Month: September 2005

Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice

The translation of the Latin is from St Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren,and means “If you seek his monument, look around you.” Apologies to Wren, but that’s how I see the task of progressives now and going forward: remind anyone and everyone that the mess we see on the news, in the papers, and all around us is the product of the administration, perhaps the least competent, yet most venal, in US history.
This piece on the truthful triangle is interesting. We caught a glimpse of an unleashed media in the wake of Katrina, as the facts came in faster than they could be spun, as journalists were so caught up in telling the stories they were seeing. It didn’t last but the fact it occurred gives me hope it could happen again.

Salon.com – Daou Report:

Setting aside 2006 congressional prospects and the remote hope for progressives that Bush will be impeached, the grand political battle of the next three years is over Bush’s legacy.

For rightwing bloggers who have fiercely defended one of the most controversial and polarizing presidents in our history, their fortunes will rise or fall with his approval ratings. The blind allegiance to Bush and the furious assault on his detractors will be vindicated if he leaves office with popular support.

Rightwing bloggers will thus do everything in their power to prevent another Katrina triangle, where the confluence of blogs, media, and Democratic leadership exposes the real Bush and shatters the conventional wisdom about his ability to lead. And they will struggle mightily to boost his poll numbers, whether it means ignoring the reality of the Iraq fiasco or the terrifying implications of the bungled federal response to Katrina.

For progressive bloggers who see a president presiding over the collapse of America’s credibility, the urgent work ahead is to cement the post-Katrina impression of Bush as a failed president. Whether or not they succeed depends to a large extent on their ability to compel the media and Democratic establishment to stand with them and speak the truth.

Continue reading “Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice”

grinding the ax

John Gilmore explains why sterophiles who buy DRM are suckers:

Cory Doctorow: A reader writes, “In response to ZDNet blogger Dave Berlind’s DRM nightmare blog post about why his $20,000 worth of audiophile gear can’t play the 99-cent songs he’s buying, EFF founder John Gilmore sent an e-mail that says the nightmare won’t stop until all of us to come to our senses and stop buying DRM-encumbered content.

So yeah, the guy is a doofus to play a 99¢ song on his $20,000 audiophile system and expect much. Hello, these are 128k compressed versions of CD quality audio. Others have posted that Apple should also sell lossless or at least very-high quality versions of their wares for those who want them (anyone think the 128k standard wasn’t part of the deal Steve Jobs had to strike with the RIAA cartel?): if they did, I could see someone incorporating the iPod or iTMS tracks into an audiophile rig.

I see the issues with DRM here, certainly, but enough people are finding ways around that (hymn or the the CD passthrough method) to make that a distraction in this case. At the end of the day, someone who’s OK with lossy recordings can’t expect too much. The iPod and iTMS combination wasn’t intended for serious home listeners, the kind who unplug their refrigerator to avoid missing anything. While I am sympathetic to the hassle faced by someone in this position, the milk of human kindness curdles when I remember, this should not have been a surprise.

hit ’em where it counts

An idea that has come ten years late
Featured advertisers: MicroTel and Select Comfort Bedding. Adnausea

So how do they sleep at night, if they know they are sponsoring this crap?

If the ad revenue dries up for these shout shows, they’ll be gone: the media companies aren’t in the business of supporting hours of talk that don’t cover their costs.

If you do business with these companies but disagree with the viewpoints they endorse with their ad dollars, tear them out of your Rolodex and if you feel like it, write them a note and tell them why.

great minds?

The Washington Monthly:

And should we index the minimum wage to inflation? Of course. But I’ll renew an even better idea I proposed a year ago: index it to congressional salaries. Assuming a normal 2000-hour work year, congressmen make about $75/hour right now. How about simply making the minimum wage equal to 10% of that? Congress can then increase their own salaries anytime they want, but only if they’re willing to help out the working poor at the same time. Seems fair to me.

Hmm, I never saw Kevin’s idea, but it’s interesting how similar — identical? — they are in the details. Looks like I came up with mine after his but never saw it.

The comments to Kevin’s post are interesting.

I’ll never look at Nutella the same way again

The Editors on Judge Roberts likely confirmation:

Turd sandwich:

Translation: Judge Roberts’ sandwich will come on a clean plate, on nice fresh white bread. The Democrats claim there is a big turd inside, but Judge Roberts has given no indication one way or the other what his sandwich contains, so any suggestion that it may be a turd is the worst kind of gutter politics and smear-mongering. If the Democrats are so certain it is a turd, why can they tell us nothing about it? They don’t know how old it is, what consistancy it is, or even what animal or animals it came from – if they lack even these basic facts, how can they claim to know that there is any turd there at all?

Also, the White House stands 100% behind its claim that the sandwich that came with the Iraq War Resolution contained only Nutella and raisins, and that any dissatisfaction with the sandwich were the result of a bad taste in your mouth left over from the Clinton administration.


Thanks, I’m not very hungry now.

Technorati Tags: