Can nuclear terrorists be deterred?
on Nov 21, 2009 in nuclear weapons attribution deterrence disarmament Islamic nuclear forensics terrorist groups THE DEPROLIFERATOR — As you no doubt know, deterrence is the product of a balance of power — nuclear arsenals, in other words, that are roughly equal. Constrained by the eye-for-an-eye principle, but to the umpteenth power, states armed w...

Tournament of Rock – Legends: The Beatles vs Elvis Costello
on Nov 20, 2009 in Tournament of Rock music Baby Boomer Elvis Costello Gen X Hollywood Bowl Neil Young The Beatles the greatest band of all time U2 Results: It was only a matter of time: there are now officially no Gen Xers left in the ToR, as a great Boomer legend waxes U2 … by nearly a two-to-one margin. Wow, on so many levels. The numbers: #5 Neil Young 65%; #1 U2 35%. NY moves on to th...

Climategate? Not likely.
on Nov 20, 2009 in ClimaTweet conservatives environment global warming news politics science climate change climate disruption CRU East Anglia Ed Morissey Michelle Malkin RealClimate In case you were unaware, hackers got into the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) servers and published hundreds to thousands of documents and private communications from CRU climate scientists that pertain to climate disru...

FEC unwisely OKs return to cheap private jet travel by members of Congress
on Nov 20, 2009 in Congress Democrats House of Representatives Republicans Scholars & Rogues Senate campaign finance capitalism corruption crime democracy elections government lobbying politics public interest FEC Let’s say you’re Sen. John Dough. You’re running for re-election. You need money. Often, you have to travel to where the money is to get it. Say, in Los Angeles. So you fly. But you wish to avoid flying commercial. Too much time was...

Echoblowcation: Nota Bene #2009-41
on Nov 18, 2009 in Scholars & Rogues 23 ABC News Afghanistan African-Americans airplanes american indians analysis animal cruelty Apollo 11 Apple arlington banks basketball batman bats Bill Gates bizarre black writers blacks blowjobs Blue Dogs bogus Book Reviews books breakdancing Brian Ross broadway Bush business cannabis casale cats censorship charities Charlie Crist chiefs child labor children climate change colorado humane society comets computers Congress corruption country music darius rucker deforestation Democrats Denmark deregulation derivatives Devo dine dishonesty dishonor dope douchebags economics economy elections elitism emissions energy entertainment equine therapy evil expenses fake fatherhood fellatio financial reform Florida fly ash flying football forests Fox News frasca free market freight funny George W. Bush Glass-Steagall global warming Goldman Sachs GOP gorilla suits graphic novels grass Greed greenhouse gases hate health care hee haw Henry Liu Hillary Clinton hoops horses horseshit howard dean humor hunger hyperbole India Indians iokiyar Islam jazz jazz writers joblessness John Kerry Jon Stewart journalism Karzai Kentucky labor Larisa Alexandrovna Lebron James liars liberals lies links lloyd blankfein LRO Macs marco rubio marijuana Marine Corps Marines Marty Beckerman MAS media Michael Jackson Michael Jordan Michael Steele Microsoft Mike Sheehan mike stark MILF military money Moon moonies mothersbaugh mouse mr. mom music NASA native peoples navajo NBA news NFL nidal hasan Nota Bene oakland Obama opinion parenting Patriot Guard Riders PCs pests pets politics populists pot poverty prejudice propaganda ptsd putin racism raiders recycling reefer religion Republicans richard miniter right wing RNC rock quotes rodents Rosetta Rush Limbaugh sarcasm Saudi Arabia scientology Sean Hannity series of tubes sex sirota slang slave labor snark solar system soldiers space space exploration sports stay-at-home dads steve jobs steven burton sun myung moon superfreakonomics Taliban tech workers technology tom cruise tranquility base transportation unemployment unification church vermin Veteran's Day Veterans vince lombardi Wal-Mart Wall Street war Washington Times weed weird willard jenkins william greider wind energy women women's rights Workers xcel A few things for you NB readers: 1. NB is now numbered by year-issue instead of marked by date; 2. NB will continue to be issued weekly, but not necessarily on Monday night/Tuesday morning; 3. I liked last week’s format (quoted line from source...

What’s it Wednesday
on Nov 18, 2009 in Photography What's It Wednesday It has been my honor to host these weekly Wednesday gatherings for nearly a year. I arrived at S&R with a simple goal – I just wanted you to look. You all rose to the task every week with imagination, curiosity and humor. You made my job...

Tournament of Rock – Legends: U2 vs Neil Young
on Nov 18, 2009 in Tournament of Rock music David Bowie Neil Young Red Rocks rock & roll the greatest band of all time The Rolling Stones U2 Results: I know. It’s only rock & roll. But I like it. So, too, do our voters, although it was a pretty good race from wire to wire. The numbers: #2 The Rolling Stones 54%; #3 David Bowie 46%. The Stones move on to the Great Eight. Up next,...

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel “meh.”
on Nov 17, 2009 in Arts, Literature & Culture film popular culture 2012 Roland Emmerich Roland Emmerich has destroyed the world so many times by now that it’s become blasé. In Independence Day (1996), the writer/director had aliens raze the world’s major cities. In The Day After Tomorrow (2004), he flooded then froze the northern h...

I’ve got a mandate for the bastards
on Nov 17, 2009 in campaign finance corruption Democrats government corruption NASCAR political sponsorship political sponsorship referendum politics Republicans We’re quick to point out political corruption around the world. Afghanistan is corrupt. Iran rigs elections. Putin has his oligarchs. It’s all true, but rarely do we take a long hard look at the corruption endemic in our own politics. My...

Suck factor: the glory of violence, the horror of sexuality
on Nov 16, 2009 in Arts, Literature & Culture Religious Right United States censorship civil liberties conservatives culture film neocons sex social theory There are three mainstays in today’s Hollywood:  sex, violence and special effects. Special effects in movies, when well done, are fun.  They help us escape from our lives to enjoy tales of superheroes, mutants or alternate realities.  We tr...