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Hissyspit
Hissyspit's Journal
Hissyspit's Journal
October 4, 2012
Parole Granted to Former Manson Family Member Bruce Davis
Source: Reuters
Parole granted to former Manson family member Bruce Davis
LOS ANGELES | Thu Oct 4, 2012 7:34pm EDT
(Reuters) - A former member of the notorious Manson Family and a two-time convicted killer was granted parole on Thursday, but there was no definitive word on whether he might be released from prison because the ruling is subject to a mandatory review, California prison officials said.
Bruce Davis, 69, has been in state prison since his 1972 conviction. He was previously granted parole in 2010 but remained in prison after that decision was reversed by then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican.
The so-called Manson Family, a collection of runaways and outcasts, was brought together by a charismatic ex-convict, Charles Manson, in the 1960s.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/04/us-usa-manson-member-idUSBRE8931QS20121004
October 3, 2012
Go on. Read it again.
Ah, divine entertainment. The outraged fair and balanced right-wing mind at work.
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/matt-drudge-and-tucker-carlson-arent-only-clowns-circus-8-ridiculous-right-wing
Go ahead. Treat yourself. Read it again. It's so much fun...
Fucker Carlson Logic:
"People will say this has already been reported. Well, actually it hasn't been reported. And I know because I reported on it the first time."
Go on. Read it again.
"People will say this has already been reported. Well, actually it hasn't been reported. And I know because I reported on it the first time."
Ah, divine entertainment. The outraged fair and balanced right-wing mind at work.
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/matt-drudge-and-tucker-carlson-arent-only-clowns-circus-8-ridiculous-right-wing
October 3, 2012
Uploaded by swimidiot on May 24, 2006
Concentrating on an area of growing concern in our society--the indifference that makes people blind to the injustices around them--this animated parable traces how the erosion of freedom, like the pollution of natural resources, can occur so gradually that both evade the attention of a busy and preoccupied nation. (Narrated by Orson Welles)
"Freedom River" (1971) Orson Welles... Amazing. This Cartoon As Relevant As Ever
Uploaded by swimidiot on May 24, 2006
Concentrating on an area of growing concern in our society--the indifference that makes people blind to the injustices around them--this animated parable traces how the erosion of freedom, like the pollution of natural resources, can occur so gradually that both evade the attention of a busy and preoccupied nation. (Narrated by Orson Welles)
October 3, 2012
Posted at 11:23 AM ET, 10/03/2012 TheWashingtonPost
Romney’s ‘you didn’t build that’ attack: An epic FAIL
By Greg Sargent
Others have touched on this already, but it really deserves highlighting here, too. Check this out, from the new NBC/WSJ poll:
Romney built much of his convention around Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments, but only 32 percent were impacted negatively by them. Meanwhile, more viewed the remarks as a positive, and 62 percent either saw them as a positive or weren’t impacted by them at all.
The poll also asked people how Romney’s remarks about the freeloading 47 percent affected their views of the GOP candidate. The result: 23 percent said “more positive”; 24 percent said “not much difference”; and 45 percent said “more negative.”
The freeloading 47 percent video was far worse for Romney than “you didn’t build that” was for Obama. Now, it’s important to be careful about these numbers. Often controversies over remarks like these have an impact on public perceptions of candidates’ images in unseen ways. While people say they don’t care about such remarks — just as high numbers say they don’t see Romney’s Bain years as a negative — this stuff can end up reinforcing underlying views of candidates, anyway. The better way to judge whether such efforts to define the opposition are working is to look at public perceptions of the target’s overall image and policy priorities.
And on that score, it’s clear who is winning the definition battle. Poll after poll after poll shows people think Romney doesn’t care about the needs and problems of ordinary Americans, and that his policies are skewed to favor the rich...
MORE AT LINK[p]
Romney's 'You Didn't Build That' Attack: An Epic FAIL (Greg Sargent in WaPo)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/romneys-you-didnt-build-that-attack-an-epic-fail/2012/10/03/87b89dcc-0d69-11e2-bd1a-b868e65d57eb_blog.htmlPosted at 11:23 AM ET, 10/03/2012 TheWashingtonPost
Romney’s ‘you didn’t build that’ attack: An epic FAIL
By Greg Sargent
Others have touched on this already, but it really deserves highlighting here, too. Check this out, from the new NBC/WSJ poll:
Barack Obama recently said that if you have been successful, you did not get there on your own. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create the American system that allowed you to thrive. He said if you have a business, you didn’t build that, somebody else made that happen. When we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together. Does this make you feel more positive or more negative about Barack Obama, does it not make much difference in your opinion or do you not know enough about this to have an opinion at this time?
More positive: 36
More negative: 32
Not much difference: 26
More positive: 36
More negative: 32
Not much difference: 26
Romney built much of his convention around Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comments, but only 32 percent were impacted negatively by them. Meanwhile, more viewed the remarks as a positive, and 62 percent either saw them as a positive or weren’t impacted by them at all.
The poll also asked people how Romney’s remarks about the freeloading 47 percent affected their views of the GOP candidate. The result: 23 percent said “more positive”; 24 percent said “not much difference”; and 45 percent said “more negative.”
The freeloading 47 percent video was far worse for Romney than “you didn’t build that” was for Obama. Now, it’s important to be careful about these numbers. Often controversies over remarks like these have an impact on public perceptions of candidates’ images in unseen ways. While people say they don’t care about such remarks — just as high numbers say they don’t see Romney’s Bain years as a negative — this stuff can end up reinforcing underlying views of candidates, anyway. The better way to judge whether such efforts to define the opposition are working is to look at public perceptions of the target’s overall image and policy priorities.
And on that score, it’s clear who is winning the definition battle. Poll after poll after poll shows people think Romney doesn’t care about the needs and problems of ordinary Americans, and that his policies are skewed to favor the rich...
MORE AT LINK[p]
October 3, 2012
Study: Stupid Photos of Adorable Cats Boost Workplace Productivity
—By Asawin Suebsaeng| Mon Oct. 1, 2012 1:14 PM PDT
Scientists in Japan have found that LOLcats aren't the useless workplace distraction we all thought they were. Via Sarah Kliff:
- snip -
A team of researchers at Hiroshima University recently conducted a study where they showed university students pictures of baby animals before completing various tasks. What they found...was that those who saw the baby animal pictures did more productive work after seeing those photographs—even more than those who saw a picture of an adult animal or a pleasant food.
The study, titled "The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus," was published September 26 in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. Nearly 50 university students were charged with performing a simple task, under three conditions: After viewing pictures of adult cats and dogs, after viewing "pleasant" foods like steak and sushi, and after viewing images of kittens and puppies. Productivity and "correct trials" (charted above) were at their highest levels following the "awwwwww baby animal!" segment.
Researchers are floating a few theories on why this was the case, but one guess is that affection for babies inspires "tender treatments" and vigilance, which trickle down into other physical and mental activity. "If viewing cute things makes the viewer more attentive," researchers wrote, "the performance of a non-motor perceptual task would also be improved."
So if you're at your work station, staring at this for a while might help you:
MORE AT LINK[p]
Study: Stupid Photos of Adorable Cats Boost Workplace Productivity
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/10/study-stupid-photos-adorable-cats-actually-improve-productivityStudy: Stupid Photos of Adorable Cats Boost Workplace Productivity
—By Asawin Suebsaeng| Mon Oct. 1, 2012 1:14 PM PDT
Scientists in Japan have found that LOLcats aren't the useless workplace distraction we all thought they were. Via Sarah Kliff:
- snip -
A team of researchers at Hiroshima University recently conducted a study where they showed university students pictures of baby animals before completing various tasks. What they found...was that those who saw the baby animal pictures did more productive work after seeing those photographs—even more than those who saw a picture of an adult animal or a pleasant food.
The study, titled "The Power of Kawaii: Viewing Cute Images Promotes a Careful Behavior and Narrows Attentional Focus," was published September 26 in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE. Nearly 50 university students were charged with performing a simple task, under three conditions: After viewing pictures of adult cats and dogs, after viewing "pleasant" foods like steak and sushi, and after viewing images of kittens and puppies. Productivity and "correct trials" (charted above) were at their highest levels following the "awwwwww baby animal!" segment.
Researchers are floating a few theories on why this was the case, but one guess is that affection for babies inspires "tender treatments" and vigilance, which trickle down into other physical and mental activity. "If viewing cute things makes the viewer more attentive," researchers wrote, "the performance of a non-motor perceptual task would also be improved."
So if you're at your work station, staring at this for a while might help you:
MORE AT LINK[p]
October 2, 2012
CRAZIES
Peggy Noonan Went to Brooklyn
By Hamilton Nolan, Oct 2, 2012 10:13 AM
SHARE
Peggy Noonan. White. A white woman, yes, a Manhattanite, but a vital white woman, a woman of opinions, of breathing, of warbling on Sunday talk shows, about America—this America. This country. This great city, New York, where Peggy Noonan sips a gin fizz, contemplates that good American, Ronald Reagan (yes, a good man), and ventures forth—outwards, into the great bustling metropolis—to see what she can see. Lo! Peggy Noonan is surrounded by nonwhites. And what is that awful noise?
Peggy Noonan has a blog. Did you know that? Of course, for you are American. Today she has detailed a new adventure, a new travail, here, in the "Big Apple," as they say, the Apple of America's Eye, New York City, home to Peggy Noonan. She went to a street fair. In Bay Ridge—a faraway place, far, from Peggy's home, way out in Brooklyn, where brown people walk the streets joyously, which should be celebrated, yes, should be embraced, for we are all Americans, and we all want love, and family, and hope. Peggy Noonan wrote a blog post about going to the Bay Ridge street fair, and that alone is occasion enough to celebrate our common blessings.
And what a festival of Americana! "In the beauty shop on 76th Street where my mother popped in to get her hair done everyone spoke Chinese, including a 5- or 6-year-old Asian girl so proud of her new bangs," writes Peggy. Imagine—a five year old, already speaking Chinese, preparing for the new global economic reality. Education. America. A world, together. Peggy has seen so many wonderful things. "Young Asian kids with I phones were tweeting what they were seeing as they walked behind their grandparents." Of Asia, and yet, also, of America. Of innovation. Of a nation together. A street fair, for all. A lone flag waves atop a faraway hill—the stars and stripes. Wavy.
Overjoyed, is how Peggy felt, generally, to see this glorious melting pot, melting, together, as one. But there was a moment which puzzled her:
A rap group—and yet. And yet. Not just the young black and Hispanic men, but a middle-aged white woman. This, now, this... this, Peggy Noonan does not "get." She does not get its, how shall we say it... "composition." Yes. We'll say its... "composition." What? Why? How? Aha—singers, from a local church. United by Jesus. Together as Americans, even in the loud rap. This has allowed Peggy to draw the conclusion, you see, that everyone is "feeling free to be different from who they are." Like who? Well, for example, to pick randomly: this white woman, with the rap. She is white. And yet she raps? It is all confusing, and yet, she is free to be different, from who she really is—a white woman, in this great land that Ronald Reagan once ruled with a modest hand.
MORE[p]
Gawker: Peggy Noonan Went to Brooklyn
http://www.gawker.com/5948183/peggy-noonan-went-to-brooklynCRAZIES
Peggy Noonan Went to Brooklyn
By Hamilton Nolan, Oct 2, 2012 10:13 AM
SHARE
Peggy Noonan. White. A white woman, yes, a Manhattanite, but a vital white woman, a woman of opinions, of breathing, of warbling on Sunday talk shows, about America—this America. This country. This great city, New York, where Peggy Noonan sips a gin fizz, contemplates that good American, Ronald Reagan (yes, a good man), and ventures forth—outwards, into the great bustling metropolis—to see what she can see. Lo! Peggy Noonan is surrounded by nonwhites. And what is that awful noise?
Peggy Noonan has a blog. Did you know that? Of course, for you are American. Today she has detailed a new adventure, a new travail, here, in the "Big Apple," as they say, the Apple of America's Eye, New York City, home to Peggy Noonan. She went to a street fair. In Bay Ridge—a faraway place, far, from Peggy's home, way out in Brooklyn, where brown people walk the streets joyously, which should be celebrated, yes, should be embraced, for we are all Americans, and we all want love, and family, and hope. Peggy Noonan wrote a blog post about going to the Bay Ridge street fair, and that alone is occasion enough to celebrate our common blessings.
And what a festival of Americana! "In the beauty shop on 76th Street where my mother popped in to get her hair done everyone spoke Chinese, including a 5- or 6-year-old Asian girl so proud of her new bangs," writes Peggy. Imagine—a five year old, already speaking Chinese, preparing for the new global economic reality. Education. America. A world, together. Peggy has seen so many wonderful things. "Young Asian kids with I phones were tweeting what they were seeing as they walked behind their grandparents." Of Asia, and yet, also, of America. Of innovation. Of a nation together. A street fair, for all. A lone flag waves atop a faraway hill—the stars and stripes. Wavy.
Overjoyed, is how Peggy felt, generally, to see this glorious melting pot, melting, together, as one. But there was a moment which puzzled her:
Everyone different, everyone getting along, everyone feeling free to be who they are but everyone also-you could just kind of see it-feeling free to be different from who they are, too. Everyone selling their wares, not just material ones but spiritual ones. There was a really loud kind of rap group, and I asked who it was because I didn't get its composition-young black and Hispanic men, a middle-aged white woman. Singers from a local church, I was told.
A rap group—and yet. And yet. Not just the young black and Hispanic men, but a middle-aged white woman. This, now, this... this, Peggy Noonan does not "get." She does not get its, how shall we say it... "composition." Yes. We'll say its... "composition." What? Why? How? Aha—singers, from a local church. United by Jesus. Together as Americans, even in the loud rap. This has allowed Peggy to draw the conclusion, you see, that everyone is "feeling free to be different from who they are." Like who? Well, for example, to pick randomly: this white woman, with the rap. She is white. And yet she raps? It is all confusing, and yet, she is free to be different, from who she really is—a white woman, in this great land that Ronald Reagan once ruled with a modest hand.
MORE[p]
October 2, 2012
Irreversible Warming Will Cause Sea Levels to Rise for Thousands of Years to Come, New Research Show
Source: Science Daily
Irreversible Warming Will Cause Sea Levels to Rise for Thousands of Years to Come, New Research Shows
ScienceDaily (Oct. 2, 2012) — Greenhouse gas emissions up to now have triggered an irreversible warming of Earth that will cause sea levels to rise for thousands of years to come, new research has shown.
The results come from a study, published today (Oct. 2) in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, which sought to model sea-level changes over millennial timescales, taking into account all of Earth's land ice and the warming of the oceans -- something which has not been done before.
The research showed that we have already committed ourselves to a sea-level rise of 1.1 metres by the year 3000 as a result of our greenhouse gas emissions up to now. This irreversible damage could be worse, depending on the route we take to mitigating our emissions.
If we were to follow the high A2 emissions scenario adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a sea-level rise of 6.8 metres could be expected in the next thousand years. The two other IPCC scenarios analysed by the researchers, the B1 and A1B scenarios, yielded sea-level rises of 2.1 and 4.1 metres respectively.
Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121001191531.htm
October 2, 2012
Published on Oct 1, 2012 by BarackObamadotcom
Share this: http://OFA.BO/vXbS6j
Tweet this: http://OFA.BO/9SVC4J
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Ian.
I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and I am ten years old. I really hope that I can meet you someday because I would like to shake your hand and thank you for bringing my dad home from Iraq.
My dad served two tours in Iraq. His time away was really hard for me.
This is a note that my dad sent me: "My dearest Ian, son, I miss you so much..."
I had trouble sleeping sometimes because I was so worried about him.
He gave me his dog tags before he left and I kept them with me all the time so that I can feel close to him.
Because you ended the Iraq war I have my dad back safe.
Now I get to spend birthdays and holidays with my dad. And we can do all the things I have missed out on while he was away.
I look up to you both and I want to be just like you.
Thank you, Ian
"Dear Mr. President" Ian's Letter
Published on Oct 1, 2012 by BarackObamadotcom
Share this: http://OFA.BO/vXbS6j
Tweet this: http://OFA.BO/9SVC4J
Dear Mr. President,
My name is Ian.
I live in Las Vegas, Nevada and I am ten years old. I really hope that I can meet you someday because I would like to shake your hand and thank you for bringing my dad home from Iraq.
My dad served two tours in Iraq. His time away was really hard for me.
This is a note that my dad sent me: "My dearest Ian, son, I miss you so much..."
I had trouble sleeping sometimes because I was so worried about him.
He gave me his dog tags before he left and I kept them with me all the time so that I can feel close to him.
Because you ended the Iraq war I have my dad back safe.
Now I get to spend birthdays and holidays with my dad. And we can do all the things I have missed out on while he was away.
I look up to you both and I want to be just like you.
Thank you, Ian
October 1, 2012
Tom Tomorrow: "Last week a report on the impact of drone warfare on civilians was released by the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School and the Global Justice Clinic at the New York University School of Law. You can download it here. I also recommend Charles Pierce's thoughts on the matter, here."
DAILY KOS LINK: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/01/1137164/-The-return-of-Droney?detail=hide
Tom Tomorrow: The Return of Droney
Tom Tomorrow: "Last week a report on the impact of drone warfare on civilians was released by the International Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Clinic of Stanford Law School and the Global Justice Clinic at the New York University School of Law. You can download it here. I also recommend Charles Pierce's thoughts on the matter, here."
DAILY KOS LINK: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/01/1137164/-The-return-of-Droney?detail=hide
October 1, 2012
SUNDAY, SEP 30, 2012 08:00 AM EDT
The right’s pop-culture problem
From Clint to "Won't Back Down" to "October Baby": A recent history of embarrassing right-wing culture moments
BY ANDREW O'HEHIR
As the anti-union inspirational drama “Won’t Back Down,” Dinesh D’Souza’s deeply crazy Obama conspiracy-theory documentary “2016” and the Clint Eastwood fiasco at the Republican National Convention suggest, conservatives have a problem with pop culture. They don’t much like it or trust it, and the feeling is mutual; every time the two try to dance, the results are embarrassing to all. This becomes painfully clear every time a Republican candidate holds a fundraiser in Hollywood, which has of course been a bottomless source of money for Barack Obama and every other significant Democrat on the national stage, going back at least as far as Adlai Stevenson.
Last weekend Mitt Romney’s campaign held just such an event in Beverly Hills, and most of the names on the guest list were downright depressing: A few aging producers like action-movie impresario Jerry Bruckheimer and 1970s game-show pioneer Burt Sugarman; a few showbiz relics like Pat Boone and Connie Stevens. Almost the only contemporary and recognizable figures were Patricia Heaton (you know! Debra from “Everybody Loves Raymond”!) and “CSI: NY” star Gary Sinise, quite likely the only Republican who has ever directed a Sam Shepard play. Indeed, Sinise is so beloved by the lonely cadre of culturally savvy right-wingers – they do exist! – that former George W. Bush and John McCain aide Nicolle Wallace floated a rumor in 2009 that he might run for president. (Given the way things look for Romney right now, I bet a lot of Republicans would love to go back in time and work a little harder on that.)
You can slice this particular cultural phenomenon any number of ways: Depending on your perspective, Hollywood is either a bastion of progressive, independent thinkers or a hotbed of America-haters, socialists and sexual deviants. Viewed more neutrally, it’s probably fair to say that the creative classes in every modern society have skewed leftward, and that the reasons for that are deeply encoded in history. When power belonged to the king, the church and the generals, and was devoted to enforcing obedience, conformity and bourgeois family life, you could hardly expect the poets and actors – what with their absinthe and their opium and their complicated sexual affairs – to play along.
- snip -
It’s as if the producers and directors of these movies never got the memo about how culture in the digital age is supposed to look and feel – and they probably didn’t. (I’m not necessarily endorsing the sleek, knowing manner of nearly all entertainment aimed at an educated adult audience, but we’re all pretty used to it.) Whether this is a deliberate strategy I couldn’t say, but in the case of “Won’t Back Down,” which positions itself as a “Stand and Deliver”-type inspirational tale about inner-city education before dropping some deep wisdom on the evils of teachers’ unions, the answer is probably no. But if you think I’m exaggerating or manufacturing this tendency, I double-dare you – no, triple-dare you! – to watch “An American Carol,” the anti-Michael Moore spoof from 2008 and the most notorious of all conservative efforts to engage in waggery, ribaldry and high jinks.
MORE AT LINK[p]
Salon.com: The Right's Pop-Culture Problem - A Recent History of Embarrassing Moments
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/30/the_rights_pop_culture_problemSUNDAY, SEP 30, 2012 08:00 AM EDT
The right’s pop-culture problem
From Clint to "Won't Back Down" to "October Baby": A recent history of embarrassing right-wing culture moments
BY ANDREW O'HEHIR
As the anti-union inspirational drama “Won’t Back Down,” Dinesh D’Souza’s deeply crazy Obama conspiracy-theory documentary “2016” and the Clint Eastwood fiasco at the Republican National Convention suggest, conservatives have a problem with pop culture. They don’t much like it or trust it, and the feeling is mutual; every time the two try to dance, the results are embarrassing to all. This becomes painfully clear every time a Republican candidate holds a fundraiser in Hollywood, which has of course been a bottomless source of money for Barack Obama and every other significant Democrat on the national stage, going back at least as far as Adlai Stevenson.
Last weekend Mitt Romney’s campaign held just such an event in Beverly Hills, and most of the names on the guest list were downright depressing: A few aging producers like action-movie impresario Jerry Bruckheimer and 1970s game-show pioneer Burt Sugarman; a few showbiz relics like Pat Boone and Connie Stevens. Almost the only contemporary and recognizable figures were Patricia Heaton (you know! Debra from “Everybody Loves Raymond”!) and “CSI: NY” star Gary Sinise, quite likely the only Republican who has ever directed a Sam Shepard play. Indeed, Sinise is so beloved by the lonely cadre of culturally savvy right-wingers – they do exist! – that former George W. Bush and John McCain aide Nicolle Wallace floated a rumor in 2009 that he might run for president. (Given the way things look for Romney right now, I bet a lot of Republicans would love to go back in time and work a little harder on that.)
You can slice this particular cultural phenomenon any number of ways: Depending on your perspective, Hollywood is either a bastion of progressive, independent thinkers or a hotbed of America-haters, socialists and sexual deviants. Viewed more neutrally, it’s probably fair to say that the creative classes in every modern society have skewed leftward, and that the reasons for that are deeply encoded in history. When power belonged to the king, the church and the generals, and was devoted to enforcing obedience, conformity and bourgeois family life, you could hardly expect the poets and actors – what with their absinthe and their opium and their complicated sexual affairs – to play along.
- snip -
It’s as if the producers and directors of these movies never got the memo about how culture in the digital age is supposed to look and feel – and they probably didn’t. (I’m not necessarily endorsing the sleek, knowing manner of nearly all entertainment aimed at an educated adult audience, but we’re all pretty used to it.) Whether this is a deliberate strategy I couldn’t say, but in the case of “Won’t Back Down,” which positions itself as a “Stand and Deliver”-type inspirational tale about inner-city education before dropping some deep wisdom on the evils of teachers’ unions, the answer is probably no. But if you think I’m exaggerating or manufacturing this tendency, I double-dare you – no, triple-dare you! – to watch “An American Carol,” the anti-Michael Moore spoof from 2008 and the most notorious of all conservative efforts to engage in waggery, ribaldry and high jinks.
MORE AT LINK[p]
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