The next Alito, and why "more Democrats" isn't enough

Salon.com News & Politics | War Room: "To turn around the vote count on the next Alito, progressives would need to win nine of the 14 seats currently held by pro-Alito Republicans. But wait, it's even worse than that. Bob Casey Jr., the likely Democratic challenger for Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, says he would have voted for Alito if he were in the Senate today."

If you're not already completely depressed by our whole Alito situation, reading this blog entry in War Room makes it that much more horrible. It is interesting though.

Nextel - Dance Party , ad, advert | visit4info | TV/Cinema |

Nextel - Dance Party , ad, advert | visit4info | TV/Cinema |

So I have to admit loving the Nextel Ad. And Angry Asian Man is kind enough to point out that the Asian dude manning the boombox is C.S. Lee who has had quality roles like voice of the gangster in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The ad is too funny.

Woman Poses Naked on Car at Auto Show - Yahoo! News

Woman Poses Naked on Car at Auto Show - Yahoo! News: "'We heard they were all over the Challenger,' said Jason Vines, a spokesman for the Chrysler Group, which earlier had tried to give its cars more sex appeal by bringing in fully clothed 'Desperate Housewives' star Eva Longoria to pose at its exhibit."

Am I too cynical, or does this not seem like overt marketing? Although if that's the case, I just became a viral marketer...

ASIAN POP / Better Living Through A-Pop

ASIAN POP / Better Living Through A-Pop

last break for 25 hours. okay, at least 2 hours...

hilarious!

Salon.com News & Politics | War Room

Salon.com News & Politics | War Room: "Olympia Snowe -- the moderate Republican senator from Maine who is a member of the 'Gang of 14,' the group of centrist senators who pulled that body away from the brink of the 'nuclear option' (eliminating the filibuster for judicial nominees) last year -- says that she will not support a filibuster. Under the terms of the gang's deal, if Democrats in that group support a filibuster, Snowe would vote in favor of eliminating the filibuster. "

okay, maybe the dems have some spine and a longer time horizon than I do, but that somehow seems highly unlikely...

suffering though

complaining online to spare real people from involuntary whining on my part. listening to michael stipe moaning "i need this" on some late track in out of time.

you know you're in bad shape when you drink coffee despite the fact that it's making you physically and possibly psychically ill. i think i may resolve to switch to tea after this semester is all over. i think that this sucks.

you know you're in bad shape when doing the dishes in the sink that have been there for several days is not only a luxury but a pleasant break. scalding hot water, ecover soap, the knowledge that millions of bacteria are being put to death... priceless.

giving up on eminent domain for a while to work on drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants. the papers are both due on tuesday, but there's an explicit time deadline for licenses at four thirty with a point penalty for lateness while the other one is ambiguous which i usually take to mean before professor shorris wakes up in the morning the following day.

have a good day you all. hope for the democrats to grow some spine and filibuster alito. nyt coverage it's amazing how when there are so many horrible things happening in politics that it's completely overwhelming, that you kind of get used to the fact that the world's going to rot.

CBS.com - Survivor Panama

CBS.com - Survivor Panama: "Bruce Kanegai is a third generation Japanese American who grew up in Los Angeles. During the 1960's, he received the Boy Scout rank of Eagle Scout and the rank of Black Belt from the Shotokan Karate School. Kanegai received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Northridge. He also received his teaching credentials for the State of California."

Angry Asian Man is the source of this tidbit of information that Asian America will be represented on the new Survivor. While the fact that he is a karate master may be almost a joke of a stereotypical APA profession, I imagine that as a 3rd Generation Japanese American, he will be disrupting some of America's preconcevied notions of who such a person is. I'm intrigued enough to try to watch. You never know...

Cast announced for San Francisco Spelling Bee

Cast announced for San Francisco Spelling Bee: "The musical will play San Francisco's Post Street Theater beginning previews on February 14th and opening on the 28th before beginning an open-ended run at Chicago's Drury Lane Theater, and a national tour in the fall..."

It's worth seeing if you get the chance. It's a fun musical, and if you can take it, you should definitely try to be one of the four audience members who get to participate.

Judging Samuel Alito - New York Times

Judging Samuel Alito - New York Times: "Judge Alito's nomination is often presented as an abortion rights showdown, but it is much more than that. Those who care about the broad range of rights and liberties that Americans now have, and about honesty in government, should tune into the hearings starting tomorrow - and call their senators with their reactions to what they hear."

The NYT taking a stand (more or less) against Alito.

Craigslist Listings: Finding a Kindred Spirit in the Search for a Home - New York Times

Craigslist Listings: Finding a Kindred Spirit in the Search for a Home - New York Times: "'I kind of enjoyed the randomness to see who you are going to end up with by placing an ad,' Mr. Henderson said. 'It is like a social experiment. I was intrigued to see what would come out of this. I didn't expect such a good outcome so soon.'"

I'm kind of into this article more than I thought I would be. And I kind of loved the multimedia even though it was sort of without purpose. Maybe it's just late.

But more I think it's sort of captures the weirdness of being urban young people, defining new ways of living and being in this particular moment. And it's somehow uplifting to see random roommate situations that work. And Belvedere is pretty cute.

Music and Satisfaction

The last blog posting for some time I hope...

I've got to get on my eminent domain paper.

I had wanted to do a top 10 list for CDs I'd been into last year, but I can't. Instead, I'm marveling at the stack of CDs sitting on my CD player. I'll list them in sequence -- all thing which have been in and out of the player in the 3 days of being back in Jersey. I must admit that they've been enjoyable, but it's still difficult to feel truly satisfied with the music...

1. Talking Heads - Remain in Light
2. Kate Bush - The Sensual World
3. Phish - Rift
4. Catie Curtis - Dreaming in Romance Languages
5. Catie Curtis - Truth from Lies
6. Portishead - Dummy
7. Vienna Teng - Waking Hour
8. George Michael - Ladies & Gentlemen [disc 2]
9. Everything But the Girl - Amplified Heart
10. Jill Sobule - Happy Town
11. Dar Williams - End of the Summer
12. Dar Williams - My Better Self
13. Jennifer Lopez - The Reel Me
14. Tracy Chapman - Collection
15. Barenaked Ladies - Born on a Pirate Ship
16. Melissa Etheridge - Lucky
17. Nada Surf - Let Go
18. Ben Lee - hey you. yes you.
19. Matchbox 20 - More Than You Think You are
20. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
21. The Killers - Hot Fuss (Limited Edition)
22. Shakira - Oral Fixation vol. 2
23. Okkervil River - Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See
24. Royksopp - The Understanding

I think this is pretty clear proof of my borderline-ADD. Especially because I've been trying to spend all my time doing homework. Not that the music and reading about eminent domain are mutually exclusive mind you.

Also, these are by no means the best albums of last year. Maybe it's a sign for what this new year holds...

I've got to go and stir my potato-leek soup. Cheers.

-Leo

PRB: Domestic Programs: The Center for Public Information on Population Research

PRB: Domestic Programs: The Center for Public Information on Population Research: "The odds of intermarriage between those people with less than 10 years of education and high school graduates have declined by 38 percent since the 1970s. Intermarriage between college graduates and those with 'some college' has also declined since the 1970s, but at a more gradual pace. However, Schwartz and Mare found that intermarriage between high school graduates and those people with 'some college' rose."

This article is pretty interesting because I think that it identifies a phenomenon of self-sorting that is a reflection of different processes around us in contemporary American society. I wonder whether the same trend shows for people's friends or social networks in general. Does it match the ways that geographic communities isolate groups from one another?

The above link is for the summary of the article. If you prefer, they also link to the full article (pdf) which I duplicate here. Also, here is the link from Broadsheet that sent me to this in the first place.

Cats in Sinks

Cats in Sinks - for all your cat and bathroom needs

It's a random cat in sink generator!!!

Bush Recess Appointments Meet With Protest - Yahoo! News

Bush Recess Appointments Meet With Protest - Yahoo! News: "But because the Senate held a pro forma session Tuesday and then adjourned, the White House contends the second session of the 109th Congress has begun. Therefore, the White House believes Bush's nearly 20 recess appointments are valid until the following session, which won't conclude until the end of 2007."

Here's some info on the appointments that took place. I was wondering what the process was that allows Bush to skirt the confirmation process...

Salon.com News | A disastrous appointment

Salon.com News | A disastrous appointment: "With Sauerbrey, Jacobson says, 'You have a person in there who A) doesn't have any experience dealing with refugee movements, refugee resettlement, refugee crises, and B) has an ideological agenda against the single most important health intervention for refugee women.' "

This is incredibly disappointing. This is a big deal and will have serious implications for refugees worldwide. How does one even respond to this type of occurrence? And the fact that this keeps happening post-FEMA is outrageous. Ugh.

This is the picture from the NYT site taken by Jerome Maison. I'm putting it up because I'm guessing that nobody cares enough about my minimally trafficked site to be concerned about copyright issues. But does anyone know what the laws are on this kind of thing? Is it just flat out not permitted to take images or is there some kind of fair use allowed?

The Cute Factor [including more about penguins...]

The Cute Factor - New York Times:

Although I am maintain heavy skecticism toward anything leaning toward sociobiology, and I wonder about claims within the article (for example, kids believe antismoking messages more when delivered by cute cartoon animals than without -- what is the control case? noncute cartoons? people? screen with words?), the article is interesting and amusing nonetheless. Also, who knew that Arles hosts a penguin researcher?

"Take penguins as an example. Some people are so wild for the creatures, said Michel Gauthier-Clerc, a penguin researcher in Arles, France, 'they think penguins are mammals and not birds.' They love the penguin's upright posture, its funny little tuxedo, the way it waddles as it walks. How like a child playing dress-up!

Endearing as it is, Dr. Gauthier-Clerc explained that the apparent awkwardness of the penguin's march had nothing to do with clumsiness or uncertain balance. Instead, he said, penguins waddle to save energy. A side-to-side walk burns fewer calories than a straightforward stride, and for birds that fast for months and live in a frigid climate, every calorie counts.

As for the penguin's maestro garb, the white front and black jacket suits its aquatic way of life. While submerged in water, the penguin's dark backside is difficult to see from above, camouflaging the penguin from potential predators of air or land. The white chest, by contrast, obscures it from below, protecting it against carnivores and allowing it to better sneak up on fish prey. "

Yearly Review (Harpers.org)

Yearly Review (Harpers.org)

For a depressing but clever as always snapshot of the year past, check out Harper's Yearly Review.