A couple of nuggets out of the hermit kingdom today. On the (at least for some of the people) good news sign current nutjob leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly relaxed the rules to allow the people to have pizzas and cell phones. The young dictator has even gone so far as to endorse hamburgers and french fries, foods previously branded as too western. According to state … [Read more...] about North Korea To Have More Pizzas And A-Bombs
Gallup: Obama Widens Lead Over Romney 48% to 43%
The latest Gallup Poll has President Barack Obama widening his lead over presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney: President Barack Obama has maintained at least a slight margin over Mitt Romney in each of the last six Gallup Daily tracking averages, including a 48% to 43% lead among registered voters in the July 2 report, spanning June 25-July 1. Obama's current … [Read more...] about Gallup: Obama Widens Lead Over Romney 48% to 43%
Political Spin Debunked? Charts Suggest Health Care Law NOT the Biggest Tax Increase Ever
Are the charts and graphs debunking an important Republican attack line on the health care reform law? The GOP scuttlebutt is that the law represents the biggest tax increase ever. But it doesn't look that way. Talking Points Memo: Ezra Klein: But, as I've often noted here, facts now mean so little in our politics. Once upon a time people felt compelled to … [Read more...] about Political Spin Debunked? Charts Suggest Health Care Law NOT the Biggest Tax Increase Ever
Kaiser Poll: 56 Percent Want Health Care Law’s Opponents To Stop Trying to Block Law’s Implementation
A new Kaiser Health Tracking poll finds that 56% polled want the health care law's foes to move on: This poll fielded following the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) finds a majority of Americans (56 percent) now say they would like to see the law’s detractors stop their efforts to block its implementation and move on to other … [Read more...] about Kaiser Poll: 56 Percent Want Health Care Law’s Opponents To Stop Trying to Block Law’s Implementation
Anderson Cooper Formally States It to Andrew Sullivan in Email: I’m Gay (UPDATED with Blog Reaction Roundup)
Unless you've been on Mars, way out there living next to Donald Trump, if you watch TV, read news stories and read blogs, or do a Google i search on his name, it has been suggested and stated that CNN's Anderson Cooper is gay but he has never made any big announcement. And (for most Americans) it has been No Big Deal. Now, Cooper, in an email to Andrew Sullivan, has openly … [Read more...] about Anderson Cooper Formally States It to Andrew Sullivan in Email: I’m Gay (UPDATED with Blog Reaction Roundup)
Making Dems Smile? Top Romney Advisor Eric Fehrnstrom: Romney Does Not Believe Health Care Mandate Is A Tax
Why do I get a feeling that Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity will not be happy today -- and that the White House will be smiling? Here's why: After Chief Justice John Roberts handed down his ruling that the individual mandate requirement in the Affordable Care Act fell under Congress’ power to tax, the question of whether Republicans were taking advantage of calling it a tax … [Read more...] about Making Dems Smile? Top Romney Advisor Eric Fehrnstrom: Romney Does Not Believe Health Care Mandate Is A Tax
Economic Suicide?
Do we as a nation really want to commit economic suicide by continuing failed trickle down policies? Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz stated unequivocally in a recent radio interview that "...trickle down economics does not work..." The June 29th interview on WHYY was about his new book, "The Price of Inequality, How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our … [Read more...] about Economic Suicide?
The ACA and Access to Care
With the Supreme Court affirming the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, it is estimated that another 30 million Americans will have coverage for medical care. Though this may be considered progress towards the goal of universal coverage, it’s unclear who will be providing the care for all of these new patients. The fact there will be inadequate numbers of health care … [Read more...] about The ACA and Access to Care
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Schools Chief Justice Roberts
WASHINGTON - The greatest female Justice of the Supreme Court in U.S. history, likely for all time, not only reveals her mental might in her opinion rendered last week, but forever puts to rest why Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will be forever disgraced for her part in Bush v. Gore. That Chief Justice Roberts has now joined the liberal majority on Obamacare was a mixture of … [Read more...] about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Schools Chief Justice Roberts
10 Polemics from the Supreme Court Decision
Cheryl Clark of HealthLeaders Media offers a must read for any news junkie, political junkie, lawyer or aspiring lawyer: 10 polemics from the Supreme Court decision. Here's her intro: One may be loath to read all 193 pages of Thursday's U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including dissents and … [Read more...] about 10 Polemics from the Supreme Court Decision
Obama Revived
This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. … [Read more...] about Obama Revived
How Long Until The Public Tires Of Chris Christie?
This kind of behavior appeals to some, but how many? And for how long? Reporters were told the governor would only answer questions about a major problem at a water treatment plant, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Yet one reporter proceeded to ask an unrelated question involving the state legislature, as seen in video of the press conference from Monmouth … [Read more...] about How Long Until The Public Tires Of Chris Christie?
Government as an Afterthought
Washington ends a stunning week with a shutdown by Nature to mirror the power failure of its denizens to connect government to actually running the country. On Friday, after all the John Roberts sturm und drang, the electrical outage was an apt metaphor for spending so much energy parsing the politics of health care before, practically unnoticed, passing some real … [Read more...] about Government as an Afterthought
The Keys To The White House Revisited
With the two major party nominees settled, speculation has begun to flow as to the outcome of the November election. Almost every day we see polls from the key swing states which are analyzed by all of the pundits, and yet most of them are guessing from day to day who will win. Of course this is hardly a new situation; people have been trying to predict the outcome of the … [Read more...] about The Keys To The White House Revisited
The Joy Of Working With One’s Hands: Report From 20 Paws Ranch
(PORTIONS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN JUNE 2009) One of the best decisions that I ever made was to take a deep breath after 10 years in the newspaper business, some of it spent covering big stories in exotic locales, and ponder my future. The upshot was that I quit the business to learn something that I had long yearned to do -- be a carpenter. I ended up apprenticing … [Read more...] about The Joy Of Working With One’s Hands: Report From 20 Paws Ranch
Romney’s Bain Problem
WASHINGTON -- While the Supreme Court's upholding of the health care law was last week's most important event in historical terms, it will not be the decisive event of the 2012 election. In the long run, polling in swing states suggesting that Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital is hurting him could have larger implications for where this campaign will move. It's … [Read more...] about Romney’s Bain Problem
Benjamin Netanyahu Undercut!
From Newshoggers friend and contributor Gareth Porter we have this: New Israeli Deputy PM Undercuts Strategy of Pressure on Obama By staking out a policy line on Iran reflecting the views of the Israeli national security leadership, Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz has undercut the Benjamin Netanyahu government’s carefully planned strategy to get U.S. President Barack … [Read more...] about Benjamin Netanyahu Undercut!
PRI Wins Mexican Elections
Voters in Mexico have elected Enrique Pena Nieto, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to the Presidency and may will give the party control of both houses of the Mexican Congress. This marks a major comeback for the party that ruled Mexico for over seventy years before losing power in 2000. In 2006 things were so bad that they came in third but this … [Read more...] about PRI Wins Mexican Elections
Support for Health Care Reform Law Rises After Supreme Court Ruling to Uphold
The Supreme Court 5 to 4 ruling upholding President Barack Obama's controversial health care reform law has given "Obamacare" a big bounce in the polls, Reuters reports: Voter support for President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul has increased following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding it, although majorities still oppose it, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on … [Read more...] about Support for Health Care Reform Law Rises After Supreme Court Ruling to Uphold
Why One God Is Better Than Ten
[This is the 6th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.] The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. – Albert Einstein With the idea of god, early humans were imagining someone or something who knows, who understands, who can explain things well enough to build them. Now then, if God knows, then maybe, just maybe, we … [Read more...] about Why One God Is Better Than Ten