2010: The Year We Make Contact!

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!"

W. H. Murray

(via Merlin & Pressfield)

Devastating Douchebags & Heroic Jasper

Data overload.

"This could have been devastating,” Pete King, NY State Rep on yesterday's terrorist attempt.

Governments React After Terror Attempt on Airplane

What's really devastating to people right here & right now is a lack of access to healthcare.

Rep. King's homepage features a video of him speaking out against "Obamacare"

Here's a predictably insane Chart Of The Day - (via Andrew Sullivan) illustrating how little bang we get for our healthcare buck. While choking on data, have another slice.

Can't find the link to the Security Masterpiece Theatre where one response the TSA has taken is to keep passengers in their seats.

Uh, isn't the reason Jasper Schuringa & the passengers on Flight 253 were able to intercept "aspiring" terrorist & all around rich kid and douchebag Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab was that they were able to jump out of their seats to pull his firecracker kit out of the DB's pants??!!

-thx NYT--“it may have been aspirational.” Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device on Jet

P.S. Best line on Sparklepants-Jeffery Goldberg at The Atlantic:

"Next item: 'Passengers must remain seated for the final hour before landing. During that time, they may not have access to their carry-on baggage or hold personal items on their laps.' But what about their underwear? Can they have access to their underwear, which is where our latest would-be Muslim martyr apparently hid his bomb?"

Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb, Batman.

12/30/09 Update: "Great, just great. Weaponized emo-kid..." BoingBoing

Even Maureen Dowd is on this one:

If we can’t catch a Nigerian with a powerful explosive powder in his oddly feminine-looking underpants and a syringe full of acid, a man whose own father had alerted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a traveler whose ticket was paid for in cash and who didn’t check bags, whose visa renewal had been denied by the British, who had studied Arabic in Al Qaeda sanctuary Yemen, whose name was on a counterterrorism watch list, who can we catch?

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or consider to be beautiful”-William Morris

Symbolical Head

Click here for annotated version

Famous Prize Fights

Click here for annotated version

Chronic City Readathon!

Last night's endurance test at Book Court was inspiring, insane, electric. The marvelite-style sobriquet "Lethal Lethem" was Paid In Full.

Noteworthy act of true grit: Actually doing Perkus's hiccup pauses in reading from 3-4 AM.

Nerdcore Nirvana: the room of hardcore geeks pretty much reenacted the spirit of Perkus To...oth's apartment after 1AM.

"Everything else to everywhere else forever and ever amen."