So, I’m back from a week spent in Colorado with family, and I’m catching up on all the things I’ve missed out on during what was probably a much needed break from the internets and news. Seriously, my Google Reader had “1000+” items in it when I got on for the first time this morning since Tuesday (besides a little BlackBerry powered browsing while sitting in airports). And since I’m motoring through it, I figured I’d put a few of the hits right here. Sorta like a less-timely Bufflo Tips. I will probably be blogging more about my trip later, but for now, enjoy some linkylinkys.
First up: I love Jenny Lewis’ video for her song See Fernando. She’s definitely a girl crush of mine. If someone would PLEASE teach me how to embed non-YouTube videos on WordPress, it would be much appreciated. In the meantime, you have to watch this 60’s spy-thriller music video here.
Next, check out the trailer for No Impact Man (and Family)’s documentary! I’ve loved following their journey on the blog and look forward to seeing the film.
- We have been out of town for a week. Duh. We were staying with family who probably had every toiletry that I could possibly need and thus could have preventing me from needing to pack any. We didn’t check any bags. We were gone less than a week. I overpacked. It’s chronic. I should have read this post, from one of my fave bloggers, Decorno.
- Journalism great Walter Cronkite died this week, and Glenn Greenwald points out that most of the journalists marking his passing and running retrospectives are nowhere NEAR the journalist Cronkite was, and are opposed to doing the kind of reporting he did. Greenwald writes:
Cronkite’s best moment was when he did exactly that which the modern journalist today insists they must not ever do — directly contradict claims from government and military officials and suggest that such claims should not be believed. These days, our leading media outlets won’t even use words that are disapproved of by the Government.
- I used to respect John McCain, even if I didn’t always agree with him, until he ran such a despicable campaign for the presidency and chose an idiot to be his running mate. Now, he’s losing even more points from me because he’s blocking nominees to the Department of the Interior because he wants a copper mine to be allowed in a national forest.
- More than a few posts in my Reader were about the GOP’s proclivity to say BE AFRAID! WE HAVE CHARTS! Ezra Klein debunks the latest SCARY CHART OF LIBRUL BUREAUCRACY pretty handily.
- This just confirms what I recently read in the Omnivore’s Dilemma: eating pastured meat is actually *good* for the environment! (Now where to buy such meat?)
- Via Jezebel, I never thought Charlie Brown could be creepy. Turns out he can.
- Nate Silver notes that Sarah Palin really *isn’t* all that much of a fundraiser.
- Meanwhile, in my absence, Palin decided to try to string a few coherent sentences together (a huge undertaking from the Queen of Fragments, though I’m guessing this piece was heavily edited by someone with at least a bare-bones knowledge of basic grammar) in opposition to cap and trade in the Washington Post. Alex Koppelman of Salon’s War Room blog summarized the op ed thusly:
While the piece is certainly more coherent than her resignation announcement or some of her past interviews, the article makes numerous unsubstantiated claims and reads like a greatest hits list of Republican talking points on the Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill currently working its way through Congress.
The entire piece refuting Palin’s points is worth a read if you haven’t seen it yet. I like this part: “She does not rely on any scientific evidence to back up any of the bold statements she makes in the piece.” BECUZ SARAH PALIN DON’T NEED UR FANCY BOOK LERNIN’. ALSO, SY-ENCE IS FUR ATHEEISTS. Another good reaction to the Palin op ed can be found at The Daily Beast, written by Edward Markey, of Waxman-Markey fame. I think I’ll trust the chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee over a less-than-one-term governor with a degree in communications that apparently failed to give her a basic grasp of Standard English any day.
- Ezra Klein says Palin probably didn’t write it. She signed her name to it. He’s probably right. He also writes:
The term “global warming” is absent. So is “climate change.” It’s a bit like an op-ed that attacks firefighters for pointing pressurized water cannons at everything but never mentions fires, or a column that condemns surgeons for sticking sharp things into people but never mentions illness.
- Conor Clark at The Daily Dish says “Palin’s op-ed displays an ignorance for the subject so profound it’s almost gutsy. Almost.”
- Obama nominated a Surgeon General who isn’t Sanjay Gupta and who seems to be an all-around awesome lady. Apparently some haters think she’s too fat to be Surgeon General, 4rlz. Frances Kissling of Salon’s Broadsheet addresses those haters.
- Meanwhile Ezra Klein has a sensical piece about why we as a society should worry about obesity.
- So, a bunch of “Blue Dogs” are threatening to derail health reform. Nate Silver points out that this could hurt them in the end, as their districts have higher rates of uninsurance than most. He writes:
Mike Ross of the Arkansas 4th, where almost 22 percent of the population is uninsured? This is a bill designed to help districts like his. And the same goes for most of the other Blue Dogs. A lot of the time, these guys are stuck in a tough spot between their party and their constituents. Here, those interests are mostly aligned.
- Yay for good news when it comes to SAVING THE ANTIBIOTICS.
- And finally, check out this piece on How Outlet Malls Rip Us Off, and maybe next time you head to the outlets, take a smart phone so you can check reference prices online and find out what retail price REALLY is.
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