In New York City, at least ... don't know if that's where the story is based but the foto sure looks like it. It made a big difference not having to hear the Mr. Conehead jingle all the time. I would go bonkers if I heard it again.

I unfortunately have a really long memory for trivial B.S. As such I remember when Lou bailed on CNN 10 years ago to ride the rocket of the internet boom. This could provide a real graceful exit for him now. Next time he rails against aliens, he can just say, "oh I was actually talking about space aliens, you sillies." If he wants to get all xenophobic he can just focus on space immigration and minimize his damage.

Like so many other corporate cons, despots and sleazy political operatives before him (Lee Atwater, anyone?), Reed only sees the light after he's left the position in which he used to loot and pillage. These kind of apologies mean nothing after the fact. It's only the ones who are capable of feeling sorry and acting on it during the feeding frenzy that are of any use.

Oh yes indeed big PhRMA has been "pro reform" ever since they got a piece of the action by dealing with Rahm Emanuel. Actually since they got caught red-handed doing that, wonder why they are still interested? Because of the goodness of their collective multi-billion $$$ heart. Right.

He's got the best sex scandal going on this year-to-date, so why not just quit now and cash in on that? Would make more $$$ that way than serving out his term :)

In my background that phrase about "shots and a visa" has nothing to do with race. It is typically used to describe parts of America that are so remote and/or rural that an unfamiliar outsider might wonder if it ever became part of the U.S. I speak as someone who has family roots in Northern New Mexico, areas of which have arguably never been fully under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government. The phrase is used to describe remoteness and isolation of a location, not its racial makeup.

Man that's a lotta money for going around town and hitting protestors with batons, which isn't exactly skilled labor. How can the government afford that kind of wage to hire a basic boneheaded goon squad? Regardless of where they are from, the amount of money they're spending to crush the opposition makes the story ever more intriguing.

Follow the links around here to Michael Moore's takedown of Gupta. The guy is so busy defending the god-awful medical status quo, he can't be of any possible use.

I get more disillusioned w/Obama's appointments by the day.

... "we're sorry, this turntable is not authorized to play this song." That is effectively what the DRM regime has done to degrade the ownership of music. I had only spent about $10 on DRM songs when I realized it was wrong for me. I feel for people that put in way more than that (though this article pretty much clues you into how to recover your investment).

You nailed it when you said: "If the entertainment studios had their way, every time a format changed, you'd have to buy all your records all over again. In their ideal world, we would hold restricted licenses to our content, not ownership."

We used to own what we bought. The industry refused to recognize that and that was its downfall.

The NYT isn't as out of touch with social trends as Blow's article would suggest. In January '97 they wrote about a concept called "pack dating" which is pretty similar to what he is referencing now. See the link on my sig below.

Palin is an Alaskan version of a mafioso, and what you are seeing in the background is the type of imagery that mobsters use to induce fear and intimidation. But it works well for some people in politics as well. The quiet slaughter in the background is a genuine and threatening aspect of her political personae, and it will pay off when she runs in 2012.

A few weeks ago the GOP chairman of the largest county in NM, an Hispanic, was quoted as telling the BBC that "Hispanics came here as conquerors [and] African-Americans came here as slaves." (The link is on my sig.)

Soon thereafter, most major GOP candidates and the state party establishment were falling all over themselves to breathlessly condemn that guy, and he stepped down within a week. It was blatantly hypocritical on their part, as one could argue that courting the racist vote has been part and parcel of the Republican party since the "Southern Strategy" was rolled out during the Nixon era.

Given their wailing and gnashing of teeth over that last incident, it'll be quite interesting to see they handle this one. My guess is they'll try to sweep it under the rug. Smears against Obama and xenophobia towards Muslims seem to be "de riguer" for this campaign.

See why they're delaying the debates? They want to be able to switch their VP in time to face Biden. And, oh yes, how bold and decisive McCain will look for doing it.

I just diaried my own review of this article on one of the major political blogs (hint, initials are DK).

After reading this NYT piece I was every bit as excited about Obama's economic stance as Leonhardt was. For one, if Obama restores tax progressivity back to Clinton era levels, it will do wonders for restoring fiscal balance.

Even after GWB, the statistics for current public debt in relation to GDP are not as dire and irreversible as one might have earlier thought. The numbers are there.

Obama supporters now have much more empirical and logical economic ammunition in their hands as a result of this writeup.

And if he gets in, maybe the US can get off of this path of cutting taxes, going broke, and eventually having other countries foreclose on us.