January, 2011 archive
Watch Heads Explode 0
A couple of season ago, the TV show Bones had a Muslim character as an intern in the lab.
In the story line, he masqueraded as an immigrant, affecting an accent, fearing that to reveal that he in fact was a native-born fully Americanized religiously-observant Muslim would be too difficult in the workplace.
Such a masquerade in the face of the virulent bigotry of some against all Muslims because of the actions of a few Muslims seemed unfortunately most plausible. Indeed, given the implausible plots of the Bones series, it was one of the more plausible narratives of that sequence of shows.
Clarence Page writes in the Chicago Tribune (follow the link for the full column):
She’s right. A black TV family like Bill Cosby’s Huxtables — or a Hispanic-American family like, say, George Lopez’s show — might not seem like such a big deal anymore, now that a real-life black family occupies the White House. But back in the 1980s, “The Cosby Show” was the decade’s biggest TV hit and is even credited with changing the way a lot of us black Americans viewed ourselves and our perceptions of opportunity in America’s mainstream.
Some critics still complain that “The Cosby Show” was too good, that it’s well-off family headed by a doctor and a lawyer was too far removed from the lives that most black people lived. But, more important in my view was the larger message: The American Dream is not for whites only.
Imagine the exploding wingnut heads if this were actually to take place.
Disintegrating Values 0
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| The Word – Disintegration | ||||
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Barry Saunders of the Raleigh News and Observer comments at McClatchy.
Via Will Bunch.
The Entitlement Society 0
The Guardian’s Richard Wolff has another piece on the place where too much is never enough::
(snip)
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs pays out $15bn (in bonuses–ed>), alongside the other big banks’ comparable payouts.
Read the whole thing.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Better than last week:
Applications for jobless benefits decreased 37,000 in the week ended Jan. 15, the biggest decline since February 2010, to 404,000, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 420,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The number of people on unemployment benefit rolls fell, while those getting extended payments rose.
(snip)
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 49 economists ranged from 400,000 to 462,000, after an initially reported 445,000 the previous week.
As I’ve grumbled before, it seems crucial to someone whether the actual figures are above or below expectations (note that they never seem to be at expectations), which leads me to wonder about the expectators. These expectations seem like the spread in the betting line for a football game.
I really think that these “forecasters” and “analysts” whose predictions get quoted in such stories should be identified in a little more detail.
- Are they academicians, consultants, banksters, or what?
- Is their expertise pro bono or for hire?
- Are any of the well-known persons who predicted the housing crash–and got resoundingly ignored by most media and the business and Bushonomic establishment–included or are they the folks with a history of demonstrated failure in three-piece suits?
- Does each news outlet use the same panel week after week, or do they trade for new ones in the “Fantasy Economists League” before each week’s Tuesday trading deadline?
For all I know, they operate out of little pink houses with yard signs saying “Sister Paula’s Economic Readings–No Appt. Necessary.”
Referring to them simply as “economists” or “experts” or “panel” imputes to them a level of profundity that, frankly, is not supported by their performance.
QOTD 0
Edgar Allan Poe, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
The nose of a mob is its imagination. By this, at any time, it can be quietly led.
Seen on the Street 0
Full moon rising over the Atlantic, seen from 67th Street, Virginia Beach.
The water blends into the sky at the horizon. The moon reflects as an orange streak in the ocean. The moon itself appeared orange to the eye, but not to the camera.
H/T Susan for the pic. I ran it through the GIMP, but the GIMP can’t bring out what isn’t there to begin with. Damned good for a cell phone.
Civility 0
Mike Gruss reported in the local rag that
“I will be civil in my public discourse and behavior. I will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them. I will stand against incivility when I see it.”
(snip)
So he mailed the letters – and waited for responses. How many did he get back?
Three. Three people, including Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia, signed on. No one else replied, which, coincidentally enough, is kind of uncivil.
I must wonder most uncharitably whether they remembered to include the campaign contributions?
Aside:
Since Frank Wolf first appeared on the Virginia political scene when I was living in Arlington umpty-ump years ago, I have most decidedly not been a one of his fans, but I must give him and his staff kudos for reading and answering their mail.
The Entitlement Society 0
Where too much is never enough:
(snip)
The $15.3bn set aside for bonuses and salaries was down 5% on the $16bn for the previous year but did not fall as fast as revenues, which dropped 13% to $39.1bn in 2010.
Return of Beyond the Palin Meets the Dialectic 0
Jon Stewart undresses the word salad to reveal its internal contradictions. Even if her voice grates on you like parmesan on spaghetti, take the eight minutes to listen :
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Petty Woman | ||||
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Additional commentary (damned accurate commentary, by the way) here.
Via TPM.
Politifact Awards “Political Lie of the Year” 0
Republican Party continues to dominate the awards.
No Exceptions 0
Richard Wolff discusses American Exceptionalism in the Guardian.
First, a definition:
Follow the link to find out what happened next.
(Hint: The “almost no one got poorer” part–not so much no more.)
Seen on the Street 0
Foggy day yesterday on the CBBT:
This appears to be a vessel of the Military Sealift Command, perhaps the Big Horn or Kaiser.
Q. What’s the Difference between a Ponzi Scheme and a Patsy Scheme? 0
A. A patsy scheme does not promise a return on your investment.
Correct Question 0
To get relevant answers, one must ask the correct questions.
Kevin Cullen of the Boston Globe talks with a retiring firefighter. The discussion turns to public employee unions and to asking correct questions (emphasis added):
“People’s retirement plans took a big hit on the stock market. Then everybody looked at the public unions and said, ‘Hey, why I should be paying for their pensions and benefits when mine are being cut?’
“I think that’s the wrong question. The right question is, why are companies in the private sector so bent on profits that they don’t want to take care of their workers?
The relevant answer is “Bonuses, Stock Options, and Country Club Memberships.”
QOTD 0
Daniel Webster, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures.
Stray Thought 0
American Idol is the Gong Show with no sense of humor.
“Looks Like We Got Us a Convoy” 0
Automating everything:
The trials held on Volvo’s test track in Sweden slaved a single car to a lorry to test the platooning system.
Trains of cars under the control of a lead driver should cut fuel use, boost safety and may even cut congestion.
Contract on America 0
Shaun Mullen reads the fine print. A nugget:
Boehner knew that the $100 billion promise would be impossible to come close to keeping given the fine print attached to the pledge by party bigs even as they coddled the Tea Party acolytes among them. The fine print included Social Security, Medicare and defense and homeland security spending being off limits. In other words, the bulk of the budget.
If the budget-reduction promise was good political theater, the health-care reform offensive is worthy of a group Grammy. This is because . . . um, reality will once again rear its pug-ugly head.
Read the rest at the link.
Old Tea, New Bags 0
Tennessee Teabaggers want to whitewash (you will pardon the expression) slavery.
These folks are nuts.