Akkam’s Razor

It’s a damn shame, the things that we’re left to wonder.  Can you safely assume there was no shooter on the grassy knoll?  That ‘DC Madam’ Palfrey committed suicide?  Or that alleged anthrax-attacker Bruce Ivins worked alone?  Or that the heroic passengers of Flight 93 brought the plane down, and not a US missile?

Did you see this story in the Post (and reprinted today on page 2 in the Inky)?

A couple of semesters ago, I read a Businessweek article on Home Depot then-CEO Bob Nardelli’s plan to turn around Home Depot.  BW glowingly reported on Nardelli’s personnel changes and differing style, with his strong preference for hiring former-military persons in key rolls.  Anecdotally speaking, a masters program classmate who was also a Naval Academy graduate mentioned that Home Depot had indeed made a push for hiring employees who were formerly Officer Grade to run their stores, casting the opportunity as entrepreneurial.  Businessweek gave several hints as to what was coming in their description of Nardelli’s style:

• Paul Kedrosky: Map of Entrepreneurs Around the U.S.
  (tags: startup visualization entrepreneurship entrepreneur cartogram)
• Rearming the world - The Boston Globe
  [New weapon] spending is concentrated among the biggest consumers [and producers] of resources, which are trying to protect their [energy interests] at a rate that would have been unthinkable for a developing country until recently.
  (tags: war energy oil power military)
• Father Sez » Archive » Are YOU ready for a 1930’s strength recession?
  Whatever the final expert opinion may be, rather than being the frog in slowly heated up water, it should be mandatory for us to prepare and run through a checklist to see how well prepared we are.
  (tags: Recession money depression)

What does the primary mean? What learnings can be taken away? Did Hillary really win? Did Barack really lose? And what about John McCain?

There are two things to take away - the primary means NOTHING, and the primary means EVERYTHING.

Popularity: 9% [?]

• Emptywheel » The Rhetoric of More of the Same
  [W]e want to retain an exception to such regulation for the wilder and more complex financial products. So rather than admit that such a system is no longer sustainable, we will institutionalize a general ‘re-set’ button for the entire financial system.”
  (tags: us treasury finance regulations)
• Job Search Made Simple | SimplyHired
  Use our nifty tools to find local jobs, identify trends, research salaries, and secure that offer letter.
  (tags: jobs jobsearch career employment job search web2.0)

Firedoglake points to this bit of gonzo journalism and subsequent wingnuttery by Trent Wisecup, Chief of Staff of Michigan Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI).  The regurgitation of discordant talking points and the simmering rage that you clearly hear in Wisecup's voice tells you all you need to know - it has nothing to do with being right, only about winning.

Conservative wingnut Trent Wisecup, a political activist and former NRO writer turned chief of staff for Michigan Republican Joe Knollenberg, shows us just what prolonged exposure to the kool-aid can do to rot your brain. In Trent’s world, if you disagree with his viewpoint you are unAmerican.  That includes wanting health coverage for at risk kids.