We Don't Need Your Fancy Regulations

It's short, so here is a whole post from David Kurtz on TPM:

A sampling of the agencies currently crippled by impasses between the White House and Senate over nominations:

Federal Elections Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Council of Economic Advisers
National Labor Relations Board
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

Just a coincidence that these are mostly regulatory agencies?

Always good to remember that the travesties of this administration have not been confined to the things we hear about everyday.

Another Explanation

From George Will's column in the Washington Post:

Certain kinds of conservatives, distrusting Richard Nixon's ideological elasticity, rejected him -- until 1973. Although it had become clear that his administration was a crime wave, they embraced him because the media were his tormentors. Today such conservatives, whose political compasses are controlled, albeit negatively, by the New York Times, have embraced John McCain. He, although no stickler about social niceties (see below), should thank the Times, for two reasons.

For some reason Will ignores the equally plausible explanation that "certain kinds of conservatives" don't take their candidates seriously until they prove they can be sufficiently corrupt.

Redevelopment

I am generally pretty skeptical of most of the TIF and 353 projects that get approved in the area. The TIF that was just approved to redevelop Hawthorn Plaza at 39th and Main gives me mixed feelings.

The corner is in my neighborhood, so I would love to see new projects going on. And this project is certainly a better fit for TIF than Briarcliff. On the other hand, there are 164 low-income apartments in the building today that surely have current residents. This will move those people away from public transportation they no doubt rely on. I'm not sure what can be done about that, but it would be nice if some of the TIF money could help with relocation. I'm sure that will happen.

Plus, someone is going to have to help move the porn store.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

From the underappreciated Val Kilmer movie, Top Secret, which was well aware of what it was.

Nick Rivers: Listen to me Hillary. I'm not the first guy who fell in love with a woman that he met at a restaurant who turned out to be the daughter of a kidnapped scientist only to lose her to her childhood lover who she last saw on a deserted island who then turned out fifteen years later to be the leader of the French underground.

Hillary Flammond: I know. It all sounds like some bad movie.

Funny Stuff

The cartoon above via The Monkey Cage.

Onion Report: Man With Hammer-Induced Thumb Injury Appeals To Christ Almighty.

Creatively Titled Econ Paper: "An-arrgh-chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization"

People Playing People

Previous reference to people playing people, in case you need to get up to speed are here and here.

In the biggest people playing people upset of all time, Cate Blanchett won neither Best Actress for playing Queen Elizabeth or Best Supporting Actress for Playing Bob Dylan. However, those playing the living were not shut out. Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for La Vie enRose.

The people playing people rule did rear its head in one other category. The makeup team from La Vie en Rose won for apparently making the quite striking Cotillard look like the bizarre Judith Piaf. Fine, but technically speaking, I can't see how that is more impressive than making Eddie Murphy look like an old Asian guy.

Dan's Oscar Contest

Internet savvy SOB that he is, Dan over at Gone Mild has developed an online Oscar picks contest. My votes are in. I'd encourage you to join in the fun.

Full House

If you find yourself laid off in the next couple of years, don't worry. It looks as though we might be able to employ about 1/4 of the population at casinos very soon.

How many casinos will it take before someone decides it is time to offer the $1.99 steak and eggs breakfast?

Friends

The National Review Online blog has a post by David Freddoso commenting on the McCain/lobbyist story. The line that caught my eye:

Meanwhile — Rush Limbaugh, tongue-in-cheek, suggests that the Times is deliberately rallying conservatives to McCain. As expected, his callers are suddenly finding themselves much more sympathetic to the Arizonan. His biggest "I-told-you-so" goes to McCain himself — essentially that these people in the media will never be your friends.

That is the thing with conservatives. They never seem to understand that the media is not supposed to be your friend. If they are, they aren't doing their jobs very well.

Comments

I just turned on word verification for comments. Sorry if this is an annoyance to any of you who comment, but I'd like to keep a lid on the spam that has appeared a couple of times already.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

Why not another Eddie Murphy movie? This one is from Trading Places.

Billy Ray: When I was growing up, if we wanted a Jacuzzi, we had to fart in the tub.

Obama Wins Again!

It now seems to be in fashion to predict an Obama backlash. I suppose it could happen, but it certainly doesn't look like it will happen before the primary is over. Tonight, he won Wisconsin for his 9th consecutive win.

My only hope is that if this continues, and Hillary Clinton loses, that by some miracle she will be treated with a little bit more respect than the hitsquad on the right has afforded her ever before. And I hope Obama can weather what they will begin to throw his way. For what it's worth, I think he can.

Upset

I wanted to share a couple of articles from this month's Harper's Magazine. Unfortunately, they have chosen to make all of their content unavailable online other than as full-page images. This irritates me although, I see their side of it. Trust me when I tell you there are some funny things in the Readings section this month, including a page out of a Catholic coloring book instructing children on the dangers of being alone in a room with one adult. No kidding. Hopefully, Harper's will reconsider their policy sometime in the future and I'll be able to share.

Jacked

The Star has a story about a possible escalation in carjackings. I say possible because they apparently don't keep reliable statistics on the matter, but the police believe carjackings are up. That is disconcerting sure, but the weird part is this:

More recently, police say, more criminals appear indifferent to the risk of being identified. Those arrested for armed carjackings are likely to face charges of first-degree robbery and, sometimes, assault or armed criminal action. Those crimes carry stiffer penalties than an auto theft or tampering charge carries. Carjackings, though, often have little in common with auto theft for profit.

Independence police recently arrested three suspects connected to a recent string of carjackings. In those cases, Bullard said, it appeared the robbers didn’t care much about the make, model or year of the victim’s vehicle.

“The primary focus seems to be excitement,” Bullard said. “The secondary focus seems to be what’s in the car — a purse, credit card, things like that.”

What's deal with this? Why would criminals suddenly be unconcerned with the profit of a particular carjacking? Is it harder to sell stolen cars these days? Is the metro turning into A Clockwork Orange?

NBA All-Star Game 2008

A few thoughts:

• A great game. Probably the best one since Iverson and Marbury carried the East to an improbably win in 2003.


• The national anthem and halftime show were a classy affair. First Petty and now this. Good taste is having its day in the sun.


• Unfortunately, animated graphics are also having their day. Tonight, there was a Mardi Gras character that was only mildly less annoying than the Fox football robot.


• Why were most of the West players wearing red socks?


• Yao and Tim Duncan are ill-suited to this type of game.


• Dwight Howard is incredible. I'm not sure if anyone that big has ever equalled his athleticism.


• I said during last year's all-star game that I would like to watch Howard and Stoudemire play against one another every day. The game tonight showed why once again. Stoudemire's drive and dunk on Howard was serious highlight stuff.


• It was good to see Chris Paul on TV for once. He may be the best point guard in the NBA right now, and he made a case tonight. He's one of those guys who is faster than everyone, but doesn't look like he is running that fast.
  
• Guarding Allen Iverson would be horrible. He attacks everytime he gets the ball. He primarily passes in these games, but he always test you with the dribble first.
  
• Kevin Garnett is even fun to watch on the bench. Dude is intense.
  
• It's always instructive to see who is on the floor at the end of games. The West had Duncan, Nowitzki, Paul, Stoudemire and Roy. The East had Lebron, Wade, Kidd, Howard, and Allen. In an all-star game much of that has to do with playing time, but you aren't out there if the coach doesn't think you give the team a pretty good shot to win.
  
• Awesome to see the Ray Allen of old.
  
• The NBA seems to be handing over the reins once again. Jordan, Bird, Magic, Malone, Stockton, Thomas, Ewing, Olajuwon, etc. handed over to Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Iverson, Nash, Kidd, etc. Now it looks like there might be close to critical mass for a next handover to Lebron, Wade, Anthony, Howard, Paul, Stoudemire, and likely some guys yet to be determined. That should be fun to watch.

You Really Can Write Anything You Want

Charles Krauthammer actually wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post that criticises Barack Obama's campaign for selling hope. No joke, he did. Here is the best line:

And now, in the most amazing trick of all, a silver-tongued freshman senator has found a way to sell hope. To get it, you need only give him your vote. Barack Obama is getting millions.

Krauthammer's preferred candidates are the ones whol sell fear. He makes no mention of why that is preferable.

80's Movie Quote of the Week

The non-compliment, compliment.

Jeffery: Todd is looking for you. He is really pissed. You know what he said? He said this is your worst f*ck up ever. Personally, I don't think that's true.

I Can't See

This is what happens when you let toddlers take the AP photos.

Yokelism

I spent some time in our state's cradle of power today. A surreal experience. I met with Democrats and Republicans and found most to be either truly thoughtful or quite effective at appearing to be truly thoughtful. Some were only half paying attention, but what I was speaking to them about was not the most exciting topic in the world. I (and those with me) did run into a couple of roadblocks. Those roadblocks are otherwise known as rural representatives.

I am a farmboy from a rural area, but the attitudes of those from places just like my own seem as foreign to me as Siberia. The inability or unwillingness of many rural people to consider the plight of those outside their world is astounding. I might refer to that particular political development as yokelism. The term is, of course, pejoritave. But I honestly cannot think of a better way to explain it.

There is a patent unfairness in my complaint because urban dwellers often have a similar ignorance of the problems faced by rural communities. All I can say is that right now the rural people are giving me far more headaches than the urban ones. This whole point could be made better if I could give specifics, but that isn't what this is about.

I mostly just needed to complain, even if doing so meant being a bit vague. Thanks for the indulgence.

p.s. Blogger's spell checker hasn't worked on my blog for about 3 weeks now. Anyone know why?

I'll Be Out of the Cave Until...

Dan Drezner posts a long excerpt from a Newsweek story about the problems Al Qaeda has faced in becoming a large organization. It's very interesting, but the final line is great:

"When they were in Afghanistan, al Qaeda really prided itself on its H.R.," says Hoffman. "It gave people annual leave and even a death benefits plan."

Yeah, but what they don't tell you is that you don't get death benefit until your one year probationary period is over and the strategic plan calls for new recruits to be sent on their first "assignment" within 6 months.