Still time to change your picks. You know you want to.

That's right. It's cheerleader group photo weekend here at AoS.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:21 AM | Comments (204)
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Walter Russell Meade writes about the revolution in book publishing brought on by Amazon. Amazon has progressively moved from being a bookseller to a major book hub to a book publisher. Their e-book platform, the Kindle, has carved out a niche in the book world in much the same way that Apple's iPod did in the music world. And now the publishers are eyeing Amazon's success and wondering what their future holds, much as the music labels did when confronted with the success of Apple's distribution model.

The new Kindle Fire (their color touchscreen device) is apt to be just as disruptive as its e-ink forebears were. For one thing, the Kindle Fire's new layout technology combined with the color touchscreen means that many books can now be published on the platform that were previously not feasible: children's books, graphic novels, cookbooks, and other graphics-heavy publications.

As for books: I received Vernor Vinge's The Children of the Sky -- the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep -- earlier in the week. I got the dead-tree edition, but I re-bought A Fire Upon the Deep in Kindle format so I can refresh my memory of the story before diving into the new book.

One thing I wish the publishers would allow Amazon to do: allow access to all formats of a book -- e-book, hardcover, paperback -- for one price, even if it's a few bucks higher than the paper-only price. I'm to the point now that I actually prefer reading novels on my Kindle, but I want to have some books on dead-tree editions as well (come the End of Days when I will have had to use my Kindle to crush the head of a Wasteland mutant, I want to have paper books to fall back on). It's not Amazon's fault: the publishers set the prices for the books. This is, I suspect, is why Amazon is getting into the publisher business themselves -- they can make the rules for their own books, and provide more value-add that way. I'm sure other publishers will hate it, and I foresee court battles in the future, but screw those guys. Publishers, like record labels, have taken their business model as a permanent fact of life rather than a short historical interregnum. I've written in the past about the concept of Schumpeterian "creative destruction", and this is a good example of that process.

Posted by: Monty at 05:21 AM | Comments (101)
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Likely the most unintentionally funny sentence you'll read today:

“In some ways, [President Obama has] lost both sides,” said Robert Reich, labor secretary in the Clinton administration and public policy professor at the University of California-Berkeley. “The business community, especially Wall Street, has concluded he is against them even though this administration has been one of the most business friendly in history. At the same time, a large portion of the Democratic base doesn’t think he has been tough enough on Big Business and Wall Street.”

Dramatization below the fold
more...

Posted by: andy at 03:45 AM | Comments (236)
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So what's up? Well, another Caturday is upon us so let's just dive right on in to the ONT.

Here's a pop quiz for y'all. Are you smarter or stoopider than the average person?
SMART OR STOOPID? Warning. There is a rather quick time limit on each question so don't hesitate too long. I'm not gonna lie, I did much better the second time! more...

Posted by: CDR M at 05:55 PM | Comments (419)
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Up-twinkles for felonies:

A Boston Police Department website was hacked.

The group claiming responsibility said they support the Occupy Boston movement.

Boston Police are warning some of their members that user names and passwords were compromised.

...

The group claimed they took aim at the Boston Police for their unprovoked brutality.

In a statement “Anonymous” said, “…future acts of aggression against our movements will be met with a vengeance…”

Also this:

Also on Saturday night, 21 acts of vandalism and graffiti were being investigated by Boston Police on buildings in downtown Boston.

Remember, they're just like the tea party.

Carbon. Copy.

Except for the accompanying foul stench and crime wave, that is.

Billy Ray Valentine, Capricorn, has a helpful tip for the Boston PD below the fold: more...

Posted by: andy at 04:07 PM | Comments (133)
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Somebody needs a hug.

Not sure I like the idea of an Albert Pujols wanting redemption. On the other hand, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Thanks Albert.

Game 3 post for us baseball homos.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 04:06 PM | Comments (92)
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This just had to have been a spur-of-the-moment kind of homicide, because there's no way anyone could be stupid enough to plan one so badly.

The husband, 36, said he woke up to find a power tool on his neck, which was switched on.

He was treated in hospital for cuts to his neck and shoulder, according to reports.

The victim said it was dark when he first woke but witnessed his wife holding the power saw as soon as he turned the light on.

A power tool? How in the world did he escape certain death?

more...

Posted by: LauraW at 01:43 PM | Comments (192)
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I just love it when the mask slips and these people let you see who they really are:

Virginia Democratic Rep. Jim Moran told The Daily Caller on Thursday evening that President Obama should “refinance every home mortgage” without congressional approval in order to “reset the economy.”

That constitutional republic thing with all its separation of powers and checks and balances and stuff is so inconvenient.

Why, that unaccomplished SCOAMF of a benevolent dictator wannabe should just be able to do whatever he wants. His plans have all been correct so far, right? more...

Posted by: andy at 12:21 PM | Comments (134)
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I've been pretty critical of Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan. Specifically on the business tax component with regards to whether it's more like a value added tax or an income tax and more generally on why he's focusing on providing a new funding mechanism for the left's gargantuan government instead of on what parts of it we should be cutting.

At this point, I'm pretty familiar with the plan. Yesterday Cain gave a speech in Detroit and rolled out the 9-9-9 poverty exceptions that he had made reference to after the Las Vegas debate. The Washington Post's headline on the article about the speech is as follows: Herman Cain tweaks 999 plan to help lower-income Americans, and himself

Objective reporting we much!

Cain's plan has included the following two provisions in its summary description for as long as I've been paying attention to it:

1. 9% Business Flat Tax: Empowerment Zones will offer deductions for the payroll of those employed in the zone


2. 9% Individual Flat tax: Empowerment Zones will offer additional deductions for those living and/or working in the zone

Seven paragraphs into the article:

Cain has long rejected such criticisms, saying his plan includes “opportunity zones,” which he formally discussed for the first time on Friday.

So where's the "tweak" to the plan in the headline? Changing the name from "Enterprise" to "Opportunity"?

Even further in:

And to address the criticism he is raising taxes on the poor, Cain would exempt people all over the country who are at or below the federal poverty line (about $22,000 for a family of four) from the tax on income.

This part hasn't been specifically called out before. Deep within the analysis (PDF) and related tables (PDF) available from his website, it appears that the version of 9-9-9 that he says is revenue neutral includes poverty exemptions, but there are no details on what form these exemptions would take.

What Cain is guilty of, in a big way, is not fully explaining the details of the plan. That would cut too hard against the simple "9-9-9" soundbite, I guess.

Cain also didn't do himself any favors by claiming that there are pieces of the plan that were withheld from the public and his opponents while simultaneously saying they've been there all along. As Ace noted yesterday, he seems to have a problem with clearly articulating his ideas on multiple fronts.

In any event, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and presume that these details (PDF) of the 9-9-9 plan's poverty exemptions are what he had in mind all along.

Now to the substantive criticism: Why does Cain expect me to bail out the failed blue social model in places like Detroit? Because isn't that really the effect of making people outside the "opportunity zones" pay higher taxes than those within?

Posted by: andy at 09:26 AM | Comments (234)
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Happy Saturday Morons!

Ranked head to head action, Auburn (19) at LSU (1), Wisconsin (4) at Michigan State (15), and Washington (22) at Stanford (7).

These cheerleaders are from Washington, but the other school. So don't gimme no grief about it.

Speaking of grief, if you haven't done your picks yet, go do them.

Also, RANGERS!

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 08:31 AM | Comments (84)
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