Friday, October 28, 2005

Just to be clear on what we know: the Bush administration knowingly outed a covert CIA agent, then lied about it. 5:12:59 PM   permalink   comment []

Two science groups say Kansas can't use their materials if it's going to teach creationism, er, Intelligent Design, as "science." Harsh, the kids get punished even more for the actions of their elders. Update: Potato Stew says in the comments below that it's just harsh for the grownups, who will have to rewrite their science standards -- the kids will still get some science with their quasi-religion. I feel much better now. 3:59:29 PM   permalink   comment []

Libby indicted, and indicted in a large way. Josh Marshall: "Libby indictment devastating for the White House." Glenn Reynolds first says "The mountain has labored and brought forth a mouse," then reads the indictment and upgrades the mouse to a "large rabbit." Decoding for spin -- Insty long pooh-poohed this as a big ball of nothing -- that's something of an admission that this is not at all inconsequential. 3:16:58 PM   permalink   comment []

Other scandals to watch as the Plame game unfolds: In Ohio, a key GOP fundraiser has been indicted for campaign finance shenanigans, and it looks like a pretty big deal. He's also close to Republican governor Taft. Why you should care: Ohio decided the last Presidential election. Frist spokesman: "He could have been more exact in his comments." Which is to say, regardless of the outcome of the insider trading question, Frist lied about what he knew. Why you care: Frist wants to run for President, and this is not going to be very helpful to that effort. See also: Kentucky meltdown, DeLay subpoenas. Power corrupts. 9:36:21 AM   permalink   comment []

DarkTimes: Krugman ("Bernanke and the Bubble") has a little fun ("Has President Bush been so damaged by scandals and public disapproval that he has no choice but to appoint qualified, principled people to important positions?") before getting down to serious business: "No, my main concern is that the economy may well face a day of reckoning soon after Mr. Bernanke takes office...coping with that day of reckoning without some nasty shocks may be beyond anyone's talents." Housing bubble, living off borrowed money from Asia: scary stuff that may too much for any Fed chief. Friedman goes to Shangri-La -- actually a Chinese province that renamed itself Shangri-La to attract tourists -- and finds the local folks are coming up with their own "green" solutions to China's environmental problems. "It also has the finest public toilet I've ever used, a solar-powered composting toilet with an automated plastic green seat cover - in the middle of nowhere! It was labeled 'The Lavatory of Environmental Protection of the Travel.'" Kicker: "We all need China to start assuming an environmental leadership role commensurate with its impact on the world...Now that would be a great leap forward." DarkTimes is a daily roundup of the hidden matter in the NYT opinion universe. 8:39:56 AM   permalink   comment []

Production quality versus content quality, continued. I just don't understand the argument. First of all, it's not an either/or choice. If the content of a video or audio or written piece is interesting, and the production standards are not so awful that watching it or listening to it or reading it doesn't make me ill, than I will invest my time in it. If a piece of crap is wrapped in whizbang production, it's still crap. That does not mean sound quality and lighting and grammar don't matter, and that great production plus great content isn't great, it just means that sometimes good enough is good enough. Examples from the world of professional media: Clerks is a better movie than that Star Wars with Jar Jar Binks. My hissy bootleg of the Jerry Garcia Band playing They Love Each Other at the Capitol Theater is more valuable than the entire lavishly-produced Britney Spears canon. Discuss. 8:25:52 AM   permalink   comment []