Today's Charlie Pierce

Charlie Pierce often posts James Madison quotes:

The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entagled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? that the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever?
-- James Madison, Memorial And Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785.

Today In Good Government

Here's a picture of a meeting of a Joint Committee to talk about Long Term Unemployment in a struggling US economy (a grand total of 4 members managed to show up):

And here's a picture of the seating section reserved for all the fucks these dipwads give about anybody who happens not to be in a position to make large campaign contributions - like maybe, I dunno, somebody who doesn't have a fucking job:

The Krugman Speaks

Copied the whole thing from Paul Krugman's blog:

April 24, 2013, 8:03 pm 47 Comments

Evidence and Economic Policy

Henry Blodget says that the economic debate is over; the austerians have lost and whatshisname has won. And it’s definitely true that in sheer intellectual terms, this is looking like an epic rout. The main economic studies that supposedly justified the austerian position have imploded; inflation has stayed low; the bond vigilantes have failed to make an appearance; the actual economic effects of austerity have tracked almost exactly what Keynesians predicted.

But will any of this make a difference? The story of the past three years, after all, is not that Alesina and Ardagna used a bad measure of fiscal policy, or that Reinhart and Rogoff mishandled their data. It is that important people’s will to believe trumped the already ample evidence that austerity would be a terrible mistake; A-A and R-R were just riders on the wave.

The cynic in me therefore says that after a brief period of regrouping, the VSPs will be right back at it — they’ll find new studies to put on pedestals, new economists to tell them what they want to hear, and those who got it right will continue to be considered unsound and unserious.

But maybe I’m wrong; maybe truth will prevail. Here’s hoping.

Dead Americans

Between 2000 and 2010:

via: bls/gunpolicy.org

Who Had A Bad Day?

One of the big-time Coin-Operated Politicians says bye-bye.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Center is the name we give to the place where power resides.

John Fugelsang

Fugelsang recaps the gun nuts' filibuster win:



Some great points.

Takin' 'Em Down

Jon Stewart at his best:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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I Got Yer Reform Right Here

A great little reminder regarding "Gubmint should be run more like a business":  For every spectacularly successful company like Google, there are thousands of equally spectacular failures - Value America, eToys.com, and on and on and on.  Thousands.  Is that really the model we want schools (eg) to follow?

(via Democratic Underground)

Somebody new to me - using the name jacobbacharach:

The cheating scandals prove that education reform is a wholly fraudulent endeavor. It isn’t the equivalent of a doping scandal in sports; it’s the equivalent of Enron, Madoff, the financial crisis. You think testing has something to do with compensation, hiring, and firing? It doesn’t. Testing is the accounting of the reform movement, and the executives are cooking the books. They’re manipulating the statements so it looks like the venture is turning a profit. Well, actually, it’s got negative cash flow. The gains are phantoms. The enterprise is insolvent. Even by its own standards, reform fails.

The central proposition of so-called education reform is that it endeavors to make schooling more entrepreneurial. Now this is bogus on its face. The most salient fact about entrepreneurialism is that most ventures fail. Is that the proper model for the delivery of a universal service? Consider the question irrespective of your thoughts about the larger questions surrounding the provision of universal education. Ostensible reformers say they want to mimic the dynamism and innovation of the private sector. The first question is: to what end, exactly? The second is: do you know how dynamism and innovation work?

"High-Stakes Testing" is just another good example of an entrepreneurial idea that sounds pretty good, but then fails miserably when we try to shoe-horn certain enterprises into it.

Today's Toons

 (hat tip = Democratic Underground)

Let The System Work

When we follow the plan (as directed in that silly old thing called The US Constitution), it seems like we always end up better off for the effort.

Sometimes, it doesn't feel quite right - we don't always get the exact results we're hoping for - but on average, the system works for us when we let it work.

So, when the news came out that about half of the local Justice System was convened in Jahar Tsarnaev's hospital room yesterday, and they read out the charges against him; and they informed him of his rights; and they made sure he understood them; and that he was properly "lawyered up" - I just felt better.  There was something kinda normal about it, and I'm exceedingly relieved that John (Get-Off-My-Lawn) McCain and Lindsey (Huckleberry Closetcase) Graham didn't get their wish about turning him into a super villain straight out of the comic books.

This guy is nothing special.  We should be looking at how his brother got riled up and a little crazy; and how Jahar got caught up in it, but that's a different thing altogether.  What we don't do - what we must never allow - is for anybody to make him out to be anything more than the punk-ass little shit he chose to be.

Today's Homework

Finally.  I've been chasing this one for a long time.

This is the old PBS series that got me going and thinking in a dozen different ways.

The production values are kinda old and a little overdramatic at times, but this really is the real deal.  Stay with it for at least a few episodes.  It's worth it to learn something about how we got here and what we need to be thinking about if we wanna get where we oughta be going.

Connections with James Burke, Episode 1

Parent Ed

Take a few grams of pot, add 2 or 3 otherwise knuckleheaded teenagers; then stand back and be amazed - instant Design & Engineering Department.

Mind Mining

Here's a bit from Sir Ken Robinson at a TED conference.



Those who love to dance are often thought insane by those who cannot hear the music.

(hat tip = facebook friend Carol)

Whoop Di Do

This whole complex of "Guns, Inc" is a ridiculously profitable thing - and it includes "grass roots" joints that can be put together for almost literally a few bucks, which can then be used to fleece the rubes. And all of that is a big reason we'll be hard pressed to do much of anything to cut back on gun violence.

Comfort

Charlie Pierce at The Atlantic:

The comfort of the ordinary. The comfort of the mundane. Let's just have a trial. Let's just have an open and honest trial, with all the evidence right there in the open, and not whispered piecemeal and half-baked out of Spookworld to Richard Engel or Barbara Starr. Let's have an open and honest trial with no showboating from an embattled U.S. Attorney, and all the evidence laid out there in good, honest cop-speak -- "The suspect said..." "The suspect did..." (One of the most startling examples of this came during the sanity hearing granted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Milwaukee when, reading from his own notes, one of the arresting officers testified, "The suspect stated it takes about an hour to boil a head.") We can do that here. 

Music

Put this on after a few drinks on a warm night, and you still can't get laid?  Well then you'll need to straighten up and just do something about yourself.

Music

Just toss up my heart and see where it lands.

Today's Question

So how exactly would it have turned out better if all the people at the marathon had been carrying lots and lots of guns? 

Today's Pix

Dire Threat To The 2nd Amendment

What Obama originally proposed in January 2013:

Proposed Congressional Actions

• Requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, including those by private sellers that currently are exempt.
• Reinstating and strengthening the ban on assault weapons that was in place from 1994 to 2004.
• Limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
• Banning the possession of armor-piercing bullets by anyone other than members of the military and law enforcement.
• Increasing criminal penalties for "straw purchasers," people who pass the required background check to buy a gun on behalf of someone else.
• Acting on a $4 billion administration proposal to help keep 15,000 police officers on the street.
• Confirming President Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
• Eliminating a restriction that requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to allow the importation of weapons that are more than 50 years old.
• Financing programs to train more police officers, first responders and school officials on how to respond to active armed attacks.
• Provide additional $20 million to help expand the a system that tracks violent deaths across the nation from 18 states to 50 states.
• Providing $30 million in grants to states to help schools develop emergency response plans.
• Providing financing to expand mental health programs for young people.

Executive actions

• Issuing a presidential memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.
• Addressing unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.
• Improving incentives for states to share information with the background check system.
• Directing the attorney general to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.
• Proposing a rule making to give law enforcement authorities the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.
• Publishing a letter from the A.T.F. to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.
• Starting a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.
• Reviewing safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).
• Issuing a presidential memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.
• Releasing a report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and making it widely available to law enforcement authorities.
• Nominating an A.T.F. director.
• Providing law enforcement authorities, first responders and school officials with proper training for armed attacks situations.
• Maximizing enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.
• Issuing a presidential memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence.
• Directing the attorney general to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenging the private sector to develop innovative technologies.
• Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.
• Releasing a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.
• Providing incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.
• Developing model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.
• Releasing a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.
• Finalizing regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within insurance exchanges.
• Committing to finalizing mental health parity regulations.
• Starting a national dialogue on mental health led by Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, and Arne Duncan, the secretary of education.

And this is what the US Senate couldn't bring itself to vote on this past week:

1) Expanding background checks
2) Cracking down on gun trafficking and straw purchasing
3) Reauthorizing and expanding a Justice Department grant program for school safety

That's it - that's what Wayne LaPierre lied about, and couldn't allow his bitches in congress to bring up for a vote.