Road to Ruin, or the Revenge of Sen. Clinton

Playing to Win, Take 2 - hilzoy @ Obsidian Wings

I think hilzoy is on to something here with her argument that, while there's a good chance for voters in this election cycle to see through Republican smear attacks, such an argument only works when those voters are not already predisposed to believe such attacks. The point she is trying to make is that Sen. Clinton has faced more than a decade of repeated attacks by the Republican party; so many so that, despite most people generally overlooking the attacks of the last seven years, voters are more inclined to believe those attacks now since they have built a strong and long-standing foundation. A candidate who has not played victim to these attacks stands a much better chance of winning a general election than a candidate like Sen. Clinton who has.
The second point hilzoy makes concerning Sen. Clinton is that at times when she had the opportunity to stand firm on Democratic principles she has buckled. Beyond the AUMF vote on Iraq, Sen. Clinton has tended to take only half-measures when it comes to central points of the Democratic party. As hilzoy notes, Sen. Clinton has not renounced her support of her husband's signing of the Defense of Marriage Act since, as Ben Smith of the Politico writes, she has distanced herself "from the portion which allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages from other states." The result of Sen. Clinton's partial repudiation is, as Smith concludes, the inability of the federal government to fully recognize same-sex marriage as it has become entirely a state's matter. In other words, Sen. Clinton walked away from pushing for federal recognition of same-sex marriage and will allow states like Texas to maintain their adoption of same-sex marriage bans. Sure, Sen. Clinton supports the right to same-sex marriage in theory, but when it comes to actually doing something about it, count her out.
It's this kind of false support that has so infuriated many in the Republican base and has led to the fracturing of their party. The pledges President Bush has made for bipartisanship and 'compassionate conservativism' have never materialized while the social conservative base has quietly fumed at the president's apparent lack of zeal in promoting their agenda. This is not what the Democratic party needs, particularly at a time when nominating the right candidate for president would further fracture the already creaking Republican coalition. I just hope that those members of the Democratic party who would rather take revenge for the last decade don't prevail over those of us, like myself, who would rather see us move the fuck on.

Blacker than Shaft?

Ultradark Material is Thirty Times Blacker than Black - Kevin Kelly

I'm wondering about the possible applications of such a material and solar cells spring to mind. The ability to absorb more sunlight than before could have serious ramifications for the solar energy industry. The military applications are pretty obvious as the blacker material would give soldiers a great advantage in terms of concealment. I wonder what would happen if you painted a car with this material?

The Runner with No Legs

Bilateral Amputee Banned from Olympics - Trendhunter
Photo Credit: Bryan Christie Design

My father is an above-knee amputee and has talked about the Cheetah prosthetic for some time now. The basic concept is to use a piece of tensioned metal that produces a spring in the step of the runner, propelling him forward. At the moment, such prosthetics are limited to below-the-knee amputees as the sockets requires for above-knee amputees lag are complicated and require a different arrangement than is possible with below-knee amputees. The key factor is the issue of building a working synthetic knee.
All this is said as a way of helping people understand why a double below-knee amputee is being denied the opportunity to compete in the 2008 Olympics. The crux of the matter is that the Cheetah prosthetic is basically a giant spring, giving the wearer a distinct advantage over those runners who have to rely only on their natural leg muscles. Still, is a bit of a win-lose situation: sure a runner equipped with the Cheetah prosthetic would run fast than the competition but at the end of the day you're still missing your legs. I understand the Olympic committee's decision, just as they would ban any substance that would give a runner a performance edge over the competition so does the Cheetah prosthetic. Still, it would have been a sight to see Oscar Pistorius compete.

Superhuman Eyes

Electronic Contact Lenses Give Future You Crazy Eyesight, Heads-up Display - Jason Chen @ Gizmodo

Inventions like these contacts are the first serious step toward a computer-free internet interface. Beyond the mere superhuman vision capabilities, these lenses can act as head-up displays bringing you web access directly to your eye without necessitating brain surgery. Perhaps all you will need are these lenses and a Wi-fi device much like an iPhone or iPod Touch.
The next question that springs to mind is the idea of hacking into the visual display of these contacts, seeing what someone else it seeing directly. The trippiness of such an experience aside, along with the military applications, the issue of privacy does enter the equation as a skilled hacker would have the tools to "hack your eyes" to use the parlance of Ghost in the Shell. While no direct connection to the brain is required, people still look at their hands when entering information such as pin numbers and Social Security numbers. Moreover, such a hacker could insert false visual data leading to a person responding to things that aren't there.
Still, it's a fucking cool concept that should come to market. The privacy issues need dealing with, but that will come with time as well. I'm looking forward to getting my first pair when I'm fifty.

Les Savy Fav @ The Loft - Updated

Les Savy Fav played an excellent set at the Loft in Dallas tonight. I was set for the after-party but bouncers and a five dollar cover is a little silly in my opinion. Still, it was a great show, though not enough nudity, but the cover of "Debaser" by the Pixies more than made up for that. The crowd, a Dallas crowd at that, was pretty into it, except when Harrington went into the crowd and then people didn't know what to do. The Fatal Flying Guilloteens, one of the openers, was amazing, but the crowd didn't know how to react really. The band was like Baboon on steroids, so of course I loved it. Here's a set of photos I took at the show, including the post-show kiss Harrington gave my friend Chad from fotophonic. Look for more photos from them in a day or so when they have a chance to upload them.

Update: As Emily from fotophonic points out in the comments, they have a video up of Les Savy Fav's cover of "Debaser" by the Pixies.

A 'Stimulating Package' for Bush

Bush Calls for Economic Stimulus Package - William Branigin @ Washington Post

You know, this is one of the few times President Bush has acted something like a real leader. He's set out a goal, an economic plan amounting to nearly 1% of our GDP, weighted heavily on tax cuts but left the details for Congress, himself and the Treasury Dept to work out. Personally, I'd like to see something much more radical in the sense of slashing middle class taxes in half while closing most, if not all, of the corporate tax loopholes and then flattening out corporate taxes downwards by a few percentage points. Index Social Security taxes and remove the cap at $90,000. Cut a lot of the farm subsidies, particularly for farms that net more than ten million a year to make up the loss in revenue from middle class taxes. Increase food stamp availability while shoring up the subprime mortgage mess by backing the homeowners for a limited time if they fall into a hardship and can't pay their mortgages. There's a lot more than can be done, but the most important aspect is giving the middle class the money and assurances that turn into consumer confidence and thus consumer spending. While tax cuts for the rich work in theory that's generally not how it works in real life in terms of stimulating the economy. It's the middle class that we need to focus our efforts on and I do hope Congress realizes this, or at least does something to alieviate the burden on the middle class.

Putting the Black Man in his Place, or the False Victim of Hillary Clinton

Black Dreams, White Liberals - Charles Krauthammer @ Washington Post

I don't normally link to a Charles Krauthammer op-ed piece since most of the time the man is off his wheelchair. He does occasionally come up with a decent piece of writing though and his op-ed today on the Clinton-Obama race issue is a good bit of writing for him, particularly since he gets to slam liberals while appearing to support Sen. Obama. There really isn't anything substantially new to what Krauthammer writes but he does make a point that I hadn't fully considered yet: that the Clintons are treating Sen. Obama like some uppity nigger usurping a white woman's place. It plays to all the key points of the race card in the wrong way for the Clinton campaign to argue that Sen. Obama should wait his turn, especially since he's some ghetto-hood, drug-slinging darkie who only holds his place because the white liberals were nice and let him play with the big boys. Problem is, Sen. Obama is none of those things; he is not an 'uppity nigger' and he certainly was not some ghetto-hood as the Clinton campaign insinuates.
Sen. Obama should not have to wait his turn and, to be sure, Sen. Clinton should stop using this false victimhood by acting like a weak-willed woman who is being denied her due all because of some black man. I do not want the first woman president to win based on her playing the victim, particularly since the potentially first black president has not played such a role at any point. If Sen. Clinton wishes to garner the respect Sen. Obama has then she needs to rise above identity politics and play at the same level as Sen. Obama. And that right there is where I think the Obama campaign has a winning strategy. He isn't playing at the same level as the rest of the Democratic field. He's playing at a much higher level, something all the candidates, both Republican and Democrat, should aspire to.

Update: And it seems that I'm not the only one who thinks Sen. Obama is telling the rest of the field to catch up.

The Hero's Journey

Eight Reasons Why The Hero's Journey Sucks - Charlie Anders @ io9

It's posts like this one that remind me we don't all have the same knowledge base nor do we all agree about the same things. This rant about Joseph Campbell is pretty bad in my opinion, though. It's a complaint about lazy writers who follow a formula without playing with the formula. The hero's journey of Campbell's work is one of those formulas but I've seen great authors do amazing things with that formula. All this rant proves is that Anders isn't a well read as he would like us to believe.

Renoir: Robot Designer

Giant Robot Repairs the Arc de Triomphe - Kevin Kelly @ io9

Oh that's just too sexy. Impressionist-style art and giant robots fit together so naturally.

More Deacon, Less Religion

Dan Deacon Ultimate Recap - ultra8201

Adding to the already reviewed Dan Deacon show at Emo's this past Friday is this round-up by Ultra-blogger ultra8201. There are links to show reviews, pictures and even a full video provided by the people at SwitchBurn. For the Dallas crowd, let these images burn in your mind as the proper way to get down at a show. Stop posing and start dancing, damnit, or I'll turn this car right around.

New Blog Friends

Femtofrosting - Ann Clemens

I would like to introduce my dear and intimate friend, Ann Clemens, to the blogosphere. While I can't promise anything like a political statement from her, I can promise good information on the way individual cells work within our brains. She's smart and creative, but go easy on her since she's been blogging for all of two seconds now. Still, take a look and find something interesting.

More Informational Theory

Physics of Information: Great Panel Discussion - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

The idea has been tossed around for a while that information is potentially more essential to the universe that previously thought. Perhaps it is like the idea of the aether from the 19th century, a substrate holding up all the matter in the universe. Or, as used by Warren Ellis as a concept in his series Planetary, we are all 3d holograms of a 2d informational plane. Similar ideas, I'll grant you that, but the idea that information is perhaps a fundamental part of the universe is an intriguing one.

Looking to Move?

Shiny Metal Garbage City: Chu Enoki's RPM 1200 - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

I want to live in a city like this. All that neo-retro architecture is hot.

Mass of Hot Air not Coming from Washington

Massive Gas Cloud Speeding Toward Collision with Milky Way - Science Daily

Well, I suppose all the hot air coming out of Washington should deflect this hydrogen cloud once it gets here, but you never know.

Building a Better Brain

Culture Influences Brain Function - JohnOneFive @ Truerumors
Culture Influences Brain Function - BJS @ Science Blog

This is the kind of thing I live for. Cultural historians are always looking for new ways to understand the minds of their subjects and how they interpreted the world around them. I don't know how much modern studies of how cultural differences affect the brain will aid historical research but any little bit helps.

The Greeks to the Rescue

The Sophrosyne of Obama - Andrew Sullivan

I like this term, but then again there are many Greek terms that seem to embody multiple meanings. Still, for a civilization that at various times emphasized moderation in all things, including moderation, sophrosyne is an apt term. Sen. Obama's speaking style follows this ideal quite well.

Boring Human Interests

Johnny Depp Donates $2 Million to Hospital - CAK @ Truemors

This is the kind of thing I wish I could do when I feel like I've received something special. Depp's contribution is more than just money. He puts pressure on other Hollywood stars to donate themselves.

Space Porn...Yeah, that about sums it up.

The Biggest Space Explosion Ever Recorded - Charlie Anders @ io9

Mmm...bright shiny space clouds blowing out from dead stars. Am I weird for finding this sexy?

One Degree of Idiocy

Six Degrees of Richard Cohen - publius @ Obsidian Wings

In what is probably the best comment on Richard Cohen's hit piece on Sen. Obama in today's Washington Post, publius of Obsidian Wings makes the startling revelation that perhaps, just maybe, by watching Brokeback Mountain Sen. Obama is connected it Kevin Bacon, a well-known anti-Semite and active al Qaeda agent. They probably met in the same madrassa in grade school and planned this campaign against Sen. Clinton and America from the very start. Who knows theses days?

The Anti-Black Hillary Clinton

Obama's Farrakhan Test - Richard Cohen @ Washington Post
And So It Continues - Andrew Sullivan

You know, the more we get into this primary season the more I am sickened by the racial politics of America and how the Clinton campaign has used that to further their interests. At this point, if Sen. Clinton wins the nomination, I will not vote for her, I may even vote for a Republican. Anyone so craven as to use this kind of race-baiting in their campaign does not deserve to become President, and after 8 years of sitting with an incompetent president I think this country deserves better. I think it's time Sen. Obama uses his connection with Oprah to talk about black issues and kill this slander once and for all.

Required Reading for a Dan Deacon Show: Updated

Dan Deacon @ MySpace
Dan Deacon Home Page
Dan Deacon @ Wikipedia

Things Not To Bring:
Clothing, sharp objects, any sense of personal space, cameras (unless you want to miss out on the fun by sitting on a monitor all night), soft shoes.

Things To Do:
Get acquainted to the people around you because you'll probably leave with a good deal of their sweat on you, drink heavily, hydrate heavily, stretch, when asked if you want to crowd surf politely say no and then point to the guy next to you and help get him up on the crowd, help keep everyone standing, try to touch the skull if you can, go through the tunnel, learn how to dance without being able to move.

Above all, go in knowing that whatever you are wearing will need a serious washing after the show.

Update: Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought the Dan Deacon show at Emo's this past weekend was utter insanity. I was on the other side of the amp for most of those pictures, trying to save myself and have a smoke at the same time, but no, I wasn't one of those posers standing on stage trying to make myself look fabulous. I was down with the masses, with the Deacon, replacing my blood with electricity.
Covert Curiosity
Ultra8201

Update 2: Okay, Ultra8201 is cool in my book. Give him his due and visit his site.

Win Butler Backes Sen. Obama, Seeks Cabinet Spot

Arcade Fire's Win Butler Disses Hillary, Backs Obama - Matt Solarski @ Pitchfork.com

Well, it looks like Sen. Obama is starting to wrap up the indie vote.

What a Woman Wants

Singer Bjork Beats Down Photographer - InfinityPro @ Truemors

The girl definitely gets props from me for throwing down with a photog after telling him not to take any pictures. Lesson learned here, don't go snapping photos of jet lagged singers, no matter how sweet and kind you think they are, bitches will stab your fucking eyes out.

Shake Well Before Using.

Things One Should Not Forget - John Scalzi @ Whatever.com

Via Sullivan I find my new favorite blog, particularly this post in which Scalzi goes on to give a hilarious history lesson on Mussolini and why Jonah Goldberg is a moron for believing that Mussolini was not a fascist when the man was, inconveniently, the founder and leader of the Fascist Party. It's also pretty accurate as bare-bones history and so I have no problem seeing history used in such a snarky, knives out fashion. Now I'm all warm and happy inside.

Quote of the Day

Having a President Obama would make it feel like the American people were doing a Ctrl+Alt+Delete on the previous eight years. - John Scalzi @ Whatever.com

Blood Oath

Blood-Pen Brings New Terror to the Phrase "Write This Out 1000 Times." - Kit Eaton @ Gizmodo

Now this brings a whole new meaning to contracts written in blood.

"But It'll Take a Black One to Move Me"

Wow, it seems things are beginning to heat up for the Clinton campaign's tactics of race-baiting the Obama campaign. Ezra Klein has two posts up on the racially-charged comments of the Clinton campaign in general and Robert Johnson in particular. I think it's only a matter of time before the Obama campaign has to respond but the question is how can Sen. Obama respond without turning into the 'angry black man' the Clinton campaign so wants him to become in the eyes of the public. But again, I think this is a tactic that will only work for so long before it becomes a noose around Sen. Clinton's neck. If Sen. Obama were to call her out on the race-baiting in a debate all the blustering and 'I don't know what you're talking about' lines in the world will fall very flat.
The best tactic that I can think of for Sen. Obama to respond with is an appearance on Oprah to talk about his past drug use and struggles as a black American who wants to put his nationality first before his race. Put Sen. Obama's wife next to him and the Clinton campaign's tactics are pretty much done for.
What troubles me so much about the Clinton campaign is not the typical use of an opposing candidate's past as a weapon against them but how the campaign considers Sen. Obama not as an opponent but as an enemy to fight just as hard as an Republican candidate. And to use such race-baiting to do so is absolutely disgusting for a party that has counted on minority votes and based their principles on civil rights and equality. But, to quote Fry from Futurama "I'm shocked, shocked! Well, not that shocked."

False Media, We Don't Need It

Both Sullivan and Yglesias mention the contradictions in the Clinton campaign's tactic of pointing to Sen. Obama's war record and aye votes on war spending. I think this is the kind of narrative the Clinton's want to keep up and bury Sen. Clinton's voting record as much as possible. Of course, by taking this tack, Sen. Clinton is easily opening herself up to a rebuttal by the Obama campaign or by the major news networks. This kind of tactic can only work for so long before someone in the MSM wises up and does the comparison. This tactic isn't a long term one, it just has to hold up long enough through the major primaries.

Who's Got the Bias?

I wasn't able to watch Sen. Clinton's interview on Meet the Press yesterday but after reading the transcript I must say she spent more time attacking Sen. Obama than explaining why she would make a good president. But it seems that the people over at Media Matters are more concerned with attacking Tim Russert for looking at her past record of the last few months and arguing that Mr. Russert is being heavily biased against Sen. Clinton. Given the nature of the media and Mr. Russert's long career as hosting Meet the Press I find it surprising that Media Matters would get themselves up in a tizzy over his use of clips and quotes that by nature are outside of context. Moreover, one would think Media Matters would note how easily Sen. Clinton deflected Mr. Russert's questions. Instead, they continue the Clinton campaign narrative that Sen. Obama has not been truthful about his war record, flip-flopping when it suited him, while letting Sen. Clinton's record on the war pass.
I'm no fan of Tim Russert nor of Sen. Clinton. I support Sen. Obama and will vote for him when I have the chance in my primary election. So, with my biases out of the way, I have to say that Media Matters is clearly siding with the Clinton campaign by interpreting Mr. Russert's interview style as an attack on Sen. Clinton without noting the basic idea that any quote is one taken out of context by its very nature. This is very sophomoric of an organization that claims to police the biases of the media. If Media Matters wishes to maintain a separation between itself and any particular campaign then regurgitating the talking points of a campaign is not the way to do it. But if Media Matters wishes to voice their support for the Clinton campaign, which is their prerogative as a progressive organization, then they should do so and do so clearly and as upfront as they hold other media organizations. However, as a 501(c)3 organization that does not engage in lobbying activities as a public charity, they cannot do this. So, in other words, Media Matters, by only questioning Mr. Russert's interview style versus taking the whole context of the interview--in which Sen. Clinton did not fully and truthfully answer each question, particularly in not noting her own record on war-funding and such--basically violated the terms of their non-profit status. Certainly they have a right to point out media bias and do so from a progressive perspective but they do not have the right to criticize the media for asking 'gotcha' questions to their preferred candidate which, judging by the comments on the post about Mr. Russert's interview, is Sen. Clinton.
It's this sort of biased posting that keeps me away from sites like Media Matters for the most part. Rarely are the issues fully debated and rarely is the particular kind of bias noted plainly and clearly to its audience. If Media Matters wishes to support Sen. Clinton that is fine by me, and their coverage of Chris Matthews' comments on Sen. Clinton is right and appropriate, but do not expect me to respect their opinions and journalism when they cannot even separate their own reporting from Clinton campaign talking points.

Timewave Zero

Sunspot Announces New Cycle, End of the World - Graeme McMillian @ io9

I love how the words 'timewave zero' sound but I'm not quite buying the whole timewave reaching zero on Dec. 21st, 2012 (the end of the Mayan calendar also) being the moment a singularity happens. I do know that a new solar cycle will play havoc with our electronic devices and it's peak will occur around 2011 or 2012. What I didn't know what the coincidence of the solar cycle and civil unrest. Just one of those weird things of history I suppose.

Glass Cubes In Germany

A Giant, Glowing Cube in the Middle of Berlin - Lisa Katayama @ io9

This is probably one of the cooler things I've seen in supermodernist architecture. Apparently it's the new headquarters of railroad company Deutsche Bahn but you can't tell by just looking at the building. It's a perfect abstract piece of architecture.

Fucking Old People

Damnit, my man Obama is losing. I'm going to go kick a child now.

The Politics of Hope

Change is in the Air - Andrew Sullivan

I get the feeling, much like the Anchoress, that this year of electoral politics will throw the populous into a turmoil. but after years of bad economic indicators and a malaise among the people, I also get the feeling that this election cycle will raise people's spirits and might even keep the nation out of a recession. The fact that my entire family is excited now about politics since Iowa, that any mention of politics leads to a bare minimum 20 minute discussion, gives me serious hope for what will come.

The Gift of Hip Hop

The U2 Factor - Matt Yglesias

I understand the need to connect to an audience through music and using a politically-active band like U2 is a smart choice, but deep down I want to hear Sen. Obama come out on stage to Bring the Noize by Public Enemy, or better yet Testify by Kanye. I mean, not to throw the race card out there like that or stereotype the man, but he must have listened to some hip-hop in his younger years.

Landwarrior Come to the Civilians

Wearable Computing: The Open Wearable Computing Framework - Trendhunter

Now this what I have been waiting for; a functioning web-interface that get close to direct neural implants. Of course, I don't foresee people suddenly wearing these clunky devices but still, the effort is real and that makes me supremely happy.

Realism versus "Realism"

Quote of the Day - Andrew Sullivan

I thought that moment in the New Hampshire debate when Sen. Clinton stopped Sens. Edwards and Obama with her so-call 'reality-check' was tacky and shrill. Sullivan here, points to a comment by Sen. Obama in his new stump speech that tackles the 'reality-check' idea rather well by noting that JFK didn't place his policy decision to announce a goal of going to the moon on the alter of that cynical 'reality-check'. It's fairly obvious from the history of the U.S. that when Americans are called upon, and I mean seriously called upon, they rise to the occasion. The idea that realism as an ideology cannot contain some idealism and hope is wrong. What realism does call for is a plan to turn that idealism and hope into reality.

Good Ideas Caught Smoking in the Bathroom with Bad Ideas

Uh, Oh: U.S. Special Forces May Head to Pakistan - Noah Shachtman @ The Danger Room

Now, we've heard Sen. Obama's desire to send American forces into Pakistan if he had 'actionable intelligence' that pointed to Osama Bin Laden being in Pakistan. And we've heard how this would end up as another boondoggle for U.S. forces as without permission by the Pakistani government we might inadvertantly topple the government. Now we have some reporting here by the fellows and friends of the Danger Room saying that U.S. forces are being assembled for possible incursions into western Pakistan where many Taliban and Al Qaeda are said to have gain a foothold for attacks into Afghanistan against NATO forces. This area of Pakistan is a traditionally tribal one and one prone to supporting the radical actions of the jihadists in the area. From what these two new Danger Room bloggers are saying, such incursions are too little, too late and would do more harm than good in stablizing Pakistan (which I think it bears reminding, holds nuclear-armed missles, among other things).
Generalized chaos in a certain region is typically good for the assaulting forces as it gives them time to act before their opposing forces can reassemble, but in areas like western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, this kind of tactic doesn't often work as local knowledge gives the defending forces a distinct advantage. Moreover, this generalized chaos would not remain contained in the region. Military action in this region often reverberates through the country in the form of politics and since we are trying to maintain a stable political situation, particularly at this time in Pakistan's history (re: Bhutto's assassination), it doesn't make any kind of sense to send in U.S. forces.

I Need a Witness!

Anne Frank's Diary to be Made into a Musical - Guardian Unlimited

God, please, if you ever intervene in human events, please, for the love of Christ, have a hip-hop song about how hard it is out there for a Jew.

Bright Eyes Light the Way

Artificial Luminescent Eyelashes - Nadya Lev @ Coilhouse


In probably my favorite posting of the day I present to you some cyberpunk fashion tech via the lovely women of Coilhouse. Ms. Lev notes the socio-political implications of the design in South Korean society as the push for biggers eyes through plastic surgery also pushed artist Soomi Park to create a design that does the very same while turning the strange 'big eye' fetish back on itself. Politics aside, I love it. This is the sort of tech I'd love to see take off in the States by the more fringe hipster crowd. Cyberpunk fashion mixed with hipster fashion could be quite interesting.

Obama in New Hampshire

Rallying For Obama - Ezra Klein

The renewed attention on Obama's pure campaign speech isn't surprising. What is surprising is the change in tone as Sen. Obama's win in Iowa has made what seemed like a laughable pitch for change and unity has proven a winning formula, at least for Iowa. Ezra admits his criticism has foundered a touch as Sen. Obama "speaks much more concretely" on his approach to politics and politicking. Ezra also points to
Sen. Obama's use of young volunteers as examples of how he acted as a community organizer holds a dual purpose. By lauding the actions of youth, Obama endears himself with the youth vote. Additionally, by talking about the process of community organizing itself Obama indirectly educates the audience on how to join, organize and vote in a primary. It's a subtle but clever stroke for pulling new voters into the Obama pool. This renewed attention for the next few days will, I believe, prove immensely beneficial to Obama's potential win in New Hampshire. Once this kind of wave gets rolling it becomes very hard to stop and only through some serious anti-Obama politicking from the Clinton campaign can stop it. But those sorts of actions can cut both ways by presenting Sen. Clinton in as much a negative light as Sen. Obama. This horse race just got very interesting.

Obama's Iowa Speech

Obama's Gift - Ezra Klein
Obama's Speech - Matt Yglesias
Believe It - Andrew Sullivan

While watching Sen. Obama's speech in Iowa tonight I realized I was experiencing the same feeling I do when I see a great band live playing to expectations. It's not the feeling of disappointment, but of aural satisfaction, knowing that you are witnessing something amazing even though you were never in surprise or doubt of that. Sen. Obama's speech was lyrical, rhythmic and spot-on. No hesitation or doubt in his voice, no moments of collecting his thoughts and no meandering bits. He was presidential (well, except for the moment when he gave thanks to his wife and then gave her a look that said, "I'm going to plow you so hard tonight"). His message was both directed at New Hampshire and the wider national campaign. He hit his policy points quickly and effectively without belaboring anything. Finally, his thanks to the precinct captains and other supporters who did the heavy foot work was a stroke of brilliance, calling upon his own experience and reinforcing it with the words 'calloused hands' that make you recognize he knows what he speaks of. It was a great speech and will play well when broken into sound bites. How New Hampshire shakes out for Sen. Edwards and Clinton is the key to what happens next. I can easily image an Obama/Edwards ticket if they both place the same in New Hampshire. As soon as Sen. Obama's speech hits YouTube I'll post it.

And here it is:

The Iowa Caucus

Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Results
The image and link are provided to you via Andrew Sullivan

I think Sen. Obama's victory in Iowa is an amazingly good thing in its own right, but with the possibility of Sen. Edwards edging out Sen. Clinton is even more astounding. The 'air of inevitability' that has surrounded Sen. Clinton is going away but a third place finish with do away with any hint of that so-called 'inevitability'. Sen. Obama now has the momentum needed to bounce into New Hampshire and continue on into South Carolina. I haven't forgotten, in all of the talk of hope and change in the Obama campaign, that the senator is still a politician, but he is the politician I would be proud of voting for. As for the Democratic party as a whole, Sen. Obama's win is a great thing as it pushes the establishment back on its heels and severely damages the 'netroots' belief that they can make or break candidates. It also means that there are Democrats who want something new more than they want revenge against the Bush administration and the rest of the Republican party. This is history in the making, perhaps the revolution being televised. It is the first sign that the American public want a change more than more of the same. I like it.

A Graphic Space

MySpace Visualized - Andrew Sullivan

I'd have to say that Felix Heinen is a genius with graphic design work. What he's done here is take the basic information of a social network (MySpace in this case) and created two navigable flash images of his data. I'm awash in information but it does visually make some sense. I'm not going to delve in too deeply though, I'm saving my brain for the zombies.

Apps, SDKs and Apple's Open Sauce

So I received an iPod Touch as a Christmas gift this year. I've played with it for about a week now and while I do love having a truly mobile web browser I do have to complain about the lack of apps for it and Apple's attempt to prevent me from using a different browser, say Firefox for example. I don't want to go through some messy process of unlocking it each time Apple releases a firmware update nor do I want to let my device lag in its abilities by refusing to update the firmware. I understand Apple's corporate position in wanting to keep users using Safari but it Apple wants to avoid looking like a small-time Microsoft then opening up its software just a little is necessary. The browser wars are over and locking users into only one option when it comes to browser software is what got Microsoft in trouble in the first place. So that's my pet peeve about an otherwise great device.

Perfect Gifts and Invisible Cities

It's been a week since Christmas so I think I can actually say something about my gifts without sounding like an ass. Actually, it's one gift in particular that has my interest. She'll probably never top it as my sister got me the greatest gift ever: a Viewmaster with slide cards made by Vladimir of images taken from Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. Perhaps my favorite book, Invisible Cities continues to enchant and even educate me to this day. What the artist Vladimir has done is render the images of the cities in surreal and sublime 3-d slides. Her Vladmaster and slides will probably become one of those things I look at to pitch my mind out of itself for a while when it gets too messy and full. I adore it, I adore the artist and I adore my sister for finding such a perfect gift.

Falling Down on the Job

Poor Poor blog, I've ignored you all year so far.

All Your Hard Drives Are Belonging to Us

RIAA Now Filing Suits Against Consumers Who Rip CDs - Slashdot

Thank you RIAA for raising the bar on blatantly fucking stupid court cases. I raise a glass to you guys. I mean, really, I didn't think you could do it.

CB Handles

What's In A Name? - Steven Heller

Heller makes a compelling argument for the use of real names in blogging and blog-commenting. It's often the case that one who uses a pseudonym feels more free to make comments they would otherwise temper if their identity were known. The blogosphere has allowed the masses to express their opinions and interests in rather highly public forms and the comment sections of blog post allow the same freedom for a blog's readers. Yet, as Heller point out, how trustworthy is a blogger or commentator when they hide behind a handle versus their own name. For whistleblowers or those who might otherwise put them and their families at risk by exposing their name, a pseudonym is understandable. But the vast majority of bloggers and blog-readers do not run such a risk. The only risk they run is having less than politel comments associated with their names and reputations.
This issue of pseudonym versus real name has gone beyond the message boards where flame wars, trolls and other kinds of rabblerousing exists. Many bloggers desire the same reputability as other journalists and thus want to make their blogs as accurate and open to criticism as possible. Even so, criticism that comes without attribution is less valuable than criticism that someone is willing to put their name behind. For a lot of critics, particularly of the troll variety, the pseudonym is a way of saying things without consideration or thought, without care for the veracity of their comments and without concern for lively and productive debate. They often do not play the role of devil's advocate or add anything of real value to the conversation. And when called upon it, many bloggers and commentors launch the accusation of 'fascist' to those who dare question their versimilitude. The existence of "Godwin's Law" since the mid-1990s is proof of the continuing existence of trolls and other commentors who would rather derail a conversation and focus on themselves than engage in a real debate.
The idea of requiring commentors and bloggers to use their real names is not meant to stifle conversation but to keep it civil. Let the pundits on tv embarass themselves with stupid and inane commentary. We the masses deserve better and one way to receive better is to call for an end of pseudonym usage in the blogosphere.

Orb Reporting

Without Correspondents In Pakistan, TV Networks Rely on Producers and Part-Timers - NYT Blog

I've heard for several years now on the problem of U.S. global media coverage and the downsizing or outright closing of foreign offices. This was first noticed after 9/11 when correspondents were sent to all sorts of places almost at random since no media organization had a clear idea of where the next media event would happen. With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, it was only ABC and CNN who were among the U.S. media companies on location when the assassination happened. Every other news organization had to rely on freelance correspondents or simple wire reports. The BBC does maintain a large global operation but for Americans this doesn't really help the situation any. When I first heard of the assassination I immediately when to the Washington Post, the NY Times, the BBC and the Guardian Online (another British, leftist paper) and got a series of conflicting reports. Some of the basic information was the same while others differed significantly, particularly on the matter of whether it was a single sniper/suicide bomber or two men operating in tandem. This kind of confusion of reporting is unsurprising now since out of the four only the BBC had a correspondent on hand in Pakistan.
With the constant questioning of media bias, the issue of global coverage is essential when events in other nations can have a serious impact on our national and economic security. Yes, we can read local papers but often we have less of an idea of their biases than we do of our own media organizations. When and how information is presented plays an critical role in how the narrative of an event is crafted. For those who rely on only one or two sources of news, one can see how the lack of on-scene global coverage becomes a problem. Who is doing the writing, the editing and the presentation (anchor or correspondent) are questions left unanswered and are difficult to answer.
This age of globalized information requires a constant skepticism of whether the reporting is accurate or whether a spin has been placed on the event. The use of multiple news sources does mitigate this problem but only slightly so when those multiple sources rely on wire reports or a single nexus of information. So let this post be a reminder to always seek alternative sources of information, to check the biases of the reporting and to always question how the reporting is presented.

The Gold Standard

Dollar's Fall is Felt Around the Globe - Anthony Faiola @ WaPo

The dramatic rise in precious metals in recent years is another element often overlooked with the weakening dollar. Three years ago gold was holding steady (as it had for the past decade) at around $400 per troy ounce with platinum following suit at $700 an ounce. But today's prices continue to astound me. Not since the early 80s has gold been priced so high ($800 a troy ounce and platinum at nearly $1,500). As a jeweler I can't ignore the doubling of material costs and have to pass that on to customers. In addition I've begun fielding lots of questions over how best to sell one's gold only to give a customer the unfortunate news that they will, at best, receive an under-wholesale value. It does work well for us when we have our filings and bench sweeps refined but one cannot run a business like that. When you depend on repairs like retipping prongs, sizing rings and custom work, higher material costs, while giving us a larger profit margin, cut into the amount of work done. What was once a $25 sizing job suddenly becomes a $45 job. Most of the effects of a weak dollar aren't so directly felt but in the world of jewelry a doubling of costs is quickly reflected. It's not heartening to say, but when the dollar starts to weaken people start to buy into fixed commodities like gold and that causes a lot of ripples.

Professor Murder Discovers the Flex-it Formula

I originally found this new track by Professor Murder from RCRD LBL so while I'm using Imeem to stream the song, you can download it yourself if you just follow the link. I like the slight changes and additions. It's a good progression from the first e.p. Professor Murder Rides the Subway. Unlike some groups who over do it on the electronic side, Professor Murder only uses it to add to the overall party feel of the song. I'm quite pleased with it and this song will make it onto my next mix.

The Zen of the Morning

I love LOLcats. They make my morning a little brighter.


moar funny pictures

The Disruptive Issue

Immigration Disruption - Ezra Klein

Ezra makes an interesting point here about the illegal immigration issue and its role in current policy debate over health care, tax reforms, Social Security reform and just about any other social program one can think of. Instead of being a singular issue for Republican candidates to run on, it becomes an entry point into dismissing liberal plans for social reforms since some illegals might receive some benefits from those reforms. Still, I think it's a poor way to hammer the Democrats since more than likely such tactics will only drive the Latino vote further away from the Republican party and toward the only other dominant party out there: the Democrats. While I do think illegal immigration is an important issue I think most of the problems people believed are caused by illegal immigration are state-level problems just as fixing the immigration system as a whole is a federal problem. The example of Oklahoma enforcing a law that requires all business owners to pay their employees by check versus straight cash has had a huge impact on the number of illegal immigrants in that state. So the enforcement of laws does aid in pushing the illegal immigrant out but does nothing about how to solve the issue of the continuing flow of immigrant into this country. Add that to our lovely ways of greeting foreigners at airports and you have a huge problem in the number of immigrant moving to this country. It becomes far more difficult to pillage the intellectuals of other countries when we are willing to deny them visas and treat them to harsh interrogations and long periods of waiting if there is a problem with their visa. This is a problem in need of some serious solutions but that won't happen with a Republican in the White House and a Republican bloc in both legislative houses doing everything they can to stymie the Democrats' agenda.

Confined Spaces and 2001: A Space Odyssey

New Business Model for the Music Industry - Chad @ fotophonic
David Byrne and Radiohead's Thom Yorke Talk Music Biz - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing
David Bryne's Guide to Being a Musician in the 21st Century - Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing

I can't claim any real knowledge on the topic of how the music industry will change in the coming century so take all of this with as large a grain of salt as you'd like. Even so, I think both authors are missing a larger point about music distribution and how the last fifty or so years of the album has been a huge aberration in the traditional way music has been played and distributed. The album did not exist in our commonly understood form until the end of the 1950s. Even then it was typical to release a single or series of singles prior to or concurrently with the album to entice the consumer to buy the full album. While the advent of the album has allowed for the creation of some great masterpieces of modern music, the consumer-level experience has remained the single. On the radio, tv, in a move, on the internet, or just about anywhere these days, someone will hear a tune and ask what band is playing. The fixation is on the singular tune, not the album that track came from. And typically it's been rare for an album to come out that plays well from start to end. We each find the songs we like on an album and eventually start skipping the songs we don't like. Mixed tapes are built on singles, the singular track stripped away from its albumatic context.
All of this is to say that the album is a dying concept for the 21st century. EPs will continue, I think, but the album itself as a self-contained collection of songs recorded for a specific release I believe will falter and slowly disappear in the age of the mp3. Before albums became popular it was common for the release of collections of songs by particular artists (notably jazz and big band acts) but it was rare for the entire collection to contain songs written solely by the band. Instead, most music was taken from broadsheet style releases, the old standards idea where a band would play popular music of the time regardless of whether they wrote it or not (how many versions of "Mack the Knife" or "Beyond the Sea" do you think exist?). The royalties on these broadsheet versions were cheap since many acts would buy up the music to play. And touring was an essential part of that since rarely would you hear an extended collection of one act's music unless you saw them live.
These days constant touring does pay off for the bands but at the cost of a regular life in most cases. Unless you are defiantly, idealistically young or have reached beyond the realm of an average band, constant touring is a hard life to live. Hence the need for record companies to come to grips with the new distribution model of online digital music and adjust their royalty compensation accordingly. When it becomes almost just as easy for a band to self-release a record or even just a few songs to the public through their web site or other sites like elbo.ws, RCRD LBL, Hype Machine, Last.fm, or Imeem just to name a few, record companies will only watch their sale fall further unless they make some drastic changes. Sure, we can continue the pattern of forcing bands to constantly tour just to make ends meet by undercutting their royalties or we can make a clear statement to organizations like the RIAA that their model is outdated and becoming more cumbersome by the day.
It's not as if I want bands to stop touring, but a fifty-date tour schedule means a lot of time on the road, stuck in shitty circumstances for most small acts and little time to actually record new music. There are better ways for bands to make money and before we simply tell them to tour more we should allow them to find new ways to make an income from their music that doesn't involve constant touring. There are many small bands that I love but before we shove them in a van for three thousand miles and three months that often bring on all the annoyances of being stuck in a confined space for a long period of time and the eventual break ups, I'd like to see both the bands and the music listeners who gain so much pleasure from what the artist do figure out a way to get the money flowing to the right places.

Vowelless Record Label

RCRDLBL.com

What a wonderful new find for the evening. Part blog/music aggregator, part nexus for bands and labels to meet, the vowel-boden RCRD LBL seems a bit of a mess, and it is, but with huge potential. Along with some of the particular artists they've lined up to release mp3s of, they have gathered a number of nascent labels that are steadily growing in size and influence. What this site will do and what influence it will have I cannot tell. But that a site like this exists is a testimony to the power of the rising user-generated web. I've already downloaded a new Professor Murder song (quite a good step forward for them too, just wish they would make their way to Dallas) and a Presets remix. Again, the site is a little clunky, so don't expect the smoothness of something like Pitchfork or Elbo.ws. But I heartily welcome this site to the intertubes.

Centro-Matic at their Best

Centro-Matic @ MySpace
Centro-Matic.com

I miss Will Johnson when he was crazy and banging out things in his bedroom.

Fucking Brilliant

OMG, It's an Heirloom: Dutch Delight dildo - Frank @ OMG Blog

That is, with a bullet, the coolest thing I've seen all day.

A Three-Eyed Smile

UK Police Seize Amateur Photographer's Film - Mark Frauenfelder @ BoingBoing

Okay, Frauenfelder's suggestion of a wifi sd to upload photos as soon as they are taken gets me all shivery thinking of Transmetropolitan. If you don't know what that is then google it. I'm not making it that easy for you.

Why I love Top Gear

Hmm, bored, nothing to watch, what should I do? Oh wait! Lookie here. A car drag racing a jet fighter. How nice. Via Gizmodo

Falsehoods and Capitalism in America

Are We Americans Optimists? Or Suckers? - Brian Tamanaha @ Balkinization

Something similar to what Holland details in his report quoted by Tamanaha occurred during the end of the 19th century. By the 1890s it became clear to many of the middle class in countries like France, Germany or wherever there was an entrenched aristocracy, that education and talent mattered less than genetics. The successful ones came from good stock, it was believed, and one can quickly make the jump from thoughts like that to racial eugenics. That was the conclusion of one Georges Sorel, but he focused himself on matters other than pseudo-science. No, instead he went on to a far more noble task of turning Marxism from a theory of economic revolution into one of violent moral revolution. Both Lenin and Mussolini were inspired by this man's chaotic writings on the need to create a moral severance with the bloated and indulgent bourgeoisie and the upstanding laborer.
All of this occurred during the end of the century as the cultural clime of Western Europe began to fill with the idea that people's station in life was not dictated by merit but by a false nobility who lacked the physical and moral strength of the working class. I'm seeing hints of such a belief in today's media and conversations. It's more than a little scary as the last time people got all in a tiff over economic equality while confusing it with moral standing we ended up with fascistic movements of varying success (i.e. Romania's failed fascist takeover versus Germany's quite successful transition to Nazism). I do think the issue of economic inequality needs discussion but that discussion must remain distinctly separate from issues of morality and religion. I just fear that with today's GOP ideology this won't happen.
I hope people will start realizing that pure capitalism exists and functions as well as pure communism. That and the only moral rule of capitalism is you can make as much money as you want so long as you don't prevent anyone else from doing the same.

Zombie vs Zombie

Will Smith's Bummer - Andrew Sullivan

I liked the way the zombies were portrayed in 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later since it makes them a little more terrifying that they can move so quickly. But then again, I loved how Max Brooks portrayed the typical zombie in World War Z and how even then they were terrifying creatures. Toying with the characteristics of the zombie I think is almost necessary now that the slow, shuffling zombie has become an icon of horror. It's a matter of keeping the suspense up and the slow zombie versus the fast zombie is losing out in the modern age

Mobility isn't so easy

US Spends more on mobiles than land lines - L'Inq

I don't find this report surprising since I have never had a land line attached to me personally. It's been mobile all the way for me. But I do wonder what consequences this will have for corporations who rely on telemarketing and bill collections. When you separate the phone from the physical location doesn't that start to present a problem for those looking to collect on a late credit card payment?

The Transformation of the Punk

Tank Girl then and now - Nadya Lev @ Coilhouse

I never read the original Tank Girl. My interests in comics during that period were primarily in the X-Men realm. But she did catch my eye every once in a while and for a long time that was what a real punk was supposed to look like for me. Now, in the age of the cyberpunk, the visual expression is less important than the subverting presence of a punk mindset. Plus, I adore Ashley Wood's art, when I can figure out what the hell he's doing. Just a weird mix of nostalgia and the modern for the morning.

Vibrant

Just Paper - Andrew Sullivan

Mother is the necessity of invention as artist Jen Stark shows here. The medium is simple construction paper used in a unique new way as a base for sculpture.

Muhammad was a Punk Rocker

Muhammad Rocked the Casbah - Lydia Crafts @ Texas Monthly via Andrew Sullivan - Muslim Punk Rock
Photo Credit - Kim Badawi

This is probably the coolest thing I've heard about in politics and music in a long time. Texas is the reason though. For cities like San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Houston, the mixed cultural identities slammed up against bastions of certain cultural identities tend to produce the desire for resistance. And, to stereotype Texas a little, there's an independent streak in all Texans. We go our own way because that's the way we decided to go. So the fact that a kid in San Antonio took Islam punk isn't surprising. But it is very cool, both for the Texas music scene and for the ideological struggles between the West and Islam and within Islam itself over modernity.
Money Quote: "On tour, the taqwacore bands allowed each other to embrace their contradictions as young Muslim Americans confused about their religion, identity, and place in the world. They prayed together, philosophized about Allah, visited mosques in Harlem and Ohio, shouted their grievances about President Bush, and generally thought for themselves."
I raise a glass for the rise of Islamic punks. These kids are the ones who will change perceptions about Islam, all while producing punk rock music. I think we win all the way around on this.

The Meme of the Link

The Web's Link-Driven Attention Economy - Scott Karp @ Publishing 2.0

The small controversy over Lane Hartwell's removal of all her photography from Flickr is based on the issue of attention and citation. It's easy enough for college and graduate students to understand; whenever you use the work of another author you always cite it. In fact, one of the mantras I remember from graduate school was, "when in doubt, cite it." With the rise of the blog and the online video and picture services the need for a meme that reinforces this idea of citation through link or comment is critical. Yet, I don't think there's much to worry about. Tag-clouds and the tagging culture growing within the Web 2.0 culture contains this meme in a way. A tag is used to help others search for particular items and the usage of tagging and tagging services should help mitigate the effects of those less informed who fail to add a link or credit. Eventually a link should pop up and lead someone to the proper site. Messy it is, but we can't force every person online to link or credit appropriately. All we can do is call them on it and attempt to reinforce the meme that a link or credit is always necessary when you use someone else's work.

A Diamond is Worth as Much as You Pay for It

100% - Matt Yglesias
What Desperation Looks Like - Andrew Sullivan

"If Clinton's going to run on her alleged greater experience, surely it's fair to point to the content of that experience and ask whether or not it's all good experience. " Matt Yglesias

Matt makes a salient point about experience and how the Clinton campaign's harping on it has the potential of blowing up in their faces. The amount of experience someone has is only a good as how that experience has allowed that person to make wise decisions. It's the wisdom gained from experience that makes experience something worth looking at. But when it's obvious that while someone has a great amount of experience but continues to make poor choices then you can tell such a person hasn't gained anything through experience. And that actually makes such 'experience' more worthless, and dangerous, than no experience since you already know the track record is pretty poor.
It's also worth it to point out that Matt's comments on experience came from a recent Charlie Rose interview with former President Clinton, something that Sullivan believed spoke for itself through the YouTube video.

The Worry Men

Quote of the Day - Andrew Sullivan

You know, the more Sen. Clinton trots out her husband to trash Sen. Obama the more I worry about his influence in the White House. What happens when President Clinton decides not to listen to her husband?

Heinrich Kley and the Modern Fantasy

Heinrich Kley: Industry and Ecstasy, Fantasy and Fact - Meredith Yayanos @ Coilhouse

With the rise of interest in the spiritual at the end of the 19th century along with the progressively everyday sights of modernity it's no wonder many artists of the time incorporated elements of both into their work. This is especially true for those in countries like France and Germany, both before and after the Great War, whose writers, philosophers, and artists attempted to express the shift in their souls brought about by modernity. Many good and bad things came from these efforts (fascism for one) but we can still learn from these expressions of wonder, awe and fear at a rapidly modernizing world. It's only just now that we are returning to the questions these creators had asked a century ago.

The Calm Generation

The World-Spirit Through History - Matt Yglesias

Of course, David Freddoso is right in a way, a wacky way though. After the English Civil Wars the whole country tacked towards an anti-polemical attitude that was reflected in the debated and the creation of the public sphere in the English coffeehouses of the period. It was also after the fall of fanatical religion that some of the greatest works on liberty and democracy were written such as Hobbes Leviathan and Locke's Two Treates On Government along with the addition of an informed and politically active public that did not take to extremes. Of course, someone like Freddoso will overlook all of these facts just to make his argument, which both undermines his argument and his critical thinking abilities if he believes that citing one point in history is sufficient evidence. Besides, it was when nationalism became a religion of sorts that fascism took off. And it was when capitalism was at its worst that Marx wrote, only to have his work overturned by moral revolutionary Georges Sorel at the end of the 19th century. But that's neither here nor there, now isn't it?

Song of the Storm Night

My Robot Friend @ MySpace
My Robot Friend Home Page
My Robot Friend @ Virb

Something fun for the night. Nothing amazing, just good electro.

The Obama Ascension

Decency and a Generation - Andrew Sullivan
'My Commentators Is Smarter Than I': Go for the Jugular Edition - Ezra Klein
Depends On What You Mean By Surprise, I Guess... - Alex Masse
Known Quantity - Matt Yglesias

I have a couple more links to add when those site are back up again. I wanted to gather some of the latest posts about the whole issue of Sen. Obama's past drug use and the Clinton campaign's efforts to use that as a smear on Sen. Obama's character. A lot of the issue concerns the differences between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton, both in leadership style and campaign style. I have no qualms about Sen. Obama's past drug use, both due to my own past usage and the completely forward nature in which Sen. Obama has conducted himself with the matter.
A lot of digital ink has been spilled about the growing fight between the Obama camp and the Clinton camp, with most of the more critical posts pointing to the faults of the Clinton campaign. In particular, the last couple of weeks have shown a Hilary Clinton people remember from the smears she suffered from during her time as the First Lady. She has gone on a serious offensive against Sen. Obama in attacking his experience, his 'known quantities', his drug usage and even some underhanded smear emails sent out by her own campaign staff (of which two have already resigned over, and another over the cocaine issue). Her husband has joined the chorus as well, arguing that much like his wife, he was for the war before he was against it, which considered how laughable it was when Sen. Kerry made that claim I don't know why President Clinton would attempt to do the same now.
Suffice to say, one would have expected Sen. Obama's polling numbers to have dropped in the key primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Yet the opposite has happened as Sen. Obama has overtaken Sen. Clinton in Iowa and has closed in to a statistical tie with her in New Hampshire. The negativity with which Sen. Clinton has assaulted Sen. Obama has reflected in the polls as Obama has remained cool and collected, i.e. he has remained on message as a candidate of hope and change.
What several people have noticed is that Sen. Obama is seemingly not afraid of the Republican party while Sen. Clinton still is. Her campaign style reflects an attitude of negativity and offense that is better suited for use against Republican candidates. In other words, Clinton doesn't know how to campaign against her own and that has led to the perception that Clinton is too cut-throat for the tastes of many liberals. Meanwhile, Obama continues to push his message forward with strength and conviction, and with seeming disregard for whether his position appeases everyone.
Another element, of which I can't link to at the moment, of Obama's current success comes from his ability to talk to conservatives on their own terms, acknowledging their positions and then rebutting them in such a way that most conservative listeners come to agree with. He growing stronger in his speeches and in the debates themselves while Hilary has begun to look more like the Mitt Romney of the liberal side.
All of this is to say that Sen. Obama has has some great fortune in the last couple of weeks, both due to his own abilities (see, The Moment) and Sen. Clinton's mistakes. As the primary dates come closer (Iowa is on January 3rd) Sen. Obama has a good chance of upsetting the presumptive frontrunner and turn that momentum into an even greater upset in New Hampshire.

Searchable Notes

Internet Archive to store researchers' notes, "raw" data - John Timmer @ Ars Technica

Oh good Lord, what an amazing idea. I'm surprised no one has done this already. A project like this could revolutionize the study of past scholars and the turns they took through their research. Imagine having all of Nietzsches' notes on hand and searchable, or Darwins' or even someone like Neil Gaiman. All the bad ideas run to the ground, the ideas passed by, the leaps in thinking, everything that a writer or scholar worked on but never published, right there for you to read. You could go back and take a look at the math of a respected physicist and see if he might have made a mistake, or find a solution to a problem not yet solved. More than just putting books up for online searching, you have the raw material that was pulled together for those books. This is the kind of thing that web 2.0 was made for.

Surreal Imagery Made Happy

Chromasia via Photoblogs

What a strange but obvious way to promote one's photography. It's all very Zen-like so that makes it perfect for me.

In the Basement

Warehouse 23 Basement via Coilhouse

This is the kind of randomness I love. What an opportunity to come up with truly weird ideas and have them mean something, even if only for a moment, to someone else.

Dumbest Damn Thing

Senator Kit Bond: Waterboarding is "like swimming" - Mark Frauenfelder @ BoingBoing

What?

I repeat.

What?

Set Brain to 0

Does Facebook Make You Stupid? - evolution @ Trumor

At first I thought this was bogus but after reading the post I think there is some true to this. Information requires a degree of processing before our brains make all the connections. When we cram all of the blog posts, music, pictures and videos into our heads like we do then we end up with this unsorted mass that lacks the connections we need to make sense of it all. Some days I just have to stay away from my blogs because I need a day to process. The same thing happens when I download too much music. Before I buy a cd I need to know if I really do like it or if I'm basing things off first impressions and not digging any deeper.

The Real World

Less blogging tonight. I'm having a drink with an old friend and we have some catching up to do. Reality...might be interesting.

In the Erotic Stacks

Naughty Library in Paris - Hell at the Library - TrendHunter

Now why can't they make this a traveling show. I'm sure it would draw a lot of people to their respective libraries when they never would have gone in the first place. This is the perfect form of advertising for librarians.

Preview: The Dodos

The Dodos @ mericlong.com
The Dodos @ MySpace

Can't remember where I specifically found this band but I believe it was somewhere on elbo.ws during one of my audio dives. Just bought Beware of the Maniacs from their website. They have this strange acoustic folk sound that runs closer to Battles or Parts & Labor than say Iron & Wine or Bonnie Prince William. I think a better comparison is the first Beirut album sparsely done with DIY beats, full-bodied guitars and some incidental keys in the background for added flavor. The lead singer, Meric Long, does well within his vocal range, neither pushing it nor attempting to understate it. He tells a story as much through his voice as he does the music. It's well worth your time to take a listen and visit their site. They have a full-length lined up for release in March of next years but you can pick up one of their eps for a cheap tenner from their site.

Containing Unrepentant Anger

"Not Us. We're Not Going" - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room

It's not surprising that a platoon of soldiers would refuse to go out on patrol due to some sort of fear. But in this case the scary part is that these soldiers are so tightly wound that any sort of movement one could loosely consider a potential threat would lead to an overkill situation. I applaud these soldiers for knowing their psychological limits and taking that into account before being put in the middle of dozens of civilians. When people talk about the 'breaking' of the American military, I want you to remember these soldiers and their commitment to do right.

Branding a Campaign

O-Mentum - Ezra Klein

This, I think, is what a lot of critics of Oprah's support for Obama don't get--she draws the most positive kind of attention to a wide swath of the American public. When a talk show host can send Tolstoy to the top of the best-seller list through her recommendation alone then you cannot discount the kind of influence she holds. Bringing new names and faces into the primary process will probably become the most cited reason for Obama's upset win in Iowa. Oprah is not a king-maker but she does have immense influence on the American public's perception of things.

Calvinball in Iraq

Muddling Along - Ezra Klein

Finally! I've been saying this for years now that the way our policy on Iraq has run was more like Calvinball than anything that had a coherent plan and direction. So now that Klein has finally said it we can start pushing the meme that nothing in at least the past two years has had any coherency and have merely been efforts to stave off the shame that comes with admitting a serious fuck-up. Yes, brave men and women of our military forces have died for nothing, because as soon as the rules change then their efforts are nullified. We've kept changing tactics when what we have needed so dearly is a serious change in strategy. Are we occupiers? Do we have a coherent plan to wind down our commitments? Have we tried every political and diplomatic solution available and are we using those solutions while the military keeps a lid on a simmer civil war? The violence has fallen so now is the time to kick the politics into high gear. But to do that we need at least some idea of what results we want to see. And more importantly, President Bush needs to tell it to the American public. But whatever is done, this ridiculously murderous version of Calvinball needs to end.

Kate Nash, A Preview

Kate Nash @ MySpace

Comparisons to Lily Allen aside, this Brit singer is pulling more on 80s and 90s indie than anything else. Fun stuff.

Bring Me the Head of Jack Skinner

Lack of sleep and six hours of music wears on the body, you know?

International Law and its Enemies

Krauthammer on Fox - Andrew Sullivan

One of the elements that divided nations during the Interwar years between WWI and WWII was the idea that there was a common law shared between nations. States like Germany and Italy began to act against this idea, instead believing that only the preservation of their nation was necessary and any act that promoted their nation was ergo necessary as well. After WWII it was quickly realized by most of the fighting powers that international affairs needed a unified governing body of some sort, hence the creation of the UN. No nation should act completely on its own in relation to other nations but needed to act in some form of cooperation. International law is essential in the modern world as what one nation does can have serious repercussions on other nations. Diplomacy and compromise are essential tools, as are international agreements. One nation cannot simply withdraw from a commitment without suffering the consequences. That's what the point of the UN was. And you can't break one agreement and then expect other agreements to remain in place. Once you start going it alone then you have to expect to stay alone and bitching and moaning about it is just plain childish.

Mind Murmurs

We Feel Fine - Tasty Blog Snack

I was just having a conversation about Twitter and how it can turn a super-contextual thought into a context-free thought and then back again. Using Twitter like that is a giving of ourselves to the subconscious of the internet, bringing us closer together even though we may be thousands of miles apart. This idea of viewing the murmurings of the internet is fascinating as it acts something like the background thoughts we individually have. Love it.

Label in Review: DFA Records

DFA Records Home Page
DFA Records @ MySpace
DFA Records @ Wikipedia
DFA Records @ Discogs
Interview w/ James Murphy @ In the Mix

When James Murphy joined with Tim Goldsworthy to form a label in early September 2001 Murphy wanted to name the label Death From Above. But the New York based label quickly nixed that idea in the middle of that September and the two settled on the acronym of DFA. Since 2001 DFA has become a force within the independent indie-dance and electro-rock scene, releasing the Rapture's first album, Hot Chip's The Warning in the U.S. and creating a literal heap of remixes for acts ranging from Justin Timberlake to Nine Inch Nails to Gorillaz. Home to acts like the Rapture, the Black Dice, Juan McLean, Shit Robot, Prinzhorn Dance School, the Shocking Pinks and James Murphy's own band, LCD SoundSystem, DFA is typically on the cutting edge of electro-anything and pushing beyond New York and into the electro-scene of European discotheques. Their remixes are highly sought after both by listeners and artists.
What makes DFA so distinctive is the mix between Murphy's 70s funk and Goldsworthy 80s new wave sensibilities. In particular their remix of Hot Chips "Just Like We (Breakdown)" transforms an otherwise excellent track into a nine minute sonic experience. Their emphasis on a mix of live instruments and electronic sounds allows DFA to stretch the boundaries of dance music without pegging themselves as simply another 'experimental' label.
Murphy's own LCD SoundSystem is a perfect example of what DFA seeks to achieve as Murphy and drummer Pat Mahoney blend live beats with synths, looped vocals and out-and-out rock music. Recently LCD SoundSystem released a single for Nike's runners ad campaign that was 45 minutes long. It is through these sorts of efforts that DFA has grown its presence in the minds of indie and even a few average music consumers.
On a side note, as the Wikipedia mentions, a copyright issue arose between DFA and the band Death From Above 1979 when DFA 1979 was going by the name Death From Above. While Murphy is made to look like the good businessman in all of this, DFA 1979 did not take the forced name change well. Murphy claimed it was simply and issue between Capitol Records and their label but DFA 1979 took it personally. Yet the label still stands and continues to produce and release new records by both their in house acts and new acts they can find.
So far, DFA has built a reputation as a respected independent label while eschewing the typical 'sell-outs' stigma for many (although there are a few who argue otherwise). Much like Matador Records in the 90s, DFA has become a trusted label for quality acts and music. Keep your eyes peeled for anything with the DFA logo as it represents good music to dance to.

Fascism as Faith

Seriously? - Megan McArdle

Historians of the 30s and 40s had such a terrible time trying to explain fascism because they were trying to put fascism in line with other traditional forms of ideology and government. But fascism defied those categories because it wasn't a traditional political ideology but politics experienced as faith. More than any other ideology of the last century, fascism relied on the mass experience to drive its ideology, to turn culture in political culture where everything you do is done for the state. Theocracies have similar characteristics but the difference is those under a fascist rule worship the state and its leader, not a god and a religion. Fascism is nationalism turned into a faith.
This is why the term 'totalitarianism' is such a misleading one; it encompasses to much while blurring the clear distinctions between authoritarian government like Communism, theocracy and fascism. It's not a helpful term in that way because you have a hard time figuring out why a counter to a communist ideology doesn't work for a fascist ideology. The idea of totalitarianism does help somewhat when describing the differences between it and democracy but beyond that the term becomes less useful in understanding the totalitarian system. They all commit terrible crimes but the why of those crimes is still important and categorizing any authoritarian rule as totalitarian makes it difficult to understand and undermine that rule.