Historic Moment

Hillary Clinton issues Statement on Google Operations in China:

We have been briefed by Google on these allegations, which raise very serious concerns and questions. We look to the Chinese government for an explanation. The ability to operate with confidence in cyberspace is critical in a modern society and economy. I will be giving an address next week on the centrality of internet freedom in the 21st century, and we will have further comment on this matter as the facts become clear.

On Behalf Of Al-Qaeda

Eric Martin on the underwear bomber:

If the attack were a success, I'm not suggesting that fact should be suppressed - and some form of initial emotional overreaction is understandable, even if counterproductive in the end.  But in the present case, it's as if some people were bending over backwards to try to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat...on behalf of al-Qaeda.

Exclamation Point

Ta-Nehisi Coates on Harry Reid:

I think you can grant that, in this era, the term "Negro dialect" is racially insensitive and embarrassing. That said, the fair-mind listener understands the argument--Barack Obama's complexion and his ability to code-switch is an asset. You can quibble about the "light skin" part, but forget running for president, code-switching is the standard M.O. for any African American with middle class aspirations.

But there's no such defense for Trent Lott. Lott celebrated apartheid Mississippi's support of Strom Thurmond, and then said that had Thurmond won, "we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years.'' Strom Thurmond run for president, specifically because he opposed Harry Truman's efforts at integration. This is not mere conjecture--nearly half of Thurmond's platform was dedicated to preserving segregation. The Dixiecrat slogan was "Segregation Forever!" (Exclamation point, theirs.) Trent Lott's wasn't forced to resign because he said something "racially insensitive." He was forced to resign because he offered tacit endorsement of white supremacy--frequently.

Play Attention

I find this fascinating and a little bit terrifying:

LONDON - A new software that will help reduce hyperactivity among kids is slated for release this month.

Karen Pine, professor of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, examined the effects of EEG (electroencephalography) biofeedback, a learning strategy that detects brain waves, on children with an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

They used a system called Play Attention, supplied by not-for-profit community interest company, Games for Life, three times a week for 12 weeks.

The system involves the child playing a fun educational computer game while wearing a helmet similar to a bicycle helmet. It picks up their brain activity in the form of EEG waves related to attention.

As long as the child concentrates, they control the games, but as soon as their attention wavers the game stops.

They Killed Britty!

These people are too much:

During the Roman Empire's secularist era those who acknowledged the deity of Christ were frequently fed to the lions to entertain — for lack of a better word — the "progressive" elites of the day.

Really, just too much.

This is the start of an article called The crucifixion of Brit Hume.

Tsutomu

J. Thomas Duffy:

Here's hoping Tsutomu Yamaguchi has the absolute best, most tremendous, most peacefully satisfying afterlife ... Ever!

Deal With

Happy 2010!

And here's DougJ from the other day, before Erick actually appeared on Colbert:

This probably just goes to prove that I’m a lily-livered liberal, but I feel genuinely sorry for Republicans that they have to deal with Erick Erickson. Imagine devoting your life to a political party and then finding out all your candidates were kow-towing to such an idiot.

Straight Opposition

Josh Marshall:

But it's worth noting once again that the Republican opposition on this whole issue [health care reform] is a sham. It is simply a vote for the status quo. And a bet that straight opposition can lead them back to power.

The Heritage Foundation provides the latest stupid wingnut example of Headlines-Where-The-Answer-Is-No:

Could the Senate Bill Eliminate Private Insurance?

Darth Vader Opens Wall Street

Divine.

Do In

Yeah, that's right, Erick Erickson, this health care reform will "do in the Republic."

You're so heroic!

Leadership

P122009PS-0001, originally uploaded by The White House.

This is how you show leadership for a scientific future.

NYC

I use a webcam viewer in Dashboard on OSX called Slothcam, and one of my favorite is this shot from a site called Wired New York. Not sure who owns this, but I've added it into Slothcam as a custom url.

Add it yourself at:
http://wirednewyork.com/webcam/new-york-live.jpg

Grow

Thers addresses Erick Erickson:

This is a four Leprechaun post, I believe. With a Toilet-Fishing Gnome to grow on!

Every Single Victory

Booman:

Update [2009-12-21 1:23:56 by BooMan]: Senate invokes cloture on Reid's manager's amendment by a 60-40 vote. I will remind you that we needed every single victory from 2006 and 2008 to achieve this. We needed Tester and Webb and McCaskill and Whitehouse and Klobuchar and Franken and Begich and Merkley and Sanders and the two Udalls and Brown and Cardin and Hagan and Casey and Hagan and Shaheen and Warner. We needed to seat Bennet and Burris and Gillibrand. We needed to replace Kennedy with Kirk. With had to flip Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party. If we lost any single one of those battles, health care reform would be dead. Instead, it lives. And you have yourselves to thank for that. Your activism made the difference.

My emphasis.

Strange

Even CNN is parroting this inanity:

Copenhagen (CNN) – In a strange twist, a Washington snowstorm is forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to make an early departure from a global warming summit here in Denmark.

If you know what the phrase "global warming" means, which you should if you are writing about it for a news organization, you would find nothing strange about the existence of snow on the Earth. More specifically: unusual weather.

Unsurprisingly, by including not educational details about what the phrase "global warming" means, CNN leaves the door open for insanity in its commentary. Endless ignorance that should have been headed off in the article.

Dennis
How's that for irony?

[...]



J.P.
Yep, must be more of that "manmade global warming" I've been hearing so much about. See, global warming doesn't actually make things warmer, it makes them colder and snowier. Err... uhhh... Okaaaaay...

Sort of like how "up" makes things go "down" and "in" actually makes things go "out."

If you give a monkey a brain, he'll swear he's the center of the universe...
and can change the weather...
accidentally...
by driving an SUV.

2010 simply can't get here fast enough.

[...]

Henry Miller, Libertarian
Oh, yeah, just watch those temperatures climb through the roof! Global warming sure is coming!

Not.

Thankfully, there are some smart voices on the page, too.

Lucasinaustin
For the love of.... Its not a "strange twist.." This feigned confusion over how it can be cold (In December!!!!) if Global Warming exists is just absolutely ridiculous. You're talking a few degrees which has a significant impact on the global ecosystem, but no one is suggesting that Global Warming is going to make cold weather disappear.. everywhere... forever...
Also, Global Warming can even (I'm going to blow your minds here) make certain areas COLDER.. Yes... even though its called Global WARMING. Who would of thought.. you can't learn everything about a scientific theory by simply... reading the word and inferring a meaning. And before you jump on "theory" that probably doesn't mean what you think it means either..

[..]

Dan
"In a strange twist"!? When are people going to realize "Global Warming" isn't just about warming? It means more extreme winters and summers, with shorter springs and falls. So with the reality of global warming upon us, there is absolutely nothing strange about a snow storm in DC this time of year. Do some research Ed. Or go get a job with FOX. They love rubes like you.

Stink Bombs

Booman:

Do you get the feeling that if all else fails to kill the health care reform bill the Republicans will start pulling the fire alarms and phoning in bomb threats? Maybe Sam Brownback will throw a stink-bomb.

Firm Hand

Brad at Sadly, No:

We’ve now reached the point where Joe Scarborough is more willing to take a tough line on Lieberman than the vice president of the United States.

"Better" Part 2

Hot on the heels of FOX News asking

Lowering the Minimum Wage: Is It Better For Workers?

comes this helpful contribution for good-faith discussions of Health Care Reform:

Is it Always Better to Have Health Insurance?

The Way It Is, By Dick

Richard Cohen says that the reason there are less women in power in business is because they'd prefer to be raising children:

But it could be that the urge to get closer to cocktail waitresses and denizens of dimly lit hotel lounges is in some way linked to the drive to conquer, to prevail — to succeed. It could explain why all this time into the Age of Feminism, years after women were liberated, women make up less than 20 percent of Congress and only 3 percent of those top CEOs.

The reason the Glass Ceiling has not broken is that women have other priorities — maintaining relationships and being a mother. This is the way it is, and this is the way it has always been. As any of Tiger Woods’s cocktail waitresses could tell him, Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

N’est ce pas?

Ewww.

Update: More from Melissa at Shakesville.

Did I Seriously Just Read This at the Washington Post?

[...]

The unmitigated temerity of claiming women have been "liberated" from their oppression in the same column as he concludes that women have no drive to succeed because they want to be mothers is absolutely breathtaking. He literally repeats the same diminishing, marginalizing stereotypes about women against which feminists were fighting decades ago, only to conclude it must be biological destiny that women aren't more successful.