Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Only Read This If You Are a Parent of School Age Children

Posted on October 10, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

The Gadflyer explains Why Sally Foster is evil.

(The dread name “Sally Foster” won't mean much to you if you don't have school-age kids, or if you live in a country that adequately funds its schools, so just skip it.)

I mean, I knew Sally Foster was evil: it's overpriced gift wrap, albeit of good quality. Their MLM-style marketing campaign promises kids “rewards” like TVs if they sell several hundred dollars of Sally Foster junk to their parents' friends. From which I conclude that there's lots of money not going to the school but into Sally's pocket.

But. But. Lately of The Carlyle Group???

Posted in Shopping | 4 Comments

Experimental Comments Feed

Posted on October 10, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

I've added an experimental comments feed suitable for the RSS blogreading tool of your choice. Comments recursively welcomed.

If this works I suppose I'll XML but I don't think there's an obvious way to make the comments feed do that, so the comments feed will lag somewhat.

Generally, I've been finding the blog is getting slower as the database grows. Some updates, and especially attempts to use MT-Blacklist to kill large amounts of spam, cause timeout errors when I exceed some limit set by my host…a limit they won't increase unless I get a box of my own, which would raise my costs tenfold. I gather this slowdown is a known MT 2.6.x behavior. For now I intend to live with it. In the fullness of time some sort of major upgrade or migration may be in order. In my copious spare time. Ha.

Posted in Discourse.net | 3 Comments

Tinfoil, Revisted

Posted on October 10, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Hey, if you can't have a Bush boom, have a Bush bulge!

Daily Kos argues there might be something to the idea that Bush had something hidden under his jacket during the first debate, relying primarily on the Bush campaign's initial reaction to a NYT query about the bulge: a false accusation that the pictures had been doctored. Cryptome, meanwhile, sees tinfoil everywhere and has the techie details, too, including 28 8×10 color glossy photos, sadly lacking, however, in circles and arrows.

Update: Digby explains the Battle of the Bulge — GW Bush's tailor is to blame! Yes it's all because, GW Bush uses a very expensive French tailor.

Posted in Politics: Tinfoil | Comments Off on Tinfoil, Revisted

Arizona Libertarians Seek to Block Third Presidential Debate

Posted on October 10, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

This sounds like a plausible argument to me, but it's not at all my field:

Arizona LP files suit to stop state funding of presidential debate: Arizona Libertarians have filed a lawsuit that could stop Arizona State University from sponsoring the third presidential debate between George Bush and Sen. John Kerry, scheduled for Oct. 13. The lawsuit maintains that by spending up to $2 million to sponsor the event in Tempe, the university is making an illegal campaign contribution to the Republican and Democratic parties.

“It's a clear case of misusing state funds,” said David Euchner, attorney for the Arizona Libertarian Party (AZLP).

“Arizona recognizes three political parties,” Euchner continued. “A debate which included all three of those parties would be a legitimate expenditure on education and public information. A debate including only two of the three candidates is a partisan campaign commercial — and an illegal donation to partisan political associations.”

Having said it's plausible, if the money has been paid over, I don't see what they can do about it except set an Arizona precedent for any next time, unless Arizona has funny third-party restitution laws. But if the money hasn't been paid over…

Posted in Law: Everything Else | 5 Comments

Jacques Derrida, RIP

Posted on October 9, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Jacques Derrida is dead. I never got to meet him, but my brother once interviewed him, and produced what amounts to a journalist's intro to Derrida and deconstruction.

Posted in Dan Froomkin, Kultcha | Comments Off on Jacques Derrida, RIP

Kevin Drum Says Last’s Night’s Big Lie Was About the Economy

Posted on October 9, 2004 by Michael Froomkin

Kevin Drum argues convincingly that during the debate Bush uttered “one of the great whoppers of all time” regarding the economy when he said that “Non-homeland, non-defense discretionary spending was raising at 15 percent a year when I got into office. And today it's less than 1 percent, because we're working together to try to bring this deficit under control.”

No such thing:

Outside of the personal fantasyland Bush seems to inhabit, the truth is simple: spending of all kinds has skyrocketed under his administration and the Republican Congress. They've increased spending twice as fast as Clinton, three times as fast as Bush 1, and four times as fast as Carter. And remember: this doesn't include defense spending, entitlement spending, or homeland security. 9/11 and Medicare have nothing to do with it.

See the whole post, and the great chart, for all the details.

Posted in Politics: US: 2004 Election | Comments Off on Kevin Drum Says Last’s Night’s Big Lie Was About the Economy