In this case, however, the crew of the Alabama managed to disable the ship at about the time the pirates came on board, according to a senior American military official. The four hijackers, apparently overrun by the ship’s crew, then loaded the captain into a lifeboat, shoved off from the Alabama and began negotiating for his release.
American officials praised the crew’s decision to disable the ship. The Alabama’s second in command, Capt. Shane Murphy, is the son of an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy who teaches a course on how to repel pirate attacks. Full story »
If you’re not familiar with the term “bankster,” it was coined, writes Harold Evans for BBC, “by an American immigrant, a fiery Sicilian-born lawyer by the name of Ferdinand Pecora. He was the chief counsel to the US Senate Committee on Banking set up in the early 30s to probe the origins of the Crash of 1929.” Full story »
Rush starts, I think, to suggest that the caller isn’t really who he says he is, and by the end seems to allow that the guy may be a Republican, but not much of one. Full story »
UPDATE: We have a see-saw battle on our hands, with The Well Wishers currently holding a slim lead. Voting closes Thursday night, so make sure you’ve registered your opinion.
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Welcome to the inaugural Scholars & Rogues Tournament of Rock, Round 1. Match #1 kicks the game off with two worthy competitors.
There are all kinds of fun arguments to be had over which band is best or whether one’s taste is critically defensible (*cough*Brian used to listen to Madonna and Gloria Estefan*cough*) and, of course, my favorite – can we separate what we like from our critical faculties (that is, is your “favorite” list different from your “best” list)?
But there’s one sure measure of what music we really care about the most, for whatever reason, and that’s how much of our money we spend on it. So today’s TunesDay question is this: what artists do you own the most music from?
Feel free to answer however makes sense, and yes, we take into account the fact that you may own everything from a band that quit too soon. I have one of those myself. Here’s my list: Full story »
You’ve probably heard of the “New York University professor credited with calling the current economic collapse and a ubiquitous presence on financial-news shows who continues to forecast gloom and doom.” Why, it’s Nouriel Roubini, of course, as he’s described in Portfolio.com profile by Helaine Olen.
Thanks in no small part to Dr. Roubini’s prognosticating abilities, his business, RGE, is booming. Its website is thriving and he’s branched out from New York to Hong Kong and London with more international offices due to open. Nor does it hurt that, as described by Ms. Olen, he’s a one-man PR agency. Meanwhile, few are aware that Dr. Roubini also keeps up with the social whirl, frequently throwing parties and consorting with younger women. Full story »
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. — Voltaire
The propaganda war on the American public appears to have entered a new phase.
In a March 30 post at his Foreign Policy blog, Thomas E. Ricks wrote, “I thought some of the surge-era deals in Iraq would unravel but I didn’t think that would begin happening this quickly. It’s only March 2009, and already Awakening fighters are fighting U.S. soldiers in the streets of Baghdad.”Ricks cited a number of recent confrontations between members of the Sunni Awakening movement and Nuri al Maliki’s government and got all giddy about how he “wouldn’t be surprised to see Moqtada al-Sadr’s Shiite militia re-emerge.”
At the end of his blog, Ricks asks “Question of the day: What should I say the next time someone tells me the surge ‘worked’?”
Ricks will almost certainly say the same thing he’s been saying to Chris Matthews and David Gregory and Washington Post readers and everyone else who’s wasted bandwidth on him since his latest book came out: “General Odierno…would like to see 35,000 American troops [in Iraq] in 2015.”That is, after all, neocon message number one these days: Status of Force agreement and campaign promises be damned; the generals say we need to stay in Iraq so that’s what we need to do.And Ricks, along with the rest of the so-called liberal media, is falling all over himself to help the neocons echo it. Full story »
In February 2008, the KNU’s beloved secretary general, Mahn Sha, also respected by other ethnic groups, as well as the Burmese democracy movement, was assassinated in his home just inside Thailand. The obvious suspects were the members of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, a KNLA splinter group. The DKBA now fights the KNLA on behalf of the junta, for which it’s also reported to guard drug labs and smuggling operations. Full story »
“Peer review isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” and that phrase’s many variants, is something you year a lot these days. It’s a complaint that is heard most often with reference to climate science, and most often by people who understand neither the science behind climate disruption nor the purpose of peer review. So, as someone who’s undergone peer review repeatedly in both academia and as an electrical engineer, I’d like to explain why peer review matters.
First, a little explanation of what peer review is. Full story »
Professional athletes are notorious for their selfish and temperamental behavior. Nor do those who behave like prima donnas seem to understand or care how their acts play to the public. NFL quarterback Jay Cutler is the obvious example (this week anyway). When his new coach evinced an interest in beginning his tenure with a quarterback with whom he might feel more comfortable, Cutler cut off communication with his team.
Imagine if your new boss said, “I’m bringing in my own guy. But, don’t worry, I’ll find you another job at the same or greater pay.” Worst-case scenario — his own guy can’t free himself from his current contract and your new boss keeps you on. But Cutler’s inability to see how fortunate he was compared to much of the rest of the public is dwarfed by the conduct of the King of Tone-Deafness, Michael Vick. Full story »
We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas. – Natalie Maines
I don’t even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching. – Merle Haggard
Last night over dinner the subject of The Dixie Chicks came up, and I got mad all over again. Which is unfortunate, because when you think about artists that talented the last thing on your mind ought to be anger. But still, it’s been six long years now since “the top of the world came crashing down,” and I can’t quite free myself of my rage at the staggering ignorance that led so many Americans to piss on the 1st Amendment by attempting to destroy the careers of Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson. Full story »
One of my favorite bands is Aerosmith, but in the early 1980s I didn’t know it. I was happily listening to songs like “Walk This Way” and “Dream On” and “Back in the Saddle” long before I knew that it was Aerosmith. My sister was doing everything she could to broaden my mind to include music that wasn’t Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Toto, or Gloria Estefan, and Aerosmith was one of the bands I half listened to as we were washing dishes after dinner every night. But I didn’t hit my stride into hard rock and metal until after a certain video came out on MTV: the 1986 Run DMC cover of “Walk This Way.”Full story »
The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A wonderful analysis on the difficulty of knowing and the impossibility of predicting.
Brian Angliss:
The End of Faith by Sam Harris
I’m not done with this book, but it’s been an interesting read thus far. Harris chronicles a long list of atrocities committed in the name of faith, with an understandable focus on the three major monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. While it took me a long time to put aside my own biases (I’m an animist neo-pagan) and actually be able to read the book at all, I’ve found it an illuminating if occasionally frustrating read. Full story »
In case you missed it, we Scrogues just love music. So we thought we’d launch a new feature. Starting tomorrow, we’ll be asking our readers to vote in the first ever S&R Tournament of Rock, in which we’ll pit 16 artists and bands against each other in a single elimination format. At stake is the ultimate prize – getting to tell everybody that you won the inaugural Tournament of Rock. We’ll probably even do some kind of banner that the winners can put on their Web site. (If you’re a graphic designer looking to donate your time to a worthy cause, let me know.)
The first 16 bands cover some ground. A few we know, some others we just sorta know of a little bit, so we don’t have an agenda here. We just want you to check out some bands and vote on who you think is the best. Period.
“I was in Siberia a few weeks ago, and I am now just back in from the field in Alaska. The permafrost is melting fast all over the Arctic, lakes are forming everywhere and methane is bubbling up out of them.”
“Lakes in Siberia are five times bigger than when I measured them in 2006. It’s unprecedented. This is a global event now, and the inertia for more permafrost melt is increasing.”
Imagine a world where children are raised to become agents of change throughout their work and lives, not docile employees, consumers, and followers. One in which corporate personhood has been displaced, and human needs and the environment take precedence over the unlimited quest to maximize profits. A world where every citizen feels confident speaking out and organizing to advance a shared vision of justice.
Imagine that, in this world, health care for all prevails, with no place for insurance company intermediaries or pharmaceutical ad campaigns. Elections are publicly funded and verifiable, and politicians are responsive to the people, not to corporate lobbyists and wealthy donors. Openness is prized, and intellectual property restrictions, proprietary software, and closed ways of doing business have fallen from favor.
Imagine people no longer stirred by religious leaders to restrict the role of women, reject science, and hate or invade their neighbors. People boldly charting their own courses in life according to their values and sense of authenticity, rather than following standard routes laid down by others. People living without fear of scarcity or distrust of difference, confident that together their diverse abilities are ample to meet all their needs.
For ten decades, the industry I now have the privilege of representing has worked tenaciously to protect you from this nightmare scenario. Full story »
There are all kinds of fun arguments to be had over which band is best or whether one’s taste is critically defensible (*cough*
Hot links from recent days: Who doesn’t love 
The Karen Resistance Today
Professional athletes are notorious for their selfish and temperamental behavior. Nor do those who behave like prima donnas seem to understand or care how their acts play to the public. NFL quarterback Jay Cutler is the obvious example (this week anyway). When his new coach evinced an interest in beginning his tenure with a quarterback with whom he might feel more comfortable, Cutler cut off communication with his team.
Sam Smith:
