Independent Basis

mohandasgandhi: “An individual who breaks a law that conscience...

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:42:21 -0700

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

A belated MLKJr post.

On Olbermann

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 11:42:13 -0700

Brian Tannebaum:

I don’t know why Keith Olbermann left MSNBC. I would like to think it’s because he told the wrong person to fuck off, or that he pulled the chair out from under some network executive, but whatever the reason, Countdown is gone.

I was a fan of Olbermann and of Countdown. I was a fan when sports reporting was his full time vocation and I always believed his show was one of the best written political shows on television.

Our inability to listen to those with a contrasting point of view is our shame. It is no surprise though. We live in a world where we only want to be around people who agree with us, and people who will tell us how great we are. We run from those that disagree, and form opinions based on what information to which we choose to listen.

Our nasty, violent political discourse is not based on the opinions of those in political television, it is based on our inability to listen - just listen - to those with other points of view.

We’ve now lost one of those points of view, for a little while I presume. I predict we’ll see Olbermann soon, somewhere else, maybe radio, maybe TV. There are those that are thrilled that Olbermann is gone. They will tell you various reasons why they are happy. But the real reason is clear:

They didn’t agree with him.

Although his show grew somewhat tiresome and stale at times, I enjoyed Olbermann’s intelligence, effort, and unabashed snideness.

Olbermann possesses the “damn the man” and “give’em hell” attitude and personality I appreciate.

Lawyers, Guns and Money: A large part of your constituency consists of people who attend...

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:58:00 -0700

Lawyers, Guns and Money:

A large part of your constituency consists of people who attend mega-churches and you complain about this?

"The hereditary advantage such unchecked concentration confers undermines our notions of equal..."

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 16:41:13 -0700

“The hereditary advantage such unchecked concentration confers undermines our notions of equal opportunity and turns the American dream into little more than a genetic lottery. Arguments that the existing estate tax frustrates initiative simply are nonsense. Has anybody noticed a shortage of rich people lately?”

- —Link

"Jesus. People, it’s an airplane. You get on, you sit in a chair, they take you someplace. You get..."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:38:56 -0700

“Jesus. People, it’s an airplane. You get on, you sit in a chair, they take you someplace. You get off the plane and go about your day. You do not need special clothes and pillows and stuffed animals and big stupid ass Bose headphones. Okay? Just get on the plane, sit down and shut the fuck up. Are we clear on this? Good.”

- Fake Steve Jobs

On the job market: One of my co-workers was quite a busy digital tech before the crash and we were...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:37:04 -0700

On the job market:

One of my co-workers was quite a busy digital tech before the crash and we were talking about how it got progressively more difficult after November ‘08 to sustain a freelance situation. She sort of wondered aloud why it was that some people worked straight through it and, in fact, are still working in the industry despite the fact that so many people, including the two of us, more or less dropped out for the time being for a less relevant (if not more stable) pursuit. I’ve been watching a lot of documentaries on the military channel lately, and it struck me that there’s something of a parallel in the randomness of it all.

“It’s kind of like war,” I said. “A lot of people get shot, but some don’t.”

davidcho: LeBron rapping along with Eminem’s verse in ‘Forever’...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:34:24 -0700

davidcho:

LeBron rapping along with Eminem’s verse in ‘Forever’ during a timeout with 28 seconds left in last night’s game against the Lakers

JUST IN CASE YOU WERE EVER WONDERING WHY LEBRON IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BASKETBALL PLAYERS OF ALL TIME.

Window openings in the first level outer corridor of the...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:24:00 -0700

Window openings in the first level outer corridor of the Nebraska State Capitol.

"wordpress is a blog, tumblr is a conversation."

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:18:25 -0700

“wordpress is a blog, tumblr is a conversation.”

Oddly sexual if read in the correct tone: [Blake] Lively looks at my apples, which I am peeling and...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:17:02 -0700

Oddly sexual if read in the correct tone:

[Blake] Lively looks at my apples, which I am peeling and chopping with a knife that could cut a bicycle in half. I’ve sliced my thumb a little bit, but I don’t think she sees the little slit of blood. But then she stares at my hands. I ask her what’s wrong.

“I’m just making sure you’re doing it right.”

She picks at my pile of sliced apples.

“By the way, I’m not having any of this nonsense,” she says, pointing to a few flecks of peel that I missed. “No peel.” Then she starts chopping, too, the two of us, with the sharpest knives you can imagine, side by side, chopping apples.

Lively stops chopping and looks up in thought, and it seems appropriate for me to stop, too.

Ben just dropped several notches in my book: Affleck had never seen Gossip Girl when he hired...

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:13:00 -0700

Ben just dropped several notches in my book:

Affleck had never seen Gossip Girl when he hired [Blake Lively for The Town].

pastspresent: To the guy who mugged me and my girlfriend on Monday night “I was the guy...

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:44:21 -0700

pastspresent:

To the guy who mugged me and my girlfriend on Monday night

“I was the guy wearing the black Burberry jacket that you demanded that I hand over, shortly after you pulled the knife on me and my girlfriend, threatening our lives. You also asked for my girlfriend’s purse and earrings.

First, I’d like to apologize for your embarrassment; I didn’t expect you to actually crap in your pants when I drew my pistol after you took my jacket. The evening was not that cold, and I was wearing the jacket for a reason. My girlfriend had just bought me that Kimber Model 1911 .45 ACP pistol for my birthday, and we had picked up a shoulder holster for it that very evening. Obviously you agree that it is a very intimidating weapon when pointed at your head … Isn’t it?!”

"As nice as the Nook is, like the Kindle, it will probably be obsolete long before paper books are."

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:48:58 -0700

“As nice as the Nook is, like the Kindle, it will probably be obsolete long before paper books are.”

- Time Mag Review

On Gaga You probably think Lady Gaga is this generation’s Britney, but that’s where...

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:44:15 -0700

On Gaga

You probably think Lady Gaga is this generation’s Britney, but that’s where you’re wrong: Lady Gaga scares the crap out of some people (myself included) and isn’t really palatable to all of America. Sure, she’s obviously a huge superstar with a gigantic following, but for better or worse she’s “Like A Virgin”-era Madonna: a really good pop star who, at this point, is much more committed to creating spectacle rather than just making hit music. It’s just a different lane to go down.

Life.

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:44:02 -0700

Life.

LED stoplights are real cool these days, literally. And that is apparently a dangerous problem: The...

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:41:42 -0700

LED stoplights are real cool these days, literally. And that is apparently a dangerous problem:

The woman died and four other people were injured in the accident, which was among the first to raise concerns here and around the Midwest about a relatively new driving hazard related to inclement weather: traffic signals, like those in Oswego, that use LEDs.

The new lighting is part of a fast-growing trend in environmentalism. LED bulbs use less energy, last longer and are more visible than their predecessors. They are also known to require less maintenance. But they do not emit nearly as much heat as conventional bulbs, allowing snow and ice to accumulate more easily in certain conditions.

Kinda like the all too quiet hybrid cars.

I’m not up on my NYC gay related politics which probably explains why I didn’t know...

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:38:46 -0700

I’m not up on my NYC gay related politics which probably explains why I didn’t know this:

Gay dance clubs are a rare find in the city because, as explained by Tricia Romano in a November 2002 Village Voice article “The Safety Dance: You Can’t Dance If You Want To,” former Mayor Rudy Giuliani enforced cabaret licenses granted to establishments that can serve liquor and allow dancing. The connection between dance, alcohol, and gay culture is well documented. So that needn’t be articulated here. Giuliani killed off much of gay culture, effectively if not outright. There are plenty of bars—don’t get me wrong. But it’s not the same as a dance club.

What the TSA Can Learn from Internet Marketers

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:35:17 -0700

What the TSA Can Learn from Internet Marketers

compound that last link with this

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:44:38 -0700

compound that last link with this

anyone that thinks the average lawyer makes a buttload of money should read the comments to this question.

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:43:50 -0700

anyone that thinks the average lawyer makes a buttload of money should read the comments to this question.