Tim Riley's Blog, page 23

JARGON ATTACK: SETTLE THIS AMICABLY

East Coast West Coast

absolutely not maybe yes maybe action item by Feb 12 for joe Joe's working on the problem
bozo subcontractor
brawl design review

ignore him, he's new I'm bringing him up to speed local bar offsite facility meet me in the parking lot let's take that discussion offline
oh shit thanks for bringing that to my attention
overdesigned robust

punch his lights out constructive confrontation shut the fuck up thank you for your input shut up a minute let me share this with you
that's totally incompetent let me build on that point
unemployed consulting

follow the spec is there a spec? get out of my office let's get concensus on this one he's a jerk he's not signed on to our plan
he's a subordinate he's a team player
I'll cover your ass consider me your resource

over budget on schedule under budget we haven't started yet we finished early (no translation available)
we're done how do you feel about that?
what's your problem? I certainly understand your feelings

where's the spec? what's a spec?
where's the schedule? what's the game plan?
your plan sucks let me share my feelings on this plan

dictator facilitator do it and do it now can you sign up for this program? do it right or you're fired I'm confident you'll get it done
fuck off trust me

--via JokeIndex

LABOUR OF LUST: NICK LOWE LIVES

Sophomore year in college, Oberlin, Ohio, 1979.

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First Amendment: SLAPP and tickle

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Some solid reporting on a little-known legal tactic used against bloggers, the SLAPP attacks, from Nazanin Rafsanjani, On the Media. A previous piece on Citizens United provides the larger backdrop. Related articlesNinth Circuit Upholds Anti-SLAPP Ruling for Blogger/Griper--Sedgwick v. Delsman (ericgoldman.org)How Dan Snyder's 'Libel' Suit Against Unflattering Article Demonstrates Need For Federal Anti-SLAPP Law (techdirt.com)Defamation, SLAPP, and medicine: Doctor's Data, Inc. v. Barrett et al (inpropriapersona.com)Appeals Court Agrees: Attempt To Stifle Online Critic Gets Anti-SLAPPed Away (techdirt.com)CA Anti-SLAPP Cases Involving Consumer Reviews as Matters of Public Concern (ericgoldman.org)

DETEROIRATA XI:2

BLURB OF THE MONTH: Zizek however critiqes Hardt and Negri, somewhat unfairly contending that "Negri himself, the guru of the postmodern left, praises digital capitalism as containing in nuce all the elements of communism - one only has to drop the capitalist form and the revolutionary goal is acheived."
A JUNKIE'S LIFE FOR ME: "...Again and again and again a hotel room catches fire, sometimes just after one of Richards's houses burns - don't you just hate it when that happens? - and it's always a mouse eating through the insulation or faulty wiring...." Greil Marcus on Keith Richards' Life in the Sunday Times Supplement.
DEPT OF THE INVISIBLE LEDE: "Somehow nobody asked the most obvious question: If NPR were truly slanted toward the liberal side, why would a phony tape of a private conversation be needed as proof?" Joe Conason in TruthDig

ALMOST LOST DETROIT

--from David Hajdu's The Famous Door blog on New Republic's site.

HATE TO AGREE WITH ROBERT GATES BUT

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Late last week, at a talk he gave at West Point, Secretary of Defense Gates made the most remarkable statement. After underlining "the strategic rationale for swift-moving expeditionary forces" in the future, he added, "But in my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General MacArthur so delicately put it."

Now, if we were out of Afghanistan - win, lose, or draw - and Gates had been reflecting on the relative costs of the venture, the message would be obvious: it wasn't worth it. But we're not out; we're bogged down in a war that our generals portray as winnable in 10 years. Do we need ancient Egyptian soothsayers to interpret Gates' remarks? If no conceivable land war in central Asia in the future would be worth it, what does that say about our continued presence in Afghanistan?...(Mac Deford in Maine's Freepress)Related articlesWilliam Astore: The Afghan War and Examining Heads (huffingtonpost.com)Gates to Army: No More Wars Like Iraq (newser.com)Gates On Rumsfeld (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)

MEDIUM MASSAGE

via Illusion...

BRIAN TORFF, GEORGE SHEARING

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As a critic, I spend a lot of energy resisting both cliches and superlatives. Hyperbole be the enemy of specificity, and so on. In this instance I have no hesitation: I heard George Shearing at the Aspen Music Festival in 1979. He played a long, adventurous set with a bassist, Brian Torff, that I have never forgotten. Torff was easily THE BEST BASSIST I HAVE EVER HEARD BEFORE OR SINCE. And Shearing had an immaculate charm: only after his thrillingly crystalline glissandos did his invisibly awesome technique sink in. Treat to finally hear this 1986 Fresh Air interview broadcast yesterday, where he remembers meeting Charlie Parker, who asked for "All The Things You Are" in five sharps. Related articlesC&L's Late Nite Music Club, RIP George Shearing (crooksandliars.com)George Shearing, 'Lullaby of Birdland' Jazz Virtuoso, Dies at 91 (nytimes.com)Sir George Shearing: Musician and composer hailed as one of the finest pianists in the history of jazz (independent.co.uk)George Shearing, Jazz Pianist and 'Lullaby of Birdland' Writer, Dead at 91 (spinner.com)Jazz pianist George Shearing dies at 91 (pbpulse.com)

Elton John's Greatest Non-Hits via Rob Sheffield

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"Hercules" (Honky Château, 1972)
Elton has fun pretending to be a grits-kicking Southern boogie man, boasting "I like women and I like wine" over roadhouse piano, guitar twang, and a "doo-wop shoo-bop" chorus. It sounds like he's tipping his hat to Lynyrd Skynyrd -- except their debut album was still a year away. -- Sheffield in Rolling Stone
And the title character doubles as a feline. Once he got all the faux western crap out of his system we totally fell for his impish asexual Pillsbury doughboy cartoon. Related articlesElton John Urges Billy Joel: Go to Rehab! (thehollywoodgossip.com)Billy Joel Responds To Elton John! (perezhilton.com)"Sir Elton John Tells Billy Joel To Go To Rehab" and related posts (imnotobsessed.com)

Scripting News: Does Assange have an agenda?

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Does Julian Assange have an agenda? We've heard the question so many times, usually asked by American media, whose agendas we are intimately familiar with. My answer, on reflection, is yes, I think he has one, and he has said what it is. And it's not what the big media people insinuate that it is, although that's not usually made very clear. If they think he has an inappropriate agenda, perhaps they should say specifically what they think it is, and back it up.   
In this [last] Sunday's interview on 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft asked if he is an activist. Assange said: "We are free press activists. It's not about saving the whales. It's about giving people the information they need to support whaling or not support whaling. Why? That is the raw ingredients that is needed to make a just and civil society. And without that you're just sailing in the dark." -- Dave Winer in Scripting News. Related articlesAssange on 60 Minutes: 'We Have All These Banks Squirming, Thinking Maybe It's Them' (crooksandliars.com)Julian Assange on '60 Minutes' (theawl.com)WikiLeaks Founder Assange Tells 60 Minutes: "Our Values Are Those Of The U.S. Revolution" (techcrunch.com)Julian Assange and the Real Failure of WikiLeaks (esquire.com)