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In a Globe op-ed, political writer Robert Kuttner reviews the features in a Pontiac G6 rented over the holidays and he ends up drawing broad conclusions about General Motors' engineers.
He's probably right about GM, but who does he think he is, a blogger?
UPDATE: Apparently the column hit a nerve.
I'm one of those people who think that the SJC gay marriage decision is no big deal. The world won't stop turning and society isn't going to come undone. But that's me. There are lots of other people, on both sides of the issue, that feel otherwise, and strongly so.
Reading this post by Susan Ryan-Vollmar at Media Nation makes me wonder about how the impasse can be resolved. She takes the position that the issue is a moral one and we should reject legalist distractions and arguments.
As much as any issue has a moral dimension, she's right. But the reality is that this is a legal issue: it's about the law regarding gay marriage. And as such it's also a political issue.
I understand the argument that past civil rights advances would not have happened if they were subjected to majority vote, and that's certainly true, but the fact is that they happened and they weren't enacted through moral enlightenment; in every case there was a fundamental (not parliamentary) legal rationale --that was perhaps guided by moral principle.
A suggestion that we should subvert the legal system to achieve subjective moral ends is tempting but very dangerous.
It's that time of year, and once again police in some cities are warning residents about the dangers of firing guns into the air on New Year's Eve.
I'd agree with this LA Times report that the two assassination attempts on Gerald Ford, both in California and both by women, are a good illustration of how unhinged that state was in the 1970's.
I knew that large pieces were breaking away from the ice shelf in Antarctica, but it's happening up north as well.
2006 was the year of "truthiness." Almost all of the rest of the top ten words for 2006 revolve around Iraq. Here are the lists from previous years.
Bob Woodward writes about a 2004 "embargoed "interview with Gerald Ford. Apparently Ford was not a fan of going to war in Iraq. He also recalls a "thin skinned" Henry Kissinger.
Best of all is the photo of Ford with Rumsfeld and Cheney that accompanies the article. Hilarious, although I should talk. I think I had a suit just like Rumsfeld's.
During the 1970's Gerald Ford took a beating from satirists. There was that famous National Lampoon cover and the Saturday Night Live skits that unrelentingly portrayed him as a dolt.
But he was a classy guy, taking it all in stride and even letting his press sectary, Ron Nessen, host SNL and participate in one of those Chevy Chase as Ford routines. Hell, Ford even did the "Live from New York" introduction.
They don't make presidents like that anymore.
Suffolk may not get its Beacon Hill dormitory tower now that the city has withdrawn its support. Next stop for the dorm may be the Ladder District.
The Globe reports on recommendations generated by the Patrick Murray transition team, but kind of screws up the link to the report. It's at patrickmurraytransition.org (no space between Patrick and Murray.) Not a huge deal. At least they're trying to get links into the stories.
The federal government has launched an investigation into the living conditions of the descendants of Ernest Hemingway's cats living in Key West. Inspectors have rented space in a nearby guesthouse to conduct surveillance on the cats and have documented instances of cat-like behavior. No, really.
File under: your tax dollars at work.
Use one of these Rorschach backgrounds as wallpaper for your computer and who knows what you'll start to see.
I saw James Brown play at The Channel back in the eighties. The show was supposed to start at ten but it was after midnight and Brown still hadn't taken the stage. Just before a riot broke out he came on and did a great show, albeit one that he had done many times before.
Adam Gaffin has the story of how Brown and Kevin White kept things cool in Boston in the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
NYC has its traffic camera network available to the public, up on the web. Some locations are streaming video and others update every second or so. Very cool.
Comcast is offering a new HD service: static pictures. You can turn your TV into a fine art viewer.
It's free, which seems reasonable since it's not much more than a high quality screen saver.
It can't be very comforting for people living in the DC area when government agencies, including FBI offices, move 50 or more miles out of the city to get away from the "blast zone."
I doubt that the people at Microsoft are happy that the New York Times ran a feature article on Vista security shortcomings just as the software is about to ship.
No matter. I agree with Bob Cringely that Vista simply can't fail, at least in the marketplace. And at least in the short-term.
I assume that this story on recruiting foreigners into the military is an example of floating an idea to see how people react. And I trust that the reaction will be overwhelming negative. It's a bad idea --let's move on.
Tom Kielty holds up CD re-releases as a way that record companies abuse music fans.
[R]ight now, with the record industry reeling from slumping CD sales, the major labels seem eager to wring every dollar they can out of a superstar release...
I'd take that "right now" part out. There's nothing special about these days when it comes to record company greed. They've been wringing every dollar out of fans for as long as I can remember.
I still can't figure out the music pricing model. When I buy a CD, do I physically own that music to do what I want with it, or is it simply a license to play the music? If the former, what's the problem with sharing? If the latter, why should we have to re-pay for a reissue?
Dan Kennedy takes Jeff Jacoby to task for his Sunday column on global warming, asking for answers to a few direct questions. The last is, I think, the most important.
Question: How did global warming become part of the culture war? And why on earth have conservatives like you adopted the denial of global warming as a pet cause?
I'd be interested to hear Jacoby's response.
I like a real Christmas tree but I'm afraid this year will be the last one. If we have to go artificial, I'm going to try to convince the wife to go with this ladder setup (although I don't suspect I'll have much success.)
And there are other alternatives, the beer keg tree, Mountain Dew can tree, wine bottle tree, and even a donut tree.
Denver's temperature averages aren't all that different from ours yet it only took a couple of feet of snow to close the airport for three days! Haven't they heard of plows?
Two feet is a pretty good storm around here but, come on. Logan would have had flights leaving by mid-day.
Joe Kennedy's op-ed complains that his deal to provide cheap oil has been politicized by conservatives.
Getting cheap oil from anywhere to distribute to the poor is fine and good for him if that's all there is to it. But if part of the deal is that he has to promote the source, his so-called "friends from Venezuela," then it is he who has politicized the deal by turning himself into a Chavez apologist 4 oil.
What Kennedy apparently doesn't get is that it's one thing to do business with Venezuela, it's quite another to be bought by them.
A fellow named Matt had an idea to invite YouTubers to submit clips of themselves singing the 12 Days of Christmas for a collaborative project. Great concept. Execution?... well, judge for yourself.
This girl's voice didn't come across as well in the choir, but she sounds great solo.
You won't see anything like this in your local Toys R Us.
No matter where you stand on the health care petition or gay marriage amendment, it's hard to take issue with Barbara Anderson's well written op-ed argument. As is often the case, it's not what the legislature did, it's how they did it that got folks riled.
I usually wait until after Christmas to start looking back at the year but the Google Zeitgeist for 2006 is up. And for the record, I had no idea what bebo was before today.
An analysis of census projections suggests that the historic Democratic takeover in Congress may soon be, well, history.
I'm not so sure that census numbers are that deterministic. Naive as I am, I'd like to think that the behavior of politicians might have something to do with who wins elections.
I intend to see The Good Shepherd this weekend after finishing shopping. Charlie Rose was raving about it the other night. Here are a few opening day reviews: Globe (mixed), Times (not sure), WaPost (good), LA Times (recommended).
You say Chanukah, I say Hanukkah. Even Wikipedians can't agree.
There's always Festivus. For the rest of us.
First we were losing population in the Boston area, then we were gaining and now it turns out that, statewide anyway, we're flat. People are leaving in droves but immigration is offsetting the loss and lot more people are being born than are dying.
This Globe story on the subject paints a bleak picture of economic stagnation. Perhaps in the short term, but maybe there's good news there too in cost of living and real estate price normalization.
Filenes upstairs is now a discount clearance center competing directly with it's downstairs discount neighbor, Filenes Basement.
If it sounds confusing, it is.
From the Herald, on Time's Man of the Year, us:
[L]et’s face it, YouTube, MySpace [website], Wikipedia and all of those who are part of the blogosphere have democratized the distribution of information in a way that could not have been contemplated a decade ago. We in what is now referred to as the Main Stream Media have to work overtime now to adapt or face the tarpits of media history.
We all know this is true but you don't find many papers saying it on their editorial page.
Why contend with complicated two party government when you can get by with one party? Apparently Hugo Chavez is an efficiency expert when it comes to wielding power.
I'm not sure that it's appropriate for government to be making the decision, but good riddance to trans fats in restaurants. You can always get a bag of Doritos on the way home.
Reports of Castro's death have been greatly exaggerated, at least according to Cuban officials.
And what's with William Delahunt's continuing fascination with oppressive, leftist South American dictators? Chavez brought cheap oil, maybe he's working on Castro for cigars.
I'm a sucker for bad web-page design and this one's a gem.
Low-tech roadside bombs are a big part of the problem in Iraq. Our response has been to increase funding for technology. Unfortunately the use of IEDs by insurgents has been highly adaptive, easily side-stepping our sophisticated counter-measures.
Officials at the Joint IED Defeat Organization admit that most of the billions of dollars they get each year goes to developing high-tech gear to detect or disarm bombs rather than addressing the root of the problem: finding out where the bombs come from and who is planting them.
We've known this for a while and have continued to spend on technology at the expense of intelligence or operational plans. It's too bad the operational guys don't have the lobbying power that the contractors do.
$300 bubble gum vodka? Bukowski must be turning over in his grave.
The Travaglini challenge to Patrick was a big story and I'm glad the Globe was all over it. The original speech wasn't designed to be a publicly covered event. Damage control was to be expected.
The reality is that Trav and DiMasi are masters at this game. Patrick has the public mandate for change but these guys have the back-room skills. I'm rooting for Patrick but I'm not so idealistic to think that the old network will go down without a fight.
Here are some of the things that House minority leader Bradley H. Jones says could go wrong with an outdoor inauguration: cold weather, people, traffic and something about a sound system. Another legislator whined that it would be freezing cold.
It's probably safe to say that these guys are also not big fans of First Night.
Scott Lehigh's online column is worth reading today, just because it's so odd.
Deval Patrick hasn't taken office yet, but Joan Vennochi is taking him to task for not living up to potential. I think it's too early for this level of criticism but it's also a sign that expectations are going to be very high for the new governor.
I was a big fan of Peter Boyle, from Joe to Young Frankenstein to Raymond. I never knew that he was a close friend of John Lennon.
Rumors of Castro's death are circulating, although unconfirmed. There are real concerns in south Florida about American Cubans heading en mass to the island. Authorities are on alert and are even considering closing marinas to discourage a reverse flotilla. Stay tuned.
Google stuff: measure distance, hidden features, and copying from Yahoo. (All via Presurfer)
As unfriendly and imposing as City Hall is, I'd hate to see it go. To finance a new modern glass building on the waterfront it would seem that the old building would have to be demolished. (That in itself would be quite a job; there's a lot of concrete involved --a lot.)
The fact is that City Hall and its plaza are an icon, a symbol of the city. Sure, that nine acres of downtown real estate is valuable, especially if it's maximized. But I, for one, hope there's a way to save the old building. (If not, you can at least save a digital version.)
UPDATE: There's a poll at UH. Currently it's neck and neck between the the old and the new.
There are a series of articles this morning in USA Today illustrating the challenges faced by American Muslims of Arab descent. Worth a read.
It's the holiday party season and that means mingling. An expert offers some pointers.
We've had Dukakis, Kennedy, Kerry, soon Romney (and eventually Patrick) head to the big league as presidential contenders. And then there's ex-Chief of Staff and local boy Andy Card and former mayor Kevin White who was almost a a vice presidential candidate.
So I'm not impressed with New Yorkers gushing over having four natives at the "center of 2008 presidential buzz." Really, it's only two. And of those, only one has a chance. And not a very good one. (I suppose I shouldn't push that point too hard since our record hasn't been all that successful either.)
UPDATE: The LA Times has an interesting article on the battle between Romney and McCain over the Bush/Rove network.
UPDATE 2: I knew I would forget somebody recent... Paul Tsongas. (And no, I'm not going all the way back to Calvin Coolidge.)
A record number of terms -- no mayoral challenger in sight. No, it's not Boston but Chicago, where the second Daley (no relation) dynasty is exceeding the first.
The Northeast US forecast, courtesy of El Nino, is for a warm and dry winter. Maybe those snow tires will be free after all.
This is an interesting take: thanks to high tourist turnover combined with the Flickr, Myspace and YouTube effect, Times Square has become a publishing platform for viral advertising.
eBay-style parking spot auctions? Great concept but I doubt that it will catch on. There's already pay parking available in lots and garages. The reason most people hunt and circle is that they don't want to pay more than the meter charge.
Until now I haven't paid much attention to the Litvinenko poisoning, but I've been catching up this morning. The WaPost and Times each look into people on the periphery, a London based Russian billionaire and an Italian "007 wannabe", respectively. Both have tested positive for radiation exposure.
Traces of radiation have turned up in the Millennium Hotel in London, site of a meeting that Litvinenko attended and, presumably, the scene of the crime. Radiation has also been found in a German apartment used by a participant in the Millennium meeting, Russian businessman Dmitry Kovtun, leading to speculation that the radiological poison had been kept there at some point.
Kovtun, who is connected to the billionaire, is in a Russian hospital due to (surprise) radiation poisoning. He has come out of his coma and will likely be questioned by Russian and British investigators.
I guess one thing you can carry away from all this is that polonium 210 is a poor choice of weapon for murderers who might want to cover their tracks.
Idaho, Kansas, Wisconsin and Nebraska are best when it comes to low car insurance rates. At the other end, Massachusetts is among the top four with the highest rates, along with New York, New Jersey, DC and Louisiana.
The reasons vary with location but in the Bay State, apparently we tend to buy more expensive cars and then crash them into each other.
The record companies think that musicians are getting too much money in the new digital distribution models. They're petitioning copyright judges to reduce artists' share and increase their own.
...We hope the judges will restore the proper balance by reducing the rate and moving to a more flexible percentage rate structure so that record companies can continue to create the sound recordings that drive revenues for music publishers.
So it's the record companies that create the music. Interesting.
Charles has closed the City Record snowfall prediction contest. I didn't get around to entering. My hope, more than prediction, is that we get 11.5 inches this winter so that all the people who bought tires from these guys will get them for free.
Carpundit highlights the James Kim tragedy to remind us that a little precautionary planning can go a long way. Especially in these parts.
Years ago I travelled occasionally through Death Valley and there was always a jug of water in the car in case of a break-down on one of those long lonely stretches. Around here it's easy to think that someone will come along, or that you can walk a short distance to reach help but that's not always the case.
In the best conditions, a running car may seem like a suitable shelter, but when the gas runs out or the engine stops, you might as well be standing outside.
Red is the new green, at least when it comes to charity. On the one hand it's a good thing that giving is being made to seem fashionable --the stodgy Salvation Army with their bell-ringers could take a lesson from the marketing involved in (Red).
On the other hand, isn't the (Red) campaign about people being nice to themselves and only inadvertently contributing to a good cause?
I've run out of hands, but from the perspective of a person in Africa getting help, I guess the motivation behind the giving doesn't really matter.
I wish I had this data during the debate over Question 1.
Missed this Alan Lupo piece on the big cheese. He's right. There are more important things to worry about.
A web site featuring beautiful women holding books. Why didn't I think of that.
Jacques Chirac didn't like what he saw on American cable news so he decided to start his own channel. France 24 begins broadcasting (in English) on the web later today.
Although the subject matter of the story is unfortunate, I was happy to see that the Globe credited, named and linked to BPDNews.com.
We've all seen newspapers offer corrections to previous stories, usually because of an inadvertent error in presenting the facts, but in this case the Herald isn't correcting itself, it's giving lawyer Anthony Cardinale a 'take back' on a quote. Now that's unusual.
According to the Times, spam is back. I didn't know it had left.
The glitch in the Charlie card system that bills a customer's credit card account, sometimes multiple times, without dispensing a pass, could be a real hardship for working people that ride the T. But the real problem is that unless commuters check their account history they might not know about the added charges.
T officials made no public disclosure about the problem, caused by an overloaded computer network. The Globe learned of the issue from riders.
That is a huge public confidence issue.
A moon base by 2020; that's the plan for NASA. Bush had previously
