2011 archive
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
A Rose by Any Other Name . . . (Updated) 0
Marketing aside, it’s still Agony Airlines:
Later on in the story, the airline is quoted as saying it doesn’t have a dress code, leading one to wonder whether it just practices random acts of fashion policing.
You can learn more about the baggy pants incident.
Addendum, the Next Day:
Field goes where I considered going, but chickened out.
Koch Raid (Updated) 0
It’s strategy to get your social security into the hands of banksters.
They need something to fund the next bubble.
Addendum:
Robert Greenwald, who produced the video, discusses this at the Guardian. A nugget:
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In the Belly of the Beast 0
“Incognegro”: Two liberal black bloggers infiltrate the Right Online conference:
A bit from the write up:
Via the Booman.
Endless War and the Entitlement Society 1
At the Asia Times, Ellen Brown considers how military spending is actually a drag on the economy. A nugget (emphasis added):
Most politicians understand … that weapons production is currently the number one industrial export product of the US. They know that major industrial job creation is largely coming from the Pentagon. Thus most politicians, from both parties, want to continue to support the military industrial complex gravy train for their communities.
That explains why the country seems to be permanently at war. If we had peace, the war machine would be out of a job. Every year since World War II, the US has been at war somewhere. It has been said that if we didn’t have a war to fight, we would have to create one just to keep the war business going. We have a military empire of over 800 bases around the world. What is to become of them when the lion lies down with the lamb and peace reigns everywhere?
She goes on the explore ways to move to an economy that’s not based on killing somebody somewhere day after day.
QOTD 0
Jawaharlal Nehru, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
You don’t change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.
Pay for Performance 0
Very creative.
Chiang issued his decision after conducting an analysis of the budget package pushed through by Democratic lawmakers last week on a simple majority vote. Lawmakers said they believed that action allowed them to continue receiving paychecks, but Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the package, saying he didn’t want to see billions more in borrowing or questionable maneuvers.
The larger issue is that California has rendered itself ungovernable. Governor Brown seems to have the guts to make push come to shove.
H/T Karen for the link.
Driving while Brown 0
Imprisoning brown persons for profit(eers):
Dogmatic Justice 0
There’s something almost poetic about this:
Crocodile Fears 0
Why has the Republican Party suddenly gotten concerned with the rule of law when, for decades, they haven’t given a damn?
Shaun Mullen explains. An excerpt:
So it is no surprise that war fits comfortably with the contemporary Republican embrace of American exceptionalism, neocon saber rattling trumping diplomacy, and rewarding rapacious defense contractors for their profit-making death machines and lavish campaign contributions.
So recent statements from House Majority Leader John Boehner, among other Republican bigs, questioning President Obama’s embrace of the NATO-led mission against Moammar Quadaffi in Libya, as well as more muted criticism of the war in Afghanistan might appear to be a break with the party’s bloody past.
It is not, of course, and is merely yet another manifestation of criticizing everything that Obama says and does.
Facebook Frolics 0
What is it about touching keyboards that disengages the brain relay, rendering the courtesy circuit inoperable?
We Need Single Payer 0
Field reports from the field:
Follow the link for the citation.
QOTD 0
Laurence J. Peter, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
The man who is always waving the flag usually waives what it stands for.