With the Bush tax cuts (on both the wealthy and middle class) set to expire, Democrats have a great opportunity to back Republicans into a corner and to win both politically and on policy, argues Jon Chait: The key factor here is that, just as Republicans got to frame the debate in 2001 by combining the tax cuts into an up or down vote, Democrats can frame the debate now by … [Read more...] about How the Bush Tax Cuts Are a Winning Issue for Democrats
Technology & Accelerating Addictiveness
Paul Graham ponders the acceleration of addictiveness: What hard liquor, cigarettes, heroin, and crack have in common is that they're all more concentrated forms of less addictive predecessors. Most if not all the things we describe as addictive are. And the scary thing is, the process that created them is accelerating. We wouldn't want to stop it. It's the same process … [Read more...] about Technology & Accelerating Addictiveness
BP Tax Credits Cost Us $10 Billion For Their Mistake
I suppose our lawmakers who write the tax codes do the right thing for favoring businesses with write-offs, but, really now, is it “right” for BP to deduct the entire cost of its oil blowout expenses that will cost taxpayers about $10 billion in lost revenue. News accounts from London say BP took a pretax provision of $32.2 billion for capping, clean up and damage claims … [Read more...] about BP Tax Credits Cost Us $10 Billion For Their Mistake
A Quiet Teenager
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From Harlem — Lenora Fulani To NYC Charter Revision Commission: This is about Democracy.
Dr. Lenora Fulani addressed the NYC Charter Revision Commission in Harlem on Monday night. "Now I realize that I'm simply a black woman who has never been asked, and probably will never be asked, to sit on a commission and decide something as important as whether New Yorkers should be able to vote on such a matter [as nonpartisan elections.]" 1.5 million voters are … [Read more...] about From Harlem — Lenora Fulani To NYC Charter Revision Commission: This is about Democracy.
Hitler Misunderstood? Oliver Stone’s Take of WWII: And Ours
Mr. Stone: Perhaps you'll read about the Yalta and Pottsdam meetings and agreements and put them in with no spin, into perspective in your film. In our family, who were survivors of both Hitler's and Joe Stalin's armies: we know the story already, lived it in full, but please do not distort it as though there ought be sympathy for Hitler and Stalin or anyone else colluding … [Read more...] about Hitler Misunderstood? Oliver Stone’s Take of WWII: And Ours
Joe Gandelman Forgot To Mention: Re Stone’s Inference That Jews Control the Media
I am the queen of the world, and I alone influence all media daily. Mr Gandelman is but one of my trusted subjects. I am the one who gives marching orders to him to distribute to all media everywhere in the world to do MY bidding. Surely this is women's work to butt into everyone's lives at the highest levels. Mr. Gandelman just said he was the one controlling all media … [Read more...] about Joe Gandelman Forgot To Mention: Re Stone’s Inference That Jews Control the Media
GOP Sinks To New Low
I truly didn't think it was possible: Conservative activist and blogger Andrew Breitbart will headline a fundraiser this August hosted by Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in Beverly Hills. (CNN) Now we know what the Republican party values: people who lie through misinformation and haven't the honor to apologize. I've changed my mind about … [Read more...] about GOP Sinks To New Low
Defining Terrorism: WikiLeaks, Peter Galbraith, Pakistan & India
Peter Galbraith, the former United Nations' deputy special representative for Afghanistan, raises a pertinent point regarding the White House response to WikiLeaks documents: "The Wikileaks documents, splashed in the Guardian and several other papers, provide useful confirmation of what is readily discerned from public sources: the Afghanistan War is going badly, the Taliban … [Read more...] about Defining Terrorism: WikiLeaks, Peter Galbraith, Pakistan & India
Barak Milhous Obama
Everyone on all parts of the political spectrum has it wrong. President Obama is certainly not the embodiment of any previous famous Democratic president nor is he a Liberal Ronald Reagan. Let’s compare President Obama to another President of the late 20th Century who is rarely mentioned by either political party today. So what former President does Obama most … [Read more...] about Barak Milhous Obama
U.S. Treating Iraqis Like ‘Well-Trained Lab Mice’!: Sotal Iraq, Iraq
Between the withdrawal of U.S. forces and the continuing failure of Iraqi leaders to form new government, the level of despair in the country seems to be on the rise. In this article from Iraq's Sotal Iraq, columnist Mahdi Qassem despairs of the helplessness of the average Iraqi, who from his point of view have been turned into subjects of a massive experiment, the … [Read more...] about U.S. Treating Iraqis Like ‘Well-Trained Lab Mice’!: Sotal Iraq, Iraq
In California, The Bell Tolls For Jerry Brown
In the small suburban city of Bell, Calif., about 10 miles from downtown Los Angeles as the crow flies, residents are outraged at their civic leaders for the lavish salaries they draw. We’re not talking peanuts, folks. The city manager draws about $800,000 a year and some of the part time elected city council $100,000. The Los Angeles Times has raised such a fuss over the … [Read more...] about In California, The Bell Tolls For Jerry Brown
Transforming Hackery Into Heroism
[See Author's Note added at the end of this post.] In my post the other day titled "Lessons Learned?", I noted the rather stark difference in the way liberals and conservatives have responded to the opportunity for learning and self-reflection that the Andrew Breitbart/NAACP/Shirley Sherrod video fiasco provides. Although both supporters and opponents of the current … [Read more...] about Transforming Hackery Into Heroism
Oliver Stone Apologizes for His Comments About Holocaust and “Jewish-Dominated News Media”
Earlier I wrote this post about director Oliver Stone's controversial comments about the Holocaust and how he said the Jews dominated the news media. Now he has issued this apology via his New York p.r. rep: A Statement from Oliver Stone: "In trying to make a broader historical point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a … [Read more...] about Oliver Stone Apologizes for His Comments About Holocaust and “Jewish-Dominated News Media”
‘Leaks’ Justify Re-examining Our Afghan Mission
After reading the lowly classified reports on the Afghanistan war leaked by WikiLeaks I am not surprised. It’s not that I am clairvoyant. It is exactly the way I imagined the administrations portraying a counterinsurgency war to justify why we are involved. I also think the New York Times reporting Gen. James Jones, the president’s national security adviser, was spot on … [Read more...] about ‘Leaks’ Justify Re-examining Our Afghan Mission
Glenn Beck Going Blind Color
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Wikileaks Touts ‘Biggest Leak in Military History’: : Global Reaction
Yesterday evening, the 'biggest leak in military history' took place. This unprecedented trove of classified U.S. military documents, reveals in part: How a secret 'black' unit of U.S. Special Forces hunts down Taliban leaders for 'kill or capture' without trial; that Americans fighting the war have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan's spy service is guiding the … [Read more...] about Wikileaks Touts ‘Biggest Leak in Military History’: : Global Reaction
The Pentagon Papers Redux
With eerie echoes of 1971, when the leak of secret files confirmed what Americans had long suspected about the disastrous war in Vietnam, the unauthorized release of 92,000 classified documents provides a first-hand picture of its 21st century counterpart in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Back then, the Pentagon Papers marked the beginning of the end in Southeast Asia, amid a … [Read more...] about The Pentagon Papers Redux
Illegal Immigration: Does Anyone Care About The Facts?
To listen to the spin, you’d think the United States was awash in people living illegally within our borders. You’d have heard how states need to act, and even how vigilantism is justified, because the federal government “isn’t doing its job.” It’s time for a reality check. Here are some hard facts from the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department and … [Read more...] about Illegal Immigration: Does Anyone Care About The Facts?
Fox News Reports the Real News
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