Too funny:

[The Occupy protests] are similar in their lack of focus, in their inchoate nature, and above all in their refusal to engage with existing democratic institutions. In New York, marchers chanted, "This is what democracy looks like," but, actually, this isn't what democracy looks like. This is what freedom of speech looks like. Democracy looks a lot more boring. Democracy requires institutions, elections, political parties, rules, laws, a judiciary, and many unglamorous, time-consuming activities, none of which are nearly as much fun as camping out in front of St. Paul's cathedral or chanting slogans on the Rue St. Martin in Paris.

Much more democratic to chant slogans at a campaign rally. There is a reason people don't read Slate anymore (I got this from Greenwald.) The stupidity is breathtaking. Dumber than Scarborough.

Speaking for me only

Series Creator Vince Gilligan explains last night's finale of Breaking Bad in a must-read article in the New York Times.

My predictions on the finale were wrong. It turns out: [More..]

Update: My review of tonight's finale is here. Almost all my predictions were wrong.

Only 10 minutes until the season finale of Breaking Bad. It's airing at the same time on the East Coast and in Central and Mountain Time zones. Only the west coast has to wait. So if you are on the west coast, don't read the comments here until after you have seen the show.

Will it live up to expectations with OMG moments that leave us on the edge of our seats and a final screen shot that renders us speechless? I'll recap when the show is over. [More...]

Update: Almost all my predictions below were wrong. My recap of the finale and thoughts on next season are here. But don't read until after you've watched the show.

I've read 100 predictions of tonight's season finale for Breaking Bad. The only thing everyone seems to agree on, including blogs, message boards and the MSM, is that nobody knows. [More...]

In his column today, Paul Krugman writes:

[E]xperience has made it painfully clear that men in suits not only don’t have any monopoly on wisdom, they have very little wisdom to offer. When talking heads on, say, CNBC mock the protesters as unserious, remember how many serious people assured us that there was no housing bubble, that Alan Greenspan was an oracle and that budget deficits would send interest rates soaring.

A better critique of the protests is the absence of specific policy demands. [. . .] But we shouldn’t make too much of the lack of specifics. It’s clear what kinds of things the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators want, and it’s really the job of policy intellectuals and politicians to fill in the details.

(Emphasis supplied.) I think the notion of "policy intellectuals and politicians fill[ing] in the details" is very problematic. What policy intellectuals? What politicians? Krugman writes "Democrats are being given what amounts to a second chance." This gets at the problem it seems to me. Beltway Dems and wonks also failed. That Tim Geithner remains Treasury Secretary seems to me to be the ultimate indictment of Democratic "policy intellectuals and politicians." I think Krugman underestimates the breadth of the expression of discontent the Occupy movement represents.

Speaking for me only

Apple oc-founder Steve Jobs has passed away. He was 56. From Apple's website:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple."

If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com

What a loss. How very sad. R.I.P. Steve Jobs, and thank you for so generously sharing your amazing talents with us. (Update below):

I have not read Tom Friedman in a long time, but keysdan pointed this funny one out to me:

Obama’s decision to respond to G.O.P. extremism and the failure to conclude a Grand Bargain, by moving to the left rather than to the center, was a huge mistake. It means, as Cowen noted, that the country has no credible, long-term fiscal option before it now. Rather than shift back to his base with a weak fiscal plan, Obama should have taken his idea of a Grand Bargain to the country.

Heh. But the really funny part was Friedman's concept of Chris Christie as Joe Dimaggio (a Nation turns its lonely eyes to you):

Why was Christie popular among G.O.P. moderates and independents? Because he seemed ready to tell hard truths that Obama has started to shrink from.

Meanwhile, back on Planet Earth, Christie realized that the GOP was in no mood for a "moderate" and he would be crushed. And now all Friedman has left is Unity 08, I mean, Americans Elect 2012. Maybe he and Matt Miller could run as a ticket. Tom Friedman, a Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, as the result of a constitutional amendment passed in 2000. In 2005, Denver passed an ordinance legalizing adult possession of up to an ounce of medical marijuana. Because the state has not followed suit, and still criminalizes non-medical possession by a $100 fine, in 2007, Denver passed an ordinance designating private adult marijuana possession the city's "lowest law enforcement priority." A city panel was to be created to ensure the ordinance was implemented "to the greatest extent possible."

Papa John's is a local pizza delivery company. On Friday night, a customer who lived in Aurora, a city next to Denver, ordered a pizza from Papa Johns. The delivery guy called the police after dropping off the pizza because he smelled marijuana at the house. The delivery guy said he was concerned because the man's daughter was in the house.

The customer had a valid medical marijuana card. The Aurora police came to his house on a child welfare check. They searched his house. No charges were filed. Papa John's says their delivery guy did the right thing. [More...]

I usually like the Daily Mail reporting despite its tabloid nature. It also has good photos. Today it made a big misstep. Via Gawker and Malcolm Coles: In its hurry to be first reporting the Amanda Knox verdict, the Daily Mail got it wrong, and hit the "publish" button on a pre-written article pronouncing Knox guilty. The article even included reaction quotes from the prosecution.

Prosecutors were delighted with the verdict and said that 'justice has been done' although they said on a 'human factor it was sad two young people would be spending years in jail'.

Here's a screen grab of the article, which the Daily Mail corrected minutes later.

Roman Polanski has finally picked up his Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zurich Film Festival, two years after his ill-fated trip when he was arrested on a U.S. extradition warrant. He got a standing ovation. He quipped, ""Better late than never."

He has a new film, Carnage, that is being touted as his best film since The Pianist. And in a documentary filmed during his house arrest, he apologized to the woman (then age 13) in the infamous Los Angeles case:

"She is a double victim: my victim and a victim of the press," the Oscar-winning director says near the end of Laurent Bouzereau's Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir.

He also thanked the Swiss prison guards who watched over him during his house arrest.

Nancy Grace is now denying her wardrobe malfunction last night on DWTS.

"When I got dressed, I was wearing Petals (nipple covers) and an industrial strength bra ... my dancing dress also had a bra sewn into it," she said, adding, "I have been judged guilty without a trial ... I will go to my grave denying the nip slip."

How classic. Even when you see something with your own eyes, and the proof is right in front of her, she'll try to sell a fiction.

The pictures were on Twitter right after the show. Sure looks like an areola to me.

The point: When Nancy Grace opens her mouth about Dr. Conrad Murray or any other trial of the day, remember she either doesn't know what she's talking about or is twisting events. [More...]

Former President Bill Clinton is about to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative. You can watch live here. Or follow on Twitter here.

UPDATE by BTD - I'll be attending the CGI this afternoon at some point and maybe tomorrow. Anything in particular anyone want covered?