Ken Miller, the great pop evolutionist! (or please god, could Americans start understanding evolution and science generally for that matter...)

2:04 PM 

Manny: http://pandagon.net/index.php/site/youre_not_fooling_anyone_with_this_stunt_banana_man/#When:14:05:00Z

me: That's funny, I just saw Brown professor and pop culture scientist, Ken Miller speak here about the dover case.

  His basic argument is that scientists need to make science popular and cool

9 minutes

2:13 PM me: He did talk about this preface and said it was preposterous

2:16 PM Manny: I like Ken Miller

  "I like you fine, I just think you're deluded and sad."

  I think that was the quote

2:17 PM Ken Miller, to evolutionist, on Nightline

 me: yup

  he's the man

Acorn is Evil? Are they kidding?

2:21 PM Manny:

2:24 PM http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1004047850

2:28 PM me: How can that even be a question. we all know acorn was set up

2:30 PM Manny: its insane how you can just pick a group, say theyre evil, and as long as its liberal evil, the media says sweet

  nobody ever gets fired for being too republican

2:31 PM at least, not in media

  being a crazy conspiracy theorist who thinks the president is a racist, terrorist manchurian candidate attempting to install communism -- totally ok

  see: Dobbs, Luo

2:33 PM me: yes, but being a crazy conspiracy theorist who thinks that the people who got us into war are profiting from it and were motivated by this profit...un-american

 Manny: a firable offense, in fact

2:34 PM me: well, obviously, it can't be tolerated.

Scary scary people are running our country

9:51 AM me: Do you know about the evil senators in their god house who support the execution of gays in Africa?

 Manny: yes

9:52 AM me: I'm so proud to be an American! in this country we execute blacks and we get other countries to execute gays. Now all we need to do is swap our gays for Africa's blacks and the Aryans win the day!

9:53 AM Have you read anything good about them, btw, I only heard the tale end of the scariest radio story ever

9:57 AM Manny: what's it called again? Promise House or something?

 me: that sounds about right. The scary place where anti-democratic god warriors support evil regimes all over the world and attack the rights of citizens at home...

9:59 AM no wonder we can't get decent health care, our leaders have to put their energy into figuring out how to topple stable dictators in places like sumalia so that god can enforce his own laws ther10:03 AM Manny: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fellowship_%28Christian_organization%29

10:26 AM me: nice. terryfing

 Manny: yes, you can't make this crap up

10:27 AM It's important to remember that your average congressperson from, say, tennessee, is a giant flaming asshole who is just slightly sharper than the used car salesmen who make up the big shots in his home parish

10:28 AM or slightly more vicious/devious

23 minutes

10:51 AM me: yeah, but senators

  ?

43 minutes

11:34 AM Manny: Some of those senators rep fewer people than the congressmen

  See; wyoming

 

Bush, Palin, and imaginary news

3:49 PM Manny:This is a true thought:

  "The press corps that is bashing her skull in right now is the same one that hyped that WMD horseshit for like four solid years and pom-pommed America to war with Iraq over the screeching objections of the entire planet. It’s the same press corps that rolled out the red carpet for someone very nearly as abjectly stupid as Sarah Palin to win not one but two terms in the White House. If there was any kind of consensus support for Palin inside the beltway, the criticism of her, bet on it, would be almost totally confined to chortling east coast smartasses like me and Glenn Greenwald and Andrew Sullivan."

3:51 PM 

23 minute

me:

4:18 PM am I very confused? never has a person gotten so much from the media for so little than has sarah palin.

  She ought to be the biggest fan of the media in the world

  their machine is just playing her along

4:21 PM also, this article you sent me is amazing: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/20/national/20DEMS.html

  and exactly the problem

4:22 PM in ten years, will we have to read the same about sarah palin?

  Can the nation get any dumber?

  Well, golly, Kenneth the page should run for office!

8 minutes

4:31 PM Manny: that article is awesome in so many ways

 me: truly

4:32 PM it's almost a work of tragically ironic art

5 minutes

4:37 PM Manny: like, it says democrats are happy bush won, without naming ANY

  it uses a quote from one guy to justify that argument, even though the guy doesn't say ANYTHING LIKE what the article does

4:38 PM It fires random potshots at feminine, losery democrats, who want to hug

  it gives masculine, powerful imagery to republican daddys like rumsfeld

4:39 PM me: it's basically the porn fantasy that the entire industry entered into the moment the towers came down

  and really, 15 years before that

4:40 PM Manny: and it's a total lie

4:41 PM the article is just fiction

  there's no gore backer in there who's happy bush won

4:42 PM there's crazy anonymous sources... pushing unknown agendas...

4:44 PM me: well, if you don't use imaginary sources, how can you make sure people say what you want?

 

Come on left, we can do it! Let's roll back to clock on women's lib!

1:13 PM me: Dude, I think it's so awesome how when you have a "liberal" majority in both houses and a dem in the white house you can just roll back women's rights fifty or sixty years! Go LEFT! We rock!

34 minutes

1:47 PM Manny: those babes don't know what hit em

  ladies, look out. Stupak the Stud is going to Rock Your World.

5 minutes

1:53 PM me: lol. what?

 Manny: Stupak

  that's his ammendment

1:54 PM http://www.house.gov/stupak/

  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/66969-senior-dem-confident-stupak-amendment-will-be-stripped

 me: ah, I'm clearly behind

  uniformed, actually

1:55 PM too angry to be informed right now

Argh! Screw you Andrew Sullivan!

2:12 PM Manny: Andrew Sullivan today:

  http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/ft-hood-as-terrorism.html

  "This is the reality that still haunts me with respect to 9/11. We assume that we have understood that event by now. And I once thought I did. It was a declaration of war and we had to fight back. We went to Afghanistan and removed the Taliban regime; we went to Iraq to prevent al Qaeda getting WMDs and to open up a democratic space where Islamism would falter. I supported both responses." I worry now, as we peer through the wreckage, that we were simply trying to make our enemy a conventional one, so that we could defeat them by conventional means."

   ummmm, who's we, white man?

2:14 PM me: I'M SAYING!!!!!

  Are you joking?

2:15 PM Only a fool or moron would have thought the iraq war a good thing or thought it had anything to do with al quaeda

 Manny: There's a lot of folks trying to say this waaay back then, but I believe he called us "objectively pro-Sadaam"

2:16 PM me: ha ha ha ha

2:17 PM Manny: or as Richard Cohen put it (so wise): "anyone who doesn't want to go to war in Iraq is either crazy or stupid."

2:18 PM me: ah yes. They were so right.

sorkin - a travashamockery?

12:58 PM Manny: Here's an overly-nice article about the biggest douche in journalism:

  http://nymag.com/news/media/61870/

me:   so dude, you sent me that piece yesterday, which I didn't have time to read

1:01 PM this morning, on npr, I heard the biggest puff piece about sorkin and how he's the confidant and priest to all the highest rollers and how everyone loves him and he's so smart and the rest of the nyt is jealous of him.

 Manny: yes

  exactly

 me: then, I noticed you had sent me that article

 Manny: The article misses many things

1:02 PM Like how he said on CNBC that there are no successful unionized companies

  that's what's made him so popular with Jamie Dimon

  I personally hate that MFer

  I think he's clever, and I respect what he's done on the interwebs, but he's a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad journalist

1:03 PM If by journalist, you mean someone who reports what people in power DONT want in the paper

  Also, he's a prick

1:04 PM me: wait, you mean, he is bad because he only reports what the rich and powerful do want in the paper?

  well there you have it

1:05 PM Manny: All I know is, dude writes a book on the financial crisis, and all the people responsible for the financial crisis show up at his launch party

  must be quite a book

  or, a total sham

11 minutes

1:16 PM me: lol

What you gonna do NPR ombud? What!?

11:42 AM me: so this morning on NPR the comentator, not sure who, was like, "our ombudsman recently spoke out about this Pox issue, and for the record, who do we think Grouch News Network is supposed to be making fun of?"

11:43 AM 

Manny: wait, someone on NPR owned up to the fact that Fox doesn't deserve special protection?

 me: yes!

 Manny: I bet the ombudsman has something to say about THAT

11:45 AM me: it was a shot across the ombudsing bow

 Manny: "Fox, of course, as the only voice for and source of power for white males in the history of the world, deserves every consideration. Plus, they're so nice and respectful and protective of US."

 me: it's true, they're such a victim!

 Manny: NPR's ombudsman ought to have jobs at the ministry of thought

11:46 AM me: from they're they can shrink our words down to nothingness

 Manny: down the memory hole!

  In other news, they've increased the chocolate ration

 me: ha ha ha

Why would you ask a republican strategist?

1:17 PM Manny: I heard a story on npr this am that discussed election polling with three republicans and no dems

  Guess what?

  Things look great for rethugs

  Terrible for Dems

15 minutes

1:33 PM me: I heard the same thing this morning and yesterday afternoon

  It's just a terrible time for democrats

1:35 PM this morning one of the repub stooges actually said "it's looking great for us this year because the president's approval ratings are so low."

  The president's approval rating as of today on gallup: 52%

 Manny: i heard that!

  Popularity of repub party: 20 percent

1:37 PM me: Dude, less than 27% of population is even willing to call themselves republicans right now

  But, it's just a terrible year for democrats my friend

1:38 PM you gotta love the alternate reality that is perpetrated on us daily by people who are afraid to make a child's joke about fox news.

1:39 PM Manny: to be fair, the people who do Sesame Street have the balls

 me: true

 Manny: it's their counterparts in news that lack testicockalese

 me: true

1:40 PM ARGH!!! I hate you news butchers!

1:41 PM Manny: we've come to quite a place, where sesame street is ballsier than the news

 me: than supposedly "liberal" news

A Pox on Fox

1:30 PM Manny: finee

1:33 PM This here is the end of PBS:

  http://www.pbs.org/ombudsman/2009/11/pox_or_fox_we_report_you_decide.html

  We won't say torture, and we'll suck cock for Fox

1:35 PM Why is it OK for sesame street to make fun of CNN but not FOX?

30 minutes

2:06 PM me: well, they're not making fun of cnn, they're just further trivializing it

2:07 PM Manny: I'm not convinced that there's a difference in kind between Grouch News Network and Pox News

 me: It's the tag line, "now there's a trashy network"

2:08 PM i agree, on the face, they are equally plays

2:10 PM Manny: But grouch news network is clearly owned and operated by grouches, for grouches, all of whom live in trash cans. Plus, it's inherently grouchy, since it's right there in the title.

2:11 PM me: you make a good point my friend

35 minutes

2:46 PM Manny: I would argue that Grouch News Network is also substantively different than Pox News, in that the grouches spin stories for a grouchy audience, but don't fake stories like they do on Pox

17 minutes

3:03 PM me: ha ha ha

 Manny: for GAWDS SAKE PBS!

3:04 PM grab your nuts

  act like men

 me: or like women

 Manny: or like someone who has balls! male or female balls!

comentary on pictures of the President makes me laugh

 Manny11:32 AM You will also love this

  http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/the-annotated-white-house-flickr-feed-with-ana-marie-cox-and-jason-linkins-barack-obamas-top-secret-message-to-fox-news

12 minutes

11:53 AM me: that's great!

  they are surprisingly funny to me

11:50 AM Manny: Also, I SAID I saw a coyote:

  http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/10/28/ns-coyote-attack-died.html

40 minutes

12:33 PM me: yeah dude, that coyote shit is crazy

---

Reporters gone wild!!! (at the Post, as usual)

3:22 PM Manny: I know the recipient of this beat-down:

  http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/people/capitalcomment/14004.html

5 minutes

3:28 PM me: the one who got punch or the one who's going to get fired for caring?

  (who may or may not be a dick, in addition to being strong for a 70-year-old, for all I know)

 Manny: the author of the "worst article in 40 years" and the punchee

  the 70 year old vet who cares? never met him

3:29 PM me: allen

  they think he's going to get fired

 Manny: Roig Franzia will never be fired!

3:30 PM He's had the same pretentious facila hair at five newspapers!

 me: my response, as long as he's not too liberal, he should keep his job!

3:31 PM Manny: notice no one ever gets fired for being too right wing

  It's totally acceptable to maintain that the CIA was right to exterminate left-wing activists in Chile, or rape nuns in Guatemala

 me: of course

R.I.P. Theodore Sizer - We have lost a great progressive voice

Last week Ted Sizer passed away.

Sizer was the youngest dean of the Harvard graduate school of education in history and one of the great voices of progressive education. He was a sometime adviser of mine and friend of my parents. He took the idea of school design seriously and believed that the physical plant and the daily schedule were high on the list of design priorities. More importantly, Sizer, through his books and the Coalition of Essential Schools, which he founded, promoted a vision of schooling in which students engage practical, experiential learning that is not bounded by artificial subject lines and the ringing of bells, but instead features students engaging in deep and multifaceted investigations, pursuing challenging ideas to their limits and performing public displays of knowledge and insight.

As I have written, I increasingly, see serious danger in where progressives have drawn their lines in the sand. In health care we are arguing over a pathetic public option instead of talking about actually taking care of all of our people like most of the more civilized nations do.

In education, we've drawn a line at a very conservative product of the charter schools--No Excuses schools. Arnie duncan, newt gingrich, and al sharpton all agree, the KIPPs and Uncommon Schools are the way to go.

Really!? I could brainwash kids with chants and token economies into doing anything I want, but neat rows, mantras, drill and kill test practice--none of these things is going to make my students savvy, informed, competent, problem-solving human beings. Where is it, exactly, in this model that students learn the hard work of thinking? Where do they learn how to decide to do what is right?

Ted Sizer believed that rather than making students do the same things as each other, rather than regimenting and organizing them in rows and hoping that they come out just the same on the other side, we should honor the individual student. We should help her find her passions and interests. We should help her learn how to approach complex, unstructured problems and tackle them from a variety of angles. We will dearly miss Sizer, he believed in mentoring transformative 21st century minds, not drilling 20th century line workers.

R.I.P. Ted Sizer, I hope the progressive learning movement survives your loss.

check out the Eagle Rock school to see the kind of learning I'm talking about.

douchebag rights and sleeping with the enemy (fox news, of course

12:31 PM Manny: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/10/douchebags-are-people-too.html

12:34 PM me: ha

  was it you who was just telling me about that?

12:35 PM Manny: yeah

 me: funny

12:36 PM this morning, marc lamont hill was on radio times defending his choice to be a stooge on fox news for two years only to be hysterically fired by rupert murdoch himself at a shareholders meeting

  my verdict?

  Indefensible!

12:37 PM Manny: Fox spreads the dirty money around

  Some people take it

12:38 PM me: money and exposure

12:39 PM Manny: I suppose MSNBC will be firing joe scarborough nexty

12:40 PM me: I'm sure. marc, "public intellectual" that he is, is by nature inclined to the light, even if it is the glowing embers of pure evil

12:41 PM msnbc is just the dull blaze of stupidity burning its own house down

12:42 PM Manny: I think he would argue that he was reaching people he wouldn't otherwise reach

  I personally would argue he was sucking something he ordinarily wouldn't suck

 me: that's sort of what he argued

12:43 PM that's exactly what I would argue

54 minutes

1:37 PM Manny: live by fox, die by fox

1:38 PM me: amen

deadspin vs. espn

2:27 PM Manny: Deadspin v. ESPN, who ya got?

2:32 PM me: I like deadspin, but I find the site hard to negotiate

 Manny: i just meant in their current feud

2:34 PM http://www.theweek.com/article/index/102050/Deadspin_vs_ESPN

42 minutes

3:17 PM me: well, dumping everyone's emails is pretty week, but espn is stupid.

  everybody not involved wins?

 Manny: you and I both win!

3:18 PM plus, I don't have to listen to my buddy tell me about how he knows the guys from deadspin anymore

and we're back! old apple commercial

In case you missed us. we'll try not to get lost in the woods anymore.   Manny

  http://www.pcanswer.com/2009/01/21/larry-magids-1984-la-times-review-of-original-mac/

  also funny

12:03 PM me: what's funny about that?

  oh wait!

  I get it

  it's from 1984

  I don't know how I tie my shoes, dumb as I am

  that is funny

Republicans are crazy because...

They don't think government should provide service! My interpretation, to be a republican is to be against libraries. Libertarians concerned about the government finding out what library books they read should be more concerned about there being libraries.

3:06 PM Manny: Ummm http://libwww.freelibrary.org/closing/

14 minutes

3:21 PM me: yeah dude, we got a crazy financial crisis going on here

oops, forgot to post this (bobby jindal clone and health care)

9:59 PM me: Why did the republicans put on an older bobby jindal clone after the president?

  I mean, I know they're checking out on healthcare, but seriously?

10:00 PM It doesn't matter what he says, nobody is even close to sitting through his boring ass after this president speaks

10:02 PM Manny: its true that dickwad from louisiana is a narrow demo

10:05 PM me: seriously

10:07 PM I thought the president was his usual delightful self, and surprisingly un-pussy for a democrat. Of course we're still having the totally wrong debate. 
*Here's our original bobby jindal rant

Sucks to you, Ayn Rand!

5:13 PM Manny: funny article in TNR ripping Ayn Rand

5:18 PM Note to Ayn Rand: you suck

31 minutes

5:49 PM me: ha

5:50 PM it's so true

5:51 PM also, you've been very bad for the universe

18 minutes

6:10 PM Manny: And 10,000000 self justifying teenage girls

6:13 PM me: ha

RIP Ted Kenedy

8:55 AM me: RIP Teddy K

8:56 AM great, now dems can't even pretend to have backbone

10:32 AM Aaron: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/08/the-work-goes-on.php

14 minutes

10:47 AM me: I really really like Mathew Yglesias, dude. That's a really smart reading of the tk's speech. Also, way to point the finger in the right direction. All of our concerns about media and authority are rooted in this exact problem--instead of taking hard work and discipline seriously, we play games of personality and accomplish actually nothing.

---

American cell phone companies are the greatest! (or, another way the citizen gets screwed)

11:27 AM me:http://www.openleft.com/diary/14784/america-has-the-greatest-cellphone-network-in-the-world

  I hate cell phone companies

27 minutes

12:07 PM Manny: really, I think they're awesome

12:10 PM me: lol

I talk to myself about afghanistan

12:33 PM me: So I wake up and I'm listening to NPR. The lead story is about how the Afghan election is today. But instead of reporting the story, all the reporters are talking about the limits placed on journalists.

12:34 PM I'm like, "surprise! the media is telling a story about itself!"

12:35 PM Then I get a call from pj: http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/08/20/police-crack-down-on-journalists-during-afghan-election/

Oops, sorry dude. Police chasing you with guns is news-worthy.

Representing the Ombuds or You Know Your Insitution is in Moral Trouble when...

Take a look at a recent chat with a friend of mine. What do you think we should infer about the University of Pennsylvania from this?

C: got it

have you seen the ombuds current page from Penn?

http://www.upenn.edu/ombudsman/

1:28 PM as my friend said,

"ghetto."

problematic, yet apt.

me: wow!

worst page ever

seriously, that's the worst page ever

1:29 PM C: yupper

compare that to say

MIT: http://web.mit.edu/ombud/

Stanford: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/ombuds/

Columbia: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ombuds/

Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/~ombuds/index.html

me: we are, apparently, the least ethical of the universities

C: and the beat goes on

1:30 PM me: that's shameful

Bolton take 2

Mathew Yglesias

John Bolton (Manny goes on vacation and I talk to myself)

So John Bolton (remember him? he's the crazy guy who yells at people that g.w.b. appointed to be our most notable representative to the world) was on NPR on Monday. He was one of the first people asked to respond to the Clinton Korea trip.

Why, you ask, would NPR or the Washington Mouthpiece put Bolton front and center when North Korea is on the line and any home-based dissent clears would send them the message that America is a weak and divided nation? We can only surmise that it's ok to dissent right, but that dissenting left is anti-american--i.e. it's ok to dissent when one's dissent is oriented at being more confrontational, abrasive, and domineering, but when one is arguing for more dialogue, greater communication and more sympathy, then one is an homeland hater.

Bolton told npr that he was against president clinton going to n. korea because it would encourage other countries to do the same. (You know, all of those countries around the world just dying for a guest appearance from a former president will immediately grab up the nearest passing tourists).

Comments npr:
"Bolton's point about the Iranians who are now holding three young Americans who allegedly entered Iranian territory from Iraq's Kurdish region, is worth considering. What does the U.S. do if the Iranians condition the release of the three Americans on a visit from former President Clinton as well?"

Now this is hysterical. Do they think that the Iranians are just dying for clinton to come to town? That's the outcome they're looking for? "Oh, forget our nuclear aims and plans for regional domination, send us pres clinton and then we can talk business!"

A much more reasoned point was present on Weds on the bbc where the popular view seems now to have shifted around to: "Wow, what a great opportunity to get one of the most savvy politicians of our age three hours face to face with the mysterious and secretive leader of a totalitarian regime that we desperately need to figure out how to deal with." This is a much more sound opinion.

The mainstream media hearts republicans, even to the point of craziness

2:42 PM Manny:

From Duncan Black:

"Some genius at Newsweek thinks George W. Bush should be Obama's Middle East envoy.

There really is something wrong with our elite journalistic institutions."

2:43 PM me: ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you joking?

George Sr. would at least be plausible

Manny: http://www.newsweek.com/id/209174

2:44 PM me: George W. is like the punchline from a terrible, very-much-in-poor-taste joke about the foment of war and destruction

Manny: it is almost impossible to make up the stuff that gets printed in the Times, Newsweek, NPR etc

Politico today: Why the Republicans are poised for a comeback

2:45 PM me: Boy, they wish that was a self-fulfilling prophecy

Manny: By glenn greenwald's count, that's the 27th republican-comeback article, since just before the 2006 elections

me: ha ha ha

Manny: on politico alone

me: ha

2:46 PM ha

ha

what a great day

Manny: http://twitter.com/glenngreenwald/status/2875137561

2:47 PM And from his blog: "Who are the sources for Politico's exciting announcement of a GOP resurgence? A grand total of three: "GOP pollster Whit Ayres," "GOP pollster John McLaughlin," and "Republican pollster Neil Newhouse," all of whom assure us that the signs point to imminent Republican triumph and Democratic doom. After 21 straight paragraphs of chest-beating GOP triumphalism, Politico throws two Democratic sources into the last three paragraphs of the article for "balance," along with this hilarious qualifier: "For Republicans, the news isn’t entirely promising." What is it that makes things "not entirely promising" for Republicans? Just little things like this:

'There’s been no surge in GOP voter registration and little evidence that the party brand is experiencing a recovery. Last month, a New York Times/CBS poll reported that the GOP’s favorability ratings remained at a record-breaking low -- 28 percent, down from a high of 59 percent in November 1994.'"

2:48 PM me: HAAAAAA

I can't load that page for some reason

2:49 PM Manny: Continuing from Greenwald: "There are many motives for publishing "GOP-on-the-rise" stories. It's virtually certain to generate a Drudge link, Politico's holy grail. It ensures appearances on GOP-friendly cable news and radio talk shows. It solidifies relationships with dirt-peddling right-wing operatives who drive mindless scandals and distractions in a Democratic administration. And it earns a gold star and pat on the head from right-wing polemicists in the never-ending quest of establishment journalists to prove they are not part of The Liberal Media, the goal which Mark Halperin openly embraced on his knees while pleading with Hugh Hewitt, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to stop thinking that he is One of Them, when he was hawking the book he co-wrote with Politico's Harris."nu

6 minutes

2:55 PM me: Well that's spot on

2:56 PM Manny: it goes on

2:59 PM me: Wait, is that from his blog?

3:00 PM Manny: ja

i believe it so

7 minutes

3:07 PM Manny: We can have a blog where I said ridiculous republican things

like Ben Stein

But not a blog where I say true, liberal things

like Glenn Greenwald

some world

3:08 PM http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009/07/27/the-despicable-ben-stein/

3:12 PM me: Wow, ben stein is a bad bad purpose. Obama is anti-white? I've been complaining that he's too pro white.

bad bad person, he's a bad bad person

3:13 PM Manny: yeah, Ben Stein: giant, flaming anus


Manny:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYkFKNroBVA&feature=related

unrelated

just awesome3:16 PM also unrelated, but funny

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/29/amsterdam-oreilly-fa.html

Tech, the Kindle, and the Interwebs

Manny: I found this to be an interesting summation of my kindle experience so far

11:50 AM http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/03/090803fa_fact_baker?currentPage=all

20 minutes

12:10 PM me: First of all, that is another very funny piece of writing

12:11 PM secondly, you can't adjust the screen's color scheme and brightness?

Also, no page numbers? Why did they do that?

Manny: unclear to me

12:12 PM I enjoy my kindle, but I was happy to receive it as a gift and not have to justify paying for ti

me: well, I want one, but I'm going to be patient and wait till they respond to the newest round of feedback

12:13 PM does the kindle browse the interwebs?

12:14 PM Manny: a bit

ipod touch is waaay bettter

12:15 PM me: yeah, I'm waiting till they put all my techs in one box

I have too many techs as it is

Manny: ipod + kindle-sized screen = all done looking

12:16 PM me: I do love my satellite radio though. I can listen to bob dylan as a dj. It's awesome

the ipood can probably get that too though

I'm playing with combining my techs, but I have to do some crazy crack to get streaming media on my phone

12:17 PM advantage ipood (although I love my phone otherwise)

Bloggers vs. the "Real" Media

10:56 AM me: Did you see the Reggie Theus video I sent you?

Manny: no

i no get it

me: oh, you can watch it later. me: a funny aside to our previous conversation about bloggers: http://with-malice.com/200907201028/articles/nba/theus-hates-bloggers.html

10:58 AM Also, I assume they probably do this on cnn, fox and msnbc, but this on Sportscenter they have a segment where they review the percentage of coverage different stories are getting from "bloggers"

16 minutes

11:14 AM Manny: cnn sometimes reads the internets out loud

thanks cnn!

11:15 AM broadcasting FAIL

11:17 AM me: I'm saying. Really? You can't do better than, this morning "20% of 'bloggers' are talking about Bret Farve"

Now the anchors are saying to each other, "did you tweet? What did you tweet about?"

11:18 AM it's fully pathetic old people trying badly to imitate the discourse of the young

11:19 AM Manny: twitter users are all old

fyi

11:20 AM http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2009/03/30/twitter-older-than-it-looks/

11:23 AM me: Now that is so interesting. I actually don't know a single person who twitters and most of the non-blog reading people (including kids, and I'm a teacher) I know don't even really know what twitter is.

They do post on facebook though

11:28 AM Manny: the media obsession with twitter is so stupid I don't even know where to start

It's like they missed facebook, so now it has to all be about twitter

11:31 AM me: I think that's a big part of it

also, it's like haiku, it's a form more easily understood and used by rich and old folks

11:32 AM "Oh, I didn't get why they were always posting about their lives which nobody cares about, but now I get it! They capturing artful little moments in time!"

11:33 AM Manny: they are, as my buddy mike once said, masturbating at a fevered pitch

11:34 AM me: ha ha ha

11:37 AM Manny: Similarly:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/29/associated-press-cla.html

for more explanation

http://freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/aps-drm-announcement-much-ado-about-nothing

11:42 AM me: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha (this one gets extra laughs!). You gotta love the following: "Your satisfaction with the diagram will be inversely proportional to your knowledge of the technology."

11:43 AM Manny: I feel like that's true for everything everyone says about the news biz right now

Kindle will save newspapers!

(from someone who's never used a kindle)

Ban links!

(from someone who's apparently never been on the internet)

11:44 AM me: You're cracking me up this morning

11:45 AM Manny: I wish it was someone else's industry that was so clueless

11:47 AM me: dude, my industry is completely dysfunctional and moronic and has been a failure for almost a hundred years and our job is to TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN!