Two German woman with bikes. Need I say more?:
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Mark Levine--Strawman killer
Conor Friedersdorf with a good piece on the misogynist Mark Levin.
Certainly as a Democrat if I were in charge of running the GOP, I'd have Mark Levin as its prime mouthpiece (I'd keep Michael Steele as the frontman at times as well). Conor's piece highlights the Beck/Levin/F&F bubble mentality--one that confronted and was eventually overcome by Democrats. Simply unable to accept that their own policies were rejected by voters, they construct wild and wilder nefarious theories of people being hoodwinked by shadowy anti-Americans.
Keep the light shined on them.
Certainly as a Democrat if I were in charge of running the GOP, I'd have Mark Levin as its prime mouthpiece (I'd keep Michael Steele as the frontman at times as well). Conor's piece highlights the Beck/Levin/F&F bubble mentality--one that confronted and was eventually overcome by Democrats. Simply unable to accept that their own policies were rejected by voters, they construct wild and wilder nefarious theories of people being hoodwinked by shadowy anti-Americans.
Keep the light shined on them.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Health insurance reform follies
Some more Hawking pushback.
This is the kind of stuff I think that Democrats need to concentrate on. Dems are getting caught up talking about the tactics of the town hall confrontations, the lies in the ads, the distortions of what are in plain English in the bill, etc. This becomes a "he said she said" thing, which plays into the media who want to talk about any issue in simple conflict terms.
Dems need to run against the current system. There's plenty not to like, lots and lots of anecdotes that nearly everyone understands and can relate to, and even those who want a free market system would have a hard time defending one in which consumers are unable to get information to make informed choices.
The system, as it is, is a mess. Demonstrating how the plan will straighten out the clear problems should be the priority of those who want it passed. Everything else detracts from that.
This is the kind of stuff I think that Democrats need to concentrate on. Dems are getting caught up talking about the tactics of the town hall confrontations, the lies in the ads, the distortions of what are in plain English in the bill, etc. This becomes a "he said she said" thing, which plays into the media who want to talk about any issue in simple conflict terms.
Dems need to run against the current system. There's plenty not to like, lots and lots of anecdotes that nearly everyone understands and can relate to, and even those who want a free market system would have a hard time defending one in which consumers are unable to get information to make informed choices.
The system, as it is, is a mess. Demonstrating how the plan will straighten out the clear problems should be the priority of those who want it passed. Everything else detracts from that.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Horrible flight might spur airline passenger "bill of rights"
Passengers spend 6 hours on the ground.
Hard to argue with the need for passenger protection when airlines continue to do this kind of thing. For a highly subsidized industry, this is just not something that can continue to get passed over.
Hard to argue with the need for passenger protection when airlines continue to do this kind of thing. For a highly subsidized industry, this is just not something that can continue to get passed over.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Green NASCAR?
Pocono Raceway to utilize solar panels to offset electrical costs.
Good for them (really), but I think most environmentalists have troubles with NASCAR because of the massive fuel use, pollution, and noise.
Good for them (really), but I think most environmentalists have troubles with NASCAR because of the massive fuel use, pollution, and noise.
Take back the beep
Bad enough phone companies charge for text messaging at all. Now the internets is getting together to try to do away with the 15 seconds of instructions about how to leave messages.
Friday, July 31, 2009
House committee give Big Pharm big market
High-tech drugs given 12-year monopolies.
It is awfully hard to bring down health-care costs if Congress keeps rolling over on drug companies.
It is awfully hard to bring down health-care costs if Congress keeps rolling over on drug companies.
China reports a stunning 13 million abortions last year
A perfect storm of government-mandated family size and a secretive government which withholds sex information from the young.
Apparently, contraception is difficult to come by as well. So those lucky few who know to take steps to avoid pregnancy can't take those steps.
This jumped out at me as well: Nearly half of Chinese women seeking abortions used no contraception. Which means that 6.5 million women in China used contraception but still got pregnant, which sounds like a real educational problem.
Apparently, contraception is difficult to come by as well. So those lucky few who know to take steps to avoid pregnancy can't take those steps.
This jumped out at me as well: Nearly half of Chinese women seeking abortions used no contraception. Which means that 6.5 million women in China used contraception but still got pregnant, which sounds like a real educational problem.
One of those simple ideas that can yield big dividends
Lighter colored roofs cut energy costs.
Most of us, of course, can barely afford our mortgages, let alone a new roof. But millions of people this year have to put on a new roof anyway, and lighter colored shingles will cut down energy costs substantially.
I had to get half of my roof replaced last year because of a leak, and the roofing guy talked me into getting light gray shingles instead of the dark brown ones that we had. Glad he did. Now, I just have to save up some money to do the other half of the roof...
Most of us, of course, can barely afford our mortgages, let alone a new roof. But millions of people this year have to put on a new roof anyway, and lighter colored shingles will cut down energy costs substantially.
I had to get half of my roof replaced last year because of a leak, and the roofing guy talked me into getting light gray shingles instead of the dark brown ones that we had. Glad he did. Now, I just have to save up some money to do the other half of the roof...
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Why the free market can't fix the health care problem
Krugman on why the free market can't cure healthcare.
Krugman makes an important point (one that Obama is trying to now make) that the problem isn't health care per se, but health care insurance.
Krugman makes an important point (one that Obama is trying to now make) that the problem isn't health care per se, but health care insurance.
Friday, July 24, 2009
New Zealand earthquake makes the whole country bigger
No pithy comment here, just something I thought was interesting: Earthquake moves NZ closer to Australia.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
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