Archive for the ‘politricks’ Category

Quote of the Day

Politics is defined by money and access. Plain and simple. The unfortunate truth is that if you want to change Washington DC, you have to buy it. And the big online Internet companies, especially Web-facing ones, have failed to pony up. Case in point: Obama spent more buying ads on Google in 2008 than Google did on total lobbying in 2008, 2009, and 2010 combined. :: Read More ::

Sh*t Republicans say… about black people

At Monday’s 352nd Republican presidential debate, the remaining candidates for the GOP Presidential nomination tackled the tough issues, like whether or not felons should be allowed to vote and what in the sam hill is going on with black people being poor all the time. As they veered between treating moderator Juan Williams like he was an acceptable substitute for the ire they’d like to direct at President Obama and talking like a civics paper written by a drunk guy who only watches Fox News, I started thinking: For being a bunch of rich white folk, Republican politicians sure do say a lot of shit about black people.:: watch the video ::

My Ninja, Please! 12.20.11: MPAA Pirating Music

This clip familiar to you? Me too, but there is something more amiss here.

Netherlands composer Melchior Rietveldt composed that ominous techno tune for a local film festival after being asked by anti-piracy group BREIN, who are funded by Hollywood. A few years later, he got himself a copy of Harry Potter on DVD and noticed his music was suddenly being used for much wider use than he had originally agreed to in contract. Which essentially means that when they say ‘you wouldn’t steal a television’, that doesn’t quite extend to intellectual property. [Read the rest]

Yes, the very same advert that you are forced to watch at the beginning of every DVD, the one telling you what a hurtful, unethical crime pirating would be, is using music that is PIRATED. My. Ninja. Please.

There are a lot of questions that could be asked here, but the author of the original piece asks the most important one for me:

After all, if they can’t even look after their own ads, how can they expect anybody else to abide by the law?

Excuse us, we’re just going out to steal a handbag. [Link]

Informal Economics?

Could the informal economy be the route to deliver the big sustainable development ideals such as the Green Economy, Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategies, given that its share is rapidly increasing and that the poor mostly operate here? (Source)

It’s unclear whether or not organizing informal economies would boost developing nations or takeaway…

The 2011 Optimists

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Getting comfortable with a new decade is a hard task. But Thomas Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum, with a lack of sources, are right on, apart from the now worn infrastructure and education sentiments:

But the chattering of the columnist class will not achieve any of them. In fact, it is fair to say there have never been more good ideas out there to improve America. The ever-growing blogosphere, for example, incubates novel thinking from the sundry likes of tenured academics to freelancers. But these bright approaches to the country’s problems simply never come to fruition. And that is because, as Friedman and Mandelbaum rightly address at the book’s finale, "our political system has become paralyzed." ( : Continue reading : )

Ed Lee - Too Legit

Hammer: "Who ate up all my apple butter?"

Do you think that Hammer lives with them, or they live with Hammer?  Also, if I lived in SF, I’d vote for dude based on this ad alone.

Futuristic-looking Abandoned Monuments

Check out this collection of abandoned Yugoslavian monuments that look like they’re from the future planet of the apes.

Some of these beg the obvious question - why were they trying to build the fortress of solitude when obviously they lacked the Russian Superman to inhabit it?

Luckily, the real Superman would have saved Metropolis AND America from the Cold War.  Except when he was a commie pinko.

"I’m heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 15 of my fellow marine buddies are meeting me there, also in Uniform. I want to send the following message to Wall St and Congress:I didn’t fight for Wall St. I fought for America. Now it’s Congress’ turn. #marines

A Balance Sheet Recession

Learning from Japan, "This is not a common cold, this is pneumonia." :

At a cost of $235,263 per job, paying people high wages to help the domestic economy mend artificially created scarcities is not a cure for global economic stagnation. Is it possible to optimize rationality? We need to hope so.

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Slate offers eight drastic policy measures necessary to prevent global economic collapse…is it really getting to this?

On a side note, who doesn’t like chocolate….if utilized by Africa it could have a major impact on the standard of living…

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