The markets were well on their way to shatter all kinds of records today. Towards the end of the market day, however, they shed some of their gains. Nevertheless, we still had, once again, a good upward movement in the markets---one of those movements that some critics persistently call "meaningless day-to-day fluctuations." Let's see what today's meaningless … [Read more...] about Real Glimmers of Hope, or Just “Meaningless Market Fluctuations”?
“Ale To The Chief”: Obama’s Beer Summit Wasn’t Pour
THIS JUST IN! Forget Iran, forget health care -- what the world REALLY wants to know about is: how did that "beer summit" called by President Barack Obama featuring himself, a prominent African American Harvard professor and the policeman who arrested the prof (with Vice President Joe Biden at the table) go? So it's time for (what else?) the analysis. Rather than bore you … [Read more...] about “Ale To The Chief”: Obama’s Beer Summit Wasn’t Pour
Stormy Daniels Car Bomb Incident
Possible Louisiana Senate candidate (and porn star) Stormy Daniels may be learning just how dangerous the political arena can be. (Or maybe not.) It's being reported that her political adviser had his car blown up this week, and there's even video of it after the jump. A political adviser to Stormy Daniels, the porn star who's considering a Senate run in Louisiana, told a … [Read more...] about Stormy Daniels Car Bomb Incident
At Last. Racism is Dead in the Northeast
There's been a plethora of coverage, both here and elsewhere, of the "Gates-Gate" affair currently choking the news cycle to death. Of course, most of these people are choosing to focus on "teachable moments" and the "status of black-white relations" and blah, blah, blah, blah. Sadly, what most of these analysts are missing is the good news underlying the affairs of the last … [Read more...] about At Last. Racism is Dead in the Northeast
Inside Scoop On Cutting 1% From The Military Budget
Let's see if I got this right. According to The Washington Post, a $636 billion military spending bill scheduled for vote by the House today or tomorrow contains about $7 billion in new ships, planes, helicopters and armored vehicles Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon does not need. The waste Gates decried as "business as usual" represents about 1% of the House's … [Read more...] about Inside Scoop On Cutting 1% From The Military Budget
Theme Song For Today’s Barack Obama White House Beer Summit
Today is the big day -- a day that will go down in history: at 6 p.m. EST President Barack Obama will sit down at the White House's first beer summit with a lreading African-American professor and the policeman who arrested him. Obama's comments about the arrest added fuel to the polarizing fire -- and this is his attempt to defuse it via a low-key session where the three deep … [Read more...] about Theme Song For Today’s Barack Obama White House Beer Summit
Is Sarah Palin A Hot Talk Radio Show Host Property?
Is it "watch out Rush Limbaugh" in the future? Is former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, darling of conservatives and a politician who talks the talk of the conservative talk radio political culture destined to become a radio talk show host? Speculation is increasing that Palin's next big role on the national stage might not be as a 2012 Presidential candidate, but Rush … [Read more...] about Is Sarah Palin A Hot Talk Radio Show Host Property?
The Good Citizen’s Reward
While the President serves beer to Henry Louis Gates and James Crowley in the White House today, Lucia Whalen will be at work in Cambridge, pondering the lessons of her phone call to the police last week. In the aftermath of Barack Obama's gaffe in saying the police acted "stupidly," the White House is smoothing over the ensuing national rancor with a photo-op reconciliation … [Read more...] about The Good Citizen’s Reward
Sonia Sotomayor in Haiku Form
As it should have become clear from my recent writings on Dahlia Lithwick, I think she is brilliant in her analyses of the U.S. Supreme Court, its justices, cases and opinions. But her talents don't stop at the Supreme Court's magnificent entrance. I came across a set of 18 little poems, written by Lithwick over at Slate. I am told they are written in "haiku … [Read more...] about Sonia Sotomayor in Haiku Form
Recession ends. But doesn’t. And who cares anyway?
I thought reportage of the recession could no longer surprise me. I was wrong. The cover story in Newsweek, declaring that the recession has ended, THAT surprised me. By now I'm used to Wall Streeters, government types, economists and financial journalists exclaiming that economic reports that show things are getting worse more slowly really show they are getting better; … [Read more...] about Recession ends. But doesn’t. And who cares anyway?
Iranian Riot Police Roughly Break Up Ceremony To Mourn Slain Neda Agha-Soltan
A new burst of resistance and some allegations of rough police treatment mark events in Iran where riot police reportedly have broken up gathering mourners at the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young Iranian woman whose videotaped shooting and bleeding-death at a June 20 demonstration was You Tubed around the world, turning her into a symbol of the regime's repression and … [Read more...] about Iranian Riot Police Roughly Break Up Ceremony To Mourn Slain Neda Agha-Soltan
Americans: Damned if We Do, Don’t
Joe noted this finding at the end of his earlier post, but I thought it deserved its own, dedicated shout out. From today's NYT ... Over all, the poll portrays a nation torn by conflicting impulses and confusion. In one finding, 75 percent of respondents said they were concerned that the cost of their own health care would eventually go up if the government did not … [Read more...] about Americans: Damned if We Do, Don’t
Quote for the Day: Rep. Ross on Health Care, Legislating
From the transcript of Lois Romano's interview with the Congressman for the WaPo, these remarks can be found a little more than halfway down the Web page: ... our forefathers never envisioned that a handful of staff write a bill and you rush it through a committee without reading it and you rush it to the floor without reading it, and you pass it just because you're a … [Read more...] about Quote for the Day: Rep. Ross on Health Care, Legislating
DVD Review: Penn & Teller B.S.: Complete Sixth Season
The name "Penn & Teller" conjures up an image of an immensely entertaining comedy/magic team so to the uninitiated, you'd think that any show of theirs would be more of the same. WRONG. In their cable series, Penn Fraser Jillette and Raymond Joseph Teller become the anti-60 Minutes: they present a series of documentaries setting out to examine a common "given" or a … [Read more...] about DVD Review: Penn & Teller B.S.: Complete Sixth Season
Sigmund Freud: US, Pakistan, Afghanistan & India
Let me share my random thoughts...When lust takes center stage, the thinking and rational behaviour flies out of the window. We live in a promiscuous age/world where America provides, apart from huge arms and war material, 80 per cent of pornography world-wide. Now a question: Why is the USA pumping so much money in Afghanistan? It looks more like a case where a love-lorn or … [Read more...] about Sigmund Freud: US, Pakistan, Afghanistan & India
Of Legacies, Reconciliation & Beer
I finished the Open Yale Course on The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877 today. From the last of the 27 lectures, Legacies of the Civil War: Everything in history has a legacy. We use the term all the time, the legacies of this; the legacies of that; the legacies of that event; what are the legacies of World War Two? What are the legacies of the Civil Rights … [Read more...] about Of Legacies, Reconciliation & Beer
Washington a Key ‘Villain’ in Crisis Facing Honduras: La Prensa, Honduras
In seeking to return ousted Honduran President Manuel Zalaya to office, is the United States doing the right thing? The Honduran Congress and military, who ousted Zalaya for violating that nation's constitution by seeking another term, certainly have tremendous support. And according to columnist Gloria Leticia Pineda from La Prensa of Honduras, those who support the new … [Read more...] about Washington a Key ‘Villain’ in Crisis Facing Honduras: La Prensa, Honduras
Sotomayor Vote Tracking And Pool (Bumped/Updated)
Now that members are beginning to announce their votes we can start tracking the total votes. The current count of yes and no votes are as follows, the remainder being undecided. Obviously we can assume most or all Democrats will vote yes but until they announce I won't list them. We've also got a pool going in the replies. Feel free to chime in. YES: 22 votes (16D, … [Read more...] about Sotomayor Vote Tracking And Pool (Bumped/Updated)
Will a “Sotomayor Test” on the Next Supreme Court Nominee Work?
Dahlia Lithwick, a contributing editor to Newsweek and senior editor at Slate, is a brilliant Constitutional lawyer and scholar who has written extensively on the United States Supreme Court and on the Court's cases and opinions. No wonder she has been intensely focused on what impact the recent elections will have on the composition of our country's highest court. In … [Read more...] about Will a “Sotomayor Test” on the Next Supreme Court Nominee Work?
Boston Policeman Suspended For Using Slur To Describe Harvard’s Gates
It may well have been a "teachable moment," but perhaps some folks learned the wrong things: A Boston police officer has been suspended and could be fired for a mass e-mail in which he used a racial slur to describe black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Commissioner Edward Davis put 36-year-old Justin Barrett on administrative leave pending a termination … [Read more...] about Boston Policeman Suspended For Using Slur To Describe Harvard’s Gates