Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category
I Hear from Chris Dodd
You may recall that earlier in the Democratic primaries I supported the campaign of Senator Chris Dodd. Today I got an email from Dodd that I thought I would share: Dear Jeff, We have been through a lot in this past year and your friendship and support have meant so much to me. That is […]
Bush, like Ozymandias
The [2008 President's State of the Union] speech had an inescapable problem. It couldn't possibly address the question at hand – the actual state of the union. Costly and unending occupations. Economic recession. Unprecedented foreign indebtedness. Unsustainable trade deficits. A declining middle class. Millions about to lose their homes. Leading banks on the auction block. […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Obama on Equality
We are told that those who differ from us on a few things are different from us on all things; that our problems are the fault of those who don't think like us or look like us or come from where we do. The welfare queen is taking our tax money. The immigrant is taking […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
CEO vs. WGA
Avedon Carol says (in its entirety): Reuters says: "Disney says Iger's salary rose 7 percent to $27.7 million." United Hollywood: "By way of context — if the WGA got everything it was asking for, it would cost Disney $6.25 million a year. Mr. Iger could write a personal check to end the strike for his […]
Local Primaries
Apparently one of the New England states had a local primary election yesterday, whose purpose was to choose a few delegates to go to a presidential nominating convention. The convention itself strikes me as a quaint curiosity, a vestigial bit of ceremony with no real use in the 21st century. The trill that people can […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
Shaumeyer Endorses Dodd
I have come to my decision: I am endorsing Christopher Dodd for president. I was mulling this over tonight, thinking about the positives I have in my mind for Dodd and for John Edwards, and the balance tilted towards Dodd. If I were voting in an election (or primary) of the type where one voted […]
Impressive News
This just in. Headline news just read on my local junior-college radio station tells me that, in the just-completed debate in Iowa, Republicans could agree on one thing: reduced government spending. I'm pretty impressed, but that's only one of the impressive things I've heard or read as the news of the day. Apparently the Pope […]
Gay Marriage, Gay Revenue
And while we're in the mood for economic vs. moral justifications, this just in: Legalizing same-sex marriage in Maryland would result in a $3.2 million gain to the state’s annual budget and significantly boost the state economy, according to a study released Wednesday by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, School […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Universal Health Care for Healthy US Business
Here is the outline of an argument for universal health-care in the US that might appeal to your more business-oriented, Republican types, demonstrating that universal health-care can be good for capitalism. Business is good. More business is better. Big business is good; small business is great. Small businesses (<500 employees) employ lots of people, about […]
History Flashes By
Last night Isaac and I decided to go to Annapolis for our dinner. It's about a twenty-minute drive from Bowie. We took the main highway between here and there. (US RT 50, for those following along on the map.) It was after dark. Not long after we got underway we saw the flashing lights of […]
In: All, Current Events, Raised Eyebrows Dept.
Less than Permanent
Alas, the much-touted, and much-feared, "permanent Republican majority" of the twenty-first century seems to have become somewhat less than permanent, with chunks falling off every day. Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott's resignation announcement on Monday was the latest in a wave of retirements to hit congressional Republicans, making an already difficult 2008 electoral landscape even […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
Norwegians Vote to be Nice, Kind Of
The Scandinavians continue to seem rather sensible, particularly compared to the Anglican Communion. However, I have to admit that — when it comes to a matter of church doctrine — this business of "we won't ban it but you can not do it anyway" is rather wishy-washy, not to mention undermining to the idea of […]
Election Night Blues
That's "blues" as in "blue states" and Democrats trouncing Republicans in key elections tonight. It's some nice news. It's way past my bedtime but I had a quick look for results from the election results for governor in Kentucky, because I had read those reports for the last few days about Republican-sponsored robocalls in which […]
The Myth of Journalistic Balance
Andy* relates a little, but telling moment with Al Gore revealing some wisdom. He (Gore) was talking to some news-type person on some morning news-type program when she confronted him with an anti-global-warming editorial by a well-known global-warming critic/denier — well-known to the audience and tiresomely well-known to Gore. Here's the part of Gore's response […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
Chris Dodd: Holding
Two things come to mind as a little preamble: 1) I keep saying that the likely successful Democratic candidates will be the ones who show daring leadership, not the ones who perfect middle-of-the-road triangulation; and 2) I've always liked Chris Dodd, since the days when I lived in Connecticut (c. 1980) and he was first […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
The Poverty of Conservatism vs. Gore's Nobel Prize
Congratulations to Al Gore and the UN IPCC for winning the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Isn't it interesting to see how quickly the American Presidency has diminished by another big step. Liberal schadenfreude, of course, demands that I talk about conservative failures rather than Gore's successes. Conservatives today are galled (perhaps "gored"?) that yet another […]
In: All, Current Events, Reflections
Iowa, My Iowa
I went to college in Iowa, having grown up in Kansas. I enjoyed it then and I still have the fondest feelings for the state. It was a pleasant place to live, and a surprisingly progressive and educated state, where in my day all the farm boys went to college, studied classics, then went back […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
My Larry Craig Strategy
Throughout this whole debacle with Larry Craig and his wide stance, the main theme seems to be blinding hypocrisy on virtually everyone's part. The observation would seem to be correct that he didn't actually do anything criminal, although he confessed to a misdemeanor after being pressured and implicitly threatened with exposure. Was it entrapment? Well, […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
No Lessons from Vietnam After All
I was reading something else when it hit me: there had been a rumor that the current president would be making a new, know-your-socks-off, back-in-the-saddle speech about his nice little war in Iraq — and evidently, that speech he gave early last week in which he said that his war in Iraq was, after careful […]
In: All, Current Events, Plus Ca Change...
A Political Thriller
I've been thinking of writing a novel, a political thriller. The story goes something like this. There's this guy — not a terribly bright guy but easily managed — who comes from a rich, political family. Then there's this group of reactionaries, behind-the-scenes types who conspire to get the Guy elected president through a mixture […]
In: All, Current Events, Plus Ca Change...