Wanda Sykes is funny

Ruthless yet humane

Hitchens: Why Obama cited Churchill on torture. I think he’s grasping a little too much here, but it’s interesting.

It is what it appears to be

Via Attackerman, a devastating song about waterboarding:

No benevolent leader would allow music this bad

Via my brother, this youtube video is probably the best argument yet for the authoritarian nature of Putin’s governance:

Do we have any idea how earnest this is? Do people in Russia hear Obama Girl and think that she’s America’s transcendent artist?

A few things

—Eminem’s first video in five years. A lot like his old videos.

—Via Kenny via ESPN, a shootout goal very reminiscent of my legendary over the goalie move from King Kong Ball in Mr. Kolinski’s gym class:

—The most sensible thing I’ve read so far about the Spartans and the economy:

The people of Detroit reminded me in some ways of the people from New Orleans and even a friend I have who is Vietnamese. Just as those from NOLA resent being defined by Katrina, and my buddy from Vietnam says , “We’re a country not a war,” people from Detroit don’t want to be defined by crisis, abandoned factories, and unemployment. But at the same time, as in each case, it’s impossible to talk to anyone not affected by disasters both natural and man-made. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone hates having a story to tell. In Detroit, autoworkers are being told that the bankers’ bonus contracts are sacrosanct, while their union contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. People in the city get on a boat to go to across the border to Windsor, Ontario to buy prescription meds. The many casinos that flash their bright lights at the blight across the river seem like a realistic road out of poverty. But the Spartans aren’t just another shining bauble of success out of people’s reach. They matter.

[Emphasis mine.]

They’re shutting down Detroit

Anyone have any thoughts on this phenomenon? I don’t know what to think.

Also, Kenny left me a message yesterday and reminded me how annoying the coverage of Detroit during March Madness has been, but I’m trying not to go on a rant. There’s a novel to be written over here!

Failing upwards

A lot of conservatives seem intent on making government not work in order to serve their free market, “the state is the problem” agenda. Kwame Kilpatrick’s destructive failure at civil service was similarly inevitable, not because of ideological aversion but because he isn’t capapble of serving anything greater than himself and his own appetites.

Thankfully, karma has finally caught up to the man. His new job with Compuware in Texas (note to self: Compuware needs new HR director) only pays 10 grand a month, and he’s now limited to a $900 a month Escalade and a $2700 a month crib.

How much house does one get for $2700 a month in Texas? Here are some Dallas area options: here, here, here, here, and here.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, $2700 could get you the rights to Miguel Cabrera or several blocks of real estate. Thanks for the leadership Kwame.

Did you think AIG couldn’t get worse?

You were wrong.

Progress we can use!

Trash cans that alert the city when they need to be emptied! I can’t believe how much this excites me.

You can’t win

Apparently Magglio got booed in Miami at the World Baseball Classic because he supports his country’s controversial leftist leader Hugo Chavez:

“No,” Ordonez said when asked if he might tone down his support for the unpopular leader.

“He got elected by popular vote,” Ordonez told SI.com. “If you don’t like Chavez … go vote.”

Ordonez also said that the booing only came from “a small percentage” of his countrymen, those who support the other political party.

“It’s not the reality of Venezuela,” he said.

That’s a weirdly written clip. First, SI calls Chavez unpopular. The very next line they quote Maggs saying that Chavez is the popularly elected leader of the country and that, rather than booing at baseball games, disaffected Venezuelans should try to mount an electoral campaign against Chavez.

A problem for US media (and the US in general) is that the opinions we get about foreign countries are dominated by expats now based in our country who represent an inherently limited range of opinion about their homelands. I’ve got a lot of problems with Castroite rule of Cuba, but it’s not helpful that our Cuban views and policy have been shaped for 50 years by myopic supporters of the US-backed dictatorship that Castro overthrew.