MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

New Album Marketing Strategy
Radiohead's new album is coming out soon and they have a pretty good idea for selling it:

Radiohead, the respected British rock act, said that the band would sell its new album, at least initially, exclusively as a digital download and allow fans to decide how much to pay for it, if anything. In a statement yesterday, the band said it had begun taking orders for the album, “In Rainbows,” which will be available beginning Oct. 10.
...
In Radiohead’s plan, fans will choose their own price for the digital version of the 10-song “In Rainbows,” which it said would be sold as a download without copy restriction software, known as digital-rights management. In effect, the band is asking fans to establish a monetary value for music, even when widespread piracy means that it would be available free.

Early reaction suggested that listeners would pay, but less than they would for a CD in stores. The blog Idolator.com carried a poll in which the plurality of voters — almost 40 percent — said they would pay from $2.05 to $10.12.

And, hey, why not? You can set the price you are willing to pay here. I'll bet they make tons.


Weekend Box Office
1. The Game Plan
2. The Kingdom
3. Resident Evil
4. Good Luck Chuck
5. 3:10 to Yuma

Polls [UPDATED]
Yes, a new Iowa poll shows Obama leading Clinton among "likely caucus-goers," and Clinton is still leading Obama in NH by quite a bit. This might be a good time to remind ourselves of the state of things at this point in 2003. Things are coming faster this time around, so let's compare to October 15, 2003, when Kos offered these numbers from a Granite State poll.

Dean 30 (16)
Undecided 20 (30)
Kerry 17 (18)
Clark 10 (3)
Lieberman 6 (11)
Edwards 5 (2)
Gephardt 5 (3)
Kucinich 3 (0)
Sharpton 1 (1)
Braun 1 (1)

And these from a poll in Iowa:

Dean 23
Undecided 22
Gephardt 20
Kerry 17
Clark 7

Notice that Edwards didn't even rate a mention in Iowa (he finished a close second, ultimately), and that not only had Kerry not yet made his IA comeback...he hadn't even really gotten to the meat of his freefall yet.

And who was leading the national polls at the time? Wesley Clark.

The first poll that means anything will come in mid-November.

[UPDATE: Via Kos, Rasmussen - right on cue - discusses the state of the Democratic race, comparisons to Dean's lead in 2003 and the ramifications of a Hillary loss in Iowa. The short version: Hillary's nomination is not inevitable, but comparisons to Dean are probably off the mark.]

Quick Friday Links
I don't understand this. It's fine with me if the FCC regulates such things, but their decisions should have nothing to do with the literal meaning of the word in question.

Kevin Drum is right that Atrios is right that we don't know what we're doing with regard to legislative PR campaigns, for things like the S-CHIP expansion.

Giuliani, Thompson, McCain and Romney are an "embarrassment" and a "disgrace". And that's just what their fellow Republican candidates think of them.

Plus, breaking news: Rush Limbaugh is an asshole. You heard it here first.

Student Pledge Protest
Over at my other blog, I linked to a story about a group of Colorado high school students protesting "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, broadcast over their PA. As for church-state battles, things like "under God" in the pledge are pretty low priority as far as I'm concerned, what with the recent attempt of the bureau of prisons to determine which religious texts are acceptable in prison libraries, the IRS potentially teaming up with the Justice Department to investigate a liberal church for an election-eve anti-war sermon, and the American people believing that the US Constitution establishes America as a "Christian nation" and that public school teachers should be allowed to lead children in prayer during the school day. Don't even get me started on the fact that many elements of the military act as if they are allowed to operate a Christian theocracy right out of the Pentagon.

No, I'm heartened by this pledge story for 2 reasons unrelated to church-state talk: 1) students are protesting? something other than dress code and overly difficult multiple choice questions? and 2) something I could use evidence of these days - a reasonable, thoughtful-sounding high school administrator.

Check it out.

Declining Tourism
At Freakonomics, Arthur Frommer - yes that Frommer - answers questions from readers about travel. It's all a good read, but I was especially interested in his answer to the question: "As the dollar continues to fall against the euro, why aren’t more Europeans traveling to America?" In part, he says:

Because of the psychological, bureaucratic, and political barriers that we have erected to hinder their travels here. In many of the countries that don’t enjoy our visa-waiver program, it takes three to four months simply to receive an appointment to apply for a visa. Once would-be travelers finally get inside one of our consulates, they are questioned about personal characteristics having nothing to do with security or terrorism, but rather with the possibility that they will overstay their visas and become illegal immigrants. One tour operator handling incoming travel from Poland recently said that half of the people he wishes to send to the U.S. are turned down for visas because they are young, single, without property or homes that they own, etc., and are thus more likely to stay in the U.S. illegally.

When people do travel here, they are treated like criminals upon arrival at customs, or, at best, received with cold discourtesy.

Children's Health Care [UPDATED]
The SCHIP expansion passed the House with big numbers, but a handful of Republican votes short of being able to overcome the President's veto. Thoughts:

1. Democrats are in a tough spot for now. If they let the current law expire, it looks like they're playing politics with children's health care. If they extend the current law and funding rate, it looks like a) they're giving in, and b) Bush is right the current state is acceptable.

2. On the other hand, this vote should be central to a national strategy that paints Republicans as obstructionist and more concerned about low taxes than about providing health coverage to children. It won't help us bash too many particular Republicans (the endangered ones voted for it) in Congress, but brand the party and hopefully put the screws to the GOP nominee: was Bush right to veto the bill?

3. I'm just about sick of Dennis Kucinich's holier-than-thou bullshit. You will notice he voted no, presumably because it's not a single payer system that does away with the for-profit health-care industry like we all would prefer. because in the compromise with Republicans, Democrats dropped their demand that legal immigrant children be added to the program's expansion. Noble as that may be, it still gives up the possible in demand of the apparently impractical (knowing Bush has already announced a veto and trying to achieve a veto-proof majority). This bill wouldn't drop coverage for those children, it just doesn't expand it as far as he (and all of us) would like. I can hope that if his was the deciding vote he might rethink, but who knows. So, it's not specifically for the reasons I originally thought - thanks Lewberry for the research (I prefer the more scholarly ASSUME method, but whatev), but I'm still sick of him. Looks like I'm not the only one.

4. I'm sick, too, of liberals that bash Dems for being spineless. I'm looking at you Bill Maher. This SCHIP legislation is both bold and practical - would be helpful and represents some compromise to achieve considerable GOP support. Dems are doing their jobs here. Republicans are getting in the way - and the law allows that because we don't live in a BillMaherocracy.

What should Dems do? Let the program expire? (How did that work for the Republican Congress when they let the govt. shut down in a spat with Clinton over the budget?)Give it a month extension and try again wiht the same bill? Tweak it and hope for more support? (doubtful) And what to do if there are simply not enough GOP votes for anything but status quo?

UAW Is On Strike
Sing along everyone:

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Fistful of Quarters
Lewberry and I caught this documentary last week - it's quite good (he liked it even more than I did), the human drama surrounding the controversial world record score of...Donkey Kong. I knew there was a gaming culture in the early 80s, and I know there is a gaming culture now. But I didn't know the extent to which there is an early 80s gaming culture now. If you ever spent any time playing pac-man, missile command, centipede, or especially donkey kong (or were friends with someone who did) you will enjoy King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

This quote from the film's Walter Day - video game referee - pretty much sums it up:

I wanted to be a hero. I wanted to be the center of attention. I wanted the glory, I wanted the fame. I wanted the pretty girls to come up and say, "Hi, I see that you're good at Centipede."

Watch the fabulous trailer below:

Oh, and by the way, we were trying to remember: what was the name of the submarine game that was always in those early arcades and bowling alleys?

"The Wonderful World of Umbrage"
What Michael Kinsley said.

Oh Well
Sounds like I made a mistake skipping Bob Dylan at the Ryman last night. Jack White made a guest appearance, Dylan gave a rare live performance of "Workin Man Blues #2", Nashville studio legend (and Robert's Western Wear regular) Don Herron headed up the band, and oh yeah there was this:

He didn't talk much, but he appeared delighted by the music, by the venue, by the reception from a crowd that included heavyweight artists John Prine and Buddy Miller and by the rest of it all.

And Elvis Costello sat up in the balcony by the soundboard, watching with a wry grin.

Elvis Costello? Oh yes, he was a surprise opening act, playing after Amos Lee's well-received set.

Costello plugged his acoustic guitar into an amplifier for a riveting "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," and he drew a mid-song ovation in "The Scarlet Tide" when he sang "Admit you lied, and bring the boys back home."

Times Select Now Free
Unless you're addicted to news on the Internets like me, you probably won't care about this, but the NYTimes has stopped with the subscription-based material that you had to pay to read. They make more money from advertising on those pages and making them free, it turns out. Below, links to columnists and blogs I'm looking forward to reading now:
Stanley Fish
Freakonomics
Paul Krugman
Frank Rich
Nick Kristof

Amazing
In the New Yorker, Oliver Sacks has a new article about the case of Clive Wearing, who - due to a brain infection 20 years ago - now exhibits the "most devastating case of amnesia ever recorded." Despite his Memento-like short-term memory, Clive is sustained by 2 things: his ability to perform music, which he can accomplish so long as he is not trying to actively remember how, and his love for his wife, which sounds effusive and, well, desperate, since - though he sees her regularly - he always feels like he hasn't seen her in years and is lost in a sea just-waking consciousness. He doesn't know when he last saw her, and couldn't tell you what she looks like unless she's there with him, but he knows he loves her and knows who she is immediately when she arrives.

Desperate to hold on to something, to gain some purchase, Clive started to keep a journal, first on scraps of paper, then in a notebook. But his journal entries consisted, essentially, of the statements “I am awake” or “I am conscious,” entered again and again every few minutes. He would write: “2:10 P.M: This time properly awake. . . . 2:14 P.M: this time finally awake. . . . 2:35 P.M: this time completely awake,” along with negations of these statements: “At 9:40 P.M. I awoke for the first time, despite my previous claims.” This in turn was crossed out, followed by “I was fully conscious at 10:35 P.M., and awake for the first time in many, many weeks.” This in turn was cancelled out by the next entry.

This dreadful journal, almost void of any other content but these passionate assertions and denials, intending to affirm existence and continuity but forever contradicting them, was filled anew each day, and soon mounted to hundreds of almost identical pages. It was a terrifying and poignant testament to Clive’s mental state, his lostness, in the years that followed his amnesia—a state that Deborah, in Miller’s film, called “a never-ending agony.”
...
When I asked Deborah whether Clive knew about her memoir, she told me that she had shown it to him twice before, but that he had instantly forgotten. I had my own heavily annotated copy with me, and asked Deborah to show it to him again.

“You’ve written a book!” he cried, astonished. “Well done! Congratulations!” He peered at the cover. “All by you? Good heavens!” Excited, he jumped for joy. Deborah showed him the dedication page: “For my Clive.” “Dedicated to me?” He hugged her. This scene was repeated several times within a few minutes, with almost exactly the same astonishment, the same expressions of delight and joy each time.

Clive and Deborah are still very much in love with each other, despite his amnesia. (Indeed, Deborah’s book is subtitled “A Memoir of Love and Amnesia.”) He greeted her several times as if she had just arrived. It must be an extraordinary situation, I thought, both maddening and flattering, to be seen always as new, as a gift, a blessing.

What we don't know about the brain - it would seem - remains far more expansive than what we do know.

Trivial Filibuster
Republicans blocked the clear will of the Senate yet again with successful filibusters of bills that would have granted DC residents a vote in the House, and would restore Habeus Corpus rights of detainees at Guantanamo. The bills were supported by margins of 15 and 13 votes, respectively, but fell a few short of the 60 needed to end debate. Don't worry though - it's just the representative principle at the heart of our democracy, and the fundamental right to confront your accuser - you know, the one that has been the linchpin of modern civilized justice systems for the last 750 years. Who needs em, right? Kevin Drum has more.

2 1/2
Did anyone think to check if Eric Gagne is a Yankees fan?

Honest Question
Why do we need to hear about this newest O.J. Simpson saga? Way back when - 13 years ago? - when we were inundated with 24-hour talk about his murderous rampage - he was a genuine celebrity: a TV personality in football coverage, an actor in a popular funny movie series. There are 2 reasons why we shouldn't have to receive wall-to-wall coverage of this latest lunacy: 1) now, he's nobody. We shouldn't care. 2) I thought one of the lessons of OJ Simpson was the foolishness of TV-mania descending on a single media circus, cheapening the legal process, obsessing over a mostly pointless story. So now we're just going to do it again? For an even stupider, more pointless crime?

Hillary Embraces Romney-Care
Senator Clinton has released her health care plan, which among other things mandates that individuals have health coverage, like John Edwards' proposal, and like the law that Mitt Romney passed in Massachusetts (though Romney now claims that was his evil twin).

You can read the campaign's summary of Hillary's plan here. Or if you're feeling spunky, tackle the entire plan (pdf) here.

Ezra Klein reviews the plan here. Maggie Mahar's take is here. But the best place to start is Shannon Brownlee's new piece that explains the importance of a government institute that would test the effectiveness of competing treatments, a part of her plan.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Discovering the Artistry of a NYC Photographer
Via BoingBoing, I read this interesting article in the Smithsonian about the discovery of Eugene de Salignac's work. As a city employee, de Salignac took tens of thousands of photos of NY city during the early 1900s. Was he the artist or was the city itself? You decide: here is a link to a handful of great photos.

This year's top 5 rated films on Metacritic, so far:
1. Ratatouile
2. The Lives of Others
3. No End in Sight
4. Once
5. This is England

Albums:
1. The Field: From Here We Go Sublime
2. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
3. Patty Griffin: Children Running Through
4. M.I.A. - Kala
5. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

I've seen/heard #2 in the music list and #3 in film. That's it. You? Any recs or disagreements?

Weekend Box Office
1. The Brave One
2. 3:10 to Yuma
3. Mr. Woodcock
4. Dragon Wars
5. Superbad

Emmys
Nice to see the Sopranos get one last award (I suppose they'll be up for Golden Globes in the Spring also). Here's the full list of winners and nominees.

I have to admit, I've hardly read, listened to or watched anything. Help a brother out.

Local Disappointment
Despite the nation's shift toward blue, Tennessee elected the only freshman Republican Senator in 2006 and took the opportunity to hand the Senate majority to the Republicans for the first time in more than 100 years, just a few seats from turning the House to R as well. That's all bad enough. But if I actually have to say Governor and Frist in the same sentence, or worse yet, Governor and Blackburn, I may just go nuts. This post surely smells like Bill is up to something.

Only A Sweep...
The Red Sox are poised to win the division over the Yankees, and New York seems equally assured a playoff spot as the wild card team. They play their last 3 games against each other this weekend, starting tonight. Only a sweep by either team could make a difference. Taking 3 from the Yankees could open up the wild card to the Tigers - if they can go on a winning streak. If the Red Sox lose all 3, NY could be in striking distance for the division. Things will likely stay the same, and we're ready for an epic AL championship series between them.

Bush
Honestly, I didn't see the speech. And haven't read it. But I caught lots of the reaction after and thought Dems were strong. Obama was calm and resolute; Edwards was clear and uncompromising, and to hear Biden and Chris Matthews talk, you would think our commander in chief was completely out to lunch with absolutely no basis in fact for any of his assertions - in other words, a pretty honest discussion.

Giuliani, Huackabee, and McCain all made the same basic point: the surge is working now so it would be foolish to leave as we're on the verge of approaching the precipice of being on the verge of the edge of the beginnings of a very modest success. At least just over the horizon we will be.

Your thoughts?

Obama's Iraq Speech Today
You can read it here. Here's a (long) snippet.

Nearly 4,000 Americans have been killed in Iraq. Five times that number have suffered horrible wounds, seen and unseen. Loved ones have been lost, dreams denied. Children will grow up without fathers and mothers. Parents have outlived their children. That is a cost of this war.

When all is said and done, the price-tag will run over a trillion dollars. A trillion dollars. That's money not spent on homeland security and counter-terrorism; on providing health care to all Americans and a world-class education to every child; on investments in energy to save ourselves and our planet from an addiction to oil. That is a cost of this war.
...
With all that our troops and their families have sacrificed, with all this war has cost us, and with no discernible end in sight, the same people who told us we would be greeted as liberators, about democracy spreading across the Middle East, about striking a decisive blow against terrorism, about an insurgency in its last throes - those same people are now trumpeting the uneven and precarious containment of brutal sectarian violence as if it validates all of their failed decisions.

The bar for success is so low that it is almost buried in the sand.

The American people have had enough of the shifting spin. We've had enough of extended deadlines for benchmarks that go unmet. We've had enough of mounting costs in Iraq and missed opportunities around the world. We've had enough of a war that should never have been authorized and should never have been waged.
...
Now is not the time to reargue the Vietnam War - we did that in the 2004 election, and it wasn't pretty. I come from a new generation of Americans. I don't want to fight the battles of the 1960s. I want to reclaim the future for America, because we have too many threats to face and too many opportunities to seize. Just think about what we can accomplish together when we end this war.

When we end this war in Iraq, we can finally finish the fight in Afghanistan. That is why I propose stepping up our commitment there, with at least two additional combat brigades and a comprehensive program of aid and support to help Afghans help themselves.

When we end this war in Iraq, we can more effectively tackle the twin demons of extremism and hopelessness that threaten the peace of the world and the security of America. That is why I have proposed a program to spread hope - not hate - in the Islamic world, to build schools that teach young people to build and not destroy, to support the rule of law and economic development, and to launch a program of outreach to the Islamic world that I will lead as President.

When we end this war in Iraq, we can once again lead the world against the common challenges of the 21st century. Against the spread of nuclear weapons and climate change. Against genocide in Darfur. Against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair. When we end this war, we can reclaim the cause of freedom and democracy. We can be that beacon of hope, that light to all the world.

When we end this war, we can recapture our unity of effort as Americans. The American people have the right instincts on Iraq. It's time to heed their judgment. It's time to move beyond Iraq so that we can move forward together. I will be a President who listens to the American people, not a President who ignores them.

And when we end the war in Iraq, we can come together to give our full attention to advancing the cause of health care for every American, an energy policy that does not bankroll hostile nations while we melt the polar ice caps, and a world class education for our children. Above all, we can turn the page to a new kind of politics of unity, not division; of hope, not fear.

For Those in Need
In honor of the people that are having a bad day and could use a little ice cream: a soft-serve dispenser that assesses your level of sadness and misery, and doles out an appropriate serving size.

Petraeus: Make America Safer? Huh?
Petraeus, just now: Will my recommendation to the President of increased troop levels going forward make America safer? I never really thought about that before.

That was in response to questioning by Sen. Warner (R-VA) who had to ask twice - he didn't want to answer. Warner was easily the most interesting and effective of all the Senators with the General.

You'd like to think that would be the headline; it really should be: Petraeus Never Considered Effect of His Strategy on American Safety. But I suppose it will go unnoticed.

[UPDATE: Maybe I'm not so crazy. Spencer Ackerman at TPM has noticed this exchange as well, calling it the "most stunning" moment of the hearings to date. It's what I thought too. He has the video up. I wish it were even more of Warner's time. The whole thing led up to this moment quite well. But until I find video of the whole thing, watch the part in question.

UPDATE 2 Think Progress has more video - a little more of the lead-in to the question to give you a flavor of how he framed it.]

Funny Newspaper Screenshot
I was looking for this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the popcorn lung scandal, pointing out that the EPA has for more than a year now been sitting on the results of a study they conducted. But on my way there, I noticed this on the front page - you'll see that apparently airport sex is declining (not surprising, but how do they know?) and that Senator Craig "blames 'state of fear'".

Well, yeah, people are afraid to have sex in the airport for fear of getting arrested, but how did they get Craig to comment on the decline? Oh....they didn't of course. The Senator blames his "state of fear" for his strange decision to plead guilty. So even though it looks like they turned to an expert in the psychology of airport sex - Senator Craig himself - for an explanation, the two headlines are not directly related. Seeing them together made me laugh, anyway.

Health-Care Costs
The Wall Street Journal reports on skyrocketing health care costs:

Health-care premiums of employers and their workers have climbed more than twice as fast as inflation in 2007 -- to about double their cost in 2000 -- and look to rise at a similar or slightly faster clip next year, a pair of nationwide surveys show.

The average family premium rose 6.1% in 2007...
...
Small businesses and their employees are bearing the brunt. Though 99% of businesses with more than 200 employees continue to offer workers some sort of health-care coverage, only 59% of smaller firms have a company health plan, compared with 60% last year and 68% in 2000. Among businesses with fewer than 10 workers, only 45% do, down from 48% just a year ago.

Meanwhile, guest-posting at Washington Monthly, author Shannon Brownlee says that even if we bring costs under control, doctors and specialists have a good way of making that money back: they perform more medical procedures.

That means that we don't end up saving any money by tightening reimbursements. But we do end up pissing off doctors, who don't really want to have to run around doing more procedures and seeing more patients just to maintain the same income. It also means we patients can expect to be given a lot more unnecessary procedures, because when doctors do more, they don't necessarily do more of what we really need. In the 1990s, managed care trimmed physician reimbursements and an avalanche of unnecessary procedures and blood tests and CT scans was the result.

All of which is just one more reason why fee-for-service has got to go. It's a broken payment system, and it simply encourages bad quality care. Doctors need to be put on salaries.

Alan Sager, at Boston University, suggests that we take the portion of our national health care bill that already goes toward physician reimbursement — about $500 billion — and say to doctors, in effect, you can keep the money, but you have to take it in the form of a salary. Surgeons would no longer be paid separately for each surgery, and primary care physicians would no longer get a separate fee for each office visit.

Sounds like a good idea to me. And so long as the salary is plenty high, why wouldn't doctors go for it? I doubt they enjoy looking for ways to require unnecessary procedures.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Comeback
While most of the counry's attention is focused on Gen. Petraeus' congressional testimony, students - mine anyway - are buzzing about something else today: the unfortunate comeback of Ms. Britney Spears at last night's MTV Awards. The reviews are not flattering. I wonder how much longer the corporate music world will tolerate embarassing the industry by pushing music on us from celebrities with no talent? Well, I guess I know the answer to that.

I do have to say that it's not cool in my mind to label her as out-of-shape or worse yet, fat. Clearly she's neither. It's pretty insulting to the women - especially the recent mothers - of the world that her condition is considered that way just for not being tv-toned tiny. On the other hand, it's hard to feel sorry for her on that count. Given the known standards going in, one marvels at the decision to wear the, er, outfit she did. You can read a damning take, and see more pictures than you want to at the This is London review here. Be warned, I guess, that while the pictures are maybe not technically unsafe for work, getting caught perusing them will surely damage your reputation with, well, anyone.

Did anyone dare to watch the actual event?

Elvis Costello
I'm already regretting my decision to skip his show with the Nashville Symphony last night. It was a little pricy and I was really not interested in hearing his ballet Il Sogno, which rather underwhelms me (the most impressive thing about it is that it exists at all, that it's an interest he would pursue), but I'm overhearing people in the coffee shop regaling the fascinating orchestrations of his old material, with the Symphony and Steve Nieve backing him up. I guess I can imagine that sort of thing being so dreadful that I didn't want to chance it. But, I shouldn't have doubted him.

If you're interested in old Elvis material by the way, you may want to pick up the 30th anniversary release of My Aim is True - with lots of extras - which you can get with a free Newbury Comics pint glass at his website! Also, check out the podcast series of Elvis discussing his first 10 years.

Follow-Up
The bees aren't dying because of cell phones, it seems. It's looking more like a virus.

Religious Minorities in Iraq [UPDATE]
Some brilliant guy has pointed out a disconnect between the Bush team's happy talk on Iraq and a letter sent to Secretary Rice by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. For religious minorities, they say, the terror has reached a stage that is "beyond critical" and they sound tired of being ignored, given the White House's love of claiming they promote religious freedom. Oh wait, did I say a brilliant guy? I meant super-good-looking! But anyway, check it out.

[UPDATE: As Farge points out in comments, the link has gone sour. I guess the BJC server is offline - and probably won't be reset until Monday morning. But if you're interested you can read the letter I'm talking about here. Link seems to be working now.]

Lindsay Graham (R-SC) is Smoking Crack!
Feel the burn!

Bonus hit--Fred Thompson borrows Lindsay's pipe! Fred D. was worried about Bin Laden this morning, but after a little afternoon inhaling.... Bin who?

Popcorn Lung
You can get sick from being around lots of microwave popcorn. Who knew? The disease has a delightful name: popcorn lung. No, really. I figured that buttery sludge (which I love) could kill me, but assumed it would be a heart attack. It turns out, though, you don't even have to eat the stuff to suffer its ill-effects, just inhale it. There's so much wrong with that, starting with: can the popcorn industry not come up with a way to fake-butter-up the corn without using diacetyl, the (natural) solution that's sickened popcorn testers and factory workers - and now, an enthusiastic eater - when heated and inhaled over long periods?

But I guess mostly I'm thinking....wouldn't it be nice if one of our biggest problems to solve was the scourge that is popcorn lung? As for reality, it will have to stay 5th on the list, behind global warming, the Iraq War, genocide in Darfur, and our health care system woes, just ahead of traffic light synchronization.

Obama
I understand that Senate Democrats might be in a tough spot trying to end a war without having enough power to pull it off, and especially with so many in DC falling for the story that says the "surge" is working. But, I've got to agree a little with Kos here. I wish Obama could find it in him to be more like Edwards - and Dodd - here than like Clinton. If the election was today, I'd vote for Obama, but I haven't ruled out voting for Edwards in the primary.

"Great News From the World of Science" Strikes Again!
Hey look - new cruise routes are opening up!

The Arctic ice cap has collapsed at an unprecedented rate this summer and levels of sea ice in the region now stand at record lows, scientists have announced.

Experts say they are "stunned" by the loss of ice, with an area almost twice as big as the UK disappearing in the last week alone.

So much ice has melted this summer that the Northwest passage across the top of Canada is fully navigable, and observers say the Northeast passage along Russia's Arctic coast could open later this month.
...
Changes in wind and ocean circulation patterns can help reduce sea ice extent, but [Arctic specialist] Dr [Mark] Serreze said the main culprit was man-made global warming.

Nice going, man. But not to worry! Noted climate scientist Ted Stevens says that global warming is in its last throes and we're just about to turn the corner onto a cooling period. Oh wait, Stevens is just a Republican Senator from Alaska. But still... Woohoo!

Haha
Please, Larry, Please!! Fight on!!

Is Logging the Answer to Global Warming?
Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore [UPDATE: As Doug points out in comments, Moore may be a co-founder but left the group in 1986 and now heads an advocacy group created by the forest industry. He now claims to be in favor of "consensus" not "confrontation" in merging the interests of industry and environment, a position that - I'm guessing - pays better.] says that we are being short-sighted (specifically, the new film The 11th Hour - which I haven't seen yet) in demonizing the logging industry, when, in fact, replacing old trees that are done growing with young ones would be a much more efficient way to soak up carbon with our forests.

To address climate change, we must use more wood, not less. Using wood sends a signal to the marketplace to grow more trees and to produce more wood. That means we can then use less concrete, steel and plastic -- heavy carbon emitters through their production. Trees are the only abundant, biodegradable and renewable global resource.

DiCaprio's movie, The 11th Hour, is another example of anti-forestry scare tactics, this time said to be "brilliant and terrifying" by James Christopher of the London Times.

Maybe so, but instead of surrendering to the terror, keep in mind that there are solutions to the challenges of climate, and our forests are among them.

I don't know whether he's right - in fact I doubt that his answer is all that helpful - but it reminds of one thing that is definitely true when it comes to the complex array of factors contributing to the climate crisis: the obvious response may not be the solution. Planting new trees and ending the practice of cutting down old ones might make lots of sense. But if that comes at the expense of more steel and plastic production, it's at least conceivably a net loss - a calculation worth considering.

So, why do I doubt the helpfulness of Moore's particular critique? His solution has its own problems. Does the timber industry replenish forests at a sustainable rate? How much of the wood they cut down is actually turned into furniture or other biodegradable items, and how much is burned, releasing the carbon into the atmosphere? How much carbon is emitted through the logging process? What is the environmental effect of the chemicals and paint used to treat the wood that is consumed in the marketplace? The more I read, the more I'm convinced to claim humble ignorance about how to proceed...the calculations required for a proper ethical decision here are terribly complex, most variables I'm not even capable of imagining, and surely many important ones haven't yet been conceived by anyone. Drive less, use less coal-powered, gas-powered, oil-powered energy, and vote for the candidates who most care to think through systemic solutions for this systemic crisis. That's all I feel sure about.

My Kid Could Paint That
I saw this preview before seeing "No End in Sight." Looks really great - watch the trailer.

MEDIA MONDAY - LABOR DAY EDITION
Happy Labor Day! What have you been reading, listening to, watching?

Film Recommendation
I saw No End in Sight, a documentary about the devastatingly bad decisions that have helped make the Iraq War such a disaster. It's very well-done and organized, and it has some very impressive interviews with people willing to speak their minds - Jay Garner, Richard Armitage to name just a couple. Most of these things we knew already from the news. Still, it is truly maddening to watch them pieced together, having the stories told by incredulous officials, who seem genuinely shocked that the war was conducted so foolishly. There was little to no planning, no communication and no listening to experts. Our war was conceived and executed by a handful of naive, tyrannical misfits. They knew nothing about warfare, nothing about Iraq, and especially nothing about running a large-scale peace-keeping and reconstruction project. And they compensated for this majestic lack by making monumental decisions in secret, consulting no one who needed to know and no one who had already developed better ideas for how to proceed.

Like I say, no news there right? But it is instructive (in a want-to-bang-your-head-into-a-wall kind of way) to hear the Army's Colonel in charge of organizing the Iraqi military - for the purpose of integrating them into the rebuilding process - explain how he learned of Bremer's shocking, fateful decision to disband the military through television. The look on his face and the expression of disgust and disbelief in his voice are the kind of thing you can't get from reading the newspaper. It's that kind of moment that makes the film so worthwhile. I've given up thinking that a strong film can change the present, but this should be an essential document for the future...when generations beyond us are wondering how the world managed to get so screwed up. This will be one of the answers.

"Tearoom Trade"
A NYTimes op-ed by author Laura MacDonald today describes a study conducted in 1970 with unethical means but interesting results. Among other things, combined with Senator Craig's situation, it tells us we haven't learned very much, or come very far in responding to the secret complexities of sexuality .

For almost 40 years most police departments have been aware of something that still escapes the general public: men who troll for sex in public places, gay or “not gay,” are, for the most part, upstanding citizens.
...
[M]ost of them were married; their houses were just a little bit nicer than most, their yards better kept. They were well educated, worked longer hours, tended to be active in the church and the community but, unexpectedly, were usually politically and socially conservative, and quite vocal about it.

In other words, not only did these men have nice families, they had nice families who seemed to believe what the fathers loudly preached about the sanctity of marriage.
...
[F]or our part, let’s stop being so surprised when we discover that our public figures have their own complex sex lives, and start being more suspicious when they self-righteously denounce the sex lives of others.

More Republicans Joining Gonzo
So long, Tony, John, Larry

Gay Marriage and Politics
At a recent presidential candidate forum sponsored by gay rights advocates, Senator Clinton said things have changed on the federal level: for one thing, Republicans aren't pushing for a gay marriage amendment to the Constitution this election cycle. In fact, she said, gay marriage seems like it won't be an issue at all in 2008. Without state referendums and a constitutional amendment to drive evangelical Republicans to the polls, she seemed to be saying, Democrats will have a better time, not having to fight that fight.

I don't know if that's right...but we'll see, because an Iowa court (how fortuitous for GOP candidates there) has just ruled that state's gay marriage ban unconstitutional.

In his 63-page decision, Hanson wrote that the statute excluding same-sex couples from marriage "violates Plaintiff's due process and equal protection rights for the aforementioned reasons including, but not limited to, the absence of a rational relationship to the achievement of any legitimate governmental interest." Therefore the law is "unconstitutional and invalid."

Something tells me we're going to get a healthy dose of gay marriage talk after all, but good for that Iowa judge. Eventually, one of these rulings may stick. Maybe then, with gay couples more able to live their lives, and their loves, in normal social settings, the airport sex stall ring will dissipate, and Republican Senators will have to search out other avenues to explore their personal secret hypocrisies.

I'm Gonna Need That TPS Report Before You Leave For the Afterlife
My buddy Chris emailed this story, showing the Chinese government's determination to control Tibetan Buddhists even after their death. There will be no more reincarnation, you see, without filing the proper paperwork with, and receiving the approval of, Chinese authorities.

According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

I can only imagine mine would be the soul to get lost in the bureaucracy of some Ministry of Bodily Rehabitation office.

Oh Well
Coulda put the Yankees away with this 3 game series. Instead, the Sox got swept and helped NY into a tie for the wild card. They went from looking like the offense was unstoppable against the White Sox to looking like they had no idea how to get a hit in this series.Just lucky they didn't get no-hit 2 games in a row. Really need to take 2 out of 3 against the Yanks in Boston in a couple weeks or else the confidence will probably be on the low end going into the playoffs.

Friendly Advice
Dear Sen. Larry Craig,
The troubling thing about your alleged behavior is not the gay element. It's the publicly lewd, near-predatory, law-breaking, recklessly stupid element. That's the part you want to deny.

Gentle NPR Rant
I love NPR - I listen to it in the car most mornings and afternoons for news and news analysis and some of the features. But I've just about had it with all the morning cancer talk. Is anyone else noticing this? I understand cancer is a scourge - a horrible disease that impacts nearly every family in a very profound way. But it feels like I wake up almost every day to the first-person account of dealing with the realities of mid-to-late-stage cancer. They even have a guy giving weekly updates of his life with the illness. But it's not just him. It seems like there's a near-daily expression of cancer-driven anguish, or at best a person trying to look on the bright side (in classic NPR monotone) of their otherwise horrible suffering.

Look, NPR, I can't take it any more. I want and need to feel sorrow for the suffering, and be inspired to do my part to be as helpful as I can be. But the news already offers so much of that without introducing me to a lineup of sufferers just because they give good journal. as it is, the headlines fill me with outrage over the horrors and sorrows of much of the world. I don't need to start out every other day marinating my outrage in a pool of cancer-stricken sadness, too. Please don't make me switch to sports talk, or God forbid, make me turn it off and have to actually think. Do the right thing. Limit first-person morning cancer sorrow to once every other week at the most.

Katrina
Happy Anniversary. For the occasion, the White House has issued a "fact sheet" which claims that levee and floodwall rebuilding have left New Orleans with its "best flood protection in history." 2 thoughts on that: 1) Why do I not believe it? and 2) Is that really saying much anyway?

Harry Shearer compares the paltry federal response to Katrina with the rush to bailout sub-prime borrowers who likewise may be losing their homes.

And the Times-Picayune pleads with President Bush for "fair treatment" in financial aid following the failure of the federal levees that drowned their city.

Anonymous Airport Sex...Who Knew?
Larry Craig is in a spot of trouble. The Senator from Idaho pled guilty last month to disorderly conduct for using some kind of secret code in the bathroom to request sex from the person in the stall next to him, who turned out to be a police officer running a sting operation from the toilet there. I have lots of questions about this.

1) Is this anonymous sex in the airport bathroom thing really a common occurrence? Not that I expect any of you to know, but this is the first I've heard of it. I've read about such, er, traditions at truck stops and in public parks, but the airport? Don't people in airports have, you know, places to go?

2) I understand that people having sex in the public restroom is problematic and, I guess, unacceptable. But is this really the airport security concern that needs attention these days? I kind of hoped that all available security personnel were on the lookout for more serious threats. I mean, investigate complaints and all, but set up a sting?

3) Will that cop be eligible for medical leave for any complications he develops from, I suppose, sitting on the toilet all day waiting on Republicans to come by and give him the signal?

4) Will Craig really be in political trouble over this? you would think this might offend the sensibilities of Western conservatives. But at the same time, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) seems to be unscathed despite his sudden notoriety as a regular brothel and escort client with a diaper fetish. if that doesn't ruin your electoral chances in the South, I don't know what will, anywhere. We're a long way from the days when you could get impeached for lying about (legal) oral sex. Remember those days?

5) From the reports, Craig sounds like he is a pro at this game. Can't it only be a matter of time before someone comes along and Haggards him? Tells the story of how he and Craig completed this exercise at some earlier time?

6) Is he just freaking nuts? I know that the powerful can get reckless and feel invincible. But this is really really dumb. As far as being dumb goes, this is not even in the ballpark of a discrete affair. This is going out in public and requesting anonymous sex, knowing full well that if it becomes public it will tarnish your reputation forever. How do you get to be a Senator with that little self-preserving restraint?

7) Can you read this without laughing out loud?

8) Would you plead guilty to such charges if you didn't do anything and just wanted to avoid the public scrutiny of fighting them?

9) As TPM poster David Kurtz notes, how much should we really care?

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been watching, listening to, reading?

In the Loop, Plus a Poll: Tell Doug Why to Get Cable (or Not)
Doug mentions:

I've been going to parties lately and noticing that I can't really fully participate in conversations without a better working knowledge of Entourage, Rescue Me, and Nip/Tuck.

My first thought is: really? Nip/Tuck? I don't think in my experience anyone's ever mentioned that show, or Rescue Me, in conversation. I don't feel too far out of the loop not watching Entourage, but then I never really liked it the few minutes I've seen. Lots of friends tried to turn me onto Deadwood, but best as I could tell, you only needed to know one particular word to get the references there.

Honestly, and frustratingly, the show that I don't watch that seems to have the broadest cultural impact - even in trusted mediums - is American Idol. From the Daily Show to Colbert, Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann to reading Rolling Stone or random blog posts or newspaper articles, its mention - even to trash it - seems near ubiquitous. In fact, I'm thoroughly pissed that I learn as much about the goings on there as I do, having never watched a minute of it. Why do I nonetheless know who the favorites are? Who's hated? Who the previous winners are? I don't *want* to be in that loop but am pretty well lassoed by it anyway.

But then, my second reaction is: Doug, you go to parties? Maybe this is why I don't identify - where are all the parties? I thought all my invitations had dried up because people our age don't have parties. Clearly I'm mistaken and I've been crossed off the invite lists. And who'd've thought that at these (until now) secret parties they talk about Dennis Leary's show? I can't even get a party with a good Timothy Leary reference these days.

Also it occurs to me, given my partyless existence - I get all my TV references from TV (and the intertubes), not actual conversation with other humans. So, tell me good readers: what is the show or shows your life most requires to feel in the loop? And are Entourage, Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me the best reasons for Doug to get cable? (I'm assuming you can watch all the best Daily Show bits online nowadays...) Or are there even better reasons you would recommend, in addition to the shows I mentioned above?

Weekend Box Office
1. Superbad
2. Bourne
3. Rush Hour 3 (sigh...)
4. Mr. Bean's Holiday
5. WAR

Good Riddance [UPDATED]
I interrupt this Media Monday to celebrate with you the resignation of Alberto Gonzales. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Alberto.

[UPDATE: Piling on Gonzales doesn't take lots of skill - like beating on a pinata without a blindfold - but here are Pelosi and Reid's strong statements.

UPDATE 2: TPM has a run-down of responses; here's a good one from Rahm Emmanuel:

Alberto Gonzales is the first Attorney General who thought the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth were three different things.]

DNC Votes to Strip FL Primary of Delegates
Florida moved its primary earlier than current Democratic Party rules allow. So the Party today voted to render the state's vote merely a "beauty contest" that will have no impact on the delegate selection process.

War Fetish
Historian quoted by Bush yesterday speaks: the President and war apologists are "perverse."

Blurring the Lines: The Bullshit of Clintonian Triangulation
Josh Marshall has already weighed in on Matthew Yglesias' post lamenting a recent statement by Hillary Clinton. And I have to agree with them both but on a slightly different trajectory. First, here's what she said (my emph.):

"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world," Clinton told supporters in Concord.

"So I think I'm the best of the Democrats to deal with that," she added.

In other words, she's been working both sides of the foreign policy fence for a reason: so that she can easily slip into Republican costume should a terrorist strike occur. And she can do that easily because she's been wearing one for so much of her time in the Senate. This is my main problem with Hillary: I don't trust her. She has given me every reason to believe that as President she would pander to foreign policy nutjobs in search of re-election, and would govern via mostly inconsequential half-measure.

Matt and Josh object because they think it's loser talk - and it is - to say that Republicans have an advantage if something terror-related happens. What a shitty position undercutting Democrats, essentially admitting that she doesn't believe in her own primary-season talking points! But I think it's worse than that. I think we're being set up. We can't forget that not only did she vote for the war, she refuses to say it was a mistake. She sounds mostly like a Democrat now, but it appears that her general election plan is the same old DLC crap: blur the foreign policy lines. She thinks she's the "best to deal with" terrorism in a general election, why? Because she's most experienced and most prepared to become a Republican, and thinks that will work. I, for one, happen to believe the Republican way is bullshit, and has gotten us into a deep, deep mess. I don't want a President who is even capable of that approach, much less one who believes it's the way to speak to the American people. Proud Democrat, please.

Surgeriffic
Link

The number of Iraqis fleeing their homes has soared since the American troop increase began in February, according to data from two humanitarian groups, accelerating the partition of the country into sectarian enclaves.

Despite some evidence that the troop buildup has improved security in certain areas, sectarian violence continues and American-led operations have brought new fighting, driving fearful Iraqis from their homes at much higher rates than before the tens of thousands of additional troops arrived, the studies show.

Plus, the NIE report is out. The verdict? Nothing is being accomplished, and things will get worse when we leave. Great.

Is Nancy Pelosi the Enemy?
Constitutional scholar and conservative Bruce Fein has been arguing for the impeachment of both President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for their abuses of constitutional authority. In a column in Slate, he takes Speaker Pelosi to task for taking the option "off the table." I rarely understand polls, but I think the current ultra-low rating for Congress makes lots of sense. Conservatives, naturally, don't like Democrats being in control, and liberals - who hoped and expected more from Democratic control (probably too much) are disappointed. In that sense, she's exacerbating the decline in congressional approval, not preserving any real moderate support. All things considered - Bush running roughshod over the Constitution, War still raging with no end in sight, earmarks and lobbyists still running business - I'm not sure why Congress' approval is as *high* as it is, even at or near all-time lows.

But until recently I've agreed with Pelosi that going forward with impeachment hearings only makes things worse and alienates the few people left who think they're doing a good job. And I've thought that for a pretty simple reason: I don't think it would work, and I fear the repercussions of a failed impeachment attempt (I don't mean a failed trial like Republicans got with Clinton, I mean a failed attempt to even bring it to trial). It's questionable whether it could get out of committee, and far-fetched to think it could get out of the House, with so many conservative Dems unwilling to risk their seats.

Still, Fein makes a couple of good points, here and elsewhere: 1) Even if it fails to get out of Committee, there are gains to be made in principle by holding impeachment hearings, namely to warn future Presidents that this kind of abuse will not be accepted without resistance. 2) Once in the public eye, attention may be focused in a way that brings some of those wishy-washy representatives around. 3)It's just the right thing to do in defense of our Constitution, all political calculations aside. 4) As he says, "According to public opinion polling, the percentage of voters supporting the impeachments of both President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are now approximately 45 and 54 percent, respectively."

Like I say, I'm not totally convinced, but I'm no longer where I was - and where Pelosi is - unwilling to even hear about it.

Vietnam
President Bush today, essentially: If we had just stuck it out longer in Vietnam, we wouldn't be in this mess.

Because Einstein Was Well-Known for His Happiness
From an AP report:

The mother who launched the Baby Einstein children's video empire by making videos in her basement for her own children says she's stung by a controversy over whether the videos help babies learn or get in the way — and insists they were never designed to make infants smarter, only happier.
...
In an interview, Aigner-Clark said she stands behind the videos and that they were never designed to make children smarter. The point, she said, is to make them happier by exposing them to "beautiful things" such as art, music and poetry.

Meanwhile, the NYTimes op-ed page found an author trying to sell her new book,“Into the Minds of Babes: How Screen Time Affects Children From Birth to Age Five.”

Only 17 percent of 384 babies in the survey were put in front of videos for an hour or more each day. The average baby watched only about 9 minutes a day. Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that the national average may be a bit higher — about 13 minutes a day. And babies’ total screen time, including television, DVDs and even computers, according to Kaiser, is higher still — about 49 minutes per day. But the alarming finding from the University of Washington survey applied only to baby videos. Television time, in contrast, seemed to have no effect, good or bad, on babies this young.

I don't see how this helps the Baby Einstein case, to say that the TV time doesn't hurt, but acknowledge the video time does?

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been listening to, reading, watching?

Rufus Wainwright [Bonus Update]
I've been late in giving a review of this show Tuesday at the Ryman. I was truly excited about seeing him live because: his songs are beautifully, skillfully arranged and orchestrated, full of surprises, fabulous melodies (They Might Be Giants said of their own musical ambitions that they wanted to "rescue melody from the forces of evil." That comes to mind when listening to Rufus' tunes.), and harmonies that are at once complex and transparent, not to mention his trademark voice. Those were the things that took me there - to experience them live with other fans, and to see how he translated them on stage (especially the songs with quite dense orchestrations.)

Those things were perfectly done. The performances and live arrangements were pitch perfect - just different enough from the recording to give me reason to listen closely.

The other thing about Rufus is - if you didn't know - he's gay. His music has become more and more open about that, and his determination to be proudly out strikes me the same way that his determination to be openly dramatic and bold in his songwriting and orchestration does: it makes me proud to support him. To be sure, with his voice and talent, he could probably make lots more money with a different image and approach. Anyway, another point of interest going in to the show was to see, here in the bible belt, just how - for lack of a better phrase - gay he was going to be. Will he leave out his songs with more overtly gay imagery? What will his interaction with the crowd be like?

I knew he had at least a moderate comfort level when his first communication was to express disappointment that almost all the noisy cheerers - the biggest fans they put in the front 2 rows - were girls. All question was removed, though, when he took an intermission to change into an outfit that I can only describe as leather lederhosen, to the delight of the crowd. And I suppose he was ridiculing my asking when his encore attire - a long white bathrobe - was for the last few songs removed to reveal a handsome skirt suit. He then exchanged his shoes for a pair of high heels while talking to us (it was like Mr. Rogers on the cross-dressing channel), added some sparkly earrings and applied a healthy layer of lipstick to artfully sing a couple of Judy Garland numbers with piano accompaniment, while the rest of the all-boy band became a troupe of well-coordinated 40s-style dancers.

The vibe in the crowd for that part was a kind of stunned, ecstatic pride. I doubt anything like that (and little that talented) has ever graced the Ryman stage. With admiration I can say it was easily the gayest thing I've seen in a long time.

[Bonus: Here's a tidbit of lyrics from one of my favorites - even though he rhymes well with well - on Release the Stars, "Going to a Town":

Do you really think you go to Hell for having loved?
And not for thinking everything you've done is good?
After soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood,
I'm so tired of America.

I may just never see you again or might as well.
You took advantage of a world that loved you well.
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down.
I'm so tired of you, America.]

Weekend Box Office
1. Superbad
2. Rush Hour 3
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
4. The Simpsons Movie
5. The Invasion

In Which I Solve the Ridiculous Primary Problem
This is getting stupid. Michigan's likely moving their primary up to January 15, throwing the calendar into a mess. This is the dumbest thing to have to worry about. And it's unfair for any candidate at this late date to be uncertain about when and where elections will be held. Primaries are party operations and it's time they took some national control over them.

Here, by the way, is the solution:

We should have a national primary day early in March, for all states except 4. Prior to that, one state will hold a primary (or caucus, whatever they prefer) late in January, one in mid-February and 2 on the same day in late February. That gives some retail politics, and underfunded candidates a chance to impact the process without leaving any states so late as to be irrelevant. Which 4 states get the privilege, you ask? That's the best part. They will be the 4 states whose popular vote for President in the preceding election was the closest on a percentage basis, with the caveat that no state will be allowed to be one of the first 4 on consective presidential election cycles. Any state that doesn't wish to hold an early primary, for whatever reason, can pass, and the privilege will pass to the next state on the close-election list.

This plan ensures that the most competitive states in the general election have the most say in the primary process, while not allowing any state to become a fixture. Maybe we could calculate the percentage difference to only one decimal point and if there's a tie, let the state that's had the longest wait for an early primary win the tie. Voila.

Bush's Mine Safety Chief
You know how this story is going to go without even reading it, don't you? Now that 3 rescue workers have been killed trying to find the 6 trapped miners, I would understand if you can't handle reading about the tragic outrage that is Richard Stickler (yes, Dick Stickler), Bush's pick to head our Mine Health and Safety Administration. If it's too much for you heading into a weekend, don't read it.

Baby Einstein Update
Disney (the company that owns Baby Einstein) has asked that the University of Washington retract their press release announcing the findings of the study I pointed to last week, in which babies exposed to the videos were found to have smaller vocabularies than babies not. The University said no thanks.

I'm going to keep my eye on this story - and not sure why it hasn't gotten more attention. President Bush did praise the company owner at the last SOTU, and I see advertisements for her great child neglect scheme entrepeneurship skills on CNBC commercials all the time these days. What's next, medal of freedom for the Chinese toothpaste and plastic toy makers?

Mission Accomplished [UPDATED]
Let me get this straight. We've increased our troop presence in Iraq under a "surge" strategy that we are supposed to believe in because it's being led by one of the great military men of ability and integrity, Gen. Petraeus. If it failed to meet its objectives, he would tell us and we're going to listen to his report and recommendations in September to guide war strategy going forward. Except that he's not really going to write the report, the White House is. And, oh yeah, they don't want the public to actually hear from him as he answers questions from Congress.

Senior congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has proposed limiting the much-anticipated appearance on Capitol Hill next month of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker to a private congressional briefing, suggesting instead that the Bush administration's progress report on the Iraq war should be delivered to Congress by the secretaries of state and defense.

They really think they should be able to script everything don't they? Even while assuring us they're not in charge - it's the Generals, on the ground, you see.

[UPDATE: Via DKos, Harry Reid responds - something to the effect of "hell no." Kevin Drum thinks this was never a serious proposal, just a negotiating tactic to play down expectations.]

Hillary Gets Her Wish
I'm not supporting her and I hope she's not the nominee, but I like Hillary Clinton's first TV ad. And she has to be thrilled to be attacked by the White House over it. See it for yourself.

Arriana on Mine Man
Shouldn't we be hearing more about the "public face" of the Utah mine story?

[W]e get precious little on the Murray who had enough political muscle to get a Mine Safety and Health Administration district manager who had cracked down on safety issues at one of Murray's mines reassigned (clearly, contributing $213,000 to Republican candidates over the last ten years, as well as another $724,500 to Republican candidates and causes through political action committees connected to Murray's businesses, has its benefits). The Murray who rails against the United Mine Workers Association, claiming it wants "to damage Murray Energy, Utah American and the United States coal industry for their own motives." The Murray who called Hillary Clinton "anti-American" for saying America needs a president who will fight for workers' rights, and telling a Senate committee this summer that Al Gore and Congressional Democrats are bent on "the destruction of American lives and more death as a result of his hysterical global goofiness with no environmental benefit."

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, watching, listening to?

In my rush to last-minute escapism in advance of the start of the school year, I've seen a few films lately. On Saturday I posted (scroll down) my displeasure with having sat through Ghost Rider. Also over the weekend I saw the Billy Wilder classic The Front Page for the first time. Really great! That Jack Lemmon could really act huh? Carol Burnett was impressive too. Or maybe I was just surprised to see her. Also caught Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast - a movie I've been meaning to see in a while. Fabulous! It takes a tired genre cliche - that of luring the retired criminal back for one last go - and thrashes it. Here's what everyone else is watching:

Weekend Box Office
1. Rush Hour 3
2. Bourne Ultimatum
3. The Simpsons Movie
4. Stardust
5. Underdog

Score one for originality! Only 3 of the top 11 are not a sequel, a remake or a TV spinoff. Anyone see Stardust yet? I can't decide if it looks interesting or dreadful.

On another note - I'm excited about tomorrow's Rufus Wainright with Neko Case show at the Ryman. I'm on the front row in the balcony! Will no doubt report back on Wednesday.

Precedent
I suspect we'll see more like this. Thanks again, President Bush!

Yesterday, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe “signed into law the controversial Interception of Communications Bill, which gives his government the authority to eavesdrop on phone and Internet communications and read physical mail.” In order to defend the law, which has been called “the dictator’s tool kit,” Mugabe’s spokesperson pointed to President Bush’s wiretapping program.

Powerfully Bad
I knew better than to watch Ghost Rider, the Nicholas Cage superhero movie, but nothing else in the on demand list sounded good tonight and I did collect the comic book as a kid, so I'm familiar with the basics of Johnny's story. So I figured why not...

It is easily the worst movie I've seen in a long, long time. This movie is soaked in bad. Top to bottom, start to finish, the dialogue is dumb, the developments are nonsense, characters ridiculous, the predicaments are stupid, the solutions worse. I can't believe I watched the whole thing.

The Future of Car Manufacturing
From Nissan:

Boffins at car manufacturer Nissan are developing a concept car that can monitor whether a driver is drunk or tired.

The car's technology will use sensors to detect alcohol in the sweat and odour of a driver, as well as checking awareness levels.

Sensors are placed in the gear stick to measure the amount of perspiration on the driver's hand and odour detectors are fitted into the driver and passenger seats.

A monitoring system will also check to see if the car is staying inside its lane and a camera mounted at eye level scans the driver's eyes for signs of tiredness.

But really, electric cars are just impossible to make.

Governor Bredesen Angling for VP/Cabinet Spot?
I don't know how else to interpret the inclusion in today's Tennessean of his op-ed relating to building a health care system that covers every American. As Governor, he has his hands full implementing the state proposals he's put through after dismantling our TennCare system. But he had plenty of time to answer the newspaper's question of the day: "How should the nation go about providing health care for all citizens." And his essay - part of an opinion-page debate that included Senator Bob Corker - was most definitely federal in scope and interest. Here's a bit:

[I]t is past time for every American to be covered. But the ideas being talked about today are increasingly stale, reflecting more the world as it was in 1965 when the Medicare and Medicaid programs were first passed than 21st-century realities. Today, we find ourselves with a problem that has become so large, so complex and interconnected that, unless Washington can find a way to lay aside the politics and work together, we're going to continue to fail.

Sounds like a guy that would like to be relevant on the national stage, don't you think? Corker's proposal, by the way, is this: Give every American $2,160 - every family $5,400 - in the form of tax credits for the purpose of purchasing health insurance.

These tax credits would be both advanceable and refundable, meaning that low-income families would have the money to make timed, monthly payments and would receive the full value of the tax credit regardless of the amount of taxes they owe the government. This proposal also provides states with flexible incentives to reform health insurance markets to ensure that affordable, high-quality health insurance is available. In short, this bill provides Americans cash to purchase health insurance in the private market.

I'm no fan of Corker, but I'll give him 2 things this week. 1) This plan at least extends Republican principles - like them or not - to the challenge of covering every American; in short, he at least considers it a problem worth solving (even if his main stated motivation is to avoid the inevitable government-run solution that will come if the country's health coverage woes continue to grow). Most Republicans don't sound like they even consider this a problem, just a feature of the market-based economy. 2) He voted for the Senate version of S-CHIP expansion, raising cigarette taxes to cover more children. Most Republicans did not.

Watch American Idol With Your Babies
Article 19 readers won't be shocked by a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics. We've covered this ground before, but here it is one more time and slowly for our friends with smaller vocabularies: Sitting your infants in front of Baby Einstein videos does not make them smarter; if anything, just the opposite.

For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.

Parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking, each year buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of the videos.

Unfortunately it's all money down the tubes, according to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle.
...
Christakis said children whose parents read to them or told them stories had larger vocabularies.

"I would rather babies watch 'American Idol' than these videos," Christakis said, explaining that there is at least a chance their parents would watch with them — which does have developmental benefits.

Stare at This
I don't know how correct it is - the stats at the heart of it. But the World Clock is pretty mesmerizing and will debilitate you for about 5 minutes. After you've looked around at all the numbers, make sure you press the "Now" button and look again before you leave. (via Gristmill)

49 Games To Go
I don't want to be the one to bring this up, but 113 games into the season the Red Sox lead over the Yankees is down to 5 games. If the Sox blow it, and if I believed in jinxes, I would probably blame the Boston writer who penned this column.

Democratic Debate
On MSNBC.

I thought Hillary was going to have a speechless moment there for a second, but instead she turned Edwards' shot at her into a rousing success for her. In addition to that, she just generally knows how to pivot policy questions on real-life concerns of the listener. Olbermann asks a question about China to all the candidates: are they an ally or an adversary? Everybody essentially agrees the answer is neither. They're a competitor. She's the one that mentions that we're tired of buying their poisoned food and toys.

Some fireworks surrounding Obama's recent Pakistan remarks. From my ears, Obama may have gotten the better of Hillary on that. Then a woman who lost her husband in a mine disaster asked Senator Biden about mine safety and worker protections in light of the ongoing situation in Utah. Biden basically ignored her question so he could use his time to get in another shot on Pakistan. Classy.

There's Hot Particles In My Air
Hopefully your air quality is better than Los Angeles'. Mine's not.

MEDIA MONDAY
What have you been reading, watching, listening to?

Weekend Box Office
1. Bourne Whatever
2. The Simpsons
3. Underdog
4. Chuck and Larry
5. Hairspray

I saw the Bourne movie. For the genre (the I'm-involved-in-political-intrigue-and-being-chased-NO-I'm-chasing-you-now-how-do-you-like-it? genre), it seemed quite good actually. It does get a little tiring: the handheld camera, the extreme facial closeups and the constant music that says other more dangerous music could start at any moment. But it does have one of the more impressive car chases/wrecks and hand-to-hand fight scenes, and that's something if you're into it.

Electoral College Crap and an Article 19 Poll
North Carolina and California are both in different ways making noise about changing the way they distribute electoral votes to a system in which they are awarded proportionally based on how many congressional districts are won.

So here's the poll question. What would be *the best way* to conduct presidential elections:
A) Popular Vote across the country
B) Electoral College System, with winner-take-all in *every* state
C) Electoral College System, with proportional electoral votes in *every* state
D) A Hodge-Podge of different methods according to each state's wishes

Son of Great News From the World of Science - It's Hot!! Edition
Luckily there's lots of extra beach space around lakes.

Lake Superior has both shrunk and gotten warmer, confounding scientists who can't explain what is happening to the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area and the third largest by volume of water.
...
Since 1979, the average water temperature has shot up 4.5 degrees compared to only a 2.7-degree increase in the region's air temperature. Scientists still don't know if climate change is to blame, but recently the lake's surface temperature registered 75, which is as high as anyone has known it to be.

In addition, the lake has shrunk suddenly. That has left children in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan playing in mud where they played in waist deep water only a few years ago.

So, see? When rising coastlines force businesses and residents to flee to drier ground, they can just move into the new land forming around our nation's lakes.

Supreme Disappointment
Shattered dreams

Members of a 1980s funk and disco group hit a sour note in their attempt to break the world record for the largest kazoo ensemble, falling short of the some 2,600 impromptu musicians needed.
...
"I don't know anything about it," said Cecilia Malone, standing among a crowd of spectators and looking at the plastic kazoo in puzzlement. "Which side do you blow on? Do you know?"

The current kazoo record was set this past New Year's Eve in Rochester, where 2,600 kazooers gathered to play shortly before midnight. Before that, The Quincy Park Band had held the record for gathering 1,791 players in Quincy, Ill., in 2004.

Author and "professional kazooist" Barbara Stewart, who was involved in this effort, is "leading a campaign to name the kazoo America's national instrument." Godspeed, sweet nasally tunestress. Godspeed.

3-Way Lead in Iowa, I Answer My Own Questions
A new Washington Post poll puts Obama, Edwards, Clinton essentially tied at 27-26-26. Richardson in double digits here too at 11. Is it time to pay attention to, or care about, these polls yet? No. I'll tell you when. Can Richardson really make this a four-way race? Maybe.

One interesting thing about this poll - they asked respondents for their second choice. This left things essentially even, still. 51% chose Obama either 1st or 2nd. 48 each for Clinton and Edwards. I think this is good news for...Hillary. The theory that Obama and Edwards represent an anti-Hillary vote, and with one out their supporters would flock to the other, doesn't hold up here.

Open Mic Thursday
It's local election day here in Nash-Vegas and I'm volunteering around the city, in completely pointless save-the-world mode. One of these days, I'm going to pick a winning candidate just accidentally. Who knows, maybe it will be today. Won't be around all day, so feel free to get a conversation started in my absence - link to interesting news or whatever. You know the drill.

Obama Speech
Delivered today, about combating terrorism. You can read it as prepared here. Here's a bit:

As President, I will make it a focus of my foreign policy to roll back the tide of hopelessness that gives rise to hate. Freedom must mean freedom from fear, not the freedom of anarchy. I will never shrug my shoulders and say – as Secretary Rumsfeld did – “Freedom is untidy.” I will focus our support on helping nations build independent judicial systems, honest police forces, and financial systems that are transparent and accountable. Freedom must also mean freedom from want, not freedom lost to an empty stomach. So I will make poverty reduction a key part of helping other nations reduce anarchy.

I will double our annual investments to meet these challenges to $50 billion by 2012. And I will support a $2 billion Global Education Fund to counter the radical madrasas – often funded by money from within Saudi Arabia – that have filled young minds with messages of hate. We must work for a world where every child, everywhere, is taught to build and not to destroy. And as we lead we will ask for more from our friends in Europe and Asia as well – more support for our diplomacy, more support for multilateral peacekeeping, and more support to rebuild societies ravaged by conflict.
...
I also will reject a legal framework that does not work. There has been only one conviction at Guantanamo. It was for a guilty plea on material support for terrorism. The sentence was 9 months. There has not been one conviction of a terrorist act. I have faith in America’s courts, and I have faith in our JAGs. As President, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act, and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists.

This Administration also puts forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. I will provide our intelligence and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to track and take out the terrorists without undermining our Constitution and our freedom.

That means no more illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. No more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war. No more ignoring the law when it is inconvenient. That is not who we are. And it is not what is necessary to defeat the terrorists. The FISA court works. The separation of powers works. Our Constitution works. We will again set an example for the world that the law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers, and that justice is not arbitrary.