David Brooks is a giant dick.

I've recommended Brooks columns in the past, mainly because he is a more intellectual, more moderate conservative commentator and I like to branch out from my typically liberal reading material. But after reading his column today, I might be done. It was maybe the most petty, cynical, mean-spirited piece I've ever seen - I can't believe the New York Times published it. People, particularly youth, are becoming involved in the political system at astonishing rates, driven by not only Barack Obama's ability to inspire, but also by evidence that their contemporaries are also contributing. The funny thing is, that's one of the most powerful methods of persuasion -- and it carries over into a lot of topics (I read a headline recently that hotel guests are more likely to reuse towels if the hotel advertises facts about the rate of reuse by other guests, than if the hotel advertises the environmental benefits). To write something so... misanthropic almost... is highly irresponsible and counter-productive. I wouldn't even have cared if he tore apart the speech - surely flaws can be found - but to denigrate a "a generation that came of age amidst iced chais and mocha strawberry Frappuccinos®, a generation with a historical memory that doesn’t extend back past Coke Zero." Shame on him, seriously.

First family

Beautiful.

Portrayal Of Obama As Elitist Hailed As Step Forward For African Americans

Portrayal Of Obama As Elitist Hailed As Step Forward For African Americans

You're going down like Bear Stearns!

This totally brought me back to my Wharton days...

**Kudos to Abby

REAL ID Act

Just learned of the REAL ID Act passed in 2005. Does anyone remember this being reported in the news (granted, it was during Katrina time, but a mention, anything)?

I want this kid's sweater.

Picture stolen from "Sexy People" blog. I would definitely check it out if you are bored.

The Onion on Bob Barr

This profile was pretty hilarious. Key excerpt:


Issues:
(1995–2007) Trying to control the faith, sexuality, reproduction, drug use, and national allegiance of every single American.
(2007–) Aw, Fuck it.

September 10, really?

I'm sure everyone's heard about this by now, but it sounds both very awesome and very, very scary. Here's a Gail Collins column about it too.

Today's quote

Pulled from one of the many SmartBriefs I get at work, this seems especially fitting given the economic news of late.


"My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of the pessimists."
-Jean Rostand, French biologist and philosopher

Life is good.

Quote and news

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, but I enjoyed this one.

"Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life."
-Immanuel Kant

And thanks to Mike for pointing me to this ridiculous campaign story:

A housing issue: McCain not sure how many they own

Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn't sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.




Wow.

Conservation and conservatives

Great column from Bob Herbert today re: McCain's assertion he is a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican". It included a paragraph about one of my biggest pet peeves of late:

We’re now in a ridiculous period in which politicians are concerned about appearing too well-spoken and too intellectual — elitist — as if mangling the language while downing a shot and slurping from a mug of beer were sure signs of fitness for high office. So it might come as a surprise to some that Senator McCain’s macho hero happened to have been among the first naturalists at Harvard, an inveterate bird-watcher, and a prolific and sensitive writer.


Here, here!

Idea

Go backwards in time by communication method. Example: facebook message - phone call - letter - messenger pigeon - smoke signals - etc. Could make for a great scavenger hunt, movie, whatever.

Also, how did I get 7 blogs? Need to cut back...

Too much to read, too little time

Read these things later:

All of US Could Be Overweight by 2048

The Front-Runner’s Fall
and accompanying
Hillary Clinton Memos

Endangered Species Act Changes Give Agencies More Say

Invisibility-Cloak Materials Bend Light "Backward"

Julia Child part of WWII era spy ring
(What?!)

Cities to keep an eye on, architecturally speaking

Dubai (duh), Moscow, and Milan.

Preview of some projects planned for Milan in time for EXPO 2015.

Potentially next Friday

Braggadocio

Guess who's going to see Bob Dylan in Santa Barbara on September 7? That's right, this girl!

NYTimes slideshow from the opening ceremony

Check it out!

Two things for later

These Knowledge@Wharton articles had provocative titles.
Note to self: Read later.

Eat, Drink and Go Shopping: Why Thoughts of Death Whet Consumers' Appetite for Stuff

How the U.S. Government Has Mismanaged the Country

Save the Internet

Ok I am a little ashamed to admit this, but I wasn't really aware of this issue until a friend sent me a link to this site today. Here's an excerpt:

How does this threat to Internet freedom affect you?

Such corporate control of the Web would reduce your choices and stifle the spread of innovative and independent ideas that we've come to expect online. It would throw the digital revolution into reverse. Internet gatekeepers are already discriminating against Web sites and services they don't like:

In May 2008, the Max Planck Institute released a comprehensive study that found both Comcast and Cox Communications to be deceptively blocking access to peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.

In October 2007, the Associated Press busted Comcast for blocking its users' access to peer-to-peer file-sharing networks like BitTorrent and Gnutella. This fraudulent practice is a glaring violation of Net Neutrality.

In September 2007, Verizon was caught banning pro-choice text messages. After a New York Times expose, the phone company reversed its policy, claiming it was a glitch.
In August 2007, AT&T censored a live webcast of a Pearl Jam concert just as lead singer Eddie Vedder criticized President Bush.

In 2006, Time Warner's AOL blocked all emails that mentioned www.dearaol.com -- an advocacy campaign opposing the company's pay-to-send e-mail scheme.

In 2005, Canada's telephone giant Telus blocked customers from visiting a Web site sympathetic to the Telecommunications Workers Union during a contentious labor dispute.

In 2004, North Carolina ISP Madison River blocked their DSL customers from using any rival Web-based phone service.

Shaw, a major Canadian cable, internet, and telephone service company, intentionally downgrades the "quality and reliability" of competing Internet-phone services that their customers might choose -- driving customers to their own phone services not through better services, but by rigging the marketplace.

This is just the beginning. Cable and telco giants want to eliminate the Internet's open road in favor of a tollway that protects their status quo while stifling new ideas and innovation.


Seriously, check it out. I think the freedom of information we have right now is far too precious to let be taken away.

American eating trends

This picture sums up a lot of things so well.

In addition to a crippling oil addiction, the way (and amount, dear lord) Americans eat is just another one of our many faults as a society that may come back to bite us as worldwide inflation creeps up. Check out this interesting graphic from the NYTimes about how the way Americans eat has changed over the years (big shock - we eat more!). Thanks to Zaki for the link.

Also, here is another graphic for the fattest states in 2007. (Way to go Colorado!)

Ah yes, the geniuses working for government agencies (or, technically, government-sponsored enterprises)...

"If I had better foresight, maybe I could have improved things a little bit. But frankly, if I had perfect foresight, I would never have taken this job in the first place."

-RICHARD F. SYRON, Freddie Mac’s chief executive.

**from NYTimes

With apologies to my marketeering friends...

World's Worst Person Decides To Go Into Marketing

*from The Onion

Let's recap the mess we're in...

The big freeze: A year that shook faith in finance

*from the Financial Times


What has made this upheaval so shocking is not simply its scale and duration but the fact that almost all western policymakers and bankers were caught unawares. “If you had said a year ago that America could suffer a banking crisis on the scale of Japan, people would have laughed,” one former senior US regulator admits.