Monday, May 26, 2008

Philippe Starck on design


Chris posted last night a video from TED.com Absolutely fascinating site. It's simply populated with short speeches by great people. Some are good, others are outstanding. This one is French designer Philippe Starck. He's a hoot. I've never heard a worse French accent in English, it's absolutely precious. He's kind of funny too. His accent is reminding me of the time I met Jean-Paul Gaultier in Paris a few years back (Gaultier is the guy who, among other things, designed Madonna's pointy-boob outfit in the early 90s). He was sitting two tables away from me and my friends John and Shawn late one night during dinner at La Coupole, a very nice, old restaurant near Chris in Paris's apartment. Long story short, Gaultier was kind of (read: incessantly) checking us out, repeatedly, and it started to creep me out. I of course had no idea who he was. Anyway, it's a much longer story, but after the waiter informed me that it was "Monsieur Gaultier," Gaultier ended up inviting us over to his table for a few minutes to talk (unfortunately, this was pre era of cell phone cams). Very nice guy, and obviously really loves America. The rest of the story will have to wait for another night, it was quite funny. In the meantime, enjoy Starck.

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Obama picks up 6 delegates this weekend, Clinton only 1


And General Franco is still seriously, well, you get the idea. Read More......

Gay couples in CA may be able to marry as early as June 14


SJ Mercury News:
Same-sex couples in some counties will be able to marry as soon as Saturday, June 14, the president of the California's county clerks association said Monday....

The court's decisions typically take effect after 30 days, barring further legal action....

An effort, however, is under way to stay the Supreme Court's decision until voters can decide the issue with an initiative planned for the November ballot. The measure would overrule the justices' decision and amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage.

Justices have until the ruling's effective date to weigh the request, but could give themselves longer to consider it, attorneys have said.
Meanwhile, in Gambia, President Yahya Jammeh is talking about beheading every gay person in the country. Sounds to me like the lady Jammeh doth protest too much. Read More......

McCain and Bush taken to task for opposing GI Bill. They think it's "too generous" to our troops.


NYT Editorial:
President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it.

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break.

So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home....

Mr. Bush — and, to his great discredit, Senator John McCain — have argued against a better G.I. Bill, for the worst reasons. They would prefer that college benefits for service members remain just mediocre enough that people in uniform are more likely to stay put.
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So what's the real story with oil prices?


I've been reading up a lot on the oil price issue and what I'm finding is disturbing. There seems to be a lot of talk, if not consensus, that the surge in prices is pure supply and demand, and therefore there's little we can do about it (and little OPEC or anyone else can do about it, since, supposedly, they're pumping at near full capacity). Is anyone out there up on oil issues? I've heard all the talk about India and China, but am having a hard time believing that their economies have grown so much in the past year that oil prices have doubled (then again, I suppose it depends on the slope of the supply/demand curve?). I'd be curious who the recommended sources are on this, sources you can trust, sources little folk like us can understand, etc. Here are a few interesting (and accessible) articles I found on the topic: USA Today; TIME; WIRED. Read More......

How did Paul Krugman become such an apologist for the Clinton campaign?


Paul Krugman, economist, is so much better than Paul Krugman, Hillary apologist.

This idea that Hillary Clinton's supporters have hurt feelings and need to be coddled is really getting annoying:
[M]any grass-roots Clinton supporters feel that she has received unfair, even grotesque treatment. And the lingering bitterness from the primary campaign could cost Mr. Obama the White House.
Clinton lost. If she had stopped campaigning when that was clear, things would be different now. Everyone thought that was what happened two weeks ago. But, no. Team Clinton was back with a vengeance last week.

Obama headed to Florida to start healing wounds. Hillary went to Florida to rub salt in those wounds.

A Dkos diary has more:
This is analysis? People "feel that she has received unfair, even grotesque treatment." Well, Paul, are they right? Is that justified? And to the extent that they feel it, is it all Obama's fault, or might that have something to do with the way in which Hillary has campaigned, her and Bill's constant whining about unfair treatment (despite the huge advantages she started with), the non-stop attacks on Obama, week after week, by her and her colleagues that have had such a polarizing effect?

And all this leads to his conclusions. Unfortunately for Krugman he can't say that Obama should stop attacking Clinton, because Obama has NEVER attacked her, and certainly is not doing it now.
So, now we're at a point where some Clinton supporters might not vote for Obama. Their feelings are so hurt that they're willing to hand the Supreme Court to even more right wingers, insuring that Roe v. Wade is overturned and the next generation of women will lose rights. They're willing to keep the war in Iraq going and risk war with Iran, insuring that the next generation of soldiers will continue to face wars without end. (And, that'll probably mean a draft to sustain it.) Those are just two of the real world implications of a McCain presidency. The list goes on and on and on. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail -- and the onus is on Clinton herself to make sure they do.

This thing is almost over, thankfully. If those fricking superdelegates would just make up their minds, there would be no more Clinton campaign drama. And, despite what Krugman says, there should be no Clinton on the ticket as V.P. There is just too much drama, negativity and in-fighting swirling around the Clintons and the coterie. We've had enough of that.

I want the old Paul Krugman back. Read More......

One lie to rule them all


Condi on Bush calling Obama a Hitler appeaser:
"The president was using an historical point, which is that it's fine to talk to people, and that's not the problem," Rice said.
Clinton's communications chief Howard Wolfson on Hillary invoking Bobby Kennedy's assassination:
"She was talking about it in a historical context," he said on CBS.
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The GOP now has its own Nader spoiler: Bob Barr


The Libertarian Party has a presidential candidate:
The Libertarian Party on Sunday picked former Republican Rep. Bob Barr to be its presidential candidate after six rounds of balloting.

Barr beat research scientist Mary Ruwart, who also sought the party's presidential nomination unsuccessfully in 1983, on the final ballot. The vote was 324-276.

Barr endorsed Wayne Allyn Root, who was eliminated in the fifth round, to be his vice-presidential nominee.

Barr left the GOP in 2006 over what he called bloated spending and civil liberties intrusions by the Bush administration.

The former Georgia congressman said he's not in the race to be a spoiler.

"I'm a competitor and I'm in this to win. I do not view the role of the Libertarian Party to be a spoiler and I certainly have no intention of being a spoiler," Barr said.
Barr may say he's not a spoiler. But, Barr is a spoiler. Read More......

Monday Morning Open Thread


Good morning.

It's Memorial Day. We have many more men and women who gave their lives for their country to honor this year. Too many. And, we're in a war with no end in sight.

Meanwhile. George Bush and John McCain oppose the new G.I. bill for the soldiers who do make it back. That's just wrong.

The best way we can honor the troops is to end the endless war in Iraq -- and give them all the support they need when they get home. Why is that too much to ask? Read More......

Global credit crunch?


Not for everyone, at least. Especially not the people who created the problem. This is exactly what I've been saying for months. We bail out this bunch and then regular people - taxpayers - fund their goddamn lifestyle. Your retirement plan drops 20% or more? Tough luck for you. Their deliverables drop 20% and they have to re-think buying their new Ferrari for a month. Most people can accept that we had little choice but to keep the few remaining mega-banks rolling (thanks to bad policy changes in recent decades) but this is sickening. They cut a lot of people but the remaining bankers still are rolling in cash as if nothing ever happened despite hideous results. (As a side note, in the UK saying "City" is like saying "Wall Street" in the US.)
City workers have been awarded £13.2bn [$26.4bn] in bonuses so far this year, suggesting that the credit crunch has yet to be felt in the pockets of most bankers.

The figure is down a modest 1% on the same stage a year ago, when a little over £13.3bn in bonuses had been paid out. The bonus season begins in December, with the full picture only emerging when data for April is released.
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Underwater astonishments



Joelle and I stumbled upon TED.com that has a collection of great talks on any number of topics. I've come across a few surprises during my few years of diving so just loved this video. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and you will find something of interest or at least something that can trigger a fun debate. Read More......

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