The bad news: [url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature10847.html]the GRACE data[/url] now available shows accelarating ice loss in the [url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/feb/HQ_12-048_GRACE_Land_Ice_Study.html]polar ice caps and glaciated regions[/url] (though not, comfortingly for us, in the Himalayas, which seem to be collecting enough snow precipitation to compensate).
The good news: a penguin defeats the Lib Dem candidate in elections [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17960490]in Edinburgh.[/url] [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/04/penguin-more-votes-lib-dems?INTCMP=SRCH]On the campaign trail.[/url]
[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/4/1336150723347/Professor-Pongoo-008.jpg[/img]
Imported Mexican Bananas and US Highway Fatalities
(#280191)[quote][url=http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/25/mobile-police-make-first-arrest-owens-beating-case-ar-3674943/]Mobile Police made their first arrest[/url] in the mob beating of Matthew Owens. 44-year-old Terry Rawls surrendered Wednesday on assault charges.
"This here is an ongoing dispute with neighbors, that's what this is," explained Corporal Chris Levy with the Mobile Police Department.
[b]Police say the tension between Owens and Rawls had been escalating for three years. In fact, that wasn't the first time police were called to Delmar Drive. Police say Rawls has attacked Owens before, but charges were never filed because they say Owens instigated it[/b].[/quote]
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Interesting Candidate Choice
(#280193)Perhaps Los Angeles or Chicago may go a similar route in the near future:
[IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn311/eilandesq/roncey3.jpg[/IMG]
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Using the Warren Standard, I'm Jewish
(#280199)After all, my great-great-great grandmother's maiden name was Morgenstern. The story here.
Faux-cahontas.
More here:
Harvard Law is mum on her birther status.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Yup I see a total meltdown by November
(#280200)posting stuff from American Thinker, and it's only May? I suggest you start drinking heavily, followed by me drinking heavily.
I blame it all on the Internet
Right now, all we know is stuff along the lines of
(#280202)Harvard hired her, and three years later, it was in the school paper.
Someone has to be from the lowest ranked law school unless there was a tie for #1.
1: this means it's "likely" she was hired because of her NA background?
2: does this mean she exploited her actual NA background?
What is this "Warren Standard" you speak of?
Right now, it looks like you're going with #2 and #1 too.
Right now, American Thinker, Howard Carr et al. seem to be at best, trying to drag down Warren with Harvard not qualifying enough that Warren wasn't 100% Cherokee or whatever.
Any chance American Thinker, Carr, Chabot created their own little firestorm and are duping people across the internets and AM radio?
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Nope, that's not it
(#280214)The point is whether she used her 1/32 drop of NA blood to advance her career. Knowing how the academic profession conducted its hiring practices at the time, the answer is fairly obvious.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
If it's allowed, what's the problem?
(#280215)Some of the forms I've used for admissions or job applications ask whether you have Native American ancestry. In that case, you'd just be answering the form truthfully.
I can answer that! This story's a dog whistle for the
(#280225)"I'm not a racist, but" crowd.
M Aurelius was probably right.
What about people who use their connections
(#280226)or relatives to gain admission or employment? Schools also ask about your alumni.
That doesn't sound like merit to me and I hope no conservative politician would ever try taking advantage.
Yes. . .
(#280239). . .that's far easier than dealing with a candidate who got caught resume fluffing and who has other problems which will likely result in MA Democrats howling about the "tragedy" of losing the "Kennedy seat" *again* to those awful Republicans.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
"My great great grandmother was Cherokee" is now a
(#280245)character flaw? I guess I just can't hear whining at that frequency.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Once again, conservatives obsessed with race nt
(#280266).
I blame it all on the Internet
They're Just Pointing Out Liberal Obsession With Race
(#280273)Lying about it to help demonize Zimmerman, and Warren fluffing her resume because universities need to fill quotas.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I don't think so
(#280276)I don't hear liberals making a big deal about this. No, conservatives are the ones who seem to be consistently obsessed with racial issues.
I blame it all on the Internet
Sounds like whining. -nt-
(#280284).
M Aurelius was probably right.
Sounds Like Democrats Don't Like. . .
(#280285). . .people pointing out their reliance on racial issues and have to resort to projection.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I refer you to the whining links that started this thread. -nt-
(#280286).
M Aurelius was probably right.
There's nothing wrong with ambition
(#280247)Warren checked the box until after she landed the Harvard gig, then she unchecked it when it was no longer necessary. She played the academic game. The losers were the other similarly qualified minorities with more than 3.1% minority blood who were denied the jobs she was awarded.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Not To Mention Lying About Her Reasons For Doing So Now
(#280257)That would be an issue even if the dubious claim in the first place wasn't--as is hiding behind her publicist shrieking about how bringing this up is "sexist."
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Landsman!!
(#280203)Y'know, Charles (or should it be "Chaim"?) under Jewish laws governing these things, if you do have a Jewish g-g-g-gm, since proper descent is reckoned though the female line, as long as there is unbroken female descent, it really would make you, technically, a MOT. What's your opinion on herring....?
And, BTW, unless I'm mistaken, if Elizabeth Warren is "1/32 Cherokee", that would qualify her as a member of that tribe; IIRC, the Cherokee have always had a hugely inclusive policy towards recognizing "their own", with quite a lot of latitude as to "blood". I think in the Pequot casino case, the State of Connecticut was obliged to recognize, as a "Native American Tribe", a group of folks with scarcely as much blood connections as Elizabeth Warren's: so while her "ethnic" identification may be a bit dubious, it's not completely off-the-wall. Though I don't think Ms. Warren is going into the gambling gaming industry any time soon.
She doesn't need to.
(#280387)If she is admitted to membership in a tribe with a substantial business, the cashflow basically just kicks in. Maybe she can use it for ads! :^)
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
LOL!
(#280388)I'm stealing Faux-cahontas. That's comedy gold! Like, a 2 month stint headlining at Foxwoods gold!
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
I was right that April's job #s would be weak
(#280211)given that Obama's poll#s have been in steady decline. I do not believe the economy is currently on a trajectory for an Obama win in 2012. His best shot was and is to immediately fire Geithner and the head of F&F, and to provide massive relief to homeowners through Treas. This trajectory is not compatible with a win in late fall:
[img=500x500]http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/files/2012/05/People-Not-In-Labor-Force.jpg[/img] [img=500x500]http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/files/2012/05/Participation-Rate.jpg[/img]
Let's note that the last few months' numbers were
(#280212)revised upward fairly substantially and this is the least bad of the summer slowdowns in job creation that we've seen over the last three years. No, I'm not happy with these numbers going into a summer campaign, but the danger isn't as much a renewed downturn as a Romney victory.
No one's talking about a double-dip
(#280213)At least they shouldn't be.
The upward revisions are good and bad news.
Politically, the March upward revisions should have Obama worried. Even when they economy is creating 154k jobs, like it did in March, he's losing support as hundreds of thousands of people are giving up looking for a job entirely.
In April, 342,000 people gave up and stopped looking for a job. The working-age population grew by 180k, which is in addition to the normal 100k population-growth per month. That means that in April over 1/2 million people joined the "not in the labor force" rolls last month.
That's pretty worrying. Of course upward revisions are always good news. To put more cold-water on it, however, wages did not keep pace with inflation again, and a pay cut when demand is the central problem the economy is facing is not a good sign.
A different take on employment-population ratios
(#280220)from Yglesias.
Interesting that according to mainstream economic thought this shoudl be impossible,. that is having a higher social benefit state without a higher labor force participation rate. At leat not in countries that appear to be economically successful.
I blame it all on the Internet
It has been three days
(#280219)since I saw the rape scene in 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' and I am ... still traumatized.
3 days! I hereby resign myself to only watch Pixar movies.
Swedish or American version? nt
(#280221).
I blame it all on the Internet
American version
(#280227)I didn't watch it too carefully b/c I was grading exams, but that was not a scene you could just have on in the background.
It's important to have the right background viewing
(#280236)That's why I only watch Pasolini's Salò while grading.
A man must be orthodox upon most things, or he will never even have time to preach his own heresy.
Just finished the 3rd book
(#280248)It ended well.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
ախ, մարդկությունը
(#280234)Someone in Armenia decided to save some money by using hydrogen instead of helium to fill the balloons at a political rally. So of course ...
fortunately no one was seriously injured, including any Kardashians.
I blame it all on the Internet
Yikes
(#280235)Someone needs to translate that old newsreel of the Hindenburg burning to ashes into a few more languages:
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Hint
(#280237)paste the comment title into an arminian-english translator.
I blame it all on the Internet
No, I Got That
(#280238)I just was wondering about the fact that there was anyone in the civilized world who didn't know that using hydrogen as a floatation medium is really, really dangerous and not such a hot idea.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Economics trumps common sense
(#280240)in a surprisingly large number of cases.
I blame it all on the Internet
New home video of the Challenger disaster
(#280246)keeps popping up. Watching the new one really brought me back, and so I went on a little internet journey through the Rogers Commission report, then the Discovery disaster report, and I got down to Richard Feynman's dissent in the former. NASA contractors and employees had been feeding him bits of information, trying to bring more aspects of the agency's broken management culture to light. Feynman famously dunked the SRB o-ring material in a glass of ice water, showing that it no longer acts like an elastic material at launch-day temperatures.
Here's one detail he mentioned: NASA management had always claimed a risk of catastrophic shuttle failure to be on the order of 1 in 10^5. That is, 1 in 100,000 launches would result in a disaster. Feynman immediately realized this would mean NASA was claiming it could launch a space shuttle every day for 247 years before experiencing a "Criticality 1" malfunction. I.e., the claim was ludicrous on its face. Polling the engineers involved in the program, Feynman found their professional estimates for the failure risk were between 1:50 and 1:100, several orders of magnitude larger. And indeed now we know that, out of 135 STS missions, two of them resulted in catastrophic failure, making the actual observed risk 1:67.5.
The problem isn't just that NASA chiefs were blowing ammonium perchlorate smoke up the public's butt...that is, it wasn't simply that they touted one risk estimate to the public while using another, far more realistic estimate of risk for design & mission control purposes. No, they seem to have believed to some degree their own ludicrously optimistic risk assessments, and used them in making mission-critical decisions. How on earth is that possible? Feynman explains:
In other words, they were calculating probabilities of future success by measuring past success. Which is exactly like flipping a coin and planning to come up heads forever because you got three in a row. And, as Feynman explains, this non-scientific mathematical absurdity was used to give mission clearance to structural flaws that were already known...Morton Thiokol knew that the o-ring material was compromised at low temperatures, and the coldest launch temperature previous to Challenger had been 53 degrees F. Challenger's launch temperature was around 31 degrees F. This was a known design problem, but NASA managers pushed for takeoff clearance anyway based in part on their theory that past success guarantees future success.
TL;DR - all of which is to say that people in charge of a project often drastically underestimate the risks of faster, cheaper solutions.
M Aurelius was probably right.
I was part of what amounts to a....
(#280386)....psych experiment using this as a basis during my MBA. Organizational Design class. The prof presented the fairly large class with some data and a case study about a Formula One racing co suffering from engine blow outs. We were presented with some data on expected conditions at the track the next day and asked to decide whether to race or not. So the class argues it out and splits into pro- and anti-race camps. Then she feeds us more data 3 more times and lets us switch sides as we see fit. The two groups are pretty rigid by the end, nobody is moving despite there being a pretty clear trend in the revelations being presented to us. Then she finally says, "Ok, here are the race results" and flips up a shot of Challenger detonating. The case was basically a disguised version of the decision making process at NASA. Man, there were some pissed-off students! Best demo of group-think I've seen.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Sounds like a great exercise. Also a great demonstration
(#280392)of post hoc thinking. "Well, of course I'd make a mistake Challenger big," but of course, as demonstrated, when career & money & prestige are on the line we suddenly tend to have wildly different perceptions of risk.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Don't Mess With The Kid
(#280241)Chris Paul's son directs a glare at his newly chosen nemesis, Blake Griffin:
[IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn311/eilandesq/dontmesswithme.jpg[/IMG]
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
On The One Hand. . .
(#280242). . .the panic over Albert Pujols' slow start among Angel fans and the baseball media has been a tad asinine. On the other hand. . .when the "I homered before Albert Pujols this season" club includes such mighty sluggers as 5' 11", 150 lb Dee Gordon, one can see where El Hombre might be getting a little perturbed over the whole thing. The Angels wisely decided to give him a day off on Saturday--we'll see if that nudges the old reset button and gets Albert rolling. I hope he didn't decide to watch "Pride of the Yankees" on his day off--the last thing he needs is a dose of creeping medical paranoia.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
9th Circuit has Yoo's back
(#280244)[quote] (Yoo) wrote memos approving most of the practices allegedly used against plaintiff Jose Padilla in a Navy brig - sleep deprivation, stress positions, isolation, and extremes of temperature, light and darkness.[/quote]
[url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/02/BAL71OCCE8.DTL&tsp=1]Who did Yoo consult to see what those "techniques" were?[/url]
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Iranian soccer players may face lashing for celebratory groping
(#280251)For this.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
The Life of Julia,
(#280252)by Iowahawk.
EDIT: Ross Douthat takes on the Obama campaign version.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Shame, Bird Dog
(#280258)How dare you mock The Once's great vision for the life of Julia Manless Wombtothetomb?
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Mark Steyn Ties It Altogether
(#280259)"Fauxcahontas and the melting pot". Funny how it all comes back to composites.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
More racial obsession
(#280298)it almost looks like a repeating theme at this point.
I blame it all on the Internet
Indeed
(#280301)Hopefully, Democrats will get over it someday.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Huh. I had no idea Obama will be President for 64 years nt
(#280297).
I blame it all on the Internet
It was the Obama campaign
(#280312)that made the claim.
*smirks*
(#280313)I wonder how The Once would look in one of those silly Pharaoh hats.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Actually
(#280323)he has the right look. He'd make a handsome 3D relief carving (with gold leaf) on the top of a sarcophagus.
Bizarre Bill Johnson
(#280253)The story here. I suspect there's a reason that he only got 2% of the GOP primary vote.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Tyler Cowen on India...
(#280254)...here. I'd be interested in hearing what manish has to say.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
We have microscopic influence on the world, economy, culturally
(#280275)or otherwise. Hopefully, things will stay that way. The BRICS thing was pretty silly from the beginning.
The article is mostly correct in general. But...that poor people are in a bad way isn't new, or news!
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Microscopic?
(#280299)I don't think so. Buddhism alone gets you out of that category. And ~3% of world GDP isn't microscopic either.
I blame it all on the Internet
Yes, microscopic.
(#280309)We expropriated and exterminated our Buddhists. What academic work is done on Buddhism is largely done in the West.
Pilgrimages are the preserve of the South East Asians and Japanese, who we shamelessly cultivate for tourism money.
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Kowloon City
(#280255)Interesting pictures.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Those are fantastic
(#280256)I got claustrophobic just looking at them.
I stayed in Kowloon City last year as the hotels are a little cheaper out in the New Territories. It is not the dump you see pictured, that's for sure. I think they turned that old walled city into a park with museums.
Sarkozy out, Hollande in
(#280260)I don't know that this is going to make a dent in the European crisis, however, since Merkel is the source of the problem, she's not going anywhere until at least the fall election, and polls give her a decisive lead.
Still, it would've been depressing to think that conservatives were allowed to preside over every major economy in Europe after driving each into the ground in an unprecedented display of economic malpractice.
A continuing story of austerity
(#280261)I wonder if the GOP wil trim their sails after seeing what austerity has done to conservatism in Europe. Or will they just see the rise of the far right as worth it?
I blame it all on the Internet
And in other election news....
(#280265)... and a reminder that "anarchy" is a Greek word - Greek elections toss governing coalition, set up left to form new government ; though their new Parliament looks to be a patchwork-quilt (crazy-quilt?) with virtually no clear mandate for anyone. Except, of course, against any more (or even exisiting) austerity measures.
“We’re Not Really Set Up To Cover The Extreme Left.”
(#280262)Of course they're not--biting the hand that feeds them would be bad form.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Amazing how those guys get tied to the left in general
(#280263)when no one has any idea how they were coaxed by the government, and the Neo-nazi who actually shot people isn't tied to the right.
Anyway, if you're willing to believe that these people had significant ties to Occupy based on National Review "reporting" then there's no point in trying to convince you otherwise.
Any far-right
(#280264)Nazi who goes on a shooting rampage, child molester, terrorist wannabe, etc. is totally unconnected with the Real Conservatives. Any a**hat with a black mask who puts a brick through a storefront, however, has a direct line to the oval office.
Gents, you're going on as though violent extremism
(#280268)hasn't been tied to the right around here. In fact, I believe the lefties here have tried to make the point that violent extremism was tied exclusively to the right. Discussions on cross-hairs and Giffords? No? Nobody remembers that?
In the medical community, death is known as Chuck Norris Syndrome.
Is your point
(#280270)that people on the left who made an irrational leap on the Giffords shooting are now afraid to draw reasonable links between this AZ shooting and right wing extremism?
Far left terrorists here in America-land
(#280271)tend to be fairly risible. How many of the casualties inflicted by the Weather Underground, for example, were actually members of that organization who actually blew their own hands off?
Moreover, most far-right terrorism is a *lot* closer to the mainstream of the American right than far-left terrorism is to the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Now that Kucinich has been primaried away, I think that the number of Democratic Congressmen who want to smash capitalism is pretty close to zero. The langauge of "Second Amendment solutions," the statement that Obama is this. close. to implementing communism, etc., by contrast, are much more within the mainstream of what Republican politicians and News Corp are saying.
I think the biggest difference
(#280272)is that the far left terrorists seem to need tremendous amounts of help from the FBI to get any of their plots moving. The far right appears to be much more self sufficient in that regard.
I blame it all on the Internet
Nah, lots of neo-Nazi terror cells
(#280289)are mostly made up of FBI informers. And the sad, sad Waffle House Terrorists also needed a bit of a helping hand from federal law enforcement.
Now, now, I'm sure....
(#280269)....we can agree that regardless of their links to larger tendencies or lack thereof, these anarchists are worthless trash. I, for one, look forward to hearing about their convictions and long, long, sentences. It's the least these scumbags deserve.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
How Old Is This Kid Again?
(#280274)The Nationals are playing the Phillies in DC, and Bryce Harper is hitting third. With two out, Harper comes up and Cole Hamels plunks him. Harper goes to first and promptly goes from first to third on a single by Werth, hustling all the way and keeping an eye on the right fielder in case the throw comes to second. Chad Tracy comes up next and Hamels decides to throw over to first to keep Werth honest. Before the first baseman can react, HARPER STEALS HOME--easily beating the throw home from first. Tracy flew out to left a couple of pitches later, but I doubt many people in the park actually noticed.
Edit: The video--at least until MLB notices and has it taken down:
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Just amazing
(#280288)When is the last time anyone has stolen home?
And the Nats are in first place in the National league.
In other news, the trees here hang with loaves and fishes.
They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
-- General John B. Sedgwick, 1864
It Happens Every So Often
(#280291)Not usually in this particular way, though. It was a perfect timing play that Rod Carew--who stole home seven times in 1969--would have been proud to call his own (Ty Cobb probably would have scorned it due to the lack of bloodshed involved). He's not the youngest to steal home, by the way: Tommy Brown stole home as a member of the 1945 Dodgers, well before his eighteenth birthday.
In other news, the Phillies ended up winning the game 9-3, with Harper going two for three and electrifying the crowd again by hustling out a double on a opposite field bloop that dropped to the ground about forty feet behind shortstop.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Yeah, I was bummed
(#280293)About the loss to the Phillies, but the Nats are an exciting young team these days.
But seriously: When was the last time someone stole home?
They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
-- General John B. Sedgwick, 1864
I Can't Find Anywhere That Keeps Current Stats On It
(#280304)But here's an article that talks about long term trends regarding stealing home.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Saw it one time last season
(#280307)Basically the same situation: first and third, pitcher (Cliff Lee, in that case - another lefty, probably not coincidentally) makes a lazy throw to first, runner on third steals home.
A man must be orthodox upon most things, or he will never even have time to preach his own heresy.
Not With A Bang, But A Whimper?
(#280281)Writing for Grantland.com, Tyler Cowen & Kevin Grier lay out a grim scenario for the potential death of football as a significant sport in the United States.
A sudden thought--suppose that Congress and the states got together and passed legislation that made it clear that anyone playing football or a sport with similar risks is barred from later legal action due to knowing assumption of risk. Would that be enough to save football, or would parents simply say "no way, no how" to their children in sufficient numbers that football would simply die a slower death rather than a relatively quick one? No way to know unless it happens, really.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Difficult to say
(#280290)it's hard to see how high school and college would serve as recruitment fodder for the pros if any serious attempt was made to change the game so that concussions wouldn't or couldn't happen. It's also hard to know how many parents would actually pull their kids out of high school football.
I wouldn't be surprised to see farm leagues in Mexico, though.
I blame it all on the Internet
"Lessons of Iraq Help U.S. Fight a Drug War in Honduras"
(#280282)[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/06/world/americas/us-turns-its-focus-on-drug-smuggling-in-honduras.html?_r=1&hp]US Military's current role in Hondorus, to fight the War on Drugs[/url]
[quote]Some skeptics still worry that the American military might accidentally empower thuggish elements of local security forces. [/quote]
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
"Accidentally" ??
(#280283)SRSLY?
More Republican war on women
(#280300)Kansas passes bill allowing doctors to refuse chemotherapy to pregnant women. Keep going, GOP, at this rate you might be able to get your poll numbers with women to look like your poll numbers for African Americans.
I blame it all on the Internet
Can't disagree with either one
(#280302)Schwarzenegger and the five dumbest ME ideas.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Hm. The FP op ed is a bit crankpot, BD.
(#280317)Andrew Exum is a smart guy, but his dictum about military interventions Miller is embracing here isn't very well thought out:
Holy sweeping generalizations, Batman. While this sounds great, plays well to the crowd as it were, this doctrine would eliminate dozens or hundreds of types of operations that potentially do a lot of good for a small effort. Everything from supplying guerillas to propaganda efforts to naval exercises to military aid to Israel could count as partial intervention. Military advisors, logistical support, the bin Laden raid, interdictions against Somali pirates, support for UN peacekeeping or inspection regimes, etc. all count as "partial interventions" and while they may have a mixed record of success, arguing that complete withdrawal from all missions of this type would improve the overall situation of global US interests is silly.
It's like your uncle who says "never borrow anything from anybody; if you can't afford to pay cash, then don't buy it." Sounds great in theory; is severely limiting in practice.
Take the Syria example. Exum & Miller would have us either a) launch a full-scale invasion aimed at toppling the regime & setting up a better one, or b) sit on our hands and hope things work out ok in that part of the world. As it happens the excluded middle between those starkly opposed extremes is full of options that may well have better results. The people of Syria are in open & bloody revolt against their government. We didn't cause that revolt, but that doesn't mean we have no interest in the outcome. We could pick sides and offer enough aid & support for our side to eke out a victory on their own...the benefit of going this route is that the eventual victor has legitimacy and command experience. Alternately we could go all Machiavelli and help draw out the conflict, weakening a none-too-friendly rival nation. We could attempt to broker a piece. All three options would entail military involvement short of a full-scale invasion, and could produce desirable results (or head off undesirable ones).
M Aurelius was probably right.
The generalization applies to Syria
(#280319)The Exum piece is here, and the key conclusion is that it is unlikely that a quick regime change can occur. The other concern is that those who would replace Assad may be just as undesirable as the incumbent.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Both of those concerns would apply to any civil war,
(#280320)and neither concern leads to a conclusion that the US should do nothing, or that the US should take small-scale military intervention off the table completely. Any civil war in any country is likely to entail a drawn out cultural/political conflict that will take years to resolve, with obviously no guarantees that the eventual victors will be friendlier or less friendly than the current regime.
Unpredictability is no excuse for us to ignore problems, or (in Exum's case) to take a range of options off the table.
The WPR article is behind a subscription wall, by the way.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Any civil war?
(#280328)Like Libya?
The link to the Exum article is here. I got into it just fine.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Or Iraq, Afghanistan, the US (Reconstruction), Cuba,
(#280329)postwar China, the French Revolution. Pretty much every major civil conflict you can imagine drug on interminably, with the aftermath taking years before political stability normalized. I'm not sure what Exum means by "decisive," but I don't see how it can apply to the large majority of civil conflicts in history...a "decisive" military victory - for example, Sherman's drive to the sea - in no way guarantees a decisive resolution to underlying political conflicts.
A more realistic appraisal would be: *if* we get involved, *then* we realize that civil conflicts often take decades before stability and political consensus can be restored. Taking limited involvement off the table completely sounds far too simplistic a solution.
Still hitting a pay wall at WPR.
M Aurelius was probably right.
All the more reason not to jump in
(#280374)We stumbled into civil wars in Iraq (for a short while) and Afghanistan (for a longer while). For Syria, I'd rather spend billions elsewhere than at bombing some crappy regime and have little or nothing to show for. They're already encumbered with economic sanctions, so that lever has already been pulled.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Limited involvement worked great in Libya.
(#280376)Hated dictator gone, chance for citizens to chart their own course.
M Aurelius was probably right.
It did
(#280377)But Syria ain't Libya. Gaddafi was in a militarily weakened state and he'd already lost large tracts of territory. Part of our reason for the bombings was to prevent him from making desperation moves. There was a fear that this would become a protracted conflict, and several NATO nations were on the verge of bailing. We got lucky.
I don't see NATO or some other big alliance jumping on board, and politically it would not look good if the U.S. were the prime instigator. We've done enough of that in the ME already.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Agreed, but beside the point.
(#280380)I'm not suggesting any particular course of action in Syria. We're talking about Exum's general principle of taking "limited involvement" entirely off the table. I think the case is pretty convincing that doing so would needlessly, and perhaps counterproductively, limit US policy.
M Aurelius was probably right.
I'm going to side with BD here
(#280379)just because it worked doesn't mean it was a good idea. We do far too many military interventions for our own good.
I blame it all on the Internet
That uncle
(#280322)died with somewhat less stuff but his heirs had a lot less cleanup to do.
I think maybe you're focusing on the question of whether the military action is big or small. The main points are whether it's decisive and serves a vital national interest. And "desirable results" isn't the same a vital national interest.
Syria isn't a serious threat to us (or really to anyplace other than Lebanon), controls no essential resources, and isn't an ally to whom we've made a committment. Whether it's ruled by Alawites oppressing Sunnis or vice-versa isn't going to make any significant difference in the lives of people here. The benefits you mention seem pretty minor - it's questionable whether being supported by us has positive or negative effect on legitimacy, and weakening the Syrian threat from negligible to very negligible isn't worth much.
What is the huge problem with deciding to "sit on our hands and hope things work out ok", or to be more callous, just "sit on our hands" without the hope part? There are two countries with large and capable militaries bordering Syria, and a much greater stake in the situation, and both have limited their involvement. They recognize a quagmire when they see one.
PS Libya looks like a poor investment. Regional secessions, anti-black pogroms, and especially the collapse of Mali. As it is, we are net down one democracy, if Libya turns out OK we will only have broken even.
Syria's stability and foreign policies directly affect
(#280324)US interests in regional stability, security of key allies (Israel, Iraq), relations with other nations that also affect our interests (Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan). In addition, enforcing Geneva Conventions and preventing the wholesale murder/kidnapping/torture of citizens by their own government is a stated & long-running US policy whether you like it or not.
None of which means "sitting on our hands" might not be the least bad option here. I'm not really sure what a good course of action would be in regard to Syria...my main point here is that refusing to involve the military unless we can act "decisively" sounds good on paper but would severely hobble us in practice.
M Aurelius was probably right.
"Million Dollar Arm, Ten Cent Head"
(#280305)Cole Hamels apparently has decided to get himself suspended for s**ts and giggles. If I was the GM of the Phillies, I'd figure out what the suspension was going to cost him, then tack that amount on an additional fine as a lesson on the virtues of STFU.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Werth Breaks Left Wrist
(#280306)It wasn't as bad as the notorious Joe Theisman broken leg video, but the replays made it clear that his arm wasn't supposed to bend that way. Bryce Harper isn't going anywhere any time soon--the Nationals are going to need a replacement for Werth for at least two months and probably longer.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I hate this crap
(#280308)stop cutting funding for poor people and then turn around and give the money to billionaires.
I blame it all on the Internet
Unfortunately. . .
(#280310). . .this is a bipartisan problem, as the article notes. The only way I can think of to stop this sort of stuff is some sort of federal law banning municipal and state governments from offering any significant economic incentives to professional sports teams--a rather drastic measure that might run into constitutional problems even if it could be passed in Congress. State laws would be useless for this purpose, as it would just end up costing the states in question their professional sports teams.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
It's actually not partisan at all
(#280326)I don't think any party has ever written up a view about this kind of subsidy. Seattle is liberal, but there are two giant state of the art stadia I see every time I go downtown. Salt Lake City and Nashville are famously conservative, but their stadia are publicly financed as well.
Laws aren't going to stop this, nor will taxes. If somethings popular enough, politicians will find a way to get it done. The problem is not with politicians, it's with the public.
I blame it all on the Internet
Bipartisan is the right word
(#280338)Google parties other than Republican or Democrat and you quickly find pretty strong statements 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 against stadium subsidies.
I meant real parties
(#280346)seriously, though, you do find the occasional Democrat or Republican who's against it, just not enough (usually) to make a difference.
I blame it all on the Internet
Federal labor laws are necessary
(#280341)to make sure certain firms don't play states off each other in a race to the bottom.
But that's just not necessary for sports. Municipalities and states need to call these billionaires' bluffs and coordinate so that a race to the bottom isn't possible. Minnesota told their hockey team to go take a hike in the 80s and they now reside in TX. They should've done the same for the Vikings.
If you want to pass a federal law, how about just requiring the NFL etc. to allow common stock teams like the Packers to form? Wisconsinites who like the Packers own the team and they would never vote for it to leave. That could go a long way toward stopping billionaires from extracting $ from local and state governments.
Rocket Arm
(#280311)The runner was called safe, but oh my goodness this was a spectacular throw to almost nip him at the plate:
[IMG]http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn311/eilandesq/armrocket-1.gif[/IMG]
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Hey Ricky you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Ricky
(#280327)OFN, probably NSFW either
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
More U.S. incompetence in Afghanistan
(#280342)$80 milllion down the tubes on a poorly chosen embassy site.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Could Be Worse
(#280343)We could have followed prior precedent and let the Taliban build it.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I don't normally go for the graveyard of empires stuff
(#280400)where Americans are concerned, but the Afghanistan episode is starting to look eerily [url=http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=307030]like the end of the Mughal empire.[/url]
Mazar-i-Sharif is the area formerly known as Balkh.
[quote]
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Manish, What Do You See in Here That the US Could Emulate?
(#280403)...Serously...it is the abilty to retreat and raid that spells victory.
And the US could do this.
Sit off shore, wait, simply fire a barrage of Tomahawks from time to time, if one can get airspace passes, fly in troops to kill and maim three times a year.
But one needs a base....aircraft carriers are fine...so would be Uzbekistan....this runs counter to the US Ethos, deeply held, but if you wanted to win this war, this is how you would do it.
Best Wishes, Traveller
Seeing Americans fighting over Kunduz, Kandahar
(#280416)and Balkh, just as Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb did 400 years ago, is just eerie (for a history nut like me, that is). You guys simply have no feeling for what Afghanistan means to us historically - in the guts, as it were.
Its a bit like watching the Germans and French fighting over Alsace and Lorraine - and Europe.
I have no clue how the thing is going to end. You tell me.
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Hollande's opening bid to Merkel
(#280344)Here’s what this means. Hollande wants the ability to collectively finance sovereign debt through Eurobonds, which would reduce debt spreads between Eurozone nations and aid the more troubled countries, or he wants the European Central Bank to do the financing directly. This is a challenge to the current order. Merkel, as the interviewer suggests, opposes both of these measures. This is at least one way out of the policy box for Europe, through a monetary channel. It doesn’t fully address the fiscal situation, but coupled with Hollande’s skepticism over the EU fiscal pact ratification (he prefers “a treaty on growth, employment and energy”), this represents a full-spectrum challenge to Germany.
Arthur Goldhammer, who is worth paying attention to on issues of French politics, says that this is the opening salvo for the debate on the future of Europe. Germany will reject this and attempt to use the ECB to bring Hollande to heel. The other countries on the periphery of Europe, in various unsettled states, may be determinative here. Either way, we’re actually having a useful conversation now, the first in many years in the global economy.
http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/05/07/hollande-issues-challenge-to-germany/
Hollande's a Gaullist
(#280369)they're hard to pigeonhole as left or right.
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Barely any sunlight between him....
(#280385)....and Sarko in actual policy terms, anyway. This is best seen as a "good cop, bad cop" routine being run on the Germans.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
You know what they say BG
(#280397)soccer is a game played for 90 minutes - and then the Germans win. I'm betting Merkel wins.
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Not sure who says that...
(#280408)Brazil is the undisputed world cup champion, with five. Germany has a paltry three, behind Italy with four.
With that out of the way...
Merkel has a major and a minor disadvantage. The major one is that she is wrong. Europe is not Germany, and Germanic fiscal austerity is destroying economies all over the place.
The minor one is that she is German. A lot of Europeans are starting to wonder just how things have come to the point where Germany is pretending to dictate inflexible terms. Being a friend of Merkel is quickly becoming a political liability, as Sarko found out, and she isn't going to win anything if she has no friends.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
Look at how high the Germans get in the World Cup
(#280415)and European Cup, every time. And how many finals have they competed in? And beating fabled teams - Ferenc Puskas' Hungary, Johan Cruyff's Holland etc.
Europe is not Germany, but maybe it should be. I remember driving right around Lake Garda some years ago - the eyeball difference between the Italian-influenced south bank and Austrian-influenced north bank was astonishing.
I'm drifting towards thinking sterotypes are not not all wrong - lazy us, efficient you etc. See my Marlboro diary. Its astonishing - the amazing power and efficiency of advertising in establishing a brand. I mean, you would normally think that money could only be made from the rich, but look at the target audience for cigarettes
[quote]the poor, the young, the black and the stupid[/quote]. Extracting value from this bunch would seem to be impossible. Yet they managed to do it. Amazing.
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Oh, not at all.
(#280422)Europe is not Germany, but maybe it should be.
Definitely not, thanks.
I'm drifting towards thinking sterotypes are not not all wrong
True enough.
Its astonishing - the amazing power and efficiency of advertising in establishing a brand.
I think the point was the power through the chemistry of addiction. But advertising in this sense is manipulation, and I would not celebrate it. It's not astonishing so much as it is appalling. It means democracy is crippled.
Extracting value from this bunch would seem to be impossible.
Not at all true. They are available in quantity so unit extraction can be small. And the product can be an intangible. The poor need to dream. Hollywood was getting their nickels in the 1930's. It's an old trick. The young are ignorant and can be fooled. The stupid... need I elaborate? The black? I'm sure he meant the black poor, which is to say the poor, just with a different dream.
Nothing amazing here. Value has been extracted from these groups since the pyramids.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
Not sure about that
(#280409)He is certainly no leftist revolutionary, but I'd say there is some daylight between them, and so would the Germans, who are busy posturing.
If the French are playing good cop / bad cop, the Germans are playing bad cop / bad cop. And I don't think that's a politically tenable strategy for them.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
BG, my comment which started the thread
(#280412)was supposed to suggest some daylight between them.
That was supposed to be the link's significance.
I understand.
(#280447)I am claiming (sans link, but I know of a few I can get you) that there isn't really much difference. But more importantly, I don't know that it matters. Merkle is reflecting German public opinion to about the same degree Hollande is reflecting french public opinion. But one of those horses is bigger than the other. I'd predict some concessions to Hollande around the edges (he needs something if he's going to cooperate), but no radical shift in European direction. At least until somebody decides German money isn't worth it.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Stupidity Tax: Five Games Without Pay
(#280348)One would hope that he has the good grace to be embarrassed by the whole thing.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
????
(#280351)when did they start doing that? You know I'm not a baseball guy, but I don't remember suspensions for beanballs when I was a kid.
I blame it all on the Internet
There Was Always the Fiction that it Was a Brush Back or....
(#280352)...an accident of a pitch that got away.
He was Properly suspended because he bragged about what he did, intentionally pitched at the hitter.
It could be the end of baseball to not impose severe punishment.
The illusion was and is more important than the truth...in this instance.
Best Wishes, Traveller
They've Tightened Things Up Over The Past Forty Years
(#280353)Saying "Yeah, I threw at the guy" is pretty much suspension bait--which is why most pitchers will just let the situation speak for itself, meaning that suspensions only usually happen after open beanball wars (or if someone charges the mound, which young Mr. Harper apparently didn't even contemplate). The days when guys like Drysdale and Gibson could be openly proud of the amount of dirt that opposing hitters ate while facing them are long gone.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
The power of the media at its best
(#280372)[url=http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/what-cameras-inside-foxconn-found/?WT.mc_id=%20VI-D-E-AD-OB-TXT-EXP-ROS-0412-TECH&refNYTExp]instantly benefiting workers in Foxconn.[/url]
[quote]Last month, The New York Times published a front-page articlehighlighting working conditions at a factory in China owned by Foxconn Technology, where Apple’s products are built. The problems included fatal accidents and employees injured while using a toxic chemical that can cause nerve damage.
---
The article set off a firestorm of protest, petitions and demonstrations.
---
For its part, Foxconn responded by raising factory workers’ salaries as much as 25 percent.[/quote]
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
What's Apple TV like
(#280396)as a device to play back media onto a HDTV? And can it connect to Android devices?
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
I got one
(#280402)And am quite fond of it. It works fine as a way to download content from the Apple store, play music from iCloud, and also stream Netflix. You can also get podcasts for free, and get a number of subscription services... major league baseball and others. If it just had Spotify, I would be thrilled... but that may be a little too competitive with Apple.
As for Android devices, what are those? (Less wise-ass-ly, I don't think so.)
"I don't want us to descend into a nation of bloggers." - Steve Jobs
Do you notice Android in the US at all?
(#280414)OTOH, we 3rd worlders use it all the time.
Very cheap smartphones run on Android. I've just seen an Android smartphone selling for $50 here. What's the point of buying expensive hardware if it all needs upgrading in a year's time? Having said that, people are selling kidneys for iPhones (thanks Steve).
no cathedral can be built if no community desires one
Yes, it's quite popular
(#280420)many of my clients have android phones. Not as many as have iPhones, but it's catching up fast.
I blame it all on the Internet
My iPhone is a 3GS
(#280424)No need to upgrade yearly at all. It came out in 2009 and supports the most recent iOS version, 5.1.1.
Obsolescence is far more of an Android problem. There isn't a single Android device from 2009 that runs ICS, and many phones from a year ago don't support it either.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
A big question mark
(#280425)the outcome of the recent trial makes you wonder what the next version of Android will be. A complete re-write? A licensed version? Lots of uncertainty there.
I blame it all on the Internet
Just managed to kill my old 3GS....
(#280437)...on my concrete floor, alas. But I think I like Siri!
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Actually...
(#280664)My original iPhone was stolen. Otherwise I'd likely still have it. I kept it up to the iOS 4.0 era even though it stopped being upgradeable after 3.1
My philosophy was that it still ran a lot of app store apps, including ones that were important to me, and that it was a far, far better phone than when I got it originally with iPhone OS 1.4 (just think there wasn't even an app store then).
The battery was still lasting two days, down from three originally. This was an advantage of not having 3G. The 3GS just doesn't finish the second day no matter what, and I am not a heavy user. So I was really sad when they stole it. Particularly because I figure the thief just dumped it when he realized it was the old model. I had it for three years and it was good for another one at least.
Siri looks like fun but I am not in a hurry.
I am not a pessimist. I am an incompetent optimist.
I haz Android
(#280431)Samsung Galaxy with Verizon.
Works great, lasts a long time and best of all I have opted out of being an apple drone.
"Something I think most liberals don't understand is exactly how stupid many conservative leaders are." - Matt Yglesias
The Underwear Bomber was a double agent.
(#280399)Yes, he's being...debriefed.
M Aurelius was probably right.
Should Have Kept this Private...Sent in the Drones...nt
(#280401)Traveller
OK, that explains
(#280406)how come the "undetectable underwear bomb" seems to have been detected so easily...
and as for that "debriefing", I'm sure a considerable portion of that is going to consist of that agent hastily memorizing a great deal of pertinent information: like his new name, new address, new bank-account numbers, etc....
Those debriefings can go either way.
(#280418)I hope they didn't leave the guy out in the cold.
M Aurelius was probably right.
I'm impressed with....
(#280436)....the strength and stamina of our HUMINT resources in the area. I've always been told we were impotent with regards to penetrating radical Islamic organizations.
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
Sounds like
(#280547)the Saudis did the heavy lifting on this one.
Also, how much of it is true and how much the security services playing both ends of a game and, surprise surprise, coming out WINNERS.
+1
(#280435)Also, hooray for HUMINT!
"Unfortunately the universe doesn't agree with me. We'll see which one of us is still standing when this is over." -- Eliezer Yudkowsky
It's early in the first round
(#280404)But the Obama campaign has been impressive. They are totally setting the agenda... contraception, millionaire's tax, Osama Bin Laden, Detroit bailout. Romney just keeps getting jabs in his nose and can barely get a swing out. This is usually what Republicans do to Democrats.
I've had my differences with Obama, but he is a better politician than any other US President of my lifetime... and that includes Ronnie and the Big Dog. The fact that he led the US in a time of economic armageddon and his approval rating never got below the low 40s is just astounding.
"I don't want us to descend into a nation of bloggers." - Steve Jobs
Four
(#280417)It happens about 75% as often as perfect games at the major league level, and--like perfect games--Hall of Famers are disproportionately represented in their ranks, and truly legendary players even more so. Lou Gehrig became the first American Leaguer--and the first MLB player in thirty six years--to hit four home runs in a single game (and narrowly missed a fifth thanks to a spectacular catch in deep center field by fellow future Hall of Famer Al Simmons). Willie Mays joined the club a few days before his thirtieth birthday in 1961, and--he recalled later--as he rounded the bases on his fourth home run of the day he couldn't stop saying to himself "Imagine me doing that!" Mike Schmidt was only in his mid-twenties--his three MVPs still well in the future--when he went deep four times against the Cubs in 1976.
Sometimes, again as with perfect games, the spectacular feat appears as a single spectacular apex to a career that is otherwise not destined for immortality. The mercurial and injury plagued Bob Horner--the ever doomed to be overshadowed Joe Adcock--the briefly brilliant but ultimately disappointing Shawn Green. . .all of these men managed that one feat that every plausible slugger dreams of. Tonight, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers became the 16th member of the club by hitting four two run home runs in a 10-3 win over the Orioles. Time will tell whether Hamilton will use this moment to push him to the heights that those who glimpsed his obvious talent early on expected of him, or if further personal stumbles will make this moment seem more an aberration than a capstone.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I think I know what you mean, Cameron
(#280426)"Cameron, who opted out of a new European economic pact late last year, advocated Britain's position outside the euro and its ability "to do things to ourselves, for ourselves, by ourselves."
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/09/us-britain-cameron-idUSBRE84802K20120509
You've certainly been screwing your own country over. That's undeniable.
[img=500x500]http://www.tradingeconomics.com/chart.png?s=ukgrybzq&d1=20100101&d2=20120509[/img]
From 1/32 to 0/32
(#280429)Turns out Fauxcahontas isn't Cherokee at all. Her great-great-great grandmother is mostly likely not Cherokee and the husband of this grandmother was a Tennessee Militia man who rounded up Cherokee and sent them packing. No word on whether the guy rounded up his wife and renditioned her to Oklahoma. Looks like Lizzy needs to amend her "family lore". Too funny.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particula
Who cares? nt
(#280440).
I blame it all on the Internet
When are you going to learn to stop trusting Breitbart?
(#280442)You're like Charlie Brown and the football. Get out of the neo-birther movement while you can!
There's zero new information about O.C. Smith in the article you link to. There's at least one document purported to list her as Cherokee. The fact that the man she married served in the militia only makes the story more likely: militiamen sometimes married Cherokee women. Tennessee militias served side by side with Cherokee units for years; there was camaraderie and bonds of friendship & kinship alongside the racism, greed & abuse. Andrew Jackson raised two American Indian orphans as his own sons: one a Creek and one a Cherokee. People who don't read history forget just how integrated some of the eastern tribes had become among local white settlements: there was a long coexistence before things broke down in the 1820s.
M Aurelius was probably right.
It's confirmed that Thomas Jefferson had no
(#280491)kids with more recent African decent, recent evidence shows he owned slaves of African decent.
"I’m to believe that North Korea is so dangerously unhinged that they would attack without warning – yet so meek and easily cowed that they will sit quietly and not retaliate when we start bombing them."
Major Kong
Family lore
(#280452)Gets pretty unreliable pretty quickly -- a generation or two. My aunt tells a great story her parents told her that a great-uncle died by "falling out of a tree." She discovered later that he'd been hanged.
Great story. True? No idea.
They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist...
-- General John B. Sedgwick, 1864
Bigotry wins again
(#280441)be proud, Republicans.
I blame it all on the Internet
I'm Sorry, this was a Mistake, a Major One What Was He Thinking?
(#280444)...I cannot see how this benefits Obama, his re-election chances or gays.
We will see how this plays out, but after North Carolina yesterday, this must be seen a self inflicted wound of major proportions.
I am coming to seriously think that he will not be able to recover from this blunder.
I could be wrong...but we will see.
A game changer & stupid imo...sigh
Traveller
I'm not sure
(#280471)this is going to change people's minds about voting for him. His positions and actions on gay rights are far removed from the Republicans.
I blame it all on the Internet
Interesting move
(#280445)I wonder whether the GOP is happy to have gay marriage be a major issue in the POTUS campaign again.
It's bold in ways Obama has not been and I don't understand the motivation for it. Perhaps gay donors have been on the sideline and the base isn't fired up enough about the election?
This endorsement is a substantial reason for me to vote for Obama. My father would very much like to marry his partner and to me it's a basic civil rights issue.
One could argue that talk is cheap, but in this instance publically challenging a taboo is in itself meaningful and Obama is going to take a lot flack for this.
Finally, Fran Lebowitz's take:
Like I said to Trav
(#280472)the people that care about gay rights were almost certain to vote for him before this, and the ones against gay rights were almost certain to vote against him.
I blame it all on the Internet
Did You Link The Wrong Article?
(#280466)I assume you were trying to link a story about the NC referendum, because a sniveling comment about how poor President Obama was compelled to stop lying through his teeth about a political issue would be, well, pathetic.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I assumed the link was supposed to point to the NC story
(#280469)Lying through his teeth?
Why do you believe Obama has supported gay marriage all along?
Isn't it possible that he doesn't care one way or the other and is following the lead of his political advisors?
I don't think you can use the phrase 'lying through his teeth' to describe that, but I'm sure you can come up with some equally inflammatory language.
What about - Obama's pathetic pandering to obscenely wealthy and spoiled Hollywood megalomaniacs?
The Opening Line Of A Sean Hannity Monologue? -nt-
(#280486).
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Link fixed
(#280470)not sure what happened, the link I originally pasted was about the amendment passing.
How do you know Obama was lying? He's been consistent about the issue for years, at some cost to his political support from Dems.
I blame it all on the Internet
What Lost Support From Dems?
(#280487)As for the "lie" part--a conveniently assembled timeline.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
Lost support from liberals
(#280497)who, as usual, are way ahead of conservatives on this issue. But go with the party of bigotry.
I blame it all on the Internet
No Sign Of That So Far
(#280508)Unless you're talking about the Rasmussen poll showing Romney winning a three way race with Obama and Paul. Apparently, there are a lot more Democratic voters willing to endorse Charles Lindbergh's foreign policy than Republicans these day--go figure.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.
I take it you've never heard of firedoglake nt
(#280512).
I blame it all on the Internet
There's a long story about LGBT activists and supporters
(#280516)witholding donations etc. over Obama's lack of support for gay rights.
It's also my understanding that in general Obama has not been as popular in his first term with self-identified liberals as, e.g., GW Bush was in his 1st term with self-identified conservatives.
The online left community can make this % seem larger than it is, but it's still significant.
Dude
(#280468)Apparently, in China Soylent Green is the stuff of documentaries.
The universe may well have been created without a point--that doesn't imply that we can't give it one.