Paris Blogging

Blogger tends to, unfortunately, dumb down photos after it uploads them, to make them easier to load online. But still, this way you can at least click on the photos and see larger, albeit lower resolution, version of my originals.

These are a few panoramas I took in the past few days in Paris. First up, the Louvre, taken from the 2nd floor of the museum earlier today. You'll note the IM Pei pyramid on the left, and the infinitesimally small people in the foreground. The Louvre really is a great museum, and unlike places like the Vatican Museum, I find everything so well chosen that each room really teaches you something, if you take the time and read the little cheat sheet they have in each room, etc. Oh, and it's free the first Sunday of the Monday, and open Wed and Fri evenings, at least in the summer. I'm going to try to try an evening later this week.



This is a close-up view of the IM Pei pyramid in the center of the Louvre's main courtyard. On the right, under the columns, is a gorgeous little cafe, that I plan to be sitting at around 5pm on Monday drinking a ridiculously expensive cup of coffee. The euro really is killing the joy of going to Europe. It's finally gotten too expensive. Thankfully, I'm staying at Chris's and Joelle's place, and don't eat out much, otherwise it's just too much. A combo platter at a Lebanese restaurant the other night, almost $26 a person, just for the platter. A Starbucks frappuccino today (hey, I needed a cold coffee), 7 bucks. Ben & Jerry's, which I refused to buy, also almost 8 bucks for that same little container they sell back at home. And yes, even the French food is prohibitively expensive for us now - my pizza the other night was great, but 20+ bucks for a pizza?



This is the main lobby inside the Louvre, just underneath the pyramid in the photos above. It's simply beautifully designed.



And finally, totally unrelated, is the sun setting behind the Tour Saint Jacques, which is finally free of its scaffolding. This shot was taken right in front of the BHV, for those in the know. :-)



I've been bad about posting my photos lately, so I'll try to post more in the coming days right before heading to bed. Back in 2 weeks, then Joe and Chris and I are all three heading to the Democratic Convention. Read the rest of this post...

Fannie Mae's 2nd-quarter losses triple what was expected

As Chris has written many a time, tell me again how this crisis is now over? Read the rest of this post...

Everything you need to know about offshore drilling in one minute 12 seconds

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Salon: New evidence suggests Ron Suskind is right

Joe Conason at Salon looks into Ron Suskind's story that Bush had the CIA fake evidence to retroactively justify the US invasion of Iraq. I ignored this story at first, worrying that it was another kooky conspiracy story, but if Joe Conason says it looks credible, then I would tend to believe Joe. Check it out for yourself - Joe digests the story nicely in only one page. Read the rest of this post...

TIME's Joe Klein on McCain's adultery

Unfortunately, I think Klein got confused. The adultery in question is not McCain and Vickey Iseman - or at least it's not entirely the speculation over that possible relationship. The adultery in question is the actual adultery that John McCain has basically admitted he committed with Cindy while still married to his first wife. That is not adultery that was denied by McCain or Cindy, to the best of my knowledge.

From TIME's blog Swampland:

Commenter Ralph wants to know:

Why is Edwards's adultery a problem for Obama, while McCain's adultery is not a problem for McCain?

The answer is: Edwards' adultery is not a problem for Obama any more than Larry Craig's importunings should be a problem for McCain. As for McCain's alleged adultery--it's been denied by both parties and I really don't care about the Senator's sex life. I do care about the fact that he is running a campaign filled with lies about his opponent's positions, a campaign that is conducted in a snarky, subversive tone that is entirely inappropriate to American politics. I wish my colleagues would spend more time talking about what a disservice McCain is doing the country and less time "analyzing" why McCain has to tear down Obama in order to win. (If tearing down Obama is the only way he can win--and this should be obvious, but apparently it isn't--McCain doesn't deserve to win.)

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House GOP Leader Boehner on Nancy Pelosi: "The American people are gonna hang her”

Classy guy, that John Boehner. When he's not golfing, he's talking about hanging the Speaker of the U.S. House if the Republicans don't get their way.

Think Progress has the details. Sounds like Boehner is actually condoning the idea. In case the GOP leader doesn't know, there are actually federal laws against that. Read the rest of this post...

John Edwards mentions John McCain's adulterous affair

Get ready for the media to suddenly discover that reporting on adultery is ugly and inappropriate, now that Saint McCain's adulterous affair with Cindy has been mentioned by a national political figure. I can't wait for all the false outrage. This will be a lesson in how noise machines actually work - first the GOP will go crazy in order to ensure that no one talks about how McCain and Cindy cheated on his first wife, then the media will join in and tut-tut about how sad it is that anyone would attack McCain, blah blah. Get ready for it.

The flip side is that the media may decide not to mention this at all. Sure, it's on Ben Smith's blog, but what are the networks and the newspapers to do now that part of Edwards' defense is John and Cindy McCain's own adulterous affair? How does the media avoid writing about McCain's adultery now that they're all certainly writing about Edwards'? Oh, just watch them. And big surprise, the big AP story is in and... no mention of John McCain's adulterous affair even though Edwards having invoked McCain now makes this news. Nothing on CNN either. Do me a favor, keep searching the news all day and let me know what networks, and what written media, do and don't mention John McCain having cheated on his first wife, and the fact that Edwards invoked McCain's affairs. Read the rest of this post...

Saturday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The National Poetry Slam is happening this weekend. Who knew? The poet at the poem of the week blog has several links to slam poetry, which "occupies a middle ground between traditional poetry and rap, and your ability as a performer is at least as important as your ability as a poet." Check out the sites. Very cutting edge.

I'm still in a bit of awe over that opening ceremony last night. The Chinese organizers put on quite the show for the world. It really evoked China's power. George and Laura looked like they were having a great time waving those little American flags.

Watching the Olympics meant I didn't watch Edwards on Nightline. Anyone see it?

What else? Read the rest of this post...