Here’s an absolutely fascinating series of photos of New York City over the last century.
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
The sound of censored science;
Unlike their coverage of the political establishment or the corporate establishment, journalists will rarely be skeptical of the scientific establishment. Perhaps these unskeptical journalists don’t question scientists out of a belief that scientists’ pronouncements are free of the self-interest that taints politicians or corporations. Or perhaps these journalists, who are themselves rarely scientifically literate, blindly accept the views of scientific authority figures because they lack the training to assess rival views. Or perhaps these journalists fear being subjected to ridicule if they buck politically correct views. Whatever the reasons for journalistic deference to dogma in science, the victim is the information-consuming public, which at best is kept in the dark, at worst is duped.
All of which boils down to “lazy and stupid”.
h/t Ken (Kulak)
Is There Nothing That Obama Can’t Do?
Like so many others, the final decision to pull the trigger on the world’s most-wanted man was delegated to an admiral who undoubtedly would have been thrown under the bus had the mission failed.
[…]
The Panetta memo, rather than presenting a profile in courage, says “approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president.” This left enough wiggle room to blame the operation planners and controllers if the raid had gone as wrong as President Jimmy Carter’s famous failure to rescue American hostages held by Iran. This memo left room for the blame for another “Blackhawk Down” snafu to be blamed on anyone and everyone but President Obama.
Reader Tips
Broken laws, broken bottles, broken hearts, broken bones, broken plates — the complete list here.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Theoremic Academiosia
Another stunning finding from the “bank robbers wear trousers, ergo trousers cause bank robberies” school of press-release science:
The presence of big-box retail stores erodes a community’s social fabric, according to a study out of Penn State university that found the number of Walmart stores in a U.S. county is significantly correlated with the number of hate groups in the area.
Societal factors known to influence hate group participation, like unemployment rate, high crime rate and low education, are less statistically significant than how many Walmarts there are, said lead author Stephan Goertz…
“Are you sure you want those paper towels, hon?”
Walmart’s “Protestant values” of thrift and savings constitute a form of what’s called religious priming — the use of words or phrases to encourage certain attitudes and behaviours — and that religious priming is linked to racism and intolerance.
“Oh, Liberal Arts Major, My Hero!”
We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors
In 2006, solar-panel manufacturer Conergy moved into the never-used computer chip factory, joining Odersun, already headquartered in the city. In 2007, the United States solar giant First Solar opened a factory as well, followed by a second one last year.
Now, though, the future suddenly looks decidedly dark. Odersun declared bankruptcy in March and Conergy, while pledging to return to profit this year, has seen its share price lose 99.6 percent of its value in the last five years. Many doubt the company will survive. Worst of all, however, was the announcement earlier this month that First Solar was closing both of its factories in Frankfurt an der Oder; 1,200 people will soon be jobless as a result.
“We saw the solar industry as a chance to reindustrialize the region and invested significantly in incentives,” Frankfurt an der Oder Mayor Martin Wilke told SPIEGEL ONLINE. “This is a serious setback. It is a very difficult situation.”
And that’s just for starters.
h/t Maz2
O, Sweet Saint Of San Andreas
Great Moments In Socialism
“One mother told me when she went with her 18 month son to his medical checkup, and he was not in daycare. They said, ‘Oh, your son is not in daycare? But he has to go to daycare. He needs that and you need to work.’”
h/t EBD
Wok The Dog
When I think “all-American kids and dogs”, I think “Timmy’s down the well”, not “Lassie tastes swell!”.
Now is the Time at SDA When We Juxtapose!
Deux nations!
1) John Ibbitson, Globe and Mail:
Harper unbound: An analysis of his first year as majority PM
….
One year after winning his first majority government, a milestone he marks on Wednesday, and more than six years after becoming prime minister, Stephen Harper bestrides Canadian politics, a principled economic and social conservative who is reshaping the nation.
…This Prime Minister’s steady shifts in policy are not overly radical on their own but taken together are reshaping the nation’s sense of itself. He has established what could be called a new “Brand Canada” – a land of low taxes, law and order and a strong military, infused with a robust nationalism, rooted in the West and powered by Ontario’s affluent, aspirational suburbs…
2) Michael Den Tandt, Postmedia News:
One year into majority government, Harper’s Conservatives seem to have misplaced their hidden agenda
…one year after the vote that gave the Conservatives their fabled majority, guess what? Tactical brilliance is missing in action, with the government lurching from one pratfall to the next. And the Faustian hidden agenda? Received wisdom, among Harper haters, is that it’s approaching full flower. But if you drill past the surface, you’ll find your customary entitlements virtually unchanged. How can this be?
Indeed, apart from a few highly symbolic flashpoints — gun control and marijuana come to mind — the hidden agenda is gone, absorbed in a mush of accommodative compromise, to the point where government spinners have resorted to patiently walking journalists through all the ways in which, they claim, the Conservatives are transforming the country. Most Canadians have responded to this putative revolution with a blink and a yawn…
Huh?
Honey, I Finished The Internet
Via Kathy Shaidle – Everyone involved in making this ‘Ark of the Covenant’ wedding cake (!) is going to hell
The Tolerant Left
[Razib] Khan examines how this transformation happened and concludes that the term “white” was once the proxy variable for attributes of powerful, rich and capable. He marshals tables to show that over the years, the relative success of Asians has pushed them into socio-economic and cultural categories formerly occupied by what used to be called white people. “But we don’t have a more complex narrative to go along with it” and so rather than ditching the old story of white supremacy and guilt culture took the easier path: they made the Asians white.
Flashback: the “W” word.
Reader Tips
In tonight’s Tips music the late Lord Kitchener, who arrived in the UK in the late 1940s as part of the very first wave of West Indian immigrants, says London is the Place for Me.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Anarchy 101
In 2012 it’s somewhat hard to believe that all of this:
is happening because of this:
h/t Daniel C.
QOTW
“The president has a very difficult time with the business community. Most people in business and most people who are successful are Republican that’s just a fact of life.” – Bill Daley President Obama’s former Chief of Staff
h/t Dave
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Presented without much commentary, because little is necessary: the only ratio that matters for the US economy, the change in US public debt ($359.1 billion) and US GDP ($142.4) in the first quarter, hit 2.52x and rising.
It takes $2.52 in new debt to increase $1 of GDP.
Let’s Erect A Plaque At 787 Dundas St W To Remember Jack Layton
Things You’ll Never See On The CBC
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
Meet the People’s Rights Amendment.
…it’s important to recognize that the proposal goes far beyond denying free speech rights to entities organized as corporations. It would deny them all other constitutional rights as well. Section 1 of the proposed amendment states that the “the rights protected by this Constitution” are limited to “the rights of natural persons.”
Notice that this is not limited to free speech rights or even to First Amendment rights generally. Section emphasizes that “People, person, or persons as used in this Constitution does not include corporations, limited liability companies or other corporate entities established by the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.” Notice that this is not limited to for-profit corporations lobbying for their narrow self-interest. It applies to all corporations of any kind, including nonprofits, media corporations, churches, and others.
Thus, the PRA would deny all constitutional rights to all entities organized as corporations. If the Amendment passes, government would be free to search corporate-owned premises at will, restrict freedom of religion at houses of worship owned by corporate entities (which includes most churches), condemn corporate-owned property for private uses and without paying compensation…