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

Safe or Free?



There were two parallel stories recently. In one, Lara Logan was assaulted by a crowd in Cairo.

Topics: 
Politics

"We've got a choice between manufacturing in Mexico - or America" Chairman of 3M.

Here's a longer version. From today's Financial Times:

There is a sense among companies that this is a difficult place to do business. It is about regulation,taxation,seemingly anti-business policies .... Politicians forget that business has choice. We're not indentured servants and we will do business where it's good and friendly. ..... We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada and Mexico - which tend to be pro-business - or America"

William K. Wolfrum's picture

Will an active professional American male athlete ever come out of the closet?

Q: What do the NBA, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour, NFL, Major League Soccer and NHL have in common?

A: Spacious closets.

Yes, friends, the six biggest male professional sports leagues in America share one major thing – not a single one its athletes is openly gay. Not one.

Which makes English cricketer Steven Davies admission that he is a gay male all the more brave. From Towleroad:

Topics: 
Sports
cmaukonen's picture

Mickey Mouse


Mickey Mouse

adj (sometimes not capitals) Slang
1. ineffective; trivial; insignificant he settled for a Mickey Mouse job instead of something challenging
2. (Music, other) Chiefly US and Canadian (of music, esp that of dance bands) mechanical or spiritless
[from the name of a cartoon character known for his simple-minded attitudes, created by Walt Disney (1901-66), the US film producer]
Doctor Cleveland's picture

Dear Oscar: The Depression Was Not That Pretty

I went to see The King's Speech, because it was nominated for all those awards and because Monday is Five Dollar Night. I like the actors in it a lot, but I'm glad I didn't spend more than five dollars. The King's Speech may well win the Oscar for Best Picture, but that just goes to show that you don't need originality, drama, artistic perception or a compelling story to win an Oscar.

Topics: 
Politics
Arts & Entertainment
Social Justice
Personal
coatesd's picture

Diluting the Tea Party: The Importance of Supping With a Long Spoon

            Elections happen very quickly when they come, but they are not won, or indeed lost, simply in the moment of voting. Winning and losing elections is the business of the space between elections. We are in such a space now; and if we are not careful, the business we are now in will prove to be the business of losing.

Richard Day's picture

TAMING THE GREAT VAMPIRE SQUID

Matt Taibbi Matt Taibbi.jpg

Mr. Madoff, who is serving a 150-year sentence, seemed frail and a bit agitated compared with the stoic calm he maintained before his incarceration in 2009, perhaps burdened by sadness over the suicide of his son Mark in December…

Barth's picture

Defending our New Deal

Few of us were born yet and those who were, octogenarians today, were too young to be listening, but the thunderclap from those words still resounds today. The man speaking was accepting his party's nomination for the presidency, a candidacy that all but meant his election given the dire condition of the country as he spoke. What was needed, he said, was "a new deal for the American people."

William K. Wolfrum's picture

Kazaky - the greatest thing you'll see all weekend

This is awesome on more levels than actually exist. Let me present Ukranian sensations, Kazaky

 

Just try and feel sad now.

 

Topics: 
Arts & Entertainment

The American Century again?

 

Forging Ahead

I watched some PBS programming the other night which was all focused on Haiti and the crisis that continues there.  Highlighted were the suffering and anguish of people and those who wanted to see and work towards a new and better reality.  NGO's, concerned nationals,  a commited police chief and UN officials were all present working on the details of that country's future.  All of that comittment yet the challenges before them seemed insurmountable.  My mind wandered and I thought, are the "solutions" being applied workable?  Is the problem very simple or a splintered array that must need time being considered even as more problems spring up because of natural progression?  Is the right approach being concieved of or are we stuck in the 20th century logistics that did not conquer our greatest challenges? 

On Progressives and Power

As someone who has worked for a legislature I can tell you that the provenance of ideas--who is proposing them, who is for them and against them, and how powerful are those forces--has an enormous amount to do with how, and whether, they are even seriously considered by legislators.

cmaukonen's picture

Neighborhoods



We as humans don't do Big very well and it seems that current and past research bares this out.  This article presents a few of the reasons why this is true.

Ramona's picture

FRIDAY FOLLIES: Sarah wuvs Sarah, The Silence of the Lump, and Solidarity Pizzas

***
Lou Sarah has a Facebook page praising Sarah Palin.  Turns out Lou Sarah IS Sarah Palin.  Everybody's in an uproar over this, but I say, You Go Girl.  If you don't love yourself, who else is going to love you?

 ***
And speaking of love, as Bluegal says, you gotta love those teachers:
Topics: 
Politics
Humor & Satire
Series: 
Friday Follies
William K. Wolfrum's picture

Charlie Sheen inspires me

As with most mornings, I woke up and immediately perused TMZ. Because if you can't keep up with celebrity gossip, you just shouldn't be a blogger. Anyway, I was struck today by a story on TMZ about Charlie Sheen. This is not abnormal, mind you, as without Sheen and Lindsay Lohan, TMZ has nothing but blank pages. Hell, they are even going Taco Bell by combining their two favorite ingrediants into one big enchilada of addiction.

Topics: 
Humor & Satire
Media
Michael Wolraich's picture

Democrats, Don't Run Away

Democratic state legislators have begun fleeing their respective capitals as if the plague has broken out. Perhaps they see it that way. Republicanism has gone viral, and it seems that no state is safe, no matter how unionized.

But this plague is called democracy, and the cure is worse than the disease.

Read the full article at CNN.com

Topics: 
Politics
Donal's picture

We Built This Country on Infrastructure



See more great art by Swedish artist Johan Thörnqvist at his website.

Topics: 
Politics
Michael Maiello's picture

Unions and Utopians

The most ridiculous critique of civil service unions I've heard so far this week goes like this: "It isn't fair that the union members can vote for the people who will ultimately meet them on the other side of the negotiating table.  Even worse, the unions contribute money to campaigns and thus have undo influence over there negotiating partners in government."

Topics: 
Politics
Dan Kervick's picture

Optimistic about Change

I don't want to go on too long about this, because I think the liberal fondness for hyper-reflective navel-gazing and group therapy is one of the least attractive features of liberal culture.  The liberal attitude always seems to be, "Why write 200 words, when 20,000 will do just as well."  And everybody thinks their inner pains and insights and feelings are oh so precious and special.

But here's my upbeat take:

Doctor Cleveland's picture

Your Neighbor's Paycheck Is Your Paycheck

Here's the deal: how much money you get paid is based on how much other people get paid. This is a fact of life. Your paycheck is based on what other people get in other jobs like yours, and what other people in your area make, and what other people with your qualifications make. The price of those people's work sets the price of replacing you if you quit your job. If you make less than they make, it can only be so much less. If you make more than they make, it's only realistically going to be so much more.

Topics: 
Politics
Business
Social Justice

Pages

Bloggers

AM
Ben
Cho
DF
GFS
HSG
MJS
NCD
rha
TJ
Tom
wws