links for 2009-06-01

I wish I could favorite an entire set on Flickr, because this would be favorited in a second.

"There’s plenty of blame to go around these days. But the prime villains behind the mess we’re in were Reagan and his circle of advisers — men who forgot the lessons of America’s last great financial crisis, and condemned the rest of us to repeat it."

"In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend, Google signaled its intent to introduce a program by that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google. The move would pit Google against Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the e-book market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device."

"The hosts of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC seem to drink Starbucks every day. Joe Scarborough, the show’s namesake and co-host, sips Frappuccinos on camera so often that some viewers have wondered whether it is a form of product placement, paid for by the coffee company. Starting Monday, it will be."

"What happened next is the subject of four separate inquiries by different oversight bodies. But some facts are undisputed. A member of the public, 47-year-old Ian Tomlinson, is dead. A police officer faces possible murder charges. More than 180 protesters, some suffering from concussions, broken bones and other injuries, have formally accused the police of excessive force and unprovoked assaults." Meanwhile not a single police officer was injured by the protesters.

"We used to think it was enough to make broadband accessible everywhere. That’s no longer good enough. We now need to make sure that everyone actually has broadband in his or her residence and business. Everyone! (voluntary cave dweller excepted)." I agree.

"Handley’s guilty plea makes him the first to be convicted under that law for possessing cartoon art, without any evidence that he also collected or viewed genuine child pornography. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison." So in other words, facing jail time for collecting art, okay then.

"In his remarks on Monday, Mr. Obama is expected to argue that any alternative to his plan would be worse, and that a liquidation of G.M. — the only other real option — would send the unemployment rate soaring over 10 percent and would radiate damage throughout the economy." One chapter closes another opens.

"Bad information architecture causes the majority of outright user failures and isn't improving at the rate of other Web usability issues. To determine why, I've identified 10 long-term sore thumbs that together cost websites billions of dollars each year."

"Now, using these guidelines, and building on the experience of much more knowledgeable type gurus, I have compiled a list of font stacks that will both open up more font possibilities for web designers, and hopefully offer more appropriate substitutes:" A better font stack than the one you are used to.

"Sound familiar? It should. Much of the rationale used for anti-miscegenation laws mirrors that currently used to justify opposition to gay marriage. Much of the religious gibberish uttered by those bigots is now used by modern anti-gay bigots." History keeps repeating.

"Researchers have for the first time found inherited genetic factors which raise the risk of testicular cancer."

"Muslims should not use weapons of mass destruction and possess them only as a deterrent, a top Islamic cleric says. Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa said using such weapons would violate Islamic teachings as Muslims as well as non-Muslims could be killed."

"Cuba has agreed to resume talks with Washington on immigration by Cubans to the US, the state department says." More positive news from this area of US foreign policy.

"The Israeli cabinet has rejected a controversial proposal to require Israeli citizens to take an oath of loyalty to the Jewish state." Stupid ultra-nationalist platforms.

"There are many reasons why passenger rail is the unwanted stepchild of transport policy in the USA; a lack of suitable track signaling, priority given to freight over passenger services, routes laid out in the 1930s and earlier rather than between current centres of population and commerce, and so on. But despite understanding why, I find it really strange that in this day and age, a critical chunk of the USA's infrastructure barely rises to the level of third world quality."

"A prominent US abortion doctor has been shot dead at a church in the city of Wichita, Kansas. Sixty-seven year-old George Tiller was killed just after 1000 (1500 GMT) at the Reformation Lutheran Church. The gunman, described as a white man, fled in a car, but officials say a suspect is now in custody. Dr Tiller, one of the few US doctors who performed so-called late-term abortions, had been vilified by anti-abortionists in the US. His clinic – called Women's Health Care Services – had often been the site of demonstrations, and he had been shot and wounded by an assailant 16 years ago." Extreminism of any type is wrong.

"Over the next day or two, you’ll see all the pro-life groups putting out similar statements — that they had absolutely nothing to do with the murder. They didn’t pull the trigger, but it’s the mindset they put people in that is the problem here. When one of their followers snaps, people like Tiller get killed."

Google playing Street View in an semi-immerseve nvironment.

I have to agree with a lot of these, though not all.

"Book challenges — written complaints, filed with a public or school library, requesting that materials be removed or restricted — increased nationally from 420 in 2007 to 513 in 2008. The Library Association of America recently released its list of the 10 most-challenged books of 2008, which includes New York Times best-seller The Kite Runner and the teen drama series-turned-TV show Gossip Girl." Stop censoring people, it does absolutely nothing.

"To pump music out to their dance floors, Australian clubs used to have to pay record companies and artists a nominal 7 Australian cents in royalties per guest, per night. Under a recent copyright settlement, that rate has risen to 50 cents per customer, and it is set to jump to 1.05 dollars, or 84 U.S. cents, in a few years." At least it's not per song.

"The scale of the war damage to the main city in the Swat valley has become clear, as fears are expressed about the humanitarian situation in the region." BBC reporting that there is "widespread damage."

"Jennifer Preston has been appointed the first Social Media Editor of the New York Times. It has come to this; the flagship institution of traditional journalism now has an editor level position dedicated to new media."

"That brings us back to Google: today, it is Google which is driving web standards forward. That is why we at Zoho are firmly aligned with them, even if they are our primary competitor. We believe in an open web, there is plenty of opportunity for all of us. Could Google abuse its position? Well, I am sure they understand karma!" Why karma matters to the online community.