Slog
News & ArtsSunday, February 19, 2012
News Sunday Morning News
Posted by Riya Bhattacharjee on Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Gas: Get ready, this is the next thing the Republicans might attack Obama about.
Oil: Iran cuts oil shipments to Britain and France.
Mortgages: Big-money investors are getting excited by predictions of profit and returning to the same complex loan pools that caused the financial crisis.
Kidneys: Thirty donors give their kidneys to 30 strangers. Check out the NYT's cool interactive timeline.
Dead prisoners: More details on riot that left 20 dead in a northern Mexican prison early Sunday.
Bahrain: Should the Formula One be held there? At issue is its history of human rights abuses.
Facebook Phone: Loses against the Amazon Phone. In a survey.
Is the Seattle Arena plan all that? The Seattle Times investigates.
$334 million: UW donations hit a record.
And, here's Lana Del Ray with Video Games. Marketing gimmick or real talent?
1
Re LDR:
No she is not. She's among the worst examples of fame whoring with ridiculously fake lips.
As far as her singing goes, I think Sound Opinions said it best when they said, "...the biggest hurdle of all is the singing, which ranges from flat, constipated cooing to monotonous, one-dimensional chanting."
The final straw? She describes herself as the gangsta Nancy Sinatra"
No she is not. She's among the worst examples of fame whoring with ridiculously fake lips.
As far as her singing goes, I think Sound Opinions said it best when they said, "...the biggest hurdle of all is the singing, which ranges from flat, constipated cooing to monotonous, one-dimensional chanting."
The final straw? She describes herself as the gangsta Nancy Sinatra"
4
You'd think Republicans haven't been sitting on their asses doing nothing in the congress they run the way they talk. They have done nothing about gas privces or anything else for that matter! Maybe that's why Americans give them the worst rating in history. And let's face it, John Beohner is a good for nothing big mouth.
5
Where are the video games? I was told there would be video games. All I'm seeing is some woman with gigantic lips being depressed at me.
6
That Times article on our new arena-in-the-best-of-all-possible-worlds has some great detail. But I think the paper's best today goes to Ron Judd:
You have to hand it to Mayor McSonic and this Chris Hansen guy who, based on the keen insight into him we gathered during his half-day parachute trip into Seattle, we can assure you is very probably a demigod.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/ro…
It takes some chutzpah to pitch, to People Who Know Better, the mere concept of a "self-supporting" half-billion-dollar sports pleasure palace its primary tenants a set of currently nonexistent franchises of the two most financially crippled U.S. pro sports leagues.
But even we donned our old Lonnie Shelton jersey and began humming the tune to "We Won't Get Fooled Again" when the mayor and county exec said they're negotiating, this time around, tax-dollar-repayment guarantees.
And we take great comfort in knowing that each of those is every bit as ironclad and legally inviolate as the lease keeping the Oklahoma City Sonics tied to Seattle's KeyArena.[...]
Just One Question: If the arena deal is such a zero-risk slam dunk, why can't Hansen and his imaginary partners just borrow that $200 million public subsidy from any bank?
Answer: Because it isn't.
On the Other Hand: It sure is good to see the adults back in charge of sports-entertainment acquisition. If you can't trust a guy who lied about the waterfront tunnel to get elected and his new-best-friend shadowy hedge-fund manager, who can you trust?
7
Riya,
you missed Obama's stooges on the morning news shows testifying of Obama's True Blue Christian Theology and bitchslapping Santorum for questioning it.
you girls do realize Obama is a Pray EveryDay True Blue Christian, don't you.....
you missed Obama's stooges on the morning news shows testifying of Obama's True Blue Christian Theology and bitchslapping Santorum for questioning it.
you girls do realize Obama is a Pray EveryDay True Blue Christian, don't you.....
10
Barack Obama wants, or should I say wanted, high energy and gas prices as it goes along with the very liberal dispositions he has (had).
11
Today is the 70th anniversary of FDR's order to round up 120,000 Americans and ship them to concentration camps.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154
14
I really like Video Games. Friends of mine were posting it online a few months before Del Rey's SNL appearance, which was the first time I'd ever actually seen her, so I was digging the song for a while before I was exposed to her aesthetic. Her SNL performance was weak, but lots of artists have turned out shitty sounding performance on that stage, including Paul McCartney. It seems like people assume she's manfuctured because she's pretty.
16
Hmm. I guess manfuctured would be significantly different.
Maybe something involving conservative Arizona sheriffs?
Maybe something involving conservative Arizona sheriffs?
17
@10 Please direct us to a source where Obama was quoted as wanting high energy and gas prices. The fact that he was once a more liberal person, believed in equal rights for gays, civil rights were important to protect, American citizens shouldn't be assassinated w/o charge or trial, that sort of thing, seems to have utterly blinded you to the fact that he governs as President from a center-right position. He is the conserveative President you consveratives should want, at least when compared to all the Repubs currently running for the job, if only his skin color and/or the "D" in front of his name on the ballot didn't make that impossible.
18
Wow...I just watched some insane Linsanity!
Guy is real...caught and took down the champs...Mavs...almost with ease!
Watch out...Heat!
24
@17 There was nothing conservative about the way Obama handled the Keystone Pipeline. In that instance the President sided with liberals who want to replace our actual fossil fuel based economy with an imaginary clean energy economy.
25
5280 said
I'm afraid I can't remember the seventies (at least the first half or so). Those were the drug years.
Perhaps that explains the credibility gap.
26
24:
If you want to understand Keystone XL, follow the money.
By not building this pipeline, the oil will still be shipped...by rail and at a premium.
On freight trains owned by Obama supporter...Warren Buffet.
So it all plays back into the hands of the Ins.
If you want to understand Keystone XL, follow the money.
By not building this pipeline, the oil will still be shipped...by rail and at a premium.
On freight trains owned by Obama supporter...Warren Buffet.
So it all plays back into the hands of the Ins.
27
@24: it is conservative to make decisions after careful consideration of the environmental impact. not to rush into deals willy-nilly because industry wants it.
28
Lana Del Ray makes me miss Fiona Apple.
And it looks like the video makers studied at the Adam Curtis school of editing. I kept thinking this was one of his "Power of Nightmares" segments.
And it looks like the video makers studied at the Adam Curtis school of editing. I kept thinking this was one of his "Power of Nightmares" segments.
30
I like the song. I've danced a slow Cha-Cha jazz routine to it. Of course, I spend a good portion of my day dancing with class and practice so maybe others wouldn't think of it as something to dance to.
31
I think Lana Del Rey is fine. The songs are interestingly produced. I don't like the extreme doubletracking on parts of the vocals, but when she just sings, she's got a nice thing going. Good phrasing. She's apparently a terrible stage performer, but that has nothing to do with the records.
Can't stand that upper lip, though.
That Times article is a must-read for arena supporters. You're getting taken. Again.
Rail is a more ecologically sound way to transport things than any other method.
Can't stand that upper lip, though.
That Times article is a must-read for arena supporters. You're getting taken. Again.
Rail is a more ecologically sound way to transport things than any other method.
32
PS: complaining that your pop record is "manufactured" is like complaining that your car is manufactured.
33
@ 17
He is a center-left President and has always been a center left person, it was clear in his book and in the primaries (where he talked about being for targeted killings).
He is a center-left President and has always been a center left person, it was clear in his book and in the primaries (where he talked about being for targeted killings).
34
That's nice, John, but this isn't about me. The question is why you're such a fucking twerp. You're only making my case for me.
35
#34
Are you named after the IBM 5280?
Is this you back when you had a beard and were programming in RPG:
http://www.trshingleton.com/Images/oldco…
Are you named after the IBM 5280?
Is this you back when you had a beard and were programming in RPG:
http://www.trshingleton.com/Images/oldco…
36
@34, @35, if you guys would like some advice on effective internet forum takedowns, I am available for a fee. References in the archives.
37
@24, 26: Keystone XL has little or nothing to do with American gasoline prices. Essentially all of the tar-sands-derived petroleum products are destined for Asia anyway. The economics and profits work out better if the muck is piped south across the U.S. (which therefore bears the risk and cost of environmental impacts/disasters, duh) to refineries in Texas, where people don't give much of a fuck about air/water pollution even if it doesn't benefit them, thence on board megatankers through the newly widened Panama Canal to Asian ports.
That said, I'm fine with judicious additional offshore drilling in U.S. waters (even though such production will also not significantly lower U.S. gasoline/diesel prices), provided a) profits are not offshored and are taxed at sensible real rates (i.e., without unneeded subsidies), and b) offshore exploration complies with best-in-the-world current practices (e.g., European North Sea standards) meaning working, frequently tested, self-powered blowout preventers, etc. along with real government oversight and stiff, swift penalties for violations, unlike blowjobby DoI/Minerals Management Service "controls" which STILL haven't been meaningfully improved following the BP/Gulf of Mexico spill.
That said, I'm fine with judicious additional offshore drilling in U.S. waters (even though such production will also not significantly lower U.S. gasoline/diesel prices), provided a) profits are not offshored and are taxed at sensible real rates (i.e., without unneeded subsidies), and b) offshore exploration complies with best-in-the-world current practices (e.g., European North Sea standards) meaning working, frequently tested, self-powered blowout preventers, etc. along with real government oversight and stiff, swift penalties for violations, unlike blowjobby DoI/Minerals Management Service "controls" which STILL haven't been meaningfully improved following the BP/Gulf of Mexico spill.
38
@35: Damn, and I thought it took ME a long time to figure it out. Google "5280", you putz, and see where it leads you.
39
@32:
Del Ray way "virally marketed" to the "blogosphere" as an "authentic" "indie" "singer-songwriter."
The "backlash" has been "angrier" because "people" hate to admit they've been "had."
Del Ray way "virally marketed" to the "blogosphere" as an "authentic" "indie" "singer-songwriter."
The "backlash" has been "angrier" because "people" hate to admit they've been "had."
40
@24: The way the administration was all set to ok the pipeline right up until the environmentalists lost their shit seemed pretty conservative. This was by no means an easy victory for them. But agreed, listening at all to environmentalists hasn't been conservative since Nixon.
@33: I was not aware Obama said he was in favor of assassinating US citizens w/o charge or trial during the primaries. Could you please direct me to a source for this?
@33: I was not aware Obama said he was in favor of assassinating US citizens w/o charge or trial during the primaries. Could you please direct me to a source for this?
41
@37 I'm guessing many of the people who own/work at those Texas oil refineries are Americans who would benefit if that Canadian oil were refined in Houston instead of somewhere else. By saying no to the Keystone XL Pipeline Obama prioritized theoretical environmental concerns over real economic development.
43
@41: Because weighing short term gains against longterm risks and sometimes finding the gain doesn't justify the risk isn't something conservatives are capable of?
44
Outercow: because a calm and rational assessment of the facts is also something conservatives aren't capable of.
Ken Mehlman: you lose. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
Ken Mehlman: you lose. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
45
@43 Given the continued weakness of our economy, I don't think giving in to a few hysterical tree-huggers was a very good decision. That being said, I will probably still vote for Obama in November. Unlike some folks around here, I recognize that no politician is going to give me everything I want all of the time.
47
@41, the environmental concerns are hardly theoretical. Construction has real immediate and ongoing effects on habitat, wildlife migration corridors, and erosion, among other things. Additionally, pipeline leaks and blowouts are not a matter of if, but when. You want to snort at those things? Fine. You do it from a position of ignorance.
Re: employment, additional possible long-term refinery and shipping jobs in Texas probably number in the hundreds or low thousands at best. It makes no sense to ballyhoo such a drop in the bucket without taking the potential downside into account, or to ignore the much greater net benefits of infrastructure-repair and alternative-energy jobs.
Re: employment, additional possible long-term refinery and shipping jobs in Texas probably number in the hundreds or low thousands at best. It makes no sense to ballyhoo such a drop in the bucket without taking the potential downside into account, or to ignore the much greater net benefits of infrastructure-repair and alternative-energy jobs.
48
@47 What do the supposed "greater net benefits of infrastructure-repair and alternative-energy jobs" have to do with the Keystone XL Pipeline? My understanding was that a private corporation was asking permission to build a pipeline with private capital. It's not like the Keystone Pipeline would have used up scarce public money that could have been spent on other things.
49
This country is awash in crude (the hedge funds are building storage capacity at Cushing the way Amazon is setting up data centers), and we're refining so much gasoline that we're exporting it. Gas prices are more a reflection of world crude prices than any scarcity. Those crude prices are historically high, and spike higher every time there's a threat to attack Iran and/or Iran threatens to close the Straits.
50
@14 For future reference the majority of slog commenters do not consider Paul McCartney cool and/or good.
51
@45 Over 1,000 people who were willing to get arrested over protesting Keystone XL is hardly "a few hysterical tree-huggers," Ken. Also, since 98% of climate scientists believe global warming to be real, human-caused, and requires drastic efforts to combat it soon if we want to avoid the worst effects, they're reason for opposing Keystone isn't hysterical, it's fraking logical, homes.
52
@48, we're really talking about political capital. Lots of people are riled up across the country and shouting at their representatives in government, thinking that construction of Keystone XL would drop gas prices back to $2.50 a gallon or less. It would not do anything of the sort, and the politicians know it, but they're perfectly happy to play on their constituents' fears and give them false hope, all while taking no action on the many things that could actually move us toward energy independence. If the recovery stalls over energy costs, Keystone could very well get rammed through for no good reason.
After investing a couple of thousand dollars in the place I live, my monthly winter heating bill (all electric) dropped from about $250 to $75; even more this year because it's an exceptionally mild winter. Summer cooling's cheaper too. That's a payback of less than three years, and it's all gravy after that. If I used propane or kerosene, the other common options in my rural area, the percentage drop would have been the same.
After investing a couple of thousand dollars in the place I live, my monthly winter heating bill (all electric) dropped from about $250 to $75; even more this year because it's an exceptionally mild winter. Summer cooling's cheaper too. That's a payback of less than three years, and it's all gravy after that. If I used propane or kerosene, the other common options in my rural area, the percentage drop would have been the same.
54
@52 I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with people saving money on their utility bills by better insulaiting their homes. However, that doesn't change the fact that the world economy needs oil and lots of it. If American firms and American workers profit by giving the Chinese what they want I think that's a good thing. Perhaps there are some legitimate environmental concerns regarding the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. However, many of the groups that oppose it aren't just concerned about the Ogallala Aquifer, they talk about upholding the US commitment to a clean energy economy. They're not just against this particular pipeline, they're against pipelines in general. I think that's crazy talk.
57
@55, no, in any definition of it. The Decembrists are a manufactured product (not actually from 1890s). Iggy Pop was a manufactured product (hint: name's not "Iggy"). Bob Dylan was a manufactured product (when he first arrived in NYC he had a fake country accent and told everyone he was from New Mexico). Frank Sinatra was a manufactured product (publicists arranged the first hysterical broads in the street). Being a manufactured product is in fact a key element of pop art.
58
@54 No pipelines carrying uber-dirty, tarsands oil that takes tremendous amounts of energy to extract in the first place, quite unlike traditional oilfields, at least. Take a few minutes and read up on the tar sands, Ken, it won't hurt.
59
@53:
There may be an IBM regional office in Boulder, but the world HQ is now, and always has been in New York State.
But hey, thanks for playing! We'll be sending you a home version of the game...
There may be an IBM regional office in Boulder, but the world HQ is now, and always has been in New York State.
But hey, thanks for playing! We'll be sending you a home version of the game...
61
She's a perfect argument for why every elective plastic surgery procedure should be used to pay for 1,000 people's reconstructive plastic surgery procedures.
The worst part is she was perfectly cute and normal looking before the butchers calling themselves doctors hacked away at her face.
The worst part is she was perfectly cute and normal looking before the butchers calling themselves doctors hacked away at her face.
62
@57
Here we come,
Walkin' down the street.
We get the funniest looks from,
Everyone we meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzA_qmJkm…
Here we come,
Walkin' down the street.
We get the funniest looks from,
Everyone we meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzA_qmJkm…
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
The Sunday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (62) RSS