When I tell friends that the next major tax debate should focus on parking tickets, the response is almost always the same. They tell me about how they were recently screwed by an overly aggressive ticket-slinger, then relate tales of similar abuse experienced by other people they know. Sure, they finally acknowledge, parking metering and ticketing is a stealth tax. A curb … [Read more...] about The Next Big Tax Issue—Parking Tickets
Tribute To Michael Jackson At The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
Jeralyn on last night's MTV Music Video Awards: The MTV-VH1 Music Video Awards were tonight. They sure have changed. Madonna, looking relaxed, calm and very pretty, opened the show with a quiet and actually quite moving speech in tribute to Michael Jackson [link]. After noting they were born the same year, she mentioned she lost her mother when she was a young girl. But she … [Read more...] about Tribute To Michael Jackson At The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
The Landmine in Obama’s Health Care Plan
Following the last round of speeches, we have found out one thing... President Obama has claimed the Max Baucus compromise health care bill as his own. So you can call it the Baucus Plan or the Obama Plan or the compromise, or whatever you like. But this is, at least for now, Obama's plan. While we still don't have a full copy of what the Finance Committee is cooking, some of … [Read more...] about The Landmine in Obama’s Health Care Plan
Biopic on Charles Darwin Is Shunned By U.S. Distributors
I don't know what to say about this. Obviously, it's extraordinary, disturbing, deeply depressing, that the one country in the world that for so long was known for innovation and technological brilliance -- a nation that was founded on Enlightenment principles of reason and open intellectual inquiry -- is now sliding back into a primeval muck of ignorance, superstition, and … [Read more...] about Biopic on Charles Darwin Is Shunned By U.S. Distributors
Osama bin Laden Releases ‘address to Americans’
No transcript yet: "The video shows a still of bin Laden while the audio statement plays. There is no video footage of bin Laden or of anything else, aside from the graphics surrounding his still. There is no media footage or footage from other groups," IntelCenter said. The group described the release as "an address to the American public" and said bin Laden typically … [Read more...] about Osama bin Laden Releases ‘address to Americans’
RIP Norman Borlaug
His name may not have been as well known as some others but Borlaug, who died this past Saturday at the age of 95, was quite probably one of the most important figures of the 20th century. He was called the father of the Green Revolution, a sweeping transformation of agriculture that occurred during the middle part of the century. Perhaps his most famous achievement was the … [Read more...] about RIP Norman Borlaug
The Public Option Is Alive and Well
Pres. Obama gave a rousing, campaign-style speech in Philadelphia today in which he spoke up strongly for the public option. … [Read more...] about The Public Option Is Alive and Well
White America?
Tyrone notwithstanding, like Stephen Colbert, I don't see race. … [Read more...] about White America?
Poverty Up; Health & Social Problem Worse
Andrew Sullivan points to Ron Brownstein on the Census Bureau report on income, poverty and health insurance coverage in 2008 to find that on every major measurement... ...the country lost ground during Bush's two terms. While Bush was in office, the median household income declined, poverty increased, childhood poverty increased even more, and the number of Americans without … [Read more...] about Poverty Up; Health & Social Problem Worse
R.I.P. Larry Gelbart (A Special Appreciation)
This Guest Voice special appreciation is by skippy the bush kangaroo, a popular blogger who writes in lowercase -- and who offers this piece on the late comedy-writer great Larry Gelbart. He offers this caption for the above photo: skippy and dick benjamin laugh it up, while (left to right) leonard stern, stanley rubin, larry gelbart and carl reiner yawn. rip larry … [Read more...] about R.I.P. Larry Gelbart (A Special Appreciation)
The Great Tea Party Protest: The Aftermath
I am quite pleased at the Tea Party Protest March On Washington turnout yesterday (September 12, 2009). I've always been a fan and a lover of the protest and demonstration. I've been involved in many throughout my three and a half decades of life, the largest being the Million Man March (MMM) on October 16, 1995. There's a certain beauty about a protest. Everyone with a … [Read more...] about The Great Tea Party Protest: The Aftermath
Kevin Drum on Wilson-mania
Kevin asks:Did the Washington Post fulfill its duty to inform the public last night by running a mere eight separate pieces about Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's healthcare speech on Wednesday? Or is anything less than a dozen a sign that they aren't really trying anymore? After all, Politico had at least 15 Wilson-related pieces, including a big front pager by … [Read more...] about Kevin Drum on Wilson-mania
Serena Williams, the Joe Wilson of tennis?
I didn't see the outburst that cost Serena her semi-final match, but I saw (as in, television saw) her smash her racket after losing the first set. Even that was pretty jarring. Strange. A sport where the crowd watches in respectful silence, while a champion smashes expensive equipment that most fans would be grateful to own. Cross-posted at Conventional Folly … [Read more...] about Serena Williams, the Joe Wilson of tennis?
Will Pelosi flip on Afghanistan?
WILL PELOSI FLIP ON AFGHANISTAN? The editors of the Wall Street Journal remind Madame Speaker that she was a singing a different tune on Afghanistan not long ago:It is well known that Mr. Obama has called Afghanistan a "war of necessity." Less publicized is that in 2007 Speaker Pelosi was also saying that our real interests were in Afghanistan. "The war on terror is in … [Read more...] about Will Pelosi flip on Afghanistan?
Neglected Clean Water Laws = Higher Human Suffering
Just back from kayaking on the Oconee River, sitting on the launch-ramp waiting for my ride, I perused the NYTimes on my iphone. There I found this massive investigation of water pollution: Almost four decades ago, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. … [Read more...] about Neglected Clean Water Laws = Higher Human Suffering
The ‘Weight’ of Obama’s ‘Word’: El Pais, Spain
ON GLASSES: 'CARE PLAN'TITLE: 'FRAGILE' Gravitas and the power of "the word." Gravitas is that ancient Roman measure of a leader's influence and credibility - and "the word" is a key tool that leaders must use to exercise that ancient virtue. Continuing with our sampling of global reaction to the issue of health care in America, according to columnist Lluis Bassets of … [Read more...] about The ‘Weight’ of Obama’s ‘Word’: El Pais, Spain
ABC Denies It Ever Said Yesterday’s Protest Rally Had 1 Million People
A slight discrepancy has broken out between a conservative activist, the new media and a member of the old media quoted as a source for some in the new media: it's only a matter of the whether the size of yesterday's protest in Washington is being touted as having 940,000 more people then were actually there. So ABC News has issued a strong statement trying to set the … [Read more...] about ABC Denies It Ever Said Yesterday’s Protest Rally Had 1 Million People
Anti-Abortion Group Gets Organized in Florida
[ Editor's Note: The title and URL for this post has been changed from the original. -- PMA ] They probably will not succeed in what they are trying to do (at least not this time), but it's frightening to some of us to know that there are organized groups with this agenda: A nationwide anti-abortion group launched an effort in Florida Friday to outlaw all abortions and … [Read more...] about Anti-Abortion Group Gets Organized in Florida
Freedom and Security on the Mall
I thought I'd do a quote roundup from various commentaries on today's Tea Party gathering in D.C. … [Read more...] about Freedom and Security on the Mall
More Signs of GOP’s Increasingly Ugly Political Tone
A slew of websites (old and new media) are now running photos of a sign that has appeared at today's conservative anti-tax, anti-government spending, anti-health care reform rally in Washington -- and it once again raises the question: Is the Republican party now morphing into a political organization that only wants to reaffirm it's existing members' political grudges, … [Read more...] about More Signs of GOP’s Increasingly Ugly Political Tone