Wishful thinking?

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 31 August 2008 at 1:19 PM

I have two pieces of bad news for the over-$250,000 crowd. First, the reversal of some of the temporary Bush tax cuts is probably inevitable, given the Republican fiscal clown show of the past eight years. Second, I regret to inform you that you are indeed rich.
The deluded Obama critics who think $250,000 is a middle-class salary. - By Daniel Gross - Slate Magazine

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 28 August 2008 at 10:30 AM

Japanese Festival. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday at Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard. $10.
STLtoday - Labor Day weekend events

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 27 August 2008 at 12:45 PM

The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not
The Energy Challenge - Wind Energy Bumps Into Power Grid’s Limits - Series - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 27 August 2008 at 11:44 AM

On Thursday, [Intel] plans to demonstrate the use of a magnetic field to broadcast up to 60 watts of power two to three feet. It says it can do that losing only 25 percent of the power in transmission.
Intel Moves to Free Gadgets of Their Recharging Cords - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 21 August 2008 at 3:44 PM

Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.
Two Women Sentenced to ‘Re-education’ in China - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 20 August 2008 at 9:53 AM

The lady in the next aisle over from me at work has been on the phone with her bank for the last two hours regarding a 2 cent difference in the monthly statement they mailed her versus what she came up with when she balanced her checkbook.  Its a bit maddening as she reads each of her check numbers and amounts out to different people at the bank over and over.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 18 August 2008 at 11:37 AM

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 15 August 2008 at 6:22 PM

via yglesias.thinkprogress.org

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 15 August 2008 at 5:22 PM

The ABA Endorses Merit Selection of Federal Judges - WSJ.com
I don’t often find myself agreeing with the WSJ’s opinions, but on the the issue of merit selection of judges, I’m in their camp.  On paper, the idea of selecting judges based on merit makes perfect sense.  The tricky part comes when you have to pick the people who make the decisions about who deserves promotion to the bench.  The Missouri plan (used in Missouri and adopted by other states), has a bipartisan commision that sends a slate of acceptable names to the governor, who then chooses one from the list.  The ABA has just endorsed a similar plan for federal appointments.  In their plan, the two Senators from the state where the appointment would take place would select a commision that would put together a slate of candidates.  The president would then have to choose his nominee from that slate.  Putting aside the constitutional questions this raises, I still find major flaws with this plan.  My main concern is that we are removing accountability from elected officials.  This commision plan would likely still allow interested parties to influence the outcome, but would give all the politicians involved cover in case the public was dissatisfied with their selection.  We need more accountability in government, not less.  Consequently, we need out elected officials to be making decisions in plain sight so that voters can take those actions into account on election day.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 15 August 2008 at 1:33 PM

Olympics Are a Challenge to New York-Based TV Crews - NYTimes.com
Live from New York… it’s the 2008 Olympics.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 14 August 2008 at 11:50 AM

Part of Olympic display altered in broadcast - Gadgets- msnbc.com
It does seem a bit foolish for a sporting event to manipulate what people are seeing.  Even though this was just the opening ceremony, it does lend credence to claims that the outcome of other events may be digitally altered.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 August 2008 at 2:55 PM

Book Review - 'Traffic,' by Tom Vanderbilt - Review - NYTimes.com
This book sounds fascinating.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 August 2008 at 12:55 PM

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says iPhone and iPod Touch users downloaded more than 60 million apps from the iTunes App Store during its first month of business, spending about $1 million per day for a sales total of $30 million.
Jobs: iPhone App sales hit $30 million in a month

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 August 2008 at 11:46 AM

‘Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise’ is coming out Sept. 9 as a paperback with an announced first printing of 300,000 copies and a list price of $13.95.
STLtoday - Entertainment

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 August 2008 at 10:53 AM

Martha Stewart is not widely known for her sense of humor. But she is in on this particular joke. In fact, she created it, dreaming up the premise after watching reruns of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” during a sleepless night.
Show Skewers Martha Stewart, With Her Blessing - NYTimes.com

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 11 August 2008 at 10:28 AM

A collection of Olympic torches - NYTimes.com
I’m partial to the torch from the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome, but I’d take the design of pretty much any of the older torches over the torches from the last 15 years or so.

Comments: 0 Posted by david on 2 August 2008 at 5:49 PM