theforvm

Bumper stickers and Bill Ayers

BlaiseP — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:32:08 -0400

This diary began as a response to AndrewSshi's Unusual Bumper Sticker diary. It did not end there, and grew like topsy. The McCain sticker on the Prius is an antidote to someone thinking the driver might be a Liberal. The driver might be secretly shopping at Whole Foods and surreptitiously eating arugula, too. Common sense and healthy food is mighty tasty, once it’s freed of its political associations. The bumper sticker keeps him from getting the finger from some redneck driving a ratty old pickup truck up from Galveston.

An Unusual Bumper Sticker

AndrewSshi — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:51:54 -0400

So I was home in TX, and in a strip mall I saw a rather unusual bumper sticker. What was unusual about this bumper sticker was not the sticker itself--it was a McCain 2008 sticker--but that it was on a Toyota Prius. As everyone knows, a Prius usually comes with a pre-installed Obama sticker. Not only was it unusual, but it signified something deeper.

If not Bobby Jindal, then Colin Powell

Bird Dog — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:08:51 -0400

For one thing, the Bradley Effect would be gone, and race would be completely taken off the table. For another, Powell kills McCain in a head-to-head match-up. Remember when 1992 was the Year of the Woman? In 2008, with Powell as running mate, it could be the Year of the Black Man (or African-American Man, etc.).

The real point of the DNC

stillnotking — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:24:57 -0400

So it turns out that AT&T [url=http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/25/blue_dogs/index.html]threw a lavish private party[/url] at the DNC Sunday night for lobbyists and Democratic lawmakers. Glenn Greenwald was on the scene, well, on the sidewalk anyway:

In case you've overdosed on the DNC video script...

Bird Dog — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:05:47 -0400

I've got some alternative videos, and they are partisan. Absentee is a Redstate blogger who videotaped [i]Recreate68[/i] and other groups trying shut down FoxNews reporter Griff Jenkins [WARNING: profane language]...

Bad deal in Afghanistan, either way it turns out (updated)

Bird Dog — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:41:24 -0400

If it turns out that 70 (or more) civilians were killed in a recent airstrike in western Afghanistan, then it is an indicator that the U.S.-led NATO command in Afghanistan is pursuing a flawed strategy. Coalition forces lack sufficient force projection on the ground, and it looks like there's an overreliance on air support.

Democratic Convention Open Thread!!

Harley — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:54:59 -0400

So I'm pretty swamped today, but had a chance to check in on MSNBC's convention coverage. Twice. First time? Joe Scarborough interviewed a self-described "black dude" preacher who was gravely concerned about Obama's ability to appeal to blue color -- wait, make that 'collar'! -- voters. He quoted Pat Buchanan about Obama bringing too much of the 'faculty lounge' with him, and I turned off the TV.

Watching the Arctic melt.

mmghosh — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:53:55 -0400

In case folk were unaware of it (as I was), 2007 kicked off the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Polar_Year]International Polar Year[/url], with its own [url=http://www.ipy.org/]website[/url].

Al Qaeda now

Bird Dog — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:03:50 -0400

I was prepared to be impressed with this assessment on the state of al Qaeda, but it just didn't happen. Richard Barrett is a former counter-terrorism official for the British, and now with the UN Security Council. Actually, I think his assessments are cogent...

I like wacky titles

Micky Love — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:17:33 -0400

He's funny and informative. He's promoting his relatively new book in this 70 minute video presentation. Ha-Joon Chang is a Korean economist now in Cambridge, UK. Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism Switzerland is a post-industrial society, Smoot Hawley ruined the world, and the British Empire was founded on Free Trade. Chang makes a good case that these shibboleths are incorrect. A developing society needs to protect its infant industries. They have always done so, and Chang feels this truth is not appreciated by most economists and commentators today. He's doesn't oppose free trade - he takes a swing at the current mania for patents in the USA, for example.

We cannot cook potatoes.

mmghosh — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:53:45 -0400

While reading K's recent diary about being a couch potato, I suddenly realised the difference between the East and West. The answer - East of Suez, We.Cannot.Cook.Potatoes.

You say "go Bayh", and I say hello (Update: Say hello to Biden)

Bird Dog — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:52:10 -0400

Yeah, I know, weak title. But I thought this post could make for a VP discussion thread. The Dems could do worse than Bayh. He's just as good a looking as Edwards, but without the baggage, and Bayh has a longer and more substantive political record than both Edwards or Obama. I don't know if Biden's in the mix or not, he would add some gray hair to the ticket, and some of that hair might even be real.

Howzbout A Silent Open Thread?

Macallan — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:41:02 -0400

For everyone who isn't already used to that music following them around...

The Vale of Sloth

Kierkegaard — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:47:37 -0400

In high school I was Class Valetudinarian, though naturally enough indolence (not to mention snobbery) kept me from my graduation ceremony. Though, to be perfectly truthful, I didn't actually possess enough credits to legally graduate anyway; a panicked school administration invented two survey course grades in order to forcibly evict me from their precincts and into the arms of the Selective Service. Who received me gratefully, in due course. But I digress.

Who's been more untruthful this month? Factcheck.org has the answers

Bird Dog — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:23:13 -0400

In an earlier, post, I criticized the McCain campaign for the inaccurate and untruthful ads and statements made in July. How's McCain doing this month? Better, but he's continued to distort Obama's position on taxes: [quote]McCain released three new ads with multiple false and misleading claims about Obama's tax proposals.

McCain and the Housing Gaffe: the implications

BlaiseP — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:19:31 -0400

My Dad retired and took a lump sum payment. He turned most of it into real estate, some into stocks. For years, my folks had been buying property on the advice of a crafty real estate agent who also handled some of my real estate. How many houses did my folks own?

What in the #$%@ is Maliki Thinking?

AndrewSshi — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 10:40:10 -0400

At the moment, Nouri al-Maliki's policy, if one can be discerned, seems to be "double cross everyone." It was the Sadrists in parliament who provided him with the votes he needed to become PM in the first place--early in 2008, he repaid them by sending the tanks into Basra and, with the help of American artillery and air support, gutted the armed power of the JAM.

Much Needed Open Thread

Jordan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:47:37 -0400

I'd like everyone to write a 5-paragraph essay on why the Posting Rules are wise, benevolent and good.

Watch out for Falling Glass

John — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:23:11 -0400

Superb commentary at Cato by Patrick Basham on US relations with Russia at this crucial time. Says Basham: [quote]Washington's desire to lash out economically and diplomatically at Russian misbehaviour in the Caucasus is trumping rational thinking on the future of a vital strategic relationship.

Will Obama's past catch up?

Bird Dog — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:02:30 -0400

It's kind of ironic. There I was, months ago, making an issue of Hillary Clinton trying to lawyer her way to the Democratic nomination, yet twelve years ago Barack Obama lawyered his way to victory. I feel so used. Actually, not. Obama has decried cynicism in politics time and again, yet in his career he has employed cynical means to gain political advantage. His 1996 race for an Illinois State Senate seat is a case in point:

The Manchurian Candidate

Macallan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:56:16 -0400

Hi! How's it going? When you saw this diary title, who did you assume it was going to be about, and why did you assume that? Or any other insights. Just curious. Cheers

Chatting with my "French Sister"

John — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:11:50 -0400

I am currently hosting my so-called "French Sister". She is the youngest daughter in a family with whom I lived in France during my junior year of undergrad. It wasn't a pre-determined arrangement by some agency...just chance. I was studying and living in Avignon in my own apartment when I met a young man (through a mutual friend) at school who would become one of my best friends to this day.

Is The Fourth Home in Passy, Senator McCain?

Harley — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:04:04 -0400

Okay, I doubt he's got a house in Paris. But in a continuing effort to prove his Richie Rich bona fides -- and remember, according to the candidate, it takes five mil to qualify -- Senator McCain just ain't sure how many homes he owns. But he promises his staff will get back to us with an accurate number. Meanwhile, on the Pimp My Religion front, it turns out that the Senator's oft-told and moving story about listening to Mother Teresa's stirring request to rescue two Bangladeshi girls, one of whom they eventually adopted, is unfortunately a fiction designed to more efficiently package the Senator's religious beliefs. Mother Teresa had nothing to do with it. Mother Teresa wasn't even there. The McCain campaign has been kind enough to revise the story on its web site. After getting busted, of course. So, two emerging mini-themes to accompany the Trigger Happy Maniac thesis. He's so rich he doesn't know how much money he has -- this explains his only casual familiarity with economic issues. And if he's got to sucker the religious crowd with some tear-jerker tall tales in order to gain their support? So be it. Oh, I know. This is pretty thin stuff. John McCain's character was molded, shaped, burnished, and wholly created during his POW imprisonment. What he has done since, what he's doing now? Simply not relevant. UPDATE BONUS VID! It starts like this:

Descent into Chaos

mmghosh — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:15:05 -0400

Ahmed Rashid has an excellent reputation as a journalist over here, writing for liberal dailies in Pakistan, and with reports appearing in the Daily Telegraph and NYT, although he also has the negatives associated with gaining a reputation as a pundit, namely, [url=http://www.ahmedrashid.com/]a website[/url], to start with. Nevertheless, [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/books/review/Bonner-t.html]his latest book[/url] (although somewhat dated by the speed of fast moving events) charts the melancholy progress of events in Afghanistan from 2003 to early 2008 in more detail than most.

US to leave Iraq by end of 2011

HankP — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:16:17 -0400

From the AP: Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have finished work on a draft security agreement that would see all American troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and the rest of the country by the end of 2011, Iraqi officials said Wednesday. . . . The security deal is to govern the status of the more than 140,000-strong U.S. military force after the U.N. Security Council mandate for its mission expires at the end of this year. Also from the article:

What Economists Really Struggle with--Waste to Octane, those damn Aggies

Timmy the Wonder Dog — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:04:58 -0400

[quote] ...Dr. Kenneth Hall, associate director of TEES and the Jack E. & Frances Brown Chair and professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, and his colleagues, Mark T. Holtzapple, a professor in chemical engineering, and Sergio A. Capareda, a professor in biological and agricultural engineering, have developed a process to make converting biomass to high-octane gasoline possible....

Bye Bye Barry (satire)

statusquobuster — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:15:17 -0400

Bye Bye Barry Joel S. Hirschhorn The final results are in on this historic November day. Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars he raised, Barack Obama has lost the 2008 presidential election. American voters have boldly spoken truth to arrogance. Turned out that all those pre-election opinion polls that showed Obama’s inability to get over 50 percent support were prescient. Much of the public was never comfortable with Obama, though he clearly was so comfortable acting like he already was president.

Russian treachery and bullying. The good old days are back

Bird Dog — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:25:21 -0400

[img]http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/20/georgia_via_the_economist.gif[/img]

colonel panic

Micky Love — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:51:39 -0400

There's no panic yet, actually, maybe because I don't think this message is getting heard. I saw this interview with the American academic and retired army colonel Andrew Bacevich last night, and wondered how his message would resonate in The Forvm, which seems to content to slavishly follow mainstream narratives. Discussions on the day to day minutia of campaign ads etc abound. For something more than a little different, the transcript and video (50 min.) with Bacevich is here: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08152008/watch.html

The Politics and Reality of Energy in 2008

John — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:02:06 -0400

The cost of energy is a big concern on people's minds and naturally figures heavily in the electoral rhetoric heading into November and it will only get heavier. But, of course, that's about all it will do. The blunt reality of it all is that nothing either McCain or Obama have in mind will lower energy costs in the short term....and pretty much for the longer term. This is of course is not really a shocking revelation to many but it does put on damper on the hopeful and uplifting feeling many will get when listening to their preferred candidate speak on the matter.