This doesn't seem to be a good week for celebrities with word now coming that pitchman Billy Mays has been found dead in his Tampa home at the age of 50. Mays Dies … [Read more...] about TV Pitchman Billy Mays Dies At 50
Poll: 62 Percent Support Sotomayor Confirmation For Supreme Court
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is supported by most Americans for that job -- and that Obama apparently found the American political center in appointing her: A sizable majority of Americans want the Senate to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and most call her "about right" … [Read more...] about Poll: 62 Percent Support Sotomayor Confirmation For Supreme Court
Don’t Forget The Persians
Between sex scandals and celebrity deaths, let us not forget the citizens of Iran. Suffering does not go away when we do not see it. New York Times: In Tehran, a Mood of Melancholy Descends — TEHRAN — An eerie stillness has settled over this normally frenetic city. In more settled times, the streets are clogged with honking cars and cranky commuters grousing about the … [Read more...] about Don’t Forget The Persians
The Dakotas Economic Model
Charts and tables don't always tell you important things about the economy. But sometimes they do. And the other day I ran across three tables suggesting where our national country might be heading—and indeed should be heading. These tables showed on a state-by-state basis delinquency rates on auto loans, mortgages, and credit cards during the first quarter of this year. On … [Read more...] about The Dakotas Economic Model
UPDATE: Honduran President Is Ousted in Coup
LATER -- Facing South tells us that at least two leaders of the coup were apparently trained at a controversial Department of Defense school based at Fort Benning, Georgia "infamous for producing graduates linked to torture, death squads and other human rights abuses." NYTimes: The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted by the army on Sunday after pressing ahead … [Read more...] about UPDATE: Honduran President Is Ousted in Coup
House Narrowly Passes Nonexistent Bill
It's an unfortunate comment on the current state of our democracy that Congress routinely passes bills which virtually none of the members have read. Hope is also rapidly eroding that the White House will actually post all proposed legislation on the web far enough in advance that at least we could read them before they come to a vote. But at a bare minimum, up until now they … [Read more...] about House Narrowly Passes Nonexistent Bill
US Health-Care Reforms: Cut Expensive Procedures/Prescriptions
I have no hesitation in admitting that I generally turn to The Economist when I am looking for details regarding any hot world issue, or if I fail to understand its different dimensions. This venerable British magazine has some interesting points to offer regarding the US health-care reforms. "Because health insurance is so expensive, nearly 50 million Americans, an obscene … [Read more...] about US Health-Care Reforms: Cut Expensive Procedures/Prescriptions
Michael Jackson: Mystery Point of Order
You've probably heard the 911 call by an anonymous man asking that an ambulance be sent as soon as possible. It turns out while on the 911 call, the phoner says that the doctor is applying CPR (and doing everything) to Mr. Jackson and that Jackson is not breathing yet. The doctor is Conrad Murray, who is said to have practices across three states. The doc has a few … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson: Mystery Point of Order
The U.S. is Bad, Iran is Worse, and They Work Hand in Glove: Al Iraq News, Iraq
Is it conceivable that Iran and the United States have been working together in Iraq all along? At WORLDMEETS.US, we have documented over the years that there are a good number of people in Iraq that are fully convinced of this - often pointing to the fact that Iran is the country that has gotten the most out of the Iraq invasion. This op-ed from Iraq's Al Iraq newspaper … [Read more...] about The U.S. is Bad, Iran is Worse, and They Work Hand in Glove: Al Iraq News, Iraq
Preventive Detention By Executive Order
That is what Barack Obama is now planning, according to an article by Dafna Linzer and Peter Finn in the Washington Post. The article, which I blogged about last night, at Comments from Left Field, is difficult to make sense of because it's really more about the Obama administration using two reporters to take the public temperature on a desired policy than it is a news story … [Read more...] about Preventive Detention By Executive Order
What Gay Generation Gap?
GAY PRIDE SUNDAY UPDATE: All Things Considered interviews Harris. I am 54 years old. I lived in NYC for 30 years, through the AIDS years. I lost a life-partner to the disease. My experience could not be more different than Harris's. =============== A friend forwarded Mark Harris's NYMag Summer Issue feature on the Gay Generation Gap as much for the mention of The … [Read more...] about What Gay Generation Gap?
Exceptional Circumstances: A Canadian Couple and Their Premature Baby, Currently Receiving Care in the U.S., Must Be Reunited ASAP
A sad, troubling, rage-inducing story from The Canadian Press: A critically-ill premature-born baby from Hamilton is all alone in a Buffalo, N.Y., hospital after she was turned away for treatment at local facility and transferred across the border without her parents, who don't have passports. Ava Stinson was born Thursday at St. Joseph's Hospital, 14 weeks … [Read more...] about Exceptional Circumstances: A Canadian Couple and Their Premature Baby, Currently Receiving Care in the U.S., Must Be Reunited ASAP
Mark Sanford, You’re No King David
I haven't written anything on the Mark Sanford saga since Thursday morning, when I commented on his humanity and hypocrisy -- what he did was all-too-human, however bizarre the contortions of his trip to Argentina and the lies of those close to him, but also, given his conservative Republican moralism, deeply hypocritical as well. Since then, more has come out. For … [Read more...] about Mark Sanford, You’re No King David
As Yogi Would Say: When The Energy Bill Reaches The Crossroads, Take It
I'm not buying the Republican bromide that passage of a revolutionary energy bill is nothing but a tax increase. Of course it will cost money for the transformation just as my first Apple computer cost $3,300 in the early 1980s and about a third of that in today's market The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the average American household would pay an additional … [Read more...] about As Yogi Would Say: When The Energy Bill Reaches The Crossroads, Take It
Wikipedia Full of Disagreeable Sourpusses Who Are Closed to New Ideas
Recently I noted Twitter hype punctured by a study that found Twitter users to be self-obsessed. Today Nicholas Carr points to New Scientest and a report that finds Wikipedians are generally "grumpy," "disagreeable," and "closed to new ideas." Forget altruism: [T]he scholars paint a picture of Wikipedians as social maladapts who "feel more comfortable expressing themselves … [Read more...] about Wikipedia Full of Disagreeable Sourpusses Who Are Closed to New Ideas
Michael Jackson Autopsy Over But Family Wants Real Answers
The autopsy for "King of Pop" singer Michael Jackson is over and the results are inconclusive -- and it may take another six weeks to know the precise cause as medics await toxicology reports. But family friend the Rev. Jesse Jackson has told CNN that the family wants to know more about what the dead singer's private doctor knows -- and wants some answers: Michael … [Read more...] about Michael Jackson Autopsy Over But Family Wants Real Answers
Mr. Obama Has His Reasons for Snubbing Disunited Old Europe: Financial Times Deutschland
Why is German Chancellor Angela Merkel in town in part to dispel rumors that U.S.-German relations are strained - and that President Obama is less enamored by the Old Continent than his predecessors? Financial Times Deutschland columnist Thomas Klau surmises that at the root of President Obama's "casual willingness to snub" Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is that … [Read more...] about Mr. Obama Has His Reasons for Snubbing Disunited Old Europe: Financial Times Deutschland
Taking Obama’s Measure
With ten percent of his term in office gone, Barack Obama is being graded from the left and right and, not surprisingly, found to be doing (1) not enough and (2) too much. (1) Paul Krugman faults him for "Not Enough Audacity," praising "Barack the Policy Wonk, whose command of the issues--and ability to explain those issues in plain English--is a joy to behold" but faulting … [Read more...] about Taking Obama’s Measure
Hugo Chavez Scolds CNN for Coverage of Michael Jackson’s Death: El Universal, Mexico
Could it be that CNN is overdoing its coverage of Michael Jackson's death - pushing aside more pressing issues? If you said yes - then you are in agreement with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who charges that a challenge to the authority of his ally in Honduras, President Manuel Zelaya, is being ignored in favor of Jackson's passing by the American cable news network, due to … [Read more...] about Hugo Chavez Scolds CNN for Coverage of Michael Jackson’s Death: El Universal, Mexico
U.S. Shifts Afghan Drug Policy To Another Which Has Not Worked
Just follow the money. The opium fields in Afghanistan supply 93% of the world's production of heroin and is the single largest revenue producer for that impoverished country's gross national product, according to United Nations and U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reports. After the Soviets gave up and left Afghanistan, the Taliban destroyed the crops under the guise of religious … [Read more...] about U.S. Shifts Afghan Drug Policy To Another Which Has Not Worked