Words not needed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhtqjdUi0nw … [Read more...] about Best Snow Day Announcement Ever
Sochi 2014: The Luge Behind Them, It’s On to the ‘Bobsleigh’ for our Soldier-Athletes
Our military team did not fare too well in what is considered to be one of the most risky Olympic winter sports -- the luge. Sgt. Preston Griffall and Sgt. Matt Mortensen finished 14th in the luge doubles after skidding in turn five of their second run at the Sanki Sliding Center Wednesday night, according to the U.S. Army. Griffall, 29, a member of the Utah National … [Read more...] about Sochi 2014: The Luge Behind Them, It’s On to the ‘Bobsleigh’ for our Soldier-Athletes
Good News On The Affordable Care Act
With all the poor reporting on the Congressional Budget Office report last week, I was disappointed to see that at times this extended to NRP, even if primarily by more conservative-leaning commentators discussing the report. Therefore I was happy to hear a report on Morning Edition today in which Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne immediately started out by setting the record … [Read more...] about Good News On The Affordable Care Act
Viral Video: Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen, on Michael Sam being gay
Viral Video: Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen, on Michael Sam being gay (via NJ.com) News that Missouri Tigers football star Michael Sam may become the first openly gay player in the NFL resounded widely Sunday. But now, so has commentary from Dale Hansen, a sports anchor at WFAA, an ABC affiliate in Dallas. (Sam, born in Galveston,… … [Read more...] about Viral Video: Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen, on Michael Sam being gay
Barbie Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Mattel’s Shameful Decision
Mattel has made the terrible choice to prostitute their Barbie brand by partnering Barbie with this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. No, this is not a joke! As a talk show host, this is one of the worst American culture stories I’ve covered in my four years on the air. Click link below to hear Barbie segment from my daily talk show “Live from Seattle with Doug … [Read more...] about Barbie Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Mattel’s Shameful Decision
John Boehner’s sunshine band
WASHINGTON -- From now on, it's the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah House. The political world stopped for a moment when Speaker John Boehner broke into the jaunty old Disney tune -- "My, oh my, what a wonderful day" -- after a news conference during which he threw in the towel on the debt ceiling fight. He found himself trapped between the immovable object of Democrats determined … [Read more...] about John Boehner’s sunshine band
Chris Christie Distorts Democratic Views On Income Inequality
As Chris Christie's popularity has fallen following recent scandals, his popularity has picked up to a degree on the far right now that they see him as a "victim" of the liberal media. There's almost nothing the far right loves better than to see themselves as victims. In return Christie is pandering to the Tea Party and far right, using their tactic of distorting the views … [Read more...] about Chris Christie Distorts Democratic Views On Income Inequality
The future of Chinese democracy will be decided in Hong Kong this year
The future of Chinese democracy will be decided in Hong Kong this year (via GlobalPost) Enlarge Protesters rally for democracy in Hong Kong on July 1, 2013, the 16th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Tens of thousands of protesters marched through torrential rain chanting slogans demanding universal suffrage… … [Read more...] about The future of Chinese democracy will be decided in Hong Kong this year
Reactions to Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger
Comcast confirmed this morning that it wants to buy (merge with) Time Warner Cable. Analysis has been light, but expect that to change throughout the day. In the meantime, check out my Storify. The plan is to update it throughout the day. [View the story "Comcast and Time Warner Cable: Nope" on Storify] … [Read more...] about Reactions to Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger
Comcast wants to swallow Time Warner; let’s make ’em choke
The news gossips are tittering and tweeting: on Thursday, Comcast will, they say, announce it is buying Time Warner. [Update 3:55 am Pacific: Comcast confirms merger] Comcast, the largest cable company in the U.S., wants to buy merge with Time Warner Cable, the second largest cable company in the U.S. Ah, yes. American capitalism at work: how many monopolies (or … [Read more...] about Comcast wants to swallow Time Warner; let’s make ’em choke
A Minor Surprise In The GOP Health Care Proposal
There has already been a lot of discussion on a recent Republican proposal to replace Obamacare and I don't want to repeat it all. The gist is that most people would pay more for less coverage and be at greater risk of losing coverage than under the Affordable Care Act. Reading a review in The New England Journal of Medicine I did find one item which I hadn't noticed in … [Read more...] about A Minor Surprise In The GOP Health Care Proposal
Sid Caesar, Immigrant Son, Consummate Comedian, Dies
>Sid Caesar was born to hard-working immigrant parents, his mother from the then Russian Empire, and his father from Poland. The young couple struggled to come to the United States where as too often happened back then… the age-old family surname was lost at Ellis Island when an immigration official decided to re-name the family "Caesar". Young Sid at age five was working … [Read more...] about Sid Caesar, Immigrant Son, Consummate Comedian, Dies
Faulconer To Be San Diego’s New Mayor
San Diego's registered Dem voters out number Repub voters by 14%. David Alvarez (D) had a war chest of five million dollars financed by organized labor. He out spent Kevin Faulconer (R) by one million dollars. As well, Alvarez had a large Latino following in his effort to become San Diego's first Latino mayor. However, Faulconer successfully went beyond ideology with wider … [Read more...] about Faulconer To Be San Diego’s New Mayor
Farewell Sid Caesar
As you may have heard by now comedy legend Sid Caesar has died at the age of 91 Over the coming days we will hear many great stories about Sid but I thought I'd offer one that came to mind when I heard the news, a story told by Carol Burnett. Back when she was starting out she used to sneak backstage and watch Sid and company do dress rehearsal and then she'd run home and … [Read more...] about Farewell Sid Caesar
Political Liberty Turns 1,000 Years Old
Ernest Renan, a nineteenth-century French philosopher, noted, "Getting its history wrong is part of being a nation." This truth has profound implications, chief among which is that the cultural and political trajectory of a nation is determined not only by its past, but also - and to a greater extent - by the stories it tells itself about its past. The United States' … [Read more...] about Political Liberty Turns 1,000 Years Old
Discrimination Versus Personal Property Rights
Kathy Gill looked at discrimination in 1964 and today, leading me to think about the ramifications of government action in this area. There are certainly parallels, and maybe differences, between discrimination against blacks then and gays today. She looked at some current legal cases: This week, Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey filed legislation (SB 2566) that would “allow … [Read more...] about Discrimination Versus Personal Property Rights
‘Free Press’ Won’t Spoil President Putin’s Sochi Experience (Izvestia, Russia)
Looking back and comparing the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Izvestia columnist Maxim Sokolov writes that surprisingly, the 'free press' is much angrier today than it was then. And why might that be? According to Sokolov, it is because Vladimir Putin personifies these Olympic Games, and this time, the West isn't boycotting. For Izvestia, a … [Read more...] about ‘Free Press’ Won’t Spoil President Putin’s Sochi Experience (Izvestia, Russia)
A toxic kind of nostalgia: “we don’t serve your kind”
February is a flashback to 1964 in the entertainment world, as TV and radio wax poetic about The Beatles and their invasion of America. But there's another kind of nostalgia peppering state legislatures: we don't serve your kind. That artifact of America circa 1964 was legally put to bed with the passage of the Civil Rights Act (marked by a 54-day filibuster). This week, … [Read more...] about A toxic kind of nostalgia: “we don’t serve your kind”
Shirley Temple: Tot Idol to Cancer Heroine
The woman who died yesterday at 85 takes with her a world that is unimaginable today. Shirley Temple became a movie star at three, won an Oscar at five and was more popular in the 1930s than FDR. Her charms escaped me then because I was only a few years old older, but after undergoing mastectomy in 1972, she wrote a McCalls article about it for me after holding a press … [Read more...] about Shirley Temple: Tot Idol to Cancer Heroine
On Russian Spies and ‘Snowdenistas’: A Rebuttel of Edward Lucas (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)
It is becoming something of a cottage industry. Two weeks ago, Patrik Etschmayer of Switzerland's News rejected historian Sean Wilentz, who in the pages of the New Republic, attacked Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and Glenn Greenwald, by examining old blog entries, their early careers, and other information that has nothing to do with NSA mass surveillance. Today we have … [Read more...] about On Russian Spies and ‘Snowdenistas’: A Rebuttel of Edward Lucas (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland)