Pinsights

Pretty freaking cool. This is the Memo That Killed Osama Bin...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:09:43 -0400

Pretty freaking cool.

This is the Memo That Killed Osama Bin Laden

If you can manage to decipher Leon Panetta’s chicken scratch, you too can read the final memo that launched the raid that killed America’s most hated enemy. The memo is part of Peter Bergen’s Time cover story on Osama bin Laden’s last days and Obama’s call to go ahead, despite Joe Biden and Robert Gates’ disapproval, with the Navy SEAL raid on bin Laden’s Abottabad complex. Here’s the transcription:

Received phone call from Tom Donilon who stated that the President made a decision with regard to AC1 [Abbottabad Compound 1]. The decision is to proceed with the assault. The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven’s hands. The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the President. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the President for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and if he is not there, to get out. Those instructions were conveyed to Admiral McRaven at approximately 10:45 am.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire.

Been thinking about buying a guitar for shredding, and Jackson...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:23:18 -0400

Been thinking about buying a guitar for shredding, and Jackson makes some nice ones. But is it just me, or does Grover Jackson (a great designer) kind of suck at playing?

A Legend Returns (by CurtNaZ)

"I took all of the screams and put those together, and cut out everything else. …As a result of that..."

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 22:35:36 -0400

“I took all of the screams and put those together, and cut out everything else. …As a result of that [voice analysis], you can say with reasonable scientific certainty that it’s not Zimmerman.”

- Tom Owen, biometric voice analysis expert • Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel, on his assessment of a 911 audio recording featuring sounds of screaming during the Trayvon Martin incident. In an interview with Piers Morgan earlier this week (which generated some heat from MSNBC’s Touré), George Zimmerman’s brother Robert insisted that the screaming on the tape was that of his brother. Owen, an expert in biometric voice analysis, says that’s not so, after isolating the screams and testing them against the sound of Zimmerman’s voice on his initial 9/11 call reporting Martin to the police. He was careful to add, however, that he can’t prove or disprove it’s Martin’s voice, as he has no audio sample of the teen with which to compare. A second voice analysis, by a different expert commissioned by the Sentinel, reached the same conclusion. source (via • follow)

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

and

George Michael Zimmerman is a murderer.

(via inothernews)

"ObamaCare was killed by nine people in black robes. I told you there would be death panels."

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:15:32 -0400

“ObamaCare was killed by nine people in black robes. I told you there would be death panels.”

- Stephen Colbert (via brooklynmutt)

Fareed Zakaria: America needs a 2-page tax code

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:07:56 -0400

Fareed Zakaria: America needs a 2-page tax code:

Ummm, he needs to stick to international politics. Doesn’t know squat about taxes.

Etch A Sketch in Action

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:40:32 -0400

“Mitt Romney on the campaign trail has chided President Barack Obama for failing to curb prices at the pump, even as prominent economists have debunked those talking points, saying there’s little the president can do to lower prices in the short term. Now the latest twist: No one from Romney’s economic team will step forward to defend him.”

Mitt Romney Gas Prices Rhetoric Doesn’t Get Support Of His Own Economists:

NY TIMES EDITORIAL: "Stand Your Ground laws are abominations that should be repealed. One obvious flaw among many is that slain victims can never tell their side of the story — an undisputed fact in the tragic slaying of Trayvon Martin."

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:57:17 -0400

NY TIMES EDITORIAL: "Stand Your Ground laws are abominations that should be repealed. One obvious flaw among many is that slain victims can never tell their side of the story — an undisputed fact in the tragic slaying of Trayvon Martin."

Logo to Air 24-hour ‘Showgirls’ Marathon on April Fool’s Day | EW

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 21:19:03 -0400

Logo to Air 24-hour ‘Showgirls’ Marathon on April Fool’s Day | EW:

I have no words…

popculturebrain:

Greatest tradition since TBS’ Leap Day marathon?

"If a faster processor, more RAM, a double-the-resolution retina display, a better camera, and maybe..."

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:55:05 -0500

“If a faster processor, more RAM, a double-the-resolution retina display, a better camera, and maybe even LTE networking make for a “modest” update, then what would it take for the iPad 3 to be deemed an immodest update? A fusion energy source? Teleportation? A camera that sees into the future?”

- John Gruber, AP: ‘New iPad Expected to Have Modest Upgrades’ (via stoweboyd)

AP: "A Missouri House member frustrated with recent legislative debates over birth control and reproductive health is proposing to restrict vasectomies. Legislation sponsored by Democrat Stacey Newman would allow vasectomies only when necessary to protect a man from serious injury or death. Vasectomies would have to be performed in a hospital, ambulatory surgery center or health facility licensed by the state Department of Health and Senior Services."

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:11:38 -0500

AP: "A Missouri House member frustrated with recent legislative debates over birth control and reproductive health is proposing to restrict vasectomies. Legislation sponsored by Democrat Stacey Newman would allow vasectomies only when necessary to protect a man from serious injury or death. Vasectomies would have to be performed in a hospital, ambulatory surgery center or health facility licensed by the state Department of Health and Senior Services."

ROLLING STONE: Peter Gabriel demands his music be pulled from Rush Limbaugh's program; Rush replaces "bumps" with sadviolins.wav.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:15:58 -0500

ROLLING STONE: Peter Gabriel demands his music be pulled from Rush Limbaugh's program; Rush replaces "bumps" with sadviolins.wav.

"They want to bomb Iran, but they’re afraid of Rush Limbaugh."

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 17:03:45 -0500

““They want to bomb Iran, but they’re afraid of Rush Limbaugh.””

- George Will Mocks ‘Depressing’ GOP Response To Rush Limbaugh - TPM (via brooklynmutt)

"I’m not going to settle for a country where a few people do really well, and everyone else is..."

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:00:42 -0500

“I’m not going to settle for a country where a few people do really well, and everyone else is struggling to get by.”

- President Obama speaking to UAW (via brooklynmutt)

"It’s crazy how little we’re funding energy."

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:19:54 -0500

““It’s crazy how little we’re funding energy.””

- Bill Gates: The lack of energy funding is crazy — Cleantech News and Analysis (via brooklynmutt)

Office for iPad Release Is Imminent

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:47:04 -0500

Office for iPad Release Is Imminent:

If it works as well as Office for Mac, it will totally suck.

"You've confused a 'war on your religion' with 'not always getting everything you want.'"

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:44:29 -0500

— JON STEWART, The Daily Show.

Yep, conservatives.

Krugman at his most awesomely Krugman-ish

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:57:00 -0500

Krugman at his most awesomely Krugman-ish

Must read: Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It - NYTimes.com

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:59:25 -0500

Must read: Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It - NYTimes.com

Climate Scientists' editorial rebuttal published in the WSJ!

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:44:24 -0500

Climate Scientists' editorial rebuttal published in the WSJ!:

mindbabies:

jtotheizzoe:

climateadaptation:

A few days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an anti-climate change op-ed signed by 16 scientists. None of the authors are climate scientists, nor do peer review research in the field.

No matter, it got published anyway. And shortly after the piece was published, real climate scientists came out off the woodwork to condemn the WSJ and the so-called scientists that wrote it. Andrew Revkin of the NYTimes has been tracking the pushback, here.

I’m happy to say that the WSJ published a rebuttal from real climate scientists and researchers, and it is epic. A taste:

Check With Climate Scientists for Views on Climate

Do you consult your dentist about your heart condition? In science, as in any area, reputations are based on knowledge and expertise in a field and on published, peer-reviewed work. If you need surgery, you want a highly experienced expert in the field who has done a large number of the proposed operations.

You published “No Need to Panic About Global Warming” (op-ed, Jan. 27) on climate change by the climate-science equivalent of dentists practicing cardiology. While accomplished in their own fields, most of these authors have no expertise in climate science. The few authors who have such expertise are known to have extreme views that are out of step with nearly every other climate expert. This happens in nearly every field of science. For example, there is a retrovirus expert who does not accept that HIV causes AIDS. And it is instructive to recall that a few scientists continued to state that smoking did not cause cancer, long after that was settled science.

Climate experts know that the long-term warming trend has not abated in the past decade. In fact, it was the warmest decade on record. Observations show unequivocally that our planet is getting hotter.

Via Revkin

Previously, for background.

Zing!

http://shortformblog.tumblr.com/post/16787801674/obama-bo-david-axelrod

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:30:52 -0500

http://shortformblog.tumblr.com/post/16787801674/obama-bo-david-axelrod:

shortformblog:

imwithkanye:

Dog Days. According to Politico, David Axelrod made a dig at Mitt Romney, “who once strapped his Irish setter Seamus’ crate to the roof of a car.” Today also marked the launch of ‘Pet Lovers for Obama.’ [via]

On a side note, Bo is totally a beast these days, just like Mitt was when he left that dog on the roof of his car.