Simply Left BehindThe Non-Rapturist's Guide To The Galaxy

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

2012-01-30T11:49:00.000-05:00

But for Assad of Syria, it's over.

To My Younger Male Readers

2012-01-30T11:01:00.000-05:00

Know Your Memes

2012-01-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

The name strikes terror in the hearts of conservatives everywhere, so much so that you'd think Newt Gingrich believes he is running against him in the general election: Saul Alinksy

If you believe the picture painted of him, Alinksy is a Greek-fisherman cap wearing Leninist who wanted Americans to stand in bread lines for hours.

In truth, he was a community organizer. From Chicago. And there, the resemblence to Obama end.

Except for one: Neither Obama nor Alinsky was a Communist.

Alinsky was a radical who believed in the power of large numbers to overcome the influence of the numerically tiny elite. He has been the role model for the Tea Party(!) as well as an influence on the 99% Occupy Wall Street movement (the true heirs of Alinsky's idealogy.)

Alinsky worked with labor unions as an organizer first (this might be where the label "socialist" gets applied, but come on...really? American labor unions are as pro-capitalism as unions get,) but then moved onto to try to improve the lot of slum dwellers, those who really needed advocacy: better living conditions, better working conditions, better housing and better safety.

Hardly the socialist themes of the twentieth century.

What Happens If...?

2012-01-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

First, I'm not going to snark on a dying child. No one, no matter how misguided they may be or how evil their opinions may be, should be teased about something like that.

Second, of course, I'm talking about Rick Santorum and the health scare of his young daughter that forced him off the campaign trail this weekend, ahead of the Florida primary. It got me to thinking: what happens if the worst scenario unfolds?

Santorum stands a pretty good chance of making a case for continuing his campaign in the Florida primary: his religion and his religious nature certainly appeal to one or two of the three ethnic groups in Florida, as according to Bill Maher ("Jews, Cubans, and rednecks").

A strong third or even, heaven forbid, swiping second from a faltering Gingrich, would place Santorum squarely back in the hunt.

This would, of course, do two things: it would force Mitt to extend the primary season by at least a few more weeks and to divide his fire across two camps, and it would offer more Not-Mitt alternatives that people can choose. It's not a secret that the lion's share of Republicans neither like nor trust Mitt, but factions have their different reasons.

I suspect the Newt faction is the faction that dislikes the individual mandate that Romneycare imposed on Massachussetts' citizenry. This is the faction that really dislikes healthcare in any way shape or form, preferring to see people die in the streets than provide a sick person a hospital bed.

The Santorum faction, of course, is the faction that dislikes Mitt, or more likely mistrusts him, for his Mormonism. Santorum is Catholic, and while that dismays many Evangelicals, it's a damned sight more palatable than someone wearing magic underwear and re-baptizing the dead.

So if Santorum has to drop out, quo vadis? (OK, correctly, "quo ibunt?" but I couldn't resist the Biblical reference). Newt's recent seeing of the light has generally been viewed as a sham, a desperate pandering political ploy, and really serves only as a calculated rationalization by those who are devout but more devoutly devoted to their wallets instead.

The Santorum faction, the hard-core ones, at any rate, probably number no more than fifteen percent in Florida. Anything he pulls beyond that is either Not-Mitt or Not-Gingrich. The most recent Marist poll shows Santorum the only candidate to increase his poll numbers after last week's debate. It seems he stole equally from Romney and Gingrich, altho it's hard to be certain.

So here's the scenario that I think Romney is hoping for: After tomorrow, Newt, who has said a strong Florida showing will be the reason to keep his campaign alive, flails and ends up in a surprising third. He drops out.

Then, Santorum, for his personal reasons, agrees to drop his campaign and unite behind Romney, putting his name in the hat for Veep and angling for a 2016 run after Romney gets swamped in the fall.

That scenario, at least vote-wise, seems pretty likely. Whether the egos involved can see the logic behind is awaits to be seen.

Kudos, TSA

2012-01-30T09:18:00.001-05:00

It's not often a bureaucracy does the right thing, and in a timely fashion. We often complain about the intrusiveness of TSA searches, but here's a case where laxity was punished properly.

Essentially, in late December, bags from two flights triggered alarms in the automated screening at Newark Liberty Airport. The responsible screener failed to remove those bags from the queue and manually screen them.

That screener will likely be fired sometime this week, about a month later.

There's none of us who hasn't heard or told a story about TSA screenings. They seem haphazard, randomly strict or relaxed, and often seem bungled. I've had friends who snuck double-edged razor blades onto a plane, and I've been frisked for carrying two jars of jelly (I forgot, to be honest) into security.

And this is before we get to the news stories about 80 year old grandmothers being strip searched or what have you.

More important, however, I've learned, as a diver, to expect my bags to be screened, particularly if my flight includes a stopover somewhere in the States, like Atlanta or Miami. It never ceases to surprise me that I find those little "notes" from the TSA, and yet it shouldn't: I carry batteries, knives (for getting caught up in fishing lines,) flashlights, camera gear...it's a wonder I can make the weight limits.

I can't blame them for being diligent. All it would take is for one "Eh! Let it go..." moment and 400 people or more could be dead. I wouldn't want that on my conscience. I don't know what could have been going through the mind of this fellow, but I sure as heck wouldn't want him in charge of baggage security on any flight I'd take.

We Only Got The One

2012-01-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

Let's take better care of it, OK?

(photocourtesy)

Doin' The Snoopy Dance

2012-01-26T10:19:00.000-05:00

Geithner will not serve a second term at Treasury Secretary.

Note To Mitt Romney

2012-01-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

When retired Republicans think you're too rich, it's time to fold up the tents.

You do realize if you win the nomination that the playbook is going to be taken from Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, right?

You're toast.

Ground Control To Major Newt

2012-01-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

Um, oops.

No wonder Newt wants a moonbase.

Some have said it will never happen: it's too expensive and too far away.

I say it can and WILL happen.

First, we declare the Moon is part of the Axis of Evil. I mean, come ON! Every Islamic nation features a crescent moon on their flag! Then....

Occupy Oz

2012-01-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

Original Australians are protesting today, Australia Day, which marks the anniversary of the first British colonists on that continent.

Curiously, some people have a problem with this. Including the Prime Minister.

The protests, resembling the OWS theme of pitching impromptu settlements on public lands, is focused on land rights the Aborigines lost when Britains invaded/arrived, depending on your point of view. Much like our own Native Americans, Aborigines see that land and real estate have value and the time has arrived to, to quote the song Beds Are Burning, "give it back."

The Asshole Doesn't Fall Far From The Tree

2012-01-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

Local news anchor Greg Kelly has been accused of rape. Normally, I don't get into this kind of local story on a blog with an international audience-- admittedly, mostly located in the US-- but there are some interesting details to be parsed.

Greg Kelly works for the local FOX affiliate's morning show, Good Day, New York. He is probably the sleasiest, smarmiest local news anchor in NYC. His rapport with his co-anchor, Roseanne Scotto, can be best illuminated in this way: When Scotto wants to highlight her other talent, cooking, she brings her family to another network's morning show.

Ironic, right? FOX, sleaze, rape. Sounds like a Bill O'Reilly in training. Even the promos for the show feature his not-so-subtle comments about Scotto's breasts and innuendo that would make a hooker blanch.

Mind you, this is the same station where the infamous Ernie Anastos "Keep fucking that chicken" moment took place.

It gets better. Apparently, insensitivity runs in the family. You see, Greg is son of current NYPD commissioner, and (well, formerly) potential mayoral candidate, Ray Kelly.

He won't be receiving a whole lot of assistance from his dad, tho. You see, Ray Kelly has his own hot water to try to extricate himself from. He appears in a really offensive video featuring some really inflammatory portrayals of and information about Muslims in the city.

He appears voluntarily. Kelly explains it away by saying that he believed the video was being made as a good faith effort to inform officers involved in counter-terrorism training. The jist of the film is that Muslims are engaged in a full-on jihad to dominate the world.

Keep fucking that chicken, Ray.

Jo, Mang!

2012-01-26T09:18:00.000-05:00

Marco, it's so quaint you think a little gentle nudge is going to stop Newt, Mitt, and Rickie from using Latinos as a punching bag.

Dissing The Prez

2012-01-26T09:15:00.001-05:00

OK, by now, you've either seen or heard about this picture, where Arizona Governor Jan Brewer sticks her claw-like index finger into President Obama's face, practically picking boogers out of his nose. All that's missing is the broom and the pointy hat.

Both sides have downplayed the photo, and said it was a cordial if spirited exchange. Given that the White House has played Jackie Robinson these past four years to the bigots as they've come across them, that's no surprise. Brewer's interviews since the incident tell two different tales, but the ones told to FOX could just be bragging.

So let's take that at face value and say it was not an angry lecture.

That doesn't excuse her actions, much. As a governor herself, she has to know that there is always a camera around, and that gets manifold multiplication when the President is involved.

Even allowing that it might have been a moment of exuberance, it's still telling that she pointed a finger at him like he was the boy raking her garden.

It's also rather telling that she whines about him lecturing her IN THE OVAL OFFICE, where, you know, it's his home turf, and not a place of equals. I wonder, do they teach manners in Arizona schools? It sounds like maybe they should.

QotD

2012-01-26T08:53:00.001-05:00

"We have a president who is detached from reality. He's detached from the people. He's detached from his own words. He's so detached people are surprised and shocked."

(photo courtesy, and yes, I'm aware he was not getting a shoe shine but was being wanded by security, but notice he's not standing in a line at the TSA counter like even first class passengers, but being searched by a private security guard for a private jet company. What the FUCK does he know about "the people"?)

SOTU, Biatches!

2012-01-25T10:04:00.001-05:00

Now, let me preface this piece by saying I did not watch the State Of The Union address last night. I prefer reading the transcript. I can't abide the canned applause, and watching half of Congress look at their watches while the other half whoops and hollers.

And it doesn't matter: Republican or Democrat, no one is truly unifying the Congress behind a vision or goal. Even talk about Osama bin Laden's liquidation was only going to draw tepid polite applause from the Republicans, which is a goddamned shame.

So I read it the next day

A couple of immediate reactions:

1) When you juxtapose this passage:

We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, and everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

...with revelations of the tax "burden" of erstwhile Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, and the tepid Republican rebuttal by Mitch Daniels of:

That means a dramatically simpler tax system of fewer loopholes and lower rates...No feature of the Obama presidency has been sadder than its constant efforts to divide us, to curry favor with some Americans by castigating others.

...you begin to understand the deep hole Republicans have dug for themselves.

2) Others have said it, but I believe President Obama laid out a strong case for his re-election last night. The parts about rewarding offshoring while penalizing those who keep jobs in America...you listening, Mitt? Because that was a shot across your bow.

3) It's twenty years too late, but it was good to hear Obama talk about retooling and retraining blue collar factory workers. Bill Clinton proposed this and was nearly laughed out of Congress for it. And now we have what we have. Not everyone can go to college, and not everyone wants to wait tables or run foreigners on tourist jaunts. We need to find work for people who are good with their hands, too.

4) Too, it was nice to hear Obama talk about community colleges. Too often, we view them as way stations for the derelict, those who need any college degree because of job requirements and who sit in boring lectures from derelict subprime professors and assistant professors who would be better employed on the front lines in Afghanistan than molding even mature minds.

So it was really important that Obama raised community colleges as a conduit for these retraining programs.

5) The idea that a student should stay in high school until they turn 18 or graduate is almost, almost, a noble one. I have two caveats, however. First, there ought to be an emphasis on true vocational training possibilities. Sure, nearly every large city has an automotive high school, some have avionics even, and many rural communities have agricultural programs. So how about a better blending of these and include what are rapidly becoming blue collar technological jobs, like using robotics in manufacturing and farming? A line worker ought to know and understand a little about the machines they are using. They are tools no different than a spanner or milking stool. Second, this requirement ought not to be an excuse to let bad students linger in a classroom with a bored teacher looking at his watch all day. Here's where, believe it or not, Newt Gingrich's concept of students working in a school could come into play. But only at the high school level.

6) His tough-yet-rational stance on immigration reform was a clever ploy. Yes, he's been indubitably tough on attempts to illegally cross our borders, but his offer of a carrot in the form of fast-tracking those already here who are contributing to society is a beautiful way of capturing the Hispanic vote.

7) Obama's twin commitments to the energy industry (I'm not crazy about the commitment to fracking and offshore oil and gas, but the rest was juicy) and to infrastructure jobs to stimulate the economy was a pretty interesting juxtaposition of what seemed to be two unrelated topics, yet he managed to mesh them together as an economic relief package for the near-term future.

8) The joke about spilled milk? Awkward and stupid, yet it showed a common touch so it was probably one of those "Uncle Fred makes a dumb joke" moments: you rolled your eyes and laughed, but got the point.

9) And of course, the centerpiece of the speech was the announcement of the Federal Financial Crimes Unit and the directive to the attorney general to go after the banks. It might be a little too little, but its not too little, to be sure.

So Much For My New Patent

2012-01-24T15:24:00.000-05:00

Mangled Unborn Baby Crackers

Wow, Man! The Colors!

2012-01-24T14:39:00.000-05:00

Hey, thanks for pointing that out, Dr. Obvious...

Maybe Mitt Ought To Drop Out After All

2012-01-24T13:57:00.000-05:00

Before he gets an offer he couldn't refuse.

Cheap At Four Times The Price

2012-01-24T10:40:00.000-05:00

Lemme get this straight: the banks can buy their way out of indemnity from this mortgage crisis for $25 billion dollars??? This is after an $800 billion bailout?

What?

ADDENDUM: Good on you, Beau Biden!

State Of The Union

2012-01-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Listen, when even Mitt Romney has to admit that the economy under Obama is improving, things are looking up!

Tonight's State Of The Union address will focus attention on American job creation. Specifically, it's manufacturing sector.

It's hard to believe that, in my lifetime, America was a blue-collar manufacturing nation. But it was. The rich paid taxes. The middle class worked at jobs those taxes helped create. It was really pretty simple.

Now, not so much. Look, the lion's share of jobs are created by small businesses, something like 95%.

And something like 95% of small businesses are owned by people who make less than $50,000 a year off those small businesses.

It doesn't take a Ph D in math to see that the lion's share of jobs are created in the middle class by the middle class for the middle class.

If Obama focuses on this, he will nearly deflate the current Republican sabre-rattling over moar tax cutz.

You Wanna Know What Really Pisses Me Off?

2012-01-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

Mitt Romney says he won't apologize for his "success".

Except its not his. Sure, he built a fortune on the sweat and backbones of other people, whom he discarded and belittled.

That's not what I'm talking about. His dad, George Romney, set the poor little rich man up in the first place. That's what I'm talking about.

You Keep Fucking That Chicken, Travel&Leisure

2012-01-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

New York City has been ranked, for the third year in a row, the rudest city in the world.

Fuck off and die. It keeps the tourists out of our city, I'm all for that.

Snub

2012-01-24T09:44:00.000-05:00

You probably were aware that the Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins were invited to the White House and that visit took place yesterday.

What you may not have known is that All-Star goal-tender Tim Thomas refused to attend, citing governmental intrusion into people's lives.

Kinda funny for a guy making $5 million and travelling first class.

I Got An Uncle Lives In Taxes. Dollars, Taxes!

2012-01-24T09:22:00.001-05:00

So Mitt paid 15% on his taxes.

His defense of this rate is rather illuminating:

"I pay all the taxes that are legally required, not a dollar more," Romney said at the debate. "I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes."

Interesting factoid in the article, however. The average American pays an eleven percent tax rate.

I found the table which underlies this statement on the taxfoundation.org website, quoted in the article. While it does indicate that all Americans pay an average of 11.06% of income in Federal income taxes (note the distinction), the breakdown is rather...eye-popping. I'm not sure Mitt wants to be associated with it.

For instance, the bottom 50% of taxpayers earned about a billion dollars, and paid about 2% in income tax. OK, so far, not bad, right? After all, there's earned income credits and other refundable tax credits that offset withholdings.

The breakpoint for this income split is about $32,000 a year, by the way.

The next 25 percent, from the top 25% to the bottom 50%, pays three times as much in taxes, but only earned an additional $600 million.

Think about that: altho the income for the group was higher (nominally 60%, but let's double it, since it represents only one half the population of the first group, so let's say 120% higher), the taxes went up geometrically.

It gets worse. The next 15%, from the top ten percent to the top twenty-five percent, earned only $100 million more than that middle 25%, but paid nearly 50% more in gross taxes as a percentage of that income!

In other words, of that $100 million in incremental income, nearly half went to just federal income taxes alone!

And it continues onward and upward. But here's the thing: the incremental increase in the average tax rate slows down the higher up the income scale you go. That is the opposite of progressive. That's almost regressive.

The bottom 50% pay about 2%.

The next 25% pay about 6%, a difference of 4% nominally, but a tripling of the rate paid.

The next fifteen percent pay 8.25%, slightly more than 2% nominally, but only a rate of increase of less than 50%.

The next 5%, the five to ten percent range, pay 11.5%, slightly more than the national average and an increase of 3% nominally, but a rate of increase of only 40%.

The next four percent, from 1% to 5%, pay 16.4% nominally, but a rate of increase of only 30%.

The top one percent pay 24%, or a rate of increase of 50%. Finally, some normalcy restored.

But wait! The rate of increase in income?

Bottom 50% earn 13.5% of the entire adjusted gross income of the United States (AGI). Next 25% earn 20.7%. Next fifteen, 22.6%. Next five, 11.5%. Next four, 14.8%. Top one percent: 16.9%

So while we can see that the rich do pay more in taxes, it is the middle classes who bears the greatest tax burden, in terms of the increment to their taxes paid versus the increment to their incomes, in the nation.

Mitt is not paying his fair share. No one in the top 1% is.

What The....?

2012-01-23T15:38:00.000-05:00

The building where I worked just announced they are scheduling a mandatory energy curtailment event...that's their precise wording....for tomorrow afternoon, presumably in response to the solar flare that's headed this way

The Big One

2012-01-23T14:02:00.000-05:00

Duck and cover, people. This is the biggest flare of this most recent, errrr, flare-up!

OK, Then....

2012-01-23T12:16:00.000-05:00

Might want to clean your glasses there, Dmitri....

Frustrations Abound

2012-01-23T11:43:00.000-05:00

Target is asking suppliers for help with "showrooming."

Showrooming is when a consumer goes into a retailer, shops for a particular item, says thank you and goes shopping online for the best price. This has been facilitated lately with the advent of smart-phone apps that allow you to scan an item's barcode and then have the app search for better prices, selection, and so on.

This is a toughie, but there's a certain Schadenfreude that a big box retailer like Target is complaining about comparison shopping.

Specialty stores like bike, golf and dive shops have for years complained about consumers walking in, picking the brains of the knowledgable and experienced staff, then walking out to shop online for their purchase. It drains sales and revenues from the community and puts it in the hands of corporate megaliths.

Of course, this takes that to a fractal plane...

Gong Hei Fat Choy

2012-01-23T10:22:00.000-05:00

The Year of the Dragon is upon us.

All Over But The Shouting, Which Should Go On Indefinitely

2012-01-23T10:03:00.000-05:00

Another one bites the dust of Arab Spring.

So What To Make Of South Carolina?

2012-01-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

By the way, before I dive in deep, Herman Cain drew 1100 votes. So much for Colbertmentum.

Now, to Gingrich.

I wouldn't make too much of this victory. Altho it is pretty impressive in terms of how far he came back and how fast, according to exit polling, something like 60% of voters made up their minds just before heading into the booth. And this in a state where seven out of ten Republicans self-identify as conservative. He may have support, but it's the support of a man whose biggest rivals have left him standing alone against Goliath. It's grudging and it's probably fleeting.

To be sure, Romney has some serious retooling ahead of him, because he's pissing away delegates he should be capturing. While this shouldn't hurt him in the long haul much (he's already a head by a fair bit in committed superdelegates) if one or two of the runners up decide to throw their support behind Gingrich or even Paul, it could be a long nasty fight at the Tampa Bay convention.

Too, something like 70% of South Carolina Republicans are evangelical Christians, which pretty much discounted Mitt from the get-go. That it took Newt this long to grab their attention speaks volumes of how they held their noses to vote for him. And while they will undoubtedly vote for Anyone But Barack, the lack of enthusiasm speaks well for the President in South Carolina. Not that he'll win the state, but he can make it competitive and force the GOP to spend money there.

And Nikki Haley probably backed the wrong horse in her state, altho nationally she may still be able to salvage something out of her endorsement of Romney. It's interesting that, as her mentor, Sarah Palin, danced with endorsing Gingrich, Haley jumped into Romney's camp with both feet. Her re-election bid in two years ought to be interesting.

Good Luck, Gabby!

2012-01-23T09:44:00.001-05:00

Gabby Giffords will announce her resignation from Congress this week, about a year after she was brutally attacked by a gun nut in an Arizona parking lot.

Her courageous struggle back from her wounds should be an inspiration to anyone who says they can't. She could have given up at any point, but her goal was to take her seat in Congress once more despite the debilitating nature of her injuries and for this, she deserves universal applause and praise.

She's tasted her goal and realized that there was much more work involved in staying there. There is no shame in this. We can't begin to imagine what she went through to get this far, so her sacrifices may seem to be in vain, but they were not.

Her district is highly competitive and the races, both primaries and general election, ought to be barnburners. Giffords' endorsement will weigh heavily in this district, as she was a popular figure among her constituents, and they will barely have time to vet the competition.

It speaks volumes about how the most appropriate and dignified response to violence, particularly gun violence, is to brush oneself off and go on, but it also speaks volumes that a nut could grab a gun and shoot up a crowd so tragically.

Legacies

2012-01-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

As you may or may not know, legendary college football coach Joe Paterno died yesterday in shame and disgrace.

One of the winningest coaches in history, Joe Pa could have gone out a hero to a nation. Instead, because he placed football above people, he will go down in history as aiding and abetting one of sports greatest monsters.

Which raises a problem for Penn State, the university Paterno was coach for: how to honor him for his work without raising the whole pedophilia issue?

I have a suggestion: don't bother honoring him.

There's a parallel, albeit more minor case in professional wrestling: Chris Benoit. Benoit was a star of the then-WWF, a performer who sold many tickets with his presence on a card, and one of the most popular performers with that brand of entertainment.

He was also a steroided loon who ended up slaughtering his family, then committing suicide.

The (now) WWE has it right: they have essentially erased Benoit's name from their history for the tragic circumstances of his creation.

This is not to equate a double homicide with child molestation, certainly not to an equal degree. Society has deemed murder to be a more heinous crime than pedophilia.

But not by much.

I'd hate to think a sham sports organization like a wrestling company would get something so simple and a college which has deluded itself into thinking it does the right thing cannot. Penn State can make up a whole lot to the community if it just chooses to ignore Paterno's legacy for now. Perhaps sometime in the future, when things have calmed down and the world has forgotten the abhorrent and disgusting nature of Paterno's enabling, they can put up a plaque for the bastard.

Nobody Asked Me, But....

2012-01-20T09:38:00.001-05:00

1) Apparently, Boss Hogg has a warning for New Yorkers who drive through Tinnysee...Look, dude, the woman carried a gun in New York City, which is a violation of the city gun ordinances and a felony. The law is the law, and fine, if you decide you'll target New Yorkers for traffic tickets, that's cool. But understand this: that sound you hear? It's not us laughing at you, it's us laughing near you through our car windows as we speed down I-65 to get to a sophisticated state: Alabama.

2) Republicans really are idiots. They're going to try to force a bill through Congress effectively removing the Constitutionally mandated authority of the President to deal with foreign nations.

3) I'm really getting the feeling that the Congress-Obama dynamic is devolving into Yosemite Sam v. Bugs Bunny.

4) Best. Video. This Week. The brother can croon a bit.

5) Suggestion for the President's initiative to boost tourism: Bill the Republican House Caucus as a circus.

6) Most revolting headline of the week.

7) Megaupload. What can I say? If you flout the law, the law eventually catches up with you. Cyberpiracy is wrong, and if you allow it to happen on your website, you can expect trouble. There's a strain of libertarianism involved in piracy, to be sure, but it's wrong to be piggy about it.

8) Davos starts Wednesday. It will be an interesting meeting, as much has happened in the world since last January, and most of it is geared towards taking the elite down a few pegs.

9) About 20 percent of American adults suffer some sort of mental illness each year. You now understand why the Teabaggers exist.

10) In other psychopathy news...

Ron Paul Believes In Ear Marks

2012-01-19T16:42:00.000-05:00

Wait...what?

Moar Jon Huntsman, Plz?

2012-01-19T16:20:00.000-05:00

Especially if he can get his daughters to do more of this

I Haz A Sad

2012-01-19T15:16:00.000-05:00

Congressman Maurice Hinchey of NY's 22nd District, is calling it quits.

Hinchey was one of my favorite Congresscritters, a Dem who was not afraid to stand on principle, whichever way the wind was blowing. He represents one of the most rural districts in New York State, and yet the same district contains some of the largest cities in the state, so his consituency is diverse and broad. He's been re-elected nine times.

He is one of the few Congresscritters who I enjoy getting junk mail from.

Gee...No One Could Have Forseen This!

2012-01-19T14:27:00.000-05:00

Limit abortions, and abortion rates don't go down, you simply get more dead mothers.

To Bake Life

2012-01-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

You'll need yeast

How To Spot An Asshole

2012-01-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

By Calvin Trillin

Making Lemonade

2012-01-19T11:14:00.000-05:00

I don't know what a "Paula Deen" is, but from what I've read, she spent decades promoting really unhealthy eating, only to have contracted Type 2 diabetes.

And now she wants to be a spokeswoman for a diabetes medication.

It strikes me this is the last person I want promoting my drug, since she basically spent decades lying people ONTO the drug in the first place.

The B Team

2012-01-19T11:03:00.000-05:00

Mitch Daniels is this year's sacrificial lamb, giving the GOP response to the State of the Union address.

This is an audition, you might note, for a spot on the eventual GOP ticket in November.

As Predicted

2012-01-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

Iowa has announced that Rick Santorum actually won the caucuses by 34 votes, overturning Romney's victory of 6 votes.

No real difference and the announcement comes way too late to save Santorum from his own new Google issues.

Interesting Timing

2012-01-19T10:59:00.000-05:00

While I can certainly applaud President Obama's decision to halt the Keystone pipeline, there's an interesting dynamic in play here.

The deal he struck with Republicans allowed him until Feb. 21, 2012 to block development. If he said no anytime prior to that date, the pipeline is stopped. If he says nothing, the pipeline goes forward.

He had five more weeks. What does he have in plan here that made him get off the pot early?

After all, he hasn't killed the deal. He asked for a delay while the State Department...yea, cuz, you know, Canada...explored alternative routes (none of which have been even hinted at, much less proposed) that would avoid environmentally sensitive areas of North Dakota.

By the way, ignore the bloated bloviator behind the curtain, yapping about China having freer access to the oil now. That's a sham argument.

What Was He Waiting For?

2012-01-19T10:53:00.000-05:00

I mean, it's not like his chances got better since he got his ass kicked in Iowa...

Picture of the Day

2012-01-19T10:47:00.001-05:00

mrray, a photo by actor212 on Flickr.

It's been an unexpectedly busy day today, so here's a stingray to keep you coming back for more.

Performance Artistry

2012-01-19T09:11:00.000-05:00

I've admired Stephen Colbert's work ever since his days on The Daily Show, but I have to say this: the latest bit with the SuperPAC is pure performance art genius. It's been a very subtle jab at campaign finance, the Republican nominating process, and the sham of how politics is usual in America.

Whither MicroSoft?

2012-01-19T09:05:00.001-05:00

There's a cautionary tale to be told today.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in fact, there was a company which manufactured the software that an overwhelming number of people used. They made a good, no, a great product, except for roughly ten percent of people who felt it wasn't good enough for them.

This product could be installed in nearly any hardware, and apart from user glitches and the occasional manufacturing screw up, produced consistent results that could be reproduced over and over again.

Its product made the machinery available to the general public. No longer did you need a big bulky box. Indeed, you could carry your data and software around in your hand with you. You could be as wildly creative as you wanted to be, or you could be as utilitarian as you needed to be with it. Everyone from photographers and artists to insurance claims adjusters would use this product in their day-to-day activities.

It was truly universal, relatively cheap and easily used.

This product has disappeared. And now, so has the company that made it.

NO, NO, SOPA

2012-01-18T05:31:00.001-05:00

Alien Visitors: Our Friends

2012-01-17T14:15:00.000-05:00

Looks like we've been invaded.

Assholes Be Assholes

2012-01-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

Matt Taibbi, reporting

Lost His Mittens

2012-01-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking Mitt is wishing John Huntsman had waited a few days before dropping out...

Pretty Eerie

2012-01-17T09:51:00.000-05:00

This guy knew what the hell he was talking about...from a hundred years ago!

Diabolical

2012-01-17T09:39:00.000-05:00

I truly believe that @StephenAtHome Colbert is one of the most ingenious people walking the planet.

How better to truly point out the ridiculous amounts of money in political campaigns than to have a SuperPAC generate ads for other candidates, but subsituting your own face for that candidate?

Oh. Well. Of course, Stephen had nothing to do with the ad...

I Wish I Could Get C-SPAN At Work

2012-01-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

Because this ought to be a doozy.

SOPA La PIPA

2012-01-17T09:20:00.001-05:00

One down, for now. One to go.

I have mixed feelings about this issue. On the one hand, as an original content provider, I'd like to think my rights are protected to do with my art and writing as I see fit.

Let me put this in an analogy to better sum up that sentiment. Say I buy a bowl for my breakfast at work. I store it in the communal kitchen so I can grab it anytime I want some soup or oatmeal.

If anyone can come along and grab it, it's not doing me any good, plus I've expended personal resources to enrich the life of someone else who thinks nothing of borrowing without asking. Worse, they may decide to write their initials on it, thus laying claim it was theirs all along.

I can put my initials on it first (my copyright), which will prevent most of the problem, and if someone needs to use it, they know who to ask.

That's still not going to stop the really lazy or greedy from grabbing it, but I've done the best I can to ensure I get maximum use of the bowl.

On the other hand, the SOPA/PIPA provisions seem to be on a road to madness, and I get the sense they are an attempt to backdoor the whole net neutrality issue.

Trying to penalize wanton piracy by blocking IPs or even entire nations smacks of censorship, which I oppose. I understand that the copyright treaties are not universally observed, and that if someone from those nations where piracy is condoned grabs my "bowl," there's not a whole lot I can do about it.

Also true, deflating the market of people who are either too lazy or too greedy to actually rent a DVD or buy an e-book does seem to be a logical step. If you cut off the demand, the need for supply will dry up, theoretically.

This tactic doesn't seem to have worked so well for the war on drugs, however. Illicit drug use is still rampant and that's in part due to the fact that there's a cachet to breaking the law. Similarly, with piracy, one can see where there's a thrill in getting a pirated copy of a first run movie to watch at home.

Alexis Ohanian, the self-described "start up guy" for Reddit.com and organizer of what can be called "Day Without Internet" starting tonight at midnight, supports an intitiative to find the pirates and prosecute them in front of the ITC (the US International Trade Commission).

While more palatable on the civil rights front, this has even bigger holes in it than PIPA. For one thing, it's reactive, meaning that a content provider would have to realize his content has been stolen and seek damages after the fact. For another, if we're talking about operations in countries that won't even abide by international copyright treaty, how can we possibly expect them to respond dutifully to unilateral demands with regards to piracy?

This solution smacks of improvisation. It's hard to believe there isn't a better solution out there, but it sure does beat censorship.

What could end up happening is nothing. This might be the worst situation of all. We've already seen an impact of piracy on movie studios and television producers, who have released sequel after sequel and variations on themes, eschewing gambling on new material in the hopes of boosting profit margins by releasing sure-fire hits before the pirates have a chance to circulate cheap copies.

Effectively, piracy will have stifled creativity, just as surely as a right wing nanny-stater thumping a Bible.

Gauntlet Thrown Down

2012-01-16T10:40:00.000-05:00

Last week, Iran warned its fellow OPEC nations not to compensate for her threatened cut-off of oil production.

Well, someone took them up on the challenge.

Sort of.

This might get ugly.

Just In Case You Were Curious

2012-01-16T10:34:00.000-05:00

I was here last week

Just In Time To Screw Romney And The Republicans

2012-01-16T10:24:00.000-05:00

It looks like Scott Walker will face a recall election.

When Even The Arabs Can't Control A Leader

2012-01-16T10:15:00.000-05:00

You know there's trouble a-brewing....

Last Man Out

2012-01-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm guessing that, since John Huntsman couldn't even outpoll favorite son Stephen Colbert in South Carolina, he folded up his tent and endorsed Mitt Romney.

Curious, since Huntsman struck me as someone who was willing to go toe-to-toe with adversity. My long-time suspicion was, he was in the race for three reasons:

1) To set up a 2016 run.

2) To present a moderate alternative to the likely parade of nutcases in the GOP race, and perhaps get a lucky boost for it (after all, who really knows who shows up for primaries?)

3) To deflect some of the Mormon criticism from Romney.

Indeed, it wouldn't surprise me if Romney funded Huntsman in some way for this last.

His book ought to be interesting. I'll wait to read it until it's in the library, however.

A Glorious Legacy

2012-01-16T09:29:00.001-05:00

Today the nation celebrates the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day of service.

I can think of few more appropriate ways to honor a man who espoused non-violence and humility in the face of oppression and rage. Service to our community, service to our fellow men and women, even as small as buying a friend a sandwich for lunch or giving a quarter to the homeless guy who sleeps in the subway, sounds like small potatoes in the face of the service that Dr. King gave to this nation.

But it's a start. Obviously, the more you can give to your community, the more important your work can be.

It strikes me that, in this day and age of faux-libertarianism, as espoused by the massively zealous support Ron Paul gets as an icon of that movement, we forget that community is based on service, on responsibilities. That with the Rights we all cherish so dearly comes a second edge to the sword of freedom: duty.

Or, as Dr. King put it: "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

As eloquent as I can be, as soaring as my rhetoric can take flight, I find myself biting back envy when I read how elegantly and simply Dr. King can make a point.

See, Dr. King, for all his renown as a great racial equalitarian, understood that ultimately the battle for equality would be fought on an economic front, that no man, white or black, could be free so long as he was shackled economically, and opportunity was available to him to give back to the community what he took from it.

Yes, the plight of the minority was something he worked tirelessly to fix, but in his words you find countless references to lifting all people. You see:

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

The palpable fear these words instill in the right wing today is telling. The first step on this road to equality is faith that the road leads there. Whether that faith is a belief in a higher power, or that the goal is a just and true one, is all that matters.

It is hard to believe that, fifty years after these words were spoken, and four years after a milestone in American civilization was breached and a black man elected President, we are still dealing with issues of racial and ethnic abuses. But when that President can be characterized as a "lyin' African" by a significant minority of haters and fear-mongers, we clearly have a long way to go.

Indeed, I suspect the reason the race card is played as often as it is, both in direct placement as well as in dogwhistle, is to distract from the fact that all people suffer the repressions of a system that is at best nominally capitalist, that is cloaked in a veil of faux righteousness by the faux-opportunitiests. You suffer it. I suffer it. Anyone who can't escape the system suffers it.

Anyone who works for a paycheck suffers it. Anyone who owes more to a banker than he makes in a year suffers it. Anyone who is enslaved by the predations of economic royalists, who at the drop of a hat can change the rules you have to play by, suffers it.

There is no freedom without justice. There is no justice without fairness. There is no fairness without standing up straight and demanding it.

Or...."Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent."

Amen. Stop being a whipping boy. Go out and do something for someone in your community today.

Nobody Asked Me, But...

2012-01-06T09:50:00.001-05:00

1) Remember, its not the votes that count, it's who counts the votes!

2) Here's the thing: in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter if Mitt won by eight votes or Santorum by twelve. They both share about equally in delegates to the convention. In realpolitik terms, however, it matters a great deal that Mitt Romney did not win Iowa, however symbolic the victory or narrow the margin may be. He has been the frontrunner in national polls all along, and always nibbling around the lead in Iowa as different clowns stepped out of the car behind him.

3) Remember, the magic number for re-election is 8%. Anything above that makes Obama's case harder to make, anything below that makes it much easier. Timing is everything, however, and recent economic developments are far more important than ones from three or four years ago. That the economy is growing and creating jobs speaks volumes for his case for re-election.

4) As this blog's good friend Joe Ivory Mattingly said on Twitter, "Blah, blah black sheep"

5) Y'know, I've been meaning to read this article but it has words and stuff...where are my reading glasses?

6) HOLY CRAP! (Look, I worked really hard to find an article without a picture that would make you queasy, so you can give me a Mulligan here.)

7) Gee, here's a shock: upward mobility is nearly impossible for the lowest rungs of the ladder. Yet, conservatives keep telling them to work harder.

8) Want to know what your thumbs will be up to in 2012? Here ya go!

9) Stephen Hawking turned 70 this week. In and of itself, quite the accomplishment, but now consider that he has lived with a disease that kills most victims within two years of diagnosis, with only a ten percent chance of making it past ten years with the disease. Hawking was diagnosed at 21, making him the longest-living survivor of the disease.

10) Not sure I want to be Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, right now. In addition to facing a recall election for his hate-filled administration, one of his chief aides while he was Milwaukee County executive and another Walker appointee to the Milwaukee County Veterans Service Board have been arrested as the subjects of an investigation into embezzling funds from a veteran's group, Operation Freedom Wisconsin. A third man, the live-in partner of the veterans' appointee, was also arrested when the computer police confiscated in a raid was found to hold kiddie porn. The man, an administrative assistan for the Department of Public Instruction (in the division which oversees the education of homeless children), was also charged with forcing a minor to expose his genitals.

Not that a homosexual relationship or an unrelated child sex abuse investigation should be held against Walker, mind you. They shouldn't. But they will.

Play Secretary Of Defense

2012-01-05T11:29:00.000-05:00

Go monkey with the DoD budget. See if cut $450 billion. I got $480 billion cut before the program forced me to stop.

Hoist On Their Own Petar

2012-01-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

One dynamic that's played out in the Republican primary season...and it's early, yet...is the rise of the influence of SuperPACs.

They destroyed Newt's chances in Iowa, basically eliminating him from the race overall (he needed Iowa to complement his chances in South Carolina and Florida).

Of course, most of these idiots supported them. This was also the basis of the smug little "Corporations are people, too" meme that Mittens tossed out last fall.

There are few decisions in SCOTUS history that will go down as idiotic as Citizens United. I suspect future courts will look at it, and in their decisions overturning it, tear the Roberts court a new one.

Pssst, Mitt....

2012-01-05T10:57:00.000-05:00

...wrong President. In three years, Obama's created more private sector jobs than Bush did in eight. In fact, if you factor out the Federal government jobs Bush created, he had a negative job creation record.

These Are Not The Droids You're Looking For

2012-01-05T10:49:00.000-05:00

The ones over there, with the tails, are.

Philosophical Question Of The Day

2012-01-05T10:46:00.000-05:00

How many Stephen Colberts can dance on the head of a pin?

(HINT: The correct answer is, "Who cares, so long as they're playing a polka!")

Bully For Him!

2012-01-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

It's about time he stood up to the bullies.

As Jonathan Chait points out at the linked article,

So, recognizing that Congress is simply treating every negotiation as a zero-sum contest undertaken with the goal of defeating him, Obama has abandoned any hope of negotiation or legislative progress.

The question must still be asked, what took him so long?

When the minority leader in the Senate has stated, without apology or retraction, that the primary aim of the party is to make Obama a one-term President, the gloves should have come off right there and then. Granted, McConnell said that while the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, so it could be construed as hyperbole, still you have to be an idiot to believe that, given half an opportunity, which Republican literally were, there would be little compunction to press that agenda.

Apparently, Obama is an idiot. Certainly, he's had ample other opportunities to simply ignore these pro-forma "sessions" of Congress and place advisors, judges and other officials into offices that desperately begged for leadership.

Again, Chait: "[A]llowing Congress to functionally eliminate full-passed laws simply by denying the president any appointments to carry them out is a dangerous precedent that Obama would be derelict if he allowed to stand."

A violation of the Constitutional separation of powers: the legislature having legally passed a bill that the president signs into law cannot void that bill later by refusing to administer it. Administration falls under Article II of the Constitution proper.

Interestingly, any legal challenge to Obama's action (the US Chamber of Commerce has already threatened this) would likely be denied under Section 3.2 of Article II, which states a President may declare Congress adjourned if the parties cannot sort out an adjournment date.

So again, the question needs to be asked, for Christ's sake, why hasn't this been done earlier?

It's not like there was some grand agenda that required the felicitations of the Republicans. It's not like now there's a suddenly clear path. It's as if this lumbering giant woke up and said "Oh. Get in my way, willya?"

Thinking on this just makes me angrier and angrier. What say you?

Food For Thought

2012-01-05T09:22:00.000-05:00

According to Simon Noonan, food can be either gay or straight.

Banana jokes to the right, taco jokes to the left.

Weirdness

2012-01-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

I've had two straight nights of pretty weird dreams, both have been disturbing as quasi-nightmares, both have elements in common, and both have involved the same building.

In the first, I'm standing in the wreckage of the Empire State Building. The 34th Street facade has fallen off, leaving a rubble pile on the street and twisted steel and iron bars rising up like an open waffle iron designed by Freddie Krueger. I start to climb the rubble pile and reach the fifth floor, where I reach up and begin to climb the shell of the building. I don't remember much else, even whether I make it all the way, but I do know I reached the 86th Floor (which is where the lower observatory is) and look out at a sparse and empty city.

In the second, I'm standing in front of the Empire State Building, which has suddenly been transported to Doha, or maybe Dubai. I wasn't paying attention to where the waterfront was. In front of me is a modernised replica of the building, rounded off a little, made primarily of Lexan and cabling.

It's also precisely ten times as big as the ESB, so ranges upwards of 10,000 feet high. I walk into that building, board an elevator (with someone else, altho who it was escapes me at the moment, other than a friend.) I press the button for the observatory at the top, and am whisked all the way up to this platform at 10,000 feet, no railing and I step outside.

Briefly. The winds are pretty terrible up there. I hop back in the elevator and am whisked back down to ground level, where I cross over to the Empire State Building, which is palpably trembling in fear as the much taller building begins to lean over as if to eat the smaller tower...

I record these, just in case something happens in the near future (this weekend?) to this building.

Time, Interrupted

2012-01-04T15:53:00.001-05:00

No. I mean, seriously. It was.

A Steyn On The Body Politic

2012-01-04T15:53:00.000-05:00

It sounds like ol' Mark is about to give up and fall off a bridge.

I'll fetch him a map.

So Much For Yet Another Strawman

2012-01-04T14:11:00.000-05:00

Environmentalism does not kill jobs, it creates them.

So says a coal-fired power plant manager.

Hey, Thanks For Pointing That Out, Cap'n Obvious!

2012-01-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

The rich got richer with the Bush tax cuts.

Moar Like This, Please

2012-01-04T13:54:00.000-05:00

President Obama grew a set today.

The Wall Street Journal

2012-01-04T09:54:00.000-05:00

Bastion fro the clueless

Shorter Andy Kessler:

How come these peasants have such fine things in life?

Short answer to Kessler: Because they maxed out their credit cards after having been marketed things as "necessities" by the very people you flip your hat around your head for.

Sneaky Little Bugger

2012-01-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

In between the time this year's flu vaccine was developed and now, a mutation in the swine flu has occured, rendering that vaccine useless.

Well, that might explain the fact that I seem to be getting sick....

I'd Say Give This Test To Every Teabagger

2012-01-04T09:47:00.000-05:00

But you need a spine to take it.

So Here It Comes

2012-01-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

The West's big concern in the midst of the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt last year was the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to a level of power unseen in any other Middle Eastern country.

Be careful what you fear.

That's not to prejudge the Brotherhood on my part, but if nation after nation has assessed this faction and come to similar conclusions about their danger, then some attention needs to be paid here.

And clearly, that's happening. Israel seems to be making overtures to the Brotherhood, perhaps to learn more about what they seek, perhaps to garner some reassurances that the accords signed in the past will be honored, or perhaps because Israel herself realizes the time is running out where she can rely on the West to give full-throated and unconditional support.

Musings Update

2012-01-04T09:15:00.000-05:00

It looks like Mickey Mou-- I mean, Bachmann, reads my blog

Hustings Musings

2012-01-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

It seems silly that Rick "Show Me The Fetus" Santorum placed so strongly in Iowa. A mediocre candidate who was a mediocre Senator should have performed in mediocrity, but I suppose all this indicates is the level of dislike Mitt Romney has to endure to be the Republican candidate.

Indeed, part of my thinking is that Rick pleaded for the pity vote when he made a kerfuffle over the Google meme. After all, Santorum has been starving for campaign contributions and ran his Iowa office on a shoestring.

The rough vote tallies show Romney and Santorum in a dead heat at 24.5%, with Ron Paul closely stalking both at 21.5%

Paul's totals suggest that there are indeed about 20% of the Republican party who are fucking loons. I suspect that, since the caucuses were open affairs, the balance were Democratic pranksters.

No one else cracked 15%, which basically tells me that people settled on Santorum as the least exposed candidate in the field. They don't want Romney, but they also don't want the tin-plated dictators, the egg-headed serial misogynist, or the crackpot grandmother who's just one divorce from being the crazy cat lady.

How sad is it that Mitt Romney, who by his own admission had lowered expectations for this year's caucus, couldn't even match his percentage from the last caucus in 2008, when he ran against five other Republicans who had national reputations already?

Almost as sad as Rick Perry, who's headed back to Texas to lick his wounds. The guy did the fund-raising, had the splashy entrance and....what was the third thing?

Um, oops?

Oh. Right. Couldn't stand toe-to-toe in a single debate. He's out. He never struck me as the kind of guy who would put in an honest day's work to win the thing and if you can't do that, if you can't organize your life that much, how do you expect to run an administration?

Mickey Mouse-- er, I mean, Bachmann, finished dead last, and didn't come close to cracking double digits. She's toast, altho she doesn't know it yet. I suspect her strategy is to hang in there until South Carolina (indeed, she's already announced she'll skip New Hampshire,) and then pray that Nikki Haley can pull her bacon out of the fire.

Oh. She's already endorsed Romney?

Then Bachmann's even dumber than I thought: she's going to have to go head-to-head with Santorum without the Tea Party organization and with a sudden drain of campaign contributions.

Back to Ron Paul for a moment: he has some ideas that have some attraction to me and every other liberal I've talked to. In a perfect world, he'd be an advisor to Presidents on a limited range of issues and nothing else. That he's within striking distance in 2012 of the party nomination speaks volumes about two things:

1) The fervent desire of right-wing "libertarians" to see this nation burn and

b) The shallow gene pool the Republican party has to draw on.

You'd think after four years of inactivity in the Congress, Republicans would repudiate people who would make them even more marginal, but you'd be wrong.

Hey, Thanks For Pointing That Out, Captain Obvious!

2012-01-03T10:42:00.000-05:00

David Frum: America is getting fatter.

Also, dogs are handy companions, women are different from men, and the mail gets delivered most days.

One interesting factoid: Sugary sodas are now the "single most important source" of calories in the American diet, whatever the hell that means (I'm assuming it means it's the single largest daily source.)

It's A Pity They're Not All Old Enough To Vote

2012-01-03T10:03:00.000-05:00

Because then Santorum might poll positive numbers today.

An Ode To What Makes New York City Great

2012-01-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

The grid

I Thought It Was Muslims Who Hate Us For Our Freedoms?

2012-01-03T09:11:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Germany is now an Islamist country.

Because The Sandwich Generation Just Needs More Stress

2012-01-02T11:16:00.000-05:00

Thanks a lot, Republicans...

Scary Thought

2012-01-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

With this last gasp tremblor, one has to ask, should we be getting the frack out of here?

Y'know, Crack Dealers Are More Ethical

2012-01-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

Keeping America addicted and enslaved, one credit card at a time.

Does Debt Matter?

2012-01-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

Technically, yes.

Practically?

No.

Arab Spring, Redux

2012-01-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

It looks like Syria may finally fall. Next up, Yemen?

Attention: Tourists To NYC

2012-01-02T10:07:00.000-05:00

Please check local gun laws before you come here and get arrested. There's entirely too much of this stuff going on around here, and you'll be jailed for a while before you even come to trial.

Ignorance of the law is no defense, and NYC specifically bans carrying a gun unless you have an NYPD-issued carry permit.

There Had To Be A Better Way To Handle This

2012-01-02T09:53:00.000-05:00

Over New Year's weekend, 68 people were arrested as Occupy Wall Street sat in Zuccotti Park, welcoming in the new year. Their crime? Apparently, becoming a bit overexuberant in their desire to reclaim the park.

For their efforts, they were tear-gassed, batoned, and subject to a violent police response.

I would have hoped Mayor Mike had made it a resolution to find a smarter, more competent way to respond to the protestors. I'm sad to see he's as incompetent as the next hooligan.

Heh. Who Said Irony Is Dead?

2012-01-02T09:50:00.000-05:00

F.D.A. Finds Short Supply of Attention Deficit Drugs

Not Sure I Understand This

2012-01-02T09:41:00.000-05:00

It seems to me to be a wasted effort to go after Rick Santorum so hard in Iowa, particularly for Mitt Romney. I can understand Rick Perry needs to, it's like Santorum provides a hand-hold in his scramble to catch up to the other climbers, but Romney really has no reason to do anything but protect his flank from Ron Paul at this point.

Your Homework This Week

2012-01-02T09:12:00.000-05:00

A liberal's guide to the Iowa caucuses

The World's Richest Thief

2012-01-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

Meet John Hammergen, of whom it has been said:

“As far as I’m concerned, a board that keeps loading up its chief executive with more stock and options each year is, from a shareholder perspective, basically committing theft,” says Albert Meyer, a former accounting professor who runs a money-management firm called Bastiat Capital. It’s all legal, of course, but to Meyer you can tell if an enterprise exists for the benefit of shareholders or insiders by the number of options it awards its top executives. Options aren’t free; they dilute the worth of everyone’s shares. And the practice hurts more than the privileged few. Anyone who owns an index fund of the country’s 500 largest companies owns shares in McKesson, a Fortune 500 company. “It’s nothing short of a massive wealth transfer from the retirement accounts of middle-class Americans to a privileged few,” hidden in the guise of stock-option programs like McKesson’s, Meyer argues.

But wait! There's more...

This Is Rather Distubring

2012-01-02T09:02:00.000-05:00

The hot potato that is known as Gitmo looks like it's about to be passed back to the very people who baked it in the first place.

Really? If these people really are bent on our destruction, then they ought to be charged and brought to the United States in the name of democracy and justice. And if they're safe enough to return now, why not five years ago? Or even three years ago, so that President Obama could make good on his boast to close Guatanamo Bay?

A Sad Crack To Fall Through

2012-01-02T08:57:00.001-05:00

Imagine, for a moment, you're one of the first people to respond to a terrible tragedy. You have emergency medical training. You're there, helping people escape the flames and rubble. And suddenly, the tragedy compounds and the people like you, men and women whose only crime was to run towards a disaster instead of away, die.

You aren't on any of the official rosters of emergency responders, because you worked for a private ambulance company, not the official rescue services. You are a student in a law enforcement environment, but haven't applied to the police department because you're thinking of going to medical school.

It takes a while for official acknowledgement of your sacrifice, presumably because identifying remains was so difficult under the circumstances. When it is established that you are dead, you receive a hero's funeral, with dignitaries giving speeches and you receive full police honors.

A decade later, a memorial to the tragedy is erected, and mysteriously, your name appears, not on the official roll call, but as a footnote. As it turns out, you were actually considered a person of interest in instigating the tragedy, because you are Muslim, Pakistani, and hold a degree in biochemistry.

It's not clear that Salman Hamdani was denied a place among the official first responders because of the initial suspicions surrounding him, or his Muslim background, or whether he simply slipped through a bureaucractic crack because of his unofficial status-- which is both my guess and my fervent hope.

What is clear is he gave his life trying to make one small correction to the terrible misconception that America has deluded itself with: that Muslims hate us, fear us, and want to destroy us.

I'm sure that was not on his mind as he watched the towers burn and came to the fateful decision to help. I'm sure his only thought was for the people in those buildings, and those trying to get in to help them get out. I'm sure he didn't think, "Most of them are Christians or Jews." I'm sure he didn't think about whether those people were there officially or unofficially. I'm sure he merely thought "People in trouble, and I can help."

We should accord him the same decency.

My Photo Of The Year

2011-12-30T05:52:00.001-05:00

dive buddies 160811, a photo by actor212 on Flickr.

There were quite a few candidates, but this one has stuck out in my mind as the most memorable one to take, and among the best composed I had for the year