don’t get any of his other choices, but erik nelson nails mike judge’s ragged but unsettlingly apt idiocracy

glenn kenny’s list includes quite a few, but then he listed a hundred.

too close to reality?

not that i could watch it long enough to know.

nancy?

prosecutors release woman who videotaped 4 minutes in movie theatre showing new moon after film’s director steps in

it was a birthday party, for christ’s sake.

gorgeous [undernews]

sarkozy & brown call for tax on bank bonuses in the wall street journal, no less

egypt is building a steel wall 18 meters (59 feet) deep and over 6 miles long to discourage palestinian smuggling

what does egypt’s elite gain from this?

ah, new jersey

The investigation began when a customer complained an unauthorized charge for several thousand dollars appeared on his credit card bill after eating at a restaurant in Essex County.

Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow said Friday that case resulted in the discovery of a widespread scheme involving loan sharks and fraudulent charges.

“We believe that this credit card scam has been ongoing for awhile,” Dow said. “We believe that there are hundreds of unsuspecting victims in Essex, Passaic and Bergen counties who are impacted.”

the nsa consulted with microsoft on security issues during the development of windows since at least the early 90s

the “public option” is a subsidy for the health care gangsters, nothing more

the lowdown on being a hit man for the corporatocracy by john perkins:

Well, Amy, I think it’s fair to say that we economic hit men have managed to create the world’s first truly global empire. And it’s basically a secret empire.

We do it in many ways, but principally, we identify a country that has resources that corporations covet, like oil, arrange a huge loan to that country from the World Bank or one of its sisters. The money never actually goes to the country; it goes to our own corporations to build the infrastructure projects in that country that help a few very wealthy people, but don’t benefit the majority of the people, who are too poor to buy electricity or have cars to drive on the highways. And yet, they’re left holding a huge debt that they can’t repay.

So we go back at some point and say, “You know, you can’t pay your debts. Give us a pound of flesh. Sell your oil real cheap to our oil companies. Vote with us on the next critical UN vote. Allow us to build a military base in your backyard.” Something along these lines.

And when we fail—as I talk in my books, I failed with Jaime Roldos, president of Ecuador, Omar Torrijos of Panama—the Jackals go in and either overthrow or assassinate these leaders. And if the Jackals fail, as they did in Iraq, then we send in the military.

he also talks on the current economic meltdown in this short interview with Democracy Now!.

the museum of contemporary art in barcelona’s exhibit the anarchy of silence: john cage and experimental art makes now a great time to visit the art heart of spain