By Danny Cardwell on Thu, 01/14/2016 - 11:48pm | Politics
Disclaimer: If you're easily offended, or try to avoid controversial subject matter please stop reading. This isn't a provocation or click bait; I'm not concerned with hits, likes, comments, or shares. I genuinely care about people, but I won't consider anyone's feelings as I make my way through what I see as the potential weakening of the progressive movement.
The long-simmering race for the Democratic Presidential nomination is starting to boil over as recent polls show Bernie Sanders solidifying his lead in New Hampshire, even with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, and closing fast what had been a 20+ point national gap. The putative frontrunner and Bernie have been battling most notably over guns and healthcare. Following is a brief look at the charges and countercharges, who's right, and what I think it should all mean to Democratic voters.
This year, nearly 200 nations convened in Paris to discuss the future of the planet. The issue at hand was climate change. With greenhouse gases pumped into the air by various forms of industry, the temperature of the Earth is rising, slowly but surely. The last five years are the hottest five-year span ever recorded, and this year the average temperature of the Earth is expected to reach 1 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
By Ramona on Wed, 01/13/2016 - 8:27am | Politics, Social Justice
You've probably heard that the water supply in Flint, Michigan is loaded with lead and has been poisoning the city's children, along with everyone else. So far, there are 200 confirmed cases of lead poisoning among children under six, with some 9000 more believed to be at risk. That's just the kids.
Less than 3 weeks to Iowa, & we're into reading tea leaves and divining political augury.
I'll identify a few things in the campaigns & political structure that I find capricious and curious - largely from a Hillary vantage, in case not obvious. Toss your own salad, observations & thoughts, as you please.
I’ve read them all. None of the obituaries succeed. There is too much to say and too little space. Besides, in his ultimate subversion, David Bowie wrote his own.
Early on during my tenure at AP, I’d asked a superior editor if I could contribute to Bowie’s death “preparedness,” and was denied. I never asked again. I was so hurt at being shut down. Sure, I am as biased as they come, but I challenge anyone to find a rival then and now in the mainstream media who knows (and cares) more about the endless well of Bowie’s far-reaching breakthroughs in myriad forms of art. To call him a rock star is to call me a fan. I lose all humility when it comes to the prowess of my idol worship.
By Danny Cardwell on Sun, 01/10/2016 - 10:29pm | Social Justice
In theory, raising the minimum wage would pull millions out of the hell called poverty. There are, however, unintended consequences that come with doing this: a portion of the very people such legislation is designed to help would be hurt; some jobs would be eliminated through automation, and the productivity requirements for those fortunate enough to have a job could exceed their physical capabilities. We could, inadvertently, speed up the economic Darwinism many workers are currently facing. There's enough Prima facie evidence for us to admit that low wages are now a structural part of global capitalism. In order to properly address the growing wealth gap we have to be wiling to admit that there are industries that depend on a supply of unskilled low wage laborers.
SMH) We learn again today that the search for fame will subvert the success of even the most fortunate.
In the case of Joaquin Guzman, boss of the Sinaloa Cartel, he is said to have precipitated the raid which ended his brief hiatus (6 months) from what promises to be permanent imprisonment because of a stated intention to produce his own biopic.
After I boasted during my show a couple of days ago that I'm the best talk show host on the air, one of my listeners retorted: “You have virtually no guests. You talk about the same things almost every day. You have one of two solutions to every problem….raise taxes or limit freedoms.”
It didn't take much reflection to conclude Jeff in Columbus has a point when he decries my predictability. There's an old saying if your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail. Based on Jeff's criticism, you can probably guess that the goto tool in my kit is tax policy.
By Ramona on Thu, 01/07/2016 - 11:05am | Humor & Satire, Media, Politics, Potpourri
You should know I'm writing today not to inform or enlighten but simply to make fun. Those militia guys in Oregon holding the Malheur Wildlife Refuge building hostage are like big-footed rodeo clowns in cowboy hats and their pratfalls are just too good to pass up.
(Don't judge me, okay? I'm from Michigan. It's hell there, where it's not the citizens taking over the government, it's the government taking over the citizens--and not in a good way. I need a laugh.)
Okay, this is a brilliant reveal of the Donald Trump worldview which is, really, that a big borrower has all the power in the world, assuming people want to get paid back. Discussing how, as president, he would force China to handle the problem of North Korea, he says:
By Danny Cardwell on Mon, 01/04/2016 - 11:27pm | Politics, Social Justice
I support the Oregon Militia and the dozens of interlopers who've joined their ranks. I think mandatory minimums are unjust. I've helped inmates in the Commonwealth of Virginia fight Draconian sentences handed down by judges with reputations for, "laying brothers down". I support the idea of civil disobedience.
By Doctor Cleveland on Mon, 01/04/2016 - 10:05pm | Arts & Entertainment, Business, Politics
Happy New Year! It's Public Domain Day, the first day of the calendar year, on which people in other countries get new works of art and learning added to the public domain for everyone to use. And on the first day of the new year we in the United States get ...
By Danny Cardwell on Sun, 01/03/2016 - 9:44pm | Politics
"My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected, and the despised. They are restless and seek relief. They've voted in record numbers. They have invested faith, hope and trust that they have in us. The Democratic Party must send them a signal that we care."To Be Revealed Later
2015 was an amazing year at the Haikulodeon. I have been going through all the comments this past year and there are so many great haikus, I'm going to post this year-end review in two parts. I've included some of my haiku comments in the mix because they fit into the thread and sparked other responses. Thanks to all who responded last year, including Barefooted, Richard Day, Guy named Lulu, moat, Oxy Mora, Peracles Please, Trkingmomoe and Ramona.
Here it is, 2016, a fresh new start. Things will be different this year, and not just different but better. Way better! So much better, next year at this time we won't even have to do a New Year's resolution. Everything we resolved will have come true.
Four years ago, The Daily assigned me my last piece -- a look back at Obama's America from the vantage of 2016. The finished product is no longer online, but I do have a draft in my Google docs. In a broad sense, my predictions turned out pretty well.
healthcare. Following is a brief look at the charges and countercharges, who's right, and what I think it should all mean to Democratic voters.
