Golden But Listless January 3, 2012March 26, 2017 2012 Welcome back. While you were at Sugarbush (the beach? your mom’s?), I waxed melodramatic on the future of golden retrievers and on the listlessness of some liberals. I know you’re busy, but as the price of your 2012 subscription, I ask that you take a minute to read them. To get two extra months free, forward them to your friends. We need everyone engaged in setting our country’s course. Speaking of which: IT’S THIS SIMPLE The cure for our economic malaise is a World War II scale effort to build not things that blow up, to beat the Germans; but things that last 50 or 100 years, to modernize our infrastructure. Like weatherizing 100 million homes and office buildings; repairing 154,000 degraded bridges; modernizing 35,000 schools; replacing easily-disrupted dirty energy supplies with localized clean solar and wind; upgrading our electric grid; and dredging our waterways (oh, yes, please). All of which will make us more efficient, prosperous, and secure. Can’t afford to do it? Like winning World War II, we can’t afford not to do it. And the economic boost will ultimately pay for itself many times over. It’s time for the opposition party to stop opposing this. PRIVACY Pete Roehrig: “Just checked out showmystreet.com. Naturally, when I type in my home address in Allentown, there’s an Obama campaign sign in the front yard. Way to go Mom!” Chris Anderson: “The site uses Google’s Street View for its images. I thought it was interesting that my town of Champaign, the home of the University of Illinois and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications – and the origin of many of today’s technological wonders, including the web browsers which developed from Mosaic – has very little Street View coverage. In fact, there was virtually no useful satellite resolution to the area until a few years ago. I was beginning to think there was some kind of secret shroud protecting us. My own street is not covered by yet, but I can see enough detail to know that the aerial was taken on a summer day I was not home in 2010: My car is not there, the yard has dried up to mostly weeds, and I recognize the tops of the Castor Bean plants in my garden. It’s amazing to see the changes in technology from the 1970’s, when I learned about email, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and other technologies we take for granted today, with the University’s networked PLATO system.” Rob Shook: “A couple of years ago, I opted out of Google’s Street View for my address; my Lexus SUV was parked in the driveway and its license number was visible. I’m not CRAZED over privacy, but I am aware of it and I have learned to trust the feeling when the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. No one needed to know that my SUV, with that license number, was either a) stored in the garage, or b) at the grocery store and then no one was home. Google now blurs faces and license numbers, but back when I requested to be removed, the entire image was removed. Until, perhaps, the next time they update their images in my area. You can request further blurring, removal of ‘inappropriate content’ or a further review of any image here.” ☞ More smart ideas from Rob tomorrow. For now, go read about golden retrievers and listless liberals.
Happy New Year! January 2, 2012March 26, 2017 THE ARTIST The stock market is closed today. Go see “The Artist.” The only three things to know about it are: it’s a silent movie (with a great soundtrack), it’s in black and white, and you will love it. GOOD MORNING, SUNSHINE A bright way to start the New Year. Kevin Rasmussen: “This cool map shows when solar becomes cheaper than grid electricity.” ☞ Just a few more years. 2011 IN 100 SECONDS Here. ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE Oh. My. God. Type in any address and see the street level view or the aerial view. ShowMyStreet.com. I know some of this isn’t new. But I could see the flowers on the bush in front of my house. It’s all gotten amazingly fast and comprehensive. (In terms of privacy, I guess it’s worth noting that nothing is visible here that wasn’t visible to anyone walking down the public street. So is privacy being eroded?) GOLDEN RETRIEVERS Warren Kaplan: “By coincidence, Charles Krauthammer’s column in last Thursday’s Washington Post makes a very similar point to your own: our planet is in danger of oblivion (from nuclear war or biological warfare), and all that can save us is if we somehow manage to hang onto a functioning political system that has the right values. Read his column. You will like it: creative and provocative. (And I have not previously been a Krauthammer fan.)” ☞ Yes. Terrific.