2011 archive
WWJD 0
In the Chicago Trib, Dan Martin wonders, “How would Jesus vote?” and handicaps the candidates accordingly.
No excerpt or summary can do it justice.
Public Services Should Be Public 0
Thom Hartmann explains:
QOTD 0
Marshall McLuhan, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.
My Plans for the Republican Debate 0
The Phillies are on the television tonight.
’nuff said.
“Rescue Me” 0
Yesterdays HearSay, the local NPR affiliate’s information and interview show, discussed the pros and cons of charging persons for emergency services. This seems to be a new trend among cash-strapped states and localities who are too chicken to raise taxes, particularly if the persons rescued can be construed to have been responsible for getting themselves into the emergency, like this bozo.
How much, for example, should the Fed and Treasury charge the banksters for emergency services?
Droning On 0
Asia Times considers internal CIA dynamics as an impetus to increase its use of robot killing. Read it all.
Here’s a snippet from deep in the article:
That decision meant that analysts who chose to specialize in targeting for CIA drone operations were promised that they could stay within that specialty and get promotions throughout their careers. Thus the agency had made far-reaching commitments to its own staff in the expectation that the drone war would grow far beyond the three strikes a year and that it would continue indefinitely.
By 2007, the agency realized that, in order to keep those commitments, it had to get the White House to change the rules by relaxing existing restrictions on drone strikes.
File this under “Why am I not surprised.”
Cantor’s Cant 0
Daniel Ruth discusses Eric Cantor’s posturing on FEMA and Irene:
This would be a bit like Cantor happening upon a car wreck and offering to help the bleeding victim just as soon as he sells his house to pay for the stitches.
There is much delightful more at the link.
Serendipity, Cthulu Dept. 0
Today, I learned from the LinuxBasix podcast episode that there is a whole website devoted to exploring and reading the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
I recommend going to the archives link at the bottom of the page and starting at the beginning.
Reseg, Voting Rights Act Dept. 0
Facing South reports on evil people who want evil things.
Twits on Twitter 0
Football twits:
College football is only a game, folks.
True, an unholy game stained by corruption, cheating, concussions, and fraud, which will taint my local rag’s sports pages for the next five months, besotting sportswriters with its miasma, but still a game.
Hidden Taxes 0
When government employees have to step in to pay for what they need to do their jobs because their employers refuse to, that is for all practical purposes a hidden tax, one born solely by those employees:
Then, with the first day of school just around the corner, DeCotis paid a visit to Teachers Rule, an educational supply store in Rockland, where she stocked up on supplies and personalized items for the students’ first day.
In all, DeCotis spent several hundred dollars – all from her own pocket – to get ready for the first day of classes.
“Some people think I’m crazy to spend so much,’’ she said as she perused the aisles one morning. “But I’m not alone.’’
Public school teachers paying for classroom supplies is not new. But today’s stumbling economy has deepened the need, as budget-crunched schools look to trim costs and more students show up without even basic supplies.
Governments get away with this because, despite rightwing propaganda to the contrary, the great majority of teachers care deeply about doing their jobs and serving their students. So they pay this de facto tax and just keep in trying to teach.
