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This gets top billing tonight - a great analysis of Choose Your Own Adventure books, in both structure, linearity, and in the endings available - a hypertext before hypertext was. Which kind of explains some of the popularity of gamebooks, before, of course, the games caught up with IF and other manners of making CYOA work on the machine beswt able to handle it.
Internationally, The Washington Times puts out a piece telling us how hard it is for our soldiers to do their jobs because they have to work with the locals. Combined with The Secretary of State saying the only goal in Afghanistan is the rooting out of al-Qaeda, and you might almost think both sides were agitating for a withdrawal of troops. They'll both deny it, of course. And the opinion columns will still hound the President to make a decision, any decision, instead of trying to craft an option that will work.
In further attempts to change bad situations in international relations, The United States has agreed to meet with the leaders of Burma/Myanmar, in what is described as a carrot-and-stick deal, with possible relaxation of sanctions if other conditions are met.
Iran continues their attack against a protest movement, engaging in new Internet restrictions intended to cut off preferred methods of communication amongst the opposition.
Finally, President Obama indicated he would be honored to travel to the two cities that have had nuclear weapons used against them, as part of his desire for a world without nuclear weapons. He will, of course, keep some in reserve because others have them, but he's working with other governments to reduce their stockpiles as well.
Domestic news starts with the Homeland Security secretary saying the United States will grant legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal residents as part of its plan to overhaul immigration. The opposition machine will rev again, this time with cries that the Obama administration plans on letting us be overrun with illegals who will take "our" jobs and then also get health care, something They Don't Deserve. (Despite their newly-legal status.) Odds are undetermined as to whether they weill refer to an industrious hack of cellular technology that provides those looking to safely and illegally cross the border with information about their location and orientation and where nearby sources of water and foot wrappings are. (And furthrmore, I'm pretty sure I heard the person being interviewed give a lecture on electronic civil disobedience...)
The local Catholic church in Washinton, D.C. has said that if the D.C. Council and the Congress make same-sex marriage legal, they will be forced to stop providing social services for the city. The justification? They might have to obey nondiscrimination ordinances and possibly extend benefits to same-sex married couples that work for them. Or, as it was so nicely put, "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem." If it is such a problem, then don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Someone else will take over your funding and services.
Also, a gathering of Teabagger-types found themselves punked by a smooth satire delivered against the evils of European immigrants of the past, luring them in with generic statements before delivering the punchlines that would make someone aware of historical context go "Waaaaaait..." After being exposed, the organizer of the event claims that they knew they were being punked and let him go up anyway...so that he could incite the crowd into shouting things like "Columbus Go Home!" Somehow, saying you were mooning someone does not usually work when caught with your pants down. Points to the satirist for the delivery on that one. According to updates and eyewitness accounts, some of the crowd in attendance did catch on, and then took their anger out on their fellows in the crowd, with the police pushing the punkers back into the angry crowd instead of restraining those attacking them.
In the opinions, why pulling out of Google is revenue suicide, current example: The Wall Street Journal's threat.
Not completely sure what to make of this column about how Han Chinese relate to different racial groups, and how that may affect the visit of President Obama, since it seems to be one part "They're incredible racists toward anyone not them" and one part "the Chinese recognize they're in a global society, so perhaps that attitude will change or be changed by the President".
Mr. Fund believes that Ms. Palin has outsmarted the Beltway elite by not including an index in her book, so those interested in seeing wehther they are there will have to buy it. Or, perhaps, check it out from the library and give it a read. Besides, there should be plenty of organizations already ready to pore over the book so they can then ask the people talked about what their reactions to the accusations are. The people will know in short order, I'm sure.
Mr. Rassmussen says the polls indicate the President would do well to move more toward the right if he wants to keep independent voters, and by that, he means "govern in a more fiscally conservative manner and try to be bipartisan with the party of NO". Or, he could stick to the things that got him elected instead of being sucked into wingnut territory trying to appease voters he probably won't be able to convince. If the Republicans won't follow him, the independents who identify with them probably won't, either.
The difficulty in such "bipartisanship", as Mr. Cline points out, is that what passes for other side of the partisan divide, in all its misogynist glory, is the fringe elements that used to be easily dismissed. Bipartisanship now means working with people who believe women have no role in government and should go back into the kitchen to make pies or into the bedroom to make babies. (And the Stupak amendment is just the most recent example of their desire to continue making a legal medical procedure so difficult to get that it will be de facto outlaweed, especially for the poor.)
The Catholic League said it did nothing wrong in advocating for a more stringent abortion ban in the health care bill, considering any inquiries into whether the group should be stripped of its tax-exempt status for such advcacy to be "harassment". The Democrat in question is asking a rather sane question - did the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops exceed the limits imposed upon them by their tax-exempt status? If so, then the next logical step is to initiate proceedings to strip them of that status, since they chose not to play by the rules.
Elsewhere on health care, Mr. Samuelson claims that health care reform will increase the defecit and spending, something that is a problem in our defecit-racked economy, but then commits a credibility foul of referenceing the Lewin Group study and his point is lost. The Lewin Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of an insurance company, is not a credible resource on matters that will affect insurance companies. Make all the claims you want that the reform will not control spending or that it won't actually achieve what it is intended, but don't cite places that have a vested conflict of interest as your support.
Mr. Lott advocates for abandoning any thought of a gun-free zone, whether on a military base or elsewhere, because he believes that guns in the hands of everyone will stop shootings from becoming multiple-victim shootings, because most to all multiple-victim shootings like this happen in gun-free zones (or so I gather, anyway). I guess we'll need studies asking us whether or not there's an uptick in gun-related violence in places where there are lots of guns. Oh, wait, we have those. They do. While having gun-free zones does mean we might have the problems of occasional large-scale casualties, I'm guessing over time, the small-scale fatalities add up to be more.
On the more specific matter of Major Hasan, Mr. Stokes says the government is falling all over itself to not say what is obvious - that Major Hasan is a terrorist influenced by radical Islam, and that Islam encourages violence, while the Christians and the Christian teachings condemn when someone does violence in the name of that religion. (Excepting when it's against abortion providers, of course - then you get a few mealy-mouthed non-apologies and a lot of cheering from the faction that does those things.)
Last out, because it's only relevant in the big socialism scare hardcore right-wingers are trying to create, CNS's parent organization released a study saying the media whitewashed the evils of communism, by pointing out that a lot of what communism did and aimed for was a good idea, and that it had some successes, even if the execution was severely lacking and resulted in the deaths of millions. But, to CNS, if they weren't stridently against it from the beginning, they were whitewashing it. You're either with us, they say, or with the Communists.
In technology, a claim of engineered hydrocarbon fuels from microbes, C02, and sunlight, which, if borne out and scalable, could make it really easy for us to overcome a foreign oil addiction, the possibility that manipulation of the FOXP2 gene could produce speech-capable primates, and the proposition that sound travels in a bubble rather than a wave.
Last for tonight, because we love numbers, the top 60 Japanese words and phrases for 2009, and 55 epic and totally awesome images.
Internationally, The Washington Times puts out a piece telling us how hard it is for our soldiers to do their jobs because they have to work with the locals. Combined with The Secretary of State saying the only goal in Afghanistan is the rooting out of al-Qaeda, and you might almost think both sides were agitating for a withdrawal of troops. They'll both deny it, of course. And the opinion columns will still hound the President to make a decision, any decision, instead of trying to craft an option that will work.
In further attempts to change bad situations in international relations, The United States has agreed to meet with the leaders of Burma/Myanmar, in what is described as a carrot-and-stick deal, with possible relaxation of sanctions if other conditions are met.
Iran continues their attack against a protest movement, engaging in new Internet restrictions intended to cut off preferred methods of communication amongst the opposition.
Finally, President Obama indicated he would be honored to travel to the two cities that have had nuclear weapons used against them, as part of his desire for a world without nuclear weapons. He will, of course, keep some in reserve because others have them, but he's working with other governments to reduce their stockpiles as well.
Domestic news starts with the Homeland Security secretary saying the United States will grant legal status to an estimated 12 million illegal residents as part of its plan to overhaul immigration. The opposition machine will rev again, this time with cries that the Obama administration plans on letting us be overrun with illegals who will take "our" jobs and then also get health care, something They Don't Deserve. (Despite their newly-legal status.) Odds are undetermined as to whether they weill refer to an industrious hack of cellular technology that provides those looking to safely and illegally cross the border with information about their location and orientation and where nearby sources of water and foot wrappings are. (And furthrmore, I'm pretty sure I heard the person being interviewed give a lecture on electronic civil disobedience...)
The local Catholic church in Washinton, D.C. has said that if the D.C. Council and the Congress make same-sex marriage legal, they will be forced to stop providing social services for the city. The justification? They might have to obey nondiscrimination ordinances and possibly extend benefits to same-sex married couples that work for them. Or, as it was so nicely put, "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem." If it is such a problem, then don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Someone else will take over your funding and services.
Also, a gathering of Teabagger-types found themselves punked by a smooth satire delivered against the evils of European immigrants of the past, luring them in with generic statements before delivering the punchlines that would make someone aware of historical context go "Waaaaaait..." After being exposed, the organizer of the event claims that they knew they were being punked and let him go up anyway...so that he could incite the crowd into shouting things like "Columbus Go Home!" Somehow, saying you were mooning someone does not usually work when caught with your pants down. Points to the satirist for the delivery on that one. According to updates and eyewitness accounts, some of the crowd in attendance did catch on, and then took their anger out on their fellows in the crowd, with the police pushing the punkers back into the angry crowd instead of restraining those attacking them.
In the opinions, why pulling out of Google is revenue suicide, current example: The Wall Street Journal's threat.
Not completely sure what to make of this column about how Han Chinese relate to different racial groups, and how that may affect the visit of President Obama, since it seems to be one part "They're incredible racists toward anyone not them" and one part "the Chinese recognize they're in a global society, so perhaps that attitude will change or be changed by the President".
Mr. Fund believes that Ms. Palin has outsmarted the Beltway elite by not including an index in her book, so those interested in seeing wehther they are there will have to buy it. Or, perhaps, check it out from the library and give it a read. Besides, there should be plenty of organizations already ready to pore over the book so they can then ask the people talked about what their reactions to the accusations are. The people will know in short order, I'm sure.
Mr. Rassmussen says the polls indicate the President would do well to move more toward the right if he wants to keep independent voters, and by that, he means "govern in a more fiscally conservative manner and try to be bipartisan with the party of NO". Or, he could stick to the things that got him elected instead of being sucked into wingnut territory trying to appease voters he probably won't be able to convince. If the Republicans won't follow him, the independents who identify with them probably won't, either.
The difficulty in such "bipartisanship", as Mr. Cline points out, is that what passes for other side of the partisan divide, in all its misogynist glory, is the fringe elements that used to be easily dismissed. Bipartisanship now means working with people who believe women have no role in government and should go back into the kitchen to make pies or into the bedroom to make babies. (And the Stupak amendment is just the most recent example of their desire to continue making a legal medical procedure so difficult to get that it will be de facto outlaweed, especially for the poor.)
The Catholic League said it did nothing wrong in advocating for a more stringent abortion ban in the health care bill, considering any inquiries into whether the group should be stripped of its tax-exempt status for such advcacy to be "harassment". The Democrat in question is asking a rather sane question - did the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops exceed the limits imposed upon them by their tax-exempt status? If so, then the next logical step is to initiate proceedings to strip them of that status, since they chose not to play by the rules.
Elsewhere on health care, Mr. Samuelson claims that health care reform will increase the defecit and spending, something that is a problem in our defecit-racked economy, but then commits a credibility foul of referenceing the Lewin Group study and his point is lost. The Lewin Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of an insurance company, is not a credible resource on matters that will affect insurance companies. Make all the claims you want that the reform will not control spending or that it won't actually achieve what it is intended, but don't cite places that have a vested conflict of interest as your support.
Mr. Lott advocates for abandoning any thought of a gun-free zone, whether on a military base or elsewhere, because he believes that guns in the hands of everyone will stop shootings from becoming multiple-victim shootings, because most to all multiple-victim shootings like this happen in gun-free zones (or so I gather, anyway). I guess we'll need studies asking us whether or not there's an uptick in gun-related violence in places where there are lots of guns. Oh, wait, we have those. They do. While having gun-free zones does mean we might have the problems of occasional large-scale casualties, I'm guessing over time, the small-scale fatalities add up to be more.
On the more specific matter of Major Hasan, Mr. Stokes says the government is falling all over itself to not say what is obvious - that Major Hasan is a terrorist influenced by radical Islam, and that Islam encourages violence, while the Christians and the Christian teachings condemn when someone does violence in the name of that religion. (Excepting when it's against abortion providers, of course - then you get a few mealy-mouthed non-apologies and a lot of cheering from the faction that does those things.)
Last out, because it's only relevant in the big socialism scare hardcore right-wingers are trying to create, CNS's parent organization released a study saying the media whitewashed the evils of communism, by pointing out that a lot of what communism did and aimed for was a good idea, and that it had some successes, even if the execution was severely lacking and resulted in the deaths of millions. But, to CNS, if they weren't stridently against it from the beginning, they were whitewashing it. You're either with us, they say, or with the Communists.
In technology, a claim of engineered hydrocarbon fuels from microbes, C02, and sunlight, which, if borne out and scalable, could make it really easy for us to overcome a foreign oil addiction, the possibility that manipulation of the FOXP2 gene could produce speech-capable primates, and the proposition that sound travels in a bubble rather than a wave.
Last for tonight, because we love numbers, the top 60 Japanese words and phrases for 2009, and 55 epic and totally awesome images.
