"They gave Obama the peace prize because he's not Bush"
Damn straight.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, October 09, 2009
Good and Cheap
Two words that don't often bump into each other in the real world - but there's a wine we've recently discovered that puts things together in a pretty good way.
Bandit Wine. Give it a try.
Bandit Wine. Give it a try.
If Only They'd Had More Guns
A Pennsylvania woman who drew national attention for carrying a loaded handgun to her daughter's soccer game has been shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide, the Lebanon Daily News reports.
Meleanie Hain, 31, of Lebanon, Pa., and her husband, Scott Hain, 33, were found dead after a two-hour standoff with police Wednesday night, the AP reports.
Hain was dubbed the 'pistol-packin' mom' after wearing her holstered 9mm Glock pistol to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer match in 2008.
The local sheriff revoked her concealed weapon permit after receiving several complaints, saying she had used poor judgment, The Patriot-News reports.
A county judge reinstated the permit, but asked Hain to conceal the pistol when she attends soccer games, The Patriot-News says.
Hains, however, said she would continue to carry the weapon openly and filed a federal civil rights suit that was awaiting a trial date.
Update at 10: 24 a.m. ET: The Lebanon Daily News says Lebanon police Chief Daniel Wright is providing little information aside from acknowledging that both were found dead and that he did not think anyone else was involved. The district attorney likewise refuses comment. The paper quotes several neighbors as saying they heard or saw the couple's children's running from the house screaming, "Daddy shot Mommy!" shortly before the 911 was called.
The paper also quotes one neighbor, Debbie Mise, as saying she feared something bad would eventually happen at the Hain home. "She just wasn't right," Mise said of Meleanie Hain, the paper reports. "You don't bring a gun to a kids' soccer game, and you don't wear a gun when you go shopping at Kohl's."
Lebanon Daily News
Meleanie Hain, 31, of Lebanon, Pa., and her husband, Scott Hain, 33, were found dead after a two-hour standoff with police Wednesday night, the AP reports.
Hain was dubbed the 'pistol-packin' mom' after wearing her holstered 9mm Glock pistol to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer match in 2008.
The local sheriff revoked her concealed weapon permit after receiving several complaints, saying she had used poor judgment, The Patriot-News reports.
A county judge reinstated the permit, but asked Hain to conceal the pistol when she attends soccer games, The Patriot-News says.
Hains, however, said she would continue to carry the weapon openly and filed a federal civil rights suit that was awaiting a trial date.
Update at 10: 24 a.m. ET: The Lebanon Daily News says Lebanon police Chief Daniel Wright is providing little information aside from acknowledging that both were found dead and that he did not think anyone else was involved. The district attorney likewise refuses comment. The paper quotes several neighbors as saying they heard or saw the couple's children's running from the house screaming, "Daddy shot Mommy!" shortly before the 911 was called.
The paper also quotes one neighbor, Debbie Mise, as saying she feared something bad would eventually happen at the Hain home. "She just wasn't right," Mise said of Meleanie Hain, the paper reports. "You don't bring a gun to a kids' soccer game, and you don't wear a gun when you go shopping at Kohl's."
Lebanon Daily News
Meta-Narrative
"A narrative is the series of events which the individual organism experiences. The meta-narrative is the collective history by which a group defines itself."
(snip)
"One thing that has become clearer to me in the last six years is that democracy is for grownups, and most people, whatever lipservice they give to the concept, really don't want the responsibility of self-rule."
Read it all at The Agonist.
(snip)
"One thing that has become clearer to me in the last six years is that democracy is for grownups, and most people, whatever lipservice they give to the concept, really don't want the responsibility of self-rule."
Read it all at The Agonist.
Energy Security = National Security
The fallout from some pretty stupid economic policies over the last 15 years continues to pile up.
The Demise of the Dollar. It seems a bit overstated because there's not much really new here (there have been efforts along these lines in the past), but what gives it a taste of alarm and urgency is that we seem so unprepared for the shift. I'm hoping Obama's Econ Team has been thinking hard about this, and that their willingness to let the dollar slip is part of the plan to get money flowing back into the US.
We have 7 or 8 or 9 years before "the market basket of currencies" takes over as the global reserve currency - now if only we could think of some cool new industries to start building. Hmmm.
UPDATE: From Crooks and Liars, some lessons on what it all means to us little people.
The Demise of the Dollar. It seems a bit overstated because there's not much really new here (there have been efforts along these lines in the past), but what gives it a taste of alarm and urgency is that we seem so unprepared for the shift. I'm hoping Obama's Econ Team has been thinking hard about this, and that their willingness to let the dollar slip is part of the plan to get money flowing back into the US.
We have 7 or 8 or 9 years before "the market basket of currencies" takes over as the global reserve currency - now if only we could think of some cool new industries to start building. Hmmm.
UPDATE: From Crooks and Liars, some lessons on what it all means to us little people.
Obama's Prize
I'm a little stunned by the news. The Guardian has put up a story announcing Obama as this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner.
(the quickie readers' poll asking if he deserves it is running better than 2-to-1 against.)
I can certainly go along with the choice because he's moving us back in the right direction, but the simple fact that the nomination deadline came when he'd been in office for all of about 30 days gives the thing an air of desperation. Maybe the world (at least the nominating committee) has been even more alarmed at our beligerence the last 8 years than I tho't. It occurs to me that there's some probability the committee wanted to give the American voters a collective pat on the head. Dunno. It'll be interesting to hear Rush and Fox and Savage spin on this one. I wonder if anybody will speculate that Obama's Copenhagen trip was actually all about lobbying the committee on his own behalf.
(the quickie readers' poll asking if he deserves it is running better than 2-to-1 against.)
I can certainly go along with the choice because he's moving us back in the right direction, but the simple fact that the nomination deadline came when he'd been in office for all of about 30 days gives the thing an air of desperation. Maybe the world (at least the nominating committee) has been even more alarmed at our beligerence the last 8 years than I tho't. It occurs to me that there's some probability the committee wanted to give the American voters a collective pat on the head. Dunno. It'll be interesting to hear Rush and Fox and Savage spin on this one. I wonder if anybody will speculate that Obama's Copenhagen trip was actually all about lobbying the committee on his own behalf.
Some Quotes
Education is a wonderful thing. If you couldn't sign your name, you'd have to pay cash. -Rita Mae Brown
Education is a progressive discovery of your own ignorance -Will Durant
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from achieving. -Russell Green
From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man: the function of his reasoning mind -Ayn Rand
Education is a progressive discovery of your own ignorance -Will Durant
The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth which it prevents you from achieving. -Russell Green
From the smallest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from one attribute of man: the function of his reasoning mind -Ayn Rand
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Sully Wises Up
One thing I really like about Andrew Sullivan is that he allows himself to learn, then he adjusts his view according to the new information.
Here's his post from today, citing Juan Cole's assessment of Iran's nuclear capabilities and apparent strategy.
BTW: You can get to Cole's blog here. It can be dense and difficult, but the guy knows his shit.
Here's his post from today, citing Juan Cole's assessment of Iran's nuclear capabilities and apparent strategy.
BTW: You can get to Cole's blog here. It can be dense and difficult, but the guy knows his shit.
Gerson Counsels Inclusion
Michael Gerson has an OP-Ed over at WaPo this morning, in which he laments the departure of Mel Martinez, and worries that it means Republicans will continue to lose favor with Latinos. Duh. To his credit, Gerson has criticized the anti-immigrant fervor of the Repubs in the past. But he seems never to point out that the actual treatment of actual people by the Republicans is wrong and mean-spirited. He sees it as a PR problem - he worries only that Latinos will resist voting against their own interests due to poor messaging on the part of the politicians.
Some conservatives dismiss electoral considerations as soiled and cynical. They will make their case, even if that means sacrificing Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and . . . Indiana. Yes, Indiana, which had supported Republican presidential candidates for 40 years before Obama captured it on the strength of Hispanic votes. This is a good definition of extremism -- the assumption that irrelevance is evidence of integrity. In fact, it is a moral achievement of democracy that it eventually forces political parties to appeal to minorities and outsiders instead of demonizing them. The scramble for votes, in the long run, requires inclusion.
Some conservatives dismiss electoral considerations as soiled and cynical. They will make their case, even if that means sacrificing Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and . . . Indiana. Yes, Indiana, which had supported Republican presidential candidates for 40 years before Obama captured it on the strength of Hispanic votes. This is a good definition of extremism -- the assumption that irrelevance is evidence of integrity. In fact, it is a moral achievement of democracy that it eventually forces political parties to appeal to minorities and outsiders instead of demonizing them. The scramble for votes, in the long run, requires inclusion.
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
The Healthcare Situation In Canuckistan
From The Denver Post.
Myth: Canada's health care system is a cumbersome bureaucracy.
The U.S. has the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. More than 31 percent of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, etc. The provincial single-payer system in Canada operates with just a 1 percent overhead. Think about it. It is not necessary to spend a huge amount of money to decide who gets care and who doesn't when everybody is covered.
Myth: Canada's health care system is a cumbersome bureaucracy.
The U.S. has the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. More than 31 percent of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, etc. The provincial single-payer system in Canada operates with just a 1 percent overhead. Think about it. It is not necessary to spend a huge amount of money to decide who gets care and who doesn't when everybody is covered.
Dead Americans - October 2009
As of the end of the 7th day in October 2009:
2 Americans have died this month as a result of combat in Iraq.
17 Americans have died this month as a result of combat in Afghanistan.
840 Americans have died this month as a result of not having adequate health insurance.
2 Americans have died this month as a result of combat in Iraq.
17 Americans have died this month as a result of combat in Afghanistan.
840 Americans have died this month as a result of not having adequate health insurance.
Monsters Of Folk - Dear God
Just got the CD - these guys are new for me. I think I can hear a weird blend of Marvin Gaye, The BeeGees, and Loggins & Messina on this one. Other cuts have a Dead feel; or maybe The Byrds.
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