In 1994 Mitt Romney challenged Ted Kennedy for Kennedy’s Senate seat. Kennedy’s campaign produced an eerily prescient ad which highlights Romney’s collusion in slashing jobs and accepting millions of dollars in federal bail out money, when he accepted control of Bain and Co. The ad also demonstrates that Romney, like the highly scorned Wall Street fat cats of today, made obscene amounts of profit as a result of the bail out deal and firings.
Also let’s not forget he’s a Mormon, and believes this nonsensical horseshit.
Obtuseness is overwhelmingly the tactic of choice for people with strong points of view, and too frequently debate results in most unparliamentary language. Often one can only hope to plant the seeds of a different perspective, rather than reach a meeting of the minds. For me a primer on intellectual honesty is an almost essential prerequisite for debate.
I was fortunate enough to come across this piece of genius by the science/tech blog The Design Matrix and I cannot overstate both how valuable it has been to me personally and how important it is that these principles become more broadly understood:
1. Do not overstate the power of your argument. One’s sense of conviction should be in proportion to the level of clear evidence assessable by most. If someone portrays their opponents as being either stupid or dishonest for disagreeing, intellectual dishonesty is probably in play. Intellectual honesty is most often associated with humility, not arrogance.
The Godfather of absurd rap, and perhaps the genre’s defining member, is R. Kelly. Already infamous for his micturition foibles (perhaps best portrayed in Dave Chappelle’s satirical masterpiece), R Kelly secured a place of unparalleled prominence with his 2005 release of “Trapped in the Closet”, R. Kelly’s 22 chapter Hip-Hopera, replete with philandering midgets hidden in kitchen cabinets.
Lesser known but still outstanding among Kelly’s hilarious repertoire are “Pregnant” and “Real Talk”, featured below for your enjoyment. The question has been posed of whether or not R. Kelly is trying to be funny. I think it’s evident that he knows what he’s doing, and is generous enough to produce videos that his audience can laugh at with him.
Sarah Palin getting on the other side of childhood obesity prevention is, I think, among the most compelling arguments that her political identity is no less than a marketing scheme, cleverly designed to appeal to the segment of society that has been left behind by a world rapidly advancing towards a future in which they don’t speak the language.
Her political persona, seems to be part of a broader Republican political strategy based, less on honest approaches to policy, and more on consoling the weaknesses of the undereducated fringes of society; those in America that have trouble integrating into a world where honest political efficacy requires a growing depth of understanding that they are increasingly estranged to, and fearful of.
A series of metaphors to help paint the picture:
•Sarah Palin is a cartoon on a cereal box awarding exciting “Nice try” ribbons to Americans who didnt place in the contest of political efficacy.•Shes the lady of the night who doesn’t care what you look like, but asks you to leave your vote on the bedside table.•Shes, almost literally, the ring leader of a table of fat kids, who resent the merits of popular kids, and are tired of being marginalize.
Bursting flocks reveal that cool buys tempered casts of the eye, but how the old hat begs debonair. He knows a tattered feather will soon tempt. They’ll ask why.
Curious where his mystery casts long shadows, they say, by bread crumbs of a sort, “The vendors don’t accept greenbacks though you may trade for my knickknacks”
Lit cigarettes dwindle towards the morrow’s taboo. Another? Bells of a distant scene, echo, and my eyes follow.
The intrigue of moss-topped relics is a vice that will suffice. He decides ground creature instead of nets for her lips, so long as the company’s not into it.
With the Middle East Peace Talks getting underway, I thought it would be interesting to see how Hamas is characterizing the events surrounding the negotiations; so I tried accessing their semi-official news agency http://palestine-info.info/
The first thing that appears is a flash-based, language selection page, which displays fine. However, it seems that if one clicks “English” while using Verizon FIOS or Comcast Cable, a “page cannot be displayed” message appears.
Pinging/tracerting attempts are unable to resolve. Users on other ISPs trying to access the English page, have been successful. I got the IP address and was able to view the page using that.
The French language section also appears to be blocked.
Update: Qwest DSL may also be blocking the domain.
Update: While the ISPs were responsible for the improper DNS handling, it appears that the issue may have been caused by simple error, where the DNS records of the ISPs were not updated properly, which apparently is typical of the the laziness of large ISP’s. Therefore, it is prudent not to jump to any conclusions about the DNS issues possibly being the result of deliberate action or political motivation on the part of the ISPs in question. I apologize for the confusion that this may have caused. Thanks to all who helped.
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