We don't do such things in Russia

WP's Dan Froomkin reports, "In an odd exchange during the private meeting that preceded their joint news conference on Thursday, a defensive Putin reportedly expressed his belief that Bush fired CBS News anchor Dan Rather."

Did you know your grandma funds gay sex?

Truly, there is no ultimate reward for spinelessness. It's just a karma thing--if you compromise with the Rove team on your core values, you will get screwed sometime down the road. To wit:

Karmic mistake: AARP drew ire a couple of years ago for endorsing a Bush/GOP-backed prescription drug bill that opponents say will weaken Medicare. The AARP endorsement was instrumental in passing this bill, and you may remember seeing people burning their AARP membership cards in protest. My general read on this situation is that AARP wanted to pass a prescription drug bill, any prescription drug bill, and made the poor choice of putting their weight behind the only thing moving.

Karmic reward: Now AARP is getting slammed by the Republican propaganda machine with ads that paint the organization as pro-gay and anti-military--some say in retribution for its opposition to the Bush social security privatization plan. Check out Maureen Dowd in the NYT for a snarky discussion of the details of this smear campaign.

Fun facts from the Luntz budget memo

Republican strategist Frank Luntz (see related post, Uh oh--doubleplusungood, 1/10/05) has just penned a new "playbook" with advice to the GOP on how to talk about the economy and the budget. See Daily Kos or Think Progress for a detailed analysis. Also, did you know, as Luntz helpfully points out in a section titled "Ten 'Fun' Facts about the National Budget," that

• "A tightly packed stack of crisp new $1000 bills, totalling $5 billion would be 315 miles tall"
  
• "The space shuttle, which orbits at about 240 miles above the earth, would have to go around this 'debt stack'"

Phew. Well, fortunately for the astronauts, our $7.6 trillion national debt is money the government doesn't have, and therefore would be unable to tightly pack into a dangerous "debt stack." Thanks, W!

Babies may face lowered IQ--or, possibly, explode

CNN commentator: “When you hear the words ‘rocket fuel,’ ‘breast-feeding’ isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind.”

You can read about the Environmental Working Group's findings on elevated levels of the toxic fuel chemical perchlorate in American women's breast milk here.

PowerPoint corrupts absolutely

An update from my ongoing, one-woman campaign to drastically reduce the use of PowerPoint presentations in organizing and advocacy:

PR guy Greg Brooks explains why PowerPoint is a poor presentation tool in the business world. Most of what he's talking about is also relevant from a grassroots organizing perspective. "If they're watching the screen," he writes, "they’re not listening to what you have to say." Also, "PowerPoint adds one more cultural variable for you to screw up."

Right on, PR guy! My critique of PowerPoint goes a bit deeper than Brooks', however. PowerPoint is something far more dangerous than just a communications tool that isn't all it's cracked up to be. It is part of a culture-wide assault on the ancient and beautiful art of public speaking.

Gonzo funeral plans

"The family is looking into whether [Hunter S.] Thompson's cremated remains can be blasted out of a cannon, a wish the gun-loving writer often expressed, Brinkley said.

'The optimal, best-case scenario is the ashes will be shot out of a cannon,' he said.

Other arrangements were pending."(CNN.com)

Where's the Kyoto party?

Ok, everybody. . .the Kyoto Protocol went into effect on the 15th. Why didn't anybody throw a party? Thousands of people worked for more than a decade to make this happen, and it's a big achievement even though the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter is not on board. (Don't worry, in a few years China will pass up the U.S. and then we'll be able to say that the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter is on board. Heh.)

Tom Wolfe would be proud

A group of Princeton students has secured University funding to create a chastity support group. (Daily Princetonian)

I know a few over-worked DC types who could use a chastity support group, too.

Your guide to the vast left-wing conspiracy

DiscoverTheNetwork.org: Run by pro-war, small-government, racist whackjob* David Horowitz, this site includes profiles of over 1500 lefty people and groups, plus "interlocking visual maps which display the intricate links between organizations of the left." Look up your friends and colleagues!

This is one of several sites I've run across recently which utilize visual social network maps. These are cool. Is there software commercially available that would allow us to create our own?

*You think I'm being sensationalistic about this guy, but read a few of his columns and you will see that "whackjob" is a pretty charitable way to put it.

Hunter Thompson checks out

Whoa. Hunter S. Thompson, Author, 65, Commits Suicide (NYT) A brilliantly subversive, drug-soaked light has gone out of the world. This is pretty heavy stuff.

Now I really wish I had gotten a chance to meet him at that bar in Aspen. (See related post: Aspen dispatch, 12/15/04.)

It's nice to be the target demographic

This Thursday night, NPR.org will provide a live stream of Wilco in concert at the 9:30 Club--a clever tactic in the organization's long-term plan to draw in younger listeners. This is the kind of thing we traded Bob Edwards for, I guess.

Ooh, ooh! Free FOIA requests!!!

Word "blog" uttered on Senate floor; bloggers flip out.

Making FOIA blogger-friendly (Personal Democracy Forum via Alternet Peek): Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has introduced a bill to "protect access to FOIA fee waivers for legitimate journalists, regardless of institutional association – including bloggers and other Internet-based journalists."

FYI, the First Amendment Center's guide to filing a FOIA request can be found here.

Negroponte background

John Negroponte, Bush's pick for the newly-created National Intelligence Director position, played a key role in the Iran-Contra affair as Ambassador to Honduras during the early 1980s. He was also accused of human rights violations by the Honduras Commission on Human Rights. Nothing proven, but "there is a large body of circumstantial evidence supporting the view that Negroponte was aware that serious violations of human rights were carried out by the Honduran government with the support of the CIA." (Wikipedia) Just thought you should know.

Social Security for Dummies

On NBC's Today Show this morning: Boston College econ students visually explain the Social Security system using snowballs ("payments"). Some students represent "workers" who toss "payments" (snowballs) to students representing "retirees." Surplus "payments" end up in the "trust fund" (a pile of snowballs).

Not shown: the "government" stealing snowballs from the "trust fund" to take care of budget shortfalls. This could have been represented by the BC students' professor stealing the stored snowballs and fashioning them into a Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

SOCIALIST security, you mean

Social Security does not exist to serve as a retirement fund for the middle and upper class. If you want a retirement fund, I suggest a nice 401 (k) plan, which is probably offered by your employer, or an IRA. No, Social Security exists so that we don't find our elders dead in their homes, being gnawed on by rodents, because they found themselves without the funds to buy groceries and/or heating oil. It's a social safety net. The truth is that yeah, Americans should save more, but at the same time, many Americans live paycheck to paycheck and simply don't make enough money both to meet their basic needs and to save for retirement. Even if you are able to save, shit happens. And that is why we have Social Security. Because if shit happens to you, you as a human being and an American deserve not to be gnawed by rodents.

Social Security is inherently redistributive. Make no mistake, that's why the Bush administration and its allies in Congress want to dismantle it. The Bush economic policy team attacks any program that is redistributive, from Pell grants to send poor kids to college to certain elements of our tax code, as a matter of principle. This is a philosophical difference, not a policy difference, between the proponents and opponents of the President's plan to reform* Social Security. For some reason, however, the Democrats in Congress keep framing it as a policy difference. "MWAH MWAH program not really in crisis MWAH MWAH treasury bonds MWAH MWAH"

Get a spine! Say what you mean! We human beings take care of our old, weak, and sick. This is a morality thing, not an accounting thing.

*read: gut and then phase out. Beast-starving at its finest!

News flash: media smart enough to see through Bush greenwash

Well, all of them except Gregg Easterbrook, who complains in The New Republic Online today that the media have not devoted enough attention to the Bush administration's 2004 initiative to cut emissions of the greenhouse gas methane. The media is focusing on the administration's lack of support for the Kyoto carbon treaty instead, writes Easterbrook, because reporting on the methane initiative would cause "inconvenient complications of the Black Hat versus White Hat narrative it has settled into regarding global warming."

Mr. Easterbrook, if reporters don't devote time and energy to reporting extensively about the Bush administration's feeble attempts at greenwashing itself, that's because the enviros got to them first and made them see reason. The media is a battlefield and I am proud and satisfied to see the Bush EPA's truth-distorting, attention-diverting press releases lying bloody and mangled in the no-man's-land of page A24.

Geo-green it is

NYT columnist Tom Friedman comes through again on the connection between energy and Middle East stability. Today he writes, "As a geo-green, I believe that combining environmentalism and geopolitics is the most moral and realistic strategy the U.S. could pursue today. Imagine if President Bush used his bully pulpit and political capital to focus the nation on sharply lowering energy consumption and embracing a gasoline tax." Friedman's basic argument in this column, as well as a previous one, is that political stability and democratic reform in the Middle East is hindered by the high price of oil, which forces the U.S. and others to bend over for corrupt regimes like that of Saudi Arabia. By reducing the demand for oil, argues Friedman, we'll reduce its price, and eliminate the economic vise in which OPEC nations are clutching our collective, figurative balls. (This is a very loose paraphrase.)

He is really serious about coining this "geo-green" term, too. Seems a little self-conscious about it.

See also related post: To stop war, create an economic lever (1/30/05)

Nukes 'n' neighbors

U.S. Rejects North Korea Demand for Direct Nuclear Talks (NYT): "The United States today rejected a demand by North Korea for one-on-one talks over its nuclear program, insisting that the six-party negotiations involving Pyongyang's neighbors was the only way to deal with the issue."

I don't get it. Are we unilateralists or aren't we?

Fish surgery and the decline of civilization

All Things Considered: "A growing number of veterinarians are being trained to treat pet fish that fall ill. The first documented operation on a sick goldfish was performed in 1993 at North Carolina State University."

For me, this conjures up Simpsons-esque images of doctors charging up teeny-tiny defibrillator paddles and yelling, "Don't quit on me now, Bubbles!"

Is this the advent of post-postmaterialism? Do we simply have too much money and disposable time? Have we cured cancer yet? What's happening here?

Dogs of war disavowed

The New Yorker's Seymour Hersh hears that the U.S. is gathering intelligence to prepare for an invasion of Iran. The White House accuses Hersh of inaccuracies and, apparently counting on the success of the Rice charm offensive, points to its plan to work with Europe to disarm Iran through diplomatic means. (CNN.com)

Meanwhile, Jon Stewart suggests on The Daily Show: ". . .for a fun second term drinking game, chug a beer every time you hear the phrase 'contentious but futile protest vote by Democrats.' By the time Jeb Bush is elected, you'll be so wasted you won't even notice the war in Syria."

Way ahead of you, Jon . . . *snap fizz*

Hope you like fecal coliform in your water!

Bush budget proposes more cuts to the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which many municipal water suppliers rely on to create and maintain infrastructure to pipe clean drinking water to our homes and businesses. (WP article)

Seriously, though, you don't even want to know what's in your water already. You know the urban legend that hot dogs are allowed by law to contain a certain number of rat hairs/human fingers/other nasty thing per shipment? Yeah, it's kind of like that.

Gentrification as a spectator sport

City Paper reporter infiltrates Columbia Heights "community improvement" listserve, documents the tragicomic travails of bourgeois professionals newly arrived in the neighborhood. A couple of highlights:

• "In November 2002, Columbia Heights resident 'zupancic3' offered a lesson in how to gentrify the corner store—one bottle of Chimay at a time. Offering this bit of unsolicited advice to 'Arthur's Grocery,' the neighbor wrote: 'I would start with selling a few microbrews, and some decent wine.'"
• "In August 2001, Melissa Knutson Leifert and her husband were trying to maximize the charm of their historic row house. The idea was to take a sledgehammer to their kitchen wall, thereby exposing the wonderful brick of the structure. 'What I now have is a wall of tar covered brick,' Leifert wrote. 'Has anyone ever successfully removed this?'"

Beating Harvard like a dead horse

Princeton has the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Yale has the Yale Alumni Magazine, and Harvard has . . . the Atlantic Monthly. The Atlantic is fairly obsessed with that noted institution*, and you can count on an article in which Harvard life figures prominently at least every third issue. Weird for a magazine that, while based in Boston, bills itself as a more generally American publication.

This month's display of Harvard-centricity in the Atlantic takes the form of a first-person alumnus account of grade inflation and lack of academic rigor at Harvard. Ivy League grade inflation: kind of important, kind of interesting. But what about--Ivy League ego inflation?

*Based on an online archive search, "Harvard" has been mentioned 1599 times in the Atlantic Monthly since 1857. For comparison's sake--Princeton: 350 times; Yale: 998 times; Cornell: 225 times.

Soul-searching in the enviro movement

Little bit of soul-finding, too.

Paper Sets Off a Debate on Environmentalism's Future (NYT)--"The leaders of the environmental movement were livid last fall when Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, two little-known, earnest environmentalists in their 30's, presented a 12,000-word thesis arguing that environmentalism was dead."

The Greening of Evangelicals (WP)--"Despite wariness toward mainstream environmental groups, a growing number of evangelicals view stewardship of the environment as a responsibility mandated by God in the Bible."

Lohan: Grown in a test tube?

This will be the first and last time Lindsay Lohan is mentioned on this site, I promise. But this is important. Check out these photos of Lohan at the Teen Choice Awards, paying close attention to the bare midriff. Note that she appears to have no navel. If I were an alien I would have one surgically added, wouldn't you?

Repackaging animated sitcoms for profit

This Sunday we'll be treated to the premiere of American Dad, a new show from Seth McFarlane, the creator of one of the funniest animated shows of all time--Family Guy. Tragically, a cursory check at the American Dad website suggests that Mr. McFarlane, far from creating a new show, has simply repackaged Family Guy. Doesn't mean it won't be funny, though.

American Dad character = Family Guy analog
father Stan Smith = father Peter Griffin
attractive wife Francine = attractive wife Lois
teenage daughter Hayley = teenage daughter Meg
dorky son Steve = dorky son Chris
talking goldfish with crush on wife = talking dog with crush on wife

Creative assassinations

Apparent Gas Leak Kills Georgia's Prime Minister (NYT)

"Apparent gas leak"--right. Why is it that the leaders of former Soviet republics always get taken out in some overly complicated way, rather than just being shot or something? First there was the poisoning of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko with dioxin, now this.

Ain't enough liquor in the world. . .

. . . to calm my spleen right now. I'll spare you my full-on SOTU analysis 'cause you'll hear the same thing from assorted pundits, but--

• When W mentioned "activist judges" he was definitely winking . . . in Scalia's direction, I think.
• Gay marriage ban amendment? Half-hearted, last-minute inclusion. A true non-sequitur. Speechwriters must have gotten a late-night call from James Dobson. Ditto on the energy policy mention, which simply gives enviro groups a reason to e-mail their action alert lists.
  
• Truly enjoyed Sen. Reid's rebuttal. His folksiness evoked Wilford Brimley. Finally the Dems are using the special interest, corporate fat cat story to their advantage. Though they still caved on social security a bit; Reid talked too much about giving people "choices," thus buying into the way the administration has framed private retirement accounts. Which are a complete smokescreen ...more on that later.
  
• Who was the woman in the piss-yellow suit? I don't know what I think about super-colorful suits on women. Especially RED. That means you, RNC chick who I always see at my gym.
  
• Have to admit--I cried when the Iraqi lady hugged the parents of the soldier who got killed in Iraq. Vodka will do funny things to you.
• Image of the night: the purple-fingered salute. Tacky, tacky, tacky.
  

State of the drinking game

The U.S. Constitution directs,"He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient. . . " Or as one might say in the current situation, "make them an offer they can't refuse."

Yes, once again it's time for the president's State of the Union address, the event my friend Ryan calls "the wonks' Super Bowl." To help numb the pain, I suggest one of the following drinking games:

www.drinkinggame.us: My favorite. Run by Princeton alums, so you know you'll get hammered no matter what happens--and that's exactly where you want to be
The Will Durst tongue-in-cheek SOTU drinking game: Thanks to Alicia for forwarding this one along.

Is your senator hot? Statistically speaking?

I notice a few trends in the hotness of U.S. senators as rated by users of "Is your Senator hot or not?" First of all, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing perfect hotness, senators are not very hot, rating an average of 3.9. Secondly, Democrats are, on average, deemed hotter than Republicans. (Average hotness of Democrat senators = 4.5. Average hotness of Republican senators = 3.4.)

Further manipulating the data*, I find a slight positive correlation between progressive voting records and hotness. Specifically, there is a slight positive correlation between ACLU score and hotness (r=0.27) and between League of Conservation Voters score and hotness (r=0.25). Calculations available here.

*I am currently unemployed.