Barth's picture

    Opening Day

    By Barth on Thu, 03/31/2011 - 1:14pm |

    Some with whom I am very close says:

     

    Rosh haShanah, Yom Kippur and Opening Day. Right? In the beginning...

     

    So here we go, knowing that those to whom I send this have been unable to sleep in anticipation....

     

    Boston

    New York*

    Baltimore

    Tampa Bay

    Toronto

     

    Detroit

    Chi(A)

    Min

    Cle

    KC

     

    Texas

    Oak

    LAA

    Sea

     

    Phi

    Atl

    NY(N)

    Fla

    Washington

     

    Cin

    SL*

    Hou

    Ah, yes.

    By Flavius on Thu, 03/31/2011 - 10:35am |

    From Brad Delong today, quoting Henry Farrell, quoting Alan Greenspan and a whole series of commenters. Here's an excerpt and  a link to Delong's Blog where it's embedded. 

    Henry Farrell:

    “With Notably Rare Exceptions” — Crooked Timber:  Alan Greenspan is back as free market evangelist, and it’s rather wonderful.

    cmaukonen's picture

    Communities - American style

    By cmaukonen on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 10:02pm |

    There has been a lot of talk recently about community. More that one person has done a blog about it or brought it up in comments on this site or another. Also a good deal of comparisons with other countries. Sweden, Finland, France, German etc.  All very well and good.

    jollyroger's picture

    When it's time for Gramps to hang up the keys....

    By jollyroger on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 10:00pm |

    Oh, schadenfreude, how sweet it is!

    After recovering from the head rush and the sweet, sweet savor of Scalia skunked, may we not wonder

    1. Why is he too cheap to have a driver, like all important people?

    2. Was he tailgating, or fiddling with the radio?

    3. Don't the DC cops know who he is?--Or, per contra, do they know and wish him ill like all right-thinking members of the working class?

    Anyway you slice it, it's a great story.

    For extra credit:

    Richard Day's picture

    DARRELL ISSA ISSA CROOK!

    By Richard Day on Wed, 03/30/2011 - 9:35pm |

                               
     

                                  A VERY ACCOMPLISHED REPUB

     

    cmaukonen's picture

    Japanese Gov. suggests cover up for nuclear disaster.

    By cmaukonen on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 11:54pm |

    I could not believe this when I first read it.

    TOKYO, March 30, Kyodo

    The government is considering applying new measures to prevent the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from further spreading radioactive particles, its top spokesman said Wednesday.

    we are stardust's picture

    Solitary Confinement in the US: Too Much More National Shame [Updated]

    By we are stardust on Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:53pm |

    We’ve all learned a lot about the horrific and likely results of solitary confinement through the reported plight of Bradley Manning, and background reading we’ve done, and the cavalier attitude of our President, the officials at Quantico and within the DoD and Secretaries of the Military.  I know many of you share my dark thoughts about Quantico Commander Colonel Dan Choike and Chief Warrant Officer Denise Barnes for continuing to keep Manning under a Prevention of Injury Watch allowing such barbaric treatment, and Barack Obama for refusing to involve himself with it.

    It’s all too easy to forget that Manning’s torment is being repeated many thousands of times each day, and for many prisoners in the country, over the course of years and sometimes decades.

    More and more studies have reported on the severely deleterious effects of this often punitive incarceration, including the US Bureau of Prisons Commission, and yet the practice is still on the rise.

    If one major shame is this simple fact, the other is that no one knows how many prisoners live this way. 

    OH WELL, I'LL START IT

    By Flavius on Mon, 03/28/2011 - 10:20pm |

    As a supporter of Obama's handling of Libya (oh, hadn't you noticed) I thought it was a good enough speech in that it passed the minimum hurdle, it  won't have created any new opposition. Neither will it have converted any existing opponents. 

    To be more specific,I like his explanation that whatever we might do in other cases, the particular characteristics of the situation in this particular country in the context of our particular strengths led to an outcome that might not often be duplicated. 

    jollyroger's picture

    Fukushima fallout reaches Germany.

    By jollyroger on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 8:05pm |

    An early answer to my stated hopes that Fukushima will signal that nuclear generation of electricity has reached its "high water mark" (groan...).  After 60+ years running the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Christian-Democrats (there's an  oxymoron...) are to be replaced by....wait for it... TEH GREENS.

    cmaukonen's picture

    Achtung !

    By cmaukonen on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 4:34pm |
    Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: "I suppose you left your wooden clogs in the vestibule.
    GotToBeMe's picture

    Political Cartoon: Senilicide on NPR

    By GotToBeMe on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 1:18pm |

    Senilicide on NPR Political Cartoon by Kaveh Adel

    Well, it was a matter of time before NPR would be sent out as an ice floe.

    Crossposted at www.Kavehadel.com/blog

     Artwork 2011©KavehAdel.com

    Down with doctrines

    By Flavius on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 12:42am |

    I suppose it started with the Monroe doctrine, or maybe the John Smith one, but suddenly in the last two decades what was a handy icon has become a media substitute for examining the specific situation and its specific characteristics.

    So the Powell Doctrine: Don't attack unless you have overwhelming force. Or Desider's doctrine in So you want to be a millionaire Libyan: Don't try to assist a revolution unless the rebels have shown that they can hold a lot of the country.

    Both perfectly reasonable BTW.

    Until they become doctrines.

    jollyroger's picture

    Freedonia: Not just a Duck Soup reference anymore.

    By jollyroger on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 6:59pm |

    From the seemingly inexhaustible fund of wisdom that is Marxism, a new nation is born.

    Bear with me here--I do not contemplate the secession of the progressive (donor) states from the Union.  We know that is impossible, on account of the Civil War, and all.

    But, I ask you, does forbidding secession also forbid shunning?

    Imagine that the progressive states, (who also happen to be net donors to the knuckle draggers in flyover territory) dump the teabaggers, the women haters, the christianist majority states.

    Barth's picture

    Perfect Timing

    By Barth on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 3:16pm |

    If he had ever heard of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, it had never made much impact on him. It was so long ago, and in New York, and the victims barely spoke English. And, anyways, what does it have to do with him?

    FurudeRikaChama's picture

    Tough girls

    By FurudeRikaChama on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 12:49pm |

    Here are anime girls who just don't mess around with guys or get captured. They beat them up! 

    5. Kallen Kozuki (Code Geass)

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zXECHhJsLc

    She's the Ziva of anime. Managing to beat up someone while in a dress is hilarious.

    4.Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi)

    This might be the first horror show where you don't see girls getting killed by men. Instead, the girl is killing! I'm all for feminism! How often do you see girls in shows beating up others?

    we are stardust's picture

    Billion-dollar FBI System for Bio-Matrix ID, Next Step in Security State [updated with video]

    By we are stardust on Sat, 03/26/2011 - 11:15am |

                                            

    According to RawStory two days ago, and now other publications, the FBI has announced that it will ‘dedicate’ a billion bucks for Lockheed Martin to develop the ‘Next Generation Identification System’.  It will be compared to the Total Information Awareness Program that was defunded by Congress in 2004, but parts of which Wikipedia says still exist.

    The first stage will be dedicated to creating a massive database of fingerprints and connecting to other law enforcement ID systems around the world, and providing scanners to police and sheriffs all over the US.  It would enable the collection of prints from suspects, not just indicted or convicted criminals.

    Côte d’Ivoire

    By artappraiser on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 10:24pm |

    Hundreds of Thousands Flee Ivory Coast Crisis, U.N. Says
    By Adam Nossiter, New York Times, March 25, 2011:

    DAKAR, Senegal — At least 700,000 people have fled their homes in Ivory Coast’s main city, Abidjan, to escape the increasing violence and collapsing economy stemming from the nation’s political crisis, the United Nations said Friday.

    Daily gunfire spurred by Laurent Gbagbo’s efforts to stay in power after losing a presidential election in November has pushed thousands of residents out of neighborhoods surrounding the city’s central districts, while the closing of banks and businesses have led to widespread unemployment.

    “The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere is being fueled by fears of all-out war,” a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters Friday in Geneva, estimating that 700,000 to one million people had already left their homes.[....]

    jollyroger's picture

    Rooting for radiation; Praying for poison

    By jollyroger on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 6:39pm |

    Shorter Fukashima: Shit Happens.

     Dual cautionary tidbits from Japan give rise in me to an unattractive satisfaction.

    We learn that the Japanese government is expanding the evacuation zone around Fukashima, and are separately informed that a long vertical crack in one reactor vessel has been identified, probably signaling that cooling water sprayed in will become radioactive water leaking out.

    Before hurling (insults) at my inhumanity, let me ask you to pause to learn of my underlying thinking.

    OR MAYBE OBAMA WAS RIGHT

    By Flavius on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 5:29pm |

    The goal is a “no-fly” zone – a zone where aircraft is disallowed – similar to a demilitarized zone on land.  This goal is not to be confused with regime change.  Those who were looking for “boots on the ground” to rid Libya of Gadhafi will be sorely disappointed.

    Charlotte Seybright

    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

    Watt Childress's picture

    Do we feel lucky?

    By Watt Childress on Fri, 03/25/2011 - 11:52am |

    The Monday following Japan’s deadly earthquake, tsunami, and unfolding nuclear nightmare, we bought fish for our first family aquarium. Jennifer and the girls and I pored over the beautiful swimmers at a pet store in Seaside, Oregon, evacuated three days prior.

    An employee’s helpful advice about keeping a healthy tank was a welcome counter-balance to the grief and worry hanging over us. The catastrophe in Japan came less than three weeks after a smaller quake did serious damage in New Zealand. Are we next in line for tectonic turmoil?

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