: Rick Bayless, under fire

Comparing The Government Option In Health Care And Parcel Delivery

The US Postal Service has emerged as the example of a "public option" that conservatives point to when they argue against government sponsored health insurance. See: Post office wrong target for conservatives

Yet, as posted at FiveThirtyEight: Picking on Cliff Clavin, FedEx and UPS thrive despite the USPS but they also hand off packages to the USPS in rural areas where the private carriers don't want to go. And it is the rural population that is more conservative. Perhaps they should think about if they'd get any parcel delivery at all if it weren't for the "public option".

"Just Ring It Up With The Dong Tea"

[Update on 10/26/2009: Hulu has confirmed programming will stop being free at some point]

Hulu is removing Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2.

See TBM: Fox Kidnaps Itself

The article speculates that this is being done to drive DVD sales of Seasons 2 and 3. I disagree - this move seems more in line with Hulu offering paid subscriptions (currently in testing) and FOX's Murdoch love of paywalls to his properties.

See LAT: Will Hulu make you pay to watch?

Fortunately, shortly after AD was canceled syndication rights were sold to MSN. And because of that every episode is available at ArrestedDevelopment.msn.com.

A warning to FOX, content wants to be free. Removing dearly loved content like this will only drive your audience to other outlets.

G.O.B.: So is it for sale? I could use it in my act.

Asian Man: Maybe. Sword of Destiny hundreds of years old. Come with ancient story of warning, and...

G.O.B.: Yeah, I make up my own patter. Just ring it up with the dong tea.

Via: The OP (don't call it that)

The Sinful South

I wonder if their religiosity is some perverted way to absolve themselves - a form of cognitive dissonance?

TheAtlantic: Texas Leads the US in Thrice-Married Adults

Wired: American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

My Kind Of Revival

Via Slate: What Would John Adams Drink? Get ready for the rebirth of cider in America.

Volvo Is Going To Do It - A Diesel-Electric Hybrid!

This is what I have been waiting for. For an automaker to manufacture a car that is a four-wheel drive plug-in electric hybrid with a biofuel compliant diesel engine all in a station wagon form.

And here it is, via FC: Volvo Offering a Plug-in Diesel Hybrid in 2012

and GCC: Volvo Car Corporation to Introduce Diesel Plug-in Hybrid in Europe in 2012

I just hope the third-row jumper seats are available. It would then be the one car to rule them all.

I have already contacted Volvo in the U.S. to ask that this car be brought stateside.

Real Mayans Tell Westerners To Chill Out

Via NPR: 2012 Isn't The End Of The World, Mayans Insist

I Am Officially Adopting Steamboat Springs, CO As My Second City

It is because of Grizzle-T Dog & Sled Works

Via Life of a Sled Dog

Oil Rules

In other words, peak everything. And more evidence of my hypothesis that the Great Recession was caused by peak oil and exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks as I previously conjectured.

See TOD: What Peaked at the Same Time as Oil Prices? Lots of things

Female Coyotes + Male Wolves

Via SciAm: Wylie Coywolf: The coyote-wolf hybrid has made its way to the Northeast

Prepare Or Panic?

NewScientist has an article about a recent simulation of a three day warning of an asteroid impact.

See: Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test

Hummers

New study confirms the obvious - "Americans who believe in rugged individualism and the frontier myth see an H2 as John Wayne on wheels"

And so it is with a great deal of schadenfreude that I read this: GM Agrees to Sell Hummer Brand to China’s Tengzhong

I think this sums it up best:

It's On!

Worstpreviews.com: "Arrested Development" Movie to Shoot in the Spring

Movieline: Alia Shawkat Offers Proof to Movieline That the Arrested Development Script is a Go

David Cross, Tony Hale, and Jason Bateman

These folks can't even do an interview without being asked about a little TV show from four years - behold the power of Arrested Development!

Time.com: Arrested Development's David Cross

NyMag.com: Tony Hale Talks CTRL, The Informant!, and Getting to First Base With Liza

Can you give us an update on the Arrested Development movie?
I talked to Mitch [Hurwitz] about a week and a half ago, and he’s in the middle of writing it. Everybody’s onboard and I think right now it’s just a matter of getting everybody’s schedule on the same page. And then just finishing the script.

MTV: The Arrested Development Of Our 'Arrested Development' Movie Is Just A Myth?

Profiles Of The Current Republican Party

Salon.com: Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck's life: Cleon Skousen was a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised. Then Beck discovered him

Harpers: Rush, Glenn and the G.O.P.

VF: Levi Johnston on Life with the Palins

Sarah was always in a bad mood and she was stressed out a lot. Sometimes she would wonder why she took the job as governor. It was too hard, she said; there was so much going on. Todd was always out in the garage working on his snow machines and drinking beer or screwing off. (Eighty percent of the time he’s in the garage. Once winter is here, he’s out riding every other day.) He’s not supposed to have beer, because Sarah doesn’t like him drinking. (She only goes to church four or five times a year—mostly on holidays—but Sarah doesn’t drink or cuss much.) So Todd will hide his beer, go out there, and work on his sleds.

Missing The Point

The smug sense of self-satisfaction is part of the degree.

See Cincinnati.com: Miami asks: Does elitist image hurt enrollment?

Some Must-Reads About The Current State Of The Republican Party

First is from TNR: Wealthcare
It is a complete deconstruction of Randites. And I write this as someone who has read every Ayn Rand novel and owns Objectivist books. But since my Ayn Rand acolyte days I have become much more pragmatic (read "liberal").

Harpers: Joe Wilson, Neoconfederate

After reading these articles a line from Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' came to mind:

Isaac: Has anybody read that nazis are going to march in New Jersey, you know? I read this in the newspaper, we should go down there, get some guys together, you know, get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to them."

Man: "There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed
page of the Times. It is devastating."

Isaac: "Well, well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but
bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the
point."

Woman: "Oh, but really biting satire is always better than physical
force."

Isaac: "No, physical force is always better with nazis. Cos
it's hard to satirize a guy with shiny boots."