Obscene Tax Break Survives Again

New article by Matt Taibbi:

Once again a key piece of news has passed virtually without comment.

While the entire nation argues over nonsense like the WTC Mosque, Rick Sanchez, and, yes, blue-red culture war stuff like the Tea Party, congress yesterday quietly took a knee on the “carried interest” tax question. In doing so they decided not to take a vote on changes already approved by both houses that would scale back perhaps the most preposterous tax break in the entire federal code, one that leaves hedge-fund gazillionaires like Stevie Cohen and John Paulson paying less than half the top tax rate paid by most middle and upper-middle class Americans.

The Dark Tower Reborn

“I am a man of constant sorrow

I’ve seen trouble all my days

All through the world I’m bound to ramble

I have no friends to show my way…”

- Traditional

5 Reasons Why Every Single College Ranking Is a Pile of Crap

Almost weekly, it seems, consumers are introduced to yet another annual ranking of the “best,” “worst” or “biggest party” colleges in America.

US News & World Report produces the most widely-read college rankings, but Forbes, The Princeton Review, and several other publications have produced their own rankings. The problem is that every single one of these rankings is just absolutely, completely, and totally full of crap.

Alone

“Man is by nature a social animal….Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god.”-Aristotle 328 B.C.

He eats mostly wild game, which he either hunts with his bow-and-arrow or traps in spiked-bottom pitfalls. He grows a few crops around his huts, including corn and manioc, and often collects honey from hives that stingless bees construct in the hollows of tree trunks. Some of the markings he makes on trees have suggested to indigenous experts that he maintains a spiritual life, which they’ve speculated might help him survive the psychological of being, to a certain extent, the last man standing in a world of one.

But how long can his isolation last? I get Facebook updates telling me what people half a world away are eating for breakfast. Corporations and governments are pushing deeper and farther than ever in search of bankable resources. How can it be that no one has flushed this man out already? In 2010, can anyone realistically live off the grid?

Pictures of Oil Spill in Dalian, China

Horrible.

Tech worker testifies of ‘blue screen of death’ on oil rig’s computer

A computer that monitored drilling operations on the Deepwater Horizon had been freezing with a “blue screen of death” prior to the explosion that sank the oil rig last April, the chief electronics technician aboard testified Friday at a federal hearing.

“Blue screen of death,” or BSOD, is a term most often used to describe the display shown by Microsoft Windows after a serious crash that has incapacitated a PC.

In his testimony Friday, Michael Williams, the chief electronics technician aboard the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon, said that the rig’s safety alarm had been habitually switched to a bypass mode to avoid waking up the crew with middle-of-the-night warnings.

Kevin Costner Accepts New Role as Oil Spill Hero

While speaking to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the actor/director seemed both hopeful and frustrated. Hopeful that his (or any) machines might help to remove the massive oil deposit, and frustrated because, well, everyone knew about his machines years ago, but they were met with general “apathy.”

Coco’s Fans Stick it to Leno…On Hulu

Ah, the power of the people to voice their opinion on things. Too bad these are going to be ripped down pretty darn soon. Hulu’s terms and conditions on tags arguably prohibit all of these keywords.

Two-wheel triumph

Armed with a netbook, medical supplies and a bicycle, Bangladesh’s InfoLadies are giving millions of poor people access to crucial information on their doorsteps that will improve their chances in life.

Truth to Power: Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman @ the GooglePlex

Often, when discussing the degenerate state of media in America, people often ask what the alternatives are, i.e., where can they find a viable alternative to mainstream media. An excellent place to start would be with Pacifica’s Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. She’s intelligent, eloquent and focuses on the substantive issues that traditional media eschews. If you want answers to the hard-hitting questions, or simply want to know what the relevant questions are, check her out.