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Requests Thread
07 Jul 2008 02:55 pm
Comments (47)
If we engaged in massive desalination and pumping(powered by a combo of solar and nuclear) could we drain enough water out of the rising oceans and into low lying depressions throughout the desert world. Refill Lake Chad, the Aral Sea and recharge the aquifers stuff like that. Then perhaps the impact of rising sea levels could be muted and the lack of water for so many mitigated.
How 'bout more on patriotism? For example, many people say, point blank, they are "Proud to be an American." I always wonder -- what did they do to deserve to be proud? (Unless than immigrated here.) Being born here is nothing to be proud of, any more than being male or female, black or white. I am lucky to be an American. I can be proud *of* America for being X or doing Y. But I find pride in simply being American or blind pride in America to be confusing, at best.
I'm curious as to why the potential for a floor fight at the Republican Convention is automatically assumed to be a negative for McCain. It seems to me that a struggle over a platform that mentions Bush on almost every page could be orchestrated to McCain's advantage. After all, if the prevailing story-line after the convention is that McCain fought to separate himself from Bush, it seems like this would be to his liking. No?
Matt:
You are a leader in alerting humankind to the looming robot menace. My friends have recently purchased a Roomba. Have they let the enemy into their house?
In no particular order; comics, foreign policy, ttractive female interns.
How about you?
Comment on the possibility of Omar: The Motion Picture.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6575699.html
"Simon is developing multiple projects for HBO, including a movie about the addict who robbed drug dealers who was the inspiration for Omar Little in The Wire and a drama about the musical and sociopolitical dynamics of New Orleans. He received notes on the latter's pilot script, he said, and turned in a revised version recently. If he gets the green light, Simon hopes to start shooting in New Orleans this fall."
Matt-
I would like to see you do a post on your thoughts about services like MegaBus. (http://www.megabus.com/us/) How viable of a model do you think this is for the future of intercity travel? Obviously, they offer lower quality services than rail could be, but it is also far cheaper than Amtrak. Additionally, Amtrak is so bad in the midwest that it certainly isn't worth paying an extra $50 or more just for the opportunity to buy a stale sandwich in the dining car, right?
Omar the musical would be even better, given Michael Williams's turn as the cuckold cop who is gonna shoot that fuckin' midget in trapped in the closet.
Oh, requests? something actually researched and thought through. That cock-fighting post showed how piss poor your thought process is when you don't have three other blogs to read about and crib from first.
Why so little about Cheney's hopes for starting a war in Iran before leaving office? When Hersh's article on the topic became available last week, I assumed the blogosphere would have a lot to say about it, but there seems to have been very little reaction. I realize nothing in there is too radically different from what we already knew, and that you and others have certainly mentioned this worry before. But the more I think and read about it, the more it seems that this is far and away the most pressing question for the rest of Bush's term. These lunatics might be able to do more damage to our country in the next few months than they've done with any single act thus far. That is pretty terrifying. Shouldn't more be being said about this?
Gay sex.
There's been a lot of talk about the unbalanced media environment in this election, and how it benefits McCain. What should Democrats actually do to counteract that advantage? (aside from opting out of the public financing system and running a buttload of paid media.)
Comment moderation.
I'd go with a more general discussion of Spoonie G's point, and that is the need for more desalination throughout the world. Many states are overdrawing fresh water resources because they don't want to take on the expense. (See Georgia.) Now that the Rio Grande is pretty much dry in some of the upper reaches, El Paso is actually going to do de-sal of their ground water, so it's obviously not a technology just for coastal areas.
On another note, you could discuss why the Atlantic's servers suck so bad. In addition to the ongoing comment problems, I notice that if I pull up multiple posts of yours in different tabs, it often pegs one of my CPUs. What in heaven's name are your web pages doing that eat that much CPU? Maybe the Atlantic should ban some of those nifty active ads and require something a bit more static.
Your response to the ideas in today's Econtalk (econtalk.org), which discusses mass transit in Chile.
The House resolution widely interpreted to be a call for a Naval blockade of Iran http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=9377&context=va
And it's core sponsors' petulant denials thereof
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0608/Ackerman_Pence_deny_calling_for_Iran_blockade.html
I'd also like some perspective on Evan Bayh's introduction of the senate resolution, as it remains just about the only substantive point about him I know (excluding that he looks so nice and vice presidential in that suit of his)
Please why flag lapel pins, the uber symbols of patriotism, are made in communist China?
Why is Cuba so evil while China is so wonderful? Is it because of communism?
Many people who claim to be in favor of free trade also talk about energy independece. But this is an extreme form of economic isolationism and isn't really practical. What should we do about energy policy as it relates to national security?
The House resolution widely interpreted to be a call for a Naval blockade of Iran http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=9377&context=va
And it's core sponsors' petulant denials thereof
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0608/Ackerman_Pence_deny_calling_for_Iran_blockade.html
I'd also like some perspective on Evan Bayh's introduction of the senate resolution, as it remains just about the only substantive point about him I know (excluding that he looks so nice and vice presidential in that suit of his)
Would be interested in your take on whether the netroots are justified in being as riled up as they are on the new FISA bill and Obama's seeming 'compromise' on this topic in their eyes - go to Kos for a taste.
While I understand there are dozens of real policy difference to disagree with President Bush, I'm not sure FISA quite makes my top 10% list or even top 25%, or put another way I agree with Andrew Sullivan's view this is a venial not cardinal sin. So would be curious if you share the outrage and if not why you think so many people are upset on this topic.
There was quite an interesting item in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about Army and National Guard recruiting.
Considering the dire need for more recruits, the struggling economy, rising college tuition, a lack of a draft, an unpopular war, etc., it'd be really interesting to see how the Army and NG and going about getting folks to serve.
What's the demographic info surrounding places with high recruitment -- are they financially stressed? "Blue" or "red" areas? Black or white or brown?
Again, given the importance of rebuilding our military, there's probably some good info in there for someone with the time to go through it and draw some conclusions.
Otherwise, some snarky post that sends TLB into a near-stroke-inducing tizzy is always entertaining.
I'm interested in who's worse:
Tila Tequila or Hannah Montana?
and why one should never trust a girl whose name rhymes.
Thoughts about California Proposition 1, which focuses on a high speed rail line in the state?
There are a lot of large cities we can point to, both domestically and internationally, that seem to get transit right. But, if you live in a small (100k-300k) city it's harder to find good transit policy (especially when you eliminate boutique-y, rich getaways like Aspen). Can you point us to any small cities that are really pushing the envelope in a positive way?
There is a fairly large (3 1/2 billion 15 mile) rail project proposed for Honolulu. There is some opposition to it, size difficult to ascertain, but they are trying to get ballot initiative on whether or not to go forward on this project. The pro-rail mayor and other pro-rail forces (including the HI congressional delegation) are against such a ballot initiative.
What is more important? Direct democracy (which I believe you mostly want more of) or 'elite' driven infrastructure projects (even if it is stipulated that they are long term benefit to a majority of the people.)?
As another data point, the mayor was elected in a very close election 3 and a half years ago (iirc 51-49 or less) but currently has no substantial opposition for reelection.
"Many people who claim to be in favor of free trade also talk about energy independece. But this is an extreme form of economic isolationism and isn't really practical. What should we do about energy policy as it relates to national security?
Posted by Craig McGillivary | July 7, 2008 3:45 PM"
how about a post on why somebody keeps posting comments using a misspelled version of my name? OR, if this person is really Craig McGillivary, why do they misspell their name.
How about a post discussing Harry Potter and book snobs.
Seems like an innocuous enough topic...
Craig McGillivary?
But Craig McGillivary is my name.
I thought I was the only one.
A pain I know all too well.
So this is what it feels like,
when doves cry!
Anything to say about the conservative pile-on shown in the Times public advocate column Sunday, other than that conservatives really know how to work the media, an important issue in itself? Apparently, the paper had given the name (or at least nickname and last name) of a successful CIA interrogater in an article about him and his methods. Other questions could involve a comparison with the Plame leak, why it so obviously differs in magnitude, and yet why the conservatives then were eager to slime the person named.
The Bush administration's policy banning voter registration efforts at VA facilities.
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19817378&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=635049&rfi=6
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Veterans_Department_not_keen_on_veterans_0410.html
Maybe I'm a dolt, but it seems to me that the most interesting posts (particularly if you are judging by the comments) are on Star Wars or popular 90's bands.
Here's a topic, which is the better category b (or c) 90's band, everclear or counting crows? I think most would say counting crows, but "Santa Monica" was such a great song. Made me want to pack my bags and move to California. Then again so did Long December...hmmm.
I was wondering which way you way you want to spell my name, then I remembered that this is the most misspelled blog on the internet. I'll be lower case and spell it this way, "mcgillivray", you spell it however you feel at the moment.
I heard a public radio report recently on the use of water for generating electricity using solar panels located in the desert. The heat from the collectors was used to create steam as is done in other types of power-generating facilities (coal, natural gas, nuclear). This has obvious problems since water is a scarce resource, especially in the desert. I had always envisioned solar energy going directly into the power grid the way rooftop collectors do. It seems to me that new grid capacity would be required in either case but a system that required water, especially if it needs to be piped to the facility, would be pretty inefficient. Am I missing something here?
Please explain away BHO's latest lie. (Note: I'm referring to lie_070708a, not others he may utter today).
1) What should the plot for Star Wars 1/2/3 have been? Not what's wrong with them, but what would have worked better.
2) From a recent New Yorker article by Kolbert on energy efficiency--people could get behind generating their own renewable energy and smart architecture; what they couldn't manage was large-scale conservation. e.g. if your house is more efficiently insulated, you heat more rooms. Can anything other than making energy really expensive get people to use less?
Counterfactual account of the american revolution as executed by neo-cons
I was not aware of the PNAC (Project for the New American Century) folks in Bush's camp during the 2000 elections, only later.
So in this election cycle I want to know who are the people behind Obama and McCain, to get as much of an idea as possible of where they are likely to drive us.
Given the upsurge in patriotism surrounding the July 4th holiday, as well as the controversy over both Presidential candidates' "patriotism," it's time you agreed that the new Girl Talk album is amazing.
The American public demands it.
How many times must I request a post on Australian basketball and or ZZ Top's current tour?
That is what I would like to read about.
Wittgenstein.
Please, no more posts on the lame pop music you and your other hip young blogger friends listen to. The sense of pride you express at being "into" some latest unknown "indie band" will come back to embarrass you when you grow up (let the fact that your MP3 collection contains the latest Starbucks CD tracks teach you something). Some of us old enough to distinguish art from fashion might rethink our respect for your political views. If you don't get it, check out e.g "art rock" bands from the 70s or "new wave" from the 80s for stark examples of how the hip inevitably becomes the lame.
Otherwise, keep up the good work.
You are now a cyclist. Cycling culture is growing -- finally! Your thoughts?
BTW, today was a TERRIFIC stage for the TdF, with American William Frischkorn finishing second by a millimeter in a four man breakaway that started at km 0.
More on what is happening in societies (China being the obvious one) where sex selection biased towards male heirs is severely skewing the normal demographic balance.
Discussion of whether anyone still cares about men's tennis, boxing, horse racing, or the Olympics.
Second NC Saint and tks on the Iran blockade resolution.
Have you even read about the thing, Matt? Like I asked before, what does it take for something to be an important event for you? You've made umpteen posts on a dead racist in the last few days, but nothing on the biggest diplomatic and military fuckup in US history which this resolution represents.
Hi Matt,
I asked this before but after you posted the crime rate statistics for different cities, it seems even more applicable. What do you think about the death penalty?-- particularly as a preventative measure for crime?
Somalia
Come up with a (counterfactual) scenario in which a member of the punditocracy would ever lose enough credibility so that no mainstream medium would publish their works or host them on TV.
This sounds snarky, but I'm serious.
Comments closed July 21, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
1. Post a flip, illogical rejoinder to this, then get called on it in comments. Tip: get someone from ThinkProgress to help write the flip rejoinder. Another tip: make sure the flip rejoinder has at least one misspelling so we know it's from you and not Howard Dean or something.
2. Encourage your readers to go to campaign appearances and ask real questions, and then upload the response to Youtube. For instance, press McCain on this issue.
Posted by TLB | July 7, 2008 3:13 PM