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Friday, January 27, 2012
A Little Night Music
I'm getting together this weekend with friends from the days in college 30 years ago -- and this was the number one song on January 27, 1972.
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Stop That Noise!
Quote of the Day
Melissa McEwan responds to Mitt Romney's claim that Barack Obama is "waging an assault on religion."
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HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GASP! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GASP! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA GASP! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA SNORT!
Yes, everywhere I look there is evidence we are about to become a godless society, like: Our Christian president, our last Christian president, their almost exclusively Christian administrations who relentlessly pander to conservative and/or moderate Christians, the almost totally Christian Supreme Court, an almost entirely Christian Congress who start each session with a prayer, the millions and millions of other American Christians whose day of worship is still respected in various state laws across the country (like in Indiana, where you still can't shop for a car or buy booze on a Sunday), whose views are reflected in various federal laws (like denying same-sex couples the right of marriage in order to protect its "sanctity"), whose holidays are also national holidays, whose holy book must be sworn on in state and federal courts, and whose churches are not required to pay taxes, guaranteed freedom of religion, money that says "In God We Trust," a pledge of allegiance that describes us as "one nation under God," television networks who will accept advertising from conservative religious groups but not liberal political groups, schools who are incorporating a religious belief into science classes, conscience clauses for pharmacists and healthcare providers, religion-based residential communities being built, religious museums and amusement parks springing up all over the country, religious leaders being given diplomatic immunity, faith-based initiatives being federally funded, and our national media being constantly embroiled in a debate about in which god the president believes.
We are on the precipice, people!
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Voting Rights
New Jersey's legislature is on the verge of voting on marriage equality, and Gov. Chris Christie (R) is threatening to veto the law should it pass. His stand is that it should be voted on by referendum, not "121 people in Trenton."
That's a weaselly way of getting out of it the discussion. He's doing it so he doesn't have to take a stand and come across as a homophobic right-winger; hey, it's not the law, it's the process. That's a typical chickenshit way out for a politician. So far so good. But then he goes and steps on the rake.
Rights are not something you vote on. That's why they are rights; they are fundamental to the foundation of our country. They are the essence of freedom; they don't restrict us, they liberate us. And that is why a lot of people didn't like the idea of black people voting in the South -- or anywhere else -- and that's why they don't like the idea of same-sex couples having the same rights and responsibilities as straight couples. It's not the act that enrages them (although some of them are really hung up on gay sex); it's the fact that they cannot abide the idea of people they hate and fear having the same rights as they do.
I'll give Gov. Christie the benefit of the doubt; after all, he just appointed an openly gay man to the state supreme court. He's a privileged white guy who doesn't have the insight to know or understand what it's like to live without something, so it's easy to dismiss the call for a right that he's never been without. That doesn't make him a homophobic bigot; it just makes him a jerk.
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That's a weaselly way of getting out of it the discussion. He's doing it so he doesn't have to take a stand and come across as a homophobic right-winger; hey, it's not the law, it's the process. That's a typical chickenshit way out for a politician. So far so good. But then he goes and steps on the rake.
...he said, there's nothing "so special about this particular issue that it must be handled by a legislature."That didn't go over too well with some of the people who remember all too well what it was like to fight for civil rights.
"The fact of the matter is, I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South," he said.
The comment outraged many African-American leaders in the state, who pointed out that such a referendum never would have passed in the south during the 60s — and that many black people were also disenfranchised at the time.Gov. Christie sounds like someone who has never faced any kind of discrimination. He has never lived a day in his life with the knowledge that there are laws that were written in such a way as to deny him a life with all his basic rights intact. Must be nice.
“People were fighting and dying in the streets of the South for a reason,” Oliver said. “They were fighting and dying in the streets of the South because the majority refused to grant minorities equal rights by any method. It look legislative action to bring justice to all Americans, just as legislative action is the right way to bring marriage equality to all New Jerseyans.”
“The governor’s comment is an insult to those who had no choice but to fight and die in the streets for equal rights,” she added.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) had a similar take. “Dear God, we should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote, to be subject to the sentiments, the passions of the day. No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and the sentiments of the majority. This is the fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for.”
Rights are not something you vote on. That's why they are rights; they are fundamental to the foundation of our country. They are the essence of freedom; they don't restrict us, they liberate us. And that is why a lot of people didn't like the idea of black people voting in the South -- or anywhere else -- and that's why they don't like the idea of same-sex couples having the same rights and responsibilities as straight couples. It's not the act that enrages them (although some of them are really hung up on gay sex); it's the fact that they cannot abide the idea of people they hate and fear having the same rights as they do.
I'll give Gov. Christie the benefit of the doubt; after all, he just appointed an openly gay man to the state supreme court. He's a privileged white guy who doesn't have the insight to know or understand what it's like to live without something, so it's easy to dismiss the call for a right that he's never been without. That doesn't make him a homophobic bigot; it just makes him a jerk.
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Yet Another GOP Debate -- Ctd.
Oh, did I miss another one? Darn.
From what I can glean from the overnight instant analysis, Mitt Romney kept his cool, Newt Gingrich didn't land any big roundhouses, Rick Santorum made enough noise to remind everyone that he's still around, and Ron Paul was Ron Paul. The vote is on Tuesday. Oh boy oh boy I can't wait.
Apparently the prospect that Newt Gingrich could be the GOP nominee has enough people in the Establishment so freaked out that they are hauling out anyone they can find to talk trash about him before it's too late. They even got Bob Dole to chime in on the bleak future of the party if Mr. Gingrich is the nominee. The statement, put out by the Romney campaign, also reaches back to 1996 when Mr. Dole was running for president and the Democrats were able to successfully marry Mr. Gingrich's bomb-throwing in the House to Mr. Dole's leadership in the Senate, and thereby costing him the election against Bill Clinton.
Not to be outdone, there's pushback from the Newt-backers such as Michael Reagan and Rush Limbaugh -- pompous asses go for solidarity, I guess -- so even though the debate last night might have sealed the deal for Mitt Romney here and the Inevitability Express rolls on, the battle isn't over yet.
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From what I can glean from the overnight instant analysis, Mitt Romney kept his cool, Newt Gingrich didn't land any big roundhouses, Rick Santorum made enough noise to remind everyone that he's still around, and Ron Paul was Ron Paul. The vote is on Tuesday. Oh boy oh boy I can't wait.
Apparently the prospect that Newt Gingrich could be the GOP nominee has enough people in the Establishment so freaked out that they are hauling out anyone they can find to talk trash about him before it's too late. They even got Bob Dole to chime in on the bleak future of the party if Mr. Gingrich is the nominee. The statement, put out by the Romney campaign, also reaches back to 1996 when Mr. Dole was running for president and the Democrats were able to successfully marry Mr. Gingrich's bomb-throwing in the House to Mr. Dole's leadership in the Senate, and thereby costing him the election against Bill Clinton.
He was very unpopular and I am not only certain that this did not help me, but that it also cost House seats that year. Newt would show up at the campaign headquarters with an empty bucket in his hand — that was a symbol of some sort for him — and I never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it, and I’m not certain he knew either.Yeowch.
Not to be outdone, there's pushback from the Newt-backers such as Michael Reagan and Rush Limbaugh -- pompous asses go for solidarity, I guess -- so even though the debate last night might have sealed the deal for Mitt Romney here and the Inevitability Express rolls on, the battle isn't over yet.
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Short Takes
The Pentagon proposes budget cuts and reductions.
Egypt -- Six Americans are barred from leaving the country.
Syria -- Arab League observers of the fighting get a very short tour.
Iran -- Israel thinks they're bluffing about retaliation.
Yet another GOP debate, this time in Jacksonville.
Buying American -- Car buyers steer away from imports.
Back On -- Channel 7 in South Florida settled its dispute with DirecTV.
R.I.P. Robert Hegyes, 60, actor from Welcome Back, Kotter.
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Egypt -- Six Americans are barred from leaving the country.
Syria -- Arab League observers of the fighting get a very short tour.
Iran -- Israel thinks they're bluffing about retaliation.
Yet another GOP debate, this time in Jacksonville.
Buying American -- Car buyers steer away from imports.
Back On -- Channel 7 in South Florida settled its dispute with DirecTV.
R.I.P. Robert Hegyes, 60, actor from Welcome Back, Kotter.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012
Just The Facts, Ma'am
Rachel Maddow opens a can on PolitiFact.
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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Annals of Asshattery - Continued
There are always plenty of little stories to pick up here and there about some outrageously stupid right-winger going off the rails (see below), but this one made me laugh out loud when I first read it.
A bill has been sponsored by Rep. Frank Sapareto (R-Derry) in the New Hampshire legislature that would allow businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians "for religious or conscience reasons."
Joe at Joe. My. God notes, "Sapareto is preparing a companion bill granting the right to discriminate against darkies."
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A bill has been sponsored by Rep. Frank Sapareto (R-Derry) in the New Hampshire legislature that would allow businesses to refuse service to gays and lesbians "for religious or conscience reasons."
The bill would put an exemption in state marriage law. The proposed text says no person, including a business owner or employee, should be required to provide services, accommodations, advantages, facilities, goods or privileges for wedding services in "violation of the person's conscience or religious faith."He's the guy sponsoring the bill that would enact discrimination and his opponents are the "intolerant" ones?
The bill also would protect against lawsuits arising from refusal to provide those services.
Sapareto acknowledged the sponsors oppose gay marriage. "Our definition of marriage is heterosexual," he said.
Sapareto has drawn personal criticism because of the bill. He said he's been called a bigot for raising the issue. "They're completely intolerant," Sapareto said of opponents.
Joe at Joe. My. God notes, "Sapareto is preparing a companion bill granting the right to discriminate against darkies."
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Playing Well With Others
Look who's talking:
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Sen. Marco Rubio scolded Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign over a Spanish-language radio ad that accuses rival Mitt Romney of being “anti-immigrant”What a hoot; not just the spat between Gingrich and Romney camps over "inflammatory" ads, but the fact that any Republican could be considered anything other than anti-immigrant, legal or otherwise.
“This kind of language is more than just unfortunate. It’s inaccurate, inflammatory, and doesn’t belong in this campaign,” Rubio told The Miami Herald when asked about the ad.
“The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant,” Rubio said. “Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community.”
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Baby Food
No, this is not from The Onion.
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A Republican state senator in Oklahoma has introduced a bill banning aborted human fetuses in food, despite the fact that there are no known foods or food products that actually contain aborted fetuses.Oh, he read it on the internet. Then it must be true. I guess this means I'll have to stop putting a teaspoon full of Sweet Baby in my coffee every morning.
Sen. Ralph Shortey of Oklahoma City introduced on Tuesday Senate Bill 1418, which prohibits "the sale or manufacture of food or products which contain aborted human fetuses." He says he based the bill on an article he read online about an anti-abortion group boycotting companies that allegedly use embryonic stem cells to research and develop artificial sweeteners.
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Over The Moon
To infinity and beyond.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all in favor of space exploration. But Mr. Gingrich sounds like he's not exactly firing on all thrusters when he declares that he wants the moon colony to be the 51st state:
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Newt Gingrich promised Wednesday on Florida’s space coast to create a moon colony by 2020 if elected president.Well, first, there won't be any Gingrich second term because there won't be any first term, and second, there are other ways to pander for votes in Florida than promising another space race. Like promising an extra ten percent off for early bird coupons at Golden Corral.
"By the end of my second term, we will have the first permanent base on the moon. And it will be American," Gingrich told the crowd of roughly 700, taking them to their feet in applause.
Don't get me wrong; I'm all in favor of space exploration. But Mr. Gingrich sounds like he's not exactly firing on all thrusters when he declares that he wants the moon colony to be the 51st state:
"At one point early in my career I introduced the northwest ordinance for space and I said when we got -- I think the number is 13,000 -- when we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon they can petition to become a state," Gingrich said, telling the crowd this was the "weirdest" thing he has ever done. "And I will as president encourage the introduction of the northwest ordinance for space to put a marker down that we want Americans to think boldly about the future…"I think the books are still open as to what qualifies as the "weirdest" thing Mr. Gingrich has ever done.
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Short Takes
Details emerge about the rescue in Somalia.
Egypt marks the first anniversary of their revolution.
President Obama wants to get more aid to Egypt, and soon.
Long Recovery -- The Fed will keep interest rates low for the next two years.
School meals will become healthier under new rules.
Gingrich and Romney are basically tied in the polls here in Florida.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) officially resigned in an emotional ceremony on the floor of the House.
R.I.P. Nicol Williamson, 75, British actor.
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Egypt marks the first anniversary of their revolution.
President Obama wants to get more aid to Egypt, and soon.
Long Recovery -- The Fed will keep interest rates low for the next two years.
School meals will become healthier under new rules.
Gingrich and Romney are basically tied in the polls here in Florida.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) officially resigned in an emotional ceremony on the floor of the House.
R.I.P. Nicol Williamson, 75, British actor.
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Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Colbert Stands by Santorum
That Rick Santorum is a coward is beyond dispute. He has no problem telling a woman what she can or cannot do with her body, or that same-sex couples cannot get married, but he trembles like a tower of jello when a little old lady spouts birtherism.
That's what makes Stephen Colbert's defense of Mr. Santorum priceless.
Gotta watch out for those canes; they might be loaded.
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That's what makes Stephen Colbert's defense of Mr. Santorum priceless.
Gotta watch out for those canes; they might be loaded.
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A Little Night Music
The number 1 song on this date in 1982. Where were you?
In Estes Park, Colorado, on a winter wilderness expedition school trip.
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In Estes Park, Colorado, on a winter wilderness expedition school trip.
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Totally Not Racist
Newt Gingrich's recent forays into the race-baiting game have included calling President Obama the "food stamp" president and suggesting that work is a "strange, distant concept" to Juan Williams, the African-American Fox anchor.
This isn't new for him. Or, as they say in Dixie, old times there are not forgotten.
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This isn't new for him. Or, as they say in Dixie, old times there are not forgotten.
At the height of his career in Congress, Newt Gingrich used to tell audiences that renewing American civilization was "the central challenge of the rest of our lives."Lest you think he had a change of heart, he really didn't. He probably got a copyright infringement threat from David Duke.
But before Gingrich could deliver his grand new theory of American civilization to the public in a 1993 speech, his deeply divisive racial stereotypes would need to be removed.
"For poor minorities, entrepreneurship in small business is the key to future wealth," Gingrich wrote by hand in a first draft. "This is understood thoroughly by most of the Asians, partially by Latinos, and to a tragically small degree by much of the American black community."
[...]
The draft is one of many handwritten sheets among the more than 1,000 pages of records, correspondence and disclosure forms that make up the evidence in the former speaker's long-running case before the House Ethics Committee, which was settled in 1997.
By the time a member of Gingrich's staff typed up the notes and prepared the speech for delivery at the National Review Institute, the racial stereotypes were gone.
In the same speech, he said that "Bosnia, Somalia and Iraq are grim reminders that humans can be vicious, brutal and savage to each other," but "Anacostia in Washington, Techwood in Atlanta and East L.A. are reminders that Americans can return to barbaric behaviors and vicious brutality with frightening speed."In case you're wondering, no, those are not white suburbs. But he's totally not a racist, and you're a racist if you even suggest it.
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Long Division
Gov. Mitch Daniels in the GOP response to the SOTU:
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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.Translation: That pathetic un-American Kenyan avowed Muslim socialist destroyer is inciting class warfare against us put-upon straight Christian job creators for investing in the Cayman Islands. And he's laughing at us.
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Applause, Applause
Newt Gingrich will "not allow" the people who are hosting the next debate to tell the audience to behave themselves.
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“We’re going to serve notice on future debates that we won’t tolerate — we’re just not going to allow that to happen,” Gingrich continued. “That’s wrong — the media doesn’t control free speech. People ought to be able to applaud if they want to. It was almost silly.”What's interesting is that he seems to think that his debate effectiveness is based on audience response, and without it, he's got nothing. (He also doesn't get the concept of "free speech," or at least thinks his audience doesn't get it. The First Amendment has nothing to do with a TV network setting the rules for a debate.) Dog forbid that he should actually have to discuss substance as opposed to one-liners, vaudeville and waiting for an ovation.
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Off the Cliff
It looks as if Mitt Romney's inevitability and electability are taking a beating while President Obama's numbers are going up.
Please keep your hands and feet inside until the ride has come to a complete stop.
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According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll President Obama has gained a net 11 points in favorability over the past month while Gingrich and Romney have lost 9 and 23 points respectively.Polls are fickle things, and numbers change dramatically from week to week; vide Mr. Romney's huge lead in South Carolina. But if this trend continues, especially here in Florida where the primary is next week, you can expect a complete freak-out by the various camps in the GOP: the Establishments who realize that Newt Gingrich might have a shot and it's Oh-God-get-Mitch-Daniels; or the Tea Partiers who will see the attacks from the Establishment as proof that the fix is in and they'll just lose it even more.
President Obama’s favorability rating has gone from a net negative one point (48%-49%), in the new ABC News/Washington Post poll to a net positive ten points (53%-43%). Two groups are powering the president’s positive swing. Obama has seen his favorability rating improve by six points with Independents, and unfavorable rating decline by five points. By a margin of 51%-45%, Independents now have a favorable view of the president. Obama has seen his favorability rating jump a net 21 points with moderates from 54%-42% to 66%-31%.
While Obama is benefiting from an improved economy and a focus on the middle class and jobs, the favorability of his top two Republican challengers is in free fall. The already nationally unpopular Newt Gingrich’s favorable rating has fallen to 29%. More than half of the country (51%) now holds an unfavorable view of Gingrich.
Please keep your hands and feet inside until the ride has come to a complete stop.
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State of the Union
President Obama's third State of the Union speech was pretty much what I expected it to be: a lot of ideas and proposals with a lot of the soaring rhetoric that is required for such an event, but it was also the formal kick-off of his re-election campaign. He touted the successes of his administration, each one meant as a push-back to GOP campaign talking points, specifically those from Mitt Romney; they say he's failed to add jobs, he pointed out where the number of jobs have increased. For all their claims about how the president has "apologized" for America, he went on the American Exceptionalism sales pitch. He threw out a lot of challenges to Congress, but most of them were aimed at the voters and the remaining Republicans out on the campaign trail.
The biggest pitch was on taxes and, as he put it several times, leveling the playing field between the wealthy and the middle class.
I didn't hang around to watch the GOP response from Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) or the Tea Party two cents from Herman Cain. Before he got the gig in Indiana, Mr. Daniels was the Budget Director for George W. Bush, so right there you know his credibility on fiscal policy is shot to hell.
All in all, State of the Union speeches rarely make a lot of news, and last night's was no exception unless you were looking for the poignant moments like the president giving a bear hug to Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who is resigning this week. The one thing that I did take away from the speech was the stark contrast between President Obama and the clown show that has been the GOP nomination process and the debates. The tone and the optimism from the president as compared to the hatred, anger, pettiness, childishness, and vitriol from the Republicans is stunning.
If the election was based on that alone, he'd win in a landslide.
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The biggest pitch was on taxes and, as he put it several times, leveling the playing field between the wealthy and the middle class.
Now, you can call this class warfare all you want. But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense.And the timing was perfect; this was on the day that Mitt Romney released his tax returns for 2010 and revealed that he made $20 million dollars last year and paid less than 15% in taxes. Karma smiles.
I didn't hang around to watch the GOP response from Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN) or the Tea Party two cents from Herman Cain. Before he got the gig in Indiana, Mr. Daniels was the Budget Director for George W. Bush, so right there you know his credibility on fiscal policy is shot to hell.
All in all, State of the Union speeches rarely make a lot of news, and last night's was no exception unless you were looking for the poignant moments like the president giving a bear hug to Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who is resigning this week. The one thing that I did take away from the speech was the stark contrast between President Obama and the clown show that has been the GOP nomination process and the debates. The tone and the optimism from the president as compared to the hatred, anger, pettiness, childishness, and vitriol from the Republicans is stunning.
If the election was based on that alone, he'd win in a landslide.
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Moving Up
Congratulations to Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly's Political Animal; he's leaving there for a job as a producer for the Rachel Maddow Show.
Steve and I have exchanged e-mails over the years and shared stories about South Florida; he's from here. I think he's one of the best writers and observers of politics out there, and I wish him all the best.
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Steve and I have exchanged e-mails over the years and shared stories about South Florida; he's from here. I think he's one of the best writers and observers of politics out there, and I wish him all the best.
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Short Takes
The Arab League is hoping for help from the U.N. in dealing with Syria.
Navy SEALs rescue hostages held in Somalia.
Connecticut police are accused of mistreating Latinos.
Democrats leave Indiana statehouse rather than vote on anti-union bill.
The GOP candidates -- Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich -- are coming to Miami to woo the Cuban-Americans.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is recovering from surgery for a stroke.
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Navy SEALs rescue hostages held in Somalia.
Connecticut police are accused of mistreating Latinos.
Democrats leave Indiana statehouse rather than vote on anti-union bill.
The GOP candidates -- Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich -- are coming to Miami to woo the Cuban-Americans.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is recovering from surgery for a stroke.
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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
A Very Bad Situation
If you thought that Rick Santorum couldn't be any more lunatic fringed, notice his response to the question about abortions for rape victims.
Melissa says it best:
That's about the most anti-life view I can imagine.
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As horrible as the way that that son or daughter and son was created, it still is her child. And whether she has that child or doesn’t, it will always be her child. And she will always know that. And so to embrace her and to love her and to support her and get her through this very difficult time, I’ve always, you know, I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life. We have horrible things happen. I can’t think of anything more horrible. But, nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation."Make the best out of a bad situation"? Are you kidding me?
Melissa says it best:
As always, I do dearly love (read: detest with the fiery passion of 10,000 suns) the fact that Rick Santorum is so catastrophically incapable of self-reflection that he is able to acknowledge that rape (forcing a woman to do something with her body she doesn't want to do) is a Terrible Thing, while simultaneously asserting that the denial of abortion (forcing a woman to do something with her body she doesn't want to do) is a Moral Imperative.Anti-choice advocates have said that women shouldn't be allowed to make a choice to have an abortion because if they were, they would do it without much more forethought than they would about getting their hair done: you know how women are. And yet here is Mr. Santorum, the most virulent "pro-life" candidate out there, making light of the fact that if someone gets raped, well, hey, when life hands you lemons, babe, just suck it up because the Baby Jesus wants you to make the best of a bad situation.
I'm really hard-pressed to see why I should be any less contemptuous of a man who sits at a big mahogany desk in Washington making decisions about my body without my consent than I should be of a man who used physical force to make decisions about my body without my consent.
That's about the most anti-life view I can imagine.
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Romney's Taxes
So the veil has been lifted off Mitt Romney's tax returns for last year.
Lest you think I have some kind of grudge against people making a lot of money, forget it. I don't. I could not care less how much money he makes or how he chooses to spend it. I also think that if he and his accountants have figured out a way to game the system so that he pays as little in taxes as he can, then fine; isn't that what H&R Block and Turbo Tax are selling us, the average guy with a job and a mortgage and bills to pay... or not?
Whether or not it's fair is another matter. A totally fair tax system would not distinguish between income earned from working and income earned from investments. The criticism of Mr. Romney or anyone else who makes $33,048 in “less than a day” isn't a battle of capitalism versus communism; it's the difference between rewarding someone with a lower tax rate for making money in a way that is inaccessible to a majority of the people. Most Americans don't have the luxury of investing enough money to earn an income from it alone.
And then there's the disincentive to use that money for the greater good, and I don't mean giving it away to the poor or "spreading the wealth." The people who have $250 million are supposed to be the "job creators." If that's true, then where are the jobs that Mitt Romney has created? It sounds like he's kept a lot of CPA's busy, but unless his blind trust was the main force behind General Motors and Chrysler coming back (oh, the irony), it's not doing a hell of a lot of good for the job market. So I'm not so sure as to why people should be rewarded with a lower tax rate for basically doing nothing. Sounds kind of like European socialism to me.
People with more knowledge about taxes and the tax code will have more insight than I do on this matter, but in a way I can see why Mr. Romney was reluctant to release his tax returns: they make him look like what people already think he is.
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Romney’s total wealth is estimated at $190 million to $250 million.Kind of takes the sting out of being "unemployed," doesn't it?
The returns also show that over 2010 and 2011 Romney donated more money to charity, $7 million, than he will pay in taxes, much of that going to the Mormon church. The campaign stressed that Romney’s low tax rate was based on the fact that much of his income comes from 15% tax rate on capital gains, rather than the 35% rate on earned income as well as charitable deductions. They also note that much of the money comes from interest from Romney’s blind trust.
Lest you think I have some kind of grudge against people making a lot of money, forget it. I don't. I could not care less how much money he makes or how he chooses to spend it. I also think that if he and his accountants have figured out a way to game the system so that he pays as little in taxes as he can, then fine; isn't that what H&R Block and Turbo Tax are selling us, the average guy with a job and a mortgage and bills to pay... or not?
Whether or not it's fair is another matter. A totally fair tax system would not distinguish between income earned from working and income earned from investments. The criticism of Mr. Romney or anyone else who makes $33,048 in “less than a day” isn't a battle of capitalism versus communism; it's the difference between rewarding someone with a lower tax rate for making money in a way that is inaccessible to a majority of the people. Most Americans don't have the luxury of investing enough money to earn an income from it alone.
And then there's the disincentive to use that money for the greater good, and I don't mean giving it away to the poor or "spreading the wealth." The people who have $250 million are supposed to be the "job creators." If that's true, then where are the jobs that Mitt Romney has created? It sounds like he's kept a lot of CPA's busy, but unless his blind trust was the main force behind General Motors and Chrysler coming back (oh, the irony), it's not doing a hell of a lot of good for the job market. So I'm not so sure as to why people should be rewarded with a lower tax rate for basically doing nothing. Sounds kind of like European socialism to me.
People with more knowledge about taxes and the tax code will have more insight than I do on this matter, but in a way I can see why Mr. Romney was reluctant to release his tax returns: they make him look like what people already think he is.
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Yet Another GOP Debate -- Ctd.
I have a perfect record in not watching the GOP debates, so here's what other people are saying about the one last night over in Tampa.
Josh Marshall at TPM:
Andrew Sullivan:
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Josh Marshall at TPM:
My basic read is that the debate all happened in the first 20 or 30 minutes. Romney was brutal and totally on message, hitting a series of key attack lines where Gingrich is just extremely vulnerable. But then Newt came back and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite as on his game as his was tonight. He didn’t get a chance to have one of those Newt explosion minutes. But just for rolling with the punches, finding openings to get right back in Mitt’s face and more than anything playing that frontrunner card which must have driven Mitt to distraction. Watching it I remember thinking, wow, this is a sort of an amazing moment just in terms of political theatrics because both of them really brought their A games, both of which are very different things.And polls are showing that Mr. Gingrich is up in Florida and nationally.
By the end of the exchange, Romney started to get under Newt’s skin. There were a few moments where Newt almost seemed speechless. He had that moment when he grabbed on to the lifeline of defending Medicare in Florida, which is actually quite a lifeline. But that whole part of the debate ended just as Newt looked like he might be getting wobbly.
The other big part of the debate is that Brian Williams just played the whole thing so close to the vest and right that he didn’t give Gingrich any opportunity to have a newtplosion. But I’m not quite sure he wanted one. Or rather I get the sense his advisors told him he didn’t need or another or maybe it was time to pass on it. He’s the frontrunner now.
Andrew Sullivan:
So this is Newt on his best behavior. Even when Romney called him a "disgrace" three times.So if you were wondering when they would get around to talking about substance and issues that actually matter to voters here in Florida or anywhere else, you were watching the wrong channel. You would have been better off watching the voodoo lady on public access.
Maybe Gingrich is trying to reassure the establishment that he is not the constant bomb-thrower and surprise agent. Maybe he realizes he needs to look more presidential. My own take is that this gambit cannot work for Newt. He is not a serene statesman. He's a ferocious demagogue. That's all he knows. I don't find the new Newt very appealing. But maybe tactically, it makes sense.
As for Romney, he was back on form, but also oddly Romney-esque. The crude and dumb attacks on Obama remained. The occasional weirdness - why is he so proud that Ted Kennedy took out a new mortgage? why brag that he'd pay no taxes under Newt's tax plan? - endured. The confidence returned, but still no character and no personality to engage with.
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Short Takes
Egypt -- Opening day of the new parliament was anything but calm.
Yet another GOP debate, this time in Tampa.
Not Too Shabby -- Mitt Romney releases his tax returns.
The Supreme Court rules that a GPS requires a search warrant.
Southeast Storms -- Hundreds of homes are damaged by heavy weather.
No VP for You -- Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) names a gay man and an Asian to New Jersey's Supreme Court.
More trouble for Miami's mayor.
Florida public school rankings by district are out.
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Yet another GOP debate, this time in Tampa.
Not Too Shabby -- Mitt Romney releases his tax returns.
The Supreme Court rules that a GPS requires a search warrant.
Southeast Storms -- Hundreds of homes are damaged by heavy weather.
No VP for You -- Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) names a gay man and an Asian to New Jersey's Supreme Court.
More trouble for Miami's mayor.
Florida public school rankings by district are out.
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Monday, January 23, 2012
Thanks For the Memory
Four years ago tonight I was in New York City for a very special occasion.
I'll always remember that night, not just because I was able to add a New York credit to my resume, but because I met a group of people who only knew me through the words on a page, and they did a great job of making what I wrote and the characters I created come to life. It's every playwright's dream to have their work on the stage and be what you meant when your wrote it, and they did it.
Thanks again, Gary, Tom, Will, Mary, and especially Rachel as both Anna and the producer. Thanks also to Adam for for his spot-on direction, Debbie for the sound, and Tamas for sets and lights.
One of the reasons I'm remembering that night is that there stirrings for another production. I won't jinx it by going into detail, but it looks like it might happen. Here's hoping... and hoping the next time is as much of a thrill as the first time.
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I am now a New York-produced playwright.
Thanks again, Gary, Tom, Will, Mary, and especially Rachel as both Anna and the producer. Thanks also to Adam for for his spot-on direction, Debbie for the sound, and Tamas for sets and lights.
One of the reasons I'm remembering that night is that there stirrings for another production. I won't jinx it by going into detail, but it looks like it might happen. Here's hoping... and hoping the next time is as much of a thrill as the first time.
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Slow Returns
After a lot of pressure from just about everybody, Mitt Romney is finally caving on releasing his tax returns.
Well, as the folks who so blithely supported the invasion of privacy under the PATRIOT Act told us with maddening smugness, if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about. Right?
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Romney said he’ll post his 2010 tax return and 2011 estimate online Tuesday, after he was hammered by his rivals and gave awkward debate answers last week as he said he would release his tax returns in April.Notice he's only releasing just last year's and this year's estimate. That's it. Apparently he's afraid to go back any further because of what people might say on the internet and the invasion of his privacy. (By contrast, when Mitt's father ran for president in 1968, he released twelve years' worth of returns. But that was before the tubes.)
Well, as the folks who so blithely supported the invasion of privacy under the PATRIOT Act told us with maddening smugness, if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about. Right?
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Neutral Jeb
After a flurry of rumors that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would endorse Mitt Romney, he's telling Bloomberg News that he's staying neutral in the primary next week.
If Jeb is sniffing around for a VP interview (see below), then he's not as smart as everyone says he is. (Of course, given his family, "smart" is a relative term.) He should know that his name is toxic -- how many times have you heard any GOP candidates align themselves with the policies of W? -- so adding a Bush to the ticket would be like introducing the 2012 Edsel at the Detroit Auto Show. But then, he's seeing Newt Gingrich, the thrice-married adulterous hypocrite who was tossed out of his own party for serial douchebaggery, soaring in the polls, so he must think the (R) behind his name stands for Redemption, not Ridiculous.
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The younger Bush described both Romney and Gingrich as “credible” candidates in a November contest with President Barack Obama. “I intend to help whoever wins the nomination,” the former governor said in the interview yesterday.He also admonished the party not to form a circular firing squad and to please "start appealing to a broader audience." Okay, obviously Mr. Bush has not been paying attention for the last few years. What works now in the modern GOP is demonization, demagoguery, and fear-mongering. And that's just between the candidates.
If Jeb is sniffing around for a VP interview (see below), then he's not as smart as everyone says he is. (Of course, given his family, "smart" is a relative term.) He should know that his name is toxic -- how many times have you heard any GOP candidates align themselves with the policies of W? -- so adding a Bush to the ticket would be like introducing the 2012 Edsel at the Detroit Auto Show. But then, he's seeing Newt Gingrich, the thrice-married adulterous hypocrite who was tossed out of his own party for serial douchebaggery, soaring in the polls, so he must think the (R) behind his name stands for Redemption, not Ridiculous.
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Christie For VP?
Look who's showing a little VP ankle:
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Romney surrogate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Newt Gingrich an embarrassment to the Republican Party on Sunday, one day after the former House Speaker rode a late surge to victory in the South Carolina primary.This is how it's done; you do a good job being the surrogate, then when the convention rolls around, you're on the short list. But these things must be done delicately; you can't seem too eager to take the VP slot because then you come across as either an opportunist or a lackey.
"I think Newt Gingrich has embarrassed the party, over time," Christie (R), who has endorsed Romney, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Gov. Romney never has."
When pressed on how Gingrich had embarrassed the Republican party, Christie mentioned said that Gingrich had been pressured to resign from the House of Representatives in 1998 and had been fined for House ethics violations.
"We all know the record," Christie added. "I mean he was run out of the speakership by his own party, he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. This is a guy that's had a very difficult career at times and has been an embarrassment to the party."
In the same interview Christie shot down the possibility of joining Romney on the Republican presidential ticket if the former Massachusetts governor won the nomination. He said he would listen if Romney offered him the job but, as of now, he plans to stick in his current job.The last part is true because even if he's on the ticket, he'll still be governor unless he resigns to run. But politically, Gov. Christie would be a bad choice for Mitt Romney as his vice president. Both of them are considered to be "moderate" in the GOP, which nowadays is like being the lonely little petunia in the onion patch: neither of them are full-tilt Teabaggers, and Gov. Christie riled up the base when he defended a Muslim-American judge. They're both from the Northeast, which is always grounds for suspicion among the True Believers, and if Mr. Romney is truly going to appeal to that crowd, he'll need to go with someone like Mike Huckabee. Now there's a marriage made in hell.
Despite regularly making vice presidential —and even presidential— shortlists, Christie has shot down the possibility of running on the Republican presidential ticket in 2012.
"I absolutely believe that come November 2012 I’m going to be governor of New Jersey," Christie said.
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Ready or Newt, Here They Come...
Florida is the next stop on the clown car that is the GOP nomination.
Benjy Sarlin of TPM reports Mitt Romney unloaded on Newt Gingrich after losing to him in South Carolina.
There's going to be yet another debate tonight, this time from Tampa, and we'll see if what Mr. Romney is doing on the stump translates onto the stage. Newt Gingrich already has that angry white race-baiting schtick going, so now we're going to see if two can play at that game. Being a pompous demagogue comes naturally to Mr. Gingrich, but I have a hard time believing that Mr. Romney can pull it off without making it look like it's just another flip-flop on his part.
Polls are showing that Newt Gingrich is either neck and neck here with Mr. Romney or Mr. Gingrich running nine points ahead.
[Cartoon by Jeff Danziger.]
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Benjy Sarlin of TPM reports Mitt Romney unloaded on Newt Gingrich after losing to him in South Carolina.
“We’re not choosing a talk show host, we’re choosing a leader,” Romney said, saying that their nominee should exhibit “integrity,” “sobriety,” and “ethics.”So it turns out that Mitt Romney, when desperate, can dog whistle to the base of the party as well. It'll be interesting to see if he can maintain that kind of energy of attack for any length of time. After all, he's been sailing along above the fray for so long, getting his hair mussed in the gutter might come across as phony and contrived. Which, in his case, would be right on track.
He called Gingrich a “failed leader” as Speaker who “had to resign in disgrace” and criticized his work as a highly paid consultant for Freddie Mac in his years out of office. “He said he was just a historian there,” Romney said. “I’d like him to release his records there.”
For frustrated Romney fans, the Newt attacks couldn’t come soon enough.
“Tell it it to him in the debates!” one person shouted as Romney began his attack monologue.
“Take the gloves off, Mitt!” another hollered.
Romney drew big applause for his attacks on Obama as well, which mostly stuck to his usual stump speech warning of an “entitlement society” and contained plenty of pointed lines.
“I don’t think he understands the power of free people and free enterprise,” he said. “I think he would change, fundamentally, America.”
“Socialist!” an audience member yelled.
Said Romney: “I think it’s time we had someone in the White House who knows how to create jobs because he’s had a job.”
There's going to be yet another debate tonight, this time from Tampa, and we'll see if what Mr. Romney is doing on the stump translates onto the stage. Newt Gingrich already has that angry white race-baiting schtick going, so now we're going to see if two can play at that game. Being a pompous demagogue comes naturally to Mr. Gingrich, but I have a hard time believing that Mr. Romney can pull it off without making it look like it's just another flip-flop on his part.
Polls are showing that Newt Gingrich is either neck and neck here with Mr. Romney or Mr. Gingrich running nine points ahead.
[Cartoon by Jeff Danziger.]
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Gabrielle Giffords to Resign
We knew this was probably going to happen.
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U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will step down from Congress this week to focus on her recovery, her staff announced Sunday.Best wishes, and I hope she has a full recovery.
"I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona, I will step down this week," Giffords said in a video message.
Giffords, a third-generation Arizonan who served five years in the state Legislature before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2006, will not seek re-election this fall.
Giffords vowed to return public service.
"I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country," she said.
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Short Takes
The Arab League has a plan for Syria.
Greek debt talks hit a snag.
Yet another body has been found in the Italian shipwreck.
Tornadoes hit Arkansas.
The big island of Hawai'i got a 5.0 earthquake.
Florida lawmakers agree to put at least $1 billion back into the public schools.
The Super Bowl will be between the New York Giants, who beat the 49'ers, and the Patriots, who beat the Ravens.
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Greek debt talks hit a snag.
Yet another body has been found in the Italian shipwreck.
Tornadoes hit Arkansas.
The big island of Hawai'i got a 5.0 earthquake.
Florida lawmakers agree to put at least $1 billion back into the public schools.
The Super Bowl will be between the New York Giants, who beat the 49'ers, and the Patriots, who beat the Ravens.
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Sunday, January 22, 2012
A Trip to the Everglades
I got together with some friends from the local British car club -- they're very open-minded; they'll let anybody join, even if they don't have a British car -- and with my friend Bob at the wheel of his 1967 Austin Healey, we went down to Everglades National Park today, going all the way to Flamingo, which is at the very end of the mainland of the Florida peninsula. Here are some photos and a few notes from the trip.
Some of the cars, including a Morgan, a bug-eye Sprite, and a Triumph.
At one of the stops along the way outside of Homestead.
Most of the group lined up at the park's visitor center while we made the necessary pit stop.
A slash pine, one of the many trees that grows in the Everglades. (And you thought it was all swamp, didn'tcha?)
A view of the 'Glades as we headed south through the park.
When we arrived at Flamingo, we stopped at the Visitors Center. It had been hit hard by both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma in 2005, but it has been fully restored.
This was not my first visit to Flamingo. In 2001 my parents came to visit for Christmas, and we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the motel next to the visitor's center. And it was at that motel that I began writing the first draft of the play Can't Live Without You, which, as you probably know, was done off-Broadway, opening four years ago tomorrow. Unfortunately, the motel was damaged beyond repair by the hurricanes of 2005, so the Park Service tore it down. It once stood at the end of that road.
The view from the end of the Florida peninsula.
On the way back we stopped for a picnic lunch at Nine Mile Lake. We brought along sandwiches, chips...
...and a few uninvited guests.
Lest you think that the Everglades and South Florida is just as flat as a tortilla, here's a picture that proves otherwise. You have to enlarge the picture, but the sign says "Rock Reef Pass - Elevation 3 feet." We had to stop and adjust to the altitude.
And no trip to the Everglades is complete without stopping at the famous Robert Is Here fruit stand. So we stopped... but only at the stop sign to turn to head for home.
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Sunday Reading
The Real Primary -- Charlie Pierce on the meaning of the South Carolina primary.
[Logo via Balloon Juice.]
Etta James -- Hilton Als of The New Yorker pays tribute to the lonely sound of the incomparable singer.
Ian Ford is a friend (and a Friend) that I met through the Quaker meeting in Albuquerque. We've kept in touch on and off since I moved away, and today I found out that he writes a blog and has done so for a very long time. (Ian, being the humble and modest Quaker, never told me.) I'd like to share one post called Theater of the Oppressed that I found fascinating.
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The Republican Party has broken out into assholes and shit itself to death.There is going to be a lot of talk after the primary is over here about how Iowa and New Hampshire really didn't count, and why South Carolina was the real test, and people will not pursue that line of thinking anywhere near as far as they should. In reality, the Republican primary electorate down here differs very little from the Republican primary electorate in those other two places. All three of them are white, fairly old, and thoroughly reactionary. But the Republican primary electorate in South Carolina is far more serious about everything that goes into being a Republican primary electorate in 2012, after nearly five decades of work has gone into fashioning what a genuine Republican primary electorate in 2012 should be.
All three groups are white, but South Carolinians are more serious about being white. All three groups are heavily influenced by the conservative splinters of evangelical Protestantism, but South Carolinians are more serious about being Christian. All three groups talk loosely about rolling back the New Deal, about minimizing the permanent impact of the Civil Rights Movement, and about loosening the limits of theocracy that were previously a matter of common agreement, but South Carolinians expect the candidates down here to deliver on this stuff. This is the Nullification primary. This is the Massive Resistance primary. This is the primary of old unsettled grudges. This is the primary where nothing and nobody ever is truly disenthralled.
Opinions that are on the fringe everywhere else are in the mainstream here. Issues long since settled are reopened regularly with the prybars of ancient prejudices. (Ron Paul, of all people, comes down here and blames Roe vs. Wade on the 1960's, and quotes John Adams on why the Beatles sent the country to hell in a bucket. Willard Romney, that old smoothie, yells at a heckler while appearing to be channelling Joe McCarthy.) There is no scar tissue down here, only scabs that open, over and over again.
[...]
Now the Republican party must decide going forward if it is going to be defined by the unique circumstances of a South Carolina primary, if it will allow itself to be "disenthralled" from those things that are important to the national governing consensus elsewhere. It must decide if it will be the party of nullification, and not just in the Congress, but in the country as well. Early last evening, David Gregory on NBC speculated that a Gingrich win would prove that Republicans had decided that, "We need a really smart president."
If the rest of the country starts thinking like this, we might as well give Fort Sumter back. Nobody here is disenthralled, and they are so very proud of it.
[Logo via Balloon Juice.]
Etta James -- Hilton Als of The New Yorker pays tribute to the lonely sound of the incomparable singer.
[Photograph by Mary Ellen Mark]She was an accident, born to a fourteen-year-old black girl in Depression-era Los Angeles. She never knew her father, but thought that he might have been the famous white pool player, Rudolf “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone, whom she met in the nineteen-eighties. Like Marilyn Monroe, that other famous blonde Los Angeleno, James was more or less an orphan, spiritually anyway, abandoned by her mother who ran off to chase men (as a child James called her “the Mystery Lady”) and handed over to a number of caretakers in the meantime. And, again like Monroe, by the time James was a teen-ager, she was filled with ambition and confusion. One played off the other. A foster father would beat her until the girl with the powerful voice sang for his friends. Afterwards, she’d return to her cold, wet bed; James was a bed wetter.
By the time she was a teen-ager, James was reunited, if that is the word, with her mother, who took her to San Francisco, where James’s love of R.&B. saved her, to some extent—but is talent enough if one has been continually unloved by those unreliable specimens, other people? That was what her big sound was about—a deafening cry in the wilderness of her unconquerable loneliness. She was fat: with drugs, food, incredible technical skill. But nothing could fill her up. All she could do was try to expel—shake off—some of the evening’s exertions (looking for dope on a more or less daily basis amounts to a job in itself) in the recording studio, where she sang a kind of speeded up blues, which I do not associate with R.&B. so much as it being just James’s singing, a variation of a sound I’ve heard all my life: black mothers calling down from various tenement windows for their children to come on in and eat their supper, or take some kind of nourishment, emotional and otherwise.
I didn’t realize the extent of James’s gifts as a singularly butch performer until I saw an old YouTube clip of her singing “Precious Lord,” with Chaka Khan and Gladys Knight—a trio so powerful one would be frightened for one’s soul if they weren’t speaking directly about the soul. In it, James lead the choir with a rumble that supported Khan and Knight (particularly Khan) as they rose up to even greater heights of understanding vis-Ã -vis their respective gifts. As they did so, James stood back, nodding knowingly, a quintessential American artist in that she knew something about loneliness, and, from time to time, what to do with it.
Ian Ford is a friend (and a Friend) that I met through the Quaker meeting in Albuquerque. We've kept in touch on and off since I moved away, and today I found out that he writes a blog and has done so for a very long time. (Ian, being the humble and modest Quaker, never told me.) I'd like to share one post called Theater of the Oppressed that I found fascinating.
When I’m near people who are inspired and compassionate, I become more inspired and compassionate. Loose ends get completed; I see beyond immediate setbacks and tend towards health. But when I’m near people who are vain and wandering at a great distance from their souls, I become vain and wander too. This leads me to believe that we are not made to ground ourselves to withstand this world of vanity, and that we need each other to have the strength to do it.Doonesbury -- Class clown.
The winds of vanity have carried the autism world (the industry, that is) to such remote realms that I can’t find common vocabulary to even discuss it. When I’m in a classroom, and asked what we should do with an autistic child who is having a tantrum, I’m at a loss for words; I’ve lost my ground. Somewhere inside, I know that I know a good answer, but it is blocked. I suggest consoling him or giving him time alone (or whatever trite thing that comes to mind), but what I really mean is the situation is absurd: why is controlling this child so urgent in the first place? I find myself so unglued from home, and so lonely when I’m surrounded by people churning up this hurricane of “help”. I’m pretty sure that it is the energy of vanity that drives the idea that We Must Do Something. Yet I’m caught like Dorothy and as I said in a poem once, my guideposts have all blown over in a storm. When I have no ally in the sea of vanity, I make no sense; I am ineffective, disabled.
I always liked theater – the unbounded space for creativity, the games, and the way it creates equality. So I’m naturally attracted to the idea of autism theater, which is a Big New Thing (try a web search if you like). However, I was immediately lost in it, just like in the classrooms – both in reading about it and in participating in a some programs. I couldn’t identify the inspiration, direction or reason for it, other than as a form of Behavior Therapy, may god save us from that. Then I read from Augusto Boal (author of Theater of the Oppressed), how theater is the grounding for turning awareness of ones own oppression into action. In his work, theater is the initiating action that leads to action outside the theater.
The games that Boal explains (he has hundreds of them) have seeped into many other people’s repertoire of games, but they can be twisted to suit any other agenda. In the extreme, a game whose original reason for being was to connect people together to empower them to take autonomous control of their lives could be twisted into a game of controlling the behavior of a disabled class! The irony of that had been festering without my conscious awareness. Now I at least have Boal as an inspirational ally, to help me find vocabulary when I’m swept into those distant realms.
Interestingly, the person who lent me the book volunteered that he could find no connection between the concepts of Theater of the Oppressed and working with autistic actors! Privilege dulls our minds.
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Short Takes
Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary, thus breaking the streak since 1980 that the winner there will be the GOP nominee. (Trust me.)
An attack by radicals in Nigeria has killed more than 100 people.
Police in Somalia report an American has been kidnapped by gunmen.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has hit off the Mexican coast.
Former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has died.
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An attack by radicals in Nigeria has killed more than 100 people.
Police in Somalia report an American has been kidnapped by gunmen.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake has hit off the Mexican coast.
Former Penn State Coach Joe Paterno has died.
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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Short Takes
Puppet Masters -- The Syrian government got a bunch of people to rally in support of their president.
The search continues for cruise shipwreck survivors.
It's South Carolina primary day. Yip yah.
The Supreme Court orders a lower court to try again on the Texas redistricting.
Home prices are likely to keep falling this year.
A South Florida teen posed as a cop, now tries being a doctor.
The Miami Dolphins have hired Joe Philbin as their new head coach.
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The search continues for cruise shipwreck survivors.
It's South Carolina primary day. Yip yah.
The Supreme Court orders a lower court to try again on the Texas redistricting.
Home prices are likely to keep falling this year.
A South Florida teen posed as a cop, now tries being a doctor.
The Miami Dolphins have hired Joe Philbin as their new head coach.
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