Friday News Bucket

12 Comments

1. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 7:53 am

   the more they stay McSame: TIME

   A prominent Washington lobbyist who has worked for every Republican president since Richard Nixon has been tapped by the McCain campaign to conduct a study in preparation for the presidential transition, should John McCain win the election, according to sources familiar with the process…

   …Timmons is the chairman-emeritus of Timmons and Company, a small but influential lobbying firm he founded in 1975, shortly after leaving the White House. According to Senate records, he registered to lobby in 2008 for a wide range of companies and trade groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, the American Medical Association, Chrysler, Freddie Mac, Visa USA, and Anheuser-Busch.

   And look, they even come out and say so:

   By tapping Timmons, McCain has turned to one of Washington’s steadiest and most senior inside players to guide him in the event of a victory — but also to someone who would represent the antithesis of the kind of outside-of-Washington change he has recently been promising.

   • 

     idredit on September 12, 2008 at 10:50 am

     FWIW –

     the Palin nod for VP passed through the hands of the CEO of Hensley, Cindy McCain’s beer distribution company.

     You bet, it wasn’t a two beer interview.

2. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 8:11 am

   Looks like the NYT has a theme going:

   Tiny houses

   Upscale sheds instead of additions

   I’ve always wanted to add one of these to my place for a grown-up escape/sanctuary from teenagers…

3. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 8:16 am

   Now we have to worry about the dangers of co-ruminating?   NYT

   But recently female friendship and girl talk, particularly among adolescents, has drawn growing interest from psychologists and researchers examining the question of how much talking is too much talking. Some studies have found that excessive talking about problems can contribute to emotional difficulties, including anxiety and depression.

   The term researchers use is “co-rumination” to describe frequently or obsessively discussing the same problem. The behavior is typical among teens — Why didn’t he call? Should I break up with him? And, psychologists say, it has intensified significantly with e-mail, text messaging, instant messaging and Facebook. And in certain cases it can spin into a potentially contagious and unhealthy emotional angst, experts say.

   Funny.  My friends and I have always thought that getting together for lunch and talking was way cheaper than therapy.  Apparently we’re on to something, if the psychologists want to make a disease out of it.

4. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 8:24 am

   leaves people stranded: Guardian

   Eurostar last night cancelled all today’s services after a fire broke out on a freight train in the Channel tunnel and raged for several hours, bringing services to a standstill and causing huge tailbacks in Kent.

   French firefighters rushed into the tunnel after an alarm was triggered on a freight shuttle travelling from Folkestone to Calais at about 2pm UK time. The blaze was thought to have started when a lorry on board caught fire. The blaze quickly engulfed other vehicles.

   Rescue teams arrived at the scene, about seven miles from the French end of the 31-mile undersea link, and 32 passengers – mostly lorry drivers – were evacuated through a service tunnel.

   Fourteen people were taken to hospital, some with respiratory problems due to smoke inhalation. There were no passengers trains in the tunnel at the time but there were truckers aboard the stricken freight train.

   What a mess.  Apparently it’s even bigger than the fire they had in 1996, which closed the tunnel down for 6 months.

   I think I may be changing my mind about wanting to travel that way someday…

5. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 10:30 am

   From AK blog Mudflats:

   GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

   PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

   This one had me laughing out loud.  Ready for a lesson in Alaska geography/International Affairs?  Off the coast of Nome, 532 miles northwest of Anchorage (the closest city) is an island called Little Diomede.  Little Diomede is 2.4 miles east of the island called Big Diomede, which is in Russia.

   Little Diomede, Alaska has a population of 146.  It is 2.5 square miles in area. There are 42 children in the school.  Nobody drives to work.   Big Diomede is a whopping 26 square miles.  On a clear day you can see the Island of Big Diomede from the western shore of Little Diomede. Therefore Sarah Palin is capable of negotiating with Putin and Sakashvili to peacefully settle the violent conflict that has been burgeoning in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia.

   And here’s a pic:
   

   Hotbed of foreign affairs activity, wouldn’t you say?

   • 

     idredit on September 12, 2008 at 10:45 am

     screwed royally we’re: – a must read

     James Fallows: The Palin Interview

     [.]

     How could she not know this? For the same reason I don’t know anything about European football/soccer standings, trades, or intrigue. I am not interested enough. And she evidently has not been interested enough even to follow the news of foreign affairs during the Bush era.

     A further point. The truly toxic combination of traits GW Bush brought to decision making was:

     1. Ignorance
     2. Lack of curiosity
     3. “Decisiveness”

     That is, he was not broadly informed to begin with (point 1). He did not seek out new information (#2); but he nonetheless prided himself on making broad, bold decisions quickly, and then sticking to them to show resoluteness.

     We don’t know about #2 for Palin yet — she could be a sponge-like absorber of information. But we know about #1 and we can guess, from her demeanor about #3.   Most of all we know something about the person who put her in this untenable role.

     ::::::

     Chris Nelson via Steve Clemons: What would a “Crusdae” Under Sarah Palin Be Like

     [.]

     It’s asking God for the details that strikes us as dangerous, likely delusional, and from the religious point of view, quite possibly blasphemous.

     The reason is simple: if you think you are in direct communication with God on matters of public policy, then anything which pops into your head, ipso facto, you may consider to be the Word of God.

     If you are sensible (and we are lucky) you may not, of course…that’s where “judgment” comes in…but that’s also where the “experience” factor can become critical.

     If the question under prayerful contemplation is something on which you have little or no personal experience weighing, arguing, and listening to competing points of view, then how can you parse the difference between divine inspiration and nonsense?

     Picture George Bush listening to Condi Rice on many occasions, to see what we mean.

     If you’ve never thought much about it before, if you’ve not been listening…for years…to permutations and combinations of the historical and policy factors involved, then with all due respect, your “judgment”, on your very best day, is likely just a guess.

     Now factor-in personality: if you cleave toward an authoritarian style, how do you treat competing judgments, and arguments? If you are operating on a direct line to God, and you think you have received God’s wisdom, how do you respond to those who disagree?

     [.]

6. 

   Real History Lisa on September 12, 2008 at 11:02 am

   I just have to recommend TED.com. I’m listening to a Bill Clinton speech right now and it’s reallly good – about what we can and need to do re poverty in countries around the world, as well as at home, from a structural standpoint.

   TED is a collection of talks from some of the brightest minds on the planet. I’ve watched a variety on science, and the arts, but this one is very moving, to be honest.

   Check it out.

   http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bill_clinton_on_rebuilding_rwanda.html

7. 

   BooMan on September 12, 2008 at 11:12 am

   Check out Albert;s photodiary of People in Urban Spaces.

8. 

   Brendan Skwire on September 12, 2008 at 12:12 pm

   Actually the most wasted of all days starts at 7:00 AM with Bourbon and bong-hits, and progresses to shots of rye and a six-pack for lunch.

   • 

     CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 12:51 pm

     Some would argue that it begins with those 10 hits of acid the night before all that…  🙂

9. 

   CabinGirl on September 12, 2008 at 1:12 pm

   when you get busted for lying on the View.

   Gawd, I wish there was something else going on in the news…