http://brain-terminal.com/ The full feed of Brain-Terminal.com posts and Twitter links - Edited by Evan Coyne Maloney Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:30:10 -0500 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en "After a while, people who pay their bills on time start to feel like suckers. I think we’ve reached that point now." http://bit.ly/Ae10Cu Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:50:00 -0500 "See this big stack of unclaimed telephone books? NOBODY WANTS THEM." http://bit.ly/wU9f6W Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:31:24 -0500 "Now is the time to spread hate, hatred for the rich." http://bit.ly/yVqclc Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:26:57 -0500 For President Obama to be re-elected, he'll have to win every state where his approval was at least 43.7% in 2011 http://bit.ly/wMhxDK Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:21:30 -0500 From Voting Present to Checking Boxes http://thedc.com/weMP4d Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:00:01 -0500 Government approves $1.7 billion plan for train to LAX airport...and the train doesn't get closer than 1 mile from LAX http://bit.ly/zk0Vyn Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:11:20 -0500 Obama appointee proposing to let union bosses get employee names, phone numbers & addresses from non-union companies http://bit.ly/ADCytu Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:10:37 -0500 Jon Corzine may have lost $1.2 billion of his investors' money, but he still found $500,000 for the Obama campaign http://bit.ly/y7X6yw Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:33:10 -0500 The Onion: Social Security Reform Bill Encourages Americans To Live Faster, Die Younger http://onion.com/y37j1W Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:41:15 -0500 Global warming activists pushing weathermen to discuss global warming in forecasts, seek to purge the non-compliant http://thedc.com/z44uRh Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:12:44 -0500 Convoluted tax law leads to court ruling in which X-Men comic book characters are officially declared "not human" http://bit.ly/wnTi2g Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:35:02 -0500 "The more things we 'do together' as a government, the fewer things we’re allowed to do together in other spheres" http://nyti.ms/y9RpVS Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:25:32 -0500 Occupy Oakland breaks into City Hall, smashes glass, sprays graffiti, burns American flag; says actions are a "right" http://bit.ly/wHFlc8 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:02:56 -0500 Congressional Budget Office: Government employees get better pay and benefits than private-sector workers http://bit.ly/x78DhA Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:04:49 -0500 Paul Krugman, 2002: "In the years ahead Enron, not 9/11, will be seen as the greater turning point in U.S. society." http://on.wsj.com/AxF2Ol Sun, 29 Jan 2012 16:44:00 -0500 Politico: "One senior staffer at Reuters described the episode to me as a 'fiasco,' another as a 'disgrace'" http://politi.co/yz7bbI Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:06:22 -0500 Newspaper accidentally demonstrates one way in which physical paper is inferior to the Web http://bit.ly/xC5S5H Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:42:44 -0500 Reuters issues five corrections after flawed hit piece of Florida Senator Marco Rubio http://bit.ly/xRxqlO Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:46:50 -0500 NYC to correct "SHCOOL X-NG" sign outside high school http://nyp.st/yO7kdA Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:37:58 -0500 Recently, I brought a camera and a few multiple-choice questions to Zuccotti Park, where I conducted a quiz game with some of the Occupy Wall Street protesters. As a reward for getting the answers right, contestants were able to choose among several options for prizes. Unfortunately, one gentleman in the audience apparently did not appreciate the prize selections made by his fellow protesters, so he disrupted the game, bear-hugged me, grabbed the question cards out of my hand and attempted to run off with them before I stopped him. You can watch the video embedded below, or visit YouTube: Click through to the video page to see footnotes for the questions in the quiz. http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2011/11/07/my-heavily-edited-video-of-a-good-natured-stroll-amongst-the-occupiers-of-zuccotti-park-which-is-a-few-blocks-north-and-slightly-to-the-west-of-wall-street-in-new-york-city Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:16:58 -0500 InsideAcademia.tv’s Andy Nash recently interviewed me via Skype, and the interview is now available online: We discuss the history of campus political correctness, what inspired me to make the film Indoctrinate U, and the effects of the continued politicization of academia. http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2011/10/10/insideacademia-tv-interview Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:57:54 -0400 Remember: This website was barely three weeks old when the attacks happened, and at the time, I wrote about what it was like to be in New York City that day, and the day after. And over the weeks that followed, friends and online acquaintances sent me pictures to post online, each doing their part to preserve [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2011/09/09/a-video-memorial-for-september-11th-2001a-video-memorial-for-september-11th-2001 Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:26:30 -0400 1992/2008: A charismatic Democrat portraying himself as a centrist is elected President. 1992-1994/2008-2010: Democratic President sheds centrist image by tacking to the left during his first two years. 1993: Democratic President fails at getting his signature healthcare restructuring bill passed. / 2010: Democratic President succeeds at getting his signature healthcare restructuring bill passed. 1994: Republicans take over the [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/11/03/a-fork-in-the-road Wed, 03 Nov 2010 00:58:09 -0400 Not too long ago, taking to the streets to protest your government was considered a patriotic act. It's true! But it seems that publicly airing your grievances stopped being patriotic right around noon on January 20th, 2009. Once President Obama was sworn in, protesting became incitement to violence. If you've opened up a newspaper or watched a cable news program in the past week or so, you've probably seen members of the media painting Tea Party activists as dangerous bigots. That's because disagreeing with President Obama on issues like government spending and high taxes makes you a racist, you see. What's interesting about the media's latest freak-out is that there were radicals a-plenty under President Bush. They protested in the streets. They talked openly about revolution and killing. But oddly, the violent imagery used by people claiming to be advocates for peace never registered with the media. They were too busy fawning over Cindy Sheehan. Why the difference in coverage? Did the media cheerlead protests against President Bush to hurt him politically? Are they trying to marginalize the increasingly powerful Tea Party movement because they favor President Obama's agenda? One thing's for sure: If there is such a thing as dangerous rhetoric, then the media is at least one president too late in reporting the story. Don't believe me? Well, then let's take a trip down memory lane... http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/03/31/a-trip-down-memory-lane Wed, 31 Mar 2010 03:38:15 -0400 When Barack Obama decided to launch his political career in the living room of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, he tacitly endorsed using violence as a political tactic. And when two staunch allies of the Democratic Party—the SEIU and ACORN—drove busloads of protesters to the private homes of AIG executives, just days later, President Obama [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/03/25/once-they-encouraged-the-pitchforks-now-democrats-are-frightened-of-them Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:48:37 -0400 As relayed by Stephen Bainbridge: One day shortly after the Second World War ended, Winston Churchill and Labour Party Prime Minister Clement Attlee encountered one another at the urinal trough in the House of Common’s men’s washroom. Attlee arrived first. When Churchill arrived, he stood as far away from him as possible. Attlee said, “Feeling [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/31/winston-churchill-quote-of-the-day Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:22:11 -0500 The Photo of the Day, via Don Surber: Photo credit: Robert Philabaum http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/28/bargain-bin-hope-and-change Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:35:17 -0500 The New York Times is on the receiving end of a very good point: To the Editor: In “The Court’s Blow to Democracy” (editorial, Jan. 22), you strenuously disagree with the proposition that “corporations are just like people and entitled to the same First Amendment rights.” Every day, The New York Times Company exercises its First Amendment right [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/25/letter-of-the-day Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:40:44 -0500 Two weeks ago, I wrote, “Democrats losing Ted Kennedy’s seat would be a massive political earthquake.” Well, yesterday, the once-unthinkable happened, and the deep blue state of Massachusetts elected its first Republican senator since 1972. Today, politicians and pundits on both sides of the aisle will be spinning, assigning blame, and taking credit. Here’s my not-at-all-scientific breakdown [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/20/assessing-the-massachusetts-senate-race Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:35:50 -0500 Another tale from the annals of government competence: Someone is getting called for jury duty...but it’s no human. A family is trying to figure out how their pet cat was summonsed for jury duty. [...] [The cat’s] owners, Guy and Anna Esposito, think they may know the source of the mix up: [the cat] really is a member of [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/11/a-furry-jury-of-your-peers Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:18:59 -0500 CBS News reports: Less than a month after major Nidal Hasan allegedly killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, the Pentagon’s top intelligence officer sent the White House a report detailing an earlier failure to connect the dots. It reads like a dress rehearsal for the Detroit bomber case, reports CBS News chief national security correspondent [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/01/08/why-wars-shouldnt-be-fought-in-court Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:22:50 -0500 My documentary film Indoctrinate U—which analyzes the attacks on free speech and free thought on politically correct college campuses—will be shown on the Documentary Channel two more times in the coming weeks. The first airing will be Thursday, December 10th at 2:50PM (Eastern). The second showing is on Friday, December 18th at 5:00PM (Eastern). The Documentary Channel is [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/12/05/indoctrinate-u-on-tv-two-more-times Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:15:35 -0500 Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto noticed something interesting about the priorities of the Associated Press: An Associated Press dispatch, written by Erica Werner and Richard Alonso-Zaldivar, compares the House and Senate ObamaCare bills. We’d like to compare this dispatch to the AP’s dispatch earlier this week “fact checking” Sarah Palin’s new book. Here goes: Number of [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/11/20/press-priorities Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:16:49 -0500 As a bit of a typography geek, I laughed at myself for having noticed many of the things mentioned in this New York Times article. (The sloppy spacing of the word “lean” on that subway sign has always annoyed me.) I posted a link to the Times piece on my Facebook page, and it ignited a [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/11/17/font-memories Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:56:03 -0500 Yesterday, two states held elections for governor. Last year, both states voted to elect President Obama. Now, a year after The Ascension of The One, in both states, Republican gubernatorial candidates won handily. In Virginia, Republican candidate Bob McDonnell beat Democrat Creigh Deeds by more than 17%.* This in a recently-trending-Democrat state that Obama carried by [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/11/04/2009-elections-had-nothing-to-do-with-obama Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:40 -0500 From an e-mail that’s been circulating recently, the Joke of the Day: Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama go to heaven. God addresses Gore first. “Al, what do you believe in?” Gore replies: “Well, I believe that I won that election, but that it was your will that I did not serve. And I’ve come to understand [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/11/02/gore-clinton-and-obama-in-heaven Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:33:58 -0500 According to the NAACP, white politicians should not be permitted to represent majority-black voting populations: Leaders of the Maryland NAACP, worried that a Baltimore mayor’s criminal conviction could result in the appointment of a white or Republican leader who may not fully represent the majority black and Democratic city, are asking state lawmakers to strip the [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/10/16/a-perfect-example-of-politically-correct-bigotry Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:03:46 -0400 Months before Barack Obama formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, the name “Obama” was already being stamped on or sewn into objects of every type, and these objects could be purchased just about anywhere you happened to be standing. Keychains, buttons, hats, t-shirts were all readily available. I saw Obama skateboards and heard rumors of Obama bongs. Eventually, companies usually seen selling things like pewter gnomes and porcelain kittens got into the game, hawking commemorative coins and Obama dinner plates on late-night cable shows. http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/10/13/the-rise-and-fall-of-obamamarketing Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:22:22 -0400 Daniel Okrent, the former public editor of the New York Times, recently made some interesting comments on his old employer and the media in general. Some highlights: [T]here is a shortage of conservatives working in the news media — or, I should say, an imbalance between liberals and conservatives. The last survey I saw was on [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/30/former-new-york-times-editor-discusses-media-bias Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:51:00 -0400 Americans are aware that many reporters actively promote their own political agendas: Results from a national Sacred Heart University survey released today reveal that many news consumers believe the media played a significant role in electing President Barack Obama and that the media continue to promote his presidency. [...] “A large majority, 89.3 percent, suggested the national [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/28/americans-wise-to-the-news-medias-game Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:50:43 -0400 Jon Stewart is pretty funny going after the media in this clip: Best quote: [W]here were the real reporters on this story? You know what investigative media, see me on camera three: Where the hell were you? [...] You’re telling me that two kids from the cast of “High School Musical III” can break this story with a [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/19/jon-stewart-kicks-medias-ass-on-acorn-scandal Sat, 19 Sep 2009 14:14:31 -0400 Remembering September 11th, 2001 in video: ...and text. http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/11/remember Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:43:33 -0400 The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has placed Bucknell University on their Red Alert list, which names the schools that are the “worst offenders against liberty”: Institutions on the Red Alert list are unrepentant offenders against basic rights that are guaranteed either by the U.S. Constitution or the schools themselves, and they have policies and/or [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/10/ray-bucknell-my-alma-mater-in-worst-offenders-against-liberty-list Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:19:08 -0400 You may have heard about the uproar over President Obama’s desire to address the nation’s schoolchildren. Although the White House has not yet released the text of the speech, many people wondered whether the speech would be pushing Obama’s policy goals. The idea that the speech would be political in nature is not something that people [...] http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2009/09/04/inartful-wording-or-lame-excuse Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:56:53 -0400