Brains on accomplishment, panic, sex, religion, and politics.

[elfs]

Zen To Done

Since everyone liked my link to Zen Habits on Friday, let me point you to Zen To Done, the original article that discusses how to actually get things done without killing yourself.

The best explanation of the economic crisis yet.

Normally, I don't listen to This American Life. The episodes are droll, excessively earnest, and boring. But Alex Blumberg and Alex Davidson, who also host the Planet Money podcast, do an exceptional job of tracking down exactly what happened in the market that caused the panic we saw last week.

An earlier episode explains how the mortgage crisis fed into the seize-up of market capital.

The map of human sexualities [NSFW]

I just love this map. Even better, I think it would be fun on a dartboard. "Let's try..." Maybe with some veto powers, of course. (via Funos!)

It's not an expression of religion, it's a virtuous statement!

Also on Friday I mentioned the Freshwater case out of Ohio, and now his lawyer has made just about the most bizarre argument yet to allow teachers to proseletyze.

Freshwater apparently had posters in his classroom with Biblical verses on them. His lawyer argues, get this (1) it isn't proseletyzing to Christians because they're already converted, and (2) it isn't proseletyzing to non-Christians because they wouldn't know what the tag (i.e. "-- John 3:16") means. To both groups, therefore, they're not proselytization, they're "making virtuous statements!"

"If I decide to do it, by definition it's good policy."

Ron Suskind quotes a conversation with George Bush back in 2001.

"I don't ever want to hear you use those words in my presence again," he said.

"What words, Mr. President?"

"Bad policy," President Bush said. "If I decide to do it, by definition it's good policy. I thought you got that."

Kinda warms the cockles of your heart, don't it?

Who was John Keating?

If McCain wants to bring up Ayers, a guy Obama barely knows, then Obama has the right to pull out the Keating Five and show how McCain not only helped his buddy along, but John Keating, who went to jail for his misdeeds, said up front that he "sincerely hoped" that the money he'd given McCain had bought him some influnce.

S&M filmmaker says "Bush does it," gets slapped down anyway

Sigh Max Hardcore was found guilty of creating and distributing obscenity, which means that he's off to jail for a few years and is subject to huge fines. This despite his actors' all saying it was acting, and the lawyers claiming that the acts depicted were significantly less than those described as "humiliating" or "injurious" according to current US military guidelines.

McCain writes off old people

Brilliant beyond words. Obama's attacks on his plan to tax healthcare benefits has apparently hurt, because now he's announced that he's going to leave in the healthcare deductions, but will cut into Medicaid and Medicare to make up the difference and remain "revenue neutral."

Uh, oh, Sarah.

I promised no more Sarah Palin, but this is important. For weeks, people have been stonewalling the investigation into whether or not Sarah Palin abused her power as governor in going after her brother-in-law. Now, seven officials who previously said they would not answer subpoenas have agreed to answer the subpoenas. And an Alaskan state judge has dismissed GOP attempts to have the investigation frozen.

Comments

[mouser.livejournal.com]

That map should have hotlinks.

I don't even know what some of those things ARE!

[mg4h.livejournal.com]

I'm embarassed to admit I know or have heard of ALL of them.

Ye gods.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Most of the ones that I don't know are "off shore" or behind the "Impassible Mountains" to the north. The rest I probably just don't know the name.

I do find it amusing that I know the guy that originated one of the... cities? The Dread Kosh Flogger.