Times-osaurus rex

I dislike pretty much anything that hurts anyone and by hurt, I’m talking about a wide variety of pain.  If there is an industry (and therefore a lot of people) that is suffering right now it is the newspaper industry.  I don’t think journalism is easy, and I think we owe journalists (the un-brainwashed ones) a lot of gratitude for scaring folk into doing the right thing or risk to be humiliated in the newspaper.  But I also think we (esp the gen y’ers) owe craigslist and google a lot of gratitude.  I’ve done everything from selling cars, finding roommates, applying to grad school — all the important stuff on the internet for free and much quicker than I could have done it back in the day.  Because of google and craigslist I have way more luxury time to devote to working or playing.  This is huge and this is why our world is progressing exponentially.  But again I feel for reporters  like Maureen Dowd who are at risk.  She, as per usual, hits the nail on the head.

Firms, like Google here and Craigslist in San Francisco, have hijacked journalism, making us feel about as modern as the Tyrannosaurus rex model that sits on the Google campus.

Torture update, big deal.

2 big things are going on in the torture world.

1.  The honorable Judge Garzon of Spain (best known for taking down Augusto Pinochet) is at it again, and I love him for it. The LA Times reports,

A high-profile Spanish judge has initiated a possible investigation of alleged torture and war crimes by half a dozen U.S. officials who created the legal framework for interrogations at Guantanamo, a senior Spanish official said Saturday.

The process has gotten so far, it is scaring the begeezus out of Bush senior staff.  John Yoo and David Addington, two of torture enablers, have recently canceled their Chevy Chase esque European adventure.  Huff post reports quotes from both gentleman that show just how clueless they are to the pain they’ve caused.

“It’s a shame when you have someone who thinks they’re above the law…like Mr. Garzon,” said Addington, “and now two innocent people have to suffer. We had been looking forward to this for years, and now they just want to put us on the rack…I’m speaking metaphorically, of course.”

2.  Today a Federal judge ruled that detainees in Afghanistan are entitled to challenge their detention in US Courts.  The fact that they were unable to challenge their detention before was one of my only disappointments with Obama thus far.  So I’m glad that this has been overturned.  We must stop treating individuals as they have varying value.  We all have equal value in this world — this ruling helps affirm this.  As reported by the NYT,

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have the right to challenge their detention in court. But the government had argued that it did not apply to those in Afghanistan.

Bates said the cases were essentially the same and he quoted the Supreme Court ruling repeatedly in his judgment and applied the test created by it to each detainee. It is the first time a federal judge has applied the ruling to detainees in Afghanistan.

The beastly, the brash, the big word, globalization.

I was hoping that this recession would do away with all the free market talk, get rid of the Chicago boys rhetoric once and for all and help build a globalized economy that protects the little guy.  While it hasn’t done all that, it has taken the stigma from “regulation” and spread it around to some other words like…Wall Street and securitization.  In hopes of permanent regulation we need to think big.  Damon Silvers, associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO, is looking to change the world market, not just the US.  What he says is sound thinking, we are more connected than ever and might as well fix all the holes at once.  Let’s see how the G8 countries feel about all this.  More importantly now though, how do American taxpayers feel about this.  As reported on AFL-CIO Now Blog, if they don’t feel taken…then they aren’t paying attention.

Silvers, associate general counsel for the AFL-CIO, says taxpayers are being asked to givie away too much to hedge funds and private equity in President Obama’s financial rescue package. The plan for public-private partnerships announced by the Treasury Department on Monday gives taxpayers 95 percent of the risk with only 50 percent of the benefits in buying the toxic assets.

Those are not the kind of odds I’m looking to play (or pay).

Gamma Omicron Phi – Republicans might as well be a big fraternity.

The Republican party is acting like a sorority or a fraternity lately.  No individual thinking, only collective thinking.  Collective thinking is bad, unless it is collaborative thinking.  The only reason to have one opinion shape a group is to amass power.  Which is exactly what the GOP is doing.  The lovely ladies from Maine helped us out last time and it looked as if Arlen Specter was going to do us a solid this time with the Employee Free Choice Act.  But, he reneged.  Big surprise…  As reported in the Globe,

Big business won a key ally today in its high-stakes fight against the “check-card” bill that would make it easier for unions to organize workplaces.

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who was the only Republican to support the bill two years ago, told business groups that he will oppose the measure.

Unions were counting on him as the 60th vote to overcome an expected GOP filibuster. Democrats and two independents who usually vote with them control 58 seats.

This basically kills the bill and drops it in filibuster land.  Not somewhere any of us would like to end up.

Now we’re stripping 13 year old girls to see if they have 800mg Advil?

As detailed in a NYT article today, a 13-yr old girl (Savana Redding) was strip searched as an 8th grader after another 13-yr old girl accused her of having Rx strength Advil (ooooh…scary drug) hidden on her body.  The case has made it all the way up to the US Supreme Court.  One side incorrectly asserting that schools must take liberties to control drug use while the other uses common sense to see the error of school officials.  It is absolutely absurd to strip search a 13 yr-old in school without a parent or guardian present unless there is overwhelming evidence that the student has a bomb strapped to their chest.  Tthat is there are wires hanging our of their L.E.I. jeans!  As reported in the Times,

In Ms. Redding’s case, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled that school officials had violated the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches. Writing for the majority, Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said, “It does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13-year-old child is an invasion of constitutional rights.”  “More than that,” Judge Wardlaw added, “it is a violation of any known principle of human dignity.”

I completely agree and if there is any time where privacy should be most respected, 13 is that time.  I can’t imagine how embarrassed and upset Savana must have been after being strip searched at her middle school!  Unfortunately, the school district doesn’t see their obvious boundary crossing behavior.

…the school district said, the search was “not excessively intrusive in light of Redding’s age and sex and the nature of her suspected infraction.”

Adam B. Wolf, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Ms. Redding, said her experience was “the worst nightmare for any parent.”

“When you send your child off to school every day, you expect them to be in math class or in the choir,” Mr. Wolf said. “You never imagine their being forced to strip naked and expose their genitalia and breasts to their school officials.”

This incident reminds me how far we have to go when it comes to teaching young women to love and nurture their bodies, that are their own.  This behavior teaches young women that their bodies are the property of others.  If you think I’m going to far then consider how you’d feel if you were strip searched at 13, 23 or even 33 for drugs that you knew you didn’t have on you.  Would that make you feel in control of your own body?

And if you doubt that we are losing the battle in proving to young women that they deserve respect at all times.  Read the recent article in the NYT detailing young women’s thoughts regarding Rihanna and Chris Brown…so sad .

AIG chieftain representin’ Che.

The fascination with Che in the US is hilarious.  I, along with many of my peers, own a silk screened Che shirt.  I feel a bit ashamed wearing it seeing as if I’m 99.9% pacifist and Che…well, was not.   But, I do consider myself a lover of many things ‘marxist’ and  ‘socialist’ and therefore wear the shirt as an unabashed criticism of capitalism.  So, that is my excuse.  What is the excuse of this AIG big-wig in charge of financial products?  I’m guessing he’s a pretty big fan of capitalism. 

Nuevo Mexico, dijo ‘NO’ al ejecución

With roots along the Rio Grande flood plain, I am extremely proud of my home state today.  Governor Richardson has shone himself to be an extremely principled person and he continues to do so today.  Gov. Richardson has repealed the death penalty in New Mexico and by doing so makes an incredibly valid point.  He is not anti-death penalty in all cases, but he is made uncomfortable by the finality of such a decision.  He says in his official statement,

Once a conclusive decision has been made and executed, it cannot be reversed. And it is in consideration of this, that I have made my decision.

I have decided to sign legislation that repeals the death penalty in the state of New Mexico.

Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime. If the State is going to undertake this awesome responsibility, the system to impose this ultimate penalty must be perfect and can never be wrong.

But the reality is the system is not perfect – far from it. The system is inherently defective. DNA testing has proven that. Innocent people have been put on death row all across the country.

I agree with Gov. Richardson and would add one more reason.  In a world of malicious criminals who blow up buses and trains on a semi-regular basis we must stand firmly on the other side.  We must affirm that killing is wrong, regardless of why we are killing and we must accept that we have an imperfect moral judgment system and criminal judgment system.  By concluding that peace is better than war, and that life is better than death is the only way to regain respect as a just nation.

Obama, from “Socialist” to Populist

Both words sounds almost dirty…but why?  Socialism I get — history marred the image of socialism forever probably.  But why are people afraid of populism?  It seems logical to believe that populism and democracy are one in the same.  Even wikipedia supports this assertion,

Populism is a discourse which claims to support “the people” versus “the elites”. Populism may comprise an ideology urging social and political system changes and/or a rhetorical style deployed by members of political or social movements. Generally, populism invokes an idea of democracy as being solely the expression of the people’s will.

But in the few years I’ve followed Presidential politics, it has become clear that Populism and Democracy are not one in the same.  Democracy means that you have a vote — if you’re a citizen, well-off enough to not have to work on voting day, or educated enough to know how to use absentee ballots.  A vote doesn’t really mean ‘power.’  In fact, it means you only have power so long as you have not yet cast your vote.  After that the power is put back into the hands of the few (the few who have lots of $$), not the many.

So if populism puts the power in the people, not in the hands of a the elites than it can not be equal to democracy.  But on the contrary, good democratic governance should be one informed and motivated by the populace.  President Obama is doing just this, letting public opinion sway his agenda — just as it should.  Some in the highest echelons of government think that this is a “dangerous” road.  David Sirota, on OpenLeft, elegantly points out why this is hooey,

There’s been a lot of silly talk in Washington about the “dangers” of political populism. The storyline goes that Congress is prone to overreact in a populist manner to economic crises. Of course, nobody making these claims has a single example of that happening. It’s just standard fact-free Beltway bromide – a narrative that sounds plausible, even if there’s actually no evidence that it’s true.

However, I do believe that if today’s burgeoning populism in our politics is going to be driven by public “anger” (another word the Beltway media likes to use to denigrate the public when the public demands something), that anger will come from a public that sees the Establishment go on television and tell the country that AIG executives taking home taxpayer-financed million-dollar bonuses are actually “middle class.”

My only issue with President Obama being so populist, is that he is pretending like his agenda is his own and that he would have tried to roll back the bonuses on his own.  But Larry Summers came out just a few days ago and said that they were not planning on abrogating any contracts.  As the point has been well made in the media, there would be not bonuses if the US Treasury hadn’t have stepped in.  So, no company, no bonuses — new owner, new contract.

Getting fishy in the White House.

These past two days have been uncomfortable in politics.  The tone towards AIG has changed incredibly fast.  Politicians are taking a populist p.o.v. and Geithner is acting like he couldn’t have prevented this when he helped write the last loan contract.

Regardless, I think the administration is doing the right thing – I just wish it hadn’t come to this.  It all feels a little like a cover up at this point.  OpenLeft breaks down the flip-flopping here.  David Sirota breaks it down,

As I said yesterday, the White House is creating a serious economic credibility gap for itself – the idea that it cannot stop these bonuses at a company that taxpayers own is just absurd on its face. And this constantly changing message makes me wonder – WTF is going on? Who is in charge in the White House – the president or his economic team? And do these people really expect Americans to believe that nothing can be done to stop these bonuses?  

Steele makes it so easy…another ‘gotcha’ moment.

In an hard hitting interview in GQ magazine (the political powerhouse that they are) Michael Steele stole the maverick label from Gov. Palin by asserting that abortion rights are an individual choice.  As reported by Reuters,

In an interview with GQ magazine, the Republican National Committee chairman described abortion as an “individual choice” and said individual states should decide its legality.  Those comments, predictably, have drawn a sharp rebuke from other Republican leaders who say he should stick to the party’s core position that abortion should be outlawed nationwide.

Unfortunately for Steele, that single moment of honesty and logic might as well be the final nail in his coffin.  As Ezra Klein says,

Steele’s sound and solid reasoning would be unremarkable coming from almost any other American. But coming from the head of a party that in modern times has had at its very core a strident opposition to abortion, it is a heresy and will be received as such. Steele will be hounded from his job. It is hard to envision any explanation that would save him from the wrath of the extreme right.

Since then, Steele has come out with a statement he clearly was politically forced to put out.  $100 he didn’t write it.

I am pro-life, always have been, always will be.

I tried to present why I am pro life while recognizing that my mother had a “choice” before deciding to put me up for adoption. I thank her every day for supporting life. The strength of the pro life movement lies in choosing life and sharing the wisdom of that choice with those who face difficult circumstances. They did that for my mother and I am here today because they did. In my view Roe vs. Wade was wrongly decided and should be repealed. I realize that there are good people in our party who disagree with me on this issue.

But the Republican Party is and will continue to be the party of life. I support our platform and its call for a Human Life Amendment. It is important that we stand up for the defenseless and that we continue to work to change the hearts and minds of our fellow countrymen so that we can welcome all children and protect them under the law.

I’m taking bets of when Steele will be forced to resign.  I’d put $50 bucks on before June 1st.

Facebook feeling the twueeze.

Facebook recently changed their homepage.  Hmm…some features coincidentally resemble Twitter.  For instance, instead of asking for your ‘status message’ I am… they are asking “What’s on your mind?”

You can also direct a “What’s on your mind?” message to anyone…kind of like @.

If I was Facebook I’d be scared too.  They had a lock on the market for a while.  MySpace was lame, and LinkedIn was professional.  Plus no one really respected friendster or any of the other borderline sites.  But now we are being inundated with online social networking.  Too much if you ask me.  Even if you don’t ever play Second Life, you might as well be.

Meghan McCain “I consider myself a progressive Republican”

After watching Meghan McCain on the campaign trail I never thought I would agree with a lot she has to say in her blog for the Daily Beast.  But she really does seem like a progressive Republican (which I previously thought to be a oxymoron).  Plus she is a great voice for the conservative youth which has a new agenda, different than their older counterparts.  Meghan talks about how this new progressive Republican ideology differs.

I am sure most extreme conservatives and extreme liberals would find me a confusing, walking contradiction. But I assure you, there are many people out there just like me who represent a new, younger generation of Republicans.

I’m often criticized for not being a “real” Republican, and I have been called a RINO—Republican In Name Only—in the past. Many say I am not “conservative enough,” which is something that I am proud of. It is no secret that I disagree with many of the old-school Republican ways of thinking. One of the biggest issues from which I seem to drift from the party base is in my support of gay marriage. I am often criticized for previously voting for John Kerry and my support of stem-cell research. For the record, I am also extremely pro-military and a big supporter of the surge and the Iraq war.

I also love that she is talking smack about Ann Coulter.  Now I believe in Meghan’s semi-sanity ever more!

To make matters worse, certain individuals continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Republicans. Especially Republican women. Who do I feel is the biggest culprit? Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time.

I  did however find many of Meghan’s musings rather sophomoric, sorry Meg.  Especially her views on dating people of the opposite party — something I’m pretty adamant about and something that she thinks is just plain stupid.  I’m adamant about it because I pay attention to the party line of the RNC and the DNC.  I don’t agree with everything the DNC says, but I am unable to think anything the RNC says makes sense or is ethical.  How can you like someone who you don’t think is ethical?

The election killed my personal life.  OK, maybe killed is a bit of an exaggeration. But it does seem to be on life support. Of all the things people warned would happen post-election, no one ever said anything about how complicated dating would become. Especially if your dad loses the election. There are things that have been difficult, but nothing quite as tough as dating. I fear the election has destroyed my ability and desire to date. Now, I cannot say at any point in my life that I have been very good at dating. But I have become something I used to despise: people who let politics dictate his or her attraction to someone.

I am a person that has always prided myself on keeping politics out of my relationships. I think I would have probably graduated from Columbia friendless had I made politics a focal point in any of my friendships during college. I have many friends who openly voted for Barack Obama (many of them also didn’t). Who my friends voted for is of no concern to me. I am adult enough to understand that people vote for their own personal reasons, and I know how personal politics can be to someone.

Of course politics are personal, so personal that they should play a big role in your choosing of friends and mates.

NBA shenanigans

Normally I think professional sports, especially the NBA, are extremely meritocratic.  It is one of the few organizations that can tout an environment void of discrimination based upon color, class or social sphere.  If you are one of the best players, you play…period.  Well, maybe not.  It looks like some great players might cool down toward the end of this season.   With the recession and the inability for most (25 of 30) teams to have a real shot at winning the playoffs, the NBA is turning kind of sketchy.  This happens every year but this year it seems more pronounced.  Some teams don’t need to win anymore and for some, it is better is they lose.  They want a better draft number next year. This situation is lame, even though not as messed up as the BCS.  But, it makes the NBA less fun (unless I watching one of the top 4 teams).  From the WSJ,

More than 80% of the league’s 30 teams have no realistic shot at winning the championship, even with more than a quarter of the season left to play. Beyond the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic — all of whom have won at least 70% of their games — only the San Antonio Spurs have better than a 10% chance to win the NBA title, according to lines offered by Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Yelp, attacked again.

Again, I’m disappointed by the response of Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman.  The Yelp debate has reminded me that life isn’t about actual wrongdoing, it is the shadow of impropriety and then the subsequent full force denial that can get you into more trouble.   In general the only thing I think Yelp is doing inappropriately is failing to communicate what their angorithm process is.  Otherwise, I do not believe that Yelp does anything wrong, but I do believe that they are making some unethical decisions by refusing to explain themselves fully. They should take a play out or Craigslist’s book.  Check out their blog that fully explains what they do in terms of ‘erotic services.’   Case in point, a new group of outcries from business owners comes — this time from the Chicago Tribune.

The owner of More Cupcakes, Patty Rothman, said that last fall a Yelp Chicago staffer walked into her Gold Coast shop and “guaranteed us good reviews on the site if we catered one of their parties for free.” Offended but resigned, Rothman complied. And just as promised, positive reviews bloomed for the business right after the party, Rothman said.

The phenomenon of catering a Yelp Elite event and then getting tons of good reviews does happen.  The sales people know this and obviously use it to their advantage.   I mean, it is pretty hard to not review a place positively after they gave you something for free.  But everything we do in life has an Ayn Rand esque tendency about it — we go because we get free stuff, the restaurant gives us free stuff to show off and hopefully develop some street cred.  Pretty easy quid pro quo and not at all unethical.  I recently went to a wine tasting at a wine store that I wouldn’t normally have checked out last week for a Yelp Elite event, it turned out to be a great store.  The staff was knowledgeable and the alcohol reasonably priced, so ya I’ll write a good review about them.  That is what Yelpers do.  But when you read the above blurb, it sounds like Yelp is being completely unethical.  The CEO really needs to work on his PR.  People don’t know how Yelp works and they just want to know — minus all the algorithm talk.

Another Yelp phenomenon mentioned is this new article is the business owner email.  I personally don’t really want to hear from a business owner and at times am afraid to write a bad review because I assume I’ll be contacted.  But, I am writing in a public forum and therefore don’t complain about it unless a business owner is really rude — then I think that person should be banned from Yelp.  I guess that happened to one such business owner.

But as the Tribune learned during a chefs round table last summer, citizen Internet review sites have proved mixed blessings to many merchants. These sites, they say, can be sources of praise and constructive criticism but also vicious attacks.

Consequently, many, especially restaurateurs, have developed a strained relationship with the site and its Yelpers. Chicago chef Graham Elliot Bowles is one of them. He says he has had his “account removed” for personally contacting those whom he felt posted reviews that were “baseless, lacking in truth or intentionally hurtful.”

Ok, I obey.

I think I owe Shephard Fairey an apology.  After attending his show at the ICA I was mildly impressed.  Still not impressed by his artistic creativity, because his work seems to be very copycatish, but by his intellectual creativity and the prolific nature of his work.  He has made a ton of pieces and his work is displayed, by nature, all over urban jungles.  I’m impressed by that strategy in general.  Unfortunately, the police who cite him are not so impressed.  Today Shephard Fairey must bow to the system.  As first reported by the AP and mentioned in the Globe,

The street artist who created the famous red, white, and blue “Hope” poster of President Obama is due in court for two pretrial hearings in Boston this week. Facing various vandalism charges, Shepard Fairey is scheduled to appear in Brighton District Court tomorrow and in Roxbury District Court on Wednesday. Last month, the 38-year-old Los Angeles resident was arrested in Boston on charges of vandalizing property with his art. He was preparing to attend the opening night of his exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

I do feel bad for Mr. Fairey, but his art infringes on the public sphere and some people are not pleased.  I’m guessing Mr. Fairey identifies as a libertarian.  I wonder if Banksy in the UK has ever had similar legal issues.  Also, coincidence that it was on opening night?