July 04, 2009
Next week marks the 30th anniversary of Disco Demolition night, (wp), while last week marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Inn Riots. The first has dynamite, marijuana, Rusty Staub, huns storming the gates with ladders and whiskey bottles, and in the end disco group Chic invoking Godwin's Law. The latter has drag queens, the Mafia, cops on the take, Allen Ginsberg, a Howdy Doody show parody, and is regarded as the "defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world." Both are gonzo wonderful in a way no fiction writer could choose to invent. [more inside]
June 20, 2009
Journalist escapes over a wall after 7-mo imprisonment by Taliban - David Rohde, local journalist Tahir Ludin, and their driver were captured 7 months ago. The driver joined the Taliban; "Mr. Ludin joined him in climbing over the wall of a compound where they were being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan. They found a Pakistani Army scout, who led them to a nearby army base, and on Saturday they were flown to the American military base in Bagram, Afghanistan."
Related: Clay Shirky's entry in the death of newspapers essay competition ("Society doesn’t need newspapers. What we need is journalism") (also also)
January 14, 2009
December 26, 2008
Pakistan, India are militarizing their border. Basically, the dispute comes from India accusing the Pakistani ISI (their secret police) of orchestrating the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last month. Pakistan denies this, but it's unclear how much control Asif Ali Zadari, the current president of the country, has over the ISI anyway.
In the above link, it's explained that Pakistan is pulling troops off of the anti-Taliban effort on the Afghan border. It probably doesn't need explaining that a fourth war between India and Pakistan would be really, really bad.
December 17, 2008
Happy 5th Birthday today to Alkaline Earth. From humble beginnings as a way to mock zieglerfe to humble on-goings as what it is today I love all you guys and gals that still come here and have stuff to say. mrflip and I thank you.
December 15, 2008
The Perfect Storm! A buzzword used increasingly by idiot businessfolk that has become as annoying and worn out as George Clooney's "acting." [more inside]
December 12, 2008
November 26, 2008
What the heck is a mortgaged-backed security anyway? And why is it the source of the economic crisis?
October 13, 2008
Krugman wins the nobel prize for economics.
October 06, 2008
I finally got around to listening to the episode of This American Life about subprime mortgages that natedogg mentioned 2 weeks ago when I heard that the same team was doing another episode about the whole economic bailout plan. If, like me, you learned a lot from the first one, you'll probably want to listen to this new one as well. [more inside]
September 22, 2008
So, yeah, the economy. Good time for a job hunt. This American Life had a really excellent piece in May about what the subprime mortgage crisis is and why it hurt Wall Street so badly. It really taught me a lot and explained how the herd mentality and a veneer of legitimacy let it all get so out of hand. (Hilarious bonus: the piece ends optimistically but it was made well before the recent major failures). The site ProPublica puts recent bailouts in historical perspective. WaPo had a recommended reading article that had some hits and some whaaaaaa?s. A Nobelist has some prescriptions but they might make too much sense. Housing prices in SoCal are off 34% and falling fast (driven mostly by foreclosures). Good luck getting a loan though! Remember: Always privatize the gains and socialize the losses!
September 13, 2008
David Foster Wallace dead at 46 - suicide. He was quite likely my favorite modern author. What a bummer.
September 03, 2008
Don Lafontaine is dead. Movie trailers won't be quite the same.
August 04, 2008
Shimano takes the deraileur to the next level, adds "shift by wire" technology. In response the fixie community banned ball bearings calling them "modern conveniences that detract from the purity of bicycling". Henceforth any metal on metal connections will remain bearing free, lubed only with coffee and/or tattoo ink (double shot espresso only please).
July 28, 2008
Shooter is found to have been reading conservative pundits. The shooter shot twelve people in a Unitarian Church. We'll be hearing about the rash of conservative terrorists' war on America in 3...2...1... uh... -1... -2...
July 15, 2008
Federal government is looking to apply Title IX to NSF , and in particular, is examining discrimination in the sciences at universities receiving federal grants.
June 13, 2008
April 28, 2008
Marc Andreessen has a great break-down of Microsoft's potential hostile takeover of Yahoo! at his blog. The takeaway message is that the tech industry appears to have matured enough that we'll be seeing more of the same types of things that used to be left strictly to older businesses.
Foreign Policy is having a vote for the world's top intellecutals. Choose from their list of 100, which includes quantum gravity researcher (who has been willing to avoid embracing string theory full force) Lee Smolin, but includes Larry Summers (boo) and a good deal of other recognizable names (Paul Krugman, Fareed Zakaria).
April 17, 2008
April 05, 2008
You can now pry the gun from his cold, dead hands. Charleton Heston is the latest late celebrity.
March 18, 2008
Arthur C. Clarke doesn't make it to 2010. Another visionary gone. Though I still find the space baby creepy.
