telescreen.org

It's Art If You Want It To Be, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

I know I should just go ahead and start a category for this, but:  WTFNYT?

Wink, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

This article on NYC travel tips is all correct, if a bit basic -- but given the byline, I'm just impressed that no one's quoted therein.

Queensboro Sunset, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

This is what I was going for...

FREE PLUTO!

Photography Is STILL Not A Crime, originally uploaded by Vidiot.

Friday evening, seconds after I took this picture (an unsuccessful attempt to get the Silvercup sign and the sunset reflected in the side of a moving train), an NYPD cop walked up to me and asked me if I was taking pictures of the tracks. I replied that no, I was taking pictures of the sunset and the sky.

She told me that it was illegal to take pictures on a subway platform. I responded that, to the best of my knowledge, it wasn't -- and that MTA regulations specifically permit photography. She repeated that it was illegal, and said that "I'm not going to hassle you, I just want you to know that this isn't allowed."

(So she sees someone supposedly breaking the law and lets it slide?)

I reiterated that, as far as I was aware, I wasn't breaking any laws. She repeated that she was cutting me a break and that other cops might not be so nice.

She was pleasant, polite, and courteous, but very firm in her conviction that I was breaking the law. I decided not to insist, because I was tired, just wanted to take pictures, and didn't especially feel like spending the weekend in jail.

Oh -- by the way -- I was right, according to Section 1050.9(c) of the MTA's rules:

Photography, filming or video recording in any facility or conveyance is permitted except that ancillary equipment such as lights, reflectors or tripods may not be used. Members of the press holding valid identification issued by the New York City Police Department are hereby authorized to use necessary ancillary equipment. All photographic activity must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

(My emphasis.)

I'm really getting tired of restrictions on our liberty with little, if any, payoff in terms of security. I'm not breaking the law, so don't hassle me.

Best. Comic. Ever.

Breaking News!

There's a "shameful person" in this clip, but I don't think it's the cop:

How wingnuts read the New York Times.

Ray Charles on "The Johnny Cash Show":

I love that people have this stuff and put it up on YouTube.  Sure, it's a copyright violation, but this stuff needs to be seen...and if the rightsholders aren't going to get with the Long Tail program and make it available, this is the next best alternative.

News flash:  Constitution still applies after all.   Who'da thunk?

UPDATE:  Here's the injunction.

Edward Tufte argues that PowerPoint "reduces the analytical quality of presentations", dumbing points down and minimizing complexity.

He'd have a field day with Donald Rumsfeld's PowerPoint plan to rebuild Iraq:

Yep, and the reconstruction is going about as well as the clarity of the plan displayed above would indicate.

Via Czeltic Girl, the Politically Incorrect Alphabet.

August is right:  Joe Lieberman is still a Democrat.

Just found this on Youtube:

"Sun City" by Artists United Against Apartheid was the only one of those '80s fundraising/protest records that was worth a damn -- most likely because the song (written by Little Steven van Zandt) didn't suck.  It was a catchy rock/hip-hop fusion that was ahead of its time, and the excellent video (by Jonathan Demme with Godley & Creme) didn't hurt either.

(And did you know that the guy who developed Sun City in the middle of a black homeland in South Africa also went on to develop Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, and still gets 5% of its revenue?

Whoo-boy.  It's become a tired trope by now that Republicans like to compare Democrats to Nazis.  But they keep doing it.  And I'd think that photoshopping a Hitler moustache onto Howard Dean is, well, going a smidge too far.

But then again, the Republicans don't care who they offend, do they?  They evidently care more about taking cheap shots than working to make our country safer.  Or ensuring that American troops don't have to die unless it's necessary.  Or preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution of the United States of America.

Katherine Harris to debate self.

Fwd: rain tonight in Penn Sta... 8:15ish.., originally uploaded by gothamistllc.

This is why we can't have liquids on airplanes...

(Pic not taken by me.)

It's almost -- almost! -- a shame that I'll be out of town this weekend and won't be able to see the corpse flower bloom.

Ivo Daalder sensibly cuts through the bonehead right-wing rhetoric on the UK terror plot:

Although the details of the UK plot to take down 10 U.S.-bound jumbo jets are still sketchy, the administration and its supporters are sure to point to it as more proof that America and the world need to stay the course in their global war on terror. But, of course, it proves no such thing.

Lieberman:  Lamont aids terrorists.

UPDATE:  And John Gibson is insane.

In light of the recent news from London:  Man oh man, flying between now and the election is going to suck.

(No laptops in the cabin?  If this lasts, business travel will go way down, I think, and fractional-jet ownership's going to skyrocket.)

Karl Rove to get involved with Lieberman's campaign?

If this is true -- and if Lieberman accepts help from the White House -- then even more voters will be pissed at Lieberman.  I don't know how many Connecticutlets can't stand the President, but I'd be willing to bet there are an awful lot of them...and this step would seem to mean that all of them will be voting for Lamont in November.