February 2011
Anonymous funding of attack ads by veiled...
squashed:
… is (apparently) free speech and should not be restricted. Corporations are people too—and they can petition their government. But when public employees show up at the statehouse to petition their government in person, it’s “manufactured and uncivil unrest” or an attempt to subvert democracy.
I’m having trouble understanding the conservatives today.
“No one is against employees holding out for more money, but employers shouldn’t...”
– Jeff Miller, who brings a libertarian’s perspective to the Wisconsin’s budget negotiations.
Why not? The employees are forced to negotiate with the shareholders as a group represented by the unified voice of management. Public-sector workers are forced (by law) to negotiate with tax-payers...
“I have rule which I often forget. If one person is doing something much better,...”
– Dave Winer, in a footnote to this post about Keith Richards. (via ericmortensen)
The Man Who Nearly Broke The Internet →
theatlantic:
When the entire country of Egypt was forced offline by its government last month, it served as a global wake-up call that the Internet is a more fragile medium than we imagine it to be. What happened in Egypt was particularly striking, but other, subtler tests of the Internet’s resilience abound.
Turn your eye to the domain name system, for example. Commonly referred to as DNS,...
Where does Yemen sit in the Middle East domino...
darling80m:
Tom Finn, a journalist based in Sana’a:
Yemen, the poorest, youngest and most remote Middle Eastern country has received some, but not much, of the ongoing Al-Jazeera led media blitzkrieg. There has, quite rightly, been a degree of skepticism about comparing the impoverished Yemen to the likes of Egypt and Tunisia. For starters, the mobilized and well-connected middle-class...
“Social and political change is invariably turbulent, painful and unpredictable....”
– A Saudi Prince’s Plea for Reform - NYTimes.com (via evangotlib)
chriscantwell asked: That image and quote are from Donnie Darko, perhaps the greatest emo movie ever made.
“Descriptions and photographs from eyewitnesses showed those boarding flights...”
– Tripoli airport has an air of ‘Dante’s Inferno’ (via tedr)
“Yet it seldom makes sense to isolate large parts of the world permanently, no...”
– Qaddafi and his ilk: Blood and oil | The Economist
“I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what...”
– Madison, Wisconsin Police Chief Noble Wray (via ericmortensen)
“Some things are so stupid that only an intellectual will believe them.”
– George Orwell (via negevrockcity)
Stop cheering along the Yemeni revolution
jqadams:
Tunisia is ready. Egypt is ready. Morocco and Algeria are probably ready. Bahrain is ready. Libya is necessary. Yemen is not ready or necessary. Yemen has more in common with Afghanistan than with Egypt. It is tribal, it is already chaotic. The central government in Yemen is like the Afghan central government — disastrous but necessary.
“Don’t Mistake Activity For Productivity. False Urgency Is Even More Destructive...”
– The Startup Daily (via malcolmong)
Don’t mistake work for progress.
(via caterpillarcowboy)
Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators →
theatlantic:
This is like something right out of “The Manchurian Candidate”:
The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in “psychological operations” to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators.
The...
Spotify closer to Universal deal | Reuters →
joshuanguyen:
switchedblog:
Just launch already.
I got a chance to play around a bit when I was in Stockholm and OMG can’t wait until Spotify is in the US. Pleeeeaaase.
It’s totally fantastic.
“If I was an Arab dictator and a western politician shook me warmly by the hand,...”
– Simon Jenkins. Britain can push democracy or weapons – but not both (via feastingonroadkill)
I just bought something on eBay for the first time...
A citizen's guide to a 'government shutdown' →
theweekmagazine:
President Obama and Congressional Republicans are playing a high-stakes “game of chicken,” but if the parties can’t agree on a new federal spending plan by March 4, the government may very well shut down for the first time in 15 years. So, what exactly would that entail? We break it down for you here:
Without money to pay for them, federal services both large and small ...
“Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft, and the only one that...”
– Werner von Braun
As relayed by Peter Norvig (artificial intelligence legend) in his piece in the NY Post: The Machine Age. (via christmasgorilla)
