Malkin(s)watch: "I rarely ever read jingoblogs (known to most as “milblogs”)".
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Blog Dictionary
I like this quote, "jingoblogs" and "miblogs" definitions:
Blog Dictionary
Eschaton: "The willingness to send others off to die for a misguided war because you wet your pants after 9/11 is called 'cowardice' not courage."
Malkin's Razor
The Liberal Avenger � Blog Archive � The Malkinverse: "``Hot Air - Blog Archive - Breaking: Gigantic fire at Istanbul airport''
In the universe in which the Malkins and their compadre who calls himself “Allahpundit” live, Occam’s Razor dictates that if there is a fire at an airport, the simplest explanation for the fire is that the airport has been attacked by Islamist terrorists.
I’m so glad that I don’t live in their universe."
In the universe in which the Malkins and their compadre who calls himself “Allahpundit” live, Occam’s Razor dictates that if there is a fire at an airport, the simplest explanation for the fire is that the airport has been attacked by Islamist terrorists.
I’m so glad that I don’t live in their universe."
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Blogservations
Independent Online Edition > Profiles: "The Sun, that dubious barometer of the national mood,"
Priceless Billmon quote
Priceless quote from BillMon:
Billmon: "Update 9:45 AM: Well, after taking a quick swim through the moral sewer of Right Blogistan this morning, I can see how the authoritarian right is going to play this story:"
The article is great on its own.
Billmon: "Update 9:45 AM: Well, after taking a quick swim through the moral sewer of Right Blogistan this morning, I can see how the authoritarian right is going to play this story:"
The article is great on its own.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Why I Will Probably Never Buy Another Mac
Interesting points from
Why I Will Probably Never Buy Another Mac - OSNews.com:
I have seen this myself. What I find interesting is that its not really the difference between a BMW car and a Toyota.
Its more of a GAP vs Old Navy T-shirt comparison. They use for the most part the same hardware today (give or take) and folks still gladly pay a large premium for equivalent computer configurations.
The differentiating factor is definitely OSX vs Windows; but as its been better articulated elsewhere OSX might have less features, be simpler on the eye and have an integrated suite of "iLife" applications, but it can not run the majority of software without a Windows emulator.
I find it interesting that iLife would be such a big part of Apple's marketing. Considering that the iLife applications are really entry level applications which can barely keep up with the most mundane needs of users and many of these applications are "nice to have" but to the majority of people, they are as "nice to have" as having an oscilloscope built into the computer would be nice to have. Beyond iPhoto and iTunes, the rest are not really horizontal applications, they are fun to play with for a few minutes, but so is checking http://del.icio.us/popular, and del.icio.us/popular gets updated every day.
My XP comes with a media player and a movie editor. It does lack "Garage Band" and lacks "iDVD", but they are fairly vertical applications. In addition to the applications bundled with XP, most PCs come with fairly large bundles of extra software out of the box, which clearly Apple has decided to ignore.
Why I Will Probably Never Buy Another Mac - OSNews.com:
"When you joined Internet forums on which Apple was discussed, you became aware of an even more disturbing but related phenomenon. I only later realised what it was. The symptom was an increasing rudeness and intolerance and hostility towards any other platforms. And it was couched in lifestyle terms. Windows machines were ridiculed for being boring beige boxes. Windows users were the subject of snobbish jibes. Contemptuous references to Walmart appeared. Macs kept being compared to high end designer brands, in particular to cars. If you chose differently, it was because you had no taste, no class.
BMWs appeared to have a particular fascination for the Mac aficionado. You didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The chorus of people who seemed to think that Macs were high class, and that buying them was a route to social mobility, was astounding. Could there really be so many people who were so naive about how social class really works in America? And could so many of them be Mac users? I shivered a bit at the thought. You could understand why Hypercard had withered, if this was now Apple's target market."
I have seen this myself. What I find interesting is that its not really the difference between a BMW car and a Toyota.
Its more of a GAP vs Old Navy T-shirt comparison. They use for the most part the same hardware today (give or take) and folks still gladly pay a large premium for equivalent computer configurations.
The differentiating factor is definitely OSX vs Windows; but as its been better articulated elsewhere OSX might have less features, be simpler on the eye and have an integrated suite of "iLife" applications, but it can not run the majority of software without a Windows emulator.
I find it interesting that iLife would be such a big part of Apple's marketing. Considering that the iLife applications are really entry level applications which can barely keep up with the most mundane needs of users and many of these applications are "nice to have" but to the majority of people, they are as "nice to have" as having an oscilloscope built into the computer would be nice to have. Beyond iPhoto and iTunes, the rest are not really horizontal applications, they are fun to play with for a few minutes, but so is checking http://del.icio.us/popular, and del.icio.us/popular gets updated every day.
My XP comes with a media player and a movie editor. It does lack "Garage Band" and lacks "iDVD", but they are fairly vertical applications. In addition to the applications bundled with XP, most PCs come with fairly large bundles of extra software out of the box, which clearly Apple has decided to ignore.
Discussion on the Hitchens-Cole debate
Discussion on the Hitchens-Cole debate:
BTC News � BTC News unearths another Ahmadinejad apologist: "I wrote about the Hitchens column here; I think I failed to make clear two important points — the first being that the email Hitchens quoted was sent by Cole to a colleague on a private discussion list on April 22, while Hitchens filed and Slate published his column on May 2 — and completely misfired on a third.
The timing is significant because the quoted email was an early one in a discussion about the Ahmadinejad speech. In it, Cole mistakenly referenced another phrase, a lapse he corrected the next day, April 23, in a subsequent email to the group. So when Hitchens wrote his column, the error he attributed to poor scholarship and bad intentions had been acknowledged and corrected by Cole more than a week earlier."
BTC News � BTC News unearths another Ahmadinejad apologist: "I wrote about the Hitchens column here; I think I failed to make clear two important points — the first being that the email Hitchens quoted was sent by Cole to a colleague on a private discussion list on April 22, while Hitchens filed and Slate published his column on May 2 — and completely misfired on a third.
The timing is significant because the quoted email was an early one in a discussion about the Ahmadinejad speech. In it, Cole mistakenly referenced another phrase, a lapse he corrected the next day, April 23, in a subsequent email to the group. So when Hitchens wrote his column, the error he attributed to poor scholarship and bad intentions had been acknowledged and corrected by Cole more than a week earlier."
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
The Wanker Kings of Comedy
First part
The Poor Man � The Wanker Kings of Comedy: "Professional pundits for the establishment media first tried to act like nobody farted; but, when the outcry from unwashed circles became too great, had no choice but to proclaim from on high that they will decide what is and isn’t funny, thank you very much, and they and President Bush are very funny and people who say bad things about them are not - and are, in fact, nothing more than meanies and bullies who are being very rude and uncouth."
The Poor Man � The Wanker Kings of Comedy: "Professional pundits for the establishment media first tried to act like nobody farted; but, when the outcry from unwashed circles became too great, had no choice but to proclaim from on high that they will decide what is and isn’t funny, thank you very much, and they and President Bush are very funny and people who say bad things about them are not - and are, in fact, nothing more than meanies and bullies who are being very rude and uncouth."
The Poor Man � The Wanker Kings of Comedy
Maybe I need a way of agregating posts:
The Poor Man � The Wanker Kings of Comedy: "Professional pundits for the establishment media first tried to act like nobody farted; but, when the outcry from unwashed circles became too great, had no choice but to proclaim from on high that they will decide what is and isn’t funny, thank you very much, and they and President Bush are very funny and people who say bad things about them are not - and are, in fact, nothing more than meanies and bullies who are being very rude and uncouth."
The Poor Man � The Wanker Kings of Comedy: "Professional pundits for the establishment media first tried to act like nobody farted; but, when the outcry from unwashed circles became too great, had no choice but to proclaim from on high that they will decide what is and isn’t funny, thank you very much, and they and President Bush are very funny and people who say bad things about them are not - and are, in fact, nothing more than meanies and bullies who are being very rude and uncouth."
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All
Am having so much fun with this "BlogThis" button:
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All: "Maybe if our country's prominent political columnists, like Richard Cohen, were doing a better job, the American people wouldn't need Colbert's apparently poor imitations of courage and wit. As it is, Cohen is occasionally courageous, as when he admitted he didn't know algebra, and often funny, as when he preened over his ignorance of algebra, but he possesses neither quality in such abundance that Colbert's performance was unnecessary."
Must-read ;-)
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All: "Maybe if our country's prominent political columnists, like Richard Cohen, were doing a better job, the American people wouldn't need Colbert's apparently poor imitations of courage and wit. As it is, Cohen is occasionally courageous, as when he admitted he didn't know algebra, and often funny, as when he preened over his ignorance of algebra, but he possesses neither quality in such abundance that Colbert's performance was unnecessary."
Must-read ;-)
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All
Am having so much fun with this "BlogThis" button:
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All: "Maybe if our country's prominent political columnists, like Richard Cohen, were doing a better job, the American people wouldn't need Colbert's apparently poor imitations of courage and wit. As it is, Cohen is occasionally courageous, as when he admitted he didn't know algebra, and often funny, as when he preened over his ignorance of algebra, but he possesses neither quality in such abundance that Colbert's performance was unnecessary."
Must-read ;-)
Ezra Klein: Richard Cohen Explains It All: "Maybe if our country's prominent political columnists, like Richard Cohen, were doing a better job, the American people wouldn't need Colbert's apparently poor imitations of courage and wit. As it is, Cohen is occasionally courageous, as when he admitted he didn't know algebra, and often funny, as when he preened over his ignorance of algebra, but he possesses neither quality in such abundance that Colbert's performance was unnecessary."
Must-read ;-)
Hullabaloo
I love this quote from Digbys: "How pathetic now to see liberals of my generation get so exercised over a few hostile emails. It's obviously been a while since they felt anything more strongly than irritation at too much foam on their cappucino."
Perfect Complement to the Previous Two Blog Entries
A perfect complement to the previous two blog posts:
Sadly, No!: Mark A. Kleiman Sucks Giant Green Slimy Goat Balls; or, How To Talk To Motherfuckers Who Tolerate Indecency While Mewling About Incivility: "There it all is in one nut's shell. Take note, aspiring pundits. In Kleiman's complaint, you witness all the qualifications on display to gain one entree to the sacred halls of Sensible Liberalism, like Joe Lieberman Weekly or The American Prospect or Washington Monthly. There's the general moral tepidness under the flimsy affected heroism, the demand for 'standards' of tone and style, a faint whiff of delusions of persecution; then, finally, the whining."
Sadly, No!: Mark A. Kleiman Sucks Giant Green Slimy Goat Balls; or, How To Talk To Motherfuckers Who Tolerate Indecency While Mewling About Incivility: "There it all is in one nut's shell. Take note, aspiring pundits. In Kleiman's complaint, you witness all the qualifications on display to gain one entree to the sacred halls of Sensible Liberalism, like Joe Lieberman Weekly or The American Prospect or Washington Monthly. There's the general moral tepidness under the flimsy affected heroism, the demand for 'standards' of tone and style, a faint whiff of delusions of persecution; then, finally, the whining."
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: The Sensible Liberal
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: The Sensible Liberal
A must watch cartoon, "The Sensible Liberal".
A must watch cartoon, "The Sensible Liberal".
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: The Sensible Liberal
WorkingForChange-This Modern World: The Sensible Liberal
A must watch cartoon, "The Sensible Liberal".
A must watch cartoon, "The Sensible Liberal".
The Reality-Based Community: Atrios and Digby on Cox on Colbert
The Reality-Based Community: Atrios and Digby on Cox on Colbert:
The Colbert presentation at the White House Correspondents Dinner has certainly generated a lot of discussion, and it is very likely that some bloggers and commenters would have come to assorted different conclussions. Lumping selective comments and pretending that they represent everyone's position is not giving the whole picture.
Running a poll might have made sense within the context of a fierce debate that wa raging for some time: why was Colbert's presentation discussed in the press? Not only it was not making any headlines, but the coverage all around on news.google.com showed plenty of articles talking about the president's double sketch, but no mention whatsoever about Stephen Colberts presentation.
Colbert's presentation was hard to watch. People in the audience were not laughing, and lacking a feedback loop, the comedy act did not benefit from a nurturing ground. The man stood for what he believed in, and did what he did best at what was a unique opportunity and he took it.
The cold reception that Colbert received could be attributed to the press sense of dismay at having someone actually stand up and point what nobody else had the courage to point out. Am sure it was also very uncomfortable to some people "send men into battle", and the wifes of the correspondents, those who were sitting quietly, the ones with the perplex look on their faces probably were too out of touch to understand why this man would make what to them must have been outrageous claims.
If anything, it could be argued that Colbert's comedy was a bit too complex to follow for that an audience that does not understand what is happening in this country. His audience was probably the typing kind that is just happy transcribing the words of wisdom of The Decider.
But nothing in Cox's trenchant, sensible, and well-written column is inconsistent with those beliefs. The main points of the column, as I read it, are:
1. Bloggers are insisting that the press's failure to laugh at Colbert's routine was due entirely to the press's complicity with the Bush Administration. An alternative view is that they didn't laugh because it wasn't funny.
2. Running a poll to determine whether something is funny reflects a misunderstanding of the concept 'funny.'
3. Insisting that other people laugh at the jokes you enjoy, or suggesting that their failure to do is morally culpable, reflects either a bullying temperament or a misunderstanding of the concept 'joke.'
4. Political humor is a poor substitute for political action."
The Colbert presentation at the White House Correspondents Dinner has certainly generated a lot of discussion, and it is very likely that some bloggers and commenters would have come to assorted different conclussions. Lumping selective comments and pretending that they represent everyone's position is not giving the whole picture.
Running a poll might have made sense within the context of a fierce debate that wa raging for some time: why was Colbert's presentation discussed in the press? Not only it was not making any headlines, but the coverage all around on news.google.com showed plenty of articles talking about the president's double sketch, but no mention whatsoever about Stephen Colberts presentation.
Colbert's presentation was hard to watch. People in the audience were not laughing, and lacking a feedback loop, the comedy act did not benefit from a nurturing ground. The man stood for what he believed in, and did what he did best at what was a unique opportunity and he took it.
The cold reception that Colbert received could be attributed to the press sense of dismay at having someone actually stand up and point what nobody else had the courage to point out. Am sure it was also very uncomfortable to some people "send men into battle", and the wifes of the correspondents, those who were sitting quietly, the ones with the perplex look on their faces probably were too out of touch to understand why this man would make what to them must have been outrageous claims.
If anything, it could be argued that Colbert's comedy was a bit too complex to follow for that an audience that does not understand what is happening in this country. His audience was probably the typing kind that is just happy transcribing the words of wisdom of The Decider.
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