The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    Richard Day's picture

    A PERFECT 60

    By Richard Day on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 10:00pm |
    Babe Ruth George Herman (The Babe) Ruth, what a guy. The Sultan of Swat; in my mind the greatest baseball player who ever lived. Why?Well, first the only performance enhancing drugs he ever used were beer, whiskey, cigars and...
    amike's picture

    Just a Little Something to Share

    By amike on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 6:46pm |
    Warning!  This entry contains nothing about health care, global warming, Michael Savage, Chris Mathews (or any other talking head, for that matter).  It is barely political.  It's about a musical discovery...all good music is political, MHO.  So read or not: ...
    jollyroger's picture

    Kill the worthless whore! At worst, you'll get fired.(Update-there MAY be charges...)

    By jollyroger on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 12:20am |
    If you were expecting a story out of the misogynist medievalist swamp that is today’s fundamentalist Islam, look closer to home. In what I will without peradventure attribute to our own local plague of Yahwists, a woman convicted of performing...
    Richard Day's picture

    STEPHEN KING: The Two Spinsters

    By Richard Day on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 9:02pm |
                                                                                                                                           King Stephen                                                                                                                                                                                         Susan Collins...
    wws's picture

    Gender Discrimination in Health Care

    By wws on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 10:23am |
    Few women in America -- even among the wingnuts -- would disagree with Nancy Ratzan, who wrote the following article about gender discrimination in health care that appeared in The Miami Herald this morning:What women need from healthcare reform" by...
    jollyroger's picture

    Prez waited all summer for the Budget Committee Bill--proof that budget reconciliation is the chosen vehicle. The try for 60 Senate votes? A charade.

    By jollyroger on Tue, 09/22/2009 - 4:22am |
    Buried in a pro/con analysis of the intraparty tussle over reconciliation as the sled to carry Health Care Reform over the finish line is the answer to a question oft posed in varying tones of incredulity: Why is the Budget...
    Richard Day's picture

    TEN CONSIDERATIONS FOR YOUR RETIREMENT

    By Richard Day on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:00pm |
    I came across a real gem in the web-o-sphere concerning retirement. The Ten Biggest Retirement Mistakes.I found it at a site called Wallet Pop.  It has made a permanent impression on me and I have completely changed my ideas...

    My Aching Imagination

    By Ripper on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 5:24am |
    Just a quick note to anyone who might have been waiting for the premiere of "Health Care in Black & White." Yes, the film is on its way, but not today as promised. (Yeah, I know. So sue me. It's...
    dijamo's picture

    The Obama Admin's Efforts to Increase Unemployment

    By dijamo on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:10am |
    I thought the goal of the Obama Administration was to bring unemployment numbers down, not add to the problem.  Why is President Obama trying to urge Governor Paterson not to run for election?  DId they not learn from the whole...
    jollyroger's picture

    Veterans' Adminstration Health Clinics, open them to all instead of closing them down. The Single Provider Public Option (update:h/t Bwak)

    By jollyroger on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 11:38pm |
    Since it appears impossible to extend Medicare to all (largely because 3/4 of the cost is charged to the fisc), why not a fallback public option. Simply calculate the actuarial algorithms needed to render VA care self-sufficiently accessible via premium...
    MrSmith1's picture

    Rosh Hashanah in my old college town

    By MrSmith1 on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 3:08pm |
    Back in the early 70's, I briefly attended the U. of Oklahoma.  Today, a friend sent me this:   http://www.normantranscript.com/localnews/local_story_262043519   A fundamentalist Christian group staged a "We Hate the Jews" rally on Rosh Hashanah.  At first, I found it...
    Richard Day's picture

    REAPING WHAT YOU SOW

    By Richard Day on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:07pm |
    This is supposedly the  basic nature of God's Justice: GALATIANS 6: 7-9 (KJV) : 7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8: For he that soweth to his...
    Barth's picture

    A Time for Reflection

    By Barth on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 5:38pm |
    With a few exceptions,  all memorable, I have not attended religious services even on, as today, Rosh Ha-shana. I do not fast on Yom Kippur. I have allowed others to convince me that I am less than a good Jew...

    Premier delayed

    By Ripper on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:10pm |
    The scheduled premier of "Health Care in Black & White" has been delayed until Monday at noon. Please be patient. My computer's CPU is nearly in flames as it processes the video, sound and special effects required for the final...
    amike's picture

    Friendship and Harboring

    By amike on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 3:38pm |
    A number of recent posts occasion this muse-meditation-whatever.  The first was a spirited discussion on extending health care to undocumented workers as I call them, or illegal aliens as the post called them.  The post was by an author I...
    Ramona's picture

    The Danger in Underestimating the Right Wing

    By Ramona on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 2:03pm |
    I'm not about to carry a gun to get my message across. All I have are words, and in this present atmosphere, they're pretty puny. But I see what's happening--this all-out hatred, this increasing call to violence--as wholly un-American. This is NOT who we are. This is NOT who we were meant to be. Generations of Americans didn't work their asses off to bring us to this. This is not a vast Right Wing conspiracy, it's Right Wingers out in the open, advocating anarchy, threatening to "take back" a country they've never understood, never nurtured, never respected.

    Public Radio Corrects "Non-partisan" Error

    By Ripper on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 8:50pm |
    A couple days ago, I posted a blog entry complaining of the too cozy a relationship between public radio and its for-profit business donors. While I still think there is undue influence, I'm happy to report that yesterday PRI's program...
    Richard Day's picture

    A GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT

    By Richard Day on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 8:46pm |
    Shelby FooteThe Netherlands were once an imperialistic power. Historically of course, the Dutch were damn smart traders and had their own empire of the seas for centuries; making its mark all over the world. I remember traveling to the...
    stillidealistic's picture

    Testing

    By stillidealistic on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 3:21pm |
    I am unable comment this morning on anything but my own past blog-posts. So, I'm troubleshooting as well...interesting morning at TPM....
    oleeb's picture

    We Have A Village Idiot In This Country: It's Called Fundamentalist Christianity

    By oleeb on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 12:00pm |
    Wednesday night, after Pres. Carter's remarks identifying the racism attendant to the teabagger rally in Washington and the other virulent eruptions of the right, Rachel Maddow interviewed a fellow named Frank Schaeffer about what it all means.  She introduced the...

    Critics rave for 'Health Care in B&W' !

    By Ripper on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 9:34pm |
    "Health Care in Black & White" will premiere here at 6 p.m. Eastern Saturday night, but the critics are already raving!WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING ✯✯✯✯✯ "... a taut sci-fi-drama-suspense-thriller-political-love story that will make you laugh out loud!"-- Mipperc R. Cord,...
    Richard Day's picture

    The Ghost of Medgar Evers

    By Richard Day on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 7:34pm |
    As early as 1955, Evers' activism made him the most visible civil rights leader in the state of Missisippi. As a result, he and his family were subjected to numerous threats and violent actions over the years, including a...
    amike's picture

    Memento Mori: Not Only Peter and Paul will Miss Mary.

    By amike on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 6:17pm |
    I've had a couple of hard months losing heroes.  The eminent historian John Hope Franklin died in late march.  I'm teaching a course celebrating his life and work. Then it was Eunice Kennedy Shriver.  I wrote a note on her which...

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