(H/T: IOWAHAWK)
Two weeks ago cities across Iowa were inundated by record floods. Now, as the waters recede, some Iowans are finding themselves victimized again -- by their state's self-destructive work ethic. Blogger / flood victim Dave Burge reports from the scene.
As an Iowan and the proud owner of two big screen LCDs from Coralville Rent-A-Center, I've seen my share of weather disasters. But, even with full 1080p HD, I never really stopped to think that it could happen to me. So when the floodwaters of the Iowa River reached my own home this week, I suppose I was unprepared for the devastation -- and the aftershock that my fellow Iowans would sabotage my once-in-a-lifetime golden ticket on the FEMA gravy train.
I was enjoying midmorning cocktails on the patio of my estate a few blocks from the Iowa River when I first heard the flood warnings, and when I turned on the television I saw the shocking pictures of downtown Cedar Rapids inundated by the rising Cedar river. The implication was obvious: Ka-Ching!
As many of you know I am a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis, and have been battling eviction while our do-nothing Congress holds up my bailout money. With video like that -- and with a $2 million flood insurance policy -- you old pal Dave was 24 hours away from the mother of all disaster jackpots.
With the river rising by the minute it was time to spring into action and prepare. I went to the rec room and woke up my colleague Kyle off the pool table. We drove to the Wal-Mart Supercenter to stock up on a two-day supply of Old Mil and spray paint, which I calculated would last us until the start of post-flood "discount shopping season." While we were in the checkout lane, I realized the store was eerily quiet. "Where'd everybody go?" I asked the cashier.
"The radio said to orderly evacuate to higher ground," she said. "I guess they all did."
That seemed a little weird to me, but hey, I figured shorter lines for FEMA cash cards. And less competition for the weekend free laptops at Best Buy.
After we got back to the house I called up Randy and Chuck, and invited them over to celebrate with one last pre-flood tear around the back yard on the dirt bikes. But when we finally got down to the river, we saw a man-made tragedy unfolding before our eyes: a fireline of volunteers was reinforcing the levee with sandbags.
"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled.
And the guy is like, "hey, grab a shovel and help us fill some bags." I turned and looked at Kyle, and even though he was completely baked he couldn't believe these idiots either. Luckily they loaded up in a truck and went downriver after about an hour, so Randy and I borrowed a couple Bobcat loaders from the construction site down the block and knocked a big hole in the embankment. All that was left now was to spray paint some plywood protest signs for the TV helicopters, have a few drinks, and wait for that sweet watery windfall.
The next morning I woke up on the patio with a hangover which wasn't exactly helped by Tammi Jo kicking me in the ribs. When I looked up, she was standing over me, waving an envelope.
"You forgot to pay the flood insurance bill again, didn't you."
Shit. I mean, what am I supposed to do, woman? The freaking Big Game lotto was up to $250 million last month, for crissakes. When I rolled over I saw that the river was still 15 feet from the patio, so I figured I'd have enough time to call the insurance company and have my policy reinstated. But then they give me the old shyster rigamarole -- "I'm sorry Mr. Burge, but you have to have two consecutive months coverage," bla bla bla, like I have some kind of two month flood crystal ball that will magically remind me to pay the bill.
I told the insurance lady I could pay her for the back premiums next week after I got my FEMA credit card, but she's like, "I'm sorry, that's not allowed," and when I offered to pay her today with some unused lottery tickets, she just hung up. Tammi Jo stood there on the patio glowering at me, ankle deep in the river.
"Um, they're looking into it," I said.
Over the next 24 hours I floated around downstairs on little Dakota's inflatable Spongebob pool raft, figuring that was probably safer than going upstairs where Tammi Jo was. She eventually calmed down when I explained to her the insurance thing was just a temporary setback, and that the cash airlifts and class action lawyers would be coming any day now. And, if we played our cards right, we might be looking at a three year hotel vacation in Vegas. As a peace offering I volunteered me and Kyle to take the bass boat up the Coralville Strip to do a little "bargain hunting."
I was worried we might be a little late for the good stuff, but when we moored the boat at Chuck E. Cheese and waded over to Wal Mart we discovered that the parking lot was empty and the windows were still intact. Sweet! We grabbed a couple of carts and started ramming the doors, with little effect. Luckily a couple of Coralville cops pulled up in a cruiser. "How about a little help here, man?" I asked, handing the one cop a rock. "Those flat screens aren't gonna last all day."
Guess what? He hits his stupid siren. Kyle and I hauled ass around the back and dove through the underbrush by the railroad tracks and barely got away from the two cops, who apparently wanted the Wal-Mart inventory all to themselves. "Protect and Serve," my ass.
We walked along the railroad tracks behind the strip, and it was the same story at every damn store: locked up, and not a single shopping spree mob in sight. I was getting pretty worried at that point, because I promised Tammi Jo I'd be bring home some jewelry and electronic stuff, and you know how she gets. Anyway, we walked the tracks into Iowa City, when we saw a school gym with a big sign that said "REFUGEE CENTER."
Bingo! This was our chance to pick up some quick eyewitness tragedy story cash from the tragedy reporters. But when we got inside there wasn't a single TV camera, and it was half empty except for a few ladies with little kids.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"Oh, most of them volunteered for sandbag and cleanup duty," said the stupid old lady at the desk. "Isn't that nice?"
Oh, great. I looked over on her TV set and the reporter was talking about how all the "hardworking Iowans" were "quietly pitching in," and "picking up the pieces," and "stoically moving on." Frankly, I'm getting a little sick of being labeled with these kind of destructive stereotypes. Hey, media - what about the Iowans who aren't necessarily stoic or hardworking or self-reliant? Or don't we matter in your stupid media soundbites?
It was clear that somebody needed to take the bull by the horns and create some socko headlines to keep the media ball rolling. Kyle and I tried to get some of the little kids to start a riot inside the Refugee Center, but that fell apart when Dora the Explorer came on. Next we tried calling CNN to report possible cannibalism, but they just hung up. The only real violence I sparked was when Tammi Jo showed up at the gym with Dakota and Tiffani. And her 12" Maglite.
After getting first aid from the old lady at the desk, Kyle and I headed over to Chuck's to stay for a while.
We tried calling some Hollywood celebrities to see if they would organize a telethon benefit for us or something, but that was a gigantic waste of time. I probably left 30 unanswered messages at Scarlett Johansson's office. Kyle got through to Kanye West, who threatened to pop a cap in his ass. Even Sean Penn refused, like he's got anything better to do. The closest we got to any deal was Richard Gere, but he canceled after he found out Iowa wasn't part of Tibet.
After the third day the river had dropped and most of the TV trucks had packed up and left. Chuck's old lady Rhonda was yelling at us to leave, plus they were out of beer. I figured Tammi Jo was probably calmed down by now so me and Kyle walked back to my place. When we got there she was standing at the front plastic sheet, and handed us some shovels and mops.
"Get to work."
"Isn't FEMA suppose to ship in some Mexicans to do this sort of thing?" I ask.
She pointed down the street. All the neighbors were back, cheerfully cleaning crap out of their yards and basements.
"THANKS A LOT," I yell over at Gary, the moron next door.
"Any time, Dave!" He waves back with that stupid grin of his. "You betcha!"
So there you have it: a 500-year, gold plated, biblical grade flood, and all I have to show for it is a sore back and a basement full of soggy rental stereo equipment. This tragedy has been brought to you by a negligent government and an indifferent media. And most of all, my neigbors: 3 million stoic, self reliant, hard working morons who can't figure out a million dollar opportunity when they're waist deep in it.. And they wonder why they call us "Idiots Out Walking Around."
Screw this state. I'm moving to Vegas.
Oh, and Scarlett Johansson? Call me.
ABC News' Teddy Davis and Alexa Ainsworth Report: With the Supreme Court poised to rule on Washington, D.C.'s, gun ban, the Obama campaign is disavowing what it calls an "inartful" statement to the Chicago Tribune last year in which an unnamed aide characterized Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., as believing that the DC ban was constitutional.
The RNC has collected a wealth of information on Obama's positions and statements on the right to bear arms here. Obama supported the D.C. handgun ban that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional in Heller. John Lott says that Obama once told him, "I don't believe that people should be able to own guns."
SCOTUS Blog is covering it in depth...more to come after I read the decision.
** Update ** Click here to read the full opinion - Chris
Is this not the perfect food?
Deep-Fried Girl Scout Samoa Cookies with a Bailey's Chocolate Mint Liqueur Whipped Cream.
Ithaca, NY (AP) - While attempting to create the world's largest peace sign, festival-goers in Ithaca, NY, created the world's largest Mercedes sign by mistake.
5814 participants gathered to form the familiar symbol of pacifist activism, but - through either oversight or stupidity - only formed three of the four radii required to create a traditional peace sign. Since the missing radius was the lower center line, the symbol they formed was actually the trademark hood ornament of the Mercedes-Benz automobile - a quality German luxury car since 1926 - rather than the anti-war symbol created by a British nuclear disarmament protester in 1958.
PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on the presidential election finds John McCain and Barack Obama exactly tied at 45% among registered voters nationwide.
More after the jump...That's a pretty damn big bus.
"She sent one email to Reggie, who forwarded it to me," Obama said, referring to his 26-year-old personal assistant, Reggie Love. "I write saying, 'thank you Scarlett for doing what you do,' and suddenly we have this email relationship.More after the jump...
I love Wii Fit.
Playboy Cyber Girl of the Year Jo Garcia, who stripped her 5’7”, 32D-24-32 frame down to her underwear and then did the boxing and snowboarding routines on Wii.
She doesn’t look like much of a boxer, but I'm assuming tricking your attacker into masturbating works just as well as actually hitting him.
Phew! I thought that would be racist.
Neurophysiologist Katherine Rankin at the University of California, San Francisco, has also recently discovered that sarcasm, which is both positively funny and negatively nasty, plays an important part in human social interaction.
I have always admired PZ. I always recommend his awesome blog to my thinking friends. But with this post...well, I can't just pick one highlight. I hope he will forgive me - I must share the whole thing with you. However, I recommend you go here and read the original along with the ensuing comments, which are truly inspired.
In which I have hurt Ken Ham's feelings
Posted on: June 21, 2008 11:24 AM, by PZ Myers
Oh, dear. Earlier, I wrote about Ken Ham's visit to the Pentagon, a soul-shuddering thought if ever there was one, and it seems Ken has read it. He has replied with a blog entry titled Biology Professor Calls Me “Wackaloon”. Ken, Ken, Ken. You act shocked at the thought that one guy publicly stated that you were Mr Flaming Nutbar, but you shouldn't be. Millions of people, including some of the most knowledgeable biologists in the world, think just about every day that you are an airhead, an ass, a birdbrain, a blockhead, a bonehead, a boob, a bozo, a charlatan, a cheat, a chowderhead, a chump, a clod, a con artist, a crackpot, a crank, a crazy, a cretin, a dimwit, a dingbat, a dingleberry, a dipstick, a ditz, a dolt, a doofus, a dork, a dum-dum, a dumb-ass, a dumbo, a dummy, a dunce, a dunderhead, a fake, a fathead, a fraud, a fruitcake, a gonif, a halfwit, an idiot, an ignoramus, an imbecile, a jackass, a jerk, a jughead, a knucklehead, a kook, a lamebrain, a loon, a loony, a lummox, a meatball, a meathead, a moron, a mountebank, a nincompoop, a ninny, a nitwit, a numbnuts, a numbskull, a nut, a nutcase, a peabrain, a pinhead, a racketeer, a sap, a scam artist, a screwball, a sham, a simpleton, a snake oil salesman, a thickhead, a turkey, a twerp, a twit, a wacko, a woodenhead, and much, much worse.
You're a clueless schmuck who knows nothing about science and has arrogantly built a big fat fake museum to promote medieval bullshit — you should not be surprised to learn that you are held in very low esteem by the community of scholars and scientists, and by the even larger community of lay people who have made the effort to learn more about science than you have (admittedly, though, you have set the bar very, very low on that, and there are 5 year old children who have a better grasp of the principles of science as well as more mastery of details of evolution than you do.)
Maybe you should write a blog entry calling attention to each insult given to you. I think that's your calling, and it's probably god's intended mission for you in life, to inspire contempt.
(I encourage each and every one of my readers to express their true feelings about Ken Ham in the comment thread here. Then I want Mr Ham to write an indignant post complaining that "So-and-so called me a “disgrace to brain-damaged clowns”", or whatever — that'll keep him occupied for years, and will distract him from his campaign of abusing the minds of young children. Be creative.)
Cheryl Burke on the beach (h/t to NY Nerd)
More pics here.
Today's word, boys and girls, is "Lawsuit". Can you say "Lawsuit"?
I really thought these were a joke when I first saw them. Apparently not.
Now while my personal opinion, as a parent, is that if your kids aren't old enough to know that they shouldn't put Legos in their mouth, your kids shouldn't be playing with Legos. But since common sense is not a prerequisite for being a parent (obviously), I am starting the over/under pool on a choking incident/lawsuit at...two weeks.
The following is for Chris, but I'm sure other people may find it helpful...
In November, 2007, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case called District of Columbia v. Heller. The case involves Washington DC's seeking to revive its flat ban on private possession of handguns. SCOTUS blog has an excellent summary:
The Justices chose to write out for themselves the constitutional question they will undertake to answer in Heller. Both sides had urged the Court to hear the city’s case, but they had disagreed over how to frame the Second Amendment issue.
Here is the way the Court phrased the granted issue:
“Whether the following provisions — D.C. Code secs. 7-2502.02(a)(4), 22-4504(a), and 7-2507.02 — violate the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes?”
In fact, the gun rights supporters who filed it complain that lawyers working for the NRA, concerned the case could backfire, spent considerable time and money trying to scuttle it. The association finally was dragged kicking and screaming before the Supreme Court after the prospect of review appeared more likely than it has in years.
Though the NRA champions individual ownership under the Second Amendment, its critics say the association shares one concern with gun-control advocates: Both fear that a definitive Supreme Court statement against them on the Second Amendment would cripple, if not kill, their causes.
“The NRA wants to be the one to define the meaning of the Second Amendment,” says Josh Sugarman, executive director for the anti-gun Violence Policy Center in Washington. Sugarman’s 1992 book, National Rifle Association: Money, Firepower & Fear, is widely regarded as one of the most authoritative histories of the organization.
“They don’t want the Supreme Court to do it, because the [NRA view] is good for [the fundraising] business.”
New Pew survey: 21% of atheists believe in God.
*Warning its a .PDF File, I guess god likes annoying formats too.*
Mark Zuckerberg is 24 years old and reportedly worth an estimated $1.5 billion. In case you're not a hardcore nerd and don't immediately recognize his name, Zuckerberg is the CEO of a little company called Facebook. In case you're not a) under 24; b) addicted to the internet; or c) up on the latest cultural trends, Facebook is the sixth-most visited website in the world. It is the latest & trendiest in a line of so-called "social networking" websites. Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard when he started the site and access was originally limited to students at Harvard University. Gradually it was expanded to other ivy league schools, then all universities and colleges, then to high school students, and eventually to anyone other the age of 13 (which is where it stands now). Facebook is a phenomenon - 70 million users log in daily to access their account with the number of users increasing by approximately 150,000 per day. Zuckerberg has been called his generation's Bill Gates.
But apparently not everyone is a fan. Four of his fellow Harvard students are claiming he stole their idea. Rolling Stone reports on The Battle for Facebook .
Ten months before Zuckerberg launched Facemash, a Harvard junior named Divya Narendra had come up with the idea of creating a social network aimed at college students.
...
Narendra went to two of his dormmates, identical twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and told them he had an idea for an online community for Harvard students, with access granted only to those with a college e-mail address. The twins instantly recognized the idea's potential.
...
Throughout 2003, Narendra and the twins worked on the site, hiring several fellow students to help them code it. But by that fall, the site still wasn't finished. Then, in November, the entrepreneurs, who'd heard about the rise and fall of Zuckerberg's Facemash, decided to contact the programming prodigy and catch some of his computing heat.
On the phone, Narendra told Zuckerberg the site — called the Harvard Connection — would have two sections: "dating" and "connecting." Students could post photos of themselves, enter personal information and search for links. Narendra and the twins wanted Zuckerberg to do about 10 hours of programming; in return, they claim they offered him a piece of the company. That month, Zuckerberg met with the partners, and he agreed to work on the site.
So one day this guy was boating in the waters near the Shetland Islands in the North Sea. His boat capsizes and he winds up on this deserted island. He decides to stay & live there in a tent.
Seven years later he decides the island is his and he's not answering to any government but his own anymore.
The owner of a tiny island in off Scotland declared its independence from the United Kingdom on Saturday, saying he wanted the territory, population one, to be a crown dependency like the Channel Islands.
He is Forvik's only resident, and his home is a tent on the storm-battered island. He says on his website that he plans to create Forvik's own currency -- the "gulde" -- print his own stamps and raise his own flag.
"There will be no income tax, VAT (value added tax), council tax, corporation tax, or any of the other taxes instituted by the British government," Hill wrote.
Today is the third anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London. The case, heard by the Supreme Court, involved the use of Eminent Domain by the City of New London on behalf of the Pfizer Company to confiscate private property.
So whatever happened to the site that was soooooo vital to the City's economic growth that the City had to take people's property? Well...turns out maybe it wasn't that vital. Reason's Hit and Run has a quote from the Institute for Justice (the public interest firm that litigated the case):
Like so many other projects that use eminent domain and rely on taxpayer subsidies, New London's Fort Trumbull project has been a failure. After spending $78 million in taxpayer dollars, the city of New London and the private developer have engaged in no new construction since the project was approved in 2000. Indeed, since the property owners disputing the takings owned less than two acres in a 90-acre project area, the city has always had a vast majority of the land available for development. Yet, no new development has occurred. The preferred developer for part of the site, Corcoran Jennison, recently missed its latest deadline for securing financing for building on the site and was terminated as the "designated developer."
Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture figure famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure near Los Angeles Sunday, Reuters reported. He was was 71.
Of course Obama, who else...
The Chosun Sinbo, the mouthpiece of North Korea’s Japanese front organization Chongryon and often for the North Korean regime itself, has announced its preference for Obama over McCain, whom it calls “a variant of Bush” and “nothing better than a scarecrow of neoconservatives,” which is a bit odd considering that the Bush Administration’s giveaway diplomacy is better for Kim Jong Il than even Clinton’s awful performance.
OLD BRIDGE, N.J. -- Drag racer Scott Kalitta died Saturday after his Funny Car crashed and exploded in flames during a National Hot Rod Association event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
McALLEN - Police and federal authorities are investigating the sale of six Bengal tiger cubs in a Wal-Mart parking lot Sunday afternoon.
The animals appear to have been bound for Mexico and neither the buyer nor seller had the permits needed to legally transport the endangered species across national borders, a federal agent said.
A group from Spring Hill Wildlife Ranch in Bryan was selling the cubs - four white ones and two orange ones - in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart near Jackson Avenue and Expressway 83.
Have you noticed all those signs at Barack Obama rallies that look like hand-lettered, home-crafted messages from honest-to-goodness grass roots supporters?More after the jump...
They’re fakes.
A Thursday afternoon meeting between Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus grew tense and emotional -- perhaps illustrating that weeks after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., suspended her presidential campaign, some nerves remain frayed.
Sources at the meeting said that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a Clinton supporter, expressed the desire that Obama and his campaign would reach out the millions of women still aggrieved about what happened in the campaign and still disappointed that Clinton lost.
Obama agreed that a lot of work needs to be done to heal the Democratic Party, and that he hoped the Clinton supporters in the room would help as much as possible.
According to Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Obama then said, "However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I'm running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it."More after the jump...
Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words -- "Get over it." She found them dismissive, off-putting.
"Don't use that terminology," Watson told Obama.
Been a busy day here in Brooklyn, so here is just a silly story from the AP wire.
A 27-year-old Hudson Valley man is accused of cutting hole in a woman's couch and hiding in the carved-out space until she came home.More after the jump...
Police in the city of Newburgh, 55 miles north of New York City, say the 22-year-old woman sat on the couch Wednesday evening and felt a bump in the cushions. She jumped up and David Joe Limones emerged from his hiding place.
The woman was on the phone with a friend at the time because she had filed an earlier complaint against Limones and feared he might be in her apartment. Police could hear the woman screaming in the background when the neighbor called for help.
When officers arrived, they found Limones and the woman arguing on the apartment's balcony.
Limones faces burglary and other charges. He was sent to jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.
MyVu PMV-1003i Personal Media Viewer - "Solo Edition" Virtual big-screen viewing - made for iPod
Purchase it here.
The league is asking a federal district court judge to rule that it should be permitted to go ahead with its in-house disciplinary procedures against the Rangers for repeated breaches of the club’s obligations. And the nuclear option among the potential disciplinary actions is the Board of Governors ruling that the NHL’s New York franchise be stripped from the Dolans’ ownership and sold to another candidate.
It's been a few days since I have installed Firefox 3 and so far so good.
Pluses
-FF finally figured out that whole memory leak thing, which would cause ff to shut down abruptly if you kept your browser opened up for a prolonged period of time.
-Faster loading webpages, one of the biggest problems with ff was the loading of websites that contained a lot of .JPEGS, the problem being with how .JPEG's were cached.
-History in the toolbar, this is a great feature. If you are visiting a site and accidentally close the browser, in the past you had to retrieve it from the history folder, now you can just click on the arrow next to the toolbar and it lists the web pages you visited, you can adjust this setting to save only a day or two (the default is 90 days)
-Compatible with more websites, as programmers got onto the FF bandwagon FF now integrates with all my websites without having to open IE.
-Additional security, FF warns you when your visiting a suspected phishing site and will not let it load, also FF will not allow websites to install Active X content, this in the past was a burden, but now as websites switch to playing flash based video you can now surf knowing that that the porn site that you just visited is not installing a virus or a Trojan horse.
Minuses.
-Yes, believe it or not there are some, the biggest one being that the majority of my toolbar functions no longer work, this is just because FF3 was retooled from the ground up so in the next coming weeks this should no longer be a problem.
-Options menu, one thing about ff was its simplicity, you were not burdened with tons of useless plugins and bogged down with silly bells and whistles. When you open the Options menu now you are in a myriad of menus it takes some time to set FF to operate the way you like it.
So that is really it for now, I will keep you posted with any updates.
GET FIREFOX NOW.
I was looking at the photos and stories about the first same-sex marriage ceremonies performed in California this week. First off, let me quote Wil Wheaton (quote is actually from 2004 - but still applicable today):
An interesting thing has happened since San Francisco started granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples: my marriage is just fine! Even though there are thousands of gay and lesbian couples affirming their love for and commitment to each other, my marriage—my affirmation of love and commitment to (my wife)—isn't threatened at all. As a matter of fact, the only people who can really "threaten" my marriage are the two of us.
Thousands of eager shoppers flooded Red Hook on Wednesday for a carnivalesque opening of the city's first Ikea and a chance to snap up its eclectically named Swedish furniture.
Nothing exciting, Michelle Obama on the view trying to not act like a cunt. Boring day.
More after the jump...
Winnie the Pooh, Luke Skywalker and British football hooligans could shape the foreign policy of Barack Obama if he becomes US President, according to a key adviser.
Richard Danzig, who served as Navy Secretary under President Clinton and is tipped to become National Security Adviser in an Obama White House, told a major foreign policy conference in Washington that the future of US strategy in the war on terrorism should follow a lesson from the pages of Winnie the Pooh, which can be shortened to: if it is causing you too much pain, try something else.More after the jump...
Mr Danzig told the Centre for New American Security: “Winnie the Pooh seems to me to be a fundamental text on national security.”
He spelt out how American troops, spies and anti-terrorist officials could learn key lessons by understanding the desire of terrorists to emulate superheroes like Luke Skywalker, and the lust for violence of violent football fans.
At 3 in the morning.
Stay Classy, New York Mets.
Matchbox Twenty - "3 AM"
I read this article in The Atlantic over the weekend. Chris will testify to the fact that my immediate reaction to it was indeed "DUH" - so I'm glad to find it online and share it with everyone on what is turning into "DUH Day"...
The article attempts to explain a sharp increase in violent crimes in many mid-size American cities. But the explanation many have come up with is not politically correct and therefore, not very popular.
Memphis has always been associated with some amount of violence. But why has Elvis’s hometown turned into America’s new South Bronx? Barnes thinks he knows one big part of the answer, as does the city’s chief of police. A handful of local criminologists and social scientists think they can explain it, too. But it’s a dismal answer, one that city leaders have made clear they don’t want to hear. It’s an answer that offers up racial stereotypes to fearful whites in a city trying to move beyond racial tensions. Ultimately, it reaches beyond crime and implicates one of the most ambitious antipoverty programs of recent decades.
Betts had been evaluating the impact of one of the city government’s most ambitious initiatives: the demolition of the city’s public-housing projects, as part of a nationwide experiment to free the poor from the destructive effects of concentrated poverty. Memphis demolished its first project in 1997. The city gave former residents federal “Section8” rent-subsidy vouchers and encouraged them to move out to new neighborhoods. Two more waves of demolition followed over the next nine years, dispersing tens of thousands of poor people into the wider metro community.
In the most literal sense, the national effort to diffuse poverty has succeeded. Since 1990, the number of Americans living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty—meaning that at least 40 percent of households are below the federal poverty level—has declined by 24percent. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. Recently, the housing expert George Galster, of Wayne State University, analyzed the shifts in urban poverty and published his results in a paper called “A Cautionary Tale.” While fewer Americans live in high-poverty neighborhoods, increasing numbers now live in places with “moderate” poverty rates, meaning rates of 20 to 40 percent. This pattern is not necessarily better, either for poor people trying to break away from bad neighborhoods or for cities, Galster explains. His paper compares two scenarios: a city split into high-poverty and low-poverty areas, and a city dominated by median-poverty ones. The latter arrangement is likely to produce more bad neighborhoods and more total crime, he concludes, based on a computer model of how social dysfunction spreads.
Studies show that recipients of Section8 vouchers have tended to choose moderately poor neighborhoods that were already on the decline, not low-poverty neighborhoods. One recent study publicized by HUD warned that policy makers should lower their expectations, because voucher recipients seemed not to be spreading out, as they had hoped, but clustering together. Galster theorizes that every neighborhood has its tipping point—a threshold well below a 40 percent poverty rate—beyond which crime explodes and other severe social problems set in. Pushing a greater number of neighborhoods past that tipping point is likely to produce more total crime. In 2003, the Brookings Institution published a list of the 15 cities where the number of high-poverty neighborhoods had declined the most. In recent years, most of those cities have also shown up as among the most violent in the U.S., according to FBI data.
If you love science fiction, check out this website which offers free downloads of ebooks by a number of popular authors.
So what's the catch? There isn't one. The publisher is hoping to entice people to either buy a print copy of the book after reading it or to purchase other books by the same author.
This publisher is not the first to do this. Cory Doctorow, who is - among other things - the co-editor of the very popular website "Boing-Boing", has written several novels which he offers on the internet for free as "Creative Commons-licensed downloads". His explanation for this is simple but eloquent:
I believe that we live in an era where anything that can be expressed as bits will be. I believe that bits exist to be copied. Therefore, I believe that any business-model that depends on your bits not being copied is just dumb, and that lawmakers who try to prop these up are like governments that sink fortunes into protecting people who insist on living on the sides of active volcanoes. Me, I’m looking to find ways to use copying to make more money and it’s working: enlisting my readers as evangelists for my work and giving them free ebooks to distribute sells more books. As Tim O’Reilly says, my problem isn’t piracy, it’s obscurity. Best of all, giving away ebooks gives me lots of key insights into how to make money without restricting the copying of bits. It’s a win-win situation.
Welcome to the Life On Terra Firma lounge.
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- chris
Either I'm just having a bad day or stupidity is running wild in the news business today. Here's another article with a "DUH" response to the question in the headline: Authorities seek reason why Turlock man beat his toddler to death
One passerby who grappled with him said he was muttering that the boy had 'demons' in him.
Can I get a DUH?
Seriously - what else was he going to do? NOT endorse him? That's the only way this would have been a newsworthy story.
The decision in the Boumediene v. Bush case has been debated endlessly (including right here on Terra Firma), and I'm not going to retread all that ground and get into the debate on Guantanamo and foreign combatants' rights.
The more important implication of this case may have been overlooked by most people. Did Anthony Kennedy say the Constitution is unconstitutional?? Take a look at this excellent analysis and you decide.
The second implication may be stated in brief: the Court has, whether by intention or merely tacitly, fired a shot across the bow of all those who might contemplate reining in its most egregious excesses, by jurisdiction-stripping and defiance: such endeavours will be regarded as unconstitutional, as violations of the fundamental law, the actual text notwithstanding. It should not be doubted that this precedent will both be invoked in the future, and exercise a chilling effect on the discourse of a dying republic. And such a nation will not have a legislature; it will have a Politboro.
Department of Defense Statistics.
American Casualties In Iraq.
January - May 2008: 14
FBI Statistics
Murder rate January - May 2008
Detroit, MI: 47 Murders
Baltimore, MD: 43 Murders
New Orleans, LA: 37 Murders
Newark, NJ: 37 Murders
ST Louis, MO: 37 Murders
Oakland, CA: 36 Murders
Washington, DC: 29 Murders
Cincinnati, OH: 28 Murders
Should I continue? There are 14 other American Cities that have a higher murder rate for American Citizens than Iraq.
Philadelphia, PA
Buffalo, NY
Kansas City, MO
Atlanta, GA
Memphis, TN
Miami, Florida
Houston, TX
Milwaukee, WI
Indiana, IN
Pittsburgh, PA
Cleveland, OH
Chicago, IL
Phoenix, AZ
Minneapolis, MN
Dallas, TX
Columbus, OH
And 5 cities that have 13 murders.
Jacksonville, FL
Tulsa, OK
Mobile, AL
Boston, MA
Stockton, CA
Oh, and I noticed another thing, the majority of these cities...
Obamamessiah country... hope and change.. hope and change.
You have a better chance surviving a tour in Iraq, than you do walking the streets of Detroit, and that's just sad.
** UPDATE **
So NY Nerd wants me to do math, and here it is.
Currently there are 158,000 Military personnel and another 50,000 Non-Military Personnell, which leaves Iraq with 208,000 Americans, on par with The following cities.
Mobile, AL - 250,000
St Petersburg, Fl - 253,000
I can't include this as part of my "Obama Is An Idiot" threads.
Some quote on Hot Air -
Oh great! Baka has the stoner vote. Aren’t they even less dependable than the youth vote? And what about those people who don’t use a bong, but a pipe instead, or those who roll their own?
Light blogging, here is a song.
Biz Markey - "Just A Friend"
DNC convention committee faces $15 million shortfall.
DENVER (AP) — The host committee for the Democratic National Convention faces a possible shortfall of $15 million, complicating logistics for the August event and forcing it to abruptly postpone a media walkthrough of the site scheduled for next week.
George Orwell once wrote that politics was closely related to social identity. 'One sometimes gets the impression,' he wrote in The Road To Wigan Pier, 'that the mere words socialism and communism draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, nature-cure quack, pacifist and feminist in England'.Take that hippies!
“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,”
No, if they bring a gun... Obama will try to pass legislation to ban all firearms. 
Times Blog.
After cinching the nomination and getting Hillary Clinton’s endorsement, everyone expected Barack Obama to have a substantial bounce in the polls. Not only did the uptick seem paltry at seven, it has shrunk to less than half of that number within the week. The daily Gallup tracking poll now shows John McCain within the margin of error, only three points back:
Barack Obama leads John McCain in national registered voter preferences for the election, but by a slightly narrower margin than he had earlier this week, 46% vs. 43%.More after the jump...
Although Obama’s three percentage point advantage is statistically significant, it is down from the 6- to 7-point leads he had in Gallup Poll Daily tracking reports on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week
And Che Guevara!
NBC’s Tim Russert dead at 58
Washington bureau chief, ‘Meet the Press’ moderator collapsed on job.
WASHINGTON - Tim Russert, NBC News’ Washington bureau chief and the moderator of “Meet the Press,” died Friday after being stricken at the bureau, NBC News said Friday. He was 58.More after the jump...
Russert was recording voiceovers for Sunday’s “Meet the Press” program when he collapsed, the network said.
Those early termination fees (ETFs) that consumers pay for switching cell phones in mid-contract are a great deal, an attorney for AT&T told the Federal Communications Commission yesterday.He said this with a straight face I am assuming.
"the overwhelming popularity of these rate plans has fueled the tremendous increase in wireless penetration, usage, and technical innovation documented by the [FCC's] annual reports on wireless competition."Just how popular are these termination fees.
Various class action attorneys also appeared at the FCC hearing. Many of their cases involve cell phone customers who feel that they were mistakenly charged ETFs, do not think that ETFs are fair given the lousy service that they received, or could not afford to pay their ETF and wound up with a damaged credit rating. The FCC received over 3,700 complaints about ETFs in 2006 and 2007, agency Chair Kevin Martin disclosed at the event.More after the jump...
I really have to laugh at some of the shit that so-called "moral" people (a/k/a right-wing bloggers) manage to get their panties in a twist about.
Let's take the case of Judge Alex Kozinski, shall we? Judge Kozinksi is chief judge of the U.S. Court Appeals for the 9th Circuit (doing a trial court rotation), and is a known defender of First Amendment rights. He is currently overseeing an obscenity trial where the defendant, Ira Isaacs, is a self-described "shock artist" whose videos feature bestiality and defecation.
So the LA Times uncovered the "shocking" news: Judge Kozinski has, on a semi-private website that he maintains, "explicit" material. I'll pause here for everyone to go "OOOOOOO"... What could this terrible material be?
Well let's ask the LA Times...
The sexually explicit material on the site was extensive, including images of masturbation, public sex and contortionist sex. There was a slide show striptease featuring a transsexual, and a folder that contained a series of photos of women's crotches in snug-fitting clothing or underwear.
Before the site was taken down, visitors to http://alex.kozinski.com were greeted with the message: "Ain't nothin' here. Y'all best be movin' on, compadre."
Only those who knew to type in the name of a subdirectory could see the content on the site, which also included some of Kozinski's essays and legal writings as well as music files and personal photos.
Last night I spoke to Cyrus Sanai, the tipster for that L.A. Times article about the porn on Alex Kozinski’s web site. I called Mr. Sanai at the telephone number indicated for him on the California State Bar web site. I spoke to him for over two hours. During our conversation, Mr. Sanai e-mailed me images that he says he downloaded from Judge Alex Kozinski’s web site on December 24, 2007.
I warn you that many of these images are pornographic, perverted, and/or disturbing. You should definitely not view them while you are at work. Depending on your sensibilities, you may not want to view them at home.
It seems Kozinski has been accumulating viral Internet humor, some of it X-rated but none of it any less mainstream than a Farrelly Brothers movie. The L.A. Times' descriptions of the material were rather misleading: The "slide show striptease featuring a transsexual," for example, turns out to be a quiz where you guess whether you're looking at a natural woman. In the words of Wonkette, this is "the sort of naughtiness you'd find in the dirty birthday cards section at Spencer Gifts."
Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has admitted to the Los Angeles Times that a website he maintains contains sexually explicit pictures and videos. His severe lack of moral judgment demands that he either resign or, if he refuses, that Congress begin impeachment proceedings.
So first I took this How Stupid Are You Test:
Turns out I'm not that stupid- yay me! So then I find this article:
God makes you stupid, researcher claims
Lynn and his two co-authors argue that average IQ is an excellent predictor of what proportion of the population are true believers, across 137 countries. They also cite surveys of the US Academy of Sciences and UK Royal Academy showing single-digit rates of religious belief among academics.
It's been a few days since he has said something incredibly stupid but this one is a good one.
Obama decided in his socialist utopia that high gas prices are a good thing.
The more he talks, the more I dislike him. 
The Marine Corps on Wednesday said it was expelling one Marine and disciplining another for their roles in a video showing a Marine throwing a puppy off a cliff while on patrol in Iraq.
The 17-second video posted on YouTube drew sharp condemnation from animal rights groups when it came to light in March.
The clip shows two Marines joking before one hurls the puppy into a rocky gully. A yelping sound is heard as it flips through the air.
"That's mean. That's mean, Motari," an off-camera Marine is heard telling the Marine who tossed the black and white dog. The off-camera Marine snickered slightly afterward.
Lance Cpl. David Motari, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe Bay, is "being processed for separation" from the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps said in a news release. He also received unspecified "non-judicial punishment."
The Marine Corps didn't say what role Motari played in the clip.
The video was viewed tens of thousands of times before YouTube took it down due to a violation of the site's terms of use.
"The actions seen in the Internet video are contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine and will not be tolerated," Marine Corps Base Hawaii said in a news release. "The vast majority of Marines conduct their duties with honor and compassion that makes American people proud."
The second Marine, Sgt. Crismarvin Banez Encarnacion also received unspecified "non-judicial" punishment.
Encarnacion is assigned to the Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.
First Lt. Binford Strickland, a Marine Corps Base Hawaii spokesman, said the service may not reveal what roles the two men played in the video because that was part of the investigation. He said releasing such information would violate the Privacy Act.
Strickland declined to provide details about the disciplinary measures taken against the men for the same reason.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.
In dissent, Chief Justice John Roberts criticized his colleagues for striking down what he called "the most generous set of procedural protections ever afforded aliens detained by this country as enemy combatants."Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens joined Kennedy to form the majority.
Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas also dissented.
Scalia said the nation is "at war with radical Islamists" and that the court's decision "will make the war harder on us. It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."
Hulk Hogan appeared on CNN Larry King Live.
So, Hulk raised a spoiled fuckup, and John was a negative person, so god killed John to make up for Hulks failure as a parent. Because ours is a vengeful god, who will smite all those who do not make him happy, and Nick Hogan is his instrument of death.
In hindsight maybe Hulk should just shut the fuck up from now on.
Obama in 08.
In an editorial, the Saudi paper Al-Watan stated that U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is more capable than anyone else of bringing about change in U.S. policy, particularly in all things connected to the Middle East.
The paper added that in light of Obama’s intent to conduct a dialogue with Iran, the Middle East countries should launch a dialogue with him and help him better understand what is going on.
Source: Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, June 6, 2008
More after the jump...
Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy told the feds two officials fixed the outcome of a playoff series - and that refs were told not to eject star players from games for fear of hurting ticket sales.
The document does not name the teams, but the only series that went seven games that year was between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Kings, leading the series 3 games to 2, were whistled for 31 fouls and the Lakers were called for 24. The Lakers outscored the Kings 34-18 at the foul line, winning that game and the next to take the series.
Credit thieves use campaign Web sites to test stolen cards’ validity.
Charles Bridges isn't a supporter of Barack Obama.
So he was surprised to find a $103.90 donation to the Obama For America campaign on his American Express credit card statement last month.
"I have never made or authorized in any way a donation to this organization," Bridges wrote in an e-mail.
What I found out from talking to folks at the Obama campaign was that there is a growing criminal enterprise in which stolen credit card numbers are used to make online donations to political campaigns and charities.More after the jump...
It's not that crooks are suddenly becoming activists or do-gooders. Instead, they have found that making online donations is an easy way to verify that the stolen credit card numbers they are buying or selling are valid.
Some editor will be looking for a new job tomorrow.
With reality dawning at last that Ron Paul is not going to get the Republican nomination despite the enthusiasm and hard work of his supporters, those supporters now face the difficult choice of what to do with their votes once November rolls around. A lot of them are young and have never been heavily involved in politics and now they're all wound up with no place to go.
McCain seems too moderate and too 'establishment' for them, even though he's the choice of the party to which Ron Paul attracted them. Many consider themselves libertarians, but the Libertarian Party did them a dirty trick and leapt towards the mainstream by nominating former Republican warmonger Bob Barr. And even Paul's most anti-war supporters realize that on almost every other issue Barack Obama is a raving socialist with whom they have nothing else in common.
More after the jump...
Check the links on the bottom of the page to see what others are saying.
More after the jump...Barackobama.com
In the book, "Smoke em' if you got em" by Anthony Nicolini, he discusses secret meetings with the 5 heads of the CIA regarding the drug trade, these meetings were held as far back as 1950.
The clandestine meetings were headed by Emilio Barzini and Phillip Tattaglia and disclosed that the CIA will ship drugs into New York via the waterfront controled by CIA operative Virgil Sollozo.
It was disclosed that the drugs will only be sold in the "colored" communities, and that it will not be sold to children or near schools.
Victor Stracci indicated in the publication that, "Sell it in the colored neighborhood, they have no souls"
George Bush allowed this to go on long after the 5 heads of the CIA were disbanded.
Knowledge is power people..
Holy shit, I really hope this is a joke, but the replies just confirm what most people already know, Obama supporters are idiots.
By Fatirah from Philly Today at 8:26 pm EDT (Updated 14 minutes ago)I guess since we are on the subject of nitwits, here is a feature film on the 9/11 conspiracy. More after the jump...
What a great book
Less than two years after emerging victorious in a billion-dollar bidding war that gave him control of the legendary Tropicana casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, William J. Yung III has stepped down as CEO of Tropicana Entertainment LLC.
The move came a week after senior lenders demanded Mr. Yung leave the helm of his bankrupt casino company. In a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Silver Point Capital and other senior lenders demanded Mr. Yung be removed from "all management and directorial decisions." Bondholders owed $960 million had launched their own campaign to remove him.How the fuck do you bankrupt a fucking Casino.
One-fourth of city residents have herpes.
A city Health Department study finds that more than a fourth of adult New Yorkers are infected with the virus that causes genital herpes.NY Daily News. More after the jump...
The study, released Monday, says about 26 percent of New York City adults have genital herpes, compared to about 19 percent nationwide.
Faggy bike helmet - check
1968 Schwinn - check
flat rear tire - check and mate.
For a few weeks now, a grainy video has been circling the Internet of an office worker going absolutely insane. It originated on Break.com.
Those fearing that their cubicle neighbor might engage in similar hysterics can breathe easy -- it was all a sly bit of viral marketing from Timur Bekmambetov for Wanted. He revealed the stunt over on his personal blog, where he allegedly had a good laugh.
The guy who makes keys at Lowes.
More after the jump...They're mad as hell, and Hillary Clinton's supporters aren't going to take it anymore.
"We're going to run campaign ads to defeat Obama," says Ed Hale, a 63-year-old rancher and a Clinton supporter from Wellington, Texas. "We have doctors, lawyers, CPAs, the blue bloods, and then we have rednecks like me. It's a very diversified organization."Website here.
The split illustrates the difficult task the Democratic party now faces in rallying the troops behind Obama. Open dissent within party ranks provides Republicans with openings to exploit.
The former first lady, who as recently as Tuesday declared herself the strongest candidate, gave former rival Barack Obama anendorsement and pivoted from her role as determined foe to ally.More after the jump...
The usher, Guerrero said, told them he had received a complaint from a woman nearby who said that there were kids in the crowd of nearly 36,000 and that parents would have to explain why two women were kissing.
Sets fire to a Starbucks?
Is everyone from California a fucking moron?
DANVILLE, Calif. — Police in the San Francisco Bay area say a woman set fires in the restrooms of two gas stations and a coffee house and told them she did it to protest high gas prices.
No structural damage was reported at the Arco station, the Chevron station and the Starbucks in Danville where fires were set Wednesday using fireplace logs and a lighter.
Police say they later found 64-year-old Diane Craig at a nearby fast food restaurant with eight fireplace logs with her. Authorities say she told officers that she was behind the fires and that she woke up that morning wanting to do something about high gas prices.
Craig was arrested on suspicion of premeditated arson and burglary.
Police say they don't know why the Starbucks was targeted.
British communist and terrorist sympathizer George Galloway hearts Obama.
So, that is pretty much every major terrorist group, communist wacko and Socialist nut job giving us their vocal support for Obama.
Visit Little Green Footballs for the video.
This video is NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
HARTFORD, Conn. — The surveillance video is gripping — a 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver, and car after car zooms by as he lies motionless on the busy city street.More after the jump...
This is an on going series, like my "Obama is an Idiot" threads.
- Duct Tape.
This presidential race has been one disappointment after another for me - but I've finally found a candidate I am proud to support:
Dave Barry!
He is currently fielding questions from the public on his positions. Go here to submit your question and read some questions/answers already posted. Here's a sample of his wisdom:
Q: Dave, I see that those wacky scientists have found a way to make a monkey's brain control a robot arm merely by thought. What practical uses will this amazing technology have for the millions of us who have idle monkey brains?
Submitted by George O'Jungle from San Diego Zoo
A: I think this would be a better world if more things were controlled by monkey brains. The Department of Commerce is only one example.
Answered 05/30/08 14:01:03 by Dave Barry
Q: Dave, is there any chance that the end of the world will occur before my wife drags me to see that movie about four women buying shoes?
Submitted by Matthew Broderick from New York, NY
A: All we can do is pray that it will.
Answered 05/27/08 10:19:52 by Dave Barry
Q: which countries will you be declaring war on once elected president?More after the jump...
Submitted by zac from perth
A: We'll be taking them alphabetically, starting with France.
Answered 06/03/08 16:18:02 by Dave Barry
An in depth time line focusing on the friendship between Obama and now, convicted , real estate developer and friend Antoni Rezko.
The Assassination of Barack Obama
The Assassination of Hillary Clinton
Artists are retards.
** UPDATE **
Yazmany Arboleda, whose button-pushing shows barely caused a ripple when they were recently unveiled in Chelsea, was grilled by agents after he had the provocative title stenciled on the windows of a West 40th St. storefront.NY Daily News More after the jump...
I think it says, "Massage with hand release no full service."
The RNC's convention office in St. Paul has received numerous telephone calls in the last few hours from people who identify themselves as Clinton supporters asking how they can help Sen. McCain.More after the jump...
Although there's no reason to doubt that Obama would fare well enough in a series of debates with McCain, Obama is unlikely to accept McCain's challenge. This is standard practice for non-challengers, but normally the non-challenger is an incumbent president or a sitting vice president. Voters are sufficiently familiar with such candidates to decide a "referendum" without seeing the candidate debate his opponent more than once in the fall (the non-challenger normally agrees to a few debates as a safety net in the event the first debate goes badly).More after the jump...
This is not the case with Obama, though. Voters will not easily decide to crown Obama without reasonably frequent exposure to him in pressure situations. Sound bites and soaring but largely vacuous speeches will not do the trick; Obama needs to begin facing McCain and taking questions from the public, not just listening to its hard luck stories. If he seems to be ducking this completely or to a significant degree, the advantage will go to McCain.
NY Nerd posted a video of a Christian fundie getting PWNED, Watch Here.
Now, a website lets you send a post-rapture E-Mail to friends 'Left Behind'
If millions of Christians suddenly disappear from the face of the Earth as the opening act for Armageddon, Threat Level thinks most nonbelievers will be too busy freaking the hell out to check their e-mail. But if they do log in, now they can be treated to some post-Rapture needling from their missing friends and loved ones, courtesy of web startup YouveBeenLeftBehind.com.I am just pissed I didn't think of it first.
For just $40 a year, believers can arrange for up to 62 people to get a final message exactly six days after the Rapture, that day when -- according to Christian end times dogma -- Christians will be swept up to heaven, while doubters are left behind to suffer seven years of Tribulation under a global government headed by the Antichrist.
