What the Amazon Purchase of The Washington Post Means
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Neil Irwin at the WonkBlog quells my fears of a corporate takeover:
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is buying The Washington Post. He’s paying $250 million, of his personal funds (we aren’t becoming part of Amazon, in other words, but rather employees of a stand-alone company that Bezos owns).
First things first: Nothing about Wonkblog changes, so far as we know. We’ll be here tomorrow, and the next day, and after the transaction closes in around 60 days, bringing you the latest news and analysis of everything that matters in the worlds of domestic and economic policy.
This was not a day any of us on the staff of the Washington Post saw coming. But it is also a shift into a form of ownership that makes a lot of sense given the realities of the business we find ourselves in. I anticipate that large quantities of brown liquor will consumed at the Post Pub tonight.
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In other news, I got my free trial of Amazon Prime in preparation for Breaking Bad next week.
Meet My Cactus: Carlos Danger
I bought a new cactus with my roomy. He has funny leaves. (Cactuses are mostly boys, right?) He is replacing Prometheus Maximus, the single, most boring cactus ever, who died tragically and unexpectedly after being carelessly sprayed by the bug exterminator.
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I named the new cactus Carlos Danger.
He is an African Milk Tree Plant, according to Google, and according to my friend, also has poisonous sap.
Note to self: Do not ever ever lick Carlos Danger.
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Background information:
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Previous posts on this blog re Carlos Danger:
Happy Second Birthday to My Failed Anthony Weiner Tumblr!
My Failed “I am Anthony Weiner” Project. What I Learned about Social Movements.
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I’ve actually met the Anthony Weiner press manager involved in the other mini-scandal. But I don’t want to link to articles about it because I’ve actually been caught on here talking about people I know “behind their back” before; you can go look it up yourself if you want. (She seemed like a pleasant person at the time.)
I also knew one of Weiner’s former key interns who has since quit the campaign in shame and heavy emotional resignation. That reminds me of something Weiner himself should do…
I think he’ll make it through the run-off, but not by much.
Wil Wheaton on Why Being a Nerd is Awesome
Inspirational speech. Via wilwheaton.net:
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During my panel, I was asked by a young woman to explain to her newborn daughter, Violet, why it was awesome to be a nerd. As it turns out, I’ve been having that conversation with my sons for their entire lives, so I spoke from the heart and told her.
I’m very lucky in that every now and then, I get to say something and people will listen to me. It’s an incredible gift from the great elder gods that I treasure, and respect, so I do my best to honour it when I get to use it. This video went pseudoviral yesterday while I was traveling home, so I suppose you could say that I got to be Dad of the Internet for a little bit, which is kind of neat.
He is a professional geek. Love my nerds and geeks. ❤
Song For Friday – Varien – Morphine [Monstercat Release]
Happy Friday Clantily Scaders! (That’s the official name for my readers now, alright?)
“So Addicting.”
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Man, I wish there was a Roller Rink near me. I miss trance music, roller blading, and glow sticks all at the same time.
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I Have a Crush on Reza Aslan (Fox News Interview)
So this video has been making its rounds on BuzzFeed lately:
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“Why would you say that?” I love how smug and condescending he is without even trying.
Oh, Fox News, I will link to you only in YouTube videos and Google cache links just because it gives me great joy to deny you ad revenue.
I first saw Reza Aslan on The Daily Show during the Green Revolution. I thought, “Who is the gorgeous gorgeous Iranian man?”
Reza Aslan is a pretty big deal in academic circles and probably the biggest name in religious studies, and definitely Islam, off the top of my head. The only time I’ve seen him get flustered is when he debated the relationship of violence and Islam with Sam Harris.
It turns out Aslan is 41 and married, but… would still tap. Mmmmm, articulate men with symmetrical faces and terminal degrees.