Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Iran Proposes New Talks With Europeans [New York Times: International News] 6:03:26 AM    comment []

Legit Google Earth now available for Mac OSX 10.4 and higher. (See earlier mentions.) 6:02:01 AM    comment []

Big Brother is watching you (and blowing it). Bush's illegal wiretapping program isn't just reckless and immoral -- it will actually hurt the "war on terror." [Salon] 5:56:29 AM    comment []

2002 Memo Doubted Uranium Sale Claim [New York Times: International News] 5:55:39 AM    comment []

Liberal absurdities on Iran. Perusing the liberal blogosphere over the past week, I see a lot of skepticism regarding U.S. policy towards Iran. Atrios seems convinced the Bushies are planning a reply of how Iraq played in the 2002 elections. Josh Marshall -- with strong endorsements from Brad DeLong and Matthew Yglesias -- believes the Bush administration is too incompetent to handle Iran ...  . . . UPDATE: To avoid making blanket statements about liberals and Iran, I should point out that Brad Plumer provides an interesting and liberal analysis of Iran. Plumer recommends engagement: Would security guarantees and real economic incentives from the United States convince the Iranian government to give up its nuclear program—or, at the very least, outsource its uranium enrichment to Russia? Maybe. Maybe not. What I don't understand is why this isn't worth trying. The United States would have to negotiate directly with Iran, which would contradict the Bush administration's longstanding preference not to "appease rogue regimes," true, but a little loss of face is about the worst that would come of trying. If it fails, then move on to step two. But the upsides to a serious attempt at engagement are very high. There is also this op-ed by Dariush Zahedi and Omid Memarian in last week's New York Times. . . . . [PJM - Top Stories] 5:55:03 AM    comment []

New RU Sirius podcast with mashup artist, Trademark G. . The RU Sirius Show is back with a new season of podcasts. This week, Trademark G., mashup master from Evolution Control Committee, returns. Link [Boing Boing] 5:54:28 AM    comment []

Laughter Proves Good Medicine for Heart [Scientific American] 5:53:47 AM    comment []

Are teens smart as they mob blogs?. There is an article in the Washington Post today that explores the enormously popular blogging trend among teenagers. It begins, No one under 18 would be surprised to hear that teenagers like to post their intimate thoughts and photographs online -- they've done it for years. But school administrators have begun to take notice, and some are warning students that their online activities may affect not only their safety, but also their academic and professional lives. Several viewpoints are presented in a balanced discussion. The reporters take a hard look at timely and important issues for teens, parents and schools. [Smart Mobs] 5:53:38 AM    comment []

I'm the academic wife, jealous and insecure. I'm regarded as inferior by my husband's admirers. I'm afraid I'll lose him to a brilliant and beautiful student. [Salon] 5:53:11 AM    comment []

Follow up/retraction: MPAA rips off software for "anti-piracy" site. Cory Doctorow: The MPAA's ReportPiracy site uses free software code, but fails to comply with the license. The studios talk a good line about the need to respect copyright, but it's their copyright they care about -- I'd love to see a No Electronic Theft Act suit against the MPAA for this. Link (via Digg) Update: Jeff "If you follow the "Acknowledgments" link at the bottom of the page, you'll find a link to Steve Griffin's site, thanking him." [Boing Boing] 5:53:04 AM    comment []

Beltway Blogroll Doesn’t Make Better Journalism. Danny Glover (National Journal): Beltway Blogroll: The Courtship Of The Blogosphere. The bloggers not only welcomed the lavish treatment and exclusive access bestowed upon them by the Republican National Committee and the Senate Republican Conference; they basked in it without reservation. They dropped names (White House adviser Karl Rove was the favorite), heaped praise on their news subjects and celebrated their chance to imbibe in the trappings of power. Even for “independent” bloggers, access to power can be a heady experience. It doesn’t typically improve the journalism, as we’ve seen repeatedly. [Center for Citizen Media: Blog] 5:52:55 AM    comment []

Hill & Knowlton Ampersand. Listen to what Niall Cook says: "Listening to the blogosphere requires a combination of skills: searching, analysing and synthesising." (via: Rubelicious) [rexblog: Rex Hammock's Weblog] 5:52:04 AM    comment []

Oral Argument in United States v. Grubbs (anticipatory warrants). SCOTUSblog has a preview of the oral argument tomorrow in United States v. Grubbs, the anticipatory warrant case. (For my earlier posts on this case, see here and here.)   The argument promises to be fascinating. The defendant's brief makes a direct textual and historical challenge to the very concept of anticipatory warrants, and it's the kind of argument that I think should be very appealing to Justices Scalia and Thomas. The argument is that the Fourth Amendment's warrant clause means what it says: "no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause." Anticipatory warrants are warrants issued before probable cause exists; the idea is that when a future event occurs, probable cause will exist, so the police can execute the warrant whenever it happens. Read the rest at ... The Volokh Conspiracy [PJM - Top Stories] 5:51:48 AM    comment []