POTD

POTD

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Failure

From Paul Krugman in The New York Times, where good stuff disappears unless you subscribe...

"In other words, this administration is all politics and no policy. It knows how to attain power, but has no idea how to govern."

Yes -- this is the essence of the Republican party's failure at the national level. Willing to do or say anything to gain power, they put no effort into doing something with the power once gained.

If the neocons executed some brilliant world policy moves that actually made the world a better or safer place, the Republican party could argue that the ends justified the means. FDR certainly deceived the American public in the years just before the Second World War, but few people would argue that The United States should have maintained its neutral stance. History is full of such examples.

But what ends did Republican tactics justify? A failed Social Security reform and a disastrous prescription drug plan? A clumsy push to war that lost the U.S. most of its allies and all of its moral authority? Rampant cronyism? A stagnant economy burdened by debt?

This bothers me so deeply. Why fight so hard for something you have absolutely no intention to use? Why pull out every dirty trick in the book only to squander the spoils of victory?

LSD

Great film of British military LSD experiments.

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P2P

According to the BBC, Warner Brothers will start selling its films online, using a P2P network for distribution.

"The firm will sell movies and TV shows over the internet in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from March.

Its In2Movies service will use the same file-sharing technology that has led to an increase in movie piracy."

This will only be happening in Germany to start with, but will be available on the same day as the DVD release.

Interesting. Using a P2P model to distribute video is so brain-dead obvious that I can't belive more companies aren't doing it. I'd be really excited if Warner tried to give a cut of the sale to the people who distribute the files.

Intel

According to this PDF, Adobe won't release a MacOS / Intel version of Photoshop until the next major version. I'm not sure when that might be, but a whole lot of people won't be upgrading hardware until big packages like this are Intel-native.

Pentax

Pentax *ist DL: a digital SLR with an 18-55mm lens for $600. Even if it is only 6 megapixels and it has an unpronounceable name, a very good value.

Loss

"I told him that my son died there. That's when the enormity of my loss hit me. I have lost my son. I have lost my First Amendment rights. I have lost the country that I love. Where did America go? I started crying in pain."

Weird

I really must go to Japan. There is clearly no weirder place on Earth.

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Ambition

Funny thing about ambition. It seems that, quite often, those most ambitious for power or responsibility are the least able to do anything with it.

NYCPB

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AD

"He's hungry and he's in a foreign land and his jaw is clicking and he's scared."

Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning, the Avenue A flea market. A tall, thin man picks lingerie and sequined dresses off of the racks. You just know he is a drag queen; you wonder where he'll wear the things he just found.