Sounds From The Basement

What Do You Get The Dirty Old Man Who Has Everything?

Well, you can finally throw out that trunk in your grandfather's garage. Hugh Heffner's legacy has taken a cue from National Geographic -- in an arguably non-horrifying way -- and partnered with publisher Bondi Digital to release a (presumably Seagate-branded) 250GB external hard drive packed with every issue of Playboy released since 1953. Its $300 asking price is roughly four times what you'd pay for a fresh G-rated 250GB drive today, but compared to a 57-year subscription, the digital vault is certainly a bargain. In contrast to their trail blazin' efforts with the iBod though, thanks to the prominent placement of the brand's iconic bow tie-wearing bunny and name, there's no chance of using this device for practical tasks such as backing up TPS reports at the office. Like the decision to phase out DVDs in favor of VOD however, the move does prove the magazine isn't afraid of staying abreast of today's content consumption trends. Next stop, Nook Color?

 

From Engadget

How To Keep The Subway Seat Next To You Empty

Interesting Election Trends

 

 

Speaking of using data to tell stories, Duke policy PhD candidate David Sparks is out with an isarithmic mapping of  which Americans voted for which party's presidential candidates, since 1920. It's gorgeous stuff; isarithmic maps render data in an eye-pleasing way most commonly associated with geography, like climate patterns and elevations. And it's informative in its own way -- zoom ahead to about half a minute in to see just how thoroughly LBJ trounced Barry Goldwater. But it's also something that would arguably benefit enormously from some smart narration.

From techpresident.com

Driving and Oxycontin don’t mix

From Motor Trend Magazine:

Rush to Judgment

You said, “Folks, of all the cars, no offense, General Motors, please, but of all the cars in the world, the Chevrolet Volt is the Car of the Year? Motor Trend magazine, that’s the end of them. How in the world do they have any credibility? Not one has been sold. The Volt is the Car of the Year.”

So, Mr. Limbaugh; you didn’t enjoy your drive of our 2011 Car of the Year, the Chevrolet Volt? Assuming you’ve been anywhere near the biggest automotive technological breakthrough since … I don’t know, maybe the self-starter, could you even find your way to the front seat? Or are you happy attacking a car that you’ve never even seen in person?

Last time you ranted about the Volt, you got confused about the “range,” and said on the air that the car could be driven no more than 40 miles at a time, period. At least you stayed away from that issue this time, but you continue to attack it as the car only a tree hugging, Obama-supporting Government Motors customer would want. As radio loudmouths like you would note, none of those potential customers were to be found after November 2.

Back to us for a moment, our credibility, Mr. Limbaugh, comes from actually driving and testing the car, and understanding its advanced technology. It comes from driving and testing virtually every new car sold, and from doing this once a year with all the all-new or significantly improved models all at the same time. We test, make judgments and write about things we understand.

Chevrolet has not sold one Volt because it’s not on sale yet. It will not sell 10,000 this first model year (although GE plans to buy truckloads for its fleet), because it takes time to ramp up production. See, Rush, because we’re the World’s Automotive Authority, we get access to many cars before they go on sale.

But, harrumph. In its attempt to force cars that don’t use much gas on us — how un-American/un-ExxonMobil/un-Halliburton is that? —  the Obama administration is offering a $7,500 tax credit on the Chevy Volt, grabbing tax breaks and credits right out of the deserving, job-creating pockets of America’s richest individuals. How dare he?

This is another of your distortions, Rush, repeated by the otherwise more level-headed George Will in The Washington Post last Sunday. The $7,500 Obama tax credit is an expansion of President Bush’s hybrid credits from the last decade. The Obama tax credit extends to the new Nissan Leaf, too, but if you or Will slammed that car, I’ve not heard or read it. I’d be surprised if you did, though, as Nissan is building the Leaf in a non-union factory in a right-to-work state represented by two Republican senators. A factory located there because Tennessee offered Nissan big tax credits. Maybe you’re worried that if the $7,500 tax credit works, too many people will buy the Volt, and that could reduce the need for oil drilling tax credits?

GM designed the Chevy Volt after its failed experiment with the EV1, which was its attempt to respond to a California mandate. States rights, you know. While Toyota was developing, and eventually selling the hybrid Prius in ever-greater numbers, GM decided to move beyond the Prius-model with a new kind of technology that’s not quite plug-in hybrid, not quite pure electric.

It unveiled the Chevy Volt concept at the 2007 Detroit auto show. That means GM began working on it before the November 2006 elections, when the Republican Party had majorities in the House and Senate, before President Bush had signed a single veto. Bob Lutz, who famously decreed, “Global Warming is a crock of shit,” introduced the car two years before Bush gave GM its first bailout from TARP pocket change. This was two-and-a-half years before Obama’s Automotive Task Force forced GM into bankruptcy.

Sure, Toyota designed and built the Prius on its own, and no doubt lost billions of yen probably well into the second generation. Do you think Toyota did this without any Japanese government help?

Thanks to the recently unbridled ability of American and foreign big business to contribute unhindered to their favorite politicians – both Democratic and Republican — you don’t need to worry about rampant left-wing policy coming out of Washington any time soon.

You’ve made two king’s ransoms by convincing legions of dittoheads to tune into you every day. I wonder, do you ever ride in anything that’s not German or Anglo-Saxon? Do you have any idea how powerful IG Metal is, and of the size of Germany’s social safety net?

My esteemed colleague, Jonny Lieberman, got a copy of Will’s hit piece on the Volt, and responded thusly: “A bit of flag waving is in order – but instead, Will chooses to be a partisan clown and gets everything wrong.” You and Will don’t even worry about being un-American, anymore.

All the shouting from you or from electric car purists on the left can’t distort the fact that the Chevy Volt is, indeed, a technological breakthrough. And it’s more. It’s a technological breakthrough that many American families can use for gas-free daily commutes and well-planned vacation drives. It’s expensive for a Chevy, but many of those families will find the gasoline saved worth it. If you can stop shilling for your favorite political party long enough to go for a drive, you might really enjoy the Chevy Volt. I’m sure GM would be happy to lend you one for the weekend. Just remember: driving and Oxycontin don’t mix.

Read more: http://blogs.motortrend.com/rush-judgment-5957.html#ixzz16DJXEZSL

 

Bipartisanship?

Back in simpler times, commentators used to talk about bipartisanship, especially in foreign affairs.  In his column this morning Paul Krugman notes:

These days, national security experts are tearing their hair out over the decision of Senate Republicans to block a desperately needed new strategic arms treaty. And everyone knows that these Republicans oppose the treaty, not because of legitimate objections, but simply because it’s an Obama administration initiative; if sabotaging the president endangers the nation, so be it.

This is just a part of the scorched earth policy that the Republican party seems committed to.  They are focused on political gain without concern for the damage that they will do to the country.  In the senate you have Senator McConnell, the Republican party leader declaring his intentions. 

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” he said in the interview.full article

The first clear test will be if the Senate ratifies the START treaty.  The good news is that after Senator Kyl, the Senate Republican's point man on the issue indicated that he was opposed to the Senate voting to ratify the treaty, Senator Lugar (R- Ind) stepped up to call out this damaging position and telling his fellow republicans to get real and ratify the treaty.

 

 

 

What Do You Get When You Cross A Cat With Spiderman?

Gas Station on L Street in Washington DC 1928

http://www.shorpy.com/node/9382

The Eternal Questions

The Eternal Questions | Talking Points Memo

In a race like Murkowski v. Miller, how does Fox News decide who to be biased for?

It's Always Nice To See The Congress Favor The Banks Rather Than The General Public

House Will Vote To Override Obama’s Veto Of Bill Making It Harder For Homeowners To Challenge Banks

In October, the House and Senate quietly passed a bill — the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010 — that would have forced states to accept notarized documents from any state. This came at the same time that the robo-signing scandal was finally coming into focus, and one of the problems that the banks were having with their documentation was a slew of false and possibly fraudulent notarizations.

At the time, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said that the bill “would weaken protection of homeowners by requiring many states to accept lower standards for notarizations.” President Obama, warning of the “unintended consequences of this bill on consumer protections, especially in light of the recent developments with mortgage processors,” vetoed the legislation.

Congress is not a body that actually stands up to the banking industry with any consistency, so the House today will be voting to override Obama’s veto. But nothing has changed the fact that the bill would make it more difficult for homeowners to challenge foreclosures (as any notarization, done under any standard, would have to be accepted). 

Read The Full Article

Just Ordinary Folks

Half in Congress are Millionaires

A new study finds that of 535 members of Congress, nearly half of them -- 261 -- are millionaires. And of these congressional millionaires, 55 have an average calculated wealth in 2009 of $10 million or more, with eight in the $100 million-plus range.

The median wealth of a U.S. House member was $765,010 last year and the median wealth of a U.S. Senator was $2.38 million.

 

from The Political Wire