Retro being in, from the Bunker in 2005. We at the Stiftung extend best wishes to everyone for safe and happy holidays. Thanks for making this tiny corner of the Net both so stimulating and cozy.
We’ll be puttering around the Bunker all through the holidays. Hope to see you then or in 2011 (can you believe that?).
To you and yours, cheers!
Mr Ca says
All the wussies in the media feeling vicariously tough by repeating Rendell’s wussie comment re football. fun co-op games for ps4
Dr Leo Strauss says
A tendency of places like FlamingParakeetPuddles is that when they write about subjects like this they bring a purity of intensity and rigor but lack a deeper grounding in the institutions in question, the region and post 1947 history. We won’t say anything here but the reality to us just sitting here is far beyond what those well meaning commentators likely imagine. Recall, Assange’s main assets are by all accounts capped at Manning’s access level, secret and below and are from only a slice of time. The historical tapestry when considered in toto? A whole different ball game from Assange’s hole cards.
Dr Leo Strauss says
Yeah, not surprised.
Comment says
Dude, sunshine daydream … goin’ where the wind blows :
http://www.counterpunch.org/assange12052006.html
Comment says
Greenwald chuckles w/delight at this – But if we were Prez, we’d regard this kind of comic book villian style of threat as an act of war against the US and allies.
http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/12/29/assange-alerts-his-hostages/
Comment says
Speaking of insiders bsing outsiders – William Galston and David Frum are on c-span this morning pitching #nolabels and saying they speak on behalf of the middle 85 percent Americans.
Comment says
While we are Assange skeptics, we have to say if there is anything that makes us sympathetic to wikileaks it’s the self serving two faced arguments against it by F. Abrams and other plugged -in insiders.
Abrams sought to protect that fraud Judy Miller from testifying but he wants the crackdown against Manning. The real difference is insiders vs. outsiders – Status games. All the reasons he gives are BS and it’s worth noting that Lind’s attack on Assange contains none of the phony arguments that Abrams lazily hauls out.
Comment says
Congrats:
http://wikileaks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/12/29/the_curious_case_of_glenn_greenwald_vs_wired_magazine
Comment says
Who is winning? Hard to say – GG makes a lot of points – He is relentless. Wired replies with many diversions, but it seems they would rather not be annoyed by GG more than they like covering up aspects of the Lamo-Manning-gate. The comments section is funny on both Wired and Salon because everyone seems perplexed by the interminable nature of the debate and the elusive nature of GG’s arguably legit point.
DrLeoStrauss says
@Comment
re the food fight, who’s winning? Anything so egregious as to be entertaining?
<– happily not paying attention.
Comment says
Very obvious tonight that Tweety really did not know who Corey Booker was and definitely did not know he was Mayor of Newark –
Comment says
Interesting food fight between Wired and Greenwald.
DrLeoStrauss says
@Comment
The people we heard on sports talk radio would really care when the Chinese students started kicking their butts in Fantasy Football, Madden and associated statistical noodling. *That* would be their Sputnik . . .
Comment says
Tweety has long been a passive agressive semi cryptic birther. We know this from common sense – Most everyone we ever met who was a birther of some sort picked up that from Tweety because Tweety always implied there was something there by offering conspicuously weak arguments disputing the smears against Obama. In addition, Tweety regularly would say Obama’s mom was a Moslem in passing in that lazy disregard for facts that is his hallmark. Hard to figure out Tweety’s motive – mostly psychological , it seems – Trying to maintain his self image as a white Philly ethnic
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/28/chris-matthews-obama-birthers_n_801818.html
Comment says
IMO – Chinese students obviously deserve respect for their discipline and achievement = That being said, those score differentials are exaggerated because they highlight schools on the coast that are magnets for good students. There’s still a billion peasants in China. IMHO, we are surprised to see the media exaggerate the admittedly inadequate performance of USA students – They scored in the middle, but people in the media (like Gail Collins) say they scored at the bottom. OTOH, there is much to improve.
DrLeoStrauss says
The Rendell comments spilled over into Sports Talk radio in a major way. We were fairly south of DC coming up along the clogged I-95 artery listening to the radio. People outside of D.C. may not realize it but the two most reviled men in the city are not politicians but Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and his new head coach, Mike Shanahan. The rage and anger directed at these two makes Ed Schultz look like Wavy Gravy.
For the last three weeks people have wanted drone attacks launched on Snyder and or Shanahan, etc. Then Rendell’s comments. And the callers were pretty much with him, while the hapless Philly Mayor’s spokesman had to talk about obscure things like public safety, etc.
The point? All during the many many hours in the car, no matter what the topic or the rotating hosts, they would make some mention, ‘and that’s why the Chinese kids do their calculus homework in the rain’, etc. At first it was for laughs but the callers and the hosts actually accepted the underlying premise that the U.S is a second tier power.
U.S. decline was an unremarkable, obvious thing to these sports fans. Their worry was what happens when the NFL puts the Super Bowl north in a few years.
Comment says
Interesting that Tweety regards Obama’s Vick statement as a social issue – In Tweety’s mind the incarceration is a social issue, but there are 50 million ex-cons in the US –
Comment says
All the wussies in the media feeling vicariously tough by repeating Rendell’s wussie comment re football.
Comment says
While we disagree with Greenwald’s endless boosterism of Assange, there is no doubt Fragos Townshend seems out of her league in this debate:
http://blogdogcicle.blogspot.com/2010/12/glenn-greenwald-vs-fran-townsend.html
Comment says
Cool Civil War spy find:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/25/civil-war-message-decoded_n_801230.html
Comment says
“Money has no influence on how Senator Baucus makes his decisions … The *only* factor that determines Senator Baucus’s votes is whether a policy is right for Montana and right for our country.”
~Kate Downen (12/26/10)
Baucus spokeswoman
Aldershot says
Happy Festivus, all! When will be the airing of the grievances? 🙂
anxiousmodernman says
Happy Festivus to all the readers and to Doc.
Comment says
Have a Happy!
Dr Leo Strauss says
Last year’s graphics was ‘traditional’ – we know the above is a bit subversive to the whole original intent, just having fun.
http://www.stiftungleostrauss.com/bunker/?p=2789