Somali pirates seize ninth vessel in 12 days - Times Online

Somali pirates seize ninth vessel in 12 days - Times Online Decline in global powers, rise of renegades. Will be repeated on a micro level as well.

Force the Spring

The more things "change" the more they stay the same.  Worth reading Clinton's first Inaugural Address as a preview of Obama's speech.

Dog and Pony

Andersen Cooper, covering the DNC, said something.  In essence, he said: the convention is supposed to be a dog and pony show, but for some reason they are passing these resolutions and signing stuff.  Where are the dogs and ponies? 

Tactics Vs. Strategy

The HRC campaign memos do not point to a failure in strategy as much as a catastrophe of execution. The defining battle with Obama, we don't think, was "change" versus "experience", but strategy versus tactics. HRC's strategy was just fine, but the campaign's tactical team was broken.

It is instructive that the critique on Obama was/is "all sizzle and no steak", but in the meat and potatoes of campaign execution he took the cake. (Is it lunch time here at the DSBPI?)

Saudi Capacity

We will only learn how much excess Saudi oil supply exists if Israel attacks Iran and the house of Saud is called on to flood the oil market to keep prices from spiraling upwards. The Saudi's will heed this call, confirming their tacit approval of the military action and showing the world what peak oil might really look like.

Hillary's Rove Strategy

Hillary's latest attack on economists is redolent of the Bush "gut/mind" dichotomy as expertly skewered by Colbert:

"Guys like us, we're not some brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut. Right, sir? "

-and-

"I'm sorry, I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist, telling us what is or isn't true or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American! I'm with the President. Let history decide what did or did not happen. "

Clinton Facing Narrower Path to Nomination - New York Times

Clinton Facing Narrower Path to Nomination - New York Times: "“The superdelegates are not going to really decide until June,” Mr. Penn said. “He’s just going through a vetting and testing process that didn’t happen a year ago and is now happening. The whole vetting and testing process will make a big difference.”"

How many times did Penn poll test the phrase "vetting and testing?"

Big Brother and "Look at Me"

The big fear about the future (from back when) was that we would suffer under a "big brother" government. No doubt, new technology has enabled this reality.

But either because of our already assumed lack of privacy or as an ironic "tweak" of the establishment's power of surveillance, we have become more willing than ever to reveal what was once private. The "Look at Me" generation has embraced public sharing of private communication on Facebook message boards, in broadcasting their lives in real time on http://www.qik.com/, telling the world what they are doing "right now" on Twitter, where they are on RadiusIM or what they look like on Flickr.

The Big Brother Society, notably, is one enabled not by an oppressive government, but by an exhibitionist populace.

HIllary's Gore Moment

At the 2000 DNC convention Gore said:
"And I stand here tonight as my own man. And I want you to know me for who I truly am."

And last night in New Hampshire, Hillary said:
"Over the last week, I listened to you and, in the process, I found my own voice."

...Two politicians trying to escape the shadow of Bill.

Cry

The Hillary Cry is the opposite of the Dean Scream. The scream made Dean look insane, the cry made Hillary look normal.