You deserve a break today.
Any suggestions on the best way to convert a .mkv file to .avi? Can Nero do this?
This post is in: Open Threads
You deserve a break today.
Any suggestions on the best way to convert a .mkv file to .avi? Can Nero do this?
by John Cole| 61 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Going Galt
First, a really good piece by Steve Chapman in Reason about the AZ law and the rhetorical games being played:
After signing the new law requiring police to check out people who may be illegal immigrants, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was asked how the cops are supposed to know when someone should be screened. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like.”
No kidding. But she has a lot of company in her ignorance. When I called University of Arizona law professor Marc Miller and told him I wasn’t sure what some of the law’s provisions mean, he replied, “Neither is anyone else on the planet.” We will find out what it means after it takes effect, not before.
The law says cops must inquire anytime “reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States.” Since most of the state’s illegal immigrants are Latinos, the natural impulse of police may be to interrogate every Latino with whom they cross paths.
And then, much to my surprise, some very sensible thoughts from Matt Welch:
The whole only-people-with-reason-to-fear argument, to put it mildly, has not been a historical friend of liberty. Nor is it usually accurate. If you are a legal resident immigrant from Mexico, you have plenty of “reason to complain” about this law, because now it’s more likely that you are going to be pulled over by an Arizona cop. And every transaction with a cop, especially if you are viewed as non-normal, is an opportunity for a negative outcome, from detainment to car impoundment (even if you’re never charged with a crime!) to something worse.
For those clinging to the fantasy that the law’s “may not solely consider race, color or national origin” provision will somehow prevent profiling of Mexican-looking people, three points: 1) Steve Chapman’s six likely infractions by every driver is a built-in workaround for that “may not solely.” When you have thousands of laws, it’s not hard finding one that justifies the profiling. 2) Even in jurisdictions that didn’t just pass new laws targeting illegal immigrants, when you lower the bar for “legal contact” you increase the likelihood of targeting minorities. In the police empowerment zone that is New York City, a “stop-and-frisk” policy that has averaged 1,260 legal contacts per day has been enforced thusly: “A disproportionate 84 percent of […] stops involved blacks or Hispanics; only 10 percent involved white people.”
Both are well worth a read, and for the first time in a long time, take an actual LIBERTARIAN stance and not that of corporate toady or Republican shill. And trust me, I’m as confused by this turn of events as anyone. I went to Reason to get my blood pressure up and came away saying “I could read a magazine that had stuff like that in it.”
Also- go sign the Change.org petition to the right about the Arizona legislation.
by John Cole| 21 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Politics
Democrats introduced some new legislation today:
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the bill would “shine a light on the flood of spending unleashed by the Citizens United decision.” The influential senator hopes to win passage of the bill by July 4, in time to curb any flow of corporate money into the 2010 midterm congressional elections. Sponsors have dubbed the bill the “Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act” – for “DISCLOSE.”
The bill would require the CEO or head of an organization that is the primary financial sponsor of a political ad to claim responsibility for the ad by appearing on camera. Corporations and advocacy groups would be required to create traceable campaign accounts and disclose within 24 hours the source of donations that exceed $1,000.
“I welcome the introduction of this strong bipartisan legislation to control the flood of special interest money into America’s elections,” President Obama said Thursday. “Powerful special interests and their lobbyists should not be able to drown out the voices of the American people.”
The bill also would ban expenditures by any corporation with at least 20% of its stock owned by foreign nationals, or if foreign nationals play a dominant role in the corporation’s leadership.
While it is a little amusing listening to Schumer talk about the disparate impact of powerful special interests a week after he bashed the administration’s Israel policy, these bills at first glance sound pretty good. Let ’em say whatever they want, but make ’em own it.
by John Cole| 52 Comments
This post is in: Military, War on Terror aka GSAVE®
I’m Henry the Eighth I am. Henry the Eighth I am, I am:
A Pentagon report presented a sobering new assessment Wednesday of the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, saying that its abilities are expanding and its operations are increasing in sophistication, despite recent major offensives by U.S. forces in the militants’ heartland.
The report, requested by Congress, portrays an insurgency with deep roots and broad reach, able to withstand repeated U.S. onslaughts and to reestablish its influence, while discrediting and undermining the country’s Western-backed government.
But the Pentagon said it remained optimistic that its counter-insurgency strategy, formed after an Obama administration review last year, and its effort to peel foot soldiers away from the Taliban will show success in months to come.
Second verse, same as the first. I’m Henry the Eighth I am. I’m Henry the Eighth I am, I am.
by DougJ| 193 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics, Good News For Conservatives
Some interesting political and demographic facts about the Arizona law….
Polls in Arizona:
There has been a great deal of movement along racial lines. In the September poll Goddard had a 3 point lead with white voters, but he now trails Brewer by 8. At the same time he’s increased his lead with Hispanic voters from 20 points to 46. There are a lot more white voters in the state than Hispanic ones so from a cynical, purely political perspective Brewer’s actions last week probably did her some good.
Demographics in Arizona:
Demographically, there is no doubt Latinos and other immigrant minorities are America’s future, and on this, Arizona stands on the front lines. Over the past two decades the state has seen its Latino population grow by 180 percent as its racial composition shifted from 72 to 58 percent white.
Yet there is an important demographic nuance to this growth—providing context to the white backlash in Arizona in ways that could play out else where. It is the fact that the state’s swift Hispanic growth has been concentrated in young adults and children, creating a “cultural generation gap” with largely white baby boomers and older populations, the same demographic that predominates in the recent Tea Party protests. A shorthand measure for this cultural generation gap in a state is the disparity between children and seniors in their white population shares. Arizona leads the nation on this gap at 40 (where 43 percent of its child population is white compared with 83 percent for seniors). But the states of Nevada, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Florida are not that far behind.
Where things are headed in other states:
Last week, Wonk Room reported on the involvement of the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) — the legal arm of a designated nativist-extremist hate group — in drafting Arizona’s controversial immigration law. IRLI lawyer Michael Hethmon boasted about being “approached by lawmakers from four other states who have asked for advice on how they can do the same thing.” In the aftermath of the passage of Arizona’s law, many states and localities across the country are in fact in the middle of or about to embark on copy cat pieces of legislation.
(the post goes on to list ten states where similar legislation is being considered)
Federal legislation is probably the only way to head this off. On the other hand, Republicans will probably filibuster any bill. I think that, for now, they can sustain it if they want to: the emerging Village narrative is that Obama is being a meanie who hurt president Graham’s fee-fees by bringing up the issue and the push-back from the far right against conservatives who don’t like the Arizona law has been ferocious.
“Secure the border first” seems the most likely position for Republicans here and it’s probably viable, if not brilliant, politically, at least for the time being.
But I wonder how long they want to sustain the damage of Republican legislatures alienating Latinos with crazy legislation. Another four or five years of this could be catastrophic to Republican long-term prospects, even if the short-term politics aren’t bad for Republicans. There will be no way they can compete in places like Arizona and Texas in ten years if this keeps up.
Would the right strategy be to rip off the band-aid now by going along with federal immigration reform legislation?
by DougJ| 82 Comments
This post is in: General Stupidity, Good News For Conservatives
I couldn’t agree more with mistermix’s post on the “decency” of Laura Bush. I haven’t read Laura Bush’s book and I don’t plan to but it sure sounds like it’s chock full of standard political bullshit:
There are a few crumbs of political interest strewn along the way: The usually charitable Mrs. Bush chastises the Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for their “nasty personal criticisms of George,” and she writes that she has often wondered if Jacques Chirac of France or Gerhard Schröder of Germany “could have done more” to prevent the Iraq war, “if one of them could have persuaded Saddam to go into exile, if they could have conveyed that the United States was not bluffing.”
For the most part, however, the White House portions of this book feel carefully prepared and vetted: Mrs. Bush lays out a predictable defense of her husband’s decision to invade Iraq and his decision not to visit New Orleans in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, and she offers only the blandest portraits of administration figures like Dick Cheney, Donald H. Rumsfeld and Karl Rove. In these chapters there is no daylight between Laura Bush and her highly groomed role as first lady.
It’s hard to measure the political value of snookering rubes (EDIT: sorry, I’ve been reading DailyHowler again) with the “decency” shtick, but Mark Halperin counted the continuing popularity of Laura Bush as one of the five biggest political achievements of our era, so there’s a full-fledged Village meme that it did have value. I think “achievement” is the right word here — we’re talking about a manufactured image designed to take in the gullible and childish.
Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?Post + Comments (82)
This post is in: General Stupidity
So my gutters need to be cleaned, because they are horribly clogged to the point that when it rains, it pours over the side and has started to dig a little hole in the ground from the waterfall that has been created. In addition to that, I am worried the constant water will damage the wood. So, little homemaker that I am, I decided to clean the gutters.
The front was no problem- just climbed up on the ladder, scooped it our, and then hosed everything down with a hose I carried up. The backside, though, is much higher, and the ladder would not reach and it was too high to climb without anyone holding it. I then got the brilliant idea to go to the shortest side of the house, use the ladder to climb onto the roof, and clean the tall side of the house while standing on the roof.
Oh, yeah. I’m terrified of heights. Unbelievably afraid of heights. I made it about ten minutes into the movie Cliffhanger before I had to stop because my feet were sweating. So we basically had a battle between my desire to clean the gutters and my fear of heights. Cleanliness won.
So after spending a half hour on my stomache on the roof scooping leaves, soot, bird shit, and who knows what else, the entire time breathing in and out with the mantra “control your fears, control your fears, control your fears,” I was finally done and it was time to climb down.
As I was adjusting the ladder, one of the latches came loose and then the entire ladder fell to the ground. I then spent the next half hour, stranded on my roof, waiting for someone to walk by. Finally, Mrs. Mitchell walked by and was able to get my phone out of my car and throw it to me so I could call my mom to send dad up to get the god damned ladder. Her response was to break out into hysterics.
I swear my entire life is like a 40 year Darwin awards ceremony. I’m paying someone next time.