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Rachel Lea Fox posted a link

Hamburger Dress - Joy Kampia

Monday at 12:38 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Juan Pablo González, pastas9, Rafael Robayna and 4 other people liked this

Hamburger Dress - Assorted fibers, nylon, crocheted and sewn. - Rachel Lea Fox via Bookmarklet

It's pretty -- dare I say it -- cheesy. - Stephen Mack

The way to a man's heart is thru his stomach... subtle way to send that signal. <construction worker>Look at that piece of meat!</construction worker> - Ken Gidley

Nice buns. - Kevin Fox

Mitchell Tsai posted a link

Google Flu Trends

November 11 at 3:47 pm - Link

Rafael Robayna, Igor Poltavskiy, Thomas Hawk and 25 other people liked this

Click http://google.org/flutrends for the real-time app. We've found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity in your state up to two weeks faster than traditional systems. - Mitchell Tsai

49 more comments

See "Google search engine flags flu activity in U.S." [Reuters - 11/11/08] http://reuters.com/article/hea... http://friendfeed.com/e/e58ec1... - Mitchell Tsai

Studies indicate that between 35 and 40 percent of all visits to the Internet are begun by people looking for health information. When people are sick, they tend to look up their symptoms. - Mitchell Tsai

Google Flu Trends uses search terms that people put into the Web-based search engine to figure out where influenza is heating up, and notify the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in real time. Google is keeping the search terms it uses private, but influenza-like illnesses include symptoms such as fever, muscle aches and cough. Sneezing usually occurs with other viruses such as rhinoviruses. - Mitchell Tsai

"One thing we found last year when we validated this model is it tended to predict surveillance data," Finelli said. - Mitchell Tsai

"The data are really, really timely. They were able to tell us on a day-to-day basis the relative direction of flu activity for a given area. They were about a week ahead of us. They could be used ... as early warning signal for flu activity." - Mitchell Tsai

Influenza kills an estimated 36,000 people a year in the United States and 250,000-500,000 globally. - Mitchell Tsai

Experts are keen to track flu activity in case of a pandemic -- a global epidemic of a new and deadly strain of flu that could kill millions within a few months. - Mitchell Tsai

i hear the Google Flu is not as bad as it sounds, though... ;) - edythe

but seriously, mitchell, this is awesome. - edythe

Polly: I love this idea of using Google (and/or social networks)'s knowledge of what people are interested in to benefit society (and not just whether we're going to be terrorists). I'd love to see similar efforts in monitoring (1) what cancer patients are looking at for cures/treatments (2) what kids & adults are interested in (3) popular exciting travel spots - Mitchell Tsai

How can we move "news" to the next generation past (a) Digg/Reedit (b) Google News (c) Disqus/Google Reader/FriendFeed (d) Flickr/picture-sharing (e) Wikipedia. The "Google Flu monitoring" seems to be the 1st jump in bringing data-mining of social networks to new usefulness. What if we had a service which took "50 pages in Wikipedia most active" combined with some "educational benefit" metric to inform us about newly active topics? - Mitchell Tsai

Twitter/Summize combo kicks-butt for monitoring real-time events (1) earthquakes (2) elections... but it's still a huge swamp of info. Could services like "Google Flu Trends" pull out 100 interesting topics from all the Twitter traffic? (kind of big-brother for a good purpose) - Mitchell Tsai

i made a flu room! http://friendfeed.com/rooms/in... - Brian Ries

Thanks Brian. Nice flu articles. Many nations' leaders spend money REAL fast when faced with possible pandemics. They're not stupid... - Mitchell Tsai

if flu is real, why do so many people not get it? flu shots are big business, pushed for profit by media, private orgs .. it is weird .. only in america - Gregory Lent

Gregory, the profit margin on vaccines is actually quite low, which is why the pharmaceutical companies aren't inclined to produce tons of it. The influenza virus changes its genetic make-up every year, forcing the vaccine makers to anticipate what strain will be predominant, and sometimes the vaccine makers guess wrong. - Victor Ganata

http://reason.com/news/show/35... "In the past three decades, the number of vaccine manufacturers in America has plummeted, as the industry has been flooded with lawsuits." He added. "Today, there is only one manufacturer in the United States that can produce influenza vaccine." Since 1967 the number of American vaccine manufacturers has dropped from 26 to just 4 today. The problem is that vaccines are low–profit margin products sold for a few bucks per dose, yet potentially they expose manufacturers to hundreds of millions of dollars in liability. - Mitchell Tsai

...another example of how medical & legal reform are so closely intertwined... - Mitchell Tsai

Tough world of profits http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms... (Good) Net product sales for the year ended December 31, 2005, increased 12 percent, or $155 million, compared to the year ended December 31, 2004, primarily due to $96 million in sales of FLUVIRIN vaccine in 2005, compared to $2 million in sales of FLUVIRIN vaccine in 2004, which related to late sales from the 2003-2004 influenza season. - Mitchell Tsai

(Bad) As previously reported, in the year ended December 31, 2004, the entire FLUVIRIN vaccine product inventory was written off, resulting in a $91 million charge to cost of sales. No sales of BEGRIVAC influenza virus vaccine in 2005 due to a product sterility issue - Mitchell Tsai

http://jhsph.edu/publichealthn... It’s important to point out that the current vaccine crisis is an extreme example of what’s wrong with the vaccine supply system in the United States. Many people are quick to criticize industry, but making flu vaccine is really difficult. - Mitchell Tsai

Companies do not receive the virus strains for the vaccine until March. They are expected, on a very tight timeline, to get an egg supply, grow the vaccine and have it ready to ship by September or October. They charge anywhere from $8 to $22 a dose, which is not a large profit margin. - Mitchell Tsai

http://weeklystandard.com/Cont... http://qando.net/details.aspx?... Why is it that 100 percent of our flu vaccines are now made by two companies in Europe? Chiron was scheduled to supply 46 million of the 100 million doses to be administered in the United States this year. The other 54 million will come from Aventis Pasteur, a French company with headquarters in Strasbourg. ---- Trial lawyers drove the American manufacturers out of the business. - Mitchell Tsai

Today there are only four that make any type of vaccine and none making flu vaccine. Wyeth was the last to fall, dropping flu shots after 2002. For recently emerging illnesses such as Lyme disease, there is no commercial vaccine, even though one has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. - Mitchell Tsai

All this is the result of a legal concept called "liability without fault" that emerged from the hothouse atmosphere of the law schools in the 1960s and became the law of the land. Under the old "negligence" regime, you had to prove a product manufacturer had done something wrong in order to hold it liable for damages. - Mitchell Tsai

Under liability without fault, on the other hand, the manufacturer can be held responsible for harm from its products, whether blameworthy or not. Add to that the jackpot awards that come from pain-and-suffering and punitive damages, and you have a legal climate that no manufacturer wants to risk. - Mitchell Tsai

In theory, prices might have been jacked up enough to make vaccine production profitable even with the lawsuit risk, but federal intervention made vaccines a low-margin business. Before 1993, manufacturers sold vaccines to doctors, doctors prescribed them to patients, and there was some markup. Then Congress adopted the Vaccine for Children Act, which made the government a monopsony buyer. The feds now purchase over half of all vaccines at a low fixed price and distribute them to doctors. This has essentially finished off the private market. - Mitchell Tsai

As recently as 1980, 18 American companies made eight different vaccines for various childhood diseases. Today, four companies--GlaxoSmithKline, Aventis, Merck, and Wyeth--make 12 vaccines. Of the 12, seven are made by only one company and only one is made by more than two. "There are constant shortages," says Dr. Paul Offit, head of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "With only one supplier for so many vaccines, the whole system is fragile. When even the smallest thing goes wrong, children miss their vaccinations." - Mitchell Tsai

The intersection between mass vaccinations and the tort system was bound to be messy. When you vaccinate enough people, someone, somewhere, is going to have a bad reaction. You could give a glass of milk to 100 million people and a few would inevitably get violently sick from it. - Mitchell Tsai

The first instance of this came in 1955 with polio vaccinations. Cutter Laboratories, the California company that now distributes Cutter's Insect Repellent, made an early batch of vaccines, some of which had live viruses in them. Almost all the children in Idaho were administered the vaccine and several dozen contracted polio. - Mitchell Tsai

The jury found Cutter's actions were not negligent--the orders had been rushed, standards had not been clear, and safety precautions were still rudimentary at the time. But, using the new doctrine of liability without fault, the jury held Cutter accountable anyway and awarded $147,300. "That decision made Ralph Nader possible," Belli later claimed. - Mitchell Tsai

"It was a turning point," says Dr. Offit, whose book The Cutter Incident will be published next year. "Because of the Cutter decision, vaccines became one of the first medical products to be eliminated by lawsuits." - Mitchell Tsai

Yale Law Journal published an article arguing that insurance against adverse reactions was the solution. Unfortunately, this thesis failed to anticipate how high damage awards would go. - Mitchell Tsai

WHEN AN UNUSUAL EPIDEMIC occurred in 1976, the federal government decided to vaccinate the whole country against the new "swine flu." To the astonishment of Congress, the insurance companies refused to participate. The Congressional Budget Office predicted that with 45 million Americans inoculated, there would be 4,500 injury claims and 90 damage awards, totaling $2 million. Congress decided to provide the insurance. - Mitchell Tsai

As Peter Huber recounts in his book Liability, the CBO's first estimate proved uncannily accurate. A total of 4,169 damage claims were filed. However, not 90 but more than 700 suits were successful and the total bill to Congress came to over $100 million, 50 times what the CBO had predicted. The insurance companies knew their business well. - Mitchell Tsai

Adding to the problem are the predictable panics about vaccines that spread among parents and are abetted by trial lawyers. In 1974, a British researcher published a paper claiming that the vaccine for pertussis (whooping cough) had caused seizures in 36 children, leading to 22 cases of epilepsy or mental retardation. - Mitchell Tsai

Subsequent studies proved the claim to be false, but in the meantime Japan canceled inoculations, resulting in 113 preventable whooping cough deaths. In the United States, 800 pertussis vaccine lawsuits asking $21 million in damages were filed over the next decade. The cost of a vaccination went from 21 cents to $11. - Mitchell Tsai

Every American drug company dropped pertussis vaccine except Lederle Laboratories. In 1980, Lederle lost a liability suit for the paralysis of a three-month-old infant--even though there was almost no evidence implicating the vaccine. Lederle's damages were $1.1 million, more than half its gross revenues from sale of the vaccine for that entire year. - Mitchell Tsai

In 1998, the FDA approved a vaccine for Lyme disease, which strikes 15,000 people a year. GlaxoSmithKline manufactured it for three years but quit when rumors began circulating that the vaccine caused arthritis. - Mitchell Tsai

Each year in February, the Centers for Disease Control meets with the vaccine-makers--all two of them--and decides which strain of the virus to anticipate for next year. Then they both make the same vaccine. Last year the committee bet on the Panama strain, but a rogue "Fujian" strain suddenly emerged as a surprise invader. A mini-epidemic resulted and 93 children died, only two of them properly vaccinated. - Mitchell Tsai

Whether doctors are quitting the profession because of an out-of-control tort system, whether malpractice premiums are the cause of health care increases--such hardy perennials of the litigation debate are still a subject of lively controversy. But with vaccines there is no argument. Trial lawyers have all but ruined the market. Yet they are still unwilling to take responsibility. - Mitchell Tsai

What is frustrating about all this is that vaccination is such an easy intervention, and so many lives have been saved with near-universal vaccination against childhood diseases. When you do the cold-hard calculus comparing the number of adverse events versus the number of deaths prevented, it definitely seems worth it. Unfortunately, the mathematics of the legal and economic end of things don't agree. - Victor Ganata

Thanks Mitchell.. mind if I write this up for GoogleTutor? - Phil Glockner

Victor: (A) It seems "right" that people might be compensated for dying due to a vaccine. (B) However, when a drug company's entire profit margin can be wiped out by 2 lawsuits, how can you do business? (C) We might look to the Japanese legal system which sets maximum damages. Or just ask people to "suck up". If you die due to vaccine (and it's not the manufacturers fault), that's the risk you take for the possible protection. - Mitchell Tsai

Phil: Feel free to write this for Google Tutor (what's that?). Journalistic disclaimer: I haven't triple-checked my sources... :-) - Mitchell Tsai

Similar question: If we go to a surgeon for a 95% effective surgery, do we sue the doctor for the 5% deaths? ---- Another industry with a different answer (Employee injuries): In worker's comp, people decided that employers will pay for everything, to save the legal fees from deciding everything in court. Thus, a homeowner would be liable for a mailman slipping on their icy driveway. - Mitchell Tsai

Mitchell: http://www.googletutor.com - A site related to all things Google. - Phil Glockner

In terms of malpractice, pain and suffering caps seem to be preventing physicians from fleeing the state of California. Is it a different kind of tort law that pharmaceutical companies are subject to, or would such a thing apply? - Victor Ganata

Currently, the answer is that, yes, the surgeon can get sued for those deaths, even if he/she did everything right. The answer clearly lies in limiting the damages awarded. - Victor Ganata

The case for the tort system causing physician discontent is pretty minimal, at least if you're practicing in a state that has pain and suffering caps. There are a lot of other reasons why docs are throwing in the towel. - Victor Ganata

Enjoying the ice swimming.:) - Igor Poltavskiy

JA Castillo posted a link

Make: Nikon Digital Holga POS - a set on Flickr

November 10 at 1:55 pm - via Mento - Link

Rafael Robayna and Brian Sullivan liked this

Well this little hack allows you to mount the classically/wonderfully crappy lens of the Holga onto your Nikon D50 (Flickr's statistically most popular camera) and get a very similar look. - JA Castillo via Mento

Mladen Srdić favorited a video on YouTube

"Star Wars" - an a capella tribute to John Williams

November 10 at 2:25 am - Link

Juan Pablo González and Rafael Robayna liked this

Wow... watch it! - Juan Pablo González

Kol Tregaskes posted a link

Real Life Photoshop

November 7 at 10:53 am - Link

Rafael Robayna, Shey, Soulhuntre and 22 other people liked this

Neat! - Kol Tregaskes

Awesome! - Josh Haley

just saw it, absolutely gorgeous - Dobromir Hadzhiev

Nice! - Carmen

Cee Bee favorited a video on Vimeo

Peripetics by ZEITGUISED

November 5 at 4:35 am - Link

edythe, elif kavalci, Rafael Robayna and 5 other people liked this

wow surreal - mersenne

yeah an amazing video. there are some really creative and talented people on vimeo. i really hope it doesn't turn into youtube - Cee Bee

AJ Kohn posted a message

“Poll: Will Obama speak to the socialist meme tonight? (Y/N)”

October 29 at 11:16 am - Link

Rafael Robayna, heather ♥s fauns on mars., Steven Perez and 2 other people liked this

I'd like him to. Kill that off. - Hutch Carpenter

52 more comments

Part of me thinks he should, to try to kill it. But another part thinks having the word come out of his mouth might be a bad thing. If he does, he needs to NAIL it or it just fuels the fire IMO. - AJ Kohn

The thing is - he can't kill it and if he tries to address the issues he will have to out loud admit stuff his campaign is hoping is ambiguous. For instance he would have to admit to, then explain away, actively seeking an endorsement from a socialist political group. Better to keep pretending it didn't happen as they have been doing. Similarly, if he actually tries to explain how his redistribution plans aren't similar to socialist goals he has to bring up, again, what his plans are and that is what got him in trouble. - Soulhuntre via twhirl

The meme is not that he is literally a socialist but that his goals (the forced redistribution of wealth) are similar to socialist ones. He cannot really deny his goals and whether it is similar is a matter of opinion. - Soulhuntre

Yeah, well that's the same thing as saying that Teddy Roosevelt was a socialist. He was a big proponent of progressive taxation. - Alex Scoble CISSP

True socialists are sick of McCain calling Obama a socialist. True Socialists want to nationalize everything. No holds bar. - Chris W

@Soulhuntre: I agree with you more than I disagree. For good or for bad the idea of progressive taxes has been mixed up with socialism. Explaining the historic context of the the highest tax bracket and the fact that a progressive tax system *is* wealth redistribution probably won't win anyone over. - AJ Kohn

@Soulhuntre - you are right the meme is not that he is socialist - it is that he is scary and "not one of us". Which is why he shouldn't touch it with a ten foot poll. Because if you actually listen to him.. them meme dies. - Brian Roy

Progressive Taxation != Wealth Redistribution. - Mark VandenBerg

@Alex: That's the problem though. I'm not sure there's enough time to explain it and even if you do, some might say that he's calling America a socialist country. - AJ Kohn

@mark - you are right. It is about how you pay for government. - Brian Roy

A: Why? He hasn't yet, if only because the rest of the country that doesn't drink the GOP Kool-Aid doesn't give two tugs about whether or not he's a socialist. They care more if he can help steer the country out of the downward spiral it finds itself in after eight years of the Village Idiot. - Steven Perez

Because the historic context is that historically we were far more progressive than we are now. And it's less about wealth redistribution as it is about tax burden distribution and also a method of limiting the pace of growth for the extremely wealthy. It's fair in that it raises everyone's ships up at the same rate, as opposed to widening the wealth gap. - Alex Scoble CISSP

What if he just flat out said, "Does cashing your stimulus rebate check make you a socialist? Some would argue we should have given the middle class $100 and the rich $10,000 instead of giving everyone the same amount." - AJ Kohn

@AJ - good point. My take of the stimulus 0. - Brian Roy

Yeah, I got $100...my fiance got $600...anyone making more than about $90k got nothing. - Alex Scoble CISSP

@Mark: Why does Progressive Taxation != Wealth Redistribution? Each person receives essentially the same value from our government, but we pay into that government at different rates. Those paying no taxes still benefit from defense, education and health care. So they're getting a free ride. Those paying more are getting the short end of the stick. - AJ Kohn

All he needs to do is point out that our taxation system, however you define it, fits exactly within the definition currently used by the McCain campaign for socialism. As for share the wealth? Point out oil subsidies going to every Alaskan. Besides, what was the War Bribe that Bush gave out, if its not redistribution? The whole socialist argument just makes no sense, but they know it. All they have to do is repeat it to a bunch of people who don't care about making sense, and fake smile a lot. - JC unwired

Doesn't it seem like the people who are most vociferous about paying high taxes aren't actually in the highest tax bracket? What is up with that? - Victor Ganata

@AJ how then should we pay for government? Progressive taxation is about distribution of costs. Are you proposing that say - I get to use the roads more since I pay more? Or that my house gets better defense since I pay more? - Brian Roy

@Victor: I've been interested in that and commented on that a few times. It's a fear of being taxed on potential wealth. Sadly, statistically nearly all of them will never need to worry about it. The basic principle is to encourage wealth optimization. If you follow this principle each band of 'wealth' should seek that optimization. - AJ Kohn

@Victor - I am no where near the highest bracket but I am feel strongly about the issue. Why woudl I car about the government unfairly (my opinion) taking money from someone else? Because it is, to me, an ethics issue. I care about the ethics of lots of things that don't strictly apply to me. I would help a stranger who was getting mugged even though I, myself, was in no danger for instance. Whether one agrees with the progressive taxes or not the stance "so what? it's not like they are taking my money"... - Soulhuntre

... is the reasoning I find least persuasive. - Soulhuntre

@Brian: I think it's a fine way to pay for government, though I'd like our government to be more accountable and more efficient. I'm perfectly fine with progressive taxation. I'm simply arguing that it does 'spread wealth' but that is a) not a bad thing and b) doesn't make us socialists. - AJ Kohn

You will never create a tax system that is "fair" to everyone. There's no such thing as a fair tax. So you try to make it the best you can for the maximum amount of people...and sad to say, the rich are in a much better position to take on additional tax burden, because...they are rich. Taxing the poor will net you zero dollars because they will just stop working then or will find jobs that pay under the table. You can't tax the middle class more without causing many of them to drop down to being poor. - Alex Scoble CISSP

@AJ - fair enough. I still do not consider taxation distribution of wealth (benefit) but instead distribution of costs. Perhaps if we were all more concerned with debating the a) things we want our government to do AND b) how much we'd like them to spend doing it - we'd be much better off. - Brian Roy

He certainly did this morning: http://friendfeed.com/e/bc0451... - Anika Malone

Capital gains, Chris, among other things. - Alex Scoble CISSP

@Brian: I very much agree that real debate on what we want our government to do, how they do it, and how much they're spending would be extremely beneficial. - AJ Kohn

You don't get richer by buying tax free munis. - todd

@AJ Brian Roy kind of answered mostly what I would have, but I will add this: A true redistribution would involve an actual transfer of wealth, or monetary unit, from one person to another. Partaking in a tax-funded item such as defense, or a road, is not a monetary transfer. - Mark VandenBerg

Here's what I think we NEED government to do: Fund a kick ass world class K-12 educational system, keep our infrastructure kick ass and world class, make smart investments in research and development that will make our economy grow, provide for a strong and smart national defense (and use it sparingly overseas and only for truly humanitarian needs, otherwise it should be used for our defense...none of this preemptive war bullshit)... - Alex Scoble CISSP

Provide funding for a kick ass world class healthcare system...provide a social safety net for those who lose their jobs and the elderly who retire after a lifetime of work and little retirement funds to show for it - Alex Scoble CISSP

+1 Alex I'd sign up for that. - Brian Roy

@Soulhuntre: I'm intrigued and appreciate your ability to clarify why you're taking the position that you do. So, at one point I think I wisecracked about a Star Trek quote "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." But all joking aside, that *is* an approximation of the ethical dilemma. What are your thoughts on this? - AJ Kohn

Supposedly he recorded this a week ago, so it's difficult to see how he might cope with the new theme. - Rob Sterling

Regulate businesses to make sure they are following the law and doing right by society instead of unscrupulously making money and lining the pockets of execs...provide for the safety and health of all Americans through an effective police force, emergency responder network and hospital network - Alex Scoble CISSP

I would also add an intelligent safety net for those who need temporary assistance to meet basic needs (job training, food, shelter). - Brian Roy

@Mark: I understand that point of view, but I don't subscribe to it. I believe there is a transference of value in nearly everything, and that it can be traced back to a monetary unit. It's why a strong brand can charge more because their is a perceived value that allows someone to hand over more money for that brand. The delta between brand and non-brand isn't nothing, it's the monetary value of that brand. Am I making sense? - AJ Kohn

@Alex and Brian: Sounds good to me, though not sure I want government at the forefront of R&D - incentives for private sector might be my preference. Education is HUGE because it will have tremendous downstream impact. And infrastructure has been so neglected, certainly needs to be a high priority. - AJ Kohn

So is it wealth distribution when Ross charges $10 for an item, Target charges $15 for it, Macy's charges $20 for it and Nordstrom charges $30? - Alex Scoble CISSP

@Alex: Interesting idea ... - AJ Kohn

Alex I have a new phrase for you to learn: Caveat Emptor - Mark VandenBerg

@Rob: Good knowledge. - AJ Kohn

I think the government works best when they provide funding to public and private institutions and states to do the things we are talking about AND put out smart provisos on what organizations need to do to keep getting the money AND make sure that corruption/mismanagement is kept to a minimum (you can never completely get rid of it, but you should try) - Alex Scoble CISSP

Mark, I'm completely aware of the phrase "buyer beware" :) - Alex Scoble CISSP

AJ what you are saying makes sense to me when dealing with a commodity such as carbonated beverages or stereo equipment but I am not making a connection to the conversation at hand. I'm not seeing how the use of a road by two people, one wealthy and one not, is wealth transfer. If you need more room than Friendfeed, please email me (mark at latviangoatporn dot com) - Mark VandenBerg

Obama's not going to do anything risky tonight. This buy isn't like the 'Race Speech' that the Wright controversy forced. This is Obama giving his closing arguments to the nation. Steady and sure. There has been very little opportunity for either candidate to address the nation effectively without a media filter, and I think Obama's choosing to do that because he wants to make the election 'about us' instead of 'about the candidates', and he has several millions of dollars he still needs to blow through. - Kevin Fox

@Mark: LOL. That's a great email address. I might ping you, but actually have to get back to work though this has been immensely interesting. The brand analogy was used to show that non-tangible items can be translated into a monetary unit. So an even distribution of value can be assigned to the road. The road is built by the government. The government is funded by taxes. Taxes are progressive. So there is an even value benefit of road but an uneven funding of the road. - AJ Kohn

By the way, I'd disagree that there's an even value benefit of something like roads and the electrical infrastructure. Rich people tend to drive heavier cars, which tears up the roads more than lighter ones. They tend to buy more stuff which is carried on the roads and rail lines, causing more wear and tear, they use more electricity again causing more wear and tear on infrastructure. I'm sure you could find many more examples of this sort of thing. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Alex you better sit down for this. I agree with your last post 100%. - Mark VandenBerg

Yeah, I was already floored by your agreement that progressive taxation doesn't equal wealth distribution. - Alex Scoble CISSP

Sorry for the "me, too" comment, but, yeah, the rich have a heavier footprint on the environment and on the infrastructure than the poor do. And the way I look at it, those who have the most have the most to lose, and therefore have a greater need for things like police, fire departments, soldiers, stealth bombers, and ICBMs. - Victor Ganata

Not that anyone is still on this thread but ... yes, it's not always even. But it is closer to even than the tax distribution. And the same argument could be made, the other way around, for other programs. The rich are healthier and thus extract less benefit from any government health safety net. The rich utilize public education less (private schools), thereby extracting less value from that sector. Environment ... not so fast, older cars emit more pollution and there are infinitely more of them. - AJ Kohn

@AJ, I have to disagree a little bit. Anecdotally, I find that the wealthy are more able to utilize Medicare than the poor, simply because of differing life expectancies. The environmental impact seems pretty clear to me: rich people are less likely to utilize public transportation than poor people, more likely to drive for pleasure (rather than just commuting), are more likely to fly, and are more likely to live in suburban sprawl. - Victor Ganata

Kol Tregaskes posted a link

34 Geeky Pumpkin Faces

October 24 at 9:01 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Hassan Ibraheem, Rafael Robayna, Mike Reynolds and 4 other people liked this

Cool! - Kol Tregaskes via Bookmarklet

Robert Scoble shared an item on Google Reader

Powell's endorsement

October 19 at 1:15 pm - Link

Susan Beebe, marcel weiss, Nathan Chase and 16 other people liked this

Also see his press conference after the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... - John Craft

3 more comments

wow! This is the kind of vision I would expect from American leadership. 7 minutes of absolutely incredible speech from Powell. Very inspiring indeed. - Puneet Thapliyal

masterful. - Karim

excellent - Geoff Corey

McCain should have picked him for VP - David Ward

Gotta feel bad for any Republican running for office right now, what with all the actual famous Reps endorsing a man McCain claims is "the most liberal Senator in the Senate." - Tyler Hayes via twhirl

Jemm posted a link

Nice panorama from NYC

October 8 at 10:19 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Colide81 (James), Nia, Ladybug Heather and 13 other people liked this

That makes me want to play GTA IV again. - Ryo

Makes we want to play Crackdown :) - Soulhuntre via twhirl

Makes me want to burst into song! N Y Ceeeeeeeeeee, what is it about youuuuuuu? - Josh Haley

Anthony Citrano posted a link

Heavy Metal-Eating "Superworms" Unearthed in UK | National Geographic

October 8 at 10:26 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Amit Patel, Kenton, Jason Wehmhoener and Rafael Robayna liked this

"Newly evolved 'superworms' that feast on toxic waste could help cleanse polluted industrial land, a new study says. These hardcore heavy metal fans, unearthed at disused mining sites in Britain and Wales, devour lead, zinc, arsenic, and copper." - Anthony Citrano via Bookmarklet

Shey stumbled upon a site on StumbleUpon

Top 10 Everyday Things People Do To Ruin Their Cars

October 8 at 4:39 am - Link

Charlie Anzman, Rafael Robayna and Michael W. May liked this

From the page: "So weâve assembled the top 10 everyday things people do to ruin their cars, to help guide you through your own stupidity, into the light. " - Shey

Kol Tregaskes posted a link

Fashion: Admit It, The Stormtrooper Hoodie is a Little Tempting

October 1 at 11:59 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Rafael Robayna, Kim, Mladen Srdić and Aaron Krug liked this

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Oh sorry any Star Wars fan reading this? :-) - Kol Tregaskes via Bookmarklet

Jason Wehmhoener posted a link

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

October 1 at 8:42 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Gabe Ragland, Rodfather, Alex Scoble CISSP and 9 other people liked this

""I'm going to the Middle East," Dramesi says. "Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran." "Why are you going to the Middle East?" McCain asks, dismissively. "It's a place we're probably going to have some problems," Dramesi says. "Why? Where are you going to, John?" "Oh, I'm going to Rio." "What the hell are you going to Rio for?" McCain, a married father of three, shrugs. "I got a better chance of getting laid." Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."" - Jason Wehmhoener via Bookmarklet

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"McCain was not only a lousy student, he had his father's taste for drink and a darkly misogynistic streak. The summer after his sophomore year, cruising with a friend near Arlington, McCain tried to pick up a pair of young women. When they laughed at him, he cursed them so vilely that he was hauled into court on a profanity charge." - Raoul Pop

"That should have been the end of McCain's flying career. "In the Navy, if you crashed one airplane, nine times out of 10 you would lose your wings," says Butler, who, like his former classmate, was shot down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Spark "a small international incident" like McCain had? Any other pilot would have "found themselves as the deck officer on a destroyer someplace in a hurry," says Butler. "But, God, he had family pull. He was directly related to the CEO — you know?"" - Raoul Pop

"Dramesi says he has no desire to dishonor McCain's service, but he believes that celebrating the downed pilot's behavior as heroic — "he wasn't exceptional one way or the other" — has a corrosive effect on military discipline. "This business of my country before my life?" Dramesi says. "Well, he had that opportunity and failed miserably. If it really were country first, John McCain would probably be walking around without one or two arms or legs — or he'd be dead."" - Raoul Pop

"John has made a pact with the devil," says Lincoln Chafee, the former GOP senator, who has been appalled at his one-time colleague's readiness to sacrifice principle for power. - jeneane sessum

"What McCain glosses over is that accepting early release would have required him to make disloyal statements that would have violated the military's Code of Conduct. If he had done so, he could have risked court-martial and an ignominious end to his military career. "Many of us were given this offer," according to Butler, McCain's classmate who was also taken prisoner. "It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to 'admit' that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was 'lenient and humane.' So I, like numerous others, refused the offer." - Raoul Pop

"In 1977, McCain was promoted to captain and became the Navy's liaison to the Senate — the same politically connected post once occupied by his father. He took advantage of the position to buddy up to young senators like Gary Hart, William Cohen and Joe Biden. He was also taken under the wing of another friend of his father: Sen. John Tower, the powerful Texas Republican who would become his political mentor. Despite the promotion, McCain continued his adolescent carousing: On a diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia with Tower, he tried to get some tourists he disliked in trouble with the authorities by littering the room-service trays outside their door with empty bottles of alcohol. - Raoul Pop

Sorry if I'm flooding FF with bits and pieces from the article, but it's amazing. See the stuff about Charlie Keating on Page 7, it's incendiary. - Raoul Pop

This is interesting: "During his 1992 campaign, at the end of a long day, McCain's wife, Cindy, mussed his receding hair and needled him playfully that he was "getting a little thin up there." McCain reportedly blew his top, cutting his wife down with the kind of language that had gotten him hauled into court as a high schooler: "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." Even though the incident was witnessed by three reporters, the McCain campaign denies it took place." - Raoul Pop

See Page 8: "At least three of McCain's GOP colleagues have gone on record to say that they consider him temperamentally unsuited to be commander in chief. Smith, the former senator from New Hampshire, has said that McCain's "temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." Sen. Domenici of New Mexico has said he doesn't "want this guy anywhere near a trigger." And Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi weighed in that "the thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He is erratic. He is hotheaded." - Raoul Pop

Adam Helweh posted a link

Old School hip hop meme Biz Markie - Just A Friend (1989)

October 1 at 4:53 am - via Bookmarklet - Link

Mike Fruchter, Carmen, Robert DeBord and 15 other people liked this

Ohhh baby YOUU!!!! - Adam Helweh via Bookmarklet

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I just rediscovered it like a month ago, oldschool hip-hop fellt good - Dobromir Hadzhiev

The good ole' days..the good ole' days, i remember those days...No wait, i wasn't around - Gordon Swaby

Ohhh yes! - Shey

hahahaha never seen the video before - Toby Graham

Those lyrics are bad, bad, bad - you know it! XD - CannonGod

nobody beats the Biz - Nathan Rein

made famous by the terrible singing - Adam Helweh

Invites: Matt posted a message

“I have 12 Strands and 10 brightkite invites. First come, first served.”

September 30 at 7:26 am - Link

drew olanoff liked this

I'll take a strands invite please... walt {dot} ruppar {at} gmail {dot} com thnx! - Walt Ruppar

one more brightkite invite please...osmanfaruk at gmail dot com, thanks - osman faruk

got it, thanks! - Rafael Robayna

Now you can educate and win with your invites! http://community.strands.com/2... - drew olanoff

Thomas Hawk posted a link

Wordle of Today's 110 Page Failed Bail Out Bill on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

September 29 at 6:12 pm - via Bookmarklet - Link

Rafael Robayna, scot copeland, Atul Arora and 5 other people liked this

I took the full 110 page Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 bill that failed in the House of Representatives today and pasted it into Wordle. Above is what came back. Best viewed large here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/t... - Thomas Hawk via Bookmarklet

Ňicķ dugg a story on Digg

Oh Dear God: Latest Palin/Couric interview clip released

September 30 at 12:49 am - Link

Akshay Kapur, Kate, adolfo foronda and 30 other people liked this

Oh lord... :| - Anna Haro

38 more comments

Disarray. Amazing. - Robert Scoble

Gotcha! - Mona N.

I spent the first minute and thirty trying to decide if that was actually Tina Fey. Then I spent the next 2 minutes and 24 seconds wishing is was. - Soup

OMG, this just keeps getting worse! and even more funny at the same time. - Jeff P. Henderson

I would be laughing my ass off... If they weren't close to being president/vice president - J. Abdul-Qahhar

McCain shouldn't have to cover for and correct his running mate, she really is useless - Arthur Guy

heh - Michael J. Cohen (mjc)

Oh my gawd. Can they dig any deeper? This is a car wreck! - Chris W

Will Katie Couric be singled out as the person who helped kill the Republicans chance for the 2008 Election? - Chris W

EPIC comment of the day can be found on Erin's feed. "Man you liberals are really stretching if you think this article will help you defeat McCain Palin. - pitlord via twhirl" LOL - Mona N.

Mona: I blocked pitlord. I usually put up with idiots, but not when they are so clearly off the deep end. - Robert Scoble

Is there any Right wing people like PitLord that use their real names? Is anyone on the right willing to put their name on the line for what they say? - Chris W

Robert: Clearly. But his comment was SO out there I laughed for a good five minutes. haha - Mona N.

Christopher: Funny you should mention that. I got a little curious and tried going into FF's "Conservative Room" but it was private LOL - Mona N.

They don't want the great Mona infiltrating their room of BS. For fear your going to repost something outside the room for all of us to laugh at. - Chris W

Sarah Palin is clueless.. It's like she's never even watched or read the news prior to being picked as McCain's V.P. -- WTF? - Tim

Could he look any less comfortable? - Anthony Citrano

I was expecting the worst when I saw the caption you wrote... she handled it real well. Couric was quite coy. I want McCain to win, so when I hear bad news I think maybe she isn't the right choice... but when I played this clip it made me realize how sharp Palin is... and also how McCain turned this right on Katie. you can't shout Gotcha every time... - ⓃⓄⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂⓄⓃ

Man, he did not want her to talk. His expression was priceless. - Ray Grieselhuber

Bonkers. - Jason Toney

I heard people saying she messed up. I don't see that at all. In fact I think she handled this tacky little game better then a man could. IMHO the ladies are better at the cat fights. I think Obama or Bill Clinton would of blown up at Katie and G W Bush would of just laughed at her on questioning. The fact that Sarah took Katie seriously is her only mistake - ⓃⓄⒶⒽ ⒹⒶⓋⒾⒹ ⓈⒾⓂⓄⓃ

Their handlers have really lost control here. - Altruistic Librarian

america needs her ... more chaos is necessary ... - Gregory Lent

I really enjoy watching McCain's body language. He looks like he's expecting a hand grenade to go off in the chair next to him at any moment, a talking hand grenade. - Paul Denlinger

when she says 'terrorist' I keep thinking of South Park - Stewart Rogers

Holy cow...this is simply stunning. I can't believe what I am watching!! OMG! Awful!! This is almost a joke isn't it? but it's not, so i am in awe - Susan Beebe

The lead-in to the header is so appropos. THIS is what people want running the country? I'm truly flabbergasted. I'd vote for Ron Paul over this. - Cyndy

Wow. Could they be any worse at politics? - Brandon Titus

This clip makes me proud...to be Canadian. - Stephen Pierzchala

I would vote for Ron Paul anyway. Period. Most of what he says makes more sense than these pseudo-change 'establishment' characters. - Ian May

Now, I can't wait for SNL to parody this. Or is it so bad it is impossible to make more fun of? - Altruistic Librarian

I think if SNL did this it probably wouldn't be as funny, they could show the actual interview and get as many laughs - Arthur Guy

snl idea ... play it like it should have been if palin were smarter .. let the straight play set up the contrast, a kind of reverse humor -