Ashcan Rantings

Andrew Sullivan on The Colbert Report

2012-01-25T13:22:00.001-05:00

Jake Barnett, Thirteen-Year-Old College Kid

2012-01-17T12:41:00.001-05:00

Here's an interesting story and interview by Morley Safer of 60 Minutes regarding Jake Barnet, a thirteen-year-old math and science prodigy. Seems like a good kid.

And here's the 60 Minutes Overtime video:

Andrew Sullivan Discusses President Obama

2012-01-17T08:10:00.014-05:00

In this week's issue of Newsweek, Andrew Sullivan makes his argument for President Obama's reelection. Despite the off-putting cover headline (that Sullivan didn't write), his arguments are measured and fair. Sullivan's story, How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics, debunks criticisms of Obama that come from the right and the left.

Andrew Sullivan opens by stating that most of President Obama's critics aren't making arguments based in reality.

It’s not that I don’t understand the critiques of Barack Obama from the enraged right and the demoralized left. It’s that I don’t even recognize their description of Obama’s first term in any way. The attacks from both the right and the left on the man and his policies aren’t out of bounds. They’re simply—empirically—wrong.

Sullivan goes on to discredit criticisms made by the right regarding everything from taxes to foreign policy.

Here is my favorite bit on taxes:

You’d think, listening to the Republican debates, that Obama has raised taxes. Again, this is not true. Not only did he agree not to sunset the Bush tax cuts for his entire first term, he has aggressively lowered taxes on most Americans. A third of the stimulus was tax cuts, affecting 95 percent of taxpayers; he has cut the payroll tax, and recently had to fight to keep it cut against Republican opposition. His spending record is also far better than his predecessor’s. Under Bush, new policies on taxes and spending cost the taxpayer a total of $5.07 trillion. Under Obama’s budgets both past and projected, he will have added $1.4 trillion in two terms. Under Bush and the GOP, nondefense discretionary spending grew by twice as much as under Obama. Again: imagine Bush had been a Democrat and Obama a Republican. You could easily make the case that Obama has been far more fiscally conservative than his predecessor—except, of course, that Obama has had to govern under the worst recession since the 1930s, and Bush, after the 2001 downturn, governed in a period of moderate growth. It takes work to increase the debt in times of growth, as Bush did. It takes much more work to constrain the debt in the deep recession Bush bequeathed Obama.

And on health care reform:

The great conservative bugaboo, Obamacare, is also far more moderate than its critics have claimed. The Congressional Budget Office has projected it will reduce the deficit, not increase it dramatically, as Bush’s unfunded Medicare Prescription Drug benefit did. It is based on the individual mandate, an idea pioneered by the archconservative Heritage Foundation, Newt Gingrich, and, of course, Mitt Romney, in the past.

And on the war on terror:

On foreign policy, the right-wing critiques have been the most unhinged. Romney accuses the president of apologizing for America, and others all but accuse him of treason and appeasement. Instead, Obama reversed Bush’s policy of ignoring Osama bin Laden, immediately setting a course that eventually led to his capture and death. And when the moment for decision came, the president overruled both his secretary of state and vice president in ordering the riskiest—but most ambitious—plan on the table. He even personally ordered the extra helicopters that saved the mission. It was a triumph, not only in killing America’s primary global enemy, but in getting a massive trove of intelligence to undermine al Qaeda even further. If George Bush had taken out bin Laden, wiped out al Qaeda’s leadership, and gathered a treasure trove of real intelligence by a daring raid, he’d be on Mount Rushmore by now. But where Bush talked tough and acted counterproductively, Obama has simply, quietly, relentlessly decimated our real enemies, while winning the broader propaganda war. Since he took office, al Qaeda’s popularity in the Muslim world has plummeted.

Sullivan then turns his sights to the left and lists the accomplishments of President Obama, noting that they have been made during The Great Recession and at a time when the Republican party won't agree to anything.

They [the disappointed left] miss, it seems to me, two vital things. The first is the simple scale of what has been accomplished on issues liberals say they care about. A depression was averted. The bail-out of the auto industry was—amazingly—successful. Even the bank bailouts have been repaid to a great extent by a recovering banking sector. The Iraq War—the issue that made Obama the nominee—has been ended on time and, vitally, with no troops left behind. Defense is being cut steadily, even as Obama has moved his own party away from a Pelosi-style reflexive defense of all federal entitlements. Under Obama, support for marriage equality and marijuana legalization has crested to record levels. Under Obama, a crucial state, New York, made marriage equality for gays an irreversible fact of American life. Gays now openly serve in the military, and the Defense of Marriage Act is dying in the courts, undefended by the Obama Justice Department. Vast government money has been poured into noncarbon energy investments, via the stimulus. Fuel-emission standards have been drastically increased. Torture was ended. Two moderately liberal women replaced men on the Supreme Court. Oh, yes, and the liberal holy grail that eluded Johnson and Carter and Clinton, nearly universal health care, has been set into law. Politifact recently noted that of 508 specific promises, a third had been fulfilled and only two have not had some action taken on them. To have done all this while simultaneously battling an economic hurricane makes Obama about as honest a follow-through artist as anyone can expect from a politician.

Sullivan closes with a flourish:

If I sound biased, that’s because I am. Biased toward the actual record, not the spin; biased toward a president who has conducted himself with grace and calm under incredible pressure, who has had to manage crises not seen since the Second World War and the Depression, and who as yet has not had a single significant scandal to his name. “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle,” George Orwell once wrote. What I see in front of my nose is a president whose character, record, and promise remain as grotesquely underappreciated now as they were absurdly hyped in 2008. And I feel confident that sooner rather than later, the American people will come to see his first term from the same calm, sane perspective. And decide to finish what they started.

I hope the Obama administration starts making some of Andrew Sullivan's arguments, and I also hope voters start looking at facts and stop missing "the screen for the pixels."

Video:
Chris Matthews | Andrew Sullivan Discusses his Cover Story

Reaction:
John Scalzi | Andrew Sullivan Posits a Hypothesis To Make Everyone Of Every Political Stripe Hate Him
Ezra Klein | Wonkbook: The case for Obama, and the continent that stands in his way

Eva Zeisel (1906-2012)

2012-01-07T07:20:00.000-05:00

Rest in peace, Eva.

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

xkcd #993 & Don DeLillo's White Noise

2011-12-27T08:30:00.006-05:00

I'm not sure if the following corollary is coincidence or homage, but xkcd #993 appears to reference a scene from White Noise by Don DeLillo.

Here's the comic:

And here's the scene from White Noise:

We ran into Murray Jay Siskind at the supermarket. His basket held generic food and drink, nonbrand items in plain white packages with simple labeling. There was a white can labeled CANNED PEACHES. There was a white package of bacon without a plastic window for viewing a representative slice. A jar of roasted nuts had a white wrapper bearing the words IRREGULAR PEANUTS. Murray kept nodding to Babette as I introduced them.

"This is the new austerity," he said. "Flavorless packaging. It appeals to me. I feel I'm not only saving money but contributing to some kind of spiritual consensus. Its like World War III. Everything is white. They'll take our bright colors away and use them in the war effort."

If it's an homage, I like the subtlety. If it's a coincidence, I like the serendipity.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:08:00.002-05:00

First Kiss

2011-12-24T06:14:00.007-05:00

This story and photograph have flown around the Internet, but it's such a heartwarming story and beautiful photograph, I had no choice but to post it.

Brian J. Clark/The Virginian-Pilot/AP

John Scalzi on Newt Gingrich

2011-12-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

With the Iowa caucuses looming and 2012 around the corner, I thought it time to start posting about politics again, and I'll kick it off with a nod to John Scalzi, who wrote a great piece regarding the rise and fall of Newt.

I love this part:

Gingrich, bless his heart, can only give a stab at being a statesman in brief, isolated bursts. Then his Gingrichosity shines through, he decouples prudence from his pie hole, and he starts doing the 68-year-old poltiwonk version of a college freshman midnight bull session, only in public and in front of cameras, and without someone there to say “whoa, duuuude, you’re getting pretty out there” before passing over the bong to mellow him out. He just can’t shut up.

And this part too:

When Gingrich prepares to hork an idea out of his mouth, he doesn’t roll it around first to see if it tastes bad. He just spits it out, and there it is, on the carpet, Gingrich looking at you in that way he has, the way that says yet another brilliant thought from the mind of Newt. You’re welcome. And then the idea rears up, hisses at you, and tries to mate, horribly, with your shoe.

Side Note: I've almost bought Old Man's War multiple times, and this post prompted me to finally buy it. I started reading it yesterday...

Dumpster Diving

2011-12-24T05:30:00.000-05:00

I don't endorse eating out of garbage cans, but this episode from The Perennial Plate makes the idea tempting. The French toast looks delicious, and I don't even like French toast. The episode also highlights how much food is wasted in the United States, which is quite a shame.

Charleston Record Expo #2

2011-09-21T05:31:00.001-04:00

The Decemberists & David Foster Wallace

2011-08-22T17:50:00.006-04:00

The Banning of Slaughterhouse-Five

2011-08-07T14:13:00.028-04:00

After hearing about the Republic, Missouri school board decision to ban Slaughterhouse-Five from its high school classes and library, I was happy to hear that the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library is giving away copies of Vonnegut's World War II masterpiece to any student from Rebublic who requests one. Hi ho.

I was then shocked to learn that the ban's catalyst, Wesley Scroggins, doesn't even have children in the high school. His kids are home-schooled! It's quite backwards that a book by Kurt Vonnegut, who fought in WWII to protect America's freedoms, is now being banned in such an un-American way.

Lucus Kavner of The Huffington Post wrote a nice article regarding the ban, and it includes a fitting Kurt Vonnegut quote regarding censorship.

All these people talk so eloquently about getting back to good old-fashioned values… and I say let’s get back to the good old-fashioned First Amendment of the good old-fashioned Constitution of the United States — and to hell with the censors! Give me knowledge or give me death!"

I couldn't agree more, so yesterday [after donating to the KVML cause], I searched for knowledge by rereading one of my copies of Slaughterhouse-Five and, once again, I was blown away by Vonnegut's wit. I especially enjoy this passage regarding Billy Pilgrim watching a movie about WWII in reverse while he was slightly unstuck in time:

American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses, took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation.

The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers, and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans, though, and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France, though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.

When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again.

The American fliers turned in their uniforms, became high school kids. And Hitler turned into a baby, Billy Pilgrim supposed. That wasn't in the movie. Billy was extrapolating. Everybody turned into a baby, and all humanity, without exception, conspired biologically to produce two perfect people named Adam and Eve, he supposed.

I'm hoping the Rebublic school board will do the right thing, reverse its decision and tell Wesley Scroggins to mind his own business. Keeping kids away from Kurt Vonnegut is the opposite of education.

The Xiao–Yen House by Craig Steely

2011-08-06T06:43:00.006-04:00

I want the Xiao-Yen House's library, and the roof, for whatever reason, reminds me of Star Trek.

Via Co.Design.

Thelonious Monk - Blue Monk (1966)

2011-08-04T18:44:00.001-04:00

I've been on a Thelonious Sphere Monk kick lately, so here's Blue Monk from 1966.

Seth Avett Covers Elliot Smith's Angeles

2011-07-29T06:59:00.000-04:00

Via TwentyFourBit.

Tuesday at the Record Store

2011-07-26T19:29:00.001-04:00

I went to Monster Music today and picked up four albums, new and used, on vinyl. While I enjoy the variety and convenience of music services like Spotify, it's hard to beat browsing through the used bins of your local independent record store.

Apolo 11 House by Parra + Edwards Architects

2011-07-25T15:37:00.000-04:00

Even though the Apolo 11 House resides in Chile, it reminds me of homes in Chapel Hill, tucked away in the hilly woods surrounding the University of North Carolina. Go Heels!

Via Contemporist.

Maps and Legends

2011-07-23T17:33:00.012-04:00

Fathom Information Design designed a map of the United States "comprised of nothing but the country's roads." Prints are available for $30, and half of the proceeds are donated to Kiva.

Paul Noth Cartoon

2011-07-06T05:50:00.002-04:00

A nice New Yorker Cartoon by Paul Noth.

Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine

2011-07-05T17:08:00.004-04:00

My brother-in-law, Daniel, describes Melvin the Machine as full of weird, and I tend to agree (but I also think it's brilliant in a useless kind of way).

Melvin the Magical Mixed Media Machine (or just Melvin the Machine) is best described as a Rube Goldberg machine with a twist. Besides doing what Rube Goldbergs do best - performing a simple task as inefficiently as possible, often in the form of a chain reaction - Melvin has an identity. Actually, the only purpose of this machine is promoting its own identity.

Enjoy the show...

Via Co.Design.

It's Called Learning

2011-07-01T07:11:00.001-04:00

A nice graph from Indexed.

Green Tunnel: Hiking the Appalachian Trail

2011-06-25T06:55:00.004-04:00

Kevin Gallagher through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in six months and made a stop motion film of his journey.

Each day of the six month trek, Kevin took photographs of a single quintessential section of the trail. Twenty four successive steps down the trail were captured each day. At the end of the journey he had over 4,000 slides which were then strung together to offer a condensed view of what an accelerated hike along the Appalachian mountain range would look like.

The finished film, Green Tunnel, is beautiful and inspiring.

New Exorcist Film

2011-06-18T06:58:00.001-04:00

Conan at Dartmouth

2011-06-16T06:27:00.004-04:00

Conan's commencement speech at Dartmouth is well worth twenty-four minutes of your time. One of my favorite parts:

Way back in the 1940s there was a very, very funny man named Jack Benny. He was a giant star, easily one of the greatest comedians of his generation. And a much younger man named Johnny Carson wanted very much to be Jack Benny. In some ways he was, but in many ways he wasn't. He emulated Jack Benny, but his own quirks and mannerisms, along with a changing medium, pulled him in a different direction. And yet his failure to completely become his hero made him the funniest person of his generation. David Letterman wanted to be Johnny Carson, and was not, and as a result my generation of comedians wanted to be David Letterman. And none of us are. My peers and I have all missed that mark in a thousand different ways. But the point is this : It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. It's not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound re-invention.

...and he tells some off-color jokes too.

Midnight in Paris

2011-06-11T06:37:00.003-04:00

I saw Woody Allen's new movie, Midnight in Paris, at the Terrace Theater last night -- good flick.