News Flash: Everything On TV Is Lies

The NYT has the story. I am shocked, I tell you shocked, to learn that for the past six years, the Bush Administration has been paying ex-military talking heads to go on TV and lie to Americans.

They’ve been so forthright and honest about everything else, this just seems so… out of character.

Life Got Busy

Now finals are just around the corner. Lots of things happening in the Presidential races and in various ongoing investigations of Bush Administration malfeasance. I haven’t been keeping up because I’ve been trying to stay ahead of the curve in my classes, and lots of stuff gets squeezed into the last two or three weeks of school.

I’ll do better this week.

Alternate Title: 65% of Internet Users Have Never Searched For Their Own Name

Seriously.  There is essentially no other way to interpret this data from Pew Research, which emphasizes the number of people who haven’t yet realized that their photos are somewhere on the web.  Much more revealing than the photo statistic is the one about “Home Address.”  If you have ever had a phone line or a utility bill in your name, anywhere in the US, I would bet that your home address is freely available online unless you’ve taken affirmative measures to remove it.

You can check by visiting pipl.com.  Or you can just use Google.  Pipl reveals every address that I’ve ever lived at since 1997, all seven addresses, all the way back to Pasadena, CA.  It’s more than a little unsettling.

I can’t help thinking that people would be a bit more concerned about the privacy implications of living in a pervasive surveillance state if they realized how much of their personal information is already published online for the whole world to see.  And although Pew downplays this aspect of their “daily number,”  the real take-away here is that the majority of people are simply unaware of how little privacy they actually have.

Just A Flesh Wound

The Politico comes right out and says it: Hillary has no real chance of winning the nomination.

But let’s assume a best-case scenario for Clinton, one where she wins every remaining contest with 60 percent of the vote (an unlikely outcome since she has hit that level in only three states so far — her home state of New York, Rhode Island and Arkansas).

Even then, she would still be behind Obama in delegates.

But who cares what those stupid voters think?  Certainly not Hillary or her floundering campaign.  And, fittingly, that’s the  best explanation for why she’s not winning.

In other news, Obama is scheduled to speak in Eugene tonight, at the UO basketball arena.  Since the Ducks are playing their first NCAA tournament game today, we won’t know whether the choice of venue is inspired or an unfortunate gaffe until just an hour or two before the speech is scheduled to begin.

Wyoming Is Latest State To Enact Castle Doctrine

From the Casper Star-Tribune:

CHEYENNE — Declaring that Wyoming residents have a right to defend their homes, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed a bill Thursday that spells out in statute that citizens may use deadly force on intruders. . . .
Wyoming’s version of the bill provides immunity from civil lawsuits to anyone who uses force in defense of his or her “person, property or abode or to prevent injury to another.”

Greenberg Traurig Oddly Silent

You might think that the globally famous and highly influential law firm of Greenberg Traurig would use its website to communicate important news and events about the firm to its clients.  And you would probably be right 95% of the time.  However, if you look at their “news & events” page today, you will see no mention at all that the firm is now the target of a federal criminal indictment for money laundering, bribery, and fraud as a result of Jack Abramoff’s tenure there (before he went to prison for bribing disgraced  and indicted Republican Congressman Tom DeLay).

I guess they were too focused on their present and future to notice that their sordid past was finally catching up.

The Dow In Euros

They days of the strong dollar are over, and we’re just beginning to feel the fallout.  Time to party like it’s 2002.  Folks, the word you are looking for is “inflation.”