Friday, January 30, 2009

Where'd all my stuff go?

The Onion always makes me laugh.

Whiners

No sympathy from me, sorry.

Since when are Republicans against tax cuts?

When they are proposed by Democrats.

This is going to bite them in the ass, in the end. The last two elections have seen the GOP going the wrong way against what the voters want (2005: "The cutting taxes and ballooning the budget will force the government into fiscal responsibility! 2009: Deficit spending is bad bad bad!")

This does have echoes of 1993, but really: Not a single Republican could vote their political conscience over party unity?

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

GOP to vote "no" on stimulus package anyway

Despite Obama outreach, it looks like the GOP will vote down the stimulus bill no matter what.

They'll nitpick it to death, then vote "no" in the end. Doesn't sound like a good reason for Dems to compromise if the GOP members aren't willing to vote for it in the end. Essentially, they want Obama to own the stimulus bill and hang it on him.

I'm not so sure that the GOP really has any political courage anymore, but I can't blame them too much on this. They simply can't bring themselves to work on a bill with which they disagree, and are doubling down on a long-lasting economic downturn in the hopes of blaming it all on the Dems and riding that to political victory.

Hmmm. Maybe I can blame them after all.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Wall Street Smarts, or Let's Stop Enabling Them

Merrill Lynch: Greedy and Dumb

Get rid of all bonuses, on any executive at any level, for the next two years. You give bonuses to either (1) Reward extraordinary service or (2) to retain talent.

Neither of these apply anymore.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Obama taking first steps to close Gitmo?

Glenn Greenwald with some cautious optimism.

Let the hate begin!

Scott Martin hoping (pretty please!) for economic destruction in order to prove a political point. The phrase "un-American" has been beat to death by conservatives, but if conservatives think of themselves as being the only true Americans, Scott's sentiment seems rather unconservative.


Others are hoping that if their fake argument about Obama's citizenship didn't work, that their fake argument about the oath will.

If only some of these people had raised a finger during the last 8 years while Bush beat the drums for a bigger government (in all areas: number of programs, employees, budget, and scope) they might have at least some dignity. They'd still be wrong, but they would have some philosophical leg to stand on. As it is, they just all sound cynical and petty, preaching louder and louder to smaller and smaller choirs.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Beautiful Day in Washington

I don't hate the man, but "Former President George W. Bush" has a nice ring to it.

Great ceremony, great speech by Obama. Too bad Chief Justice Roberts screwed up the oath. A small mar on an otherwise great day.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

W. D. Snodgrass, 1926-2009

First Hayden Carruth, then De. What's the "Middle of Nowhere, NY" going to do for resident poets now?

:)

The Poetry Foundation has a bunch of his poems up, plus an audio of part of his classic Heart's Needle.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Henderson, Rice elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

I was glad to see Rice make it. Rickey Henderson was a lock. From the Yahoo article:

"Rickey Henderson's first-ballot election into Hall of Fame today is only fitting for the greatest leadoff hitter in baseball history," Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff said. "We are proud that much of Rickey's career was spent here in his hometown of Oakland, where he provided Bay Area fans with so many thrills as perhaps the most exciting player of his generation."

Just for fun, mentally substitute "Rickey Henderson" for "Oakland Athletics owner Lew Wolff." It works!

Friday, January 09, 2009

Garfield minus Garfield



You gotta love it.

People who deserve it

What a find! They are all here: Express checkout cheater, Inaccurate Wikipedia contributor--many more.

Written in style which (oddly) reminds me of those Bud Light, Real Men of Genius/American Heroes campaign, the comments have just the right amount of outrage/intelligent bitchiness to be truthfully called righteous snarking.

Sign of the Times

Friendship Plaza on Mexican border to be demolished to make way for a bigger fence.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Fisking the Vatican on Plan B

Just wanted to park this here (and get feedback) while I think this through.

I'm not sure I agree with the last paragraph (that Catholics may take contraception in "good conscience"), since I believe this is directly against John Paul II's "Theology of the Body." But I want to root around a bit on it.

Overall, it is hard to follow the moral teachings of anyone (or anything) when they don't appear to be getting the science right. It smacks of an already-decided mentality that doesn't sit right.

Comments welcome, of course, particularly from Catholics.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Forcing the children to suffer for religion

No, I'm not talking about the assholes at Westboro Baptist Church.

I'm referring to Christian Scientists who force their children into sickness and death from treatable illnesses on account of their (the parents') beliefs. Interesting letter to Andrew Sullivan on the point today bringing it home.

I couldn't help but muse, as Andrew is doing, about the possibility of John Travolta withholding medication from his son because of his own Scientology beliefs.

Back!

Back from vacation--I can't say enough about Castaway Bay. A cheap family waterpark, despite the lack of wireless access (which might have been a good thing).