The ‘O’ In Obama

Two articles on the designer, Sol Sender, the man behind the iconic Obama "O" logo. Simple sells. It was a perfect compliment to Shepard Fairey’s posters.



Source: NYT

Source: Philly News

Catholic Church Forgives The Beatles

And it only took them 42 years:

The Roman Catholic Church has forgiven the Beatles more than 40 years after John Lennon claimed the band were “more popular than Jesus”.

“After so many years it sounds merely like the boasting of an English working-class lad struggling to cope with unexpected success,” an editorial in today’s (November 22nd) edition of the Vatican’s official newspaper said.

L'Osservatore Romano, regarded as the Pope’s mouthpiece, praised the Beatles, saying the Liverpool band had provided the world with some of the “best pages in modern pop music”.

Some quotes that got Lennon in trouble:

"It will vanish and shrink. We're more popular than Jesus now - I don't know which will go first, rock and roll or Christianity”

And:

“Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."

Source: Gigwise

World's Largest Record Collection

World's Largest Record Collection

Paul Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world's largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection.

This is the story of a man and his records. I hope you enjoy it.


The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

45th Anniversary Of Kennedy Assassination

November 22, 1963. Dallas TX. 45th Anniversary Of Kennedy Assassination

Obama's Weekly YouTube Address

Sucks we have to wait until January 20.

Bush Administration Leaves "Burrowed" Legacy

Obama has a tough job cleaning up after a devastating 8-year Bush Administration. But it seems it might be even harder due to "burrowing" of Bush flunkies within high level government jobs, even as his term is ending.

"The Bush administration will leave us with another legacy: unqualified Republican ideologues receiving appointments in various institutions, including scientific organizations, as their ship of state sinks. The rats are scuttling overboard, and are being rewarded with captaincies on any available vessel."

An example would be:

The president of the nation's largest general science organization yesterday sharply criticized recent cases of Bush administration political appointees gaining permanent federal jobs with responsibility for making or administering scientific policies, saying the result would be "to leave wreckage behind."

"It's ludicrous to have people who do not have a scientific background, who are not trained and skilled in the ways of science, make decisions that involve resources, that involve facilities in the scientific infrastructure," said James McCarthy, a Harvard University oceanographer who is president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "You'd just like to think people have more respect for the institution of government than to leave wreckage behind with these appointments."

This is Bush. Let's be real. He must have hated science when he was in grade school and wants the world to pay for his inconvenient low intellect.

Source: Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly

Ten Questions That Must Be Asked of Obama Before He's Sworn In

via 23/6:

Ten Questions That Must Be Asked of Obama Before He's Sworn In.

1. Mr. Obama, if the biggest terrorist attack ever on American soil were to take place while you're president, would you:
A) Finish the children's book you're currently reading.
B) Do something.

2. Mr. Obama, if a major American city were to go under water, would you:
A) Fly over the city and wave to the drowning people below.
B) Do something.

Read on: Ten Questions That Must Be Asked of Obama Before He's Sworn In - 236.com

O'Reilly: Internet Has Liberal Bias. Do Cell Phones, Too?

For conservatives and alarmists like O'Reilly, apparently truth = liberal, so anything that strides to promote truth or facts must be liberal. Newspapers, TV news networks, NPR, even the internet.

The internet has a liberal bias? How idiotic is that? Not particular websites, but the entire internet. That's like saying cell phones are liberal.

More to the point, the control O'Reilly is in fear of, the Pelosi and Fairness Doctrine warnings he whimpers on about, should be seen in light of Bush deregulating the FCC under Michael Powell, son of Colin. That change to the FCC allowed massive consolidation and led corporations like Clear Channel [based in Houston, TX and massive contributors to the GOP] to own 1000s of radio and TV stations, even in the same markets.

The control of the media O'Reilly shrills on about has already happened under Bush. Open your eyes, jackass.

Obama Announces Econ Team: Dow Jumps

Barack Obama announces this afternoon that he'll unveil his Economic Team for Monday including Timothy Geithner at Treasury Secretary.

World responds.



Is Bush President anymore?

Track Somali Pirates In Real Time

Track Somali pirates in real time. The map is littered with clickable pointers that provide continual updates on recent high-seas hijackings.



Source: International Chamber of Commerce

Quote of the Day: Ashley Dupre

On being Spitzer's lady friend:

"If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else," she said. "I was doing my job. I don't feel that I brought him down."

She actually got him up quite a few times.

The Bad News And The Badder News

Stock market have you freaked out? Spread that feeling. Panic about the credit markets instead. Interest rate on 3-month Treasuries at 0.02%; interest rate on high-yield (junk) bonds over 20%.

This is an economic emergency.

The money may not be moving, but after reading all this data your bowels certainly will be.

Source: Bloomberg

What's Your Definition Of Victory?

Dana Perino says that the real meaning of the U.S-Iraq security agreement is "that the conditions are such now that we are able to celebrate the victory that we’ve had so far."

Um, English should be your first language as White House Press Secretary. I guess Palin has some residual effects.

So this is victory? The US has created a new Islamic state closely aligned with Iran and its patrons China and Russia.

Ilan Goldenberg isn't buying it either:"

It's an interesting definition of "victory." I guess you can define victory as more than 4,000 American fatalities, more than 30,000 wounded, probably hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths, millions of Iraqis displaced, $1-$3 trillion in costs to the U.S. economy, an empowered Iran, an un-addressed threat in Afghanistan, and massive damage to America's image around the world. All for a war that did not actually achieve its original objectives - eliminate a WMD threat that wasn't there, eliminate a terrorism threat that wasn't there, and spread democracy throughout the Middle East. I guess we can define "victory" that way. Probably wouldn't be my definition though."

Reminds me of the "consequences of catastrophic success" Bush quote.

Source: Democracy Arsenal

Paul Krugman: The Lame-Duck Economy

Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize winning economist at the New York Times, keeping it real on how screwed we are thanks to having too much Bush, then not be able to get rid of Bush fast enough:

"There is, however, another and more disturbing parallel between 2008 and 1932 — namely, the emergence of a power vacuum at the height of the crisis. The interregnum of 1932-1933, the long stretch between the election and the actual transfer of power, was disastrous for the U.S. economy, at least in part because the outgoing administration had no credibility, the incoming administration had no authority and the ideological chasm between the two sides was too great to allow concerted action. And the same thing is happening now....

How much can go wrong in the two months before Mr. Obama takes the oath of office? The answer, unfortunately, is: a lot. Consider how much darker the economic picture has grown since the failure of Lehman Brothers, which took place just over two months ago. And the pace of deterioration seems to be accelerating.

Most obviously, we’re in the midst of the worst stock market crash since the Great Depression: the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index has now fallen more than 50 percent from its peak. Other indicators are arguably even more disturbing: unemployment claims are surging, manufacturing production is plunging, interest rates on corporate bonds — which reflect investor fears of default — are soaring, which will almost surely lead to a sharp fall in business spending. The prospects for the economy look much grimmer now than they did as little as a week or two ago."

The Bush Legacy, it’s scary to think how much more can go wrong before Inauguration Day.

Source: NYT

Michael Jackson Becomes A Muslim, Changes To Mikaeel

So will he be getting 72 male virgins or female virgins in the afterlife?

"Beleaguered pop star Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel, it has been claimed today.

The 50-year-old singer, who has previously been photographed wearing a traditional Arab women's veil, reportedly became a Muslim in a ceremony at a friend's house in Los Angeles.

The singer, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, is said to have sat on the floor and worn a small hat while an imam officiated at the home of Steve Porcaro, who composed music on his Thriller album."

Source: Daily Mail

Buffett Losing His Touch?

Don't feel bad, the richest guy in the US lost big time over the past few months:

Looking for a bargain? How about $74,100 for a share of Berkshire Hathaway? That’s the cheapest stock in Warren Buffett’s company has cost since 2003, down 51 percent since an all-time high of $151,650 in December.

Put me down for .01% of one share.

Source: Reuters

Did Talk Radio Kill Conservatism?

Nate Silver has written a great article on how talk radio killed conservatism.

Starting from his Tuesday interview with John Ziegler, a documentary filmmaker and former radio talk show host who built the website HowObamaGotElected.com, Silver's simple questions over polling used in his dicumentary caused problems. [In brief, a Zogby poll Ziegler used extrapolated how voters came to back Obama based on slender evidence –interviews with just 10 Obama voters.] Ziegler had a meltdown during interview.

"John Ziegler is a shining example of such a conservative. During my interview with him, Ziegler made absolutely no effort to persuade me about the veracity of any of his viewpoints. He simply asserted them -- and then became frustrated, paranoid, or vulgar when I rebutted them."

Noting that Ziegler got his start in radio, Silver noted the origins of talking without being held accountable:

"Moreover, almost uniquely to radio, most of the audience is not even paying attention to you, because most people listen to radio when they're in the process of doing something else."

And if you're going to ramble on the airwaves you need to keep your audience fired up. And how do you do this? Silver notes that it's about stimulation, rather than persuading someone with debate or facts:

"The McCain campaign was all about stimulation. The Britney Spears ads weren't persuasive, but they sure were stimulating! "Drill, baby, drill" wasn't persuasive, but it sure was stimulating! Sarah Palin wasn't persuasive, but she sure was stimulating!"

And who is better at stimulating than Fox?

"FOX News is unusual television, really, in that almost all the stimulation is verbal, and almost all of it occurs at the same staccato pacing as radio. You could take tonight's broadcast of Hannity & Colmes or the Factor and put it directly on radio and you'd lose almost nothing (not coincidentally, Hannity and O'Reilly also have highly-rated radio programs). That wouldn't really work for Countdown, which has higher production values, and where the pacing is more irregular. It certainly wouldn't work for the Situation Room -- or moving in a different direction, the Daily Show."

The Republican echo chamber is unique and powerful. Talking points are repeated with loyalty. The problem is America has moved forward:

"The failures of the Bush administration have woken the country up; conservatives now need to find a way to communicate with people who are actually paying attention."

One of my favorite bloggers, Oliver Willis, writes about his experience with conservatives and their "perception of reality":

"I experienced this myself in conversation with one of my regular conservative readers who argued with me that Barack Obama running ads attacking Sarah Palin over abortion was a sign of weakness… for Obama. The problem is that the Democratic position on abortion - access with restrictions - is far closer to the mainstream of American thought than Sarah Palin’s - the outright banning of abortion. But if you watched Fox News and listened to talk radio you would think just the opposite.

I also noticed it on con blogs and Free Republic when the polls all indicated that Sen. Obama was headed for a significant victory over McCain. It wasn’t that the campaign was being run poorly or that Obama was doing well. Nope, the polls showing Obama in the lead were clearly a sinister plot by the liberal mainstream media to convince the American people to vote for Obama (or, because the pollsters were in blue states their results couldn’t possibly be accurate). That’s crazy talk, and yet it was a mainstream point of view for the right - reinforced by their media. It’s a lot like people in a cult who simply can’t step out of their cult-world and review things objectively."

If this were any other topic, let's say sports, and you were as wrong as the Conservatives have been with reflecting the thoughts and attitudes of America, you would have been fired years ago.

Source: fivethirtyeight.com