Monday, January 23, 2012
Quick Tho't
Don't be too hasty to condemn "the do-nothing Congress". Remember that if they manage to do nothing for the next couple of years, the Bush Tax Cuts will expire which means the deficit starts to go away, which in turn means the debt starts to go away.
With Apologies
..to Mel Brooks.
GOP Pollster: "Sir, the base voters are revolting!"
Willard: "You're tellin' me - they stink on ice"
(hat tip = Crooks and Liars)
GOP Pollster: "Sir, the base voters are revolting!"
Willard: "You're tellin' me - they stink on ice"
(hat tip = Crooks and Liars)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The Power Of Myth
Seems like this shows up on facebook every few months. I've debunked it more than a coupla times, and it just never sinks in - the same guys keep putting it up in ever so slightly different iterations.
"Conservatives" are usually pretty big on trying to boil down the problems (of government, or culture, or people) to one overarching concept. You know the drill:
"the problem with the economy is too much government regulation"
"the problem with the schools is the Teachers Union"
"the problem with unemployment is that taxes are too high"
So here's mine: The problem (with everything) is the insistence on remaining ignorant.
And btw, why do "conservatives" always cheer when Romney inveighs against "wealth envy", and then piss and moan about some imaginary retired senator getting a fat pension?
"Conservatives" are usually pretty big on trying to boil down the problems (of government, or culture, or people) to one overarching concept. You know the drill:
"the problem with the economy is too much government regulation"
"the problem with the schools is the Teachers Union"
"the problem with unemployment is that taxes are too high"
So here's mine: The problem (with everything) is the insistence on remaining ignorant.
And btw, why do "conservatives" always cheer when Romney inveighs against "wealth envy", and then piss and moan about some imaginary retired senator getting a fat pension?
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Censorship
Intellectual property is an important thing. You have a reasonable expectation to own your work, and to profit from it.
That said, I tend to take a fairly expansive view of The Fair Use Doctrine. I think the creator of the content usually derives benefits from the use of his creation which - again, usually - outstrip the costs of lost revenues and/or watch-dogging.
The reflex of jealously guarding your proprietorship generally has the effect of narrowing your audience, which is kinda not the fucking point, now is it?
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Anyway, the larger point is that ceding control over the internet to anybody other than the users is just a bad idea.
That said, I tend to take a fairly expansive view of The Fair Use Doctrine. I think the creator of the content usually derives benefits from the use of his creation which - again, usually - outstrip the costs of lost revenues and/or watch-dogging.
The reflex of jealously guarding your proprietorship generally has the effect of narrowing your audience, which is kinda not the fucking point, now is it?
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Anyway, the larger point is that ceding control over the internet to anybody other than the users is just a bad idea.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Today's Civics Assignment
Moyers has rehabbed himself in pretty good shape in the last 45 years. For me, he stands among the last of the straight news guys.
Moyers & Company 101: On Winner Take All Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Moyers & Company 101: On Winner Take All Politics from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
Yeesh
Makes me wonder about the level of self-loathing Juan Williams must've reached to put himself thru this.
But most interesting is the enthusiastic reaction of the mob as Gingrich puts a whuppin' on the black guy - in their minds Williams is just a stand-in for "that uppity buck in the White House".
Gingrich poses a real danger to the GOP (along with the rest of us) because he threatens to unleash the monsters of the Great American Id.
(hat tip = Wonkette)
One point of interest: Gingrich is complaining that Obama has done nothing about unemployment, and the one tangible thing he mentions is road building. It's almost as if he's embracing standard Keynesian principles.
(ed note: the road in question is I-73, which was first proposed way back in 1983, and has been a political football in SC politics ever since)
But most interesting is the enthusiastic reaction of the mob as Gingrich puts a whuppin' on the black guy - in their minds Williams is just a stand-in for "that uppity buck in the White House".
Gingrich poses a real danger to the GOP (along with the rest of us) because he threatens to unleash the monsters of the Great American Id.
(hat tip = Wonkette)
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Boy Culture
The pendulum swings. We've spent a long time trying to get girls up to speed, and now I guess it turns out we need to try to treat everybody as if they were individuals. Wow - what a concept.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Rachel, Rachel
I check in on Rachel Maddow once in a while. When she wags her finger and gets preachy, I can do without her, but when she sticks to stringing the facts together and connecting the dots, there's no better reporter.
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