Missed this last Friday, so you get double the helping of trivial matters:<\/p>\n
First up – I’m big in China!\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, if you use the Chinese Google to search for “false statement<\/a>“, I’m right there on the first page of results.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ahead of Bush, Cheney, and the “Criminal Tax Manual”, no less. I couldn’t have done it without Mark Ellmore<\/a>.<\/p>\n (Oh, okay, Mark Ellmore and oppressive governmental control.)<\/p>\n (Update: Sigh. Being big in China is such a fleeting thing.\u00c2\u00a0 Already, I’m on the second page.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe I’ll have to settle for being big in Belgium.<\/em>)<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n If you haven’t been reading Pro Publica, you should be.\u00c2\u00a0 Start with this story about the half a billion dollars the US has spent<\/a> on a failed propaganda station.\u00c2\u00a0 Looks like the US worked very hard to ensure that no one in the Middle East ever takes anything that comes from the US government seriously.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n Atrios noted what I thought was a pretty sobering reality check, yesterday – GM’s market cap is<\/a> (take your pick): the same as H&R Block’s, half that of Avon’s, and one fifth of Ebay’s.\u00c2\u00a0 I know things have been rough for them for a while now, but . . . wow.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n Speaking of Google – Nicholas Carr asks whether it’s “making us stupid?”<\/a> It’s a long article, but well worth your time if you’ve ever wondered about the real effects on your thinking of having Google at your finger tips for years.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n You know how the rightwingers are always going on about the coming Islamic invasion and subjugation of America?\u00c2\u00a0 Well, in case you missed it, one of their cultural heroes – the mercenary company Blackwater – is trying to avoid responsiblity<\/a> for the deaths of three American passengers on one of its charter flights by arguing that Shari’a (Islamic law) should apply, since the crash occurred in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n The Burn Rate as performance art<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Good thing he’s in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n Neal Stephenson’s new book is coming out on September 9th<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 I cannot possibly finish the Baroque Cycle<\/a> by then.<\/p>\n ~<\/p>\n