Very good criticism, and not nearly as dirty as it sounds.
Larison On Sullivan On Klein On Roger CohenPost + Comments (10)
by Tim F| 10 Comments
This post is in: Media, War, Blogospheric Navel-Gazing
Very good criticism, and not nearly as dirty as it sounds.
Larison On Sullivan On Klein On Roger CohenPost + Comments (10)
This post is in: Open Threads
Last night, while trying to fall asleep, I was thinking of a list of things that when I hear someone say them/reference them/joke about them, I immediately know I am dealing with a geek (not that there is anything wrong with that). So far:
1.) “These aren’t the droids you are looking for.”
2.) All your base are belong to us.
3.) Han Shot First.
Let’s expand this list. Consider this an open thread.
by John Cole| 21 Comments
This post is in: War
Yes, please:
The U.S. military believes it has dealt devastating and perhaps irreversible blows to al-Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq.
Declare victory and GTFO. I support this plan completely. Hell, Tim predicted this strategy (I can’t find the link, but I remember him posting it. I do have this link to a commenter of ours making the prediction in 2005).
It works.
*** Update ***
Bonus factoid. Yesterday, the WaPo editorialized on better numbers in Iraq. Today, it reports the military’s opinion that AQI is destroyed.
Noticeably absent from the commentary from Greater Wingnuttia – accusations of liberal bias.
*** Update #2 ***
Apparently the commenters have filled me in on how it works. Basically, as such:
“If I disagree with or don’t like a story, then it is liberal media bias. If I agree with or like a story, then it’s so powerful that not even the liberally biased media can ignore it.”
*** Update ***
General pushing this claim appears to be a political hack.
by John Cole| 74 Comments
This post is in: Republican Stupidity, General Stupidity
There is a lot going on- some good (casualties are down in Iraq), some bad (pushing forward with the genocide measure), and some flat out wingnuttery. Since I have limited time, and won’t until tomorrow afternoon most likely (maybe even Tuesday or Wednesday), let us focus on the wingnuttery:
1.) Sadly, No! details how some on the right support the troops (hint: they call them liars!).
2.) Flopping Aces tries to dumb down the debate about torture with a new round of excuses. And given he cites Bill O’Reilly, it is our opinion he succeeded (in dumbing down the debate).
Consider this another open thread.
by John Cole| 25 Comments
This post is in: Previous Site Maintenance
Awesome pieces on CBS Sunday morning. My favorite was the one on Music’s Ending Power.
Discuss.
by Tim F| 15 Comments
This post is in: Excellent Links, War
If you don’t know about it, the annual TED talks program has a vaguely creepy Ayn Rand/Mensa club-of-supergeniuses vibe to it, but I have to admit that the eclectic speakers list includes some truly excellent talks. For example, this 2005 presentation by military strategist Thomas Barnett covers the same ground that us blogs have hashed over for years, yet somehow he packs in three four major ideas that hadn’t occurred to me before, or at least not as clearly. And it’s funny. Give it a listen and see whether you agree.
Also – Al Gore speaking in 2006. Guess the topic!
by Tim F| 6 Comments
This post is in: Science & Technology
Via Andrew Sullivan, new research shows that sparrows prefer classical music. This struck me as especially cool since my very first research experiment involved testing more or less the same question on goldfish. I still feel some pride recalling that middle school me figured out triplication and independent metrics (I measured the # of times they changed direction per minute and its response when you tap the bowl. panic meant that the fish was unhappy) without too much supervision.
Has anybody hashed out yet whether publishing a blog post counts as publishing per se? Sure, why not. So without further ado, published for the first time! The music preferences of domestic carp: Classical (Beethoven’s 9th) > 80’s pop (Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads) > classic rock (Start Me Up, Stones) > hard rock (Mr. Brownstone, GnR) > rap (Nightmare on my street, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith). The fish really didn’t like rap. Loudness was controlled by taping down the volume knob. You’ll have to imagine my pre-Excel bar graph.
The CV has already been updated.
Classical Music Surprisingly Popular With AnimalsPost + Comments (6)