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Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004
tickling the ivories
"Nicholas Turse has been covering the military-industrial-entertainment-scientific complex for Tomdispatch now for many months. His last piece was on the nature-bending activities of the Pentagon's blue-sky scientific operation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA. Now, he adds another hyphen to the complex's complex equation, reminding us of the way in which higher education has become a wing of the Pentagon. The ivory tower is, he tells us, being rebuilt out of a high-tensile [classified] material and armed with [classified] [secret] [classified] and so is being readied to face the world explosively."
watching use
"As a result, some analysts say U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials might be starting to track blogs for important bits of information. This interest is a sign of how far Web media such as blogs have come in reshaping the data-collection habits of intelligence professionals and others, even with the knowledge that the accuracy of what's reported in some blogs is questionable."via animal
meet the mutts
"One move won’t do it—the current club has a pallid offense and too many declining veteran pitchers. The Mets must follow a comprehensive plan that incorporates the club’s financial wherewithal (annual revenue estimated at $158 million), the primacy of a strong farm system (cheap parts allow extraordinary flexibility), and the demands of the New York market. Raving yahoos on WFAN—“Trade Tyler Yates for Vladimir Guerrero!”—have no idea how complex reworking a baseball roster in the Moneyball age can get; from luxury taxes to arbitration schedules, carping press-boxers to union grievances, this isn’t some office rotisserie-league team where you just add up the stats. Plausible moves might not get your heart pounding right now, but they are the only way to eventually defibrillate this franchise."via primer