Don't be so hard on Roberts, He drew the short starw...

The conservative judges are a smart bunch.  They remembered that the primary mission here is to defeat Obama and the democrats in the November elections.  Lose a battle to win a war.  Smart.  Clever.  Ruthless.

There was a backroom meeting at the court and Roberts drew the short straw.  Plain and simple - this is how the vote had to go.  Roberts has provided three large chunks of red meat to the republican party:

- Activist courts and judges have to be controlled
- We have to elect Romney to overturn Obamacare
- Obamacare is a tax

It was served up on a silver platter.  Watch Fox for 10 minutes.  These themes are repeated ad nauseum.  Even Fox played along by initially, incorrectly announcing that Obamacare had been overturned.

The conservative justices best move is the last one.  The first two were pretty obvious, but the last one was pure genius.  While voting with the majority he managed to reframe the healthcare law in exactly opposite terms from the democrats position.

Honor the true political operative for sacrificing himself for the cause.  I applaud you sir.  Well played.  Smart.  Clever.  Ruthless.

Oil Markets... WTF

This will give you a headache or put you to sleep...  The complexity of the real economy is fracking crazy!  Not sure about a collapse, but the mechanics of commodity markets - oye!

"The outcome would be a financial ‘lease’ of oil by BP to GSCI investors and the monetisation of part of BP’s oil inventory. Such agreements in relation to bilateral physical oil transactions are typically concluded privately, and are invisible to the organised markets. However, any risk management contracts which an intermediary such as Goldman Sachs may enter into as a counter-party to both a fund and a producer are visible on the futures exchanges."

Yikes!

> Click to read more <

Street Art Belfast Ireland

There are murals all over Belfast.  Themes are mostly political, with pictorials of the time of "Troubles".  Many are now turning to the topic of peace.

I found this one near St. Anne's Cathedral.  Very cool!  Love the colors.


> Click for Picasa album of the painting <








> More about Belfast murals <

What's the deal with Graham? Reason?

Is there a crack...

Graham says the debt crisis is so severe that the tax pledge — which says no tax loopholes can be eliminated unless every dollar raised by closing  loopholes goes to tax cuts -- has got to go.

"When you eliminate a deduction, it's okay with me to use some of that money to get us out of debt. That's where I disagree with the pledge," said Graham.

> Click for more <

Who Knew - Eating Chicken In the US Is So Confusing

Funny!
The Atlantic's Max Fisher does a review of foreign tour guides to the USA and finds in them an interesting insight into how America is viewed outside the USA. Travellers are advised that the real price for restaurant food is 20% higher than advertised ("You have to calculate 20%, write it under the subtotal, and sum to arrive at the real price. Taxis work the same way."), using hands or utensils depends on how chicken is cooked, to be punctual, and to let Americans lead when it comes to hugging and cheek-kissing.
> Click here to read more <

Share or Die - how 20 somethings can survive the econopocalypse

"Share or Die" is a new anthology from Shareable.net (whose mandate is to promote sharing in all its guises), written by 20-somethings struggling through austerity and econopocalypse, who find in sharing a solution to some of their problems. I was privileged to write the book's foreword, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. You can buy a copy or get a PDF for free -- all the book's publishers ask is that you tweet the fact that you've gotten a copy yourself.

> Click to down load <

Originally on www.boingboing.com

Goodnight iPad

Funny parody of a classic.

NASA | SDO's Ultra-high Definition View of 2012 Venus Transit

Measuring the Distance to the Stars

The Universe is absolutely huge and it's really amazing that we're able to look up from this tiny, little planet and actually measure the distance to things which are so incredibly far away. But how do we measure the distance to the stars?

Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary Fireworks Celebration