The Case for New START from the Joint Chiefs: "We Need It Badly"

Shared from White House

The Case for New START from the Joint Chiefs: "We Need It Badly" - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/16/case-new-start-joint-chiefs-we-need-it-badly

Warden Message

U.S. Embassy Bamako, Mali
December 8, 2010
The Consular Section would like to inform U.S. Citizens that it has been advised that there is a protest planned for today, 8 December organized by the Association of the Malian Deportees from France (AME). The demonstration is to protest the recent, accidental death of a Malian citizen at the hands of French police in a Paris suburb. It has been reported that the group will assemble at the Bourse du Travail at approximately 3:00 p.m. Wednesday 8 December 2010. The group plans to march toward the French Embassy, passing by the Prime Minister's Office and ending at the French Embassy in order to deliver a letter of protest. It is believed that the route will follow the Boulevard de l'Independence to the Prime Minister's office, where they will turn left, and cross the district of Quartier du Fleuve to arrive at the French Embassy.

The Malian Police have advised that this activity may not be authorized. Therefore, the Police may move to disperse the protesters.

It is highly recommended that U.S. Citizens avoid the above mentioned areas during this planned activity this afternoon.

What will California's Prop. 19 REALLY do?

I should say at the outset that I have been in favor of Proposition 19 in California (the proposition to legalize marijuana) for the following reasons, in roughly descending order:

Jeune Afrique

http://www.jeuneafrique.com/iphone/view_art.php?id=ARTJAJA2595p062-063.xml0

http://www.economist.com/node/17150234?story_id=17150234&fsrc=scn/tw/te/rss/pe

Republican Tax Plan Doubles Nation's Deficit in Just Ten Years

I thought you would find this interesting:

Republican Tax Plan Doubles Nation's Deficit in Just Ten Years - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/15/republican-tax-plan-doubles-nations-deficit-just-ten-years

Shared from White House

Economics: Africa has idiosyncratic institutional shortcomings | The Economist

http://www.economist.com/economics/by-invitation/guest-contributions/africa_has_idiosyncratic_institutional_shortcomings

Is Google Making Us Stupid? - Magazine - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/

Liberaltarianism and regulation: Swimming and freedom | The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/08/liberaltarianism_and_regulation

NYTimes: Xenophobia: Fear-Mongering for American Votes

From The New York Times:

EDITORIAL: Xenophobia: Fear-Mongering for American Votes

A few politicians are questioning the 14th Amendment. More than a
century of jurisprudence stands against them.

http://nyti.ms/cFXgQJ

NYTimes: Jobless and Staying That Way

From The New York Times:

Jobless and Staying That Way

Economists of all stripes rethink a safety net that assumes short-term
unemployment.

http://nyti.ms/aLm42n

NYTimes: Poverty and Lack of Research Block Path to a Well-Fed World

From The New York Times:

Poverty and Lack of Research Block Path to a Well-Fed World

A menu for feeding 9 billion people while preserving places like the
Amazon rain forest.

http://nyti.ms/9OV7W8

NYTimes: Four Deformations of the Apocalypse

From The New York Times:

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR: Four Deformations of the Apocalypse

How my Republican Party destroyed the American economy.

http://nyti.ms/9zOIgh

NYTimes: What They’re Not Telling You

From The New York Times:

EDITORIAL: What They're Not Telling You

The deficit is alarming, but cutting spending on relief and recovery
efforts now would worsen the economic slowdown and the suffering of
millions of Americans.

http://nyti.ms/cb6hL6

NYTimes: A Climate Change Corrective

From The New York Times:

EDITORIAL: A Climate Change Corrective

With yet another investigation concluding that the controversy known
as Climategate was manufactured, perhaps we can now turn to the task
of actually doing something about global warming.

http://nyti.ms/aDRHzg

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Hitler reacts to Germany losing in the Semi Finals to Spain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXSmAQe2R4A&feature=youtube_gdata

NYTimes: Dysregulation Nation

From The New York Times:

THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: Dysregulation Nation

Is our inability to control ourselves the defining feature of our time?

http://nyti.ms/dszPRa

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Peter L. Baldwin
Tel: +1.540.822.0036
In VT: (802) 258-1787

John Cleese rants - Soccer vs Football

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo&feature=youtube_gdata

Peter L. Baldwin
Tel: +1.540.822.0036
In VT: (802) 258-1787

Krog Street Tunnel in Atlanta sends message to BP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_5aKpWmxus&feature=youtube_gdata

Peter L. Baldwin
Tel: +1.540.822.0036
In VT: (802) 258-1787

Closing the Digital Frontier - Magazine - The Atlantic

Closing the Digital Frontier - Magazine - The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/closing-the-digital-frontier/8131/

Shared via AddThis.com

Peter L. Baldwin
Tel: +1.540.822.0036
In VT: (802) 258-1787

Hirsi Ali, Berman, and Ramadan on Islam : The New Yorker

J'aimerais bien entendre les réponses de mes frères (et sœurs)
musulman(ne)s : http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/07/100607crat_atlarge_mishra?printable=true

Peter L. Baldwin
Tel: +1.540.822.0036
In VT: (802) 258-1787

Article: LRB · Joseph Stiglitz · The Non-Existent Hand

LRB · Joseph Stiglitz · The Non-Existent Hand
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n08/joseph-stiglitz/the-non-existent-hand

(via Instapaper)

Peter L. Baldwin

http://peterbaldwin.blogspot.com

This is What Change Looks Like

I thought you would find this interesting:

This is What Change Looks Like - http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/22/what-change-looks

Shared from White House

Peter L. Baldwin

http://peterbaldwin.blogspot.com

Late Night Random Thoughts

It's 1:28 in the morning, and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd blog
about random thoughts in my head. If I were a Twitterer, or a twit
( or whatever they're called), I'd be posting tweets, since I'm too
lazy to pull out my laptop, but I am too lazy, so you'll just have to
put up with this thumbed blogpost on my phone.

There are two things I'm finding intriguing right now. The first is an
article an (actual) friend posted on Facebook about its (Facebook's)
runaway success in India. I'll post the link later, but in essence,
the author (an Indian) posits that cultural traits lead people to
friend everybody, whether they actually know them or not. Personally,
I have a rule that I have to actually know the person, and even be
friends with them in real life, with a few exceptions, of course.
(What good is a rule without exceptions?)

This article made me think of Facebook practices in Mali, which are
much more akin to India's practices, and where I observed a much more
collectivist mentality than we have here in the States. There, I had
to politely "ignore" friend requests from friends-of-friends (and,
indeed, I recently "unfriended" someone who I truly could not remember
from middle school- I don't agree with her politics anyway). I just
think it's interesting what it says about American individualism
versus other countries' collectivist mentality. In Mali, whenever I
did succeed in getting paid my miserable salary-which was never enough
to cover my own expenses-I was immediately hit upon by friends for
"loans", thereby ensuring that we were all in the same collectivist
merde. It seems that it is fine to be miserable as long as we're all
in it together. It does give you a good topic upon which to bond.

The second random thought has to do with a weird dream I had last
night, possibly brought on by stomach troubles. I won't go into
details (what was I doing sneaking into the White House anyway?), but
what woke me up was that in my dream, someone threw up some nasty-
smelling, orangejuice-laden vomit. Even after waking, I couldn't get
the disgusting smell out of my head - which was the only place where
it was, of course. This got me thinking about memory, olfactory
perception, and how the brain works. I have to find some brain expert
to talk to about this.

Okay, that's it from here- my thumb is getting tired. One final
thought: love is like peeing in your pants; everyone else can see it,
but only you can feel it.

Peace out,

Peter

Peter L. Baldwin
http://peterbaldwin.blogspot.com

Article: Economics focus: Worth a hill of soyabeans | The Economist

Economics focus: Worth a hill of soyabeans | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/economicsfocus/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15211578

(via Instapaper)

Peter L. Baldwin

Blog: peterbaldwin.blogspot.com

Does Twitter Have Moral Characteristics?: Think Tank : The New Yorker

Does Twitter Have Moral Characteristics?: Think Tank : The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/stevecoll/2010/02/does-twitter-have-moral-characteristics.html

(via Instapaper)

Article: The perils of economic populism : The New Yorker

The perils of economic populism : The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2010/02/15/100215ta_talk_surowiecki

(via Instapaper)

Two Gentlemen of Lebowski

http://www.runleiarun.com/lebowski/

Peter L. Baldwin
http://peterbaldwin.blogspot.com

WashingtonPost

http://mobile.washingtonpost.com//rss.jsp?rssid=613&item=+http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fwp-syndication%2farticle%2f2010%2f01%2f04%2fAR2010010403161_mobile.xml+&cid=561&spf=1

Peter L. Baldwin
http://peterbaldwin.blogspot.com