The best thing about US Elections: Commentary

Discussion of the Republican National Convention, via Gin & Tacos...

"the apparent theme for the convention is luring the truth into a derelict ice cream truck with promises of candy and then repeatedly touching it in the bathing suit area"

Yeah.  Ladies and Gentlemen, US politics!

Yeah, about that...

Headline: "Syria: West Looking for Excuse to Send in Troops"

Reality: Have you people been paying any attention to what is happening in Syria at the moment?  If the West wanted to send in troops, the process of 'looking' for an excuse wouldn't take long.  If anything, the issue runs in the other direction: Given the multitude of excuses for intervention which the Syrian regime keeps offering the world, why hasn't the world intervened?  Do we not care about humanitarian issues in Syria? Are Syrian civilians somehow less important than others?  Why is the Syrian government getting away with what it is doing?  You know, real questions.

Ryan

Well. This will be fun. John Rogers said everything that needed to be said about Ryan in 2009:

There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.

What is wrong with the publishing industry?

It isn't like they cannot get it right.  Look at this photo!

You know what that cost me? 2 hardcover books, total length somewhere over 1200 pages, delivered from the UK, published by Oxford University Press.  Under $60NZ.  At that price, who is going to steal it, really?

No, the problem is that the above is not standard.  This is the rare case of someone doing it right.

Using the Olympic logo for good

This tumblr, oceaniaeuropeamericasafricaasia, has a wonderful take on the Olympic rings.  Varying them in size to give visual representations of any number of things in each of the regions.

Come for the Catholic Priest comparison:

Stay for the McDonalds one...

These and many more available on the tumblr linked above.

NYT paywall getting you down?

Private browsing (firefox), or Incognito mode (Chrome), or whatever the other browsers call this feature.  Works a treat. No more 10 article/month limits.