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Saturday, April 30, 2011
Stop That Noise!
Miami Memories -- The End of the Rat
From the Miami Herald, the University of Miami is closing the old Rathskeller.
When I moved back to Miami ten years ago, I'd have dinner at the Rat before going to a show or when I was helping the Old Professor build scenery. It still had the good onion rings and hefty cheeseburgers, and though I no longer drink beer, it was a nice place to sit and notice that the college students of 2011 didn't look all that much different than those of 1972... except they're all really young.
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And I was there when it opened; it was my sophomore year. The Rat was built in the corner of a parking lot next to the student union and near the Ring Theatre, so we theatre students had watched it being built as we made our way over to our then-hang out spot in the Hurricane dining room. When it had its grand opening, we participated in some of the ceremonies. It was a nice place to go for lunch, but after rehearsals -- especially the late ones as we got close to opening a show -- we went to Bill & Ted's, an old-fashioned bar in a little cinder-block building situated in the corner of a shopping center parking lot near the intersection of Red Road and US 1. It was smaller, quieter, and the beer was cheaper.It’s the big question at the University of Miami these days: Where, wonders grad student Tommy Kiger, will he get a beer and watch the ballgame?
For the past five years, Kiger has been a regular at UM’s on-campus Rathskeller — better known as the Rat. Since 1972, the lakeside hangout has served countless pitchers of beer and plates of chicken fingers, and played host to innumerable games of pool and darts. But at midnight Friday, the original Rat closed for good.
This summer, it will be demolished to make room for a new student activity center. The one consolation: UM administrators assure students that it will have a new Rat.
“Closing it makes me sad,” said Kiger, 23, an engineering student, who took photos of himself and his friends by the restaurant’s sign Thursday. “The food’s good, the beer’s good, there’s a lake. I don’t understand what else you could want. I would not change a thing.”
The Rat arrived on campus at an auspicious moment, in December 1972.
“In 1973, the drinking age was reduced to 18,” recalled Norm Parsons, UM’s director of wellness and recreation. “You can imagine the euphoria. These were the Vietnam days, the love-ins, the demonstrations. The Rat became the hub of culture. It provided a social environment on campus.”
When I moved back to Miami ten years ago, I'd have dinner at the Rat before going to a show or when I was helping the Old Professor build scenery. It still had the good onion rings and hefty cheeseburgers, and though I no longer drink beer, it was a nice place to sit and notice that the college students of 2011 didn't look all that much different than those of 1972... except they're all really young.
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Colbert -- Making the Grade
Short Takes
Picking up after the storm in Alabama.
Shuttle Endeavour's final launch is delayed by an electrical problem.
Give it back -- the U.S. wants New Jersey to pay back the money it got to build the Hudson River tunnel.
A federal court has lifted the ban on stem-cell research.
President Obama addressed the graduates at the Miami Dade College commencement.
College students get hit in the new Florida budget.
There's something special in these cupcakes.
The Tigers blew it in the ninth to the Indians.
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Shuttle Endeavour's final launch is delayed by an electrical problem.
Give it back -- the U.S. wants New Jersey to pay back the money it got to build the Hudson River tunnel.
A federal court has lifted the ban on stem-cell research.
President Obama addressed the graduates at the Miami Dade College commencement.
College students get hit in the new Florida budget.
There's something special in these cupcakes.
The Tigers blew it in the ninth to the Indians.
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Friday, April 29, 2011
It Still Never Ends
It is really amusing to see how the release of President Obama's birth certificate has turned out to be a license for a lot of people to go public with their breathtaking stupidity. Case in point:
In this case, Barack Obama was born in Kenya, he's really a Muslim, and his father was the man on the grassy knoll in Dallas in November 1963, there to make sure that history fulfilled the destiny of his two-year-old son to become the first black president. (Hey, it could have happened.)
There is also the considerable financial loss these people would face if they had to admit that after all these years and all the pixels expended they were wrong; that Barack Obama really is one of us. Pamela Geller couldn't get a gig on a 4-H cooking show on basic cable in Petoskey if she had to publicly admit she was wrong, even if she admits it to herself. There's a whole industry invested in Birther, Inc., and it would be very bad for business if they had to go the same route as Big Tobacco and concede that the product they sell is dangerous and causes cancer.
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Eric Bolling [of Fox Business News] hosted Pamela Geller to discuss in all seriousness whether Obama's long-form birth certificate was "photoshopped." Geller has been making a fool of herself over Obama's birth certificate for three years now, alleging that Obama's certificate of live birth was a "forgery" that previously belonged to a "female." Nonetheless, Bolling apparently thought she was an important voice to include last night.On second thought, it's not just stupidity, it's the absolute inability of these people to accept reality. It goes beyond intellectual shortcomings or a lack of curiosity. It is an article of faith with them and therefore unshakable despite logic and tons of proof that contradicts their belief. It is like religion, and you cannot assault their faith with trivial things like tons of proof. These people are like creationists: the universe was formed in six days a little over 6,000 years ago and Adam and Eve were real people. They cannot give up their tenet of faith because that means that everything they believe in is suspect, and no one can live without that kind of foundation, even if it is based on fiction, fable, or just plain lies.
After pointing at a blown-up version of Obama's long-form certificate and discussing whether the borders were "Photoshopped," Bolling concluded that "it may or may not be, but it certainly opens up the can of worms that there are at least questions."
Here's an example of the kinds of "questions" Bolling now has. After noting that the doctor that signed the birth certificate had "passed away," Bolling pointed out that the doctor's wife and son both were unaware that he had delivered President Obama. Bolling asked: "If you gave birth to the president of the United States, don't you think your family would know about it?"
The doctor died in 2003.
Let that sink in for a second.
At the time, Barack Obama was a little-known state senator in Illinois. If the doctor had told his family before he died that he delivered the future president, that would have spawned a much more interesting conspiracy theory (he's a wizard!). Apparently Eric Bolling thinks obstetricians give their families a list of the most interesting people they delivered -- with a special section for "potential future presidents" -- before they die.
In this case, Barack Obama was born in Kenya, he's really a Muslim, and his father was the man on the grassy knoll in Dallas in November 1963, there to make sure that history fulfilled the destiny of his two-year-old son to become the first black president. (Hey, it could have happened.)
There is also the considerable financial loss these people would face if they had to admit that after all these years and all the pixels expended they were wrong; that Barack Obama really is one of us. Pamela Geller couldn't get a gig on a 4-H cooking show on basic cable in Petoskey if she had to publicly admit she was wrong, even if she admits it to herself. There's a whole industry invested in Birther, Inc., and it would be very bad for business if they had to go the same route as Big Tobacco and concede that the product they sell is dangerous and causes cancer.
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Shorter David Brooks
David Brooks pays a visit to a government agency and is amazed that people who work for the government actually do their jobs.
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Amid the hot-rhetoric government wars, it was important to see the talent and commitment of real-life government workers running a successful program — and to see the limitations inherent in government planning.In other words, they -- we -- are just like all the other people who go to work for any large corporation. Imagine that.
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"Merciless"
This is both frightening and maddening.
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Lara Logan thought she was going to die in Tahrir Square when she was sexually assaulted by a mob on the night that Hosni Mubarak’s government fell in Cairo.It takes remarkable strength to be able to speak out about this trauma. As Taylor Marsh notes, "One of the other things that came crashing into her reality is the oppression of women in these countries. It should never be far from our consciousness."
Ms. Logan, a CBS News correspondent, was in the square preparing a report for “60 Minutes” on Feb. 11 when the celebratory mood suddenly turned threatening. She was ripped away from her producer and bodyguard by a group of men who tore at her clothes and groped and beat her body. “For an extended period of time, they raped me with their hands,” Ms. Logan said in an interview with The New York Times. She estimated that the attack involved 200 to 300 men.
Ms. Logan, who returned to work this month, is expected to speak at length about the assault on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” on Sunday night.
Her experience in Cairo underscored the fact that female journalists often face a different kind of violence. While other forms of physical violence affecting journalists are widely covered — the traumatic brain injury ’suffered by the ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff in Iraq in 2006 was a front-page story at that time — sexual threats against women are rarely talked about within journalistic circles or in the news media.
With sexual violence, “you only have your word,” Ms. Logan said in the interview. “The physical wounds heal. You don’t carry around the evidence the way you would if you had lost your leg or your arm in Afghanistan.”
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Friday Blogaround
The long form of the Friday blogaround is here...
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A Blog Around The Clock finds the missing link at a truck stop.You show me yours, I'll show you mine.
archy finds that irony is lost on Rand Paul.
Bark Bark Woof Woof: it never ends.
Bloggg is building a pergola.
Dohiyi Mir: NTodd reports from the forefront of healthcare insurance in Vermont.
Echidne Of The Snakes explains economics.
Florida Progressive Coalition Blog demonstrates how bullies deal with confrontation.
The Invisible Library: various and sundry.
Left Is Right: floating Australians.
Pen-Elayne on the Web shows what to do with leftover Cadbury creme eggs.
Rook's Rant goes deep.
rubber hose really wants his burrito.
Scrutiny Hooligans deals with controversy.
Stupid Enough Unexplanation: apparently they made a movie of Atlas Shrugged.
The Yellow Something Something has some thoughts on the musical chairs inside the Beltway.
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Short Takes
The death toll continues to rise in Alabama after the tornadoes.
President Obama will visit Alabama today to inspect the damage.
Three NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.
There was a big bombing in Morocco.
Exxon feels a bit guilty over its $11 billion profit.
The recovery hit some roadblocks during the first quarter.
The Florida legislature moves forward on immigration and abortion bills.
The Tigers lose again to the Mariners.
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President Obama will visit Alabama today to inspect the damage.
Three NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.
There was a big bombing in Morocco.
Exxon feels a bit guilty over its $11 billion profit.
The recovery hit some roadblocks during the first quarter.
The Florida legislature moves forward on immigration and abortion bills.
The Tigers lose again to the Mariners.
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Thursday, April 28, 2011
A Little Night Music
The immortal Stanley Holloway.
I hear there's another wedding in London in the morning.
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I hear there's another wedding in London in the morning.
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Devastating Weather
I just checked in with a friend who lives in Alabama. Much to my relief, he and his wife live in Birmingham, out of the path of the killer tornadoes that struck last night. But still, the devastation is mind-boggling and the death toll is going to be in the hundreds.
If you can and are so inclined, go to the American Red Cross to make a donation.
HT to Melissa.
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If you can and are so inclined, go to the American Red Cross to make a donation.
HT to Melissa.
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The Royal "We"
Despite the fact that one of my ancestors shares the same family name as one of the participants in the royal wedding on Friday, I will not be attending the festivities. I will be up tomorrow morning when the coverage starts on television and I'll probably turn it on, but I'm really not that interested in the wedding beyond enjoying the theatricality of it: lights, sets, costumes, and a rehearsed script handed down through generations. When it comes to putting on a show, the British do a good job; after all, they gave us Shakespeare and Monty Python.
In a way, I wish we Americans had a ceremonial royal family to distract us from all the worries and cares of things like budget deficits and bossing around the rest of the world. We've substituted Hollywood and evangelists for the combination of celebrity and religiosity that the royal family provides, but somehow the Kardashians and Archbishop Dolan just don't cut it when it comes to untrammeled pomp.
I wish the best for William and Catherine, both as a couple in marriage and as the future leaders of their country, even if it's all ceremonial and the future King William V will have no actual power over his realm. That's when it's really good to be the king.
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In a way, I wish we Americans had a ceremonial royal family to distract us from all the worries and cares of things like budget deficits and bossing around the rest of the world. We've substituted Hollywood and evangelists for the combination of celebrity and religiosity that the royal family provides, but somehow the Kardashians and Archbishop Dolan just don't cut it when it comes to untrammeled pomp.
I wish the best for William and Catherine, both as a couple in marriage and as the future leaders of their country, even if it's all ceremonial and the future King William V will have no actual power over his realm. That's when it's really good to be the king.
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Quote of the Day
James Fallows on the birth certificate idiocracy:
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Yesterday, about half of all Republicans thought Obama was foreign born, and therefore an illegal occupant of the White House. How many Republicans will think the same thing one week from now? My guess is: about half. [...] Here we have a wonderful real-world test: if "actual knowledge" mattered, the number of people who thought Obama was foreign-born would approach zero by next week -- with exceptions for illiterates, the mentally disabled, paranoid schizophrenics, etc. My guess is that the figures will barely change.
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Not In Kansas Anymore
I like visiting Kansas every year for the Inge Festival. The people are nice, the town of Independence is attractive in that small-town neighborly way, and when I've been to the bigger cities such as Kansas City and Lawrence, they are, as the song goes, up-to-date. And for a conservative state, they've turned out some good people to represent them, including Nancy Landon Kassebaum in the Senate and former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat.
But like any state, they've got their share of nasty people, too, and when it comes to certain things like reproductive choice, Kansas has had some pretty awful examples of intolerance, including the murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita by an unrepentant Scott Roeder. That's an extreme example. But the state has also elected a new governor in the person of Sam Brownback, who served in the U.S. Senate for two terms and can only be described charitably as far-right. Among other things, he's militantly anti-choice, and he is pushing legislation through that would completely defund Plannned Parenthood.
Small towns like Independence need to provide its citizens with medical services such as those offered by Planned Parenthood; they can't rely on the Rexall to be the first choice. And in a rural community that doesn't even have a FedEx store to make photocopies, people need the help when it comes to making more than just a Xerox.
Gov. Brownback thinks that defunding Planned Parenthood will preserve every sacred sperm and keep the young ladies of the state pure and wholesome; without the temptation of easy contraception, they won't be doing things they ought not out behind the Dairy Queen. They still will; now they just won't know where to go to get help when they need it.
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But like any state, they've got their share of nasty people, too, and when it comes to certain things like reproductive choice, Kansas has had some pretty awful examples of intolerance, including the murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita by an unrepentant Scott Roeder. That's an extreme example. But the state has also elected a new governor in the person of Sam Brownback, who served in the U.S. Senate for two terms and can only be described charitably as far-right. Among other things, he's militantly anti-choice, and he is pushing legislation through that would completely defund Plannned Parenthood.
Budgets winding their way through the Legislature would redirect about $300,000 in federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood to state and local health clinics.The purpose is, ostensibly, to save money. That's the same excuse the GOP tried to use to kill the Kansas Commission for the Arts and other so-called "liberal" organizations that get state funding. The K.C.A. survived, but the truth is that Gov. Brownback and the rest of his like-minded legislators want to get rid of anything that even hints at being progressive; why do women need birth control, and why do we need to subsidize art? All that does is lead to free love and theatre.
The move is similar to one in Washington that almost led to a government shutdown early this month, when Republicans wanted to shut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood in the belief that it provided indirect support for abortions. …
“We have the prospect of being the first state in the nation to enact that kind of law,” said Peter Brownlie, president of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri.
Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, proposed eliminating the Planned Parenthood funding in his proposed budget for fiscal 2012, which begins July 1.
Small towns like Independence need to provide its citizens with medical services such as those offered by Planned Parenthood; they can't rely on the Rexall to be the first choice. And in a rural community that doesn't even have a FedEx store to make photocopies, people need the help when it comes to making more than just a Xerox.
Gov. Brownback thinks that defunding Planned Parenthood will preserve every sacred sperm and keep the young ladies of the state pure and wholesome; without the temptation of easy contraception, they won't be doing things they ought not out behind the Dairy Queen. They still will; now they just won't know where to go to get help when they need it.
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Harry's Turn
Since the members of the House have been having so much fun going back to their home towns and explaining to their constituents why they voted to end Medicare as we know it and yet again give more tax breaks to the rich, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has decided to let the Senate Republicans in on the adventure.
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Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will hold a Senate vote on Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) controversial budget plan, Raw Story has confirmed.It'll be interesting to see if the Republicans have the guts to face their folks at home. Maybe they'll take a lesson from that model of courage, Rep. Allen West (R-FL), and pre-screen the questions or arrest the people who have the nerve to ask him a tough question.
The plan, recently approved by the House, has virtually no chance of passing the Democratic-led Senate. The vote would serve to put Senate Republicans on the record in favor of slashing taxes on the rich while replacing Medicare with a voucher program.
"There will be an opportunity in the Senate to vote on the Ryan budget to see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as the House did," Reid told reporters on a conference call. "Without going into the Ryan budget we will see how much the Republicans like it here in the Senate."
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"We'll Never Be Americans"
Baratunde Thurston has a powerful (and NSFW) reminder of why the birthers need to be shunned and Donald Trump should be selling shoes.
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Short Takes
A NATO air strike killed twelve rebels in Libya.
Office switch -- Leon Panetta is up for Defense Secretary while Gen. David Petraeus would take over the C.I.A.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke held a first-ever press conference yesterday and made very little news. The markets liked that.
The severe weather in the South continues.
Florida H.M.O.'s would treat Medicaid patients.
Emotions run high as the Florida legislature votes on bills to take over uteri.
Miami-Dade mayoral candidates debate.
The Tigers lose again to the Mariners.
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Office switch -- Leon Panetta is up for Defense Secretary while Gen. David Petraeus would take over the C.I.A.
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke held a first-ever press conference yesterday and made very little news. The markets liked that.
The severe weather in the South continues.
Florida H.M.O.'s would treat Medicaid patients.
Emotions run high as the Florida legislature votes on bills to take over uteri.
Miami-Dade mayoral candidates debate.
The Tigers lose again to the Mariners.
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
It Never Ends - Ctd.
Now that President Obama has produced his birth certificate -- again -- it doesn't mean that the issue has been dispensed with. As I noted earlier, there are those who will never believe it.
What today's release does is mark a very clear line -- as if it had to be -- between the reasonable and the loons. Anyone who calls into question the president's birth certificate is in the same category as those people who deny the Holocaust, believe the Apollo 11 landing was faked, are sure that JFK survived and is being kept alive deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, and that Elvis is running a Burger King in Grand Rapids.
In a way, this was a pretty deft move on the part of the president: he's boxed in the wingnuts and they know it. Watching the nutsery contingent on Hardball do everything but splutter and hiss has a high entertainment factor, and now we can move on to more serious matters, such as who's going to replace Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. Donald Trump, perhaps?
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What today's release does is mark a very clear line -- as if it had to be -- between the reasonable and the loons. Anyone who calls into question the president's birth certificate is in the same category as those people who deny the Holocaust, believe the Apollo 11 landing was faked, are sure that JFK survived and is being kept alive deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, and that Elvis is running a Burger King in Grand Rapids.
In a way, this was a pretty deft move on the part of the president: he's boxed in the wingnuts and they know it. Watching the nutsery contingent on Hardball do everything but splutter and hiss has a high entertainment factor, and now we can move on to more serious matters, such as who's going to replace Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men. Donald Trump, perhaps?
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Passport Control
This story has been making the rounds:
Oh, and the "'religious ceremony' around the time of birth"? You know what that means, guys; snip-snip. In my case, I don't think anyone kept records of that event, and I sure don't remember it. This could lead to a whole new breed of conspiracy theorists: Birthers would be replaced by Brissers.
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The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers' and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any "religious ceremony" around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, "failure to provide the information requested may result in ... the denial of your U.S. passport application."According to an update at No More Mister Nice Blog, this is a nothing-burger; the above-described procedures are only being proposed for those who can't produce the usual forms of positive proof of citizenship or were born in another country. So, unless you're the president, you have nothing to worry about.
The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form.
Oh, and the "'religious ceremony' around the time of birth"? You know what that means, guys; snip-snip. In my case, I don't think anyone kept records of that event, and I sure don't remember it. This could lead to a whole new breed of conspiracy theorists: Birthers would be replaced by Brissers.
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It Never Ends
It doesn't matter if it's Winston from Alabama or Donald Trump or Pat Buchanan, there is always going to be a segment of America that will never accept the fact that Barack Obama was born in the United States, grew up and went to college, including Harvard, and then was elected president. They will continue to say that all he has to do is produce the evidence, and they'll be quiet, but the truth is that no amount of facts or proof will satisfy them, and every time more evidence is produced, they'll say it isn't good enough.
There's a very simple reason for this, and we all know what it is, even if Chris Matthews or Mike Signorile is too polite to say it: it's because Barack Obama Is Black.
That's it. Nothing else. Period. The End. I really don't understand why we keep dancing around it, and although I know that folks like Mr. Trump and Mr. Buchanan have a reputation for, as Howard Cosell use to say, "telling it like it is," they seem reticent to come out and say that they just don't believe that a black man is capable of being admitted to Ivy League colleges or elected to office without some kind of special treatment or affirmative action. They believe so strongly that the system in America is geared towards the white straight man that it is clearly impossible for anyone else to achieve success on their own.
There really isn't any point in arguing with them or trying to prove them wrong. Like Winston from Alabama, nothing you say will convince them. Chris Matthews and all the rest of the pundits are too polite -- and too much entrenched -- to call out Mr. Trump or Mr. Buchanan for their racism, and so they just leave it out there for the rest of us to ponder. And it will never end. If it wasn't Barack Obama, it would be Hillary Clinton, or Colin Powell or even Michael Steele who got where they did by means other than the usual route of working hard and getting into college and getting a job just like the white kid from Westchester.
So clearly Barack Obama had help, either by violating the Temporal Prime Directive and going back to August 1961 and planting false records in the Honolulu newspapers to say he was born there, and then jumping ahead to get him into Columbia and Harvard without anyone knowing him at those schools -- the subtext there is that those places are so lily-white that a black student would garner attention -- or that he brilliantly bought off everyone ever connected with any of those places to plant him in the right place at the right time.
But if he's so smart and rich, there has to be someone else pulling the strings; no black man could come up with such a plan on his own. So who's really in charge? Ah, that's the conspiracy....
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There's a very simple reason for this, and we all know what it is, even if Chris Matthews or Mike Signorile is too polite to say it: it's because Barack Obama Is Black.
That's it. Nothing else. Period. The End. I really don't understand why we keep dancing around it, and although I know that folks like Mr. Trump and Mr. Buchanan have a reputation for, as Howard Cosell use to say, "telling it like it is," they seem reticent to come out and say that they just don't believe that a black man is capable of being admitted to Ivy League colleges or elected to office without some kind of special treatment or affirmative action. They believe so strongly that the system in America is geared towards the white straight man that it is clearly impossible for anyone else to achieve success on their own.
There really isn't any point in arguing with them or trying to prove them wrong. Like Winston from Alabama, nothing you say will convince them. Chris Matthews and all the rest of the pundits are too polite -- and too much entrenched -- to call out Mr. Trump or Mr. Buchanan for their racism, and so they just leave it out there for the rest of us to ponder. And it will never end. If it wasn't Barack Obama, it would be Hillary Clinton, or Colin Powell or even Michael Steele who got where they did by means other than the usual route of working hard and getting into college and getting a job just like the white kid from Westchester.
So clearly Barack Obama had help, either by violating the Temporal Prime Directive and going back to August 1961 and planting false records in the Honolulu newspapers to say he was born there, and then jumping ahead to get him into Columbia and Harvard without anyone knowing him at those schools -- the subtext there is that those places are so lily-white that a black student would garner attention -- or that he brilliantly bought off everyone ever connected with any of those places to plant him in the right place at the right time.
But if he's so smart and rich, there has to be someone else pulling the strings; no black man could come up with such a plan on his own. So who's really in charge? Ah, that's the conspiracy....
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Shoe, Meet Other Foot
Nearly two years after the teabaggers turned town hall meetings into free-for-alls against the Democrats, the Republicans are finding out what it's like to get yelled at by people in public.
This is a microcosm of what happened in Wisconsin and Ohio; a realization by the voters of what they got when they voted for the teabagger-supported candidates, and they're not liking it. And -- surprise -- the Democrats are actually ahead of the curve on this. They're already running ads against the Ryan budget and targeting vulnerable Republicans, including Mr. Webster, who beat Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) last fall.
The right wingers are calling protesters "leftist thugs" and "goons", which is a sure sign that they either have no sense of irony compared to the town halls in 2009, or that they have grounds to sue for copyright infringement since it was they who came up with the plans for disrupting town hall meetings in the first place.
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A town-hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another.Hey, they started it.
It could be a sign of things to come for Webster, a staunch conservative in a competitive district that Democrats hope to recapture in 2012. Last week, Webster took heat from conservative tea party members for not pushing hard enough to cut the federal budget.
But Tuesday, the heat came from the other side.
[...]
Tuesday at the Orange County Agricultural Extension office in Orlando, boos and shouts of "liar" were mixed with angry accusations that Ryan's plan to change Medicare would leave those now younger than 55 without health insurance in their retirement. There also were calls to eliminate the tax cuts first put in place by then-President George W. Bush and to raise corporate taxes rather than cut entitlement programs.
Others in the crowd began yelling at Webster's critics to quiet down, at one point with the chant "Let him talk!" But the meeting frequently devolved into multiple arguments — some of them heated — between members of audience.
When Vietnam veteran Ron Parsell yelled that he wanted to know why Webster was cutting Medicare and veterans' benefits, his answer came from the audience instead.
"We can't afford it, you moron!" a red-faced man screamed.
Two Orlando police officers moved to the front of the room and flanked Webster and pleaded for decorum when the congressman could no longer be heard.
"It's not going to be solved by yelling and screaming and hollering," one officer said. "Let's conduct ourselves like grown people."
This is a microcosm of what happened in Wisconsin and Ohio; a realization by the voters of what they got when they voted for the teabagger-supported candidates, and they're not liking it. And -- surprise -- the Democrats are actually ahead of the curve on this. They're already running ads against the Ryan budget and targeting vulnerable Republicans, including Mr. Webster, who beat Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) last fall.
The right wingers are calling protesters "leftist thugs" and "goons", which is a sure sign that they either have no sense of irony compared to the town halls in 2009, or that they have grounds to sue for copyright infringement since it was they who came up with the plans for disrupting town hall meetings in the first place.
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Short Takes
Libya: The battle for Misrata continues with Qaddafi forces shelling the port.
Bad weather continues; this time it's tornadoes in East Texas.
High radiation levels have been found at an Ohio nuclear plant.
PlayStation is hacked, leaking personal information to the world.
Who's There? -- No one is rising to the top of the GOP field, either nationally or in Florida, to challenge incumbent Democrats.
The Florida legislature again rejects the renewable energy bill.
Enforce EPA rules, a judge tells the state of Florida.
R.I.P. Madame Nhu, the face of the government of South Vietnam in the 1960's.
The Tigers lost to the Mariners.
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Bad weather continues; this time it's tornadoes in East Texas.
High radiation levels have been found at an Ohio nuclear plant.
PlayStation is hacked, leaking personal information to the world.
Who's There? -- No one is rising to the top of the GOP field, either nationally or in Florida, to challenge incumbent Democrats.
The Florida legislature again rejects the renewable energy bill.
Enforce EPA rules, a judge tells the state of Florida.
R.I.P. Madame Nhu, the face of the government of South Vietnam in the 1960's.
The Tigers lost to the Mariners.
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Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Legal Egress
King & Spalding, the law firm hired by House Speaker John Boehner to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (for the nice round fee of $500,000) has decided to withdraw from the case. That has forced the lead attorney, Paul Clement, to resign from the firm so he can continue his defense of DOMA.
Be that as it may, lawyers are obligated to defend their clients to the best of their ability regardless of the politics. So Mr. Clement was sticking to that principle when he resigned from the firm. Good for him. But I do think his choice of words in his resignation is telling: "Defending unpopular position is what lawyers do."
DOMA is not just unpopular "in certain quarters." It is blatant discrimination against an entire class of people, and a lot of people -- including a high-powered D.C. law firm -- realize that and want to see the law overturned, or, at the least, not defended in court. It's not a question of popularity; it's a question of fundamental rights for citizens of this country.
So while Mr. Clement may think he's doing the right or even noble thing by defending the indefensible, he's not exactly coming across as Clarence Darrow.
HT to rubber hose.
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Shortly after the firm announced that it would no longer take the case, former Bush solicitor general Paul Clement, the partner charged with leading the firm's defense, submitted his letter of resignation to Hays, which was passed along to The Huffington Post.Things must have gotten a little interesting in the law offices of King & Spalding when they first decided to take the case since they are, according to their website, committed to diversity and offer domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples.
"My thoughts about the merits of DOMA are as irrelevant as my views about the dozens of federal statutes that I defended as Solicitor General," he wrote. "Instead, I resign out of the firmly-held belief that a representation should not be abandoned because the client's legal position is extremely unpopular in certain quarters. Defending unpopular position is what lawyers do."
Be that as it may, lawyers are obligated to defend their clients to the best of their ability regardless of the politics. So Mr. Clement was sticking to that principle when he resigned from the firm. Good for him. But I do think his choice of words in his resignation is telling: "Defending unpopular position is what lawyers do."
DOMA is not just unpopular "in certain quarters." It is blatant discrimination against an entire class of people, and a lot of people -- including a high-powered D.C. law firm -- realize that and want to see the law overturned, or, at the least, not defended in court. It's not a question of popularity; it's a question of fundamental rights for citizens of this country.
So while Mr. Clement may think he's doing the right or even noble thing by defending the indefensible, he's not exactly coming across as Clarence Darrow.
HT to rubber hose.
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The War on Easter
Fox News got worked up yesterday because President Obama did not issue a proclamation for Easter.
Sheesh.
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President Obama failed to release a statement or a proclamation recognizing the national observance of Easter Sunday, Christianity’s most sacred holiday.See, that proves he's a Muslim. And so was every president going back to 1980: Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton didn't issue Easter proclamations, either.
By comparison, the White House has released statements recognizing the observance of major Muslim holidays and released statements in 2010 on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.
Sheesh.
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He Didn't Say Where
Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) got elected on a slogan of "let's get to work" and the promise of creating jobs. Well, that seems to be working -- so to speak -- if you live in North Carolina.
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While Florida's economic mantra continues to be jobs, jobs, jobs, an Orlando company announced it was adding 1,200 jobs — in North Carolina.Atta boy, Rick.
Orlando-based Connextions Inc., which provides call center employment to large health care insurance companies, said it was opening a new call center in Charlotte, N.C., with 800 new jobs and adding 400 additional jobs to an existing call center in Concord, N.C.
The Charlotte Observer newspaper called the news "the region's largest employment announcement in recent memory." The Charlotte region's jobless rate was 10.7 percent in February.
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Barbour Not Running
Former lobbyist and current Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has decided not to run for the presidency in 2012. This caught some people off guard; at least one pundit had him as the shoe-in and real deal against President Obama.
Other than the fact that the self-described "fat redneck" was polling in single digits and has a long record of making some pretty naive statements about race relations, Dan Balz of the Washington Post notes that Mr. Barbour decided not to run because "he had come to the conclusion that Republicans can win only if they are totally focused on serious issues and not distracted by some of the side issues, such as Obama’s birthplace, that have arisen in the early going."
In other words, he thought his candidacy would get lost in the banshee chorus of wingnuttery of birtherism and secret Muslim soshulism. And in what can only be called serendipitous, Ron Paul is planning to run again. In the current climate of the GOP, he's probably going to be considered the centrist in the campaign.
Buy lots of popcorn, folks; it's going to be a long ride.
HT to Balloon Juice.
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Other than the fact that the self-described "fat redneck" was polling in single digits and has a long record of making some pretty naive statements about race relations, Dan Balz of the Washington Post notes that Mr. Barbour decided not to run because "he had come to the conclusion that Republicans can win only if they are totally focused on serious issues and not distracted by some of the side issues, such as Obama’s birthplace, that have arisen in the early going."
In other words, he thought his candidacy would get lost in the banshee chorus of wingnuttery of birtherism and secret Muslim soshulism. And in what can only be called serendipitous, Ron Paul is planning to run again. In the current climate of the GOP, he's probably going to be considered the centrist in the campaign.
Buy lots of popcorn, folks; it's going to be a long ride.
HT to Balloon Juice.
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Court Packing
The Florida legislature is hatching a plan to re-make the State Supreme Court.
(PS: It didn't work for FDR, either.)
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Among other things, the overhaul expands the number of Supreme Court justices from seven to 10 and divides the court into two, five-member divisions, one for criminal cases and one for civil.Even for Republicans with a super-majority in both Houses, this is a blatant abuse of the separation of powers. And in the unlikely event that the Democrats should ever take over the legislature and the governor's mansion -- although with the way this crowd is acting, hope springs eternal -- the Republicans will be desperate undo this little feat of legerdemain.
The three justices with most seniority, all appointed by a Democratic governor, would go to the criminal side. Republican appointees would remain on the civil side, where legislative issues would be considered. Republican Gov. Rick Scott would fill the empty seats.
The “split court” concept has prompted charges from Democrats that the plan is more about stacking the court with people favorable to Republican causes than efficiency, which supporters say is the reason for the changes.
(PS: It didn't work for FDR, either.)
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Short Takes
The fighting in Syria, but there's not much the U.S. can do about it.
The State Department is urging U.S. citizens to leave Syria.
Pensions for public employees are on the chopping block all over the country.
More bad weather hits the Midwest.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is well enough that she will be attending her husband's launch in shuttle Endeavour this week.
House Speaker John Boehner says he will "take a look at" repealing oil company tax breaks.
A judge has granted an injunction against an NFL lockout.
Florida Republicans are fighting amongst themselves over the budget.
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The State Department is urging U.S. citizens to leave Syria.
Pensions for public employees are on the chopping block all over the country.
More bad weather hits the Midwest.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is well enough that she will be attending her husband's launch in shuttle Endeavour this week.
House Speaker John Boehner says he will "take a look at" repealing oil company tax breaks.
A judge has granted an injunction against an NFL lockout.
Florida Republicans are fighting amongst themselves over the budget.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
These People Vote
Via Pam Spaulding and SFDB, here is a video of South Carolina Republicans speaking their mind at a rally. Dave Weigel at Slate sums it up:
My favorite: the person who says the U.S. spends too much money on education.
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South Carolina Democratic consultant named Tyler Jones took a camera down to the Columbia, S.C. Tea Party rally that Michele Bachmann and Nikki Haley both spoke at.
"I interviewed around 25 people total and probably 75 percent of them said they were supporting Donald Trump," says Jones, "and just about every single person is a birther. I took two hours of footage and chopped it down to six minutes of mind-blowing stuff."
My favorite: the person who says the U.S. spends too much money on education.
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The Gitmo Files
The New York Times, the Miami Herald, and The Guardian (UK) have released a lot more details, obtained via WikiLeaks, about the prison and the prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Basically it tells us much more about the detainees and their treatment there. From the Times:
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The secret documents, made available to The New York Times and several other news organizations, reveal that most of the 172 remaining prisoners have been rated as a “high risk” of posing a threat to the United States and its allies if released without adequate rehabilitation and supervision. But they also show that an even larger number of the prisoners who have left Cuba — about a third of the 600 already transferred to other countries — were also designated “high risk” before they were freed or passed to the custody of other governments.Despite the alleged best intentions of the Obama administration to close the prison, and notwithstanding the tough-talk/Chicken-Little behavior of Congress, there is no way this is going to end well for anyone.
The documents are largely silent about the use of the harsh interrogation tactics at Guantánamo — including sleep deprivation, shackling in stress positions and prolonged exposure to cold temperatures — that drew global condemnation. Several prisoners, though, are portrayed as making up false stories about being subjected to abuse.
The government’s basic allegations against many detainees have long been public, and have often been challenged by prisoners and their lawyers. But the dossiers, prepared under the Bush administration, provide a deeper look at the frightening, if flawed, intelligence that has persuaded the Obama administration, too, that the prison cannot readily be closed.
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One Level of Hell
Reading Ross Douthat discuss whether or not there is a Hell reminds me of the earnest discussions we used to have in high school about whether or not Gandalf died and was resurrected in the biblical sense after his battle with the Balrog, or did he just escape and get a new set of threads so he could show up in Fangorn Forest as Gandalf the White?
Heaven and Hell are metaphors and control mechanisms invented by organized religion to keep the faithful in line. Talking about them as literal places misses the point entirely, and you know you're in desperate shape with a column when you end up quoting the Eagles' "Hotel California" and comparing The Sopranos to Dante's Inferno. That's another level of editorial hell.
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Heaven and Hell are metaphors and control mechanisms invented by organized religion to keep the faithful in line. Talking about them as literal places misses the point entirely, and you know you're in desperate shape with a column when you end up quoting the Eagles' "Hotel California" and comparing The Sopranos to Dante's Inferno. That's another level of editorial hell.
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Don't Say "Gay"
Some folks in Tennessee are all twitterpated that kids in high school might hear the word "gay" and suddenly become it, I suppose. So back in February a state legislator introduced a bill that would make discussing homosexuality in public schools illegal. Last week the bill cleared a state senate panel.
Not talking about it, especially in high school when kids are not just aware of their sexuality but start acting on it, is a roadmap to disaster and pain. Getting them to talk about it openly and in a non-judgmental matter removes the stigma and the mystery, and provides them with the information that they're going to find out anyway but in a far less dangerous way. As anyone over the age of five knows, forbidding someone to talk about something is the surest way to get them interested in it.
But what is most mystifying about this story is the question of why are these people so afraid of gay people? What did we ever do to them to make them hate us so much that they have to pass laws forbidding people from even talking about us? It sounds like they are in desperate need of some help. Perhaps talking about it would be good for them.
HT to CLW.
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As introduced, the bill would have put into law a declaration that it is illegal to discuss any sexual behavior other than heterosexuality prior to the ninth grade.A couple of points here: being gay is certainly a part of a "family life," and has been since time out of mind. Not talking about the fact that someone in the family, including Mom or Dad, might be gay but are so repressed by the social pressures to conform to some legislated heteronormative stereotype actually destroys their ideal of the Ozzie-and-Harriet white bread patriarchal family. An added dose of guilt along with the Jesus-talk and Velveeta isn't going to help matters.
But when it came before the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, contended current law already prohibits such instruction by deeming it a misdemeanor to teach any sex education that is not part of the “family life curriculum” adopted by the state Board of Education.
Campfield contends homosexuality is being discussed in classrooms. Spokesmen for the Board of Education and the state Department of Education told the committee they are unaware of any such activity.
Not talking about it, especially in high school when kids are not just aware of their sexuality but start acting on it, is a roadmap to disaster and pain. Getting them to talk about it openly and in a non-judgmental matter removes the stigma and the mystery, and provides them with the information that they're going to find out anyway but in a far less dangerous way. As anyone over the age of five knows, forbidding someone to talk about something is the surest way to get them interested in it.
But what is most mystifying about this story is the question of why are these people so afraid of gay people? What did we ever do to them to make them hate us so much that they have to pass laws forbidding people from even talking about us? It sounds like they are in desperate need of some help. Perhaps talking about it would be good for them.
HT to CLW.
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Short Takes
The Great Escape -- At least 476 political prisoners tunneled out in Afghanistan with the help of the Taliban.
Libyan rebels say they have control of the key city, Misurata; the Qaddafi compound gets bombed.
Rapid recovery continues at the St. Louis airport.
Texas is still battling wildfires.
It's been a while since Donald Trump has voted in a primary election.
The Tigers beat the White Sox 3-0 and sweep the series.
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Libyan rebels say they have control of the key city, Misurata; the Qaddafi compound gets bombed.
Rapid recovery continues at the St. Louis airport.
Texas is still battling wildfires.
It's been a while since Donald Trump has voted in a primary election.
The Tigers beat the White Sox 3-0 and sweep the series.
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Sunday, April 24, 2011
Sunday Reading
Yea, Verily -- Charles McGrath on why the King James Version of the bible endures.
More below the fold.
A Voice in the Wilderness -- David Frum, one of the few moderate (i.e. not nuts) conservatives left in the GOP, concludes that having a welfare state is not altogether a bad thing.
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Well, you have to admit that any book that starts off with two naked people and a talking snake has got something going for it.From the start, the King James Bible was intended to be not a literary creation but rather a political and theological compromise between the established church and the growing Puritan movement. What the king cared about was clarity, simplicity, doctrinal orthodoxy. The translators worked hard on that, going back to the original Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic, and yet they also spent a lot of time tweaking the English text in the interest of euphony and musicality. Time and again the language seems to slip almost unconsciously into iambic pentameter — this was the age of Shakespeare, commentators are always reminding us — and right from the beginning the translators embraced the principles of repetition and the dramatic pause: “In the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth. And the earth was without forme, and voyd, and darkenesse was vpon the face of the deepe: and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters.”
The influence of the King James Bible is so great that the list of idioms from it that have slipped into everyday speech, taking such deep root that we use them all the time without any awareness of their biblical origin, is practically endless: sour grapes; fatted calf; salt of the earth; drop in a bucket; skin of one’s teeth; apple of one’s eye; girded loins; feet of clay; whited sepulchers; filthy lucre; pearls before swine; fly in the ointment; fight the good fight; eat, drink and be merry.
But what we also love about this Bible is its strangeness — its weird punctuation, odd pronouns (as in “Our Father, which art in heaven”), all those verbs that end in “eth”: “In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth vp; in the euening it is cut downe, and withereth.” As Robert Alter has demonstrated in his startling and revealing translations of the Psalms and the Pentateuch, the Hebrew Bible is even stranger, and in ways that the King James translators may not have entirely comprehended, and yet their text performs the great trick of being at once recognizably English and also a little bit foreign. You can hear its distinctive cadences in the speeches of Lincoln, the poetry of Whitman, the novels of Cormac McCarthy.
[...]
Not everyone prefers a God who talks like a pal or a guidance counselor. Even some of us who are nonbelievers want a God who speaketh like — well, God. The great achievement of the King James translators is to have arrived at a language that is both ordinary and heightened, that rings in the ear and lingers in the mind. And that all 54 of them were able to agree on every phrase, every comma, without sounding as gassy and evasive as the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, is little short of amazing, in itself proof of something like divine inspiration.
More below the fold.
A Voice in the Wilderness -- David Frum, one of the few moderate (i.e. not nuts) conservatives left in the GOP, concludes that having a welfare state is not altogether a bad thing.
Speaking only personally, I cannot take seriously the idea that the worst thing that has happened in the past three years is that government got bigger. Or that money was borrowed. Or that the number of people on food stamps and unemployment insurance and Medicaid increased. The worst thing was that tens of millions of Americans – and not only Americans – were plunged into unemployment, foreclosure, poverty. If food stamps and unemployment insurance, and Medicaid mitigated those disasters, then two cheers for food stamps, unemployment insurance, and Medicaid.To William and Catherine -- Leonard Pitts, Jr. wishes the royals a happily-ever-after.
Which does not mean that I have become suddenly indifferent to the growth of government. Not at all. Paul Ryan is absolutely right that the present trend is unsustainable and must be corrected. The free marketeers of the 1980s were right that taxes on enterprise must be restrained to leave room for private-sector-led expansion. Over-generous social insurance has all kinds of negative consequences. Private saving must be encouraged. Work must pay better than idleness. The job of designing the right kind of social insurance state is hugely important and hugely difficult, and the conservative sensibility – with its respect for markets and less sentimental view of human nature – is the right sensibility for that job.
Yet that same conservative sensibility is also properly distrustful of the fantasy that society can be remade according to a preconceived plan. We have to start from where we are, and we have to take people as we find them. Ronald Reagan liked to quote a line of Tom Paine’s, “We have it in our power to make the world new again.” George Will – although a great Reagan admirer – correctly complained at the time, “No, we don’t.”
I strongly suspect that today’s Ayn Rand moment will end in frustration or worse for Republicans. The future beyond the welfare state imagined by Yuval Levin will not arrive. At that point, Republicans will face a choice. (I’d argue we face that choice now, whether we recognize it or not.) We can fulminate against unchangeable realities, alienate ourselves from a country that will not accede to the changes we demand. That way lies bitterness and irrelevance. Or we can go back to work on the core questions facing all center right parties in the advanced economies since World War II: how do we champion entrepreneurship and individualism within the context of a social insurance state?
There is something about a wedding.Doonesbury -- History's turn.
There is the finery, and the formality, of course, the dress with the long train, the tux with the bowtie that pinches, the speaking your heart and making your promises as everyone you ever knew stands witness.
There is, as well, the sense of ritual, the timelessness of ceremony that traverses and unites generations. Sean and May (he is the son of friends) got married in a Davie park a little over a year ago, wreathed in white and hope and looking all of 12 years old. And at some point, reality shimmered, he was me and she was Marilyn, and it was a small chapel in Hollywood, Calif., on a Saturday in June 30 years ago – 30 years ago! – and we were saying our vows, giddy, young, and stupid with love.
On Friday, it will be William and Kate’s turn.
Much of the world will be watching, drawn by the promise of finery, formality and ritual on a royal scale. But see, there is something else about a wedding, something that speaks to deeper yearnings. In some sense, a wedding is an act of faith.
Lord knows we could use a few of those just now.
For an increasing number of us, it is conventional wisdom that we are in a time of decline, erosion eating at us like tooth decay. There is a sense that we have burned down our tomorrows and left ourselves only yesterdays to look forward to. There is a fear that we must henceforth make peace with lowered skies and diminished expectations.
This is quantified in a 2010 Gallup poll that finds 34 percent of all Americans pessimistic about the nation’s future, more than at any time in the last 30 years. It is also quantified by marriage itself, which is becoming a rarity.
Small wonder. To get married is to make a bet on always and forever. To stay married is a function of will and work, even more than of love. The capacity and willingness to make that bet, to put in that work, to bear down with that will, are slowly disappearing from American life. Fifty years ago, close to 70 percent of all American adults were married. Now it’s about 54. Britain has seen similar trends. We marry less, we marry later, we make marriage a reality show, we see our cynicism validated by Hollywood marriages that pop like soap bubbles.
A wedding, then, is not just an act of faith, but also one of defiance. Particularly for someone like William who is, after all, the child of a marriage that began as a fairytale and ended as a horror story. Royal obligations aside, one could hardly blame him if he chose to bag the whole idea.
Instead, he will stand in the storied old church, promise himself to someone else and hear the same from her, like a million couples a million times before. There is something in it to gladden the cynical eye and hearten the pessimistic heart.
So consider this a toast to the happy couple — and to acts of defiance and faith. Fifty years from now, may it be said that they achieved something that has eluded so many of us for so long we find it hard to believe in it anymore. May it be said they left that place as husband and wife.
And they lived happily ever after.
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Short Takes
The president of Yemen agrees to step down...with conditions.
Libya -- Now they're talking.
It's a busy day in St. Peter's Square.
Bad timing -- China arrests worshipers on Easter Sunday.
SpaceShipTwo makes a long test flight.
That's a lot of crap -- A Virginia company is marketing fertilizer made from "night soil."
How much? -- Privatizing prisons in Florida raises questions of cost.
The Tigers shut out the White Sox.
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Libya -- Now they're talking.
It's a busy day in St. Peter's Square.
Bad timing -- China arrests worshipers on Easter Sunday.
SpaceShipTwo makes a long test flight.
That's a lot of crap -- A Virginia company is marketing fertilizer made from "night soil."
How much? -- Privatizing prisons in Florida raises questions of cost.
The Tigers shut out the White Sox.
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Saturday, April 23, 2011
Drooling For Power
Remember how the Republicans campaigned on "smaller government" and "local control"? Ah, those were the days.
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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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You Were Saying?
Via TPM:
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Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) has amended the congressional record to qualify his recent remark about Planned Parenthood which led to the mother of all spin from his flack: "His remark was not intended to be a factual statement."As the Daily Intel notes, "Now the only evidence that Jon Kyl lied about Planned Parenthood will be the entire internet."
The original statement from Kyl: "If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that's well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does."
After Kyl amended his remarks, the congressional record now reads: "If you want an abortion you go to Planned Parenthood and that is what Planned Parenthood does."
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Short Takes
St. Louis's Lambert Field was partially demolished by a tornado.
Libyan forces are pulling out of key city.
It will be a while before Toyota is back to normal production because of the after-effects of the earthquake in Japan.
Gov. Scott says Florida doesn't need any EPA guidelines for clean water.
Big bucks -- A school is suing Palmetto Bay for $17 million over a land dispute.
The Tigers beat the White Sox in Detroit. They're in third place in the division with a .500 record.
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Libyan forces are pulling out of key city.
It will be a while before Toyota is back to normal production because of the after-effects of the earthquake in Japan.
Gov. Scott says Florida doesn't need any EPA guidelines for clean water.
Big bucks -- A school is suing Palmetto Bay for $17 million over a land dispute.
The Tigers beat the White Sox in Detroit. They're in third place in the division with a .500 record.
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Friday, April 22, 2011
Question of the Day
It's both Earth Day and Good Friday; how often does that happen on the same day? So...
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Are you doing anything special to commemorate the day?
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Town Halls Redux
In the summer of 2009, the right-wingers took over the town hall meetings of Democrats, and acting out became all the rage, so to speak. Now that the GOP is in charge of the House and putting out some really draconian ideas, they're getting the heat. The other day I noted that the Very Serious and Courageous Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) got booed at one of his town meetings. He's not the only one.
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Last night, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) received a similarly hostile reception from constituents during a public forum in Carbon County, as he tried to (incorrectly) reassure the group that Ryan’s budget would not affect the Medicare benefits of those over the age of 55.Well, what goes around, etc. Let's see how serious and courageous they really are.
“This plan does not do nothing to affect anyone 55 years or older,” he said. “When we start doing things that scare senior citizens, like politicians do that to get elected, I believe they need to find a different occupation.” But before Barletta could continue, 64-year-old Linda Christman raised her hand and argued that those under 55 would see an erosion of benefits. The exchange became heated as other constituents began yelling for the woman to “sit down“:
CHRISTMAN: Excuse me, I’d like to get something off my chest. And that is, you seem to think that because I’m not affected, I won’t care if my niece, my grandson, my child is affected. I do care. And what you’re doing with this Ryan budget is you’re taking Medicare and you’re changing it from a guaranteed health care system to one that is a voucher system where you throw seniors on the mercy of for-profit insurance companies. [...]
BARLETTA: Well, I won’t destroy Medicare, Medicare is going to be destroyed by itself. You’re….
CHRISTMAN: I have a great way for you…
CROWD: Let him talk….Sit down!…Let him talk! SIT DOWN!
MAN: I agree with her. And you know what? Why don’t you tell me to sit down?!
CROWD: SIT DOWN!
MAN: She’s an American citizen. … Why don’t you show some manners and shut your mouth and let her talk. … Why don’t you grow up and stop acting like a bunch of little boys?
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Birther Blues
The New York Times finally notices the birthers.
Several of the more prominent candidates have danced around the birthers gently, but as the campaign heats up and the birther bills pass in the state legislatures, it's going to become one of those litmus tests the GOP is so fond of having for their candidates. It will be a true test of character to see which one of them is the first to say, "You birthers are idiots, and you're dragging the Republican party even further over the cliff into obscurity and mockery. Birtherism is racism, and you're the reason good people despise us."
Of course, that will never happen. No GOP presidential candidate with a hope of getting the nomination would go so far as to diss 45% of their own party, and I will give $5 to the first Republican candidate who does.
I think my money is safe.
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The issue, which has simmered at the fringes of the nation’s political discourse for years, even got a recent burst of attention when it was adopted as a talking point by Donald Trump, a potential Republican presidential candidate.Unless I'm missing something, I cannot see how this story can be anything but good news for President Obama's election campaign and a huge problem for the GOP. There is no way any Republican can even hint at suggesting Mr. Obama was born someplace else without coming across as a denizen of tin-foil hats, and yet they can't expect to get any traction in the primaries without at least paying it some attention.
The result is that what had been a wispy tale of purportedly buried documents and cover-ups designed to hide the president’s supposed birth in Kenya — a tale that has been dismissed by most mainstream members of both political parties — now appears to have staying power as the political season lurches toward 2012.
Several of the more prominent candidates have danced around the birthers gently, but as the campaign heats up and the birther bills pass in the state legislatures, it's going to become one of those litmus tests the GOP is so fond of having for their candidates. It will be a true test of character to see which one of them is the first to say, "You birthers are idiots, and you're dragging the Republican party even further over the cliff into obscurity and mockery. Birtherism is racism, and you're the reason good people despise us."
Of course, that will never happen. No GOP presidential candidate with a hope of getting the nomination would go so far as to diss 45% of their own party, and I will give $5 to the first Republican candidate who does.
I think my money is safe.
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Ensign Resigns
Via Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post:
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Embattled Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R) announced Thursday night that he will resign from office in early May, a move that comes amid an ongoing ethics investigation into his conduct.So now he can spend more time with his family... when he figures out if he still has one.
“While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings,” Ensign said in a statement posted on his website. “For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great.”
Ensign’s resignation, which was first reported by Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston, will be official on May 3 and comes six weeks after he announced his plans to retire at the end of his current term, which expires in 2012.
His departure comes as the Senate ethics committee is conducting an ongoing investigation into his handling of an affair with a former political aide -- whose husband was also a top legislative aide to the senator.
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Friday Blogaround
It's a long holiday weekend for a lot of people. Here's a way to get it started.
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A Blog Around The Clock hits the Big Apple.If you have today off, make it a good one.
All Facts and Opinions encourages you to grow your own food.
archy teaches some history.
Bark Bark Woof Woof: David defends Donald.
Bloggg: still not impressed.
Dohiyi Mir: reads Rand so you don't have to.
Echidne Of The Snakes: playing games with women's reproductive rights.
Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: the battle over voting rights.
The Invisible Library: a Thor of a different color.
Left Is Right: the link between the war in Iraq and the oil in Iraq.
Pen-Elayne on the Web: happy Passover, y'all!
Rook's Rant: one to beam up...
rubber hose: the mystery of coffee.
Scrutiny Hooligans: Pam's House Blend's rough legal journey at the hands of wingnuts.
Stupid Enough Unexplanation: the right wing sizes up The Donald.
The Yellow Something Something: GOP budget/suicide pact.
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Short Takes
Get in, get out -- Japanese who lived near the damaged nuclear plant have just a few hours to visit their homes to get belongings.
The U.S. will deploy armed Predator drones in Libya.
Demonstrations continue in Syria.
Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is getting into the act.
President Obama will appoint a task force to look into high gas prices.
The Florida legislature debates higher education spending.
The Tigers had the night off.
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The U.S. will deploy armed Predator drones in Libya.
Demonstrations continue in Syria.
Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is getting into the act.
President Obama will appoint a task force to look into high gas prices.
The Florida legislature debates higher education spending.
The Tigers had the night off.
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
Deepwater Deductions
The one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, fire, and subsequent oil spill is being marked by the fact that we the taxpayers are ending up on the hook for the clean-up because BP will be able to write off some of the the losses on their taxes.
That's also why BP was so quick to step up with their $20 billion compensation fund; it's deductible.
To quote the immortal Archie Bunker: "It's easy to be generous when it doesn't cost ya nothin'."
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Under U.S. corporate law, companies can take credits on up to 35 percent of their losses. In this case, that means U.S. taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing at least part of cost for the cleanup and the $20 billion fund BP created to compensate people, fisherman and businesses along the Gulf Coast hurt by the spill.That could end up cutting $13 billion from BP's overall tax bill.
BP may spread that $40.9 billion loss over 2010 and the next few years until all the payments are paid to the victims. Companies can only deduct the amount of losses paid out in any given year, and the trust fund likely will be paying victims for years to come.
That's also why BP was so quick to step up with their $20 billion compensation fund; it's deductible.
To quote the immortal Archie Bunker: "It's easy to be generous when it doesn't cost ya nothin'."
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iSpy
If you're not wild about other people knowing where you are all the time, you might want to ditch your iPhone. Sam Biddle at TPM's Gizmodo has the details.
Yes, it's creepy, but the ironic thing is that it isn't the government that is doing it. First of all, they're not that capable of it; we're talking about a government that is still using Windows XP, f'r Chrissake. Second, here in America it's going to be the corporations that are doing the spying, not the Feds.
That reminds me of a moment from one of my favorite films, The President's Analyst, starring James Coburn, from 1967:
HT to TPM for the post title.
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It turns out that your iPhone is keeping a record of everywhere you've been since June. This data is stored on your phone (or iPad) and computer, easily available to anyone who gets their hands on it. Why? Apple won't say. We're creeped out.I know my little five-year-old Samsung has a GPS tracker in it, so it's no surprise that Apple would leap way beyond that with this real-time tracker.
The enormous privacy startle, apparently enabled by this summer's iOS 4 release, was discovered by two security researchers, one of whom claims he was an Apple employee for five years. They're equally puzzled and disturbed by the location collection: "By passively logging your location without your permission, Apple have made it possible for anyone from a jealous spouse to a private investigator to get a detailed picture of your movements," they explain. All it would take to crack the information out of your iOS device is an easy jailbreak. On your computer, the information can be opened as easily as JPEG using the mapping software that the security experts have made for download.
Yes, it's creepy, but the ironic thing is that it isn't the government that is doing it. First of all, they're not that capable of it; we're talking about a government that is still using Windows XP, f'r Chrissake. Second, here in America it's going to be the corporations that are doing the spying, not the Feds.
That reminds me of a moment from one of my favorite films, The President's Analyst, starring James Coburn, from 1967:
HT to TPM for the post title.
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Not At Home
Florida State Rep. Frank Artiles (R) doesn't live in the district he represents. Not only is that not right, it's also punishable by a fine. And... he was busted by a blogger.
Kudos to Political Cortadito for the catch, and HT to SFDB for the lead.
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Artiles got up from watching the Miami Heat trounce the 76ers on the couch and answered the door in socks and a pair of gym pants when I knocked on the front door about 9:45 p.m. Monday night. (It has to be late or early to establish residency). "Representative Artiles," I asked, though I recognized him right away. "Yes," he said. "Can I help you?" I extended my hand, he shook it as I introduced myself and I told him I was a political blogger. "And, um, you are not supposed to be living here," I said. He answered: "I'm moving to West Kendall next week." I asked where as I pulled out my little tiny camera (was it too much to hope he would pose next to the house numbers?). But he shut the door, ending the surprise interview (damn, last time I take out a camera so early!) and sprinted behind a wall to what Ladra assumes was the kitchen. There's a fine line between journalism and stalking, so, after kind of whining a little -- "Oh, c'mon. Representative? Why can't we talk about this?" -- I leftAccording to the Miami Herald, the fine for living outside the district is one day's salary per day; that's what happened to the last person who did that. For Mr. Artiles, that could amount to over $13,000.
Kudos to Political Cortadito for the catch, and HT to SFDB for the lead.
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Have Some Boos
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) got a little resistance to his budget plan in his own backyard when he hosted a town hall in Milton, Wisconsin.
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During a town hall meeting in Milton, a constituent who described himself as a “lifelong conservative” asked Ryan about the effects of growing income inequality in our nation. The constituent noted that huge income disparities contributed to the Great Depression and the Great Recession, and thus wanted to know why the congressman was “fighting to not let the tax breaks for the wealthy expire.”It's pretty obvious that the country is beginning to get tired of hearing about how cutting taxes for the rich folks is good for the economy, especially since the last two times we've done it -- under both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush -- it had the opposite effect.
Ryan argued against “redistribut[ing]” in this manner. After the constituent noted that “there’s nothing wrong with taxing the top because it does not trickle down,” Ryan argued that “we do tax the top.” This response earned a chorus of boos from constituents.
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Short Takes
The West will step up for more aid to the Libyan rebels.
Two photojournalists, including film director Tim Hetherington, were killed in the fighting in Libya.
Michel Martelly was declared the winner of Haiti's presidential election.
On the 12th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, a bomb was found in a mall on a Denver suburb.
President Obama campaigned via Facebook at Facebook's headquarters.
The housing market is still sluggish.
The Tigers won against Seattle.
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Two photojournalists, including film director Tim Hetherington, were killed in the fighting in Libya.
Michel Martelly was declared the winner of Haiti's presidential election.
On the 12th anniversary of the Columbine massacre, a bomb was found in a mall on a Denver suburb.
President Obama campaigned via Facebook at Facebook's headquarters.
The housing market is still sluggish.
The Tigers won against Seattle.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Nutsery For Newbies
Donald Trump is finding out that life on the political hustings can be littered with potholes. He was interviewed by MSNBC's Savannah Guthrie and was asked if he believes that there is a right to privacy in the Constitution. His response was a somewhat befuddled "I guess there is; I guess there is."
Oops. That's the bright line that pro-lifers, which Mr. Trump now claims he is (although he didn't used to be), never cross. And he made it worse by not seeing the connection between the pivotal question about the right to privacy -- which the anti-abortion crowd says is not in the Constitution -- and the question on Roe v. Wade.
Mr. Trump obviously didn't read his Right Wing Nutsery manual that clearly states All Uteri Are Government Property, along with the Radical Homosexual Agenda and Herding Immigrants into Boxcars for Fun and Profit.
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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Oops. That's the bright line that pro-lifers, which Mr. Trump now claims he is (although he didn't used to be), never cross. And he made it worse by not seeing the connection between the pivotal question about the right to privacy -- which the anti-abortion crowd says is not in the Constitution -- and the question on Roe v. Wade.
Mr. Trump obviously didn't read his Right Wing Nutsery manual that clearly states All Uteri Are Government Property, along with the Radical Homosexual Agenda and Herding Immigrants into Boxcars for Fun and Profit.
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Lawyering Up
The Republicans were not happy when President Obama and the Justice Department announced in February that they would no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court. There was umbrage being taken all over the place in the halls of homophobia. So House Speaker John Boehner has decided that the House of Representatives will defend the indefensible... at the tune of over $500 an hour.
Yes, I know that in the world of the U.S. budget, $500,000 is a rounding error. But I think in this case it's more the principle than the money. These bigots are willing to go to this length just to keep on being bigots backed up by a law that in any objective sense is both unconstitutional in the letter and a mean-spirited and wicked assault on eqaulity. Even the most jaded and cynical among us realize that DOMA codifies gay-bashing at a federal level, and the majority of Americans believe that the time for marriage equality is now.
As for Mr. Boehner, at least he's answered his own question, "Where are the jobs?" He's providing them for high-priced lawyers.
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House Republicans plan to pay former Solicitor General Paul Clement and his legal team from King & Spaulding as much as $500,000 of taxpayer money to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) on behalf of House of Representatives, according to a document obtained by the Huffington Post.So let me get this straight...so to speak. According to Mr. Boehner, the country is "broke," but he's willing to spend a half a million dollars to keep discrimination on the books?
"The General Counsel agrees to pay the Contractor for all contractual services rendered a sum not to exceed $500,000.00," the Contract for Legal Services obtained by The Huffington Post says. The cap could be raised "by written agreement between the parties with the approval" of the House, the document states.
The hourly rate that King & Spaulding will be receiving is $520 per hour -- which could actually be considered a deal. Some reports say that the firm's top attorneys receive as much as $900 per hour.
Yes, I know that in the world of the U.S. budget, $500,000 is a rounding error. But I think in this case it's more the principle than the money. These bigots are willing to go to this length just to keep on being bigots backed up by a law that in any objective sense is both unconstitutional in the letter and a mean-spirited and wicked assault on eqaulity. Even the most jaded and cynical among us realize that DOMA codifies gay-bashing at a federal level, and the majority of Americans believe that the time for marriage equality is now.
As for Mr. Boehner, at least he's answered his own question, "Where are the jobs?" He's providing them for high-priced lawyers.
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Take It Off
The Democrats have wasted little time taking advantage of the Republicans' vote for the Ryan budget.
That's a good start.
By the way, it looks like even some Republicans are beginning to notice that the Ryan budget would take away their Medicare.
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That's a good start.
By the way, it looks like even some Republicans are beginning to notice that the Ryan budget would take away their Medicare.
Americans clearly don’t want the government to cut Medicare, the government health program for the elderly, or Medicaid, the program for the poor. Republicans in the House of Representatives voted last week to drastically restructure and reduce those programs, while Obama calls for trimming their costs but leaving them essentially intact.To quote the immortal teabagger refrain: "Keep your government hands off my Medicare!"
Voters oppose cuts to those programs by 80-18 percent. Even among conservatives, only 29 percent supported cuts, and 68 percent opposed them.
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Miami vs. Detroit
If you're out of work, you're better off in Detroit than in Miami.
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Detroit has become the poster child of America’s economic downturn, in much the way Miami became the poster child for the national housing crash. With the recession over, it looks like depressed auto sales are easier to recover from than a burst housing bubble.One of the problems Detroit has over Miami is image: it's hard to look like you have a bad economy when you can take a picture of an unemployment line under a palm tree.
A year ago, Detroit was at 14.5 percent unemployment, two points higher than Miami-Dade’s. Now the math has reversed. Miami-Dade is at 12.9 percent unemployment but Detroit is down to 11.1 percent. The states with the highest unemployment rates in Tuesday’s federal report — California, Florida and Nevada — are also the states with the highest run-up in housing during the boom years.
A closer look at the numbers shows some encouraging signs for Miami-Dade versus the Motor City.
One of the main reasons that Detroit’s unemployment rate went down is because its labor pool dropped, too. That is, the number of people either looking for a job or working declined from a year ago— down 2.8 percent. Hiring only went up 1 percent.
That’s usually not a good sign, suggesting either people are moving out of town or are so discouraged by the hiring climate they’ve given up looking.
In Miami-Dade, though, the labor pool grew 1.1 percent in a year, while hiring went up 3.3 percent. That’s an encouraging trend when both measures increase, but the combination makes it harder to lower the unemployment rate.
Still, Detroit’s rosier jobs figure hits a nerve in Florida, which has long enjoyed booming status while Michigan languished in a rust-belt malaise. In December, that officially changed on the hiring front as Michigan’s unemployment rate inched below the Sunshine State’s.
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Short Takes
Japan plans for "caution areas" around nuclear plants.
Britain will send military advisers to Libya to help the rebels.
The skies got a little crowded for Michelle Obama's plane.
PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks leaker, is being moved to an Army prison.
Airlines would have to state their fees more clearly under new rules being considered.
The wildfires are still going strong in Texas.
Fidel Castro is officially retired.
The Tigers got walloped in Seattle.
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Britain will send military advisers to Libya to help the rebels.
The skies got a little crowded for Michelle Obama's plane.
PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks leaker, is being moved to an Army prison.
Airlines would have to state their fees more clearly under new rules being considered.
The wildfires are still going strong in Texas.
Fidel Castro is officially retired.
The Tigers got walloped in Seattle.
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Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Today In Multiculturalism
In the employee cafeteria today at Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the lunch special entrees were your choice of smothered pork chops or or popcorn shrimp... on the first day of Passover.
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Can't You Take a Joke? -- Update
Margaret Davenport, the Orange County, California, Republican party official who sent out an e-mail depicting President Obama as the child of chimpanzees, has apologized.
But I still think that anyone who has grown up in America in the last fifty years knows the racist connection between African-Americans and apes. So either Ms. Davenport is woefully sheltered from real life in America, or she knows of it and thinks it's all just a big joke to indulge in stereotypes. (I'll bet she knows some real knee-slappers about drunken Irishmen.) Hey, for a Republican, that's a feature, not a bug.
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To my fellow Americans and to everyone else who has seen this email I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior. I say unwise because at the time I received and forwarded the email, I didn't stop to think about the historic implications and other examples of how this could be offensive.Far be it from me to doubt her sincerity, and it's an improvement on her first attempt right after the event: a typical non-apology issued by someone who is surprised when their racism or ignorance causes an outcry. And it's far better than her initial response: "Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black." This time, Ms. Davenport seems honestly apologetic.
But I still think that anyone who has grown up in America in the last fifty years knows the racist connection between African-Americans and apes. So either Ms. Davenport is woefully sheltered from real life in America, or she knows of it and thinks it's all just a big joke to indulge in stereotypes. (I'll bet she knows some real knee-slappers about drunken Irishmen.) Hey, for a Republican, that's a feature, not a bug.
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