We’ve all become familiar with the word “stimulus” lately. Its exact meaning is: An agent, action, or condition that elicits or accelerates a physiological or psychological [or, one hopes, financial -- Ed.] activity or response.

We’re also familiar with “stimulation.” But for the purposes of this post, we’ll leapfrog over that concept to another related word, “stimulant.” Actually a subcategory of stimulus, stimulant zeroes in on the variety of eliciting agent. One of its official definitions: An agent, especially a chemical agent such as caffeine, that temporarily arouses or accelerates physiological or organic activity. Full story »

UPDATE: As of Tuesday afternoon Black Mountain is in front comfortably – call it a 2-to-1 margin. Still, there’s time for Bon Iver fans to make a late push if they can get their acts together. Polls close Thursday night.

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Last week’s match provided the Tournament of Rock with its first ever blowout, as Gogol Bordello simply nard-stomped Epsilon-Zero 90%-10%. Personally, I’m a little bummed, as I was one of the rare E0 votes. But the tribe has spoken. Gogol Bordello moves on to round two where they’ll face Paul Steel.

In match #5 we have an all-indie affair. First, from America’s Dairyland, the tuneful, low-fi folk of Bon Iver. Full story »

The Deproliferator

The Arms Control Organization’s Darryl Kimball explains: Full story »

Hot links from recent days: Sad news as Undercover Black Man calls it quits … What could AIG, Esquire and Saturn Corporation possibly have in common? Douglas A. McIntyre will tell you … Nothing like a little Zeppelin to stave off a plague … He didn’t choose his ghosts—they chose him … India’s first porn star? … One unlikely NFL draft pick has got something to prove; so do the Yankees … Viruses as human ally? … Fortunately, Baldrick will not be getting his hands on the last Nabokov … The Peace Gnome doubles his efforts … Asteroid, shmasteroid—something else did in the dinos, new evidence suggests … Business journos confess their news sins … Good luck keeping up with this Flickr account … Justice awaits for black farmers and lost Sioux tribes … Take the plunge—into a virtual black hole … An $11,000 guitar lesson … They will torture again, A. Whitney Brown warns … Drinking water treated with lithium? … Crooks and liars in Congress—for real … A visible relic from the young universe … Tina Dupuy might owe Lynndie England an apology … Mark Ames was there when the Class War went down … One entertainment legend is gone at 52, another is still kickin’ at 90 … And finally, if you loved Vince Shlomi’s nuts, you’re gonna love his SwineWow. ∞

Gerg wasn’t a monster, they insisted.

He was big. He was temperamental. He was covered in green fur and didn’t wear pants. He was ever demanding. His face changed color, shape and expression depending on who was looking at him. Everybody loved Gerg, and Gerg loved everybody, but not in that genuine, heartfelt way — more like a golddigger cherishes her trophy husband, or a cheerleader loves the ugly friend she keeps around to look better in front of guys. But the support was strong, the words as heartfelt as they could sound, and the dubious sincerity of it all was easily drowned out with more wide smiles and more pairs of outstretched arms.

Gerg was, indeed, the town’s beloved mascot. On top of it all, he was always hungry. Full story »

Remember when we all thought Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Malachi was just another Ahmed Pyle fresh off the bus from Palookadad? Now look at him: he’s a Machiavelli-class political operative, the head of a propped up state who just told his masters to drive it up their exit ramps by demanding that they honor the Status of Forces Agreement whether they like it or not.

Keep in mind, though, that in 1980 Saddam Hussein sentenced Maliki to death. Now Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death and executed, and Maliki has his job. How about them apples? Maliki is so powerful today, in fact, that he may be the only political figure who can help Barack Obama—the head of state of the most powerful nation in history—out of the crack he’s wiggled himself into. Full story »

If you look up the word sanction, the definition that occupies pride of place in most dictionaries is permission or approval for a specific course of action. But, one of those words that gives English a bad rap, sanction’s got two other meanings that are the exact opposite. To wit: a penalty to ensure compliance and coercion to stop a nation from violating international law.

Even then, perhaps because it’s too close to sanctuary, the worst sanctions seems to bode is a slap on the wrist. In fact, all too often, that’s its effect on its intended targets in a state’s government, while the public suffers instead. Full story »

You’re a coalition of multinational corporations. Imagine this deal: Invest $1 in lobbying. Get a return on investment of $220. Save $100 billion on taxes, too. Nice, eh?

That’s the conclusion of three University of Kansas professors who undertook an empirical analysis of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 to study rates of return for money spent on lobbying, reported The Washington Post in an April 12 story by Dan Eggen.

This law — this shady excuse for a law with a name only charlatans could love — allowed companies that had earned profits overseas to inexpensively bring that money back into the States. The customary tax rate on such profits was 35 percent. But this elegantly named process — repatriation of profits — gave companies a one-time chance four years ago to haul the money home, paying only 5.25 percent.

The act was a tax holiday sought by a coalition of companies, primarily big pharmaceutical and high-technology corporations, all because they sought to pay little or no taxes on profits generated overseas — and they concocted a successful scheme to pull it off.
Full story »

Our old friend and colleague Martin Bosworth offered up a thoughtful take on science and faith a few days ago and his thesis has been percolating in my mind ever since. In this post he describes himself as experiencing a “spiritual crisis.” No doubt he’s in one of those deep periods of self-reflection that I experience from time to time, although he seems way too lucid for the word “crisis.” In any case, since he posted these thoughts to a public forum and promoted them a bit, I think it’s fair to conclude that he’s inviting conversation. As such, I thought I might take a few moments here to, well, conversate.

Let me begin by noting that Boz doesn’t need anybody’s approval to believe what he believes or to live his life as he sees fit. Full story »

Every region of this beautiful planet has their treasured local festival and celebration. Spring is not officially Spring in Western Washington State without the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. This year marks the 26th year of this springtime icon. Over 700 acres are planted with daffodils, tulips and irises.

I had my ritual visit early this past Friday morning. The tulips are stunning. They speak for themselves. After a walk around the 3 acre show garden I decided to explore the barn on the property.

Barns are just cool. Full story »

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the very organization created to guarantee deposits against bank runs and failures, is instead about to guarantee that their services are in greater demand. They’re doing this by requiring all banks, large and small, to pay a one time charge of 20 cents per $100 of deposits (aka 20 “basis points”). In the process, this unbudgeted expense will likely cause some otherwise stable and profitable smaller banks to fail while larger banks, with the assistance of federal TARP funds, will likely be able to survive. Full story »

Part three of a series.

In the days following the murders at Columbine High School I visited the school and the grounds of Clement Park. Those walks produced this piece, which was originally published ten years ago today.

We have learned a great deal about the  events that took place at Columbine since  this essay was written (for instance, we now know that the  “Cassie Said Yes” story never actually happened,  and we also know that the whole “Trenchcoat Mafia”  thing was also a media-propagated fiction). But it seemed to me that going back  and revising to account for new information would damage the  fabric of what I wrote in late April and early May of 1999.  I have therefore elected to leave the factual inaccuracies  in place. I do, however, note the spots containing errors with an asterisk (*).

Salon.com and Westword.com provide as thorough and accurate  a picture as we are ever likely to have of the shootings and  the aftermath, and I recommend them highly.

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Sunday, May 2, 1999

It won’t stop raining, and nobody seems to care. Full story »