It never hurts to look like the boss, does it? In a strikingly pro-Apple piece, the NYT highlights the Corps “deep bench” with this shot of COO Timothy D. Cook, looking strikingly like Steven P. Jobs. Tim definitely has the hollow cheeks shitty hair thing down pat, but can he top the iPad?* And I…
Author: Alan Vanneman
If you’re reading this, you’re not cool
New study explains why you will never amount to anything. Too bad.
Robert M. Gates, totally full of it. Totally.
“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates warned on Thursday that North Korea was within five years of being able to target the continental United States with an intercontinental ballistic missile, and said that, combined with its expanding nuclear program, the country “is becoming a direct threat to the United States,” today’s New York Times reports. According…
Shootings are bad, the Obama Administration is worse
While the web echoes and re-echoes with the murders in Arizona, Glenn Greenwald provides massive evidence of the Obama Administration’s continuing/expanding invasion of American civil liberties. The Obama Administration’s basic promise to the American people: We probably won’t waterboard you (but we know people who will).
Brad DeLong, encountering turbulence
I’ve previously noted that Brad DeLong, an ardent neo-Keynesian operating out of Berkeley who puts out a terrific blog on all things economic, has a deplorable habit of censoring my comments when I say things Brad doesn’t want to hear. So I’m happy to say that Brad doesn’t censor everyone who criticizes him, an excellent…
Thomas Friedman, getting worser all the time
In his December 14 column, Thomas Friedman deplores China’s handling of the Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, now serving 11 years in jail for the crime of free speech. Noting that China would not allow Liu to attend the ceremony (not that surprising, really) and even went to…
The New York Times, still not getting a handle on the “objective reporting” thing
Today’s NYT carries a story on a special deal cooked up by Goldman Sachs to toss some serious walking-around money to Mark Zuckerberg’s already legendary Facebook—about $500 million. According to the article by Andrew Ross Sorkin and Evelyn M. Rusli, “The new money will give Facebook more firepower to steal away valuable employees, develop new…
Toon Roos Quartet—“Straight No Chaser”
Dutch saxophonist Toon Roos leading a quartet. Supporting personnel (probably): Karel Boehlee, piano, Hein van de Geyn, bass, and Joost van Shaik, drums. Via MuseionMedia
Movies, Seen and Unseen
The Tourist—“Yes, we did spend the equivalent of the GNP of Austria on Angelina Jolie’s eye makeup. You gotta problem widdat?” The Tourist’s big plot twist totally fooled me (but not my girlfriend, to her vast amusement), proving that a film clever enough to fool me can still be lousy. The Black Swan—Cigarettes and Tattoos…
Confusing confusions: Daniel Larison’s “The confusion of the anti-START hawks”
Over at the American Conservative, which isn’t entirely Pat Buchanan being stupid, Daniel Larison struggles to understand Sarah Palin and the other opponents of the START treaty. Apparently, the Russians have been moving some tactical nuclear weapons around (maybe), and Sarah and her kind are claiming that this is a deal-breaker. Dan is puzzled by…