Gena Rowlands' Hair (19 Jun 2013 08:36pm)

On this day in 1623, the great physicist (and much, much more) Blaise Pascal was born. In particular, he did a lot of work in fluid flow and invented the hydraulic press and the syringe. In addition to all of his work in science and mathematics, he was also quite an interesting theologian. Unlike Ne...

Conservative Assault on Families (19 Jun 2013 05:37pm)

When I was a kid growing up during the Cold War, there was one thing that most disturbed me. It was the same thing that disturbed everyone. Political systems, economic systems, those are important, but they aren't personal. What was personal was how the power of the state was used to pit children ag...

Grammar Problems Persist at Washington Post (19 Jun 2013 10:34am)

For a long time, I said nothing. I hid my true feelings. I resisted the impulse to scream, "Doesn't the Washington Post hire copy editors?!" Or even decent IT professionals, because the problem that most bugs me is more a technical problem than a grammar problem. And it is the kind of thing that oug...

What If There Was No IRS Scandal? (19 Jun 2013 09:38am)

At the beginning of the IRS scandal, I was really angry when the White House forced the resignation of IRS chief Steven T. Miller. Even at that time, it was well known that Miller was not in charge when the scandal was going on. It was Shirley Sherrod all over again. Our current president has no tol...

Jack Lew's New Signature (19 Jun 2013 08:54am)

As I've reported before, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has an odd signature. Essentially, it is just a bunch of circles. When he was nominated Treasury Secretary, there was much discussion about how horrible his signature would look on our currency. Given that we have a pyramid topped with an eye on o...

Noise as Censorship (18 Jun 2013 08:44pm)

Noise becomes a cover. I would say that the ideology of the censorship through noise can be expressed, with apologies to Wittgenstein, by saying, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must talk a great deal." The flagship TG1 news program on Italian state television, for example, is a master of thi...

The Critic and the Songwriter (18 Jun 2013 07:45pm)

On this day in 1511, the Italian sculptor and architect Bartolomeo Ammannati was born. I think his sculptures are beautiful but they aren't held in high regard because he so much copied Michelangelo. But if you are going to copy someone, copy the best. Anyway, I really like Michelangelo, so it makes...

A Great Loss: Michael Hastings (18 Jun 2013 06:53pm)

As you have probably heard, Michael Hastings died this morning in a car crash. Rolling Stone has a good obituary for him that you ought to read. I noticed that last November I wrote what could have stood as it's own obituary in an article, Michael Hastings Ruining Journalism... Again. "I really like...

Welfare Reform Kills the Poor (18 Jun 2013 03:07pm)

You should know by now that the welfare reform was a crock. Clinton was right that we were ending welfare as we know it, although it would have been more accurate to say simply "ending welfare." It is often claimed (especially by Clinton himself) that the 1996 welfare reform law lifted many people o...

Rush Limbaugh's Good Immigration Question (18 Jun 2013 12:08pm)

Rush Limbaugh asked a very good question: if immigration reform is so great for Republicans, why are Democrats in favor of it. And Jonathan Chait provided an answer: because Democrats will still get more credit for it than Republicans. And if it fails, Democrats have to be in the position to say tha...

Hope Is Not an Environmental Plan (18 Jun 2013 08:52am)

Hope is not a good environmental plan. For years I hoped that James Lovelock was right and that the earth is its own kind of super-organism that wouldn't allow itself to be perturbed by a little radiative forcing this way or that. But that hope came to nothing as the earth most clearly got hotter an...

From the Middle Out (17 Jun 2013 08:40pm)

Everybody's been writing about Alan Krueger's talk at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Who is Krueger? The original drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience? The guy who wrote "Wild Thing"? A rock historian? No, no, and no. He is the chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers—the ki...

Birth of a Chocolate Chip (17 Jun 2013 05:27pm)

On this day in 1691, the Italian painter Giovanni Paolo Panini was born. He is known for his view painting: very large scale painting of cities. In his case, it was Rome. It's interesting stuff, but I would prefer more people. He clearly had a gift for historical or mythical material, but he did ver...

Good News on Filibuster Reform? (17 Jun 2013 02:14pm)

Greg Sargent wrote an article this afternoon that really has me scratching my head, Do Senate Dems Have the Votes for the 'Nuclear Option'? The word on Capital Hill is that the Democrats may not have enough votes to enact the "nuclear option"—the move to abolish the filibuster on judicial nomi...

Global Warming and Budget Analogy (17 Jun 2013 11:05am)

In his column today, Paul Krugman argues that we need to stop worrying about the long term budget. Basically, he thinks the opportunity costs are too high. We are in no position to judge what policy ought to be 20 or 30 years from now. What's more, legislators today can't constrain what legislators ...

Beyond Patent Protection (17 Jun 2013 09:25am)

One of the big arguments against libertarianism is the threat of monopolies. If there is no government, what will stop all markets from becoming noncompetitive? What stops a big company from using its resources to sell below cost for long enough to drive the competition out of business? The answer t...

Why Conservatives Hate the Government (16 Jun 2013 07:15pm)

I've got a great way to make a group of people think that the government is complete corrupt and without any accountability. It's really easy. Have the people on TV tell them every day about some terrible scandal. Of course, there is no actual scandal. The news readers just report things that indica...

The Wealth of Adam Smith (16 Jun 2013 05:34pm)

On this day back in 1792, the British naturalist and painter John Linnell was born. He is best known today for not being the guy in the band They Might Be Giants who has the same name. What I find remarkable about painters like Linnell and John Constable is that their art has been so thoroughly inte...

Edvard Grieg (15 Jun 2013 07:24am)

The great French painter Nicolas Poussin was born on this day in 1594. His work is both Classical and Baroque. He paints mostly historical or mythical scenes. It's all very crowded and intense and beautiful. The great German musical theorist Georg Joseph Vogler was born in 1749. Arranger and "diffic...

Supply Side Dogma (15 Jun 2013 12:40am)

I came upon two excellent articles yesterday that attack supply side economic dogma. But before I get to that, I want to run through a small thought experiment using my friend Will. He has built a company from the ground up, Dirt Cheap Computers. Basically, it is him (along with me at times) and he ...

It Takes Junior Walker (14 Jun 2013 08:38pm)

On this day in 1726, the father of modern geology, James Hutton was born. He proposed the idea that the surface of the earth was slowed formed by processes such as erosion and sedimentation. I never think of geology as an especially theoretical subject. This undoubtedly is based not on any great und...

Matt Yglesias Blames Spanish Workers (14 Jun 2013 03:55pm)

Speaking of enfant terrible, Josh Barro's counterpart on the left is Matt Yglesias. (It says much about our screwed up political system that these guys largely agree on policy matters.) Today, Yglesias wrote an apologia of sorts for the contention of the European Union elite that Ireland is some kin...

What Josh Barro Hasn't Figured Out Yet (14 Jun 2013 10:34am)

I can see why Republicans increasingly don't see enfant terrible Josh Barro as a conservative. He will go on! Yesterday at Business Insider, he wrote, There Is Still No Conservative, Pro-Middle Class Agenda. It is primarily an attack on Utah Senator Mike Lee, but Barro is quite clear that he means i...

Rich Santorum Is Right About Labor (14 Jun 2013 08:56am)

Many will be surprised, but those who read me closely will know that I have a certain fondness for Rick Santorum. Yes, his conservative Catholicism is ridiculous. And generally his policy positions are terrible. But his economic rhetoric is quite compelling. He has a strong populist streak in him&md...

How to Watch Pride and Prejudice (13 Jun 2013 06:20pm)

I just watched the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice. It's the one with Keira Knightley. When it comes to filmed versions, most people mention the 1995 BBC version with Colin Firth. And I agree that it is quite a good version. But although it is well done, it is still typical of such versio...

Maxwell Said... And Then There Was Light (13 Jun 2013 03:08pm)

On this day back in 1865, the great poet William Butler Yeats was born. I've never taken the time to really appreciate him. Perhaps someday. With all due respect (not much) to Robert Downey Jr, the ultimate and forever screen Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone was born in 1892. A whole bunch of actors...

Roger Waters Is Not Antisemitic (13 Jun 2013 12:11pm)

I am deeply confused about the Israel-Palestine conflict. I feel for both groups of people and I truly feel that other than the extremists on each side, the people just want to live their lives in peace. Unfortunately, one side of extremists have an incredibly powerful and effective military at its ...

Republicans Have No Healthcare Ideas (13 Jun 2013 10:43am)

This morning, Jonathan Chait attacked the conservative movement for its delusional belief that Obamacare is going to be such a terrible thing that even liberals will soon call for its repeal. We always see an outbreak of this kind of triumphalism with each new poll that comes out that shows that mos...

Fixing the Unfair Mortgage Interest Deduction (12 Jun 2013 10:54pm)

Two months ago, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released an amazing report, Mortgage Interest Deduction Is Ripe for Reform. It argues that the mortgage interest deduction is a bad way to encourage home ownership. Now, this is the kind of talk that normally makes home owners freak ...

Whores Hawk Reverse Mortgages (12 Jun 2013 03:10pm)

A reverse mortgage is not necessarily a bad thing. Under the right circumstances it can really help a retiree. Basically, it is a way to sell your house while being allowed to live in it until you die. The estate of someone who gets a reverse mortgage doesn't necessarily lose the home in the end. Bu...

Remembering Medgar Evers (12 Jun 2013 12:21pm)

Before we get to the birthdays, we need to discuss a death. Early in the morning 50 years ago today, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith. But that was not the first attempt on his life. Others had tried to run him over and fire bomb him. It is ...

Michael Bloomberg Wants to Destroy the Democratic Party (12 Jun 2013 10:26am)

This morning at the Plum Line (which is no longer free), Greg Sargent reported on Holding Dems Who Vote Wrong Way on Guns Accountable. It explained that Michael Bloomberg has sent out a letter to Wall Street fat cats telling them not to give money to four red state Democratic Senators who voted agai...

Snowden Isn't Traitor Not That it Matters (12 Jun 2013 09:09am)

This morning, Dylan Matthews at Wonk Blog (which is no longer free) explained, No, Edward Snowden Probably Didn't Commit Treason. You see, Dianne Feinstein isn't the only high profile idiot saying—based upon no evidence, I might add—that Snowden is a traitor. But it turns out that treaso...

In Which I Stare at a Woman's Breasts (11 Jun 2013 08:21pm)

So I decided to finally get off my duff and go check out the local Democratic Party that meets just around the corner from me. And they were a nice group—lively and friendly. Afterwards, I was talking to a guy and he explained how it all worked. I told him that I wasn't very interested in voti...

Dai Vernon (11 Jun 2013 04:53pm)

Italian Baroque composer Giovanni Antonio Giay was born on this day in 1690. And Portuguese Baroque composer Carlos Seixas was born in 1704. English Romantic painter John Constable was born in 1776. Photographic innovator Julia Margaret Cameron was born in 1815. Refrigeration technology inventor Car...

Drunk Driving Hysteria (11 Jun 2013 12:04pm)

I am not much of a drinker. But I really hate the modern abstinence movement that is best represented by MADD. And look: I understand! The negative effects of alcohol are big and obvious. I don't even much think of drunk driving. Alcohol makes a lot of people total assholes. But here's the thing. Am...

Americans Don't Care About Anything Important (11 Jun 2013 11:00am)

Steve Benen provided this graph that shows a fair bit of hypocrisy in how both Democrats and Republicans think about the surveillance state. But Benen is much more of a partisan than I am. His whole point of showing the graph was to push back on the "Democratic hypocrisy" narrative that is forming....

Dianne Feinstein Is a Traitor (11 Jun 2013 08:42am)

It's hard to know what to think about Edward Snowden, the young man who leaked NSA information to the Guardian and the Washington Post. On the surface, it is all good and he looks like a hero. But I will admit that the story seems a little weird and so I will wait for more information. What can't be...

Global Warming and American Leadership (10 Jun 2013 07:58pm)

This afternoon, Steve Benen was writing about Obama's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They sort of agreed that maybe they kind of ought to think about someday considering the possibility that there could at some point in the distant future might be an agreement that could conceivable lead...

Timing Lightning Strikes (10 Jun 2013 05:19pm)

Last night, I had my bedroom window open because even with the recent cooling, the room gets little circulation and stays very hot very late. So I was suddenly awaken at around 2:00 am, when a lightning storm rolled in. It was very cool with nothing between me and it. As I watched the storm and list...

Somewhere Over the Rainbow (10 Jun 2013 03:17pm)

Let's get right to the obvious stuff. Last year, Maurice Sendak died shortly before his 84th birthday. Having been born in 1928, he would have been 85 today. He was an author and illustrator of what he refused to call children's books. His best known book is Where the Wild Things Are though he wrote...

Like it or Not Venezuela Is a Democracy (10 Jun 2013 11:26am)

America does not believe in democracy. Remember the 2006 Palestinian elections when Hamas won? There was a total administration freak out over that one. Democracy is only valid if people vote for what the United States government wants. That's in the Constitution. Look it up! For a decade and a hal...

S&P and Anti-Meritocracy (10 Jun 2013 09:16am)

How people continue to think that America is even moderately a meritocracy amazes me. Look at the banks. The Federal Reserve loans them money at low interest rates and allows them to lend it out at high interest rates. It would be like if Apple gave only you and your close friends the right to buy i...

Bill O'Reilly Corrects Himself—Kinda (09 Jun 2013 06:47pm)

Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) published a good article on Bill O'Reilly's "evolution" on one part of the IRS scandal. As you may recall, the Daily Caller published an article in which they claimed that former IRS Chief Douglas Shulman visited the White House 157 times while Obama was pre...

Maybe a Democratic Surveillance State? (09 Jun 2013 05:28pm)

I think of Mike Konczal as an economics writer, but he is usually just as illuminating when writing about other things. Yesterday at Wonk Blog, he wrote, Is a Democratic Surveillance State Possible? In it, he described work by Yale law professor Jack Balkin where he argues that there are two kinds o...

Car Shows and White Power (09 Jun 2013 03:22pm)

As many of you know, my familial obligations require me to do things that, in a social vacuum, I would never do. The best example of this is attendance at action films with my older brother. But another example of this is my going to car shows with my father. All of my childhood—which included...

Get a Kick Out of Cole Porter (09 Jun 2013 10:49am)

On this day back in 1812, the discoverer of Neptune, Johann Gottfried Galle was born. By "discoverer" I mean that he was the first person to see it and know what it was. The planet was already theorized and Urbain Le Verrier had predicted roughly where it would be. Still, Galle's achievement is nota...

Reagan Today (09 Jun 2013 09:23am)

On Real Time last Friday, Bill Maher claimed that Ronald Reagan was the original Teabagger. It's a funny bit that's worth watching. It highlights some problematic liberal mythology. But it doesn't actually attack what many people mean when they say that Reagan wouldn't fit into the modern Republican...

Scalia On the Right Side for a Change (08 Jun 2013 08:40pm)

In the Supreme Court case Maryland v. King, Justice Scalia is a hero. This is the case where the Court found that we really aren't innocent until proven guilty. Anything that the police want to do with someone arrested is just fine as far as the majority is concerned. In recent years, it has seemed ...

Frank Lloyd Wright (08 Jun 2013 06:18pm)

On this day back in 1625, Giovanni Domenico Cassini was born. The name probably sounds familiar because of NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft that they sent to Saturn. That's because Cassini did some important early observations of the planet. He discovered four of its moons and also the division of ...

Karen Finney's Disrupt Looks Pretty Good (08 Jun 2013 02:33pm)

I've long anticipated Karen Finney getting her own show on MSNBC. In fact, for a while, I thought it might be some kind of political version of The View with Finney, Goldie Taylor, Joy Reid, and some conservative affirmative action case—almost certainly a blond. But today, Karen Finney started...

McConnell's Court Shrinking (08 Jun 2013 12:21pm)

I just saw Jonathan Alter explain something really interesting about this whole fight involving Obama's three simultaneous nominations to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. A couple of weeks ago, I mocked Chuck Grassley from claiming this was "court packing." As I explained, that's not what the phrase...

Conservative Goals and the NSA (08 Jun 2013 10:27am)

Yesterday, I happened to hear David Brooks on NPR. He was asked about the huge NSA surveillance program. He said, "I'm somewhat bothered by the secrecy, but I don't feel it's intrusive. Basically, they're running huge amounts of megadata [sic] through an algorithm. That feels less intrusive to me th...

iRadio Will Not Destroy Pandora (07 Jun 2013 10:23pm)

It looks like Apple is going to get into the internet radio business. You'll never believe what their going to call it. Yeah, I know: iRadio. Pretty fucking obvious. But it isn't just the name that's obvious. The idea is obvious. Apple will only be about the hundredth company to enter the field. And...

Beauty and the Dirty French Painter (07 Jun 2013 07:40pm)

Arbiter of men's fashion in the early 19th century (one of the reasons they dressed so silly) Beau Brummell was born on this day in 1778. He is usually "credited" with introducing the modern suit and tie. People have speculated that was gay. Who would have thought such a thing?! Some have even specu...

Why Democrats Must Stand Firm on Immigration (07 Jun 2013 03:26pm)

This afternoon, Greg Sargent wrote, Dems Vow Hard Line in Immigration Reform's Next Phase. It is about John Cornyn's amendment to make the bill "stronger" by increasing border security. People in Washington are claiming that by appealing to conservatives with the amendment like Cornyn's, they might ...

Citizens: the New Enemy of the State (07 Jun 2013 02:42pm)

I didn't see Enemy of the State until 2003. I was over at my sister's and it came on TV. The film grabbed me instantly. It's directed by Tony Scott, with all of his wonderful excesses. And then there was Gene Hackman taking another turn at the reasonable paranoia of Harry Caul in one of my very favo...

What Politicians Should Respond To (07 Jun 2013 11:31am)

Remember yesterday when I reported on Ezra Klein's most recent false equivalence? He rightly noted that the Republicans are not changing their position on the budget deficit even though the situation has changed substantially. But since he attacked the Republicans, he had to attack the Democrats. So...

Media Responsible for Debt Hysteria (07 Jun 2013 09:40am)

There is something that Matt Yglesias wrote that I quote all the time. In it, he talks about how those running around screaming about the federal debt are not really interested in it. He compares them to a hypothetical group of Quakers claiming that we must cut spending on the military in order to r...

Diego Velazquez (06 Jun 2013 07:37pm)

On this day in 1755, Nathan Hale was born. He is know for his death. When he was being hanged by the British as a spy, he said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Maybe he didn't actually say it. But after people die, they become mythical. "When the legend becomes fact,...

Gas Mileage Ain't All You Think (06 Jun 2013 05:12pm)

Brad Plumer presented a fun math problem this morning. But instead of using it to discuss why math makes everything better, he insisted upon discussing policy. Environmental policy, in fact. Now I'm all for that. You can decide for yourself if the article is worth reading from its title, Want to Boo...

Gabriel Gomez Can't Win (06 Jun 2013 12:54pm)

David Bernstein wrote a good overview of last night's Massachusetts Senatorial debate.If you're interested in the race, I recommend clicking over and reading the whole thing. All I'm interested in here is the way that politics really does make a reasonable discussion impossible. Current House repre...

Why Should Republicans Support Immigration Reform? (06 Jun 2013 10:57am)

I've been trying to figure something out. How does immigration reform help Republicans? I mean, I understand if Republicans actually embraced it. They could changed their tune and say, "Of course we are for immigration reform. Immigration has made America great. People who risk death to come to Amer...

Facts Have Not Changed Regarding Budget (06 Jun 2013 09:05am)

This morning, Ezra Klein tells us that both sides do it. He notes that the budget deficit has been greatly reduced and yet the Republicans are pushing even harder for cutting the budgets. And in a little bit of false equivalence, he says that the Democrats are doing the same thing by not coming to t...

Josh Barro Phenomenon (05 Jun 2013 07:42pm)

Let me coin a term: the Josh Barro Phenomenon. It is a special form of conservative affirmative action where just by being something other than a stupid troll, a conservative can be held in high esteem among liberals. And Barro has received more than his fair share of compliments by us on the left. ...

Sinning Against Keynes (05 Jun 2013 01:28pm)

On this day in 1878, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa was born. Growing up, I always thought he was like the Mexican Billy the Kid. But if he was any kind of outlaw, it was Robin Hood. I think it's all about racism. This morning, I was wondering about all of this immigration reform. Why is it that...

Alberto Alesina Wasn't Right (05 Jun 2013 10:46am)

I guess Wonk Blog is trying to brandish it conservative credentials. This morning, Jim Tankersley wrong one the lamest economic articles I've read in weeks, The Era of 'Uncertainty' May Be Over. Will a Growth Boom Begin? It seems designed to give the austerity folks cover. It argues that all the sig...

Should ITC Stop Protecting Patents? (04 Jun 2013 09:37pm)

According to Wonk Blog, Bill Watson over at the Cato Institute is unhappy that the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that a number of Apple products infringed on Samsung patents. He rightly notes that there is duplication in the patent law system. But I have a problem with this kind of appr...

My Girl Rosalind (04 Jun 2013 07:05pm)

On this day back in 1738, King George III was born. You know, the king we Yankees whooped? The crazy King? I don't know much about him—there aren't many kings who are worth studying. But I did see The Madness of King George. And I didn't much like it. But I did like one line from the film. (In...

Why Reagan but Not Bush? (04 Jun 2013 05:33pm)

This morning, Jonathan Chait reported on a feud that is going on in the Republican Party. One one side is the establishment George W. Bush force, represented by Peter Wehner. On the other is the Tea Party force, represented by Laura Ingraham. They've been going back and forth at each other. Wehner a...

Racism in Drug Laws (04 Jun 2013 02:27pm)

Dylan Matthews presents this morning, The Black/White Marijuana Arrest Gap, in Nine Charts. But why wade through so many charts unless you have some unusual chart mania? His "nine charts" come from a new report from the ACLU, The War on Marijuana in Black and White (pdf). And I've taken two of the g...

False Lessons of the New Democrats (04 Jun 2013 11:48am)

I have been working on a longer argument against the New Democratic movement. The standard explanation of how the Democratic Party has changed over the last several decade is wrong I think. The narrative says that the party became too liberal in the 1960s. I don't think this is correct, but it is tr...

Erick Erickson Don't Need No Stinking Reform (04 Jun 2013 09:58am)

Early this morning, Erick Erickson posted a lame critique of the conservative reform movement over at Red State, On Conservative Reformers. Mostly it is just an excuse to savagely attack Josh Barro. He describes him as a "late twenty-something gay male." Until reading that, it had not occurred to me...

Lawrence Lessig on Campaign Finance (03 Jun 2013 10:44pm)

This is one of the happiest things I've seen in a while. You really should watch it: ...

Allen Ginsberg (03 Jun 2013 10:24pm)

On this day in 1808, Jefferson Davis was born. He lived to be an old, rich, and respected man—despite the fact that he was a traitor. Because, you know, he was a rich white man. We don't do anything to people like that. After the Civil War, he got a slap on the wrist and then he was pretty muc...

Fuck Monsanto! The Kids Are Alright! (03 Jun 2013 08:50pm)

On my way out of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve last week, I came upon this car. And I knew I had to get a picture of it. I agree with the sentiment, but that isn't the reason I was photographing it. I have a great interest in people who are ostentatious about their political beliefs. As ...

David Frum's Five Essential Tasks (03 Jun 2013 04:25pm)

David Frum has announced that he going to discontinue his blog at The Daily Beast at least through the summer for personal reasons—among others, his father's recent death from metastatic lung cancer. But in signing off, he presented "five essential tasks" that conservative reformers must comme...

Bernanke's Hypocrisy for the Kids (03 Jun 2013 11:18am)

Ben Bernanke went to Princeton to talk to the graduates. And he said some interesting things. He took on the notion of meritocracy. I thought he hedged way too much. For example, he said, "Putting aside the reality that no system, including our own, is really entirely meritocratic." Did he really ha...

No, Conservative Reformers Don't Exist (03 Jun 2013 10:22am)

Over the weekend, Jonathan Chait wrote yet another article defending his new thesis, Yes, Conservative Reformers Exist. In this installment, he argued that the issue is one of tactics: some try to reform from the inside and some from the outside. This is missing the fundamental issue. Regardless of ...

Hardy the Not So Obscure (02 Jun 2013 11:05pm)

On this day in 1740, Marquis de Sade was born. He was quite an interesting and twisted guy. He was clearly into torture and humiliation—the kind of thing that is associated with his name. On the other hand, he wasn't a murderer, as many men who followed in his footsteps. He managed to spend al...

Ibragim and the Gun or Knife or Broom (02 Jun 2013 06:22pm)

This is Abdulbaki Todashev holding up a photograph that he alleges is his son Ibragim, who an FBI agent recently killed during an interrogation. Here in the United States we don't generally believe that law enforcement officers take people into custody and kill them in cold blood. And indeed, in t...

War on Terror With No Name (02 Jun 2013 05:36pm)

Terry Adams wrote a really good overview of the Glenn Greenwald-Andrew Sullivan debate about the definition of terrorism, Aren't Religion and Politics Both to Blame for War on Terror? Although he tries to be scrupulously fair, I'm afraid he comes down pretty far on the Greenwald side. This reminds ...

Reform Social Security App (02 Jun 2013 12:01pm)

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is not one of my favorite groups. But they are a smart and reasonably honest group. They've created an interactive tool that allows the user to change the benefits and revenues for Social Security. It is way cool and a whole lot of fun. But it is...

Carnot and Stapleton (01 Jun 2013 09:57pm)

Before starting, we have to do a death of note. Jean Stapleton died yesterday at the age of 90. She was very big in musical theater from the late 1950s. She was something there has traditionally been too few of: a female character actor. Most of the time, she played rather different kinds of charact...

Wittgenstein's One Armed Gambit (01 Jun 2013 04:11pm)

Paul Wittgenstein was one of the many talented Wittgenstein children, the best known being his brother Ludwig. He was a concern pianist. According to Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes, he wasn't even the best pianist in the family. That sounds to me like family mythos; perhaps he was not the best in his te...

Few Tax Expenditures for Poor (01 Jun 2013 02:56pm)

Mike Konczal is a very good economics writer who I regularly read. This morning, he was at Wonk Blog talking about, The Tax Break State. In it, he went over the main tax breaks that the federal government gives to individuals. For example, people don't think of it as a tax break, but when a business...

Newest Misleading Attack on Obamacare (01 Jun 2013 12:08pm)

Last night, Will sent me a link to an article and asked, "Would you like to explain this to your readers?" The article was from Thursday in Forbes, Rate Shock: In California, Obamacare To Increase Individual Health Insurance Premiums By 64-146%. After reading just a couple of paragraphs, I knew that...

Obama's Judicial Nominees (01 Jun 2013 10:32am)

Paul Waldman over at The American Prospect wrote, Not Too Shabby So Far: Obama's Judicial Legacy. It puts Obama's judicial nominations in perspective by comparing them to other recent presidents. What it looks like is that Obama is on track to make as many appointments as Clinton and Reagan. Of cour...

Leaves of Walt (31 May 2013 07:47pm)

On this day in 1754, neoclassical painter Andrea Appiani was born. The inventor of the Petri dish, Julius Richard Petri was born in 1852. Google created a cool little doodle for the occasion of his 161st birthday today. Check it out! Pseudo-impressionist Walter Sickert was born in 1860. "Positive th...

157 Visits, Oh My! (31 May 2013 06:25pm)

You know me: I have a love-hate relationship with libertarians. But I have a hate-hate relationship with what I call "pretend libertarians." These are people like Rand Paul who use libertarian rhetoric, but who are just conservatives. Another one of these people is Tucker Carlson. Don't get me wrong...

History of Austerity (31 May 2013 01:04pm)

I just got around to reading Mark Blyth's Austerity: the History of a Dangerous Idea. It is something of a revelation because it puts the modern economic debate into historical perspective. He starts way back at John Locke and his fear of the tyrannical state. Then he moves on to Hume and Smith who ...

No More Confederate General Bases! (31 May 2013 11:08am)

Last weekend, Jamie Malanowski wrote an amazing OpEd over at the New York Times, Misplaced Honor. I didn't know this, but 10 United States Army bases are named after Confederate generals. Look, I don't have it out for the south. In fact, I have almost nothing but fond memories of my time in the sout...

All Still Doing Bad, Especially the Poor (31 May 2013 10:04am)

Ezra Klein presented some bad news this morning. Before the financial crisis, Americans had a total worth of $67.4 trillion. And as of the end of last year, this number had shrunk to $66.1 trillion. Given that the wealth trough was in 2009 at $52.4 trillion, Americans have made up 91% of their losse...

Bing Has More Images! (30 May 2013 10:57pm)

I swear, this is the last time I'm going to write about Bing. But they advertise so much, it is hard to keep it out of my mind. And one thing I noticed was that whenever they showed a screen shot in a commercial, the side that won (the Bing side, of course) had a lot more images. That got me thinkin...

Killing Lincoln Again (30 May 2013 10:16pm)

I saw this sign a couple of months ago at our local movie theater. At the time, I didn't know what to think. Did the theater management think that it was was cute: putting Bullet in the Head right below Lincoln? Or were they just clueless? At this point, I lean toward "clueless." I'm curious if an...

Bringing Up Howard (30 May 2013 08:44pm)

That humanitarian award guy Irving Thalberg was born on this day in 1899. Voice actor Mel Blanc was born 1908. Benny Goodman was born a year later. Playwright Joseph Stein was born in 1912. Planet of the Apes director Franklin J. Schaffner was born in 1920. Star Trek guest star, Michael J. Pollard ...

Another Republican, Obama? (30 May 2013 07:27pm)

I have had major problems with the nomination of James Comey to head the FBI. But now I'm not sure. You see, today Glenn Greewald wrote, "James Comey is far from the worst choice to lead the FBI." That's probably about equivalent to most people saying, "James Comey is the best person we could realis...

Real Corporate Tax Reform (30 May 2013 02:39pm)

Ah, corporate tax reform! Pundits all around love to talk about it. Those on the right love to shout about how we have the highest corporate income tax in the advanced world. (They never tell you that we have one of the lowest effective corporate income taxes in the advanced world, but we'll leave t...

Sardoodledom (30 May 2013 01:23pm)

Ladies and gentlemen: Victorien Sardou. He was a very popular playwright of the end of the 19th century in France. I have not read any of his plays, but as far as I can determine, he was good at his craft. But I can well see why other playwrights might not like him. He understood the art form perhap...

Family Guy Rush Limbaugh Whitewash (30 May 2013 12:31pm)

I recently came upon a 2010 episode of Family Guy, "Excellence in Broadcasting." It tells the story of Brian (the dog) and his transformation from a liberal atheist to a Rush Limbaugh sycophant. What most offended me at first was the whitewash of Limbaugh himself, who does the voices for his own gue...

End the Filibuster Now! (30 May 2013 11:29am)

There is a story that is probably apocrypal that The Clash drummer Topper Headon told Joe Strummer, that if he (Headon) weren't in the band, he might be able to kick his heroin addiction. So Strummer fired him.[1] The point of the story is something along the lines that Headon was asking for some bi...

Reinhart and Rogoff Whac-A-Mole Game (30 May 2013 10:19am)

Back in April, I reported on the best work yet regarding the famous Reinhart and Rogoff (R&R) paper that purported to prove that government debt over 90% was catastrophic for economic growth. The work was done by the brilliant young economist Arindrajit Dube. He took the R&R data for high government...

New on IRS Scandal (29 May 2013 11:21pm)

This is the best thing I've seen on TV news in a long time (of course, I really haven't been watching much). This is on the IRS scandal, which as I've been long arguing is turning out to be nothing: ...

Cigarettes and Booze (29 May 2013 10:15pm)

This afternoon, Dylan Matthews reported on some recent research that looked at the depiction of smoking and drinking in the movies. Since 1998 when cigarette companies were forbidden to purchase product placement in movies, smoking in films has gone down dramatically (exponentially, actually). But d...

Thanks for the Memories, Bob (29 May 2013 09:32pm)

You probably know the quotation, "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" It was said by that great lover of liberty Patrick Henry wh...

Lincoln Chafee Becomes a Democrat (29 May 2013 07:57pm)

Have you heard the news? Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee will become a Democrat tomorrow. You probably don't care, but stick with me because this is interesting. He used to be a Republican. And then he became an independent. I'm still not sure what the hell that is. When a regular person is an ...

Federal Government Out of Drug Policy! (29 May 2013 04:43pm)

Over at Wonk Blog this afternoon, Harold Pollack presented, The Most Embarrassing Graph in American Drug Policy. I was shocked at that headline. "You mean America has a drug policy?" I said. It seemed always just to have a "lock up poor minorities and militarize the police" policies. It took me a mo...

Avik Roy Says Republican Reform Just Branding (29 May 2013 11:23am)

Supposed conservative reformer Avik Roy wrote an article over at the National Review on Monday trying to get in on all of discussion of the Republican apostates. What he's trying to do is push back against the argument that many of us have made that these supposed reformers are doing nothing but tin...

My Crush on Isabelle Carre (28 May 2013 07:55pm)

On this day back in 1779, the great Irish songwriter Thomas Moore was born. James Bond author Ian Fleming was born in 1908. Most people aren't aware of it, but Fleming wrote the children's book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. It was published in three small volumes, but is basically one book. Fleming died ...

Friendship Vs. Society (28 May 2013 05:06pm)

Matt Yglesias has some insights into the Fast and Furious films. I've only seen the original one, but that's all that's really necessary. The film has an interesting theme that I have always found compelling: friendship trumps all. The question the film raises is whether the main character owes more...

The New Season of Arrested Development (28 May 2013 02:13pm)

Peter Queck and Bhaskar Sunkara provided me with my first review of the fourth season of Arrested Development. And they managed to put just about everything I hate about "criticism" into one article. Their fundamental problem with this recent material is that the producers of the show have changed i...

Low Taxes Exacerbate Inequality (28 May 2013 01:03pm)

Dylan Matthews reported today on research by Alvaredo, Atkinson, Piketty, and Saez on taxes and income inequality. They looked at the change in the top income shares since 1960 and compared it to the change in the top marginal tax rate. And not surprisingly, they found a very strong correlation. For...

Money Does Hurt Politics (28 May 2013 11:01am)

Recently, Ezra Klein has been on a tear over at Wonk Blog, arguing that the effect of money in politics is overblown. He's been getting a lot of push back on this, and today he answered his critics. Mostly, the article was kind of a retreat. All of the points he made were minor, because I think that...

Obamacare Polls a Little Positive (27 May 2013 10:58pm)

Jonathan Bernstein has words of wisdom for us: Ignore Those Polls! Those being the recent CNN poll that show that over half of the people don't like Obamacare: 43-54. Apparently, Republicans are claiming that the poll proves them right: the people hate Obamacare! But then liberals have pushed back. ...

Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (27 May 2013 08:16pm)

The writer of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," Julia Ward Howe was born on this day in 1819. She was an interesting woman. I recommend checking out the This American Life episode Lost in America. The third part of it is "Teacher Hit Me with a Ruler," which is a history of "Battle Hymn" by Sarah Vo...

Remembering On Memorial Day (27 May 2013 07:21pm)

Happy Memorial Day everyone! I've been looking for ways to ruin the holiday (it is the tradition of my people), but it is so hard to do it without offending people. For example, I hate the bumper sticker that reads, "If You Like Your Freedom Thank a Vet." I agree with the basic sentiment: it really ...

Bush 2.0 (27 May 2013 04:20pm)

In general, I like caveats. The world is not a simple place. But that can be taken to extremes, especially by supposedly liberal politicians. The best description I've ever heard of Obama is by Roger Hodge in The Mendacity of Hope, "Obama presents a dizzying series of hands—on the one and then...

More Evidence No IRS Scandal (27 May 2013 10:23am)

This morning, the New York Times reported that at least some of those Tea Party groups the IRS targeted were anything but pure. It noted, "But a close examination of these groups and others reveals an array of election activities that tax experts and former IRS officials said would provide a legitim...

Why People Like Auto Racing (26 May 2013 07:26pm)

It's Memorial Day weekend, so there are auto races. Some time ago, my brother-in-law told me that people only watch auto races for the crashes. I thought that was just ridiculous. I don't watch auto races for the crashes. In fact, one reason that I'm put off on racing is the possibility of crashes ...

Miles Davis and Migrant Mother (26 May 2013 05:20pm)

French Baroque painter Philippe de Champaigne was born on this day in 1602. Blackface singer Al Jolson was born in 1886. The great depression era photographer and social activist Dorothea Lange was born in 1895. She is best known for her 1936 photograph "Migrant Mother." It is often hard to say why...

Pirini Scleroso (26 May 2013 01:04pm)

I don't much care for American sketch comedy because of the generally poor writing. The typical skit is some funny idea that the writer (although the actor is often more important than the writer) riffs on for a while and then just stops. For example, Julia Sweeney's androgynous Pat character. Pat e...

Jamelle Bouie on Immigration Reform—and More! (26 May 2013 12:06pm)

Jamelle Bouie decided to answer questions on Tumblr last night. It was really cool. I've never before known what Tumblr was other than a kind of sub-blog that bloggers used with Twitter. But it has a device that allows people to ask questions to a Tumblr user that can then be answered in a permanent...

Arrested Development Season 4 First Look (26 May 2013 12:52am)

The fourth season of Arrested Development came out this morning on Netflix. I watched the first episode. They seem to be structuring the episodes differently this time. Each one focuses on one character. This first episode was on Michael. In the original series, it took quite some time to realize th...

Igor Sikorsky and Angular Momentum (25 May 2013 09:14pm)

Philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson was born on this day in 1803. I tend to accept a lot of his thinking, but his religious thought (understandably) is stuck in the early 18th century. Of course, that thinking is still far in advance of most religious people today. (Does that sound snarky? I ...

Go Nuclear Harry Reid! (25 May 2013 06:10pm)

Harry Reid really needs to go nuclear. Mike Konczal has an excellent article over at Wonk Blog about what is going on with the nomination of Richard Cordray to head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Just look at that face! How could anyone say no to him? Well, as Konczal explained, it isn...

Bernie Sanders on Labor Markets (25 May 2013 02:34pm)

Dylan Matthews just posted a great, short interview with Bernie Sanders. It is about the Gang of Eight immigration bill that most everyone is so excited about. Sanders is not and it looks like he will vote against it. What really struck me was that his position is almost identical to mine: we need ...

Reformish Republicans Want Party Invites (25 May 2013 11:55am)

Apparently there is a push going on to highlight "reasonable" conservative writers. Yesterday, I wrote about Jonathan Chait's article on Josh Barro. And earlier this month, Ryan Cooper wrote an article, Reformish Conservatives. That's a good term: reformish. In general, there are no reformers; there...

Citizen Koch (25 May 2013 12:11am)

PBS is censoring Citzen Koch, a documentary about Citizens United, money in politics, and the billionaire Koch brothers. You may remember back in November, I wrote an article about an Independent Lens documentary Park Avenue. Apparently, the film made a lot of rich people very angry, including at le...

Economic Confusions: Canned Goods Pricing (24 May 2013 11:03pm)

Most people I meet who think they know something about economics are clueless. What I'm thinking about right now are people who think that companies set prices based upon their costs. A standard (incorrect) observation is, "If we raise the minimum wage, the companies will just increase their prices....

Tangled Up in Bob (24 May 2013 09:38pm)

The great Italian Mannerist painter Jacopo Carucci (generally know simply as "Pontormo," I guess because he was from Pontorme) was born on this day in 1494. His religious work generally involved crowed, but beautifully composed scenes. His portraits similarly have an other world quality to them. All...

Debt Ceiling Still Major Threat (24 May 2013 07:38pm)

I have a bone to pick with Greg Sargent. I appreciate his effort, but how long can the man go on spouting happy horseshit without realizing that it has become discouraging. At least a few times per week, he writes something along the lines of, "Boehner has already admitted Republicans won't allow de...

Let the Starving Gays Marry (24 May 2013 05:33pm)

Gallup reported today, Fewer Americans Identify as Economic Conservatives in 2013. I looked at the article because I wanted some good news. But I didn't really find it. I'm not sure what people think when asked where they stand on economic issues. Right now, 41% of Americans say that they are econo...

Josh Barros' Journey from the Dark Side (24 May 2013 12:38pm)

Wednesday, Jonathan Chait over at The Atlantic published an article about the problems of Josh Barro of all people. Regular readers will know that I am of two minds about Barro. On the one hand, he is a smart and insightful guy—one of the best conservative observers around. On the other hand, ...

Prime Numbers and Random Assumptions (24 May 2013 10:50am)

Jordan Ellenberg over at Slate reported on Yitang Zhang and the big goings on in the field of prime number theory. There are two stories. One is that Zhang managed to prove some thousands of year old questions. The other is that he is in his 50s. As I hope you know, a prime number is any natural n...

Categorizing Carl Linnaeus (23 May 2013 08:59pm)

On this day in 1883, swashbuckler Douglas Fairbanks was born. Actor, dancer, and musician Scatman Crothers was born in 1910. The great meteorologist and Chaos Theory pioneer Edward Norton Lorenz was born in 1917. And singer Rosemary Clooney was born in 1928. Actress Joan Collins is 80 today. Chess ...

Chuck Grassley on Court Packing (23 May 2013 04:04pm)

During the Great Depression, Roosevelt was very angry that the Supreme Court kept blocking his reforms. A slim majority on the Court was very conservative. (Sound familiar?) What could the president do? Well, he could pack the court. The number of people on the Supreme court is not stated in the Con...

God's Twitter Wisdom (23 May 2013 12:30pm)

Last week, God tweeted out the following: Any atheist who retweets this is going to hell for eternity.— God (@TheTweetOfGod) May 18, 2013 Thus far, it has almost 10,000 retweets. Clearly, this is an example of retweet trolling. God knows how arrogant most atheists are. I am not, however. My ...

Rand Paul's Scary Numbers (23 May 2013 11:18am)

Steven Dennis over at Roll Call goes after Rand Paul's use of old talking points. Paul is going around saying, "We are now borrowing $40,000 a second. We are borrowing $4 billion a day." Oh. My. God! Did he say "$4 billion a day"?! That's a Very Large Number! And as normal with these kinds of pronou...

Strangest Square Mile of Ocean (23 May 2013 10:18am)

This is a remarkable video. It is beautiful. And it is proof that God is not good! H/T: Brad Plumer ...

Tea Partier: Louder Shouting Republican (23 May 2013 09:54am)

Yesterday, Ed Kilgore wrote, Please Listen Up, Political Reporters: What Ted Cruz Means When He Says He Mistrusts Both Parties. In it, he took on Ted Cruz and his habit of claiming that he doesn't trust either political party. As Kilgore noted, "Does it mean, as political reporters often blandly rep...

Hamlet, Mary Cassatt, and the Robot Monster (22 May 2013 11:04pm)

The great French landscape painter Hubert Robert was born on this day 1733. Inventor of the electromagnet and electric motor William Sturgeon was born 1783. Composer Richard Wagner were born in 1813. Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle was born in 1859. The great Laurence Olivier was born in...

Ryan Cooper Educates Michael Kinsley (22 May 2013 09:13pm)

Over at Washington Monthly, Ryan Cooper wrote a nice, easygoing response to Michael Kinsley. As you may know, last week, Kinsley wrote, Paul Krugman's Misguided Moral Crusade Against Austerity. In it, he tried to argue that the pro- and anti-austerity forces weren't that much in disagreement. There ...

Fed Might As Well Have Single Mandate (22 May 2013 05:03pm)

Matt Yglesias is very insightful about the Federal Reserve. Last year, he asked an incredibly important question, "If the unemployment and inflation rates were reversed, would the Fed do something about it?" The point is that the Federal Reserve has a dual mandate to keep both inflation and unemploy...

"You Gotta Thank the Lord, Right?!" (22 May 2013 03:15pm)

"You gotta thank the Lord, right?!" Am I right?! Really! The Lord! You gotta thank him?! Right?! Right?! As the tornado was bearing down on Moore, Oklahoma, Rebecca Vitsmun and her infant son were waiting it all out in their bathtub. But as Vitsmun watched the coverage on her laptop computer, she b...

Racist Election Officials (22 May 2013 01:21pm)

I've heard it said that we are the world. I've even heard it said that we are the children. And lest we forget: we are the ones who make a brighter day, so lets start giving. The problem is that this is total bullshit. We are parochial; we act like children; we are the ones who make everything worse...

Inhofe's Hypocrisy Not Subtle (22 May 2013 12:10pm)

Yesterday over at Post Politics, Rachel Weiner and Matt DeLong reported on the difficult position of Oklahoma's two Republican Senators with regard to aid for the victims of the Oklahoma City suburb tornado. The problem is that both James Inhofe and Tom Coburn voted against aid for the victims of Hu...

Ezra Klein's Pollyanna Act (22 May 2013 10:19am)

This morning, the Washington Post's own Pollyanna, Ezra Klein cautiously asked, A Thaw in the Senate? He claimed that two "remarkable" things happened yesterday. I am not so sanguine. Remarkable Thing Number One: the immigration bill came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a vote of 13-5. L...

Heckler Not About Hecklers (22 May 2013 12:59am)

Netflix kept pushing a documentary named Heckler on me. So I finally watched it. I'm curious about the phenomenon. It is very strange to me that people go out to see a comedian and then decide to interfere with the show. I understand they are usually drunk, but I still don't get it. So I was quite i...

Why We Prosecute Leakers (21 May 2013 08:16pm)

Over at Mother Jones, Julian Sanchez provided an overview of what's going on with the most recent case of the Obama administration going after whistleblowers. It is very hard not to accept the most intense critics' contention that this is not about national security or even embarrassment. This is ab...

Glenn Curtiss Flying High (21 May 2013 07:25pm)

Poet Alexander Pope was born in 1688. He is best known for not being Pope Alexander. In fact, since Pope burst onto the English literary scene in the earth 18th century, the Vatican has stopped naming popes Alexander. The last such pope was Alexander VIII, who was born in 1610. I have no evidence th...

What Can Republicans Talk About Besides Scandals? (21 May 2013 04:42pm)

After reading John Dean's take on the recent scandals, I noticed that another of my favorite conservatives, Ramesh Ponnuru had waded into these waters, 'Obama Scandals' Could Actually Hurt Republicans. I love those scare quotes in the title. The truth is that these aren't really Obama's scandals, bu...

John Dean: Not Worse Than Watergate (21 May 2013 04:05pm)

Over at Bloomberg View, I saw that John Dean had written an article, Obama's Not Nixon, He's Harding. I knew immediately what he was talking about: Teapot Dome. Normally, I would not have clicked through. But I really like John Dean, and I couldn't believe that he was really comparing Obama's scanda...

Wingnuts and the Power Elite (21 May 2013 01:38pm)

Yesterday, Cass R. Sunstein wrote an interesting article, How to Humble a Wing Nut. He reported on some research by Philip Fernbach at the University of Colorado. He found that by asking test subjects to write down everything they know about a controversial policy, he got them to moderate their view...

Best Spam Yet! (21 May 2013 01:01pm)

I just got what is probably the best spam comment ever. It is postmodern! It is self referencing! It is gut bustingly funny! Unfortunately, it is also just spam. But it deserves attention. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you "ares gratis": Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one an...

Fluoridation Wars Continue (21 May 2013 12:27pm)

About five years ago, I was talking to my father's girlfriend Louise. She was a big Glenn Beck fan who died shortly before his implosion, so she never found out that the revolution would not, in fact, be televised. Obviously, I was used to some strange ideas coming out of her mouth. But one day she ...

Neuroses of Winnie the Pooh (20 May 2013 10:54pm)

I saw a charming tweet today concerning A. A. Milne's excellent Winnie the Pooh books. I have a special fondness for those books. When I got my first group of networked computers, I named them after Pooh characters. Also, I think a whole theory of psychological types could be created based upon the ...

The Utility of John Stuart Mill (20 May 2013 09:55pm)

What is it about French novelists making a career out of one novel that never ends? I don't know. But on this day back in 1799, the great Honore de Balzac was born. Collectively called The Human Comedy, in consists of 91 essays, novels, and short stories. But he wasn't done. It also included 46 unfi...

What IRS Scandal? (20 May 2013 04:44pm)

I hate to find myself in the position of being an apologist for the government. But there is an important issue: by focusing on minor and even meaningless stories, we distract from very real issues. We have yet more news about our government's attempts to keep the public ignorant and intimidate gove...

Morality, Economics, and Car Repair (20 May 2013 03:51pm)

Paul Krugman recently wrote an excellent article over at the New York Review of Books, How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled. It is ostensibly a review of three books: The Alchemists: Three Central Bankers and a World on Fire by Neil Irwin; Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea by Mark Blyth;...

Of Course Republicans Don't Care About Budget (20 May 2013 10:46am)

Over at The Plum Line, Jamelle Bouie argued that we've already gotten a Grand Bargain. He noted that the combination of the 2011 Budget Control Act, the Fiscal Cliff deal, and the Sequester accomplished what the Grand Bargain was supposed to do. He went further and argued that since the Republicans ...

Morality Without God? (19 May 2013 09:23pm)

I just read a nice little book, Morality Without God? by Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. Ostensibly, he argues that we don't need God to have an absolute moral code. But more important, he argues against divine command morality. This is the idea that morality comes from something like the Ten Commandments...

Pete Townshend Refuses No River (19 May 2013 05:41pm)

On this day back in 1870, one of the best arguments against the divine commands argument of morality, serial killer Albert Fish was born. Shockingly, Malcolm X and Pol Pot were born on the same day back in 1925. Pol Pot, being one of the great evil men of the 20th century, managed to live 33 years l...

More Anti-Venezuela Propaganda (19 May 2013 01:14pm)

When I was just in college, I worked for a conservative small business owner. He knew I was liberal, even if I didn't talk about it. So one day he told me that he understood that our standard of living depended upon the exploitation of people in poorer nations but that he was fine with it. I simply ...

Rethinking Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US (19 May 2013 11:24am)

In the past, I've given George W. Bush a pass on the 6 August 2001 President's Daily Briefing (PDB) Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US (pdf). My thinking revolved around two issues. First, fighting terrorism is like house cleaning: no one notices what isn't there. There will always be failures and...

Second Filibuster Letter to Boxer (18 May 2013 11:54pm)

Dear Senator Boxer: Thank you for your automated response. I know that the Senate made changes that now allow the majority to bring bills to the floor faster where the Republicans will filibuster them. (Admittedly, not always successfully.) My letter regarded the rumored July "nuclear option." I g...

Politics of Bulworth (18 May 2013 10:42pm)

Last week, the New York Times published a story in which they said that Obama fantasizes about "going Bulworth." By this, he means to just say what he feels rather than being political. I saw Bulworth in the theater back in 1998. I thought it was okay but it didn't particularly stick with me. But 19...

Peggy Noonan Rides the Crazy Train (18 May 2013 06:46pm)

On Thursday, Peggy Noonan wrote a column where she said that the IRS was going after individuals because they were conservatives. Her evidence? She's heard of four different conservatives who were audited last year. I'm serious! That's her claim. But it is even sillier than that. Take for example, t...

Tom Clancy Combat Concepts (18 May 2013 02:36pm)

No one amongst those people had served in combat, but Colin Powell, Lawrence Wilkerson and his staff were all the combat personnel. And it's funny, they were shuffled over at the State Department and the civilian ideologues were put over into the Pentagon and they were the people who came up with wh...

We Make Too Big a Deal of Terrorism (18 May 2013 01:18pm)

According to the Washington Post, the administration thinks that the "war on terror" will go on and on. "Given the way al-Qaeda continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight." And on Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on whether we should continue t...

Loan Harry Reid Your Testicles (18 May 2013 11:39am)

At the Washington Post, two writers I admire, Greg Sargent and Jonathan Bernstein, are excited about the prospect of filibuster reform. First, Sargent broke the news that Harry Reid plans to go for the "nuclear option" in July if the Republicans filibuster three upcoming nominees: "Richard Cordray t...

It's a Wonderful Capra (18 May 2013 10:46am)

Birthdays are not created equal. Yesterday, I almost gave up having a winner. Today, I have four easy winners who did not win. On this day in 1048, the great Persian mathematician Omar Khayyam was born. He's winner number one. Another great mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell was born in...

Modern Chess with Wilhelm Steinitz (17 May 2013 09:20pm)

This is kind of crummy day for birthdays. I'm not Tarzan but Maureen O'Sullivan was Jane, and she was born on this day in 1911. Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox was born in 1912. Songwriter Bob Merrill was born in 1921. Heaven's Gate cult leader Marshall Applewhite was born in 1931. If he's alive ...

Space Cowboys Crashes (17 May 2013 07:19pm)

Last night I watched Space Cowboys, Clint Eastwood's film about a group of old men who finally get their chance to go into space. It reminds me of something Andrea said after the very similar movie The Crew came out. "These films about old men reliving their glory days are really interesting. I wond...

The Cause Briefly (17 May 2013 03:04pm)

I have a very bad habit of reading a great book but having so many things to say about it that I put it aside for a while. And then, despite the fact that the text is now full of my comments, I have next to no idea what it was I wanted to say. Such is the case with Eric Alterman's The Cause. It is b...

Death, Teapot Dome, and Benghazi, Cuba (17 May 2013 11:38am)

According to Public Policy Polling (pdf), 74% of Republicans think that the Benghazi scandal is worse than Watergate. But I wonder: do these people even know what Watergate was about? That scandal has come to be a blanket term for a whole lot of presidential malfeasance. The Watergate break-in was j...

Affinity Bias and the White House Scandals (17 May 2013 10:16am)

I've been thinking a lot about why so many journalists I follow went so wrong on the supposed White House Scandals this week. I think it has a lot to do with affinity bias. And that does not speak well for the state of journalism. A lot of people wonder why, for example, conservatives often hold op...

Studs Terkel and Fine Red Wine (16 May 2013 10:30pm)

On this day back in 1831, the co-inventor of the microphone, David E. Hughes was born. He also invented a number of other things by himself, most notably the spark-gap transmitter and the crystal radio. The latter was a very popular radio in the early days because it requires no battery, which is, I...

Mainstream Media Freak Out More Than Fox (16 May 2013 07:07pm)

I caught a few minutes of Fox News this afternoon. Supposedly straight news anchor Bret Baier explained that the resignation of acting IRS chief Steven T. Miller was just political theater because he was going to step down in June anyway. And then Charles Krauthammer added that it just wasn't credib...

Matt Yglesias Wishes Republicans Better (16 May 2013 02:33pm)

Matt Yglesias has this tendency to apologize for behavior even as he demolishes it. He published a great example of this earlier this morning, AEI Chief: To Win Latino Votes, the GOP Needs an Agenda to Help Poor People. That sounds fantastic and almost unbelievable. The head of the conservative Amer...

Rich Distract from Real Social Security Reform (16 May 2013 01:37pm)

Investment banker Jim Roumell has proposed a great idea over at the Washington Post. After 9/11, "strong" young men signed up with the military to defend America against... Well, I actually don't know. At the time it seemed like an outburst of jingoism that had very little (if anything) to do with k...

Dance with the Rhino (16 May 2013 11:41am)

I picked up Wittgenstein in 90 Minutes and wanted to see if I could read it in 90 minutes. But I got stuck on page 14 for well over 90 minutes. It was a logic problem. In Principles of Mathematics, Bertrand Russell argued that the foundation of mathematics was logic. But he ran into a nice little pa...

IRS More Powerful Than the Military? (16 May 2013 09:26am)

This IRS scandal is going from irrelevant to enraging. What bugs me most is that everyone is running around acting like it is a proven fact that some terrible thing was done. We've been through this time and time again. Even thus far in this scandal, the more information that comes out, the more ben...

How to Make War Bipartisan (15 May 2013 07:54pm)

Recall back in 2008 that the CIA prepared a secret report (subsequently leaked to WikiLeaks) that presciently noted that the election of Barack Obama would be the most effective way to stem the tide of antiwar sentiment in western Europe, because it would put a pleasant, happy, progressive face on t...

Obama Wimps Out on IRS Scandal (15 May 2013 07:14pm)

In the past, I've been really disappointed with President Obama. But now I'm really angry. He forced the resignation of acting IRS chief Steven T. Miller. This wasn't done because Miller is culpable. Sure, you will hear that he testified before Congress that the organization wasn't targeting groups ...

The Wonderful Wizard Frank Baum (15 May 2013 06:42pm)

Revolutionary proto-Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi was baptized in 1567. Why does that matter? If you've ever listened to Renaissance music, you probably didn't like it very much. And no, the music you heard at the Renaissance Faire was almost certainly not Renaissance music. That music is high...

Scandal?! (15 May 2013 04:21pm)

This morning, Jonathan Chait reported, The Strange Creation of the Obama Scandals. And Glenn Greenward reported, The Major Sea Change in Media Discussions of Obama and Civil Liberties. Indeed, Obama does seem to be experiencing a perfect storm of bad sandal-like news. And most of the coverage of it ...

The Charm of Star Trek (15 May 2013 02:55pm)

I'm not much into science fiction except in as much as it is about the nature of consciousness or is just well written. It is rarely either. I am more or less a Star Trek fan, but that has nothing to do with science fiction. Just because a melodrama is placed in space doesn't make it science fiction...

Netflix Knows How to Hire More Workers (15 May 2013 01:01pm)

I have long complained about what feels like the constant drum beat for more technology workers via the H1-B visa system. The idea is that high tech companies just can't find American workers with the skills they require. But the truth is, if high tech companies really were desperate for workers, th...

The Debt Outrage Will Continue (15 May 2013 09:38am)

This is the most unimportant graph of the day: It comes from the Congressional Budget Office, but I got the graph from Paul Krugman. What it shows is that we have stabilized our debt. This should make all deficit scolds very happy. Ha ha ha! What a kidder I am! It won't matter in the least. You s...

One More Filibuster and Harry Reid Will Take Republicans to the Cleaners! (14 May 2013 08:36pm)

You can tell if a dog has been castrated, because it has no testicles. You can't tell this with humans because they wear pants. So I'm just guessing, but I think Harry Reid has been castrated. It may just have been done for the public good. The last thing we need are a whole lot more unwanted Harry ...

Shock and Awe at The Onion (14 May 2013 06:38pm)

I read two excellent articles on The Onion today. One shocked me and the awed me. Hence the title. The first was Adidas Unveils New Running Shoe For Fleeing From Mass Shootings. It is a pretty standard Onion story. At least, it is until the last sentence: NEW YORK—With the launch Tuesday of ...

Blue for Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 2013 02:57pm)

Photorealist Robert Bechtle is 81 today. Bass player and lead singer of Cream Jack Bruce is 70. Ridiculously overrated director George Lucas is 69. Another blockbuster director, Robert Zemeckis is 62. Pain in the ass and narcissistic Talking Heads front man, David Byrne is 61. Actor Tim Roth is 52. ...

GOP Latino Outreach Director Turns Democratic (14 May 2013 02:01pm)

I laugh pretty easily, but I very rarely guffaw. But I did today when I read the following, "In Florida, the GOP's state director of Hispanic outreach, Pablo Pantoja, has resigned his position, left the Republican Party, and changed his party identification to 'Democrat.'" I'm not quite sure why I f...

Cold War Politics in Hogan's Heroes (14 May 2013 12:01pm)

When I was a kid, I loved the show Hogan's Heroes. What's not to love? In the middle of an unpopular war, we got comedy about the most noble war in our history. Plus: zany Nazis! What I didn't understand at the time were all the politics. Some of this was quite good. The lovable Sergeant Schultz, fo...

Benghazi, IRS, and the Associated Press (14 May 2013 10:23am)

I tend to think that the new IRS scandal is much less than it appears to be. The more facts that come in, the most reasonable the actions of the IRS seem to be. But most reporting on it is shockingly superficial: the government targeted conservative groups! Yes, the allegation is of concern and I'd ...

Of Polar Bears and Patents (13 May 2013 10:03pm)

The USA Today reported earlier this evening, Cute Kali: Orphaned Polar Bear Cub Prepares for Move. It told the story of the preparations to move young bear to the Buffalo Zoo. And yes, it is cute as a button. All mammals are cute before they get big enough to eat you. But there was something about t...

The Gertrude Stein Scandal (13 May 2013 07:37pm)

I can't believe all this talk of Benghazi and the IRS targeting of conservative political groups. Has Washington lost sight of what a real scandal looks like? I am talking about plagiarism, of course. Yes, the president is cool. He sounds just like he's making up the words as he goes along. But no!...

Anti-Smoking Ads Disappear (13 May 2013 07:10pm)

If I were in a Broadway musical, I would break out singing: Isn't it bliss? Could it be true? Anti-smoking ads are gone I can safely view. Send in the Post, I can read the Post![1] For many weeks, you could not visit the Washington Post website (or a lot of others as well) without seeing a horrify...

IRS Scandal: Crossroads GPS (13 May 2013 05:09pm)

Alec MacGillis has written a great article over at the magazine Andrew Sullivan almost destroyed. All right, The New Republic! Called The Real Scandal Behind the IRS Controversy, it simultaneously puts the IRS "scandal" into perspective and presents what is a real scandal. Why did the IRS group in ...

Don't Smear Dr. Papanikolaou (13 May 2013 03:46pm)

On this day back in 1842, composer Arthur Sullivan—one half of Gilbert & Sullivan—was born. One of the fathers of cubism, Georges Braque was born in 1882. Composer Ken Darby was born in 1909. Boxer Joe Louis was born in 1914. Bea Arthur was born in 1922. Director Herbert Ross was bor...

If Unions Are Too Powerful America Is Ignorant (13 May 2013 01:43pm)

Gallup released a poll where they asked Americans which entities have too much power. There is good news and bad news. The list includes some notable bad guys: lobbyists (71%), major corporations (67%), and the finance industry (67%). But it also listed the federal government (58%) and unions (43%)....

Monsanto Shall Not Be Held Accountable (13 May 2013 11:01am)

Apparently, it doesn't pay to be a clever farmer. Vernon Hugh Bowman had a brilliant idea. He bought a bunch of soybean seeds from a grain elevator. He figured that some subset of those seeds would contained the Roundup Ready gene, a patent of Monsanto. He planted the seeds, sprayed them to Roundup,...

Rubio: Fire That Guy Who Resigned (13 May 2013 09:53am)

This whole IRS controversy seems much ado about nothing. The IRS is generally interested in looking at political nonprofit organizations because regardless of their political stripes, they ought to be paying taxes. Most of these groups aren't working for the public good; they are pushing their own a...

Ads Don't Matter in Presidential Elections (12 May 2013 09:06pm)

John Sides is a very smart political science professor at George Washington University. But sometimes, he's kind of boring. Like today, when he was over at Wonk Blog and explained, Four Reasons It's Hard to Campaign Your Way to the Presidency. I have to assume that he was trying to counter the idea ...

Coup d'Etat and Economists (12 May 2013 04:58pm)

If I found myself in charge of a new country after a coup d'etat, and was limited to a single economist to help me build the new country, I wouldn't want some Nobel Prize winner—not even someone like Paul Krugman. The reason is that those who win such a prize are brilliant in certain ways, but...

Bill Maher Spouts Anti-Muslim Racism (12 May 2013 01:51pm)

This is an amazing bit of video from Friday's Real Time with Glenn Greenwald really taking Bill Maher to task on his anti-Islam rhetoric. Greenwald is making a kind of Some People Push Back argument. He is saying that it is outrageous for Americans to be shocked at the violence in the Middle East wh...

Florence Nightingale and Soviet Spies (12 May 2013 12:22pm)

On this day in 1918, Julius Rosenberg was born. He was very clearly spying for the USSR, and our government put him and his wife Ethel to death to 1953. I hate this whole episode. First, it is far from clear that Ethel had anything to do with this case. Also, all the other conspirators were given pr...

Surely It's Richard Feynman! (11 May 2013 07:57pm)

On this day back in 1824, French academic painter Jean-Leon Gerome was born. English illustrator Walter Goodman was born in 1838. The great American songwriter Irving Berlin was born in 1888. Choreographer Martha Graham was born in 1894. The great Salvador Dali was born in 1904. Comedians Phil Silve...

Republican Expectation Mistakes (11 May 2013 10:37am)

Josh Barro made an excellent point a week and a half ago, How Conservatives Are Helping Obamacare. It isn't the focus of the article, however. He noted that the Republicans are managing expectations about the implementation of the new healthcare law. So if next year comes without riots and a syphili...

Hillary Killed Foster and Stevens! (10 May 2013 09:46am)

This morning, Greg Sargent returned us to the glory of the 1990s when we were treated to the delights of mainstream media sources seriously discussing allegations that Hillary Clinton had Vince Foster killed. What is particularly tragic is that Foster killed himself, largely as the result of all the...

I Kind of Like Donovan (10 May 2013 08:56am)

On this day back in 1838, problem brother and assassin John Wilkes Booth was born. Movie composer Max Steiner was born in 1888. Fred Astaire was born in 1899. Film producer David O. Selznick was born in 1902. Electronic composer Milton Babbitt was born in 1916. Nancy Walker was born in 1922. And Sid...

Obama Was Never That Into You (09 May 2013 10:41pm)

According to Glenn Greenward, the ACLU was interested in what the White House policy was on intercepting "private" test messages. So they filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. And what you see on the left is the top of what they got back: 15 pages entirely blacked out (pdf). More and mo...

Humor in Iron Man 3 (09 May 2013 10:09pm)

There was one thing in Iron Man 3 that I really liked: Ben Kingsley. When I saw that he was in the film, I figured he was slated to play the bad guy. Those tend to be the kind of roles that he gets. And at the beginning of the film that looks about right. Actually, it sets up a plot with two bad guy...

Escapism in Iron Man 3 (09 May 2013 09:10pm)

During the third act of The Purple Rose of Cairo, Cecilia (Mia Farrow) goes into the movie with Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels). While in the townhouse, she sees a telephone and exclaims, "I've dreamed of a white telephone!" You see, Cecilia is a poor woman living during the Great Depression. The Purple R...

Physics in Iron Man 3 (09 May 2013 06:16pm)

One of the more interesting action sequences of Iron Man 3 involves the superhero's catching of 13 people who have been blown off of Air Force One. He flies around and manages to get 12 of them. He can't hold on to them all, so he has them hold on to each other, creating a giant chain. He hasn't got...

As Good as James L. Brooks Gets (09 May 2013 09:56am)

On this day back in 1800, abolitionist John Brown was born. And Mike Wallace was born in 1918. Wastership Down author Richard Adams is 93 today. Two of my favorite actors Albert Finney and Glenda Jackson are 77. Candice Bergen is 67. And Billy Joel (meh) is 64. But the day belongs to the great wri...

Down at the Crossroad with Robert Johnson (08 May 2013 06:42pm)

On this day back in 1884, the only person to ever drop a nuclear bomb on a group of humans, Harry S. Truman was born. He did it twice, because that was all the bombs he had at the time. Anti-communist who conservatives still worship even though there aren't any more communists, Friedrich Hayek was b...

Tea Party Myth (08 May 2013 01:41pm)

I was just reading a very good article by Greg Sargent over at The Plum Line about the new Republican push to use the Debt Ceiling to enact policies they don't otherwise have the political power to demand. Sargent believes it is all a game; the Republican leadership has already stated that they will...

Nothing New on Immigration (08 May 2013 11:20am)

Jonathan Chait wrote this morning that immigration reform is different this time. He focused on the conservative push back against the Heritage Foundation paper than said that immigration reform would cost us a trillion dollars and cause us all to die of syphilis next year. As he correctly noted, th...

Un-Mooring of Conservative Economics (08 May 2013 10:20am)

Jonathan Bernstein is curious about what Kevin Drum calls the "Hack Gap." In an article yesterday, he looked at Obamacare. Every time an insurance company announces a rate hike, conservative economists come out of the woodwork to proclaim that it is all the fault of Obamacare and just wait until nex...

Where the People Are (07 May 2013 10:09pm)

This is via Reddit user valeriepieris via Matt Yglesias. I think it speaks for itself: ...

When Government Works (07 May 2013 09:36pm)

Sometimes I am so proud of my culture. A good example was on display this morning in District Court. Judge Edward Korman came down hard on the Obama administration's cowardly limitation of Plan B emergency birth control. The administration's actions show that despite what Democrats like to think, Ob...

Final Republican Casualty (07 May 2013 07:10pm)

Today over at The Plum Line, Jamelle Bouie discussed an issue that is close to my heart, Don't Expect the GOP to Change on Gay Rights Anytime Soon. I think all this talk of the Republican Party moderating itself is nonsense. It is all a kind of mass pundit delusion. Moderates especially really want ...

Heat and Dust of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (07 May 2013 04:54pm)

On this day back in 1711, the great philosopher David Hume was born. Poet Robert Browning was born in 1812. German composer Johannes Brahms was born in 1833. And Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840. Gary Cooper was born in 1901. Night Stalker actor Darren McGavin was born in 1...

Cruz Vs. Reid (07 May 2013 01:47pm)

This is really interesting. Harry Reid wanted to take the budget the Senate passed and go to conference with the House. It doesn't much matter; the House will be against any reasonable budget. But Ted Cruz objected. He says he will only allow it if they agree that whatever comes out of the conferenc...

Transubstantiation of Elvis (07 May 2013 12:51pm)

In 1992, I went to Hong Kong for the first time. I was sitting in the back of a little Irish pub. And I was pretty drunk. And in walks a Chinese Elvis impersonator in a white jumpsuit studded to the ridiculous extreme that we are all accustom to. Holding an acoustic guitar, he performs "Hound Dog," ...

2000 Articles (07 May 2013 11:19am)

I started Frankly Curious back on 10 November 2009. It was intended to be a blog about nothing in particular. I thought that I was such an interesting guy that people would just find whatever I had to say on a subject fascinating. But over time, I found that my interests could largely be found in fo...

Homosexuality Not Factor in Economics (07 May 2013 10:05am)

Last night on the Economix Blog, Bruce Bartlett returned to Niall Ferguson's gay Keynes moment. I wrote about this over the weekend. Basically, Ferguson said that Keynes' economics didn't take the long term into account (not true) because he was gay (largely true) and didn't have kids (true). Most o...

Benghazi! (06 May 2013 08:48pm)

This evening as my flu or whatever slowly fades away, I thought you could use a little cheering up. John Fugelsang and TV's Frank Conniff created a little spoof on all the Benghazi hysteria in the right wing echo chamber. Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? You probably remember an attack on ...

Tyranny and the End of Gun Culture (06 May 2013 05:34pm)

Ed Kilgore over at Political Animal has a great article, None Dare Call it Treason. It is about the new NRA president, James Porter, and his loose talk of tyranny and violent opposition to it. I know the kind of guy. There is an enormous subsection of the male population who have fantasies about tak...

Should We Care About Immigration Reform? (06 May 2013 04:30pm)

Immigration reform! Why is it that I don't care? Greg Sargent and the guys over at The Plum Line tell me that I should care. They seem to think that something will happen. (They also think that something is still going to happen on gun reform, so decide for yourself.) Today, Sargent reported on a ne...

The Magnificent Orson Welles (06 May 2013 03:25pm)

On this day back in 1856, Sigmund Freud was born. I'm not a huge fan of the man, but there is no doubting his importance. And silent film legend Rudolph Valentino was born in 1895. He died at the age of 31 due to complications from appendicitis. In many ways, I think that's not a bad age to die at. ...

Republicans Don't Care About Debt (06 May 2013 10:58am)

I always look forward to Mondays and Fridays because Paul Krugman has a column on those days. Even after all these years of reading him, he still has much to offer about what is going on in the world. And this morning, he put together a number of pieces about why our economy is in the mess that it i...

Conservative Apologia Economics (06 May 2013 10:24am)

Adam Davidson wrote an article last Thursday that tries to find common ground between economists Larry Summers and Glenn Hubbard. For those of you who don't know it, Summers is a Democrat who was Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton. Hubbard is a Republican who was the Chairman of the Council of Ec...

Michael Palin (05 May 2013 06:04pm)

On this day back in 1813, Soren Kierkegaard was born. Then, exactly 5 years later, Karl Marx was born. I have much to say about both of these men, but I'm just not up for it. And especially, I'm not up for choosing which of them deserves to win the day, so I decided to give it to neither of them. Yo...

Sick and Laughing (05 May 2013 11:32am)

I swear I am getting worse. In addition, I think I'm taking too much cold medicine. The combination of the nighttime cold & flu and the cough medicine has made it so I can't quite walk straight. Nonetheless, the cough goes on and the nose drips like the bathroom faucet. In order to get though th...

Niall Ferguson's Gay Keynes Moment (04 May 2013 12:53pm)

A funny thing happened on the way through the question and answer session of the Tenth Annual Altegris Conference in Carlsbad. Niall Ferguson claimed that John Maynard Keynes was all wrong about economics. But he said it in a most inappropriate way. Let me back up a bit, because I know most people h...

Getting Soft with Bartolomeo Cristofori (04 May 2013 11:37am)

On this day back in 1852, the model for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Alice Liddell was born. And Audrey Hepburn was born in 1929. Criminal or glorious leader (I tend to think the two are the same), Hosni Mubarak is 85 today. Jazz bassist Ron Carter and surf guitarist Dick Dale are both 76. Cli...

It's a James Brown World (03 May 2013 05:55pm)

On this day in 1469, the great Niccolo Machiavelli was born. The Hundred and One Dalmatians author Dodie Smith was born in 1896. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir was born in 1898. Bing Crosby, who for some reason I just hate, was born in 1903. Femme fatale from The Maltese Falcon, Mary Astor was bo...

Economic Crime Kills (03 May 2013 10:31am)

I've been sick and so I've been re-watching some movies. Last night, I put on Terry Pratchett's Going Postal. At one point, Mr. Pump says that Moist Von Lipwig has killed many people. Lipwig counters that he never even drew a sword. Pump responds, "You have stolen, embezzled, and swindled. You have ...

Cherry Picking God's Gifts (02 May 2013 10:33pm)

Who knew Stephen Fry was so smart? Well, I guess we all did......

Hurricane Katrina Looting? (02 May 2013 09:45pm)

This is a remarkable catch by Melissa Harris-Perry on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight. Apparently, one of the scenarios you can play at the George W. Bush Presidential Library in their "decision room" is Hurricane Katrina. But it isn't about helping the drowning and starving people. It is about wheth...

Bewitched by Lorenz Hart (02 May 2013 09:03pm)

Catherine the Great was born on this day in 1729. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper was born in 1885. Benjamin Spock was born in 1903. And the great Indian director Satyajit Ray was born in 1921. David Suchet is 67 today. And Elizabeth Berridge is 51. But by a nose, the day belongs to the great lyrici...

Pretentious Puppets (02 May 2013 08:23pm)

I just watched what I think of as a deeply flawed but interesting documentary Puppet. It follows the Dan Hurlin production of a puppet play about the photographer Mike Disfarmer. My problem with the film is that it isn't focused. It is kind of about the theatrical backstage, kind of a about the stat...

Two Bits (02 May 2013 05:55pm)

My sister called me the other night to ask about the phrase, "two bits." It is a phrase that I don't hear much anymore, but people of my father's generation used it all the time to refer to a quarter of a dollar. It seems kind of strange for us to use because one "bit" would be twelve and a half cen...

GOP Does Not What to Fix Obamacare (02 May 2013 02:55pm)

Earlier this week, Ross Douthat wrote about the debate that has been going on between Ezra Klein and Ben Domenech about whether or not conservatives actually have an alternative to Obamacare. Douthat thus gave us, The Republican Health Policy Trainwreck. But don't let the title fool you, it is basic...

GOP Hates Judean People's Front (02 May 2013 11:27am)

Paul Waldman wrote an excellent article over at The American Prospect, House of Representatives Now a Scene from "Life Of Brian." It is based upon a Politico article that reported that the House Republicans are divided into two factions. Not moderates and conservatives. No, that would be too reasona...

False Equivalence and the Hero Archetype (02 May 2013 09:52am)

Jonathan Chait thinks that all the calls for presidential leadership to get Congress to, you know, do its job is magical thinking. In an article this morning, he said that there are two kinds analysts: quants and guts. Quants are people who look at the numbers. "The Democrats don't have a filibuster...

9 Is Not a Lonely Number (01 May 2013 10:31pm)

A couple of years ago, when I first saw the movie 9, I thought I perceived in it a new kind of dramatic structure. Having just watched it, I see now that I was wrong. The film is structured as a number of clear sequences—seven or so (I haven't studied the film). And as such, it is a pretty typ...

Hope for Democrats in 2014 (01 May 2013 07:56pm)

Sean Trende over at Real Clear Politics has started the process of looking at the 2014 House elections. The article mostly concerns its title, Congressional Elections and the Sixth-Year Myth. This is the idea that the president's party will lose big in the sixth-year midterm. To me, this myth is a l...

Jamestown Jane and the Cannibals (01 May 2013 05:49pm)

Meet Jamestown Jane. Or as her friends in Jamestown may have referred to her, Juicy Jane. According to USA Today, in a presentation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, her reconstructed face was presented as shown in the picture at the left. A lot of reconstruction was necessary...

Small Business Will Love Obamacare (01 May 2013 12:37pm)

The mainstream media are only really interested in big (corporate) business. But it is always put forward as discussion of "small business." There are a lot of definitions of "small business" so it isn't hard for the media to call just about any company "small." In fact, one of the more liberal-frie...

Obamacare Is Bad for Republicans (01 May 2013 12:31pm)

This morning, I was reading Jonathan Chait about, The Obamacare Opposite-of-a-Train-Wreck Scenario. In it, he argued that even though next year's implementation of Obama will likely have problems, these will be trumped by the fact that many millions of people will finally get health insurance. For a...

Something Happened to Joseph Heller (01 May 2013 11:08am)

The essayist and playwright Joseph Addison was born on this day back in 1672. King of Hawaii Kamehameha I was born in 1738. Writer and feminist Judith Sargent Murray was born in 1751. French Realist painter Jules Breton was born in 1827. American portrait painter Cecilia Beaux was born in 1855. Theo...

Selling God (01 May 2013 10:24am)

I just watched Selling God, ironically by Carl Christman. It is an amusing look at religion (primarily Christianity) as a product. What I think is particularly interesting about the film is that it really isn't anti-religious. Over half of the interviews are with Christians of one form or another. I...

Let's NOT Rush to War (30 Apr 2013 04:33pm)

I caught just a couple of minutes of Fox News and Charles Krauthammer was talking about how legalistic the White House was being about the suspected chemical weapons use by Syria. So far as I could tell, his argument was that this is a war zone so we don't have time to be careful. That makes sense f...

Low Probability Greatness (30 Apr 2013 01:23pm)

Gertrude Stein lover (There's lots of there there!) Alice B. Toklas was born on this day in 1877. Actor Eve Arden was born in 1908. Grandpa Munster actor, Al Lewis was born in 1923. Johnny Horton was born in 1925. And actor Jill Clayburgh was born in 1944. Cloris Leachman is 87 today. Willie Nelson...

Protectionism and the Death of Democracy (30 Apr 2013 10:51am)

Yesterday, Paul Krugman posted an article on his blog about why the economic crisis didn't result in more calls for protectionism: tariffs and the like. He proposes a few ideas but decides it is all about our trade agreements. I think he's wrong. It may well be the fact that there are institutional...

Because I Was Not a Terrorist... (30 Apr 2013 09:47am)

Everyone knows Martin Niemoller's "First they came for the communists..." poem. These days, we mostly hear it from conservatives because it is based on the slippery slope argument that is so beloved on the right. But I think the poem is fundamentally wrong; oppression doesn't happen that way. I was...

Hell is Other Family Members (29 Apr 2013 09:34pm)

Stephen Fry tells the story of his close encounter with the Mormon Church. ...

Who Is Obama Playing To? (29 Apr 2013 07:27pm)

I just had a thought. Remember that Pew poll that found that roughly half Americans blame Obama and half blame the Republicans for the flight delays caused by the Sequester? I discussed it earlier today, Democrats Own Sequester Air Traffic Exception. In that article, I argued that Obama should not t...

Duke Ellington's Got That Swing (29 Apr 2013 04:31pm)

The Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma was born in 1848 on this day. The great French mathematician Henri Poincare was born in 1854. Publisher William Randolph Hearst was born in 1863. The Dutch artist and print maker Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman was born in 1882. Japanese Emperor Hirohito was born in 1901....

Democrats Own Sequester Air Traffic Exception (29 Apr 2013 02:08pm)

I just caught a few minutes of Martin Bashir on MSNBC. He had a small panel and they were discussing the air traffic fix to the Sequester debacle. And man, aren't those Republicans bad! They're willing to let old folk go hungry but spring into action when it comes to their own comfort. Apparently, t...

The Death of Gay Culture (29 Apr 2013 01:02pm)

There used to be a large minority of the gay community that never wanted marriage equality. These people didn't want to be like the straight population and they feared that their movement would be co-opted by the corrupt mainstream society. They were right. Recently, it was announced that American ...

My Bipartisan Immigration Plan (29 Apr 2013 10:47am)

I have an immigration plan that should gain wide bipartisan support in Congress. This is because it will appeal to Republicans. Also: Democrats will go along with anything. There are three pillars of my plan: border security, guest workers, and path to citizenship. First, border security. The Canad...

Sympathy for Jamelle Bouie (29 Apr 2013 10:11am)

Our best wishes go out to Jamelle Bouie. We hope he has a speedy recovery. Bouie was a very insightful commentator over at The American Prospect, but he is totally wrong this morning. He wrote an article at the Plum Line, A Small Victory Against Anti-Tax Conservatives. In it, he discussed new legis...

New GOP Debt Ceiling Threat (29 Apr 2013 09:20am)

Over the weekend, Lori Montgomery at the Washington Post wrote, GOP Moves Away From Entitlements and Toward Tax Reform in Budget Deal. In it, she explained that because seniors don't like the idea of entitlement cuts, the Republicans are planning to focus on tax reform. And in the name of this tax r...

Obama at Correspondents Dinner (28 Apr 2013 11:05pm)

If you haven't seen this, I thought it was funny as hell: But it has been a long day. ...

Why is Ezra Klein Helping Republicans? (28 Apr 2013 10:32pm)

Yesterday, Digby asked a sensible question. Why do pundits simultaneously claim that Republicans are more radical than ever but then say that soon they will embrace, for example, Obamacare? She quotes two articles by Ezra Klein—one from last week and another from a few years ago—about ho...

Sin No More Against Bill Forsyth (28 Apr 2013 02:12pm)

I have long been a fan of the Scottish director Bill Forsyth. He is most remembered for two of his earlier films: Gregory's Girl and one of the greatest movies ever made, Local Hero. Annoyingly, after that, few people seemed to care, even though he made three excellent films in quick succession: Com...

An Incomplete Birthday (28 Apr 2013 10:03am)

James Monroe was born this day in 1758. Portuguese painter Jose Malhoa was born in 1855. The lesser brother, Lionel Barrymore was born in 1878. Blues great Charlie Patton was born in 1891. Romance novelist and despot Saddam Hussein was born in 1937. And Bruno Kirby was born in 1949. The great Harpe...

What Is a Labor Reporter? (27 Apr 2013 01:38pm)

Mike Elk is a labor reporter at In These Times Magazine. "A labor report?" you ask. "I thought those weren't allowed in the mainstream press!" Well, In These Times Magazine ain't exactly mainstream. They only have a circulation of about 20,000. Now if they started covering everything from the standp...

Everybody Is a Terrorist (27 Apr 2013 11:40am)

You know how racism works, right? You hate blacks; you think they are violent. You see a news story about some black guy who killed his girlfriend. That's more evidence that blacks are violent. You see another news story about some black guy who helps young people start small businesses. Well, that'...

. . . - - - . . . for Samuel Morse (27 Apr 2013 10:21am)

Ulysses S. Grant was born on this day in 1822. The creator of Woody Woodpecker, Walter Lantz was born in 1899. Jack Klugman was born in 1922. And Coretta Scott King was born in 1927. Casey Kasem is 81 today. Sheena Easton is 54. The poor man's Brad Pitt, James LeGros is 51. Wanker Dana Milbank is 4...

Ken Rogoff Doesn't Tweet His Junk (26 Apr 2013 01:20pm)

Kenneth Rogoff, last year: In a series of academic papers with Carmen Reinhart... we find that very high debt levels of 90% of GDP are a long-term secular drag on economic growth that often lasts for two decades or more. Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, today: Nowhere did we assert that 90 per...

Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1% (26 Apr 2013 11:50am)

Have you heard? Senate Votes to End Furloughs of Air Traffic Controllers. The House is working on it as I write this and the President is likely to sign it. Are you surprised? Only if you've been living in a cave your entire life. I think we should call this the "Rich People Can't Be Inconvenienced...

On Not Understanding Wittgenstein (26 Apr 2013 11:08am)

Art theorist and painter Gian Paolo Lomazzo was born on this day in 1538. French master Eugene Delacroix was born in 1798. American impressionist Edmund C. Tarbell was born in 1862. And everyone's favorite Nazi Rudolf Hess was born in 1894. Carol Burnett is 80 today! But the day does not belong to...

In the Loop (26 Apr 2013 10:35am)

Last night, I tried to watch two films. I've been putting off watching Three Kings for some time, so I finally sat down to watch it. It seems partly based upon Kelly's Heroes, which I don't much like. But I have to say, Three Kings made me appreciate it more. This isn't because of the film. It is ab...

No High Tech Worker Shortage (26 Apr 2013 09:24am)

Back in February, I wrote about the situation with H1-B visas. These are visas that allow highly educated workers in science and technology (STEM) to come to the United States to work. High tech companies are always pushing for more of these visas. But as I pointed out then, this is not a form of im...

American Politics Ever to the Right (25 Apr 2013 01:13pm)

According to The Hill yesterday evening, House Lawmakers Pull Immigration to the Right. That's to be expected. As Idaho Republican Raul Labrador notes, "There's [sic] a lot of things in the Senate bill that are right, but the reality is that the Senate is controlled by Democrats and the House is con...

Yes Virginia, Obama Hates You (25 Apr 2013 10:59am)

Last night, Obama was speaking to a group of wealthy donors. Unlike Republican politicians, Obama did not tell them what they wanted to hear. Instead, he told them, "Occasionally I may make some of you angry because I'm going to reach out to Republicans, and I'm going to keep on doing it. Even if so...

Low Expectation of Hillman Foundation (25 Apr 2013 09:58am)

The Sidney Hillman Foundation is a liberal organization that gives out prizes that honor "journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling in service of the common good." So what did they do? They gave a prize to Andrew Sullivan who is (1) a conservative, (2) not a journalist, an...

Good Night, and Good Luck (25 Apr 2013 09:13am)

King Edward II was born on this day in 1284. It is not known if he was really gay, but Christopher Marlowe certainly thought he was. His play is excellent, and the only reason I've even included the king today. Villain or hero Oliver Cromwell (I lean more toward hero) was born in 1599. The great phy...

How to Build a Bomb (24 Apr 2013 07:28pm)

Tonight, Rachel Maddow had a great opening sequence on conspiracy theorists and the thought that they are becoming more mainstream. I don't know about that. But I have known a lot of conspiracy theorists and I think I know how they think. One thing you have to remember about these people is that the...

Freedom to Overpay for Healthcare (24 Apr 2013 05:27pm)

Back during the end of the Bush administration, Andrew Sullivan and Ezra Klein got into a bit of a pissing contest and I think it bears discussion. Klein wrote an article where he praised (at least) the efficiency of the United Kingdom's actual socialized medical system (the doctors work for the gov...

Why Are We Killing Afghani Children? (24 Apr 2013 03:16pm)

Andrea sent me the image above. I've been chasing around the original source. She got it off sodahead.com but it is actually stolen bandwidth off Demotivational Posters but is tagged as motifake.com. Unfortunately, I have no idea who created the image in the first place. I've been in fights with pe...

Why Obama Wants a Grand Bargain (24 Apr 2013 12:41pm)

Last night, Politico reported, Sources: Obama Plans W.H.-GOP Budget Group. In other words, it is Grand Bargain time! Don't worry, that feeling in the pit of your stomach is a normal reaction to the loss of all hope. But maybe it isn't as bad as all that. Regardless, it is an opportunity for me to di...

Bush Kept Us Safe Apart From... (24 Apr 2013 11:47am)

I'm sure you remember the "What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us" scene from Monty Python's The Life of Brian. But if not, here is the best part: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have...

Castle On Haunted Hill (24 Apr 2013 10:41am)

The Irish portrait painter Nathaniel Hone the Elder was born on this day in 1718. The Russian cubist Lyubov Popova was born in 1889. And the Dutch abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning (who I can appreciate but really don't like) was born in 1904. Action film director Richard Donner is 83 today....

Is the GOP Post-Policy? (24 Apr 2013 10:00am)

Jonathan Bernstein noted something really interesting at Salon yesterday, GOP Quits Public Policy. In it, he explains that in the House of Representatives, they number bill sequentially. So HR 101 comes after HR 100. But for some time, they've reserved the first ten number HR 1 to HR 10 for party pr...

Ted Cruz Zinger Fail (23 Apr 2013 10:08pm)

This is really great. Ted Cruz is one of the Republicans who have been running around whining about the Gang of Eight immigration bill. According to him it is 844 pages and no one could read it in the 5 days he's had to read it (it was actually 6). Of course, reading the bill isn't critical. People...

Jerry Saltz Is an Asshole (23 Apr 2013 09:21pm)

I have a great fondness for serious art criticism. But I don't think you get it by reading newspapers or magazines. What's more, I tend to think that criticism takes time. You need to live with a piece of art for a long time. Otherwise, it is too easy to let your emotions distract you with flashy to...

Conservatives Hate All Immigrants (23 Apr 2013 05:06pm)

There has been much talk about how the Boston Marathon bombing changes the calculus of immigration reform. At first that surprised me. The Tsarnaev brothers were here legally. How does that have anything to do with illegal immigration. But then only last night it hit me: I've been dumb, naive, or b...

Is Bush Back? (23 Apr 2013 02:47pm)

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their last president. Yes, it is reevaluate George W. Bush time! And the pundits are out with their "Bush weren't so bad" articles. (Yes, that was a little grammar humor with the subjunctive.) As you can probably guess, I don't think much about ...

Marginally Bad That Baucus is Retiring (23 Apr 2013 12:22pm)

Max Baucus is retiring. I'm beginning to think that by the time 2014 rolls around that every Democratic senator will have decided to retire. Jamelle Bouie at the Plum Line blog says that even though Montana is a conservative state, the Democrats have a good chance of keeping the seat because former ...

Max Planck (23 Apr 2013 10:35am)

You may have heard that William Shakespeare was born on this day in 1564. But the truth is that we don't know. The same goes for Christopher Marlowe and Miguel de Cervantes. What we know is when they were baptized. And the convention is to assume that babies were baptized on the third day. So really...

Get Away With It (22 Apr 2013 09:37pm)

I'm not quite sure what Justice Banking is, except that it is some kind of social satire group. But you really should watch this video. What I particularly like about it is that it focuses on what I just wrote: bankers are the ones who are supposed to be looking out for their interest; the borrowers...

Kick the Poor Then Jail Them (22 Apr 2013 08:14pm)

Ed Kilgore made a good point over at the Political Animal blog, More Pain For Economic Victims. In it, he talked about the widely reported William Dickens and Rand Ghayad paper (pdf) that showed that employers would rather hire a less qualified applicant who has been unemployed for a short time than...

Samuelson: Economics Is Confusing (22 Apr 2013 04:35pm)

Yesterday was Sunday and that can mean only one thing: Robert Samuelson wrote something stupid in his column over at the Washington Post and Dean Baker destroyed it with mockery and, you know, facts. I really don't like Samuelson; he's the embodiment of the Very Serious Pundit who claims to simply e...

Lesbians, Short Hair, and the Frumpy Years (22 Apr 2013 02:15pm)

Last night, I watched this video 24 Hours of Madness. It is some kind of British celebrity game show. You know the kind where everyone goes on just to show that they are more clever and charming than the Yankees? And I got sucked in. It was loads of fun. But if you are going to watch it, fast forwar...

Miranda and Terror (22 Apr 2013 01:15pm)

The New York Times just reported that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be tried in a civilian court. Thank God for small favors. Really, there should have been no question. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the United States who are hellbent on destroying the United States Constitution, even while t...

Immanuel Kant Was a Real Pissant (22 Apr 2013 10:38am)

Cool birthdays are not evenly distributed. Some days, it is hard to find anyone to talk about. Look at Friday, for example—and it wasn't even close to the worst. And then there are days like today that are overflowing with interesting people. Let's start with Henry Fielding who was born on thi...

Insulting Ayn Rand (22 Apr 2013 12:22am)

I have major problems with Christopher Hitchens. One of the biggest is that he chose to use his incredible intellect for such trivial pursuits. But when he was right about something, I was on his side. And the fact is that he was right about quite a lot. Unfortunately, he used the last ten or so yea...

Witches and Hippies (21 Apr 2013 09:25pm)

This video parody of Dragnet is very funny with some clever computer effects. But what I think is most interesting about it is the original stuff that sadly very few people in a society can see at the time: how law enforcement is mostly just cultural bias, and in-group and out-group signifying. The ...

Dobson's Negro as Other (21 Apr 2013 08:49pm)

In the complexion of negroes we meet with various shades; but they likewise differ far from other men in all the features of their face. Round cheeks, high cheek bones, a forehead somewhat elevated, a short, broad, flat nose, thick lips, small ears, ugliness, and irregularity of shape, characterize ...

Larry Summers' Last Chance (21 Apr 2013 08:29pm)

Let me tell you about Larry Summers. He's an economist and was the Secretary of the Treasury under Bill Clinton. Before him, Robert Rubin was Treasure Secretary, and Summers, being an acolyte of his, continued his strong dollar policies. Now I know that a strong dollar sounds like a good thing, but ...

Come Back Obama (21 Apr 2013 06:13pm)

Just one more quick note about all the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing. I believe that Obama was so quick to call the bombing a terrorist act because, as usual, he's a wimp. I'm sure he is worried that just like in Benghazi, the right wing will attack him for not calling it a terrorist atta...

Racism Toward Muslims (21 Apr 2013 05:29pm)

Ali Abunima at The Electronic Intifada has written an article that I wish all Americans would read (even though I fear their reaction would be no better than it was to Marc Ambinder's article), Obama's Rush to Judgment: Was the Boston Bombing Really a "Terrorist" Act? The basis of his argument is th...

Missing Cat/Dog/People Signs (21 Apr 2013 04:25pm)

I rarely torture you all with my own poetry but this rhymes! And yes, I know what you'll say, "It's bad enough that this is all about death; do you really have to end it by saying that death is a good thing?" Well, yes, as a matter of fact I do. I'm no fan of death, but there are a great many things...

Charlotte Was Not Tenacious of Life (21 Apr 2013 10:53am)

John Muir was born this day in 1838. Filmmaker Marcel Camus was born in 1912. Comedic screenwriter Norman Panama was born in 1914. Anthony Quinn in 1915. And American citizen gunned down without due process of law, Anwar al-Aulaqi was born in 1971. Queen Elizabeth II is 87 today. The great comedian...

We Aren't the Anti-Terrorists (21 Apr 2013 09:28am)

A lot of people in the United States want terrorism to be a major problem—it seems to define us as a people. But apparently, terrorism is an extremely minor problem. How else can we explain the fact that almost every time I read about a foiled terror plot, it turns out that all the tools for t...

Don't Nofollow (20 Apr 2013 10:37pm)

I've come to despise the "nofollow" attribute of links. When a link includes rel="nofollow" in it, search engines are not supposed to follow the link or use it to increase, for example, the linked page's Google ranking. The idea originally was to reduce spam. If spammers knew that their useless blog...

Global Warming and Expansionary Austerity (20 Apr 2013 05:36pm)

When I was doing research in global warming, it was very annoying. The theory was all laid out. And that was most of what we had. At that time, the evidence for global warming was weak. So an iconoclast like me naturally looked for ways that the theory was wrong: negative feedbacks and stuff like th...

Why Dems Aren't Economically Liberal (20 Apr 2013 01:39pm)

I just came upon this short segment from Up with Steve Kornacki. In it, he admits what I've long said: the Democratic Party (at the national level anyway) is just liberal on social issues; when it comes to economic issues, they are as conservative as Republicans were during the Reagan administration...

Common Sense or Nonsense (20 Apr 2013 12:45pm)

Meet Mark Blyth. He is a political scientist who seems to study mostly economics. He has a new book coming out next week, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea, which I've already ordered. In the following video, he explains that the economy is not like a family. If the public and private sect...

Wanted: Serious Right Wing (20 Apr 2013 11:13am)

There are fundamental differences between MSNBC and Fox News, but most of them have to do with degrees. For example, to some extent, MSNBC has become a media arm of the Democratic Party; Fox News is nothing but a media arm of the Republican Party. The biggest and most consequential difference has no...

Safety Last (20 Apr 2013 09:34am)

On this day in 1840, French symbolist painter Odilon Redon was born. Sculpter Daniel Chester French, who created Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, was born 1850. Adolf Hitler who played some part in European history was born in 1889. Lionel Hampton was born in 1908. And Tito Puente was born ...

Third Time with Downton Abbey (19 Apr 2013 08:31pm)

I can't really take anymore of this Boston business. There are things to be happy about, but mostly I'm finding my fellow citizens (including the president) disappointing. So let's talk about Downton Abbey. Finally, I've watched the whole series. But I didn't watch it in order; I watched it in this...

Muslims? Let's Go to War! (19 Apr 2013 06:34pm)

Marc Ambinder wrote a very reasonable article over at The Week, The Insanity of Blaming Islam. In it, he argues that we shouldn't blame Islam if a Muslim commits a crime any more than we should blame Christanity when a Christian commits a crime. This is an excellent point. When Scott Roeder killed G...

Profits Before People (19 Apr 2013 02:54pm)

It looks as though the fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Company near Waco, Texas was not intentional—no terrorist act as I feared. It seems to be just another tragic industrial accident. And as such, it makes for a good comparison with the Boston Marathon bombing. The bombing killed 3...

Reuters Plans Character Assassination After Soros Dies (19 Apr 2013 01:42pm)

I just love the liberal media in the United States. It is so liberal that when a conservative dies, they provide blanket hagiographic coverage. But when a liberal dies, it is "both sides now" coverage, "On the liberal side of the political spectrum he was consider a champion of worker rights, but on...

Ontological Blindness of Stephen Hawking (19 Apr 2013 10:33am)

Many years ago, I picked up a copy of an astronomy magazine at a dental office. The cover story was about the big bang. It wondered why people didn't accept that big bang in large numbers, even though it was one of the most confirmed scientific theories ever. I know why people don't "accept" the the...

Will You Still Need Me When I'm 116? (19 Apr 2013 07:54am)

It is another weak birthday list. But let's get on with it. Founding father Roger Sherman was born on this day in 1721. Eliot Ness was born in 1903. Darrin number two on Bewitched, Dick Sargent, was born in 1930. Jayne Mansfield was born in 1933. And Dudley Moore was born in 1935. Stanley Fish, who...

It Is Not Immediately Clear If These Are the Young Men (18 Apr 2013 08:38pm)

Following off the journalistic rigor and ethics of the New York Post, I offer you the two young men pictured on the left who are wanted for questioning by the feds about the Boston Marathon bombing. I am not saying that these guys are the suspects, but I have been told that the authorities are circu...

Mirrors and Bad Lighting on Curiously Clever (18 Apr 2013 07:01pm)

Andrea just wrote an interesting article at our other blog Curiously Clever. In it, she discusses the Dove company's attempts to brand itself as "not anti-woman." As we all know, much of the media is focused on making women (and increasingly men) feel bad about themselves and in need of beauty produ...

Happy 25th Convention Against Torture (18 Apr 2013 06:32pm)

It is the 25th anniversary of Ronald Reagan signing the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Ah, the good ol' days, when being against torture was bipartisan! Today, the problem is that one of our political parties is in favor of torture and the other, while not being for it, doesn't think it ...

Slow Economy Causes Government Debt (18 Apr 2013 03:31pm)

You may remember earlier this week, I referenced an article by Mike Konczal and his excellent summary of the problems in the famous Reinhart and Rogoff (R&R) paper. The original paper claimed that high government debt led to slow economic growth. The primary argument against this work was that R&R h...

Would Jesus Be a Republican? (18 Apr 2013 01:31pm)

I found an amusing little article over at the vile website Rapture Ready, Would Jesus Vote Republican? The answer: Jesus would not have been a Democrat or a Republican, but clearly the Republican Party is far more godly so you better vote Republican. Fun times! The section that discusses why Jesus ...

Don't Primary Red State Democrats (18 Apr 2013 12:51pm)

After a string of clueless attempts to be iconoclastic, Jonathan Chait managed to write something that is both iconoclastic and right, Senate Democrats Wise to Block Background Checks. His argument is very simple: red state Democrats have to make some non-liberal votes to maintain credibility with t...

Once Upon a Time in the West (18 Apr 2013 11:19am)

Longtime reader and insightful commenter JMF had mentioned a few times that he really liked the Sergio Leone film Once Upon a Time in the West. I hadn't thought that much of it, but I'd only seen it once about 20 years ago. So I decided to revisit it. And it was a revelation. One thing I wouldn't h...

Women Beware Middleton (18 Apr 2013 09:11am)

Clarence Darrow was born on this day in 1857. He was a major player in two of the most important trails of the last century: Scopes (evolution and free speech) and Leopold and Loeb (death penalty). He was a truly great man. Japanese screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto is 95 today. Rock journalist Robert...

Waco 20 Years On (17 Apr 2013 07:27pm)

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Yglesias Cast Out of Appleworld (17 Apr 2013 01:35pm)

This is just sad. I've been reading Matt Yglesias for a long time and one thing I know (And like!) about him is that he's an iconoclast. Just this morning he was making what I thought a very weak but iconoclastic argument against fiscal stimulus. But when it comes to computers, I guess he just has t...

Forgiving Torture (17 Apr 2013 01:02pm)

I am often reminded that I'm not a very nice person. Most recently, this came to mind because Jonathan Bernstein wrote at Post Partisan, How Do We Keep from Torturing Again? This is coming off the Constitution Project report stating unequivocally that after 9/11, the United States, as a matter of go...

Forfeit Today So You Can Forfeit Tomorrow (17 Apr 2013 11:31am)

Any time now, the Senate will vote down the Toomey-Manchin gun purchase background check compromise. I can't say I'm sad about this. Even under the best of circumstances, the law would have been so watered down as to be almost meaningless. And that was very little gain in return for the possibility ...

S'awright? S'awriiight! (17 Apr 2013 09:41am)

The English playwright John Ford was born on this day in 1586. The inventor of baseball (more or less), Alexander Cartwright was born in 1820. J. P. Morgan was born in 1837, and we've been paying for it ever since. The great playwright Thornton Wilder was born 1897. William Holden was born in 1918. ...

Gold Has Little Intrinsic Value (17 Apr 2013 09:09am)

Paul Krugman's last two columns have been about the obsession of conservatives (especially libertarians) with gold backed currency. On Friday, he wrote, Lust for Gold. In it, he discussed the recent fall in the price of gold and how it will not affect the way that goldbugs think about the commodity....

A Tale of Two Studies (16 Apr 2013 09:14pm)

Juliet Lapidos at Taking Note reported yesterday on Defensive Gun Use. In it, she wrote about a new study from the Violence Policy Center (VPC) that counters the claim by the NRA that there are over 2 million defensive uses of guns every year. The VPC finds that there are less than 70,000. The NRA ...

America Tortured After 9/11 (16 Apr 2013 07:13pm)

It is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture. That's not what I say; that's according to the nonpartisan, independent review performed by the Constitution Project. According to Scott Shane at the New York Times, the group is releasing a 577-page report tomorrow. I un...

Patrick Dollard Doesn't Remember 9/11 (16 Apr 2013 06:01pm)

Blue Texan over at Crooks & Liars brought my attention to the following stupid right-wing tweet. There are stupid right-wing tweets everyday; it is a regular feature on Crooks & Liars. But this one really deserves attention because it highlights something that most conservatives think but th...

Reinhart and Rogoff Shown to Be Wrong—Again. (16 Apr 2013 03:54pm)

There is a bit of economic news today that is wonderfully fun and I dare say it would be a shame for you all to miss out on it just because you don't follow the economics blogs. What's more, in terms of truth, it really matters, even if, in terms of politics, it probably won't. In 2010, Carmen Rein...

How We Feel About Those We Victimize (16 Apr 2013 02:05pm)

Last night, I tried to convey my feeling that we focus (largely because the media profit from it) on big tragic events while we ignore rapid and endless "mundane" tragedies of life in the United States. And I do feel that way. But I admit: it is a provincial view. But there is no one like Glenn Gree...

Athletes Are Not Paid Too Much (16 Apr 2013 12:40pm)

I am not much of a sports fan, but I do rather enjoy watching the game of baseball—although I would rather watch the minor leagues. But one argument I get into with sports fans (and non-fans) is the supposedly unreasonable player salaries. This is nonsense. And I take particular umbrage at the...

Painting to Lose Your Head Over (16 Apr 2013 10:01am)

Wilbur Wright was born this day in 1867. Actor Peter Ustinov was born in 1921. The great arranger and composer Henry Mancini was born in 1924. Jazz flutist Herbie Mann was born in 1930. And Dusty Springfield was born in 1939. Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (the Pope emeritus) is 86 today. Kareem Abdul-J...

All Today's Victims (15 Apr 2013 11:17pm)

I always have a strange and some would say heartless view of tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombing. It is not that I am not engaged by such events. Rather, it is that I feel that it is wrong to elevate such events above the tragedy that we allow day after day. If this is like most days, 25 peop...

Let's Eat Grandma (15 Apr 2013 07:32pm)

Will sent me a link to this t-shirt vendor that has a shirt that reads, "Let's eat grandma. Let's eat, grandma. Punctuation saves lives." This, of course, is very much in keeping with Lynne Truss' fun book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. But as much as I find ...

Hope Alone is Not Audacious (15 Apr 2013 12:03pm)

What is audacious about hope? In general, I think the answer is nothing. There could be something. If you combine hope with a strong will and commitment, then it can be audacious indeed. But I've never gotten the idea that Obama means this. Instead, he seems to offer nothing more than the hope that ...

Leonardo and the Fetus (15 Apr 2013 10:37am)

On this day in 1707, one of the greatest mathematicians ever, Leonhard Euler was born. The great novelist Henry James was born 1843. Muralist Thomas Hart Benton was born in 1889. Nikita Khrushchev and Bessie Smith were born in 1894. The iconoclastic psychologist Thomas Szasz was born in 1920. And El...

Gun Bill Could Be Worse Than Nothing (15 Apr 2013 09:58am)

Have you seen the opening to this weekend's Saturday Night Live? The skit makes fun of what I wrote about last week: The Great Liberal Gun Policy Victory. In the end, I argued, what we would get is a law that is almost useless. I'm never one to avoid accountability, so let me lay it on the line: I w...

Zulu Dawn and Every War Ever (14 Apr 2013 07:47pm)

When I was a kid, I loved the film Zulu. I still do. But as I've gotten older, I've come to be painfully aware of its ethnocentrism. So when I saw that Zulu Dawn, the film about the events that led up to the Anglo-Zulu War, was available for Instant Watch on Netflix, I was very pleased. Cy Endfield,...

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (14 Apr 2013 05:22pm)

Last night, I finally watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Normally, when I see a trailer for a film, I am filled with scorn. Trailers are very predictable and usually turn even good films in a mush of cliches. But that wasn't the case with this film. Probably it had something to do with the cast...

True Friends of the Bible (14 Apr 2013 04:33pm)

When we find we must spend time disabusing students of Christian origins of the red herrings strewn about with gleeful abandon by apologists, we critics of traditional supernaturalism find ourselves in a strange and seemingly ironic position. We view ourselves, contrary to the perspective our own cr...

Light Waves and Birthdays (14 Apr 2013 12:41pm)

Helen Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan was born on this day back in 1866. I didn't realize it, but Keller outlived Sullivan by 32 years, but I suppose she was more critical at the beginning than the end. The great Shakespearean actor John Gielgud was born in 1904. And you thought he was just the butl...

Jeremi Suri Calls for War (14 Apr 2013 11:55am)

Jeremi Suri wrote a remarkable op-ed in the New York Times on Friday, Bomb North Korea, Before It's Too Late. What I find so interesting is that Suri is not some Fox News shouter. He seems to be more or less a liberal, or at least what passes for one in modern America. He is also a history professor...

We'll Be Right Back (13 Apr 2013 09:18pm)

There's a little bit of a work slowdown here at Frankly Curious. There are a couple of reasons for this. Primarily, I have been having the worst time sleeping, and even though that means I'm awake a lot, I don't feel much like writing. Also, I am doing taxes. I think the worst of that is over. So if...

Happy Days for Beckett (13 Apr 2013 10:32am)

Since I've started doing these birthday posts, I've never come upon a day like this. I wish I could spread out these birthdays, because normally, I would feature any number of these people. The last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions, Guy Fawkes was born on this day in 1570. Thomas Jeff...

Why Obama's Budget Is a Mistake (12 Apr 2013 09:55pm)

Jonathan Chait wrote an interesting article today about how conservative pundits are now attacking Obama from the left, Conservatives Decide Obama Is Too Conservative. It had a particularly good catch from Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon who now says that Obama shouldn't be trying t...

Two Errors from Matt Yglesias (12 Apr 2013 07:05pm)

It's a burden. You know that, right? Being very smart is a burden. I'm not talking about myself, in case you were wondering, because I'm not very smart. But young Matt Yglesias is, and his intelligence leads him horribly astray from time to time. Like today: two different articles really stood out f...

Post's False Equivalence on Obama Budget (12 Apr 2013 11:56am)

The Washington Post published an editorial this morning, It's the GOP's Turn to be Serious with the Budget. With a title like that, you would think it would be a great read and a strong statement. Instead, it is almost entirely false equivalence, because, I guess, the Post doesn't want to lose its s...

Scott Turow and Novel Theory (12 Apr 2013 09:45am)

The great sculptor Felix de Weldon was born on this day in 1907. Six fingered bluesman Hound Dog Taylor was born in 1912. And ethnomusicologist and wacky performer Tiny Tim was born in 1932. Manuel Neri of the Bay Area Figurative Movement is 83. Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement is 76. H...

North Pond Hermit (11 Apr 2013 07:41pm)

Meet Christopher Knight. He disappeared in the wilderness of Maine 27 years ago as a 20 year old. And he just came back out. Well, perhaps that will give you the wrong idea. He has been living alone in the woods all these years, but he would go to one of the 300 camps around North Pond and steal th...

Matt Yglesias Is Confused About Songwriting (11 Apr 2013 05:28pm)

Matt Yglesias is upset that Taylor Swift's new Diet Coke commercial perpetuates unfortunate stereotypes about songwriting. He doesn't like that the video shows Swift scribbling lyrics in a notebook. According to Yglesias, that's just not the way it's done in the modern world. He claims that songwrit...

Inside Obama's Budget (11 Apr 2013 01:12pm)

In Jonathan Bernstein's Happy Hour Roundup at The Plum Line last night, he provided links to three articles that argue in different ways that there is much to like in Obama's new budget. I've never argued otherwise, but I have been too focused on the entitlement cuts. Let's be clear though: Obama's ...

Poker, Fraud, and Computer Science (11 Apr 2013 11:16am)

Cartoonist Dale Messick was born on this day back in 1906. The first African-American woman to graduate from Yale Law School, Jane Bolin was born in 1908. The founder of the Church of Satan Anton LaVey was born in 1930. And Stuart Adamson of the band Big Country was born in 1958. Actor Joel Grey, w...

Breaking News: David Axelrod Doesn't Call Us Fucking Retarded (10 Apr 2013 11:08pm)

On tonight's The Rachel Maddow Show, David Axelrod explained that everything Obama has ever done or ever will again do is just right. We actual liberals just don't get it. We don't understand the bigger issues that Serious Democrats understand. We don't understand that "free" trade agreements are gr...

Liberals Are Not Winning (10 Apr 2013 10:07pm)

When I see a bald guy with ear rings who has clearly never been to jail, I think: prison rape fantasies. That's what I was thinking while watching gun rights advocate and overall Republican fucktard Kevin Williamson on All In tonight. But he made a great point: the new "gun control" legislation is b...

Republican Peeing Analogy (10 Apr 2013 06:44pm)

You gotta love Greg Sargent: he really seems to think that it will matter that Republicans are showing themselves to be intransigent when it comes to Obama's new Social Security cutting budget. In an article earlier today, he noted that John Boehner and Eric Cantor immediately came out with statemen...

Is Sarcasm Dead? (10 Apr 2013 12:19pm)

This is amusing. Yesterday, Jonathan Chait wrote an article about Michael Kelly who for less than a year was the editor of The New Republic. Chait worked under Kelly and remembers him foundly as students often remember their mentors. Kelly was apparently very protective of his young writers. But tha...

The Pleasure of Not Hating William Hazlitt (10 Apr 2013 11:53am)

Joseph Pulitzer was born on this day back in 1847. I used to have a cat named Pulitzer. So for the record, it it pronounced poo-litzer, not peu-litzer. And yes: yellow journalism and all that. But it was still better than the pretend objectivity of the modern mainstream press. Playwright Clare Booth...

The Great Liberal Gun Policy Victory (10 Apr 2013 10:51am)

The New York Times (and plenty of other news outlets) has reported that we have a gun control bill that can make it through the Senate. Hoo-fucking-ray! Let's look back on what's happened the last 4 months. Mass murders in America every few days. About 40 gun suicides per day. About 25 gun murders p...

Obama's Childish Budget Gambit (10 Apr 2013 09:43am)

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Or rather the Obama administration, which is out this morning with their new entitlement cutting budget. Greg Sargent reported this morning, "The administration officials insisted yesterday that Obama does not view Chained CPI as good policy." The thing is, ...

Harlan County, USA (09 Apr 2013 10:01pm)

I've seen scenes from Barbara Kopple's documentary about the Brookside Miners' Strike, Harlan County, USA. But I'd never sat down and watched it—until tonight. I'm very fond of documentaries generally, but this one is certainly one of the best I have ever seen. It was so good, in fact, that as...

Pretend Liberals (09 Apr 2013 06:42pm)

Eric Alterman had a great article in last week's print edition of The Nation, Cuomo Vs. Cuomo (that link it behind a pay wall, but a subscription only costs $9.50 per year—I think The New York Times charges more per month). In it, he talks about the two sides of Cuomo the Younger (Andrew): Soc...

Dramatic Momentum and Third Acts (09 Apr 2013 02:59pm)

I've been thinking about two comedies recently that have what I normally consider problematic third acts. The first film is kind of a classic of this kind of problem, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The third act is a total muddle. Lothos tries to woo Buffy, she rejects him, he attacks her and is killed i...

End the Corporate Income Tax? (09 Apr 2013 12:51pm)

Matt Yglesias has a modest proposal. He says we should get rid of the corporate income tax. It only brings in 1-2% of federal income taxes. So given how good corporations are at getting out of it, let's just abolish it. As he notes, the main good it does is to provide employment for "a small army of...

In Which the Birthdays Suck (09 Apr 2013 10:07am)

This is by far the worst day for birthday since I started this. But let's get it over with. Carl Perkins was born on this day back in 1932. Hugh Hefner, who I think is a distinctly creepy guy, is 87. Objectivist psychologist and Ayn Rand lover (as in sex, not necessarily devotion) Nathaniel Branden...

How Much Did Race Affect Obama (08 Apr 2013 09:43pm)

Jamelle Bouie wrote an interesting article over at The American Prospect this morning, Did Obama Lose Votes Because of His Race? In it, he reported on some very clever research by Harvard economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. He combined regional voting patterns from 2004 with regional Google searches...

Thatcher Gets No Credit for Ozone (08 Apr 2013 07:33pm)

There was a very interesting discussion on All In about the legacy of Margaret Thatcher. I quite agree with what Chris Hayes says at the beginning of the clip below. But at one point, he asks Cass Sunstein if there is anything about Thatcher that liberals should applaud. Sunstein mentions the ozone ...

AAA Hollywood Asshole James Cameron (08 Apr 2013 01:35pm)

I am something on a connoisseur of director commentaries on films. Of course, most are quite awful; generally, I would rather listen to a writer or a historian discuss the films. But directors often tell you a lot about how little they understand the art form they work in. And often, they show what ...

Tramp the Dirt Down (08 Apr 2013 11:12am)

Margaret Thatcher was an evil woman. Now she's dead. At the end of her term in office, Elvis Costello released a song about her, "Tramp the Dirt Down." In it he sang, "And when they finally put you in the ground; I'll stand there laughing; And tramp the dirt down." I agree completely about that sent...

Adieu Jacques Je T'aimais Bien Tu Sais (08 Apr 2013 10:25am)

Mary Pickford was born in 1892 on this day. According to Wikipedia, she was an alcoholic. But if she was, how did she live to be 87? Really. The definition of alcoholic has really gotten out of hand when it is applied to Pickford. The great economist John Hicks was born in 1904. And another alleged ...

The Ethics of Precrime (07 Apr 2013 09:34pm)

I just read the Philip K. Dick short story "The Minority Report." I've seen the film that is based upon it a number of times before. But as with any written story, reading gives you time to think. In this case, I began to think about the metaphysics of precrime. For those of you unaware of the plot,...

Cynical Son of a Bitch (07 Apr 2013 08:04pm)

I am a cynical son of a bitch. I am the first to push emotion aside for the purpose of the greater intellectual good. So I was surprised how much tonight's episode of 60 Minutes struck me. The show brought together a group of parents who lost children at Sandy Hook. The cynical side of me was very c...

Melissa Harris-Perry Calls BS (07 Apr 2013 04:30pm)

Few political commentators can call bullshit as well as Melissa Harris-Perry. In the clip below from yesterday's show, she is talking about the Tennessee bill that would cut welfare funding from families who have children who are not performing well in school. I don't have much to add to what she sa...

Manchurian Speaker (07 Apr 2013 01:36pm)

When I saw that Ezra Klien had written an article titled, The Strange Alliance Between John Boehner and Liberals, I knew just what he was talking about. Basically, over the last couple of years, John Boehner has saved the liberal cause by refusing to accept rather conservative deals on things like C...

Lady's Day (07 Apr 2013 10:21am)

On this day in 1770, William Wordsworth was born. (I named one of my puppets after him—surely there is no greater honor.) The visionary philosopher Charles Fourier was born in 1772. The great sitar player Ravi Shankar was born in 1920 and only died last year. Alan J. Pakula, director of the ex...

Life and Death of Raphael (06 Apr 2013 12:41pm)

Dudley Nichols, screenwriter of Bringing Up Baby, was born on this day back in 1895. The great saxophonist Gerry Mulligan was born in 1927. And Kinch from Hogan's Heroes, Ivan Dixon was born in 1931. The great geneticist James D. Watson is 85 today. Merle Haggard is 76. I like him for songs like "M...

Avik Roy's Nonsense on Disability Insurance (06 Apr 2013 12:14am)

One thing that this last week has shown is that Chris Hayes' new weeknight show All In is certainly as good as his weekend show was. So you will forgive me for writing twice about it in as many days. Last night, there was a discussion of the recent NPR attack on Disability Insurance. And Hayes brou...

Karen Hunter Hates Young Women (05 Apr 2013 09:27pm)

I just saw a very annoying thing on Chris Hayes' new Show All In. There was a panel discussion of Judge Edward Korman's smack down of the Obama administration over their repellent handling of the youth exclusion to allowing Plan B to be sold over the counter. The problem was Karen Hunter on the pane...

Obama's Ideal Budget (05 Apr 2013 07:45pm)

Everyone seems to pretty much agree with me regarding the administration's announcement that they are going to put Chained-CPI into their new budget: bad policy, bad politics. But I've reached a new place with regards to Obama. I now think that there are two things he wants to accomplish in budget n...

Are Republicans Killing Women? (05 Apr 2013 03:02pm)

The remarkable map below is from health researcher Bill Gardner via Sarah Kliff at Wonk Blog, This Map of America's Female Mortality Rates Is Pretty Terrifying. The reason that Kliff refers to the map as "pretty terrifying" is that 43% of US counties are seeing rising levels of female mortality. In ...

Obama's Prized Chained-CPI (05 Apr 2013 10:27am)

I give up! This morning, Obama announced that he will continue to bargain with himself. On Wednesday, Jared Bernstein discussed a number of budget items that we face. The most important of which was his argument that Obama should not put Chained-CPI into his budget. Chained-CPI is basically just a ...

No Calvin All Hobbes (05 Apr 2013 10:00am)

Booker T. Washington was born on this day in 1856. Food safety scientist and advocate Samuel Cate Prescott was born in 1872. We have a bunch of actors: Walter Huston (1883); Spencer Tracy (1900); Melvyn Douglas (1901); Bette Davis (1908); Gregory Peck (1916); Nigel Hawthorne (1929); and Frank Gorshi...

We Need More Politicians (05 Apr 2013 12:31am)

On Tuesday, Daniel Schuman wrote, Congress Deserves a Big Fat Raise. This is something I've long supported. I hate the argument that we should pay our elected officials less. These arguments are, at base, nothing but bitterness. What's more, even if we paid them nothing it would save us a negligible...

Were Women Allowed to Act in the Theater in the Shakespereian Era? (05 Apr 2013 12:06am)

As I was putting together today's birthday post, I came upon Adrienne Lecouvreur, a French actress during the early 18th century. I had no idea who she was, but she was born in 1692 and it got me to thinking about the laws against women actors in England during the Elizabethan theater. As I recalled...

Arrested Development Season 4! (04 Apr 2013 08:57pm)

I know this news will be important to a number of my readers: the fourth season of Arrested Development is coming out next month. Netflix announced that they will be releasing 15 new episodes that will constitute a fourth season. All of the episodes will be released at once at 12:01 am Pacific time ...

In Memoriam: 4 April 1968 (04 Apr 2013 06:26pm)

In 1968 sanitation workers made history in Memphis, Tennessee. Over a thousand workers went on strike to protest unfair wages, discrimination, and unsafe working conditions that took the lives of two of their own. Marching through the streets, they wore signs declaring "I Am a Man." In April, Dr. Ma...

Two Mistakes from Obama (04 Apr 2013 06:07pm)

President Obama screwed up twice in the last day or so. The most recent will probably get the most press. I also don't think it is nearly as important. He said that Kamala Harris from California was brilliant and hard working and all that stuff. And then he added, "She also happens to be, by far the...

What I Learned from the New Quinnipiac Poll (04 Apr 2013 12:35pm)

Those clever devils at Quinnipiac thought to ask people whether they thought the same sex marriage issue should be settled by the Constitution or by the states. The results were: 56-36 in favor of Ye Good Ol' Constitution. Everyone wants the Constitution to decide this one. Except... Are you ready f...

Eric Cantor Is Not for New Taxes (04 Apr 2013 11:21am)

I am constantly amazed at how naive mainstream, even insightful political writers are. This morning, Jonathan Chait made a big deal of the fact that Eric Cantor said "we'll see about additional taxes" after being asked if he would consider taxes if Obama showed he was "serious" about the budget defi...

Mojo Still Working (04 Apr 2013 10:23am)

The great French director Eric Rohmer was born on this day back in 1920. And Anthony Perkins was born back 1932. Overrated, but reasonably good writer Maya Angelou is 85. Record producer Clive Davis is 81. Hugo Weaving is 53. And David Cross and Robert Downey Jr are 49. But the day belongs to McKi...

Good God Y'All (03 Apr 2013 07:28pm)

This song has been going through my head for days. It is a great one at least: Edwin Starr's "War": What a great live version: totally kick ass band. And Starr sounds great— regrettably just a couple of years before he died. ...

The Basis of Sam Harris' Racism (03 Apr 2013 07:17pm)

I don't like the label "atheist" because I'm really not. Just the same, I think theism is ridiculous and not really much worth discussing. It is just that when it comes to cosmology I stand with Hamlet, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." As a...

Rory Cooper's High-larious Tweets (03 Apr 2013 03:26pm)

Matt Yglesias caught a remarkable series of tweets this morning from Rory Cooper. Cooper is Eric Cantor's Communications Director and as such is committed to idiotic conservative beliefs. Earlier, White House Communications Director Daniel Pfeiffer said, "You don't want to balance the budget for the...

Mona Lisa Now (03 Apr 2013 11:23am)

Giovanni Carmine, an art curator in Switzerland, had an interesting idea. It also turned out to be horrifying. He took a number depictions of women in great pieces of art throughout history and altered them into our modern standards of beauty. That is: he made them painfully skinny. We aren't talkin...

That Jane Goodall Tramp (03 Apr 2013 10:44am)

All my life, I've been disappointed with "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." It just doesn't make any sense. What exactly am I supposed to get from it? I don't suppose it matters. But back in 1783, Washington Irving was born on this day, so I'll let it pass. Someone else I'm not a big fan of: Leslie Howa...

Conservative Situational Certainty (02 Apr 2013 09:57pm)

I just came upon an interesting article from last June by Jonathan Zasloff in The Reality-Based Community. It is about Justice Samuel Alito's dissent in Miller v. Alabama. That was the case where the court found that it was unconstitutional to provide mandatory life in prison without parole for juve...

Teaching Is Not Testing (02 Apr 2013 08:15pm)

Jonathan Chait can be a very annoying person. Today, he wrote an article about the Atlanta school cheating scandal, Teachers Cheating on Tests: Not a Big Deal. His argument is that cheating is found in every area where people wish to excel, therefore we shouldn't use this scandal as a reason to aban...

Media Accountability (02 Apr 2013 03:40pm)

Yesterday, I wrote about Liz Cheney's insane rant against Obama and Obamacare. The insightful healthcare policy observer Aaron Carroll wrote about the Reagan quote she used that freedom was over because of the evil which Cheney dare not speak its name. That evil, of course, is Medicare. Cheney conve...

With Friends Like David Sheff... (02 Apr 2013 11:26am)

David Sheff is the author of Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's Greatest Tragedy. It only came out today, so I haven't read it. Of course, I'm not going to. As regular readers could have predicted, I bristled when I heard the title of the book. Who can reasonably say that addiction is ...

What's Going On This Day in 1939? (02 Apr 2013 09:57am)

Charlemagne was born on this day back in 742. Certainly, I could have named him the winner of today's birthday contest, but there is no good video of him. Buddy Ebsen was born in 1908. He only died back in 2003 at 95—outliving Irene Ryan by 25 years! The great actor Alec Guinness was born in 1...

Two Republican Loons (01 Apr 2013 07:31pm)

Last week was a good week for Republican looniness. It was notable because it involved two mainstream figures in the party: Liz Cheney and David Stockman. These are not Tea Party idiots nor are they political neophytes. The are respected establishment figures in the party. And they are, apparently, ...

Gay Rights: When a Son Is Not Enough (01 Apr 2013 04:27pm)

I admit it: I get great pleasure taking swipes at Rob Portman about his own very self-serving position on same sex marriage. But I have been very clear: being for gay rights at least makes you a human being. And that brings us to Representative Matt Salmon. Just like Portman, Salmon learned that hi...

Ayman al-Zawahiri at TED (01 Apr 2013 12:39pm)

Last week, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri gave a thought provoking talk at TED (sorry, no video yet) about the changing face of global terrorism. In the talk titled "Terror At A Crossroads," al-Zawahiri discussed how terrorists can remain relevant in an increasingly globalized world. It isn't har...

The Need for Maslow (01 Apr 2013 11:01am)

Sergei Rachmaninoff was born on this day back in 1873. Actors Lon Chaney Sr, Laurette Taylor, and Wallace Beery were born in consecutive years 1883 to 1885. And the insanely great D. Boon was born in 1958. Debbie Reynolds is 81 today. Ali MacGraw is 74, which is surprising, because I thought she di...

Authoritarianism, Fear, and Bigotry from Kathleen O'Brien Wilhelm (31 Mar 2013 10:41pm)

Remember Kathleen O'Brien Wilhelm? She's the Deer Sign Lady. I try to check in on her from time to time to see what she's ranting about. It is always a real eye-opener. Most of us living in the real world are not aware of much that is going on in Right Wing Nutjob World. But all you have to do is re...

The Op-Ed Page (31 Mar 2013 08:10pm)

Will asked me what an "OpEd" was—probably because I had used the term in an article that I'd written. It was a good question, because I had been asking myself the same question. Of course, I knew what an OpEd was, just like the Supreme Court knew what obscenity was: I knew it when I saw it. B...

Grapes Sweet and Sour (31 Mar 2013 09:02am)

On this day back in 1878, boxer and civil rights martyr Jack Johnson was born. In 1885, the great artist Pascin was born. Brilliant actor William Daniels is 86 today. Bonnie Bartlett and he have been marriage almost 62 years. I'll mention two people for my mother: author John Jakes is 81 and actor ...

Great Long-Distance Runners (30 Mar 2013 10:42pm)

I got the following information from an article in Popular Mechanics, The Animal Kingdom's Top Marathoners. It lists the six fastest long distance running species. What I find most interesting is the comparison between the speed of these animals in the short and long distance categories. For the ani...

The Gorgeous Mask of Zorro (30 Mar 2013 08:00pm)

There are certain men who define different kinds of ideals of male beauty. Cary Grant and George Clooney are one kind. Another kind of ideal is represented by Antonio Banderas. In addition to being just plain gorgeous, he has a quiet confidence that is irresistible. Like most people, I first noticed...

Idiotic "Freedom" Map (30 Mar 2013 12:40pm)

Regular readers know where I stand on libertarianism. I understand its appeal, but it is a silly philosophy and does not hold up to even a cursory examination. And nothing is quite so silly as the professional libertarian. Enter William P. Ruger and Jason Sorens of the Mercatus Center and their idi...

Oy Vey, Goya Day (30 Mar 2013 10:24am)

The Italian composer Tommaso Traetta was born on this day way back in 1727. Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853. I'm fond enough of him, but I really don't understand his stature among art collectors. Could it be as simple as, "Pretty colors!"? There are remarkable aspects of his painting. I especiall...

Republicans Take Care of Their Own—Only (29 Mar 2013 10:54pm)

I just looked at the voting roles of the Defense of Marriage Act. There were only 14 Senators and 67 Representatives who voted against it. Of those 81 members of Congress who voted against the bill, only one was a Republican. And that man, Steve Gunderson, is gay. Gunderson is an old fashioned cons...

Are Humans Better than Neanderthals? (29 Mar 2013 05:37pm)

I just watched the Nova series Becoming Human. I love these kinds of programs, but increasingly, they annoy me. Again, it is over the issue of the Neanderthals. Somehow, when talking about most species, we have no problem being objective. But when it comes to the one species that we are closest to, ...

Obama's Just Not That Into You (29 Mar 2013 12:56pm)

I've know for a while that Obama just isn't that into me. Actually, I've known that pretty much from the start. Liberalism in the United States is in a death spiral. We nominate moderates to be president in the hopes that they will get elected. When they do manage to get elected, they govern like mo...

Don Young on the Fruits of Productivity (29 Mar 2013 11:40am)

Have you heard about Alaska Representative Don Young? People are having a lot of fun with him today because he said, "My father had a ranch; we used to have 50–60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes. It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It’s all done by machine." Oh so much to unpack here! But t...

Be More like Thomas Coram (29 Mar 2013 09:55am)

It's another one of those days. While looking at lists of birthdays, I've noticed that if a name is listed from the 18th century, then that person really did something. If they are listed from the late 20th century, they are probably just a soccer player. This goes along with our celebrity culture. ...

Call Out the Bigots (28 Mar 2013 06:38pm)

The high point of yesterday's hearings was when Elena Kagan read the Congressional justification of the Defense of Marriage Act. "Congress decided to reflect and honor of collective moral judgment and to express moral disapproval of homosexuality." Ouch! But Paul Clement was quick on his feet and no...

Opportunity Lost (28 Mar 2013 02:40pm)

Matt Yglesias posted something this morning about research by Linda Bilmes that shows that the total cost of of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is up to $6 trillion and that we haven't even paid for most of it yet. That's not exactly news: five years ago, Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz wrote The Three Tri...

Complete and Total Dick™ (28 Mar 2013 01:45pm)

Yesterday, The Miami Herald reported, Lawmaker Complains About Getting Out of Speeding Ticket; Trooper Fired. This one is hard for me to take sides on: an entitled legislator and a cop. Let's discuss, shall we? Representative Charles McBurney was screaming down Interstate 10 at almost 90 miles per ...

Way Back to Bartolomeo (28 Mar 2013 10:24am)

Remember two days ago when I wrote, Just Good Enough: Richard Dawkins? Those were the glory days! March 28 sucks, but let's get it over with. Marlin Perkins was people you could count on when the Sunday TV's rough (when I was a kid). And if you don't get that reference: Perkins was the host of Anim...

Christianity Slows Progress (27 Mar 2013 02:48pm)

Over at the Booman Tribune they provided some useful information, Religion and Gay Marriage in the Senate. What it shows is that the only ten Democratic senators who have not come out for gay marriage are all Christians. The article also presents a rundown of the religious affiliations of all the Se...

More Background on Debra Milke (27 Mar 2013 11:01am)

As Debra Milke continues to rot in prison, the Arizona "justice" system continues to try to avoid admitting to their wrongdoing. I've previously written about Milke's outrageous conviction for murder 22 years ago as well as the current efforts of the Arizona Attorney General to appeal the Ninth Circ...

Scalia Tries Prop. 8 Case (27 Mar 2013 10:51am)

I don't know how much you've read about yesterday's hearing on the Prop. 8 gay rights case. I'm trying not to read much, because it just infuriates me. But with the little that I've read, one thing really stands out to me: Antonin Scalia's very un-judicial temperament. Time and again, he seemed to b...

Dangerous Sober Drivers (27 Mar 2013 04:51am)

Back in 1990, I was visiting a friend who lived in the Mission District in San Francisco. Shortly after leaving the main bus stop there on 15th and Mission, a car wiped out the bus stop, killing a couple of people and injuring many more. I remember being horrified by the news coverage of the event. ...

Charles Lang Shot a Film You Love (27 Mar 2013 01:45am)

Gloria Swanson was born in 1899 on this day. Carl Barks, creator of Scrooge McDuck (one of the very few good Disney cartoon characters), was born in 1901 (and died only in 2000 at age 99). Budd Schulberg, the great screenwriter but moral coward, was born in 1914. And the wonderful singer Sarah Vaugh...

Constitution Just Happens to Agree with Scalia's Bigotry (26 Mar 2013 03:18pm)

Adam Serwer wrote a great article this morning, Here Are the 7 Worst Things Antonin Scalia Has Said or Written About Homosexuality. Now, we all know that Scalia is a vile human being. But after reading Serwer's list, it was clear to me what I've long suspected: Scalia is no sober justice that his po...

GOP Won't Move on Immigration (26 Mar 2013 01:06pm)

Jamelle Bouie reported this morning, Why Immigration Reform May Not Help the GOP. The point of the article is that the president tends to get credit for policies like immigration reform. Thus Republicans understandably ask, "What's in it for us?" This, of course, is the wrong way to think about it. ...

Why Sarah Jessica Parker is a Bitch (26 Mar 2013 10:11am)

Recently, I've made reference to the fact that Sarah Jessica Parker is not a nice person. I don't actually know much about Parker. I base the statement on an interview with Dolores Fuller that was part of the extra features on a DVD of Plan 9 from Outer Space. Sarah Jessica Parker played the part of...

The Danger of Certainty (26 Mar 2013 09:51am)

Americans are muddled thinkers. People are constantly pointing out how in polls, Americans contradict themselves. I do it myself. But it's not the worst thing that as a nation we are confused. Americans are at their most dangerous when they are certain of things that just aren't so. Generally, I wo...

Just Good Enough: Richard Dawkins (26 Mar 2013 01:00am)

I feel that I should clarify something about my birthday posts. I don't just name everyone I've heard of or everyone who I think is famous enough. For example, it is Utah Jazz superstar John Stockton's birthday, but I won't even mention how old he is because he doesn't make the cut. And that is what...

Imported Honey Likely Fake (26 Mar 2013 12:54am)

One of the most charming things I've ever heard about Prince Charles is his interest in the local food movement. I haven't thought much of it myself. In general, as long as my food doesn't have a bunch of pesticides in it, I'm pretty happy. But a lot of recent reporting about food has made me wonder...

Flannery O'Connor Should Have a Birthday Today (25 Mar 2013 04:34pm)

You probably don't know who Horatio Nelson Jackson was, unless you watched the Ken Burns documentary Horatio's Drive. He was the first person (with his driver Sewall K. Crocker) to cross the United States by car, which he did in 1903. He was born on this day in 1872. The great Hungarian composer Bel...

Goodbye Mr. Chris (25 Mar 2013 03:31pm)

As I've reported, Chris Hayes is leaving his show that will become Up with Steve Kornacki. Below is his farewell address to the Up viewers. It is well done. He even goes out of his way to highlight all of his staff, which he is correct to note that the show simply would not exist without them. But h...

Farewell Gay Liberals (25 Mar 2013 02:33pm)

I'm interested in where the gay rights movement is going. I will always feel a great kinship to my gay brothers and sisters. What's more their cause of gender orientation equality will always be my cause as well. Although this particular cause is definitely liberal, the LGBT community, is not. In fa...

Myth of Meritocracy (25 Mar 2013 01:17pm)

As much as I may complain about Matt Yglesais, I never question that he is a brilliant young man. Now, brilliant can mean a lot of different things. When I use the term, I normally mean: thinks what I do. This afternoon, he wrote a very interesting article, Meritocracy Should Lead to Massive Entrenc...

Yglesias on "Illegals" (25 Mar 2013 12:27pm)

The correct word choice around unauthorized immigration to the United States is, of course, politically contested in the United States. I like to refer to unauthorized immigration or migration because I think it's correct. Talk about undocumented immigrants seems euphemistic, like they just lost the...

More Democrats, Fewer Republicans (25 Mar 2013 11:39am)

Kos provided the following graph of party identification over the past four years. (It's from the Huffington Post, but he doesn't provide a link and I'm kind of mad about what they are becoming, so I'm none too interested in looking for it.) It's remarkable. I was expecting a peak around last Novemb...

Supply Sider Paul Ryan (25 Mar 2013 09:44am)

Not being one to even balance his checkbook, I was completely at a loss when I read Jonathan Martin's article this morning, Paul Ryan's Disappearing Act. In it, he writes, "Ryan's admirers say it's unfair to suggest he's merely a green eyeshade Republican." What the hell is a green eyeshade? Wikipe...

Poor Coverage of GOP Attack on USPS (24 Mar 2013 02:42pm)

According to The Hill, a number of large corporations—most notably Hallmark, the greeting card company—are trying to push back against the shameless Republican attack on the United States Postal Service. It seems that the Postal Service's decision to end Saturday delivery has caught the ...

Epicurus' Trilemma (24 Mar 2013 01:55pm)

(1) If God is unable to prevent evil, he is not omnipotent. (2) If God is not willing to prevent evil, he is not good. (3) If God is willing and able to prevent evil, then why is there evil? —Epicurus Trilemma Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion...

Houdini (24 Mar 2013 12:31pm)

Two cartoonists where born on this day. Co-creator of Mickey Mouse, Ub Iwerks was born in 1901. I'm not fond of those early Disney cartoons, but not because of the art, which was fine. They just aren't written that well. I love when Futurama parodies them! Also born today in 1911 is Joseph Barbera. ...

Nothing Obama Does Matters (23 Mar 2013 09:26pm)

For the second time in one week, Jonathan Chait has annoyed me. Last time, it was his pseudo-apology for being in favor of the Iraq War. This time it is his (unfortunately rather common) reaction to Obama's recent trip to Israel. Basically, he says: Obama did a great job, why didn't he do that four ...

誕生日おめでとう 黒澤 明！ (23 Mar 2013 07:59pm)

I've been sick the last two days. Because I write some stuff ahead of time, I can fake it to some extent. But it is only now that I'm getting back to work. Interestingly, I find the process of writing itself has made me feel better. It helps to have a purpose, even if that purpose is a little blog a...

Republicans Can't Moderate (22 Mar 2013 08:30am)

Yesterday. Ed Kilgore confronted some of the more reasonable conservative pundits for their reaction to the RNC's "autopsy report." People like David Frum and Reihan Salam claim that the document doesn't skirt the real issues facing the Republican Party. Instead, they say, such a report should only ...

An Apple, a Piano, and Chico (22 Mar 2013 08:29am)

The great actor Karl Malden was born on this day back in 1912. And he only died back in 2009 at the age of 96. I will always remember his performance of Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire. He is the only character in that film that I really understand; I feel like I've been in that situation countles...

Conservatives Are Not for Smaller Government (22 Mar 2013 12:05am)

David Dayen wrote a very annoying article over at The American Prospect yesterday, Banks Are Too Big to Fail Say... Conservatives? The problem is that it totally accepts that conservatives care about what they claim to care about rather than looking at what they actually do. In this case, he notes t...

Johann, Son, Rush, and Slovoj (21 Mar 2013 12:32pm)

It is quite a day for birthdays! I'm really going to have to limit today's article to those who are really worthy. The great mathematician and physicist Joseph Fourier was born on this day back in 1768. Theater producer Florenz Ziegfeld of Ziegfeld Follies fame was born in 1867. The great blues man...

Trust and Political Ideology (21 Mar 2013 11:42am)

After years of badgering my father, he has given up watching Bill O'Reilly. Instead, he now watches Shepard Smith. That's a great improvement, and it makes my argument more difficult. There isn't as much outright lying on Smith's show. Its deception is in what the show chooses to cover. (Yes: this i...

Enough with the Iraq Pseudo-Mea Culpas (21 Mar 2013 09:26am)

Jonathan Chait made a mistake earlier this week: he explained why he supported the Iraq War. It was very disappointing. The main argument he makes is exactly the one that Peter Beinart makes in The Icarus Syndrome. He documents all the fear about the Gulf War based on our experiences in Vietnam. Th...

America's Arrested Development (21 Mar 2013 12:10am)

On Tuesday, Michael Cohen wrote a very insightful article called, The First Step. It is about the lessons we should have learned from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. But as the title indicates, the first step of that process is to admit that we've lost these wars. This comes from the old Alcoholics ...

Letter to Barbara Boxer (20 Mar 2013 03:33pm)

Dear Senator Boxer: I am a big supporter of yours. However, it has been hinted that you are one of the senators who blocked filibuster reform. I've written to you about this before: at minimum, we need serious filibuster reform. I'm not a one issue voter. Anyway, you would have to lose half your m...

Harry Reid Can't Fool Me Twice (20 Mar 2013 02:49pm)

Earlier today, Talking Points Memo reported that Harry Reid is upset about the state of the filibuster. He reportedly said, "These two young, fine senators said it was time to change the rules of the Senate, and we didn't. And they were right. The rest of us were wrong—or most of us, anyway. W...

Our Pathetic Federal Spending (20 Mar 2013 09:33am)

As regular readers of this site know: government spending as a percent of GDP has gone down each year the last three years. This, in fact, is the reason that we are very slowly crawling our way to economic recovery. It is an indictment of not just the Republicans but also the Democrats, who managed ...

Bed Bath & Beyond Lie (20 Mar 2013 09:28am)

Ever wonder about all those Bed Bath & Beyond walls of towels? Via Buzz Feed, it is all a lie: ...

Kornacki v. Klein (20 Mar 2013 08:50am)

I was pretty sure that Up would be taken over by either Ezra Klein or Steve Kornacki. They were the only two people I remember guest hosting the show. I figured it would be Klein because Kornacki co-hosts The Cycle. But instead, MSNBC went with Kornacki. I think there are two reasons for this. First...

B. F. Skinner Thinks You're a Terrible Parent (20 Mar 2013 08:40am)

Henrik Ibsen was born on this day in 1828. If it weren't for him being generally a jerk, I would have given the day to him. He was a hell of a playwright though. I really appreciate Russian painter Illarion Pryanishnikov, who was born in 1840. Most people won't care, but I have an unnatural love of ...

Republicans Pushing Debt Ceiling Again (19 Mar 2013 01:50pm)

I haven't been writing about the upcoming Debt Ceiling fight, but it hasn't been far from my mind. The Republicans only pushed it off for a few months to allow them to regroup. They most definitely have not given up on the idea. In fact, their belief that they won the Sequester fight has only made t...

Conservatives Never Learn (19 Mar 2013 11:24am)

This morning, Paul Krugman wrote another article trying to understand why conservatives and moderates who are shown to be wrong time and again never reflect that maybe "all the people they know" just don't know very much. The specific target is John Hinderaker at Powerline Blog. Yesterday, he was ch...

Tobias Smollett Day (19 Mar 2013 09:45am)

Back in 1860, William Jennings Bryan was born on this day. He has a bit of a bad reputation because he was on the wrong side of the Scopes Trial. But the truth is that he was a good strong progressive. I don't doubt that today he would accept evolution. Sadly, he died just after "winning" that trial...

My Hero Phil Davison (19 Mar 2013 08:25am)

This is a blast from the past. I just came upon it. Two and a half years ago, Phil Davison spoke to the Stark County (Ohio) Republican Party Executive Committee. He wanted to be the Republican nominee for Stark Country Treasurer. When I first wrote about this, I did not embed the video for whatever ...

Tricky Apes (19 Mar 2013 05:27am)

I mentioned the song "The Walls Came Down" to a friend of mine. It got me thinking about Jericho and so I did a little research and I found that the wall of Jericho is extremely old: 9,000 BC. That's really interesting, because the events in Joshua are supposedly less than 2,000 BC. What's more, I r...

The US Has Always Been at War with Ghana (18 Mar 2013 03:15pm)

Earlier today, Glenn Greenwald took "reasonable" Republican David Frum to task for his revisionist look back on Iraq, David Frum on the Rhetoric of Iraq. In particular, he demolishes Frum's claim that he was never that impressed with Ahmed Chalabi. But somehow the unimpressed Frum wrote of Chalabi i...

Attorney General to Appeal Milke Case (18 Mar 2013 01:48pm)

As I reported last week, Debra Milke's conviction for the murder of her son 23 years ago has been overturned. So of course the Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has decided to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. The statement from Horne is typical of these people. He doesn't defend the convic...

Bing Still Losing Big to Google (18 Mar 2013 12:17pm)

This is just pathetic. I am inundated with commercials for Bing. As you may remember, I took the "Bing it on" challenge and Google won 4-0-1 (one tie). But with the constant Bing commercial assault, I question myself. Maybe I was unfair. So I've gone back three more time, putting in more and more un...

Republicans Blind to Racism (18 Mar 2013 10:42am)

There was a racist dust up at CPAC on Friday during a K. Carl Smith session sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots on how to get African Americans to vote Republican. Smith's talk was filled with divisive and irrelevant lines like, "I'm not going to join the KKK. The Democratic Party founded the KKK."...

Naive Democrats Make it Easy for Republicans (18 Mar 2013 08:35am)

Ah naivete! If it is authentic, it can be charming. But if it is inauthentic, it is just annoying. Yesterday morning on Up with Chris Hayes, Krysten Sinema was on the panel. She is a member of the "Gang of 32"—the bipartisan group of new House members who are getting together to solve those pr...

Last U-Boat Captain Reinhard Hardegen—See Update (18 Mar 2013 12:11am)

Some interesting if not exactly likable politicians were born on this day. Slavery apologist John Calhoun was born in 1782. Not my favorite president Grover Cleveland was born in 1837. And good man at the wrong time Neville Chamberlain was born in 1869. George Plimpton, a writer I like more than I ...

St. Patrick We Never Knew Ye (17 Mar 2013 04:59pm)

I've waited until late on St. Patrick's Day to ruin it for you. I know: you don't give a shit about the holiday except that it is an opportunity to get drunk and remember that, "Wow! The Pogues are a really good band!" But here's the thing: we know next to nothing about St. Patrick. In fact, 17 Marc...

We Call Them Republicans (17 Mar 2013 04:30pm)

On Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, they did a segment with image confessions. It was pretty funny. You can find the segment over on WhoSay. But I thought this one was good enough to share. I think that's pretty accurate. It isn't that I think Romney hates everyone. I think just like Rob P...

Ezra Klein's Useless Correction (17 Mar 2013 01:38pm)

I figure it is almost certain that Ezra Klein will take over Up from Chris Hayes. And that's good. Klein adds a lot of wonkeliciousness to the table. But in his attempts to be taken seriously, he often makes the mistake of getting Very Serious. He was at it again on Friday with a completely unnecess...

No Long Term Budget Problem? (17 Mar 2013 12:21pm)

Late last week, Sarah Kliff brought attention to the new Economic Report of the President. In the article, she notes that healthcare costs over the past few years have only grown at the rate of inflation. If this is not just a recession fluke, there are huge policy implications. As anyone who reads...

Have You Seen This Nigerian Prince? (17 Mar 2013 11:02am)

The Toronto Star reported last week that a man pleaded guilty to defrauding $32 million from North American lawyers. What is great about this story is the scam. Also: it couldn't happen to a nice group of people. But most of all, the culprit is Emmanuel Ekhator—Wait for it!—a Nigerian! ...

Fred Hiatt's Circuitous False Equivalence (17 Mar 2013 10:15am)

Last week, Fred Hiatt over at the Washington Post came out in favor of presidential leadership, Obama Could Get Things Done by Governing Today. It is a wonderful example of false equivalence by a writer who knows that false equivalence is a bad thing. As a result of this, he cloaks the whole thing i...

The Trials of Shoe Shopping (17 Mar 2013 04:44am)

In Springfield, Massachusetts, a group of people were waiting in a line outside the store Expressions. They were waiting for the store to open so that they could purchase the new Nike Air Jordans. What I fool I am! I didn't even know they still made these, much less that people waited in line outsid...

William Gibson in Retirement (17 Mar 2013 01:22am)

Despite what Wikipedia says, this is the birthday of the great British Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean. Since he died in 1833, I know him only from the writings of William Hazlitt. But he made quite an impression on Hazlitt and that's good enough for me. In addition, Kean lived quite a colorful and ...

Portrait of a Villager: Then and Now (16 Mar 2013 09:17pm)

Digby wrote a great article this afternoon, 10 Years On: the Press Reconsiders. In it, she looks at a new article by Villager Extraordinaire Howard Fineman in which he discusses the mistakes the media made in the run up to the Iraq War. To be fair, Fineman calls himself to task. But Digby shows with...

Death Bed: the Bed that Eats (16 Mar 2013 03:55pm)

The other night, I was watching to The Comedians of Comedy. It is pretty good. It features Maria Bamford who is brilliant and hilarious. Overall, it is worth checking out, but it isn't great. The event is hosted by Patton Oswalt. At the end of the show, he does a monologue about writing screenplays...

Macro View of Ryan Budget (16 Mar 2013 11:11am)

On Thursday in the Washington Post, Matt Miller reminded us that "Ronald Reagan ran the federal government at 22 percent of GDP when the country's population was much younger, and health care consumed about 11 percent of GDP." In fact, he reminded us three times! His point is simple: Paul Ryan's bud...

Sydney's Case Against Political Compromise (16 Mar 2013 08:19am)

The American President is a bad film. When I watched it, I was in graduate school researching global warming and I really hated the discussion of the issue in the film; I thought it was trivialized. But that wasn't the main problem. It is just a stupid film, pretending to be for adults when only Jus...

Happy 60th Richard Stallman (16 Mar 2013 03:57am)

Some interesting people were born on this day. Three Nazis: Josef Mengele, Dorothea Binz, and Traudl Junge (Hitler's last secretary—not so much a Nazi). And there are lots of great birthdays. Jerry Lewis is 87—I don't know how many more birthdays he's going to see. Bernardo Bertolucci is...

Speculations on MSNBC Shake Up (15 Mar 2013 09:21pm)

I'm sure you've heard that MSNBC is moving Ed Schultz to weekends and moving in Chris Hayes to do his old time slot. In one way, I'm thrilled about this. Chris Hayes is a good, solid, and articulate liberal. He is the best thing that MSNBC has. I look forward to watching his show while I cook dinner...

Letter to Obama Regarding EPA (15 Mar 2013 08:49pm)

Dear Mr. President: Why is the EPA going to delay regulating greenhouse gases in power plants? Look: 1. The economy is bad. 2. Businesses are sitting on piles of money they won't spend. Thus, now is the perfect time to implement environmental regulations. It will clean up the environment and cre...

The Ides of March (15 Mar 2013 08:11pm)

Why should we beware the ides of March? Certainly we should be concerned about the Romans who counted days in as logical a way as they counted numbers: that is very illogically. Take the ides for example. They are on the 13th of the month. But not in March. In March, they are on the 15th. Why? Becau...

Deep in the Heartlessness of Texas (15 Mar 2013 03:16pm)

Women's healthcare is a mess in Texas. To get the full picture, I recommend you read Jaeah Lee's incredible article, This Is What Happens When You Defund Planned Parenthood. But let me give you just a little taste of what it is like deep in the heartlessness of Texas. For the last two years, Texas ...

Debra Milke and the Injustice System (15 Mar 2013 12:04pm)

This is a picture of Debra Milke. You can see she's a pretty woman but there is a lot of pain in that face. She has suffered a lot. Her 4-year-old son was murdered 23 years ago. And for the last 22 years, she's been on death row of taking part in his murder. She's innocent, of course. Hopefully, she...

More Evidence 47% Video Unimportant (15 Mar 2013 11:26am)

John Sides has a great article in Salon, Romney Likely Loser, Even Without Famous Video. It puts some numbers behind what I've long been saying: the 47% video didn't change the election. My argument is based upon how people think. If the video showed Romney sneaking out of his campaign bus to give c...

Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 80 (15 Mar 2013 10:24am)

The only member of the Grateful Dead who I respect, Phil Lesh, is 73 today. The shockingly great Sly Stone is 70. And Ry Cooder is 66. Lightnin' Hopkins would have been 101 today, but he didn't even come close. A damned good day for musicians. It is also Judd Hirsch's 78th birthday. I'm not much of...

Rob Portman Affected By Gay Bigotry (15 Mar 2013 09:31am)

Rob Portman, who has previously supported employers being able to fire people just because they're gay, has come out in favor of same sex marriage. But don't get too excited. He has changed his position because he learned that his son is gay. Is that a Republican all over or what? This morning, Jon...

Republican's Primary Constituency (14 Mar 2013 07:38pm)

Bernie Sanders offered up the following amendment to the new Senate budget: "This amendment would establish a deficit reduction reserve fund that would seek to ensure that large profitable corporations cannot use loopholes to entirely avoid income tax, and direct savings recovered from closing such ...

Boehner Has Good Reasons for Snubbing Obama (14 Mar 2013 05:10pm)

This is a follow-up to my article, Death Throes of the GOP. In that article, I discussed how Republicans have gone out of their way to snub President Obama and what that said about them being a revolutionary group. Well, we had another example of Republicans snubbing the president for no good reason...

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein (14 Mar 2013 01:06pm)

Quincy Jones is 80 today. Wolfgang Petersen, the director of Das Boot and other quite watchable films since, is 72. And Billy Crystal is 65, so he won't be making anymore pictures. (I kid Billy Crystal!) Horton Foote, who did such a great job with the screenplay to To Kill a Mockingbird, would have...

Collecting Pee for Fun and Profit (14 Mar 2013 12:36pm)

Today, The Post Game reported, Bizarre Location For NFLer's Drug Test. It tells the story of Washington Redskins backup quarterback Kirk Cousins being drug tested during a visit to his grandmother. The article expresses some surprise at such behavior from the league, but is still supportive of it. ...

California Condors Love Puppets (14 Mar 2013 12:07pm)

Puppets make everything better—even in science! At the San Diego Zoo's program to repopulate the California Condor, they are using a puppet to rear the young ones. Why? Because everyone loves puppets! Actually, no. They don't want the little condors imprinting humans as mothers. This will allo...

Does Dislike of Curly Fries Make Me an Idiot? (14 Mar 2013 11:26am)

According to The Young Turks (see the video below), a group of scientists looked at a large group of users' Facebook behavior to determine what it said about them. This wasn't just obvious stuff like who their friends were. They specifically looked at their "likes." For example, suppose someone post...

Obama IS the Compromise (14 Mar 2013 09:33am)

This morning, Jonathan Chait wrote that, Why Obama and Paul Ryan Will Never, Ever Agree. Basically, he claims that with the budget, the two sides are trying to solve different problems. I think it is all rather too complicated. He claims that Obama wants to do three things with the budget: (1) preve...

L. Ron Hubbard (13 Mar 2013 09:40pm)

It's the birthday of a couple of conservatives I find repellent: Charles Krauthammer (63) and Jamie Dimon (57). And yes, I know Dimon is a Democrat, but that doesn't mean he's not a conservative. As I write about a lot: the democratic party is not liberal; America does not have a liberal party. I wo...

Lesson from the 47% Video (13 Mar 2013 07:49pm)

Scott Prouty was on The Ed Show tonight. He's the guy who shot the embarrassing Romney 47% video. Based on the interview, I think there are a whole lot of lesson from the video: 1. Schmooze with the help! Prouty tells the story of working an event where Bill Clinton was speaking. After the event, ...

Fantasy in Reservoir Dogs (13 Mar 2013 01:43pm)

Every day, You Tube sends me a collection of videos that I might like to watch, and they are usually right although I rarely take the time to watch them. Anyway, today they sent me the "Light a Virgin" scene from Reservoir Dogs. I had just been talking to Will about that scene and how I had read tha...

Tax and Entitlement "Reform" (13 Mar 2013 11:25am)

This afternoon, Greg Sargent wrote, Republicans Say They Want Entitlement Cuts. But They Want Dems to Own Them. In it, he shows that all this Republican talk about entitlement reform is just a way for them to trick Democrats into owning Medicare and Social Security cuts so that they can campaign aga...

Paul Ryan Loses His "Seriousness" (13 Mar 2013 10:18am)

Suddenly, Paul Ryan has lost his Seriousness. What happened? In an otherwise repellent editorial, the Washington Post (Fox on 15th) notes something interesting about Paul Ryan's budget. Over half of the cuts in the budget come from Ryan's proposed half repeal of Obamacare. He gets $1.8 trillion dol...

Edward Albee at 85 (12 Mar 2013 10:47pm)

What a day for birthdays! It is Mitt Romney's birthday. And speaking of martyrs to irrational causes, Italian mystic and Catholic Saint Gemma Galgani was born 125 years ago (she's been dead 100 of those years). In 1831, Clement Studebaker was born—I'm sure you can guess what he's know for. B...

Help GOP Step Back from Crazy Cliff (12 Mar 2013 09:42pm)

Earlier today, the second blogger to received the coveted Frankly Curious Artist's Rendering, Jonathan Bernstein, published A Minor Defense of Ryan and the Republicans. His point is that we can't expect Republicans to be anything but Republicans. Obama winning re-election doesn't suddenly mean that ...

Liberal Priorities (12 Mar 2013 07:28pm)

Maybe I'm just a cynical old guy. But Rachel Maddow spent the entire A section of her show talking about gun control. I'm cool with gun control. As I've argued before: by the time we notice that the government is coming for us, our guns won't do bit of good. (It is interesting that those most concer...

Death Throes of the GOP (12 Mar 2013 05:30pm)

Steve Benen at Maddow Blow noted a really telling anecdote over at the New York Times about Obama's GOP outreach. Four months ago, the president invited five GOP congressional leaders to a secret screening of Lincoln with some of the stars of the film. All five people declined. As Benen notes, "Are...

The Krugman Times (12 Mar 2013 04:20pm)

Vincent Woo, who claims to be "a t-shirt hawker at everlane.com[1]" has created quite a zany website, The Krugman Times. You can see a screen capture above. What the website does is grab the front page of the New York Times, replace all the images with pictures of Paul Krugman, the author with Paul...

Hamilton Straightens the Prols Out (12 Mar 2013 03:51pm)

All communities divide themselves into the few and the many. The first are the rich and well born, the other the mass of the people. The voice of the people has been said to be the voice of God; and however generally this maxim has been quoted and believed, it is not true in fact. The people are tur...

Don't Pee at The Flood Zone (12 Mar 2013 12:04pm)

You may have heard the story of Patricia Barnes, the woman who stopped at a roadside restaurant to use the bathroom only to get a bill from the restaurant for $5 in her mailbox a couple of days later. I think the story has caught fire because we've all used restaurants that are "for customers only" ...

Pretend Deficit Hawk Conservatives (12 Mar 2013 10:39am)

I am fond of quoting Matt Yglesias about the Quaker budget hawks. In it, he compares Fix the Debt to a group of Quakers who claim to be for balancing the federal budget but who are against any proposals that don't involve reducing military spending. You would have to say that the Quakers are just pa...

The Starry Night (11 Mar 2013 09:49pm)

This is an image of most of the Orion Constellation. It is without a doubt the most recognizable constellation in the night sky. Everyone knows the Big Dipper, but most can't find it without a lot of work. Orion blazes in the sky; there is no missing it. And I hate it. I go outside most nights and ...

Antonin Scalia (11 Mar 2013 07:26pm)

Antonin Scalia is 77 today. There are other people born today who have made the world better, like the great American composer Carl Ruggles. Scalia has made it worse—much worse. But I can't get past the man today. On one hand, Scalia is a proud iconoclast. I'm an iconoclast. I love iconoclast...

Django Unchained Not Racist But Not Good (11 Mar 2013 01:43pm)

I finally got a chance to see Django Unchained without even indirectly putting any money in Quentin Tarantino's pocket. That's very important to me, because as much as I think that Tarantino is a very talented guy who at times makes fine movies, I am also convinced that he is a total dick—symb...

When Satire Becomes News (11 Mar 2013 10:31am)

We all make mistakes. But the tendency for conservative media outlets to fall for hoaxes and to assume that satire is straight news is amazing. But it is no accident. In David Brock's book Blinded By the Right, he describes himself not so much as a political extremist but as a journalistic amateur. ...

Entitled Rich Boy (10 Mar 2013 11:32am)

I don't know much about Osama bin Laden. But I'll tell what I think of him. Unlike most people, I don't think he was a crazy and evil man. I think he was an entitled rich boy. This allowed him to be just like rich guys all over the world: absolutely certain that whatever stupid thought entered his b...

Self-Defeating Austerity (10 Mar 2013 09:40am)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just put out a paper on austerity. It argues that in the medium term, austerity is self-defeating. This is because austerity causes the economy to shrink by a greater percentage than the debt shrinks. When deficit scolds talk about the national debt, they a...

Meaningless Chess (09 Mar 2013 11:22pm)

It has been a strange and hectic day today, so I am just going to offer up a few thoughts. Mickey Spillane was born today in 1918. I more or less knew that. What I didn't know was that he only died a few years ago—in 2006 at 88. He was a favorite of Ayn Rand, who had a great love for pulp jun...

Martingale Doesn't Depend On Odds (09 Mar 2013 11:22am)

On Facebook someone said he needed $1000 for furniture. He asked what the odds were that he could win it on Lotto. Someone responded, "Go to the casino and put $500 on Roulette. Pick black, if you win, you doubled your money. If you lose, then bet $1000. Sooner or later black will come up..." This ...

Enjoy the Global Warming Jobs Report (09 Mar 2013 09:02am)

Have you noticed something about winter? Every year we have really good jobs reports. People start talking about an economic recovery. And it somehow always evaporates by the time spring is in full swing. That's what I thought when I saw that in February we created 236,000 net new jobs. Ain't that w...

Rand Paul's Filibuster (08 Mar 2013 02:05pm)

I've been surprised at the reaction to Rand Paul's talking filibuster. By and large, Republicans have been cheering for it, even though the vast majority of them disagree with Paul on the policy. Anything that makes the president look bad, I guess. More concerning, liberals are cheering it on as the...

Mississippi John Hurt (08 Mar 2013 12:13pm)

Other than today being the birthday of The Skipper, the only person who really called out to me was Mississippi John Hurt, the great blues and folk musician. He had a great story. He was a performer in his youth in the late 1920s. With the Great Depression he stopped doing music and became a sharecr...

Economic Libertarianism (08 Mar 2013 10:53am)

The fundamental error of economic libertarians is one of faith, faith in the divine efficiency of the almighty market. And, like chiliastic Christians everywhere, market fundamentalists—no matter how many times events refute their articles of faith—can be relied upon to find some handy e...

Republican Lobbyists Bowles-Simpson (08 Mar 2013 09:51am)

Two years ago today, Damian Paletta interviewed Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson. And in that interview, they said that a destabilizing fiscal crisis was coming in—Wait for it!—two years. Okay, they actually used a weasel word. The exact quote is, "The U.S. could face a destabilizing fisc...

Major Media Are Clueless (07 Mar 2013 08:40pm)

Peter Hart over at FAIR notes an amazing thing: ten years ago, Newsweek published an article, right before we went to war with Iraq, that proved that the whole WMD claim was false. The story is mostly about Hussein Kamel, Saddam Hussein's brother-in-law, who had defected to the United States. The Bu...

O'Keefe Loses Lawsuit But Sadly Not Credibility (07 Mar 2013 07:58pm)

I spend so much of my life angry at various people that it is hard to know how to react when I am angry even by that standard. Actually, I have good news. But buried inside it is an appalling revelation. This all has to do with someone who I think is at the very top of the list when it comes to the ...

Ravel and Bozzetto (07 Mar 2013 02:56pm)

A couple of actresses I like are having birthdays today: Wanda Sykes is 49 and Rachel Weisz is 43. The great Arthur Lee of the band Love was born today but sadly died back in 2006. I saw him that the Filmore not long before that. The great hero of my home town, Santa Rosa, was born on this day back...

Voters More Liberal Than Politicians Think (07 Mar 2013 12:17pm)

Does this drive you crazy too? You are watching C-SPAN or the news or something else and you see John Boehner's rusty mug saying, "The American people do not want higher taxes!" If you're like me, you scream at the TV machine, "What the fuck would you know about what the American people want?" Okay;...

Browning, Michelangelo, and All That Jazz (06 Mar 2013 10:50pm)

A lot of interesting people were born on this day. The most important to me is probably Elizabeth Barrett Browning who was born in 1806. I tend to prefer her and other Americans (like Poe) to the British Romantic Period poets. I wish that I had one great poem I could offer you here. The problem is t...

Body Language "Expert" Tonya Reiman (06 Mar 2013 06:51pm)

I just caught the tail end of The Ed Show. He had on body language expert Tonya Reiman to discuss Bill O'Reilly's freak out last night. Let me be clear: I think that "body language" is mostly just a pseudoscience. Sure, there is something to it. But human behavior is fairly individuated. I think the...

Authentic Liberalism (06 Mar 2013 05:23pm)

Kevin Drum asks, Who's On the Left's Television A-Team? This comes from Paul Krugman's lackluster performance up against Joe Scarborough on the Charlie Rose Show. Afterwards, even Krugman said it was his Denver debate and, "I was tired, cranky, and unready for the blizzard of misleading factoids and...

Bill O'Reilly and the Rise of Hate Groups (06 Mar 2013 04:29pm)

Today, Alex Seitz-Wald at Salon wrote about, Radical-Right Wing Groups Reach All Time High. It is based upon a new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In it, they show that militia and "patriot" groups are at an all time high. According the group, this is due to, "the resurgence on the down e...

Republicans Don't Need to Win (06 Mar 2013 01:44pm)

Ramesh Ponnuru is a smart observer of conservative politics. He is also kind of a conservative freak when it comes to his own policy ideas. But he is worth reading because of his insights into what the conservatives are doing. Earlier this week, he asked an interesting question, Do Conservatives Act...

Handshakes, Assholes, and Idiots (06 Mar 2013 11:54am)

The Associated Press reported this morning, Senate Republicans block Caitlin Halligan, Nominee to DC Appeals Court for Second Time. She got enough votes, of course. It is just de rigueur that Republicans filibuster her. So what was wrong with her? I know: we don't expect there to have been anything...

Obama's Bland Bargaining (06 Mar 2013 10:54am)

This morning, Greg Sargent wrote, Obama Urges Republicans to Take Yes for an Answer. In it, he points back to Ezra Klein's meeting with an unnamed legislator who apparently didn't know what Obama had offered in terms of a Sequester deal. He notes that Obama is reaching out to Senate Republicans: "Ob...

Fucktard in Sign Language (06 Mar 2013 09:55am)

You all know how I love the word "fucktard." Yesterday, I came upon this video that shows how to sign it. And it's fun to do. Enjoy! ...

Barbara Buono (05 Mar 2013 10:42pm)

I've been none too happy with Chris Christie's approval rating in New Jersey. The truth is that he's been an awful governor. I can't believe that the residents of the state have forgotten all about his crony capitalism and grandstanding against the president (Remember the tunnel he killed?!) and are...

Lynn Margulis and Hugo Chavez (05 Mar 2013 07:58pm)

Under normal circumstances, I would tell you that 5 March is the date my younger sister was born. And that's kind of interesting, when you consider what a druid kind of earth mother she is. You see, on this day back in 1938, Lynn Margulis was born. She did some of the most important early work on th...

Northern Europe Must Help Too (05 Mar 2013 03:21pm)

Matt Yglesias reported this morning on Undersecretary of Treasury Lael Brainard speaking to the National Association of Business Economists. She was talking about how to get southern Europe (Greece, Italy, and so on) out of their depressions. She said, "Not only do deficit countries have important r...

There is No Long Term Budget Problem (05 Mar 2013 10:36am)

Alan Blinder is a economics and public affairs professor at Princeton. Recently, he got placed in the middle of the argument between Paul Krugman and Joe Scarborough when Scarborough claimed that Blinder was on his side. Blinder didn't like that much. Yesterday, he wrote a short article in Politico,...

Michelle Obama and Downton Abbey (05 Mar 2013 09:30am)

I just watched the third season of Downton Abbey. It is rather good, and I will have more to say about it from an entertainment angle. But first, there is a political matter that I need to get off my chest. I imagine Michelle Obama watching Downton Abbey and feeling very superior that she would nev...

Happy Birthday Vivaldi (04 Mar 2013 07:39pm)

Sorry for being gone all day, but I had to do some paying work and since then, I have been feeling rather ill. In fact, I still do. But I thought I would do a quick birthday post. On this day in 1678, Antonio Vivaldi was born. I have always loved his work. This started when I was rather young and pl...

Interesting and Stupid on Real Time (04 Mar 2013 08:34am)

I just watched the 15 February episode of Real Time with Bill Maher. There were two notable parts of the show. The first was George Zimmerman's brother Robert. (Not Bob Dylan!) The amazing thing about the interview is just how good he is a public spokesman and apologist. Maher even notes this during...

Paint-By-Numbers Religion (04 Mar 2013 08:33am)

You know I have a love-hate relationship with Sam Harris. Well, in the following short video, he makes an excellent argument. While debating innumerate William Lane Craig, he asks the audience to imagine that Islam is true. He is speaking primarily to Christians. If Islam is true, and the Koran is t...

Conservative Ethics Problems (03 Mar 2013 05:26pm)

Buzz Feed reported Friday that Red State founder and all around fucktard Joshua Trevino was given almost $400,000 to create propaganda for Malaysia and generally slime people in the pro-democracy movement there. In one way, this means very little. As the story makes clear, mostly Trevino just funnel...

Kill the Old in the Name of the Young for the Rich! (03 Mar 2013 01:38pm)

Dean Baker goes after Pew this morning. His problem is with a Pew report that determined how much wealth different age groups had. This has been widely reported and Baker has complained about it before. The problem is not the numbers, which Baker agrees with. The problem is the implication that our ...

Not Bernie Madoff's Birthday (03 Mar 2013 11:56am)

I used to work for a subsidiary of a company that I believed to be involved in a Ponzi scheme. I was never sure and even if it was going on, I didn't necessarily think that they knew it. The truth is that it is really easy for an investment company to work its way into one of these. Shortly after le...

It's the Doctors, Stupid (02 Mar 2013 07:33pm)

Steven Brill has gotten a lot of attention for his big cover story for Time, Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us. In general, I don't pay that much attention to healthcare policy. The truth is that the issues are clear. The only things that get in the way of good policy are the installed i...

Ezra Klein Wises Up (02 Mar 2013 04:41pm)

Yesterday, I made fun of Ezra Klein for being naive about a congressional representative who seemed to think that Obama had never offered Chained-CPI in a Sequester deal. According to Klein, it was just failure to communicate. As I pointed out, if the legislator where informed that Obama is offering...

Daily Beast Likes My Video (02 Mar 2013 11:29am)

When I first created my Zero Dark Thirty trailer parody, I was very pleased. For the first time, something I did came out exactly the way I expected. But more than that, I thought this was the parody that the film was begging for. The trumpeting of their good reviews seemed to require replacing them...

Happy Birthday Lou (02 Mar 2013 09:52am)

It is March 2 and some interesting people were born on this day. The wonderful Alvin Youngblood Hart is 50 today. John Irving is 71 today. The genuinely great Mikhail Gorbachev is 82. John Cullum, the fine musical theater actor, is 83. Theodor Seuss Geisel—Dr. Seuss—would have been 109 t...

Adorable and Wrong Ezra Klein (01 Mar 2013 06:30pm)

Ezra Klein was back at it today being totally adorable. And completely wrong. He was in an off-the-record meeting with an unnamed Republican legislator. One of the reporters at the meeting asked the legislator if it would matter to him if the president put Chained-CPI for Social Security on the tab...

Bradley Manning and the War on Whistle Blowers (01 Mar 2013 03:14pm)

These really are the times that try men's souls. And I wonder whether the liberal apologists for this administration will continue to think cheery thoughts while basic levels accountability are abandoned. The sunshine patriot will shrink from holding his country accountable; only those who demand tr...

Mythical Government Waste (01 Mar 2013 11:30am)

Conservatives have a special fondness for government waste. As I pointed out leading up to the Fiscal Cliff, John Boehner seemed to think there were wasteful government programs, he just needed Obama to tell him what they were. This goes along with polls that shows that the American people want to c...

Justin Bieber's 12th Birthday (01 Mar 2013 08:49am)

Justin Bieber turns 12 today. It is the eighth time he has turned 12. He's like Peter Pan: he can't grow up. I don't know why Peter Pan couldn't grow up. In Justin Bieber's case, it would ruin his brand. I am quite serious when I say that Bieber's entire brand is being a cute little boy. This is al...

Shared Delusions of Ross and Ezra (01 Mar 2013 08:22am)

Ross Douthat had some interesting things to say the other day, Rand Paul, Realism and Republican Reform. It is mostly about how Rand Paul, in terms of foreign policy, is a non-interventionist (His best quality!) but is trying to re-brand himself as a realist like Colin Powell. The problem that Rand ...

A Good Day to Die Already! (28 Feb 2013 08:13pm)

There are two contrasting scenes at the beginning of A Good Day to Die Hard that perfectly encapsulate what is wrong with the American action film genre. The first finds John McClane in a taxicab in Moscow. The cabby learns that he is from New York and starts singing "New York, New York." When McCla...

Deficit Opinions Should Change (28 Feb 2013 08:51am)

Michael Tesler, a political scientist over at Brown, wrote a guest post at The Monkey Cage, Who Cares About Budget Deficits? Basically, the entire article is the graph below, which I altered to make display better here. It shows two things. First, it shows that the better informed partisans are, the...

Zero Mostel (28 Feb 2013 08:38am)

Ninety-eight years ago, Zero Mostel was born. I always loved seeing him in movies. He was especially charming in The Producers. And when I read, years later in When The Shooting Stops ... The Cutting Begins, that Mostel and Mel Brooks had a feud going throughout the filming, it only made me love him...

Canoodle (28 Feb 2013 08:34am)

I'm a pretty clueless guy in a lot of ways. So when I saw the following CTV News blooper, I immediately felt a kinship with the poor news anchorman. He was talking to the weather woman and mentioned that they might "canoodle" before she presented her forecast. She was shocked, "We're not going to be...

Is Ben Bernanke This Clueless? (28 Feb 2013 08:30am)

Last year, Matt Yglesias made one of the best political observations I've ever heard, "If the unemployment and inflation rates were reversed, would the Fed do something about it?" The point he was making was that the Fed is overly concerned about inflation. For the last four years, we have lived wit...

Campaigns Don't Much Matter (27 Feb 2013 05:55pm)

After Obama's underwhelming performance at the first general election presidential debate, I was depressed like most liberals. But after two and a half days, I ebullient. What happened? The Jobs Report came out and unemployment had dropped below 8% for the first time in years. You may remember that ...

Moraesesque (27 Feb 2013 02:19pm)

Ben Bernanke spoke before the Senate yesterday. And as much as anyone can tell, given that only people who work at the place can fully comprehend "Fed Speak," he seemed to be saying that we shouldn't worry about the deficit right now and that we could use some stimulus. And you know who that sounds ...

Roberts Has Long Hated the VRA (27 Feb 2013 01:39pm)

Something I really hate is how John Roberts is held up as some model of reasonable conservatism. I'm sure he will go down in history just like William Rehnquist: a man who is extremely conservative but is said to be reasonable because the people who came after him were even more extreme. In the case...

100 Years of Irwin Shaw (27 Feb 2013 10:23am)

One hundred years ago today the great writer Irwin Shaw was born. About a year ago, I spent a couple of weeks with his Short Stories, Five Decades. It reminded me of when I first started writing about 25 years ago. I became obsessed with his short story "The Eighty-Yard Run." I read it again and ag...

Boehner's Paradox of Power (27 Feb 2013 09:08am)

Jonathan Chait came out this morning and said what we all know in our hearts: John Boehner's position on the Sequester is a teeny-tiny jobs program. Or to put it more bluntly: he doesn't care about 700,000 jobs that will be lost if the Sequester stays the law; he only cares about one job: his own as...

Slow & Measured (27 Feb 2013 08:17am)

The night before last, Stephen Colbert said that federal regulations were ruining Hollywood and that the next Fast & Furious film would be Slow & Measured: Although I think that is a really good joke, this movie poster works well as an advertisement for Harry Reid and how he is managing th...

Fats Domino at 85 (26 Feb 2013 10:38pm)

This one never grows old: Happy 85th birthday! ...

In Which I Discuss Gus Van Sant One More Time (26 Feb 2013 08:29pm)

About a year before making Elephant, Gus Van Sant headed out into the wilderness with Casey Affleck and Matt Damon made Gerry—an improvised drama based upon the Kodikian and Coughlin story, which had happened just a few years earlier. Very little happens in the movie. Two guys go hiking. They...

America Training Death Squads in Afghanistan (26 Feb 2013 03:47pm)

On Sunday, I reported on Afghan President Hamid Karzai's allegations of American military torture and murder of civilians in that country. My article mostly discussed the assumption of Americans that Karzai had to be posturing because of course Americans never do anything like that. Since then there...

God and Teen Pregnancy (26 Feb 2013 02:56pm)

This is from Sarah Kliff over at Wonk Blog. The Guttmacher Institute put together this map based upon teen pregnancy rates in 2008. For some strange reason, Kliff spends a whole article talking about how New Mexico has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any state. It turns out that the state doesn't...

Republican Winning (26 Feb 2013 10:08am)

I really like Greg Sargent; I read his The Plum Line blog throughout the day. In particular, his gang (him along with Jamelle Bouie and Jonathan Bernstein) see the world pretty similarly to I.[1] But in his coverage of the Sequester, I'm afraid that Sargent is allowing Republicans to win. The dynam...

What Republicans Do, Not What They Say (26 Feb 2013 09:14am)

Ezra Klein hosted The Last Word last night and he said that he didn't understand what the Republicans were doing regarding the Sequester negotiations (or lack thereof). As he understands it, the Republicans have five basic policy goals in the budget discussion: (1) cut the deficit; (2) cut entitleme...

Stuart Stevens' Bizarre Apologia (26 Feb 2013 12:32am)

Stuart Stevens was Romney's chief campaign strategist. And I have a certain fondness for him, which I've discussed before. But he just wrote a bizarre OpEd over at the Washington Post, The GOP Revival Must Go Beyond Joining Twitter. He does give some lip service to this question. But really: is this...

Kathleen O'Brien Wilhelm (25 Feb 2013 07:42pm)

Remember the Deer Lady? She was the Ohio blogger who thought that deer crossing signs were a waste of money because (1) deer can't read and (2) they wouldn't follow the law anyway. Well, I've been staying up to date on her. And it is really getting hard to believe that she isn't involved in some kin...

Naive Pundit Thinks GOP Cares About Deficit? (25 Feb 2013 04:28pm)

Matt Yglesias wants to know why the Republicans keep holding to their no new taxes pledge, even while rejecting deals that are overwhelmingly in their favor. I can't really believe that he is being serious. Yglesias is a smart guy and in no way naive. If he has a fault, it is intellectual arrogance ...

Contents of Character (25 Feb 2013 12:16pm)

Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, "I have a dream, that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." It is a wonderful sentence, wise in...

Repeal Sequestration (25 Feb 2013 08:51am)

Yesterday's Up with Chris Hayes was really interesting. It was good in the way the show usually is, but that's not what I'm talking about. Through much of the show, Hayes was pleading to the world—including his panel—to have congress pass a "one sentence law saying no sequestration." I s...

Elephant (24 Feb 2013 10:45pm)

Recently, I wrote very negative things about Gus Van Sant while discussing his most recent mediocre film Promised Land. I said that his days as a great director where behind him. I used that film as well as Good Will Hunting and Finding Forrester to make this case. But as long time reader Karl Panic...

Major Media Have Sequester All Wrong (24 Feb 2013 06:28pm)

It is Sunday, so I'm going to explain the Sequester to you and why most of the media have it all wrong. Back in 2011 when it was invented, the idea was to make something so horrible that neither side would accept it. Instead they would replace it with some bipartisan plan that the two sides disliked...

America: We're Like Everyone Else (24 Feb 2013 04:04pm)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for the removal of American troops from the province west of Kabul. He claims that the troops have been involved in torture, some even leading to death of civilians in that area. Here's what I know: nothing. It could just be Karzai playing politics or it coul...

Obama's Evil Secrecy (24 Feb 2013 11:31am)

Glenn Greenwald is one of the most important liberal journalists we have. And of course that means he works for a British newspaper. On Friday he wrote, Obama Officials Refuse to Say if Assassination Power Extends to US Soil. This is the kind of stuff that liberals would be all over if the president...

Catholic Church's Procreation Problems (24 Feb 2013 09:22am)

I read this morning over at the Bilerico Project, Top Papal Candidate Blames Child Sex Abuse Scandal on Gays. In it, John Becker quotes Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson as claiming that there are unlikely to be many pedophilia cases in Africa because the culture there just doesn't countenance homosex...

Five Broken Cameras (23 Feb 2013 08:55pm)

"By healing, you resist oppression." That is what Emad Burnat learned after six years of filming the nonviolent resistance of the people of the West Bank village of Bil'in. They were working to remove an Israeli fence and get back their stolen land. In his film Five Broken Camera, he tells his story...

Obama Talks About Himself (23 Feb 2013 02:37pm)

Most of us are wise to the ways of admen, pollsters, speechwriters, and pundits. We know how high-flying words can be deployed in the service of cynical aims, and how the noblest sentiments can be subverted in the name of power, expedience, greed, or intolerance. —Barack Obama, without a hint...

Avik Roy: Healthcare Apologist (23 Feb 2013 11:35am)

Avik Roy was on Up with Chris Hayes this morning. He is something of a healthcare expert. But you know what "expert" means when it comes to a conservative: effective apologist for the status quo. And he didn't miss a beat this morning. He started right out cherry picking studies that showed that hav...

Political Poetry (23 Feb 2013 09:50am)

I'm not Calvin Trillin, but I've written a couple of political poems recently. The first sums up the Republican Party, and to a lesser extent the conservative movement. As you may recall, reproductive rights were more a Republican issue around the time of Roe V. Wade. And in the 1950s, voting rights...

The Oreo Felon (23 Feb 2013 01:12am)

This is a picture of Penny Winters. I always wonder about these things. It is a "mug shot." And yet, Ms. Winters has been convicted of no crime. But somehow, the "justice" system seems to think it is just fine to release her photo to the world. I present her photo to you as an example of an entirel...

Operator by Jim's Son (22 Feb 2013 10:24pm)

In late 1972, the second single from Jim Croce's first album You Don't Mess Around with Jim was released. It was "Operator" with "Rapid Roy" as the B side. I have a certain fondness for "Rapid Roy" because my father raced stock cars when he was young. But in my experience, everyone likes "Operator."...

"Moderate" David Brooks Still Metastisizing (22 Feb 2013 09:38pm)

You all know how much I like Humble David Brooks: he's a radical economic conservative with some reasonable social beliefs. But he did an interview with Ezra Klein that really surprised me. But before I tell you, let me step back. This morning's David Brooks column was a real winner, The D.C. Dubst...

Marco Cruz (22 Feb 2013 08:10pm)

You can think of handsome devil on the left as Ted Rubio, if you want; I like to think of him as Marco Cruz. He is my pathetic Photoshop attempt to combine Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in one photograph. But there's something that these two guys have in common. It is pretty obvious, but give that some t...

Ridiculous Deficit Scolds (22 Feb 2013 04:56pm)

Greg Sargent asked a couple of questions of the deficit hysterics, Questions for the "Blame it on Both Sides" Crowd. But I think he may be a little confused about who he's talking to. His first question is reasonable enough, "What is it exactly that you think Obama could do to make Republicans comp...

The Hot l Baltimore (22 Feb 2013 03:51pm)

When I was a kid I loved plays. There were a lot of reasons for this. One of them is that I have a very good ability to imagine the play in my head. I don't need or even particularly want a lot of detail: I've got that covered. Plays are by their nature kind of the Elmore Leonard style of writing; a...

Righting Write (22 Feb 2013 08:11am)

Yesterday, Matt Yglesias wrote a sentence that needs to be shared, "I continue to think that conservatives are write to believe that the tax code should in fact favor the accumulation of production equipment..." I bring it up because Yglesias is a very smart man. He certainly isn't ignorant of the d...

Republicans Try Their Own False Equivalence (21 Feb 2013 04:54pm)

Have you ever noticed how Republicans get apoplectic at the slightest thing that a Democrat does wrong? There could be ten Republicans who murder their wives. Then a Democrat is caught cheating on his wife. And the Republicans are everywhere screaming that this isn't just an outrage; it is perhaps e...

Fecal Tooth Brushing in the Naked City (21 Feb 2013 03:36pm)

There are eight million stories in the naked city, and this is two of them. The water in the Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was trickling in. Two British tourists, Michael Baugh and his wife, complained. "What kinda country you got here? You don't know about water pressure?!" So the management ...

Is Tebow OK with Fagots Burning in Hell? (21 Feb 2013 01:21pm)

Have you heard the joke about the football player who is an "influential voice for his religion"? Oh, you have? You just didn't know it was a joke? Well it is. It is a big joke about the pathetic state of religion in the United State. The football player? Tim Tebow of course. Over at Yahoo! Sports ...

Palestinian Nonviolence? What a Joke! (21 Feb 2013 12:11pm)

We have met the enemy and he is us. The last several months, Saadiq Long has been bouncing around in the no man's land of the No Fly List. He is a ten year veteran of the United States Air Force. His appearance on the No Fly List has nothing to do with the fact that he is a Muslim. And now, Emad Bur...

Reagan's Liberal Dream (21 Feb 2013 09:42am)

Adam Serwer has a great catch. He compares Ronald Reagan's immigration plan with Obama's, Obama's Immigration Plan Is Far Harsher Than Reagan's. You know Obama's plan: the nonstarter. And you know Reagan: the Grand Poobah of Conservatism; the shining actor on the hill; the man who would solve all o...

Ari Melber on Republican Nihilism (20 Feb 2013 07:42pm)

Last night, while in bed, I watched The Last Word (it was that or more Rocky & Bullwinkle that I've already seen). And as I was falling asleep, Ari Melber said something that shook me. In general, I don't follow Melber, but I have to admit, he's a pretty smart guy. You can take that to mean that...

Villager Is Right But Quickly Goes Wrong (20 Feb 2013 01:14pm)

John Avlon made a great catch over at The Daily Beast, The PowerPoint That Proves It's Not Obama's Sequester After All. And then he went all wrong, but first let's discuss what he got right. This has been driving me crazy the last week or so. All the Republicans have grabbed on to this talking point...

David Corn and the 47% Remark (20 Feb 2013 12:32pm)

I like David Corn. He's a good reporter. But people have made far too much about his article, SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He REALLY Thinks of Obama Voters. That was the infamous 47% video. In announcing that Corn had won the George Polk Award for the story, the sponsor said th...

From Joke to Republican Meme (20 Feb 2013 09:41am)

Sure, you've heard that "Friends of Hamas" doesn't exist and so Chuck Hagel didn't give them a paid speech. But what about the "Junior League of Hezbollah"?! Huh? The word is that a reporter asked if Chuck Hagel gave a speech to that group. And that's about as solid a bit of evidence as you can get....

A Tree Fell and Other Wisdom (19 Feb 2013 07:17pm)

Quick philosophical note. If a tree fell in the woods and no one heard it, did it make a sound? No. When the tree falls, it creates compression waves, not sounds. It is only when something with an ear that can interpret those compression waves that a sound is created. Thus: no listener, no sound. O...

Prometheus (19 Feb 2013 04:40pm)

Someone (JMF, I think) recommended that I what Prometheus. But it was one of those "you should probably see this" rather than "this is really good" recommendations. It is a curious film. It is a prequel for Alien but uses a fanciful notion to get there. It uses the Prometheus myth, but in a surprisi...

Return of the Son of the Night of the Simpson-Bowles (19 Feb 2013 01:02pm)

This is from an article this morning in Politico: "Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson are back at it, pushing the White House and congressional Republicans to get off the partisan sidelines and strike a deal that can keep government debt in check." This is why we have major problems in this country. Th...

Bats, Hammers, and Handguns (19 Feb 2013 12:02pm)

Brian Palmer over at Slate takes on a widely circulated myth that I hadn't even heard of before, Baseball Bats and Hammers Do Not Kill More People Than Guns. Apparently, a lot of conservatives run around saying things like, "There are more people killed with baseball bats and hammers than are killed...

The Lesson of Tennessee Virtual Academy (19 Feb 2013 09:54am)

I am really interested in education, but I find it very depressing to write about. It seems to me that it is all tail chasing that passes for educational reform. What's more, most of it comes down to private companies trying to make a buck and politicians (in this case, the Democrats are almost as b...

Cthulhu in New Jersey (18 Feb 2013 09:02pm)

And speaking of George Washington dying from blood letting: the sea lamprey. The photo on the left is apparently of a large sea lamprey from the waters of New Jersey. These things are parasites that latch onto fish and literally bleed them to death—just like the best physicians of the 18th cen...

Washington's Birthday (18 Feb 2013 05:00pm)

You probably think that today was President's Day. But you are wrong: according to the federal government, it was Washington's Birthday. And in keeping with my tradition of ruining holidays, this makes my task much easier. Although note: there is no reason to destroy good holidays like this one wher...

Why Media Pander to the Right (18 Feb 2013 03:23pm)

Last week, Reed Richardson wrote a really good column comparing the Republican and Tea Party responses to the State of the Union address, How the Media Skews its State-of-the-Union Response Coverage. I thought about this before the event. Marco Rubio is a Tea Party darling. He wasn't going to say an...

Deer Can't Read! (18 Feb 2013 11:27am)

I often wonder why people have such a low opinion of bloggers. In my experience, there are a lot of good bloggers out there. It is downright scary just how talented a lot of people are. And then there are the bloggers who never really try. It is surprising how many blogs have one post. But mostly, p...

Cat Scratch Fever (18 Feb 2013 10:10am)

I don't think you appreciated me enough. You see, I suffer to bring you stories here and man did I suffer last night! I listened to the entirety of Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever. Of course, the only reason I listened to it is because Nugent is such a nut. But I kept an open mind, because I don't ex...

Universal Rights (17 Feb 2013 07:07pm)

Matt Taibbi wrote an interesting article about civilian drone killings, At Least We're Not Measles: Rationalizing Drone Attacks Hits New Low. The article generally is an attack on all those (including an embarrassing number of liberals) who have been apologizing for these attacks. In particular, he ...

Bitching About Snickers Satisfies (17 Feb 2013 03:04pm)

My sister directed me to this Liberals4America Facebook page: While you were busy bitching about a guy who bought a Snickers with food stamps, this was happening to your tax dollars! What I find most disturbing about this is the guy bitching about the "abuse" of food stamps. In many cases, he's a ...

FISA: Don't Hold The Phone (17 Feb 2013 11:57am)

You gotta love this. You know the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)? It's the act that sets up courts to make sure that secret wiretaps of suspected foreign agents were all above board—that law enforcement agencies weren't going crazy just wiretapping everyone. You may remember that...

Minimum Wage and EITC (17 Feb 2013 10:07am)

Mike Konczal recently interviewed economist Arindrajit Dube about the minimum wage. In a blog post after the interview, Konczal explained something that Dube had talked about and it is really interesting. You see, there are people like Matt Yglesias who argue that the best way to help the poor is to...

Needed: More Drunk Witnesses (17 Feb 2013 09:26am)

Sarah Kliff reported yesterday on research that shows, Drunk Eyewitnesses Are Just as Good as Sober Ones. The research was performed by researchers at the University of Gothenberg. They specifically looked at whether people who watch a video of a crime could identify the perpetrator in a line-up a w...

What Sets Prices? (16 Feb 2013 10:13pm)

Dean Baker wrote a very short blog post the other day that gets at an important economic point that most people seem to miss, If Drug Companies Could Charge Higher Prices, Why Aren't They? It refers to a Katie Thomas and Robert Pear New York Times article that claims that the government plans to pay...

Harry Reid Has Soured (16 Feb 2013 01:47pm)

John Nichols is angry at Harry Reid. Of course, who isn't. Let's look back at a little Harry Reid history, shall we? In January 2011, Harry Reid just said no to filibuster reform. (Note: he said no in 2009 too, when he could have changed the rules over a Republican filibuster!) But then Reid changed...

Paradox of Existence (16 Feb 2013 12:17pm)

I was doing a job at a church and I had to be reminded by my partner not to discuss, you know, theology. This is because the Baptists we were working for might mistake the question I raised with some children as anti-religious. The question: if God created the universe, what created God? This is, of...

GOP Could Claim Victory But Won't (16 Feb 2013 09:43am)

Greg Sargent (with the help of Paul Van de Water of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) has an idea for how Republicans can win the Sequester fight. He notes that winning this fight is all about appearances. Thus far, the Democrats have agreed to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts and the Republ...

O'Reilly Teaches Sam Harris Manners (15 Feb 2013 08:06pm)

This is interesting: Bill O'Reilly has a conservation where he's the reasonable one! I like Sam Harris well enough. He's a pretty good thinker. But there are times... He really became noted as an atheist neoconservative. His rhetoric toward the Islamic religion was shocking. What I think I found mo...

Minimum Wage is a Winner for Democrats (15 Feb 2013 06:54pm)

Bruce Bartlett is one of those Republicans who stood still. But he is still a Republican and still has a real conservative bent. But I'm the first to admit that not all conservative ideas are bad; I just think that all Republican ideas are bad (in as much as they have ideas). Today, in The Fiscal Ti...

My Defense of Comic Sans (15 Feb 2013 10:11am)

A couple of years ago, David Kadavy wrote an article explaining to all the prols why the Comic Sans font sucks. But it is also kind of a defense of the font. As he notes, Comic Sans is very readable at low resolution. So what is the problem with the font? There are some technical matters—mostl...

GOP Still Against Democracy (15 Feb 2013 09:33am)

Nia-Malika Henderson and Felicia Sonmez reported yesterday on liberal and conservative responses to the president's voting rights commission, Obama's Proposed Voting Commission Under Partisan Fire From Both Sides. I've already provided the liberal complain: low expectations and working with anti-dem...

Sullivan on Revolutionary Republicans (15 Feb 2013 08:53am)

No entity in our polity right now is more radical and revolutionary than the current GOP: their contempt for institutional custom knows few bounds when it comes to the short-term tactical possibility of impeding even a newly re-elected president, after losing the popular vote for the presidency, Sen...

H1-B Visas (14 Feb 2013 03:37pm)

Dean Baker wrote a very good (short) article this morning about the call for more highly educated workers. They are called STEM workers, which stands for workers who have skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. What Republicans are pushing for are more H1-B visas. And this is be...

Don't Get Ready for a Third Party (14 Feb 2013 02:05pm)

Have you heard about the end of the two party political system in the United States? Let me lay it on you. In 2016, Rand Paul will run for the Republican presidential nomination. He won't win, because, you know, he's Rand Paul. Plus, all the establishment Republicans will be funneling cash and exper...

Play Valentine's Day Well (14 Feb 2013 11:26am)

I have some advice for the men out there, but I think it would be good for the women to read on as well. When I am in love (which I now think of as a kind of virus that should be avoided at all cost), I am very much into buying random little lover's gifts. And I am especially fond of flowers. In f...

Ben Ginsberg No Fan of Democracy (14 Feb 2013 09:53am)

Rick Hasen over at Election Law Blog asks, Will the Bauer-Ginsberg Election Reform Commission Improve Our Dismal Election System? He concludes that it is all very good in theory, but that the commission has such limited goals that in the end it will probably be of no practical value. You see, the co...

Bushonomics Vs. Ryanonomics (14 Feb 2013 08:53am)

I've avoided writing about Marco Rubio. Mostly, it is just pena ajena—it embarrasses me to watch others' public humiliation. But also: what is there to say? His State of the Union response was complete Republican boilerplate: pretend that the president is someone else and attack that guy. Mat...

Corpse Bride (13 Feb 2013 09:15pm)

I know that I'm in something of a rut, but I've watched another Tim Burton film: Corpse Bride. And what a wonderful film it is! It is so rare that I see a movie that is enjoyable from beginning to end. But it is, after all, my kind of film: lots of silliness and a very sweet, even sentimental story....

Pope Stops Theological Innovation (13 Feb 2013 06:00pm)

On Monday, The Onion reported, Resigning Pope No Longer Has Strength To Lead Church Backward. The article says, "According to the 85-year-old pontiff, after considerable prayer and reflection on his physical stamina and mental acuity, he concluded that his declining faculties left him unable to helm...

Rasing Minimum Wage Won't Hurt Employment (13 Feb 2013 03:55pm)

Minimum Wage in San Francisco: $10.55 per hour! So much of conservative economic analysis comes down to, "I kind of paid attention to the lectures that term I got a C in Econ 101." It is certainly true that you can understand a lot of what is going on in the economy by understanding some simple econ...

Rich Protectors of the Rich (13 Feb 2013 11:37am)

Yesterday, Dean Baker wrote two important articles that obliquely addressed the conservative obsession with all the terrible things we are doing to our children's future. You know the kind of thing: "We are mortgaging our children's future!" Or: "Someday our children will have to pay these bills." A...

A Nice Cup of Tea (13 Feb 2013 10:12am)

Every morning I get up and anxiously think, "What am I going to write about on Frankly Curious?" And this morning was no different. There are a few things on my mind. I'd like to counter this reasonable sounding but wrong idea that raising the minimum wage will hurt job growth. And I'd like to discu...

I Feel So Safe! (12 Feb 2013 05:25pm)

I have had a very bad cough for almost three months now. I went to doctor and she told me if it didn't go away in another month, I should come back. I figure I have tuberculosis and there is just a conspiracy of silence because everyone thinks that I don't want to die. The fools! I laugh death. I gu...

American Imperialism (12 Feb 2013 01:06pm)

Cenk Uygur said something on The Young Turk about America that is a common sentiment, especially liberals: people all over the world love our culture and if only we just lived up to our ideals, everyone would love America. I used to believe this. But it is total bullshit. On the show, this is demons...

Rove Can't Change Republican Voters (12 Feb 2013 11:59am)

Nate Silver wrote a very interesting article that goes right along with something I've been thinking, New Rove Group Could Backfire on G.O.P. He goes into a lot of detail, but basically his argument is that lack of money is not the reason that establishment candidates lost primaries. This ought to g...

Silly Pope, Evil Pope (12 Feb 2013 10:32am)

I was raised Catholic, so I have a certain fondness for the church. But it more than this. The truth is that I like the idea of religions being old. So the Catholic and Orthodox churches strike me as more valid. The idea that one would reform these churches but only do it around the edges as happene...

Unreasonable Reasonable Republicans (12 Feb 2013 09:56am)

Do you know who is a real Reasonable Republican? Joe Scarborough. And that pretty much explains why the search for the lauded Reasonable Republican is such a foolish errand. When you find them, they simply have all the stupid policy prescriptions of other Republicans but they don't think that rape v...

Healthcare Inequality and Shotgun Blasts to the Face (11 Feb 2013 08:33pm)

Who is the man who would risk his neck for a brother man? Shaft! Who knows the evil that lurks in the heart of man? Shadow! And who shot his friend in the face with a shot gun 7 years ago today? Cheney! Can you dig it? The victim was Harry Whittington, who has his own Wikipedia page, mostly, it se...

Outlook Ad for Thunderbird (11 Feb 2013 06:41pm)

My friend Will and I discuss computers a lot. This is mostly because Will is only really interested in computers (and for the last couple of months beer brewing). And one thing we discuss a lot is privacy and the fact that after the lives that we have led, we don't worry about it all. We worry about...

Matt Yglesias' Public Shame (11 Feb 2013 01:57pm)

I can't explain why I'm writing this article. Too much caffeine? Maybe. Feeling intellectually insecure? Always. Or is it just that people as brilliant as Matt Yglesias should be spanked publicly when providing the smallest of justification? Yep! I think that's the one. Yglesias is one of my very f...

Debt, Deficit, or Any Old Excuse (11 Feb 2013 01:24pm)

Can you locate the error?! This is from Glenn Thrush this morning: Voters overwhelmingly say they want him to do more to deal with a deficit that is set to exceed $14 trillion by the end of the fiscal year. If you said "$14 trillion" or "deficit" you win! What Thrush means is that the total gross ...

Charlie to the Rescue! (11 Feb 2013 11:08am)

I don't think that someone who goes on a killing spree is necessarily crazy. At least, I don't think they are crazy as we normally define it. After all, we don't call CEOs who destroy the lives of thousands of people crazy. They're just evil. And so too are people who go around killing others. As a ...

The Real Republican Reform (11 Feb 2013 10:24am)

Marco Rubio represents the old Republican Party. Not in the Richard Nixon sense of being kind of a social liberal, because Rubio is anything but. No. He represents the old Republican Party in the Richard Nixon sense of the Southern Strategy: getting enough people who totally disagree with your polic...

Sylvia's Mother (10 Feb 2013 08:04pm)

Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show is best known for the song The Cover of the Rolling Stone, a humorous Shel Silverstein song about the excesses of rock stars. "We sing about beauty and we sing about truth... at ten thousand dollars a show." But Dr. Hook's first hit was almost as popular, and also a ...

Gus Van Sant's Fading Career (10 Feb 2013 04:52pm)

I seem to talk a lot about once great directors losing their edges. Most recently, I mentioned David Cronenberg. Last year around this time, it was the Coen Brothers. Ridley Scott is another example. I could go on and on. Another good example is Gus Van Sant. Like all of the directors I've mentione...

Banking Crises Soaring (10 Feb 2013 01:42pm)

Sal Gentile over at Up with Chris Hayes found a remarkable paper from the Bank of England, Long and Short-Term Effects of the Financial Crisis on Labour Productivity, Capital and Output (pdf). They find that there is a long-term effect on an economy's productivity of 1% per year that the crisis drag...

Celebrity Painters (10 Feb 2013 11:21am)

In general, I'm against artists in one field going into another. Part of it is just that we already live in a winner-take-all society. There are damned few ways for artists to make a living. Does Jeff Bridges really need the extra income from doing voice-overs for commercials? Couldn't he leave som...

Jesus Opens a Laundry (10 Feb 2013 09:26am)

I'm always interested in how Christians perceive the work of Jesus. When Mary Magdalene was sick, Jesus cured her and she stuck by him throughout the Passion and beyond. But Christians are more likely to send their problems away. Out of sight, out of mind. Who needs that compassion nonsense? In the...

Illiterate Howard Jarvis (09 Feb 2013 04:22pm)

This came in the mail today. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayer's Association is a vile organization started by a really vile and ignorant man—a man who has done more to hurt my home state than anyone other than maybe Ronald Reagan. And usually, these mailings that come every couple of weeks offend m...

Bush Self-Portrait (09 Feb 2013 03:00pm)

Guccifer hacked the Bush family emails and all I got was this stupid painting! Okay, not stupid. Let me backtrack, because this hasn't exactly been well covered. Earlier this week, The Smoking Gun reported a hacker by the name of Guccifer got into six email accounts of Bush family members and friend...

Reich on What Obama Should Focus on (09 Feb 2013 12:52pm)

Despite what it says on the right there, I don't read Robert Reich that much. The reason is that generally I agree too much with him. We see politics very similarly. But given that he isn't a blogger, he doesn't have to write about things that aren't his focus. Plus, he never writes about music, fil...

Solar's a Joke (on Fox) (09 Feb 2013 09:33am)

I don't have much occasion to watch Fox News, and that's probably a bad thing. Just like shingles, it is easy to forget just how bad it is if you aren't actively suffering from it. Luckily, Media Matters suffers for us all by continuously monitoring this vile institution. Most of the articles they p...

Presidential Signing Statements (08 Feb 2013 07:09pm)

A political scientist at Florida International University, Kevin Evans explains, Why the Obama Administration Has Issued Fewer Signing Statements. It's quite interesting, because I actually didn't know anything about Obama's signing statements. I remember being really mad about Bush's. But Obama jus...

More Fed Craziness (08 Feb 2013 01:51pm)

A couple of days ago, Ylan Q. Mui at the Washington Post wrote a curious article, Virginia Coin Moves Closer to Reality. I say "curious" because she takes this threat seriously. And this is just plain crazy: every bit as crazy as secession and a whole lot more crazy than requiring ultrasounds before...

John Dies at the End (08 Feb 2013 09:50am)

Tonight at the Shattuck Cinema, Northern California will get its first official look at Don Coscarelli's newest genre defying film John Dies at the End. Spoiler alter: John does not die at the end. He dies about a third of the way through, but that doesn't really matter because death doesn't really ...

Republicans Need to Stop Being Republicans (08 Feb 2013 08:29am)

Jonathan Bernstein has some good advice for Republicans wishing to take the crazy out of their party. He starts by noting that throwing money at the problem will not help. The truth is that a lot of their most stunning crazy failures won primaries will little money. In some cases, this fact helped t...

Republicans Should Hate Sequestration (08 Feb 2013 07:36am)

The House Democrats put out a report on how bad the looming Sequestration is likely to be. It is actually quite frightening. We will see major cuts to air traffic controllers and food safety inspectors and border patrol and Coast Guard. We'll see big cuts to Head Start and nutrition programs. Less m...

Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Liberals (07 Feb 2013 07:02pm)

I was making dinner and I caught the end of The Ed Show. I want to be clear: I think Ed Schultz is an idiot. He is as rigidly partisan as you find in a liberal and he's a blowhard. And we need a lot more of him. We need liberals who can talk to regular guys. Effete intellectuals like me are what peo...

Hugh Everett Alive and Well in Virginia (07 Feb 2013 03:42pm)

When I first started studying physics seriously, Einsteinian relativity really bugged me. It just didn't make sense. So I worked really hard to understand it—harder than I ever worked to understand any other kind of physics. And I never had an epiphany. Instead, I just accepted it. Relativity ...

Rand Paul Is No Hero (07 Feb 2013 11:51am)

You've probably read about Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle getting murdered by a comrade at a shooting range. It became a bit of a dust up due to libertarian wackjob Ron Paul tweeting out, "Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that 'he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.' Treating PTSD at a firing ...

Why We Can't Have Nice Things: NRA (07 Feb 2013 10:57am)

Quinnipiac has released a poll. It shows that when you ask Americans about particular gun law policies, they are very much in favor of (for example) universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. These are positions of President Obama. The NRA, on the other hand, is against universal backgr...

Boehner's Fake Indignation (07 Feb 2013 09:28am)

This morning, Paul Krugman puts a recent John Boehner quote into context. I suspect that you've heard the quote. It one of Boehner's many, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" rants. He said, "At some point, Washington has to deal with its spending problem. I've watched them kick t...

Dr. Jekyll and President Hyde (06 Feb 2013 07:45pm)

Andrea gets mad at me when I rag on the president too much. To her, Obama is so much better than Bush that we should just be grateful that we don't have a complete fucking idiot in the White House. But here's the thing: I am grateful. I usually defend myself by saying, "I think Obama is the best pre...

Gojira on CNN (06 Feb 2013 05:08pm)

I am a good historian when I get home, plop down in front of the TV, switch it on, see an image of a giant creature smashing Tokyo, and do not infer, "Oh! I must be watching CNN!" Is it because I know darn well that monsters do not and cannot exist? I know no such thing! Cryptozoology tell us we may...

Must Destroy Republican Party (06 Feb 2013 11:40am)

The same day that House Republicans are proposing to save $600 billion in defense spending by cutting 10% of all federal jobs, the United States Postal Service announces that it is cutting delivery of first class mail on Saturdays. These are linked together. You can file them under "stupid things we...

Republicans Push Immigration Rightward (06 Feb 2013 10:57am)

This morning, Greg Sargent over at The Plum Line blog tells us, On Immigration, Dems Hold the Middle Ground, and Republicans Don't. In it, he argues that the Republicans are trying to claim that they are the ones that are staking out a middle ground and that it is the Democrats who are being all ext...

Cantor's Big Speech (05 Feb 2013 07:30pm)

Eric Cantor gave a speech and I think it sucked. What are the odds? Ezra Klein provides a nice rundown of all of Cantor's policy proposals. He isn't too impressed either, but I think that he gives Cantor far too much credit. There is one big way that the Republicans could signal that are changing:...

Debt Interest Burden (05 Feb 2013 12:36pm)

Yesterday, Dean Baker published one of his weekly "Robert Samuelson is an idiot" articles, It's Monday and Robert Samuelson Is Confused. It's a good article. I always look forward to Mondays because Samuelson is a Very Serious Idiot and Baker really does have something to say about him every week. S...

Humor on the Court (05 Feb 2013 09:18am)

Last night, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor was on Colbert Report to hock her new book, My Beloved World. Because any interview with Colbert is necessarily orthogonal to everything, they spent the first half of the segment talking about bringing more spectacle to judicial hearings. Sotomayor ...

Wrong Again, Bill! (04 Feb 2013 07:10pm)

Bill Maher was at it again this Friday night on Real Time. It is sad to see, but he seems to be listening to a lot of Very Serious People. Last week, he was bashing disability and assuming that Americans were getting lazier. This week, he was bashing old people. He noted that we spend $4 on every se...

From Racist Rhetoric to Electoral Games (04 Feb 2013 04:41pm)

Earlier today, Jonathan Chait wrote, The GOP's Anti-Democratic Panic. In it, he calls out David Frum for his recent bit of "both sides now" reporting. In all the major swing states, Republicans have been looking seriously at changing the way their electoral votes are granted—making them determ...

Cyberpunk and Blade Runner (03 Feb 2013 08:45pm)

I watched Blade Runner this afternoon. I always associate it with William Gibson's Neuromancer. According to Gibson, the book was about to go to press when Blade Runner appeared. There were many similarities, so Gibson went back and changed a number of things in the book. Both works are generally se...

Deficit Morality (02 Feb 2013 03:13pm)

Last week, Neil Irwin over at Wonk Blog wrote an article that sounded really fun, Joe Scarborough, Paul Krugman and the Economist-Pundit Divide on Debt and Deficits. But I really hated it. I like what he is trying to do: explain why these pundits are so focused on the deficit even though the facts a...

Blogging and Narcissism (02 Feb 2013 12:23pm)

For the last day and a half I have been very ill. Actually, I still am, but I'm able to move around. I'm not sure what it is. I though it might be an ulcer, but I think it is now above my stomach. I think it may have something to do with a terrible cough I have. It may be a lung infection or somethi...

Conformity on American Idol (01 Feb 2013 08:31am)

I came down to visit my sister and help her with her taxes. As a result, she tortured me by making me watch American Idol. There was an interesting woman auditioning for the show last night. She wasn't much of a singer. In fact, I couldn't catch the melody of the song that she was singing. In her de...

If I Were Hagel (01 Feb 2013 08:22am)

It has to be hard to be someone like Chuck Hagel. I wouldn't be able to do what he's doing. It is clear that he is extremely well qualified for the job of Secretary of Defense. But all of the Republican senatorial carping at him was too much. The big moment in the hearing was when John McCain wanted...

Bill Maher Bashes Disability (31 Jan 2013 11:13am)

As you all know, I like Bill Maher. I think he is funny and he is right about a lot of politics. But I get very angry at him when he is egregiously wrong. This happened most recently during the presidential campaign. Goldie Taylor was on his show. She claimed that Obama would win 330 electoral votes...

Republican Economic Incoherence (31 Jan 2013 10:29am)

This morning, Greg Sargent writes, We all agree that spending cuts hurt the economy. Right? Right. Right now, the Republicans are claiming that spending cuts will help the economy. Of course, six months ago, they were saying the opposite. But this is nothing new. The truth is that Republicans are in...

Oh My Marriage! (31 Jan 2013 09:19am)

I know that not long ago, I checked Wikipedia to find out if Jim Nabors was openly gay. And as I recall, there was really nothing about it. Of course, I assumed he was. I don't know why. There are those stories about Rock Hudson. Everyone assumed. And maybe it is just that no one cared, Nabors being...

Pray for Ron (31 Jan 2013 09:15am)

I am not a big fan of video porn. But like any American male of my age, I know Ron Jeremy. According to USA Today, Mr. Jeremy is in the hospital, following heart surgery for an aneurysm. The article claims that Jeremy is a "porn star." And indeed, he has "starred" in over 2000 porn films. But you ha...

Government Austerity Hurting Economy (30 Jan 2013 03:05pm)

There is a blogging problem that I've only really noticed the last few months. There is a constant feeling that you've written about "this" (whatever it is) before. Because you have. Because the same old bullshit comes up time and time again. Case in point: the size of the economy shrunk last quarte...

Wasteful Border Security Spending (30 Jan 2013 02:06pm)

There are some things that America just can't get enough of. There is always money for the military. There is always money for prisons. There is always money for border security. Yet there is almost never any indication that this money is well spent. Quite the opposite, actually. Let's talk border s...

Thank You Pig (30 Jan 2013 12:17pm)

I watched Babe: Pig in the City again last night. It is a wonderful film. Even better than the first one that is also wonderful in its own way. My major problem with the original film is the ridiculous plot device of a secret code that makes all sheep talk to you, "Baa-ram-ewe . Baa-ram-ewe. To you...

Republican House Racial Polarization (30 Jan 2013 09:08am)

Scott Bland has provided an amazing graph over at National Journal in an article, Why Immigration Reform Could Die in the House. The article itself shows that getting immigration reform through the House of Representatives could be harder than many people imagine. Of the Republicans in the House, 11...

Wacky Argument Against Same-Sex Marriage (29 Jan 2013 05:08pm)

Jonathan Chait reported something today that was so unbelievable that I had to look into it. Conservatives were at the Supreme Court the week before last trying to both get California's Prop 8 (gay marriage) overturned and force the White House to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. As Chait rightl...

Tom Tancredo's Reefer Madness (29 Jan 2013 01:50pm)

Let me lay the whole story on you because (1) it hasn't been the well reported and (2) I'm a hip cat who wants to lay it on rather than just write it down. In the lead up to Colorado's shocking vote to make cannabis legal—Just to get high, if you can believe it!—Tom Tancredo promised tha...

Non-Crazy Conservatism (29 Jan 2013 11:44am)

Daniel Larison wrote a short article last week, Bobby Jindal and the "Party of Growth." As I read it, I found that I was very much in agreement. But how could that be? It was published in The American Conservative. It was not that the ideas were solid. I often agree with sensible conservatives. Ram...

What David Mamet Knows That Just Ain't So (29 Jan 2013 10:05am)

David Mamet is not a great writer. But he has a good sense of story and character, as well as very unusual dialog. Thus it is strange that he is a conservative. But not a very thoughtful one. And this is probably why Newsweek decided to run a cover story written by him, Gun Laws and the Fools of Che...

Immigration Reform Fracturing (29 Jan 2013 09:24am)

As I reported yesterday, Don't Get Excited About Immigration Reform. Greg Sargent reports this morning, Confusion Envelops Senate Immigration Plan. Basically, the eight senators can't quite agree about what exactly they mean by the Southwestern border commission. The Democrats claim that this will j...

DMV and Nothingness (28 Jan 2013 07:47pm)

I had to spend the afternoon at the DMV today. And I spent much of it reading (or trying to read) Why Does the World Exist? There is perhaps no more bizarre place to contemplate the nature of existence. At least for me. Because I have a natural tendency to get captured by solipsism. When you get rig...

Don't Get Excited About Immigration Reform (28 Jan 2013 10:42am)

This morning, an immigration reform framework was announced by 8 senators. There are two big reasons why we shouldn't be excited by it. First, it is primarily a huge giveaway to corporate power. It specifically calls for making it easier for high tech and farm workers to be giving a quick route int...

Occasionally Principled Thoughtless Assholes (28 Jan 2013 09:47am)

This weekend Republicans had yet another get together where they planned to figure out how to stop being a minority party without, you know, actually changing the party in any meaningful way. And I think it is important to remember that some of their great ideas are really not going to work. Recentl...

Kiriakou on Conviction (28 Jan 2013 09:02am)

I am proud that I stood up to our government. I stood up for what I believed was right conviction or no conviction. I mean they can convict anybody of anything if they put their minds to it, but I wear this as a badge of honor. I am not a criminal. I am a whistleblower. The thing that I blew the whi...

On Lying to Kids (27 Jan 2013 05:47pm)

I am not a parent, a fact that children everywhere are most grateful for. Although I always thought I would be a great father—like Calvin's dad, but with more flair. For some reason, all actual parents seem to think that I'm a bad influence on their kids. Like it's wrong to lie to them or some...

We're #1... On Healthcare Costs (27 Jan 2013 04:55pm)

Ezra Klein wrote another one of those "chart" articles that he's so fond of, Two Charts That Should Be in Every Health-Care Discussion. (What is it with everyone thinking "healthcare" is not a word?) The second graph is not very interesting. It shows how much more the United States pays for private ...

Republicans Are a Christian Party (27 Jan 2013 01:17pm)

Conservatives are so cute! At least when they try to figure out why no one likes their party. It just never occurs to them that it might be, you know, their policies. Look: conservatives like their policies. It is the party of the rich that does the work of the rich. And a bunch of Christians and ra...

Mary Jo White: Business As Usual (27 Jan 2013 11:54am)

Ah, Mary Jo White! Obama has nominated her to run the SEC. There are good things to say about her. And Obama has said them all. And there are bad things to say about her and I will talk about them shortly. But all you really have to know is that Obama nominated her. Therefore: she will not do anythi...

TED Talks Elitist (27 Jan 2013 08:58am)

I happened upon a page for the TED Talks where they try to answer the question, Is TED Elitist? The thing about elitism is that those who suffer from it don't normally understand what the issue is. And TED is no exception. Here is their answer to the question: "Is TED elitist? In a nutshell, no. It ...

Republicans Caused All Filibuster Abuse (26 Jan 2013 09:44am)

As we say goodbye to filibuster reform, let us take a moment to get really clear on where the blames lays for turning the filibuster into a weapon of mass destruction. More and more when I talk to conservatives, the best they can say about how badly their party acts is the centrists' lament: both si...

Krugman Challenge (26 Jan 2013 09:15am)

Paul Krugman claims, "If [the following video] doesn't make you smile, something is wrong with you." Dare you take the Krugman Challenge? Click below the fold for my reaction. ...

Republican Tax and Spending Bind (26 Jan 2013 08:57am)

Matt Yglesias tries to get to the bottom of the Republican position of taxes and spending. But I'm afraid he's being a bit too clever. Or something. He correctly points out that Republicans don't want to raise taxes and also don't want to cut Medicare and Social Security. But as he says, the questio...

No Recess Appointment Make Filibuster Worse (25 Jan 2013 04:06pm)

Tired of hating on Harry Reid? Then click away, because I have something all new to bitch about. Today, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came down with a sweeping interpretation of the Constitution that will basically end recess appointments. These are temporary appointments...

Torture Worse Than Torture Disclosure (25 Jan 2013 03:29pm)

Does irony still exist in the United States? I doubt it. Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was just given two and a half years for leaking classified information. In the end, all of his charges were reduced to giving the name of one covert operative to a reporter. (Why does that sound familiar?) But ...

We Bought a Zoo (25 Jan 2013 11:46am)

I don't give Cameron Crowe much thought. But perhaps I should. I don't say this because he is good; I don't believe that. But he is unusual. His films are much like novels in their loose plot structures and focus on character. And through a seeming act of will, I find that his films always just make...

Revolutionary Politics and the Filibuster (25 Jan 2013 09:35am)

Greg Sargent interviewed Tom Udall this morning. Udall is one of the main proponents of filibuster reform. He is one of what Harry Reid called, "two young, fine senators" when Reid first called for reform. Before he folded like a card table. During the interview, Udall said, "The Senate is now a gra...

Republican Half Measures in Virginia (25 Jan 2013 05:24am)

Kevin Drum over at Mother Jones is wondering what the Republicans are doing in Virginia. As you have probably heard, the evenly divided Virginia state senate waited until one Democrat was out of town so that they could ram through a new redistricting plan for the state. But that's not what Drum is t...

"Hero" John McCain (24 Jan 2013 06:56pm)

Yesdayday, Martha Jackovics of Beach Peanuts wrote, It's Time To Stop Pretending John McCain Is A "Hero." She is talking about his political career and how he once was a hero, but he isn't anymore. It's a good article. I have one minor complaint, however: I'm not so sure that John McCain was even a ...

Why Existence? (24 Jan 2013 04:16pm)

While preparing my earlier article about Ayn Rand, I came upon the following quote about a talk by uber-Randian Leonard Peikoff. (Actually Peikoff is far more reasonable than Rand.) The article noted that he said Obama was not a socialist but rather an egalitarian nihilist. It then describes this as...

Flipping and Flopping with Harry (24 Jan 2013 12:25pm)

Flipping: These two young, fine senators said it was time to change the rules of the Senate, and we didn't. And they were right. The rest of us were wrong—or most of us, anyway. What a shame… If there were anything that ever needed changing in this body, it's the filibuster rule, because it's...

Harry Reid Fucks America (24 Jan 2013 11:42am)

The Democrats completely folded on filibuster reform. I had been figuring that this would be Harry Reid's last term as a senator. And I was fine with that. He could step aside and allow a younger Democrat to take his seat. But now, I hope that doesn't happen. I hope that Reid just dies. It doesn't ...

The Atlasphere: Rape for Everyone! (24 Jan 2013 10:02am)

Last night on the Colbert Report, I was introduced to The Atlasphere, a dating service for devotees of Ayn Rand's novels Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. Colbert did a funny bit about the website. He said, "The Atlasphere is the best place for Randians to find the one they love, other than their...

Kamau Bell on Django Unchained (23 Jan 2013 08:42pm)

Kamau Bell explains that Django Unchained released the n-bomb 109 times. This is a new record. Do you know what was the last record holder? Watch the two and a half minute video and find out! ...

Hilary Clinton 2016! (23 Jan 2013 08:11pm)

I love this woman! I've never thought as highly of Hilary Clinton as I do now, having watched her take on these ridiculous Republicans. As more and more information has come out, the Republican position on Benghazi has become so narrow that it could fit through the eye of a needle. And Clinton calls...

Ryan Budget is Back (23 Jan 2013 04:57pm)

The Republican leadership seem to have listened to Obama's claim that they mustn't crash the economy because, you know, we have to pay our bills. The budget is the time to cut costs, not afterwards when the bills come due. As a result of this realization (or at least the realization of the bad polit...

Boehner's Weakness is America's Strength (23 Jan 2013 12:09pm)

Just for the record, John Boehner is still a very weak Speaker of the House. The House of Representatives voted to suspend the Debt Ceiling through 18 May. This in itself is a chickshit move. Boehner had decided that he didn't need to make his caucus have to vote to raise the Debt Ceiling; instead, ...

The End of History (23 Jan 2013 10:00am)

Last night on The Last Word, Lawrence O'Donnell presented a rewrite where he attacked conservatives—Bill O'Reilly in particular—about the one thing that makes them conservatives. The clip is below and it is worth watching. He says that conservatives always think that however things are, ...

About Jonathan Bernstein (22 Jan 2013 06:34pm)

[Jonathan Bernstein writes for various parts of the Washington Post. But his name always links to Robert Samuelson's page, and regular readers will know that we don't much care for Mr. Samuelson. But we do care for Mr. Bernstein, so we've decided to make an "About Jonathan Bernstein" page for him. I...

Guns and Fetuses (22 Jan 2013 11:36am)

This morning, Jamelle Bouie at The Plum Line blog wrote, GOP Isolated on Abortion, Too. It notes that overall, Republican voters are pro-choice, but the party is aggressively anti-choice. The newest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (PDF) shows that 70% of the nation support upholding Roe vs. Wade. In a...

I'm Not Krugman (22 Jan 2013 10:14am)

Paul Krugman coined a new acronym this morning. He was discussing an article by Larry Summers that argues that we are focusing too much on the deficit. The question is: if this is how Summers feels (and it is; Summers is a White Hat) why does he spend the first two paragraphs talking about how terri...

C.G.P. Grey Explains Debt Ceiling (22 Jan 2013 08:45am)

Here is a good video on the Debt Ceiling from the great C.G.P. Grey: ...

Filibuster Reform Now—Or Not (21 Jan 2013 07:47pm)

We are on filibuster reform eve. Three weeks ago, Harry Reid recessed the Senate, so when the Senate comes back into session tomorrow, it will still technically be the first day. And so, they can reform the filibuster with a simple majority vote. The question is whether they will. It is looking more...

Martin Luther King, Jr. (21 Jan 2013 01:38pm)

I am not a great follower of history, but Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the few names that comes to mind when I think of people who gave of themselves to make this a better society. Being white, I am naturally ignorant of the true struggles of any other race. I know my world; I hear rumors of o...

The President of Vice (21 Jan 2013 11:37am)

One of my very favorite features of The Onion is its portrayal of Joe Biden as a kind of working class lady's man who has made it big but who still holds on to his working class roots. It's kind of a high class version of Ronnie Dobbs, the regular character on the Cops like show "Fuzz" on Mr. Show. ...

Is Inequality Holding Back the Recovery? (21 Jan 2013 09:26am)

Big happenings over the weekend. (You can take that as a joke if you like, but I'm quite serious.) Joseph Stiglitz wrote an extended OpEd over at the New York Times, Inequality Is Holding Back the Recovery. He presents four reasons for saying this. First, he notes the deleveraging problem: the middl...

Classic Car Values (21 Jan 2013 08:37am)

My father showed me an article on the 1963 Buick Riviera. It was the first year that it had the new boxy design. And it sold for $4,333 at the time. That struck me. People tend to think of restored vehicles as being worth a lot of money, but given my intuition about inflation, it seemed like in infl...

Downton Abbey Second Pass (21 Jan 2013 08:31am)

Last night I introduced my father to Downton Abbey. (Listen up, JMF!) He seemed to like it well enough. But he was really bothered by how horrible all the upstairs people were. I didn't think they were all that bad. And he very much liked the cook, who, on second view, is very amusing. The whole ti...

Incoming Andromeda! (21 Jan 2013 12:38am)

Strangely, this is not in the news. There is a coming crisis and there appears to be not a goddamned thing we can do about it. But first: some background. It is often said that the Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest galaxy to the Milky Way. This is not actually true. It is just that it is the nearest ...

The Problem with Auteur Theory (20 Jan 2013 03:47pm)

I recently got the new Criterion Collection version of Seven Samurai. It is a great film—maybe even Akira Kurosawa's greatest film. It certainly isn't my favorite, however; Yojimbo is a lot more fun. But it is masterful filmmaking. This latest edition includes a tag-team commentary by five exp...

Injustice System (20 Jan 2013 01:40pm)

Liberal Viewer posted a great video, Aaron Swartz Tip of Iceberg in Justice System. The point is that what happened to Aaron Swartz happens to thousands of people every day. In Swartz's case, the federal prosecutors were apparently going to offer him a six-month sentence plea deal. If that's the cas...

Hooray for Hagel? (20 Jan 2013 12:15pm)

I think it is time again to discuss Chuck Hagel. I've been reasonably positive about Obama's nomination of Hagel for Secretary of Defense. My main problem is just that I don't like the optics of it: Republican presidents always have Republicans at this post, but this will be Obama's second of three ...

David Brooks' Little Brain (20 Jan 2013 11:00am)

There was a flurry of writing on Friday about David Brooks' column, The Next Four Years. Jonathan Chait sums up the column well, David Brooks Now Totally Pathological. And Ezra Klein asks, Is the Republican Party Obama’s fault? Answer: no, but a lot of Republicans want to think so. They are both re...

How Depression Works (19 Jan 2013 11:40am)

I noticed something very troubling about the reporting on Aaron Swartz's suicide. Among his friends and supporters, there was little understanding of depression. The great Lawrence Lessig was on Democracy Now! to talk about Swartz on Monday. He presented more or less a hagiography. But he also said,...

Ezra Klein Gets Angry (19 Jan 2013 09:11am)

Ezra Klein hosted The Last Word last night. It is always interesting to watch him when he hosts an MSNBC show. Since he is part of my primary reading (see the links on the right), I know what he's going to talk about. But whereas he tries really hard (too hard) to be in the reasonable center in his ...

The Real Notre Dame Tragedy (18 Jan 2013 11:09pm)

This is probably only the first video I'm going to embed from this evening's The Last Word. This is an outrage, of course. ...

Parody Trailer: Zero Dark Thirty (18 Jan 2013 10:09pm)

While making dinner, I was watching The Rachel Maddow Show. A commercial came on for the film Zero Dark Thirty, which readers of this site will know is a torture apologia and what looks like a typical Hollywood action film. It has also been attacked by three Senators as being "grossly inaccurate." ...

Gone! The Republicans Fold (18 Jan 2013 01:20pm)

Eric Cantor would like you to know that he isn't giving up. It is just that they can't solve all the country's budget problems in one month. But four months? No problem! And you know that he's serious: he included the new Republican catch phrase, "No budget, no pay." I've got shivers. For those of ...

Krugman on Social Security Paradox (18 Jan 2013 12:15pm)

I've written before about the Social Security Paradox. This is the claim of supposed budget hawks that Social Security benefit cuts may be necessary in the future so we must cut future Social Security benefits now. If that sentence sounded kind of circular and meaningless, that's the point: it's a p...

Thank You John Mackey! (18 Jan 2013 11:02am)

I am very happy with John Mackey. You may have heard that the Whole Foods CEO said that he was wrong when he said that Obamacare was socialistic; he meant to say that it is more fascistic. And here's the thing: he's right! And do you know why it is we're stuck with a fascistic healthcare insurance s...

Pony Tail (17 Jan 2013 02:01pm)

This 7 second video shows how to create a pony tail with no fuss. It wouldn't surprise me if some American high tech or pharmaceutical company already has the patent. So watch the video now before our corporate overlords force it to be taken down. Come to think of it, I'm surprised no company has ...

Most Shameful Moment on The Daily Show (17 Jan 2013 12:50pm)

The Daily Show annoyed me again last night with the most shameful deception I have ever seen on the show. Andrea tells me I'm just angry at Jon Stewart over his treatment of the platinum coin idea. This is not true. I am often bothered by how The Daily Show deals with issues and bends over backwards...

Republican Hostage Plans Going, Going... (17 Jan 2013 12:08pm)

More cracks in the Republican hostage plan. Yesterday, Glenn Kessler destroyed Amy Kremer's claim that, "It is pure baloney to say we have to pay the bills for things Congress has already approved." And today, Kremer's group Tea Party Express responded, claiming that they really do think that the De...

Antisemite Martin Luther (17 Jan 2013 09:15am)

I shall give you my sincere advice: First, to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are C...

Plan 9 from Republican House (17 Jan 2013 09:05am)

Greetings, my friends. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future. You are interested in the unknown—the mysterious. The unexplainable. That is why...

Humble David Brooks (17 Jan 2013 08:39am)

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of conservative pundits. First there is the bloviator that we all know from right wing radio. Rush Limbaugh is the best example of this. In fact, if you do a Google search on "bloviator," Google offers, "Searches related to bloviator: Rush Limbaugh." Seriously. ...

Pity the Rich (16 Jan 2013 04:36pm)

This image comes via Matt Yglesias. Apparently, the Wall Street Journal is highlighting the plight of those poor souls with six-figure incomes. Because of the Fiscal Cliff deal, they are paying more in taxes. Here is their infographic: Note here that the single woman and the single mother are payi...

Conservative "Economists" on Debt Ceiling (16 Jan 2013 01:21pm)

The University of Chicago's Booth School of Business did a survey of top economists on the issue of the Debt Ceiling. They asked whether those surveyed agreed or disagreed with the following statement, "Because all federal spending must be approved by both houses of Congress and the executive branch...

Intolerant Theists (16 Jan 2013 11:40am)

Over at CNN iReport, the evil blogger TXBlue08 explains, Why I Raise My Children Without God. She does not have to make the case to me. I firmly believe that it is wrong to subject your children to your religious doctrine before they have developed "formal thought" (the ability to think abstractly),...

More Tea Party Idiocy (16 Jan 2013 10:53am)

It is pure baloney to say we have to pay the bills for things Congress has already approved. We are drawing the line on future spending, not the debt or obligations to Social Security, Medicare and the military, which can all be met without an immediate rise in the debt ceiling. —Amy Kremer Q...

Debt Ceiling Crashing Down (16 Jan 2013 10:35am)

As I posted last night, the House voted to fund Hurricane Sandy relief with only 49 Republicans. The Fiscal Cliff deal passed the House with only 85 Republicans. Both of these votes violated the "Hastert Rule," which says that the Speaker of the House should only bring a vote to the floor if a major...

House Hurricane Sandy Relief Vote (15 Jan 2013 09:55pm)

When it came to the Fiscal Cliff, 85 House Republicans voted for the deal. (Understandably, given that it was a much better deal than they could have reasonably expected.) Today, the House voted on the remaining Hurricane Sandy relief: $50.5 billion. And only 49 Republicans voted for it. Note that i...

Why Are More Kids Graduating High School? (15 Jan 2013 09:34pm)

Brad Plumer at Wonk Blog tells us, High-School Graduation Rates Are Rising—But No One Knows Why. He is reporting on a paper by Richard Murnane of Harvard who looked at graduation rates from 1970 to the present. In general, graduation rates declined until 2000 and since then, they've be going u...

Paper Tiger James Yeager (15 Jan 2013 08:27pm)

I don't care as much about gun legislation as a lot of liberals. The reason is simple: guns kill about 25,000 people each year in the United States. Income inequality and the recession kill a lot more than that. For example, a Harvard Medical School study found that lack of health insurance caused a...

Apple? (15 Jan 2013 06:15pm)

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is cutting back production of the new iPhone due to lower than expected sales. Apple stock prices plummeted. And then all the Apple people went crazy. Impossible! Stock manipulation! As Matt Yglesias notes: maybe! Who knows? And frankly, who cares? I've b...

Jon Stewart's Unfortunate Clown Defense (15 Jan 2013 09:54am)

Last Thursday, The Daily Show did a segment on the trillion dollar coin. It wasn't very good. Saturday, Paul Krugman—a big booster for the idea—wrote an article, Lazy Jon Stewart. I was glad. The truth is that Stewart usually does a good job of explaining what is going on in the world of...

U.S. High School Students Falling Behind China (14 Jan 2013 09:36pm)

You see, this is where America is really lagging: U.S. High School Students Falling Behind China, Many Animals In Basic Object Permanence...

Evil Betsy McCaughey (14 Jan 2013 08:24pm)

Betsy McCaughey is one of the most evil people in America. She is a big part of why healthcare reform died under the Clinton administration. She is also a big part of why we didn't get a public option in Obamacare. Can you say, "Death panels"? Yeah, that was her. I remember seeing her on The Daily ...

Really, Colin Powell? (14 Jan 2013 07:20pm)

Colin Powell is getting all kinds of plaudits in the liberal world today. He was on NBC, being interviewed by David Gregory. And he is oh, so disappointed in his party. If I had one thing to say to the general, it would be this: fuck you! I'm sorry, but I am sick to death of this man and the many ...

Pessimism on the Debt Ceiling? (14 Jan 2013 02:14pm)

Earlier today, I wrote, Optimism on the Debt Ceiling? I noted that some people who I admire and generally agree with were trying to be at least a little optimistic about the upcoming Debt Ceiling crisis—people like Greg Sargent, Jonathan Cohn, and to a lesser extent Jonathan Chait. By this aft...

Optimism on the Debt Ceiling? (14 Jan 2013 11:57am)

Some people are very worried about the Debt Ceiling crisis. I am one of them. I'm finding it very hard to think of anything else. But there are a lot of people out there who are trying to comfort us all with rosy deconstructions of what's going on in Washington. Greg Sargent's Morning Plum had the c...

National Income Accounting (14 Jan 2013 10:40am)

About a year and a half ago, Dean Baker posted an article about national income accounting. It sounds boring, but it isn't. It's a little bit mathematical, however, so if you want, just skip down to What This Means. Let's look at the nation's total income, which we will represent as Y. It is equal ...

Aaron Swartz (13 Jan 2013 10:52pm)

Aaron Swartz killed himself on Friday. For those of you who don't know, he was a good guy: a technology savant who co-developed RSS when he was still a teenager. But most of all, he was an activist against our broken and evil intellectual property system. At 26, he was facing up to 35 years in jail ...

Republicans Have Nothing to Fear (13 Jan 2013 09:53pm)

This morning, John Sides wrote a guest article over at Wonk Blog. It had a very cheerful sounding title, How Congressional Dysfunction Could Hurt House Republicans. I was looking for something to raise my spirits, because I'm pretty down about the Republicans in Washington. In fact, today I describe...

Saddam Hussein and the Debt Ceiling (13 Jan 2013 08:58pm)

I had a thought about the Debt Ceiling crisis. But first, let's think about Iraq. After Saddam Hussein was deposed and Iraq got a new government, they still owed all the money that Hussein borrowed when he was in power. Many nations forgave some or all of that debt, but there was never any doubt tha...

Downton Abbey (13 Jan 2013 10:39am)

I almost never use the word "romantic" to describe sexual attraction and relationships. I generally mean it to indicate that something involves heroic archetypes. Sadly, I'm afraid that I got this way reading Ayn Rand. However, it is a far more useful word when used this way. I think it is a mistake...

Little Britain (12 Jan 2013 12:59pm)

Andrea suggested that I check out the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain. She said it was funny, but also crude. She had no examples to delight me with how amusing it was, but she went to some length to gross me out. She's like that. I don't have much tolerance for this; I'm still freaking out ...

Drugs for Us and Guns for Them (12 Jan 2013 09:47am)

Other than the fact that I don't like the comment about how many troops died, because modern warfare normally kills a lot more civilians than troops, this is a very good cartoon. It explains the economics of our relationship with Mexico: they send us drugs and we send them guns. We get the better of...

Plutocrats (12 Jan 2013 09:31am)

I just read Chrystia Freeland's new book Plutocrats. I know her from her repeated appearances on Up with Chris Hayes. And I have to say, my reaction to the book is the same as it is to her: what a muddle. Plutocrats really isn't clear what it is trying to say. Intellectually, it can see that the ris...

Cone of Silence (12 Jan 2013 08:02am)

The Cone of Silence was a recurring comedic idea used in the Get Smart comedy series of my youth. It is ostensibly a device that lowers over two people so that they can have a private conversation. The joke is that it completely doesn't work: the couple inside cannot hear each other but those outsid...

Jerry Brown's Liberal Bona Fides (12 Jan 2013 07:51am)

Yesterday, Reuters reported the next California budget will be in surplus. The article goes out of its way to make Jerry Brown into a hero. Not only has he balanced the budget, but he is fighting those spendthrifts in the legislature who want to to bring spending back up as much as possible. Now, th...

Dog School (11 Jan 2013 12:43pm)

I don't see how this video has not gone viral. It is of a 6 month old lab mix teaching an 8 week old puppy how to walk down the stairs. At least, I think that's what's going on. It is very inspiring: H/T Sarah Kliff ...

Assault Weapons Ban? (11 Jan 2013 12:07pm)

Greg Sargent's The Plum Line blog is quickly becoming my favorite Washington Post reading, which is to say I turn to it more often than Ezra Klein's excellent Wonk Blog. Sargent just seems to write more about the stuff I'm interested in. Klein writes a lot more about economics, but I'm afraid i read...

Mingle With This?! (11 Jan 2013 10:28am)

This image is from a major ad campaign for the Christian dating service Christian Mingle. That's great. I actually think that religious compatibility is important, although it can be a problem with raising children. (I don't think that children should be forced into a religion when they are too youn...

12 Questions for Mr. Lew (11 Jan 2013 09:30am)

John Nichols gives us twelve reasons to pause over the Jack Lew nomination for Treasury Secretary, in his The Nation column yesterday. I've already said that I'm fine with the Lew nomination, although I haven't looked into it that much. But my thinking is generally that the president should be able ...

Massive Debt (And Yachts) (11 Jan 2013 08:46am)

You have probably seen the commercial below for Merit Gold. I am not putting this ad here because I think you should invest in gold. For the normal investor, gold is always a stupid investment. It is just one bubble after another. You would be as smart to invest in some ponzi scheme. It isn't becaus...

Changing Beer Tastes (And Non-Tastes) (10 Jan 2013 08:11pm)

MSN Money sends us to an article telling us about 5 Beers Americans Aren't Drinking. That's the kind of title that is hard to resist—at least if you are a beer drinker, or even more, a beer snob. Which I am. According to the article, sales of "traditional, full-calorie beers" are declining. A...

Scary Jack Lew (10 Jan 2013 05:10pm)

Let us give a little thought to Jack Lew. Obama has nominated him to replace Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary. The Republicans are afraid—very afraid. How can Obama choose Jack Lew?! And he is a scary guy, I can tell you that. Last year, Eric Cantor told Politico, "No one was more prepared ...

Free Market Fail (10 Jan 2013 02:56pm)

Eduardo Porter is an economics writer for the New York Times. He wrote an amazing article on Tuesday, Health Care and Profits, a Poor Mix. Despite the title, it is not only about healthcare. It is more about how the United States has embraced the idea that markets work "magic" and if you want to red...

Obama Sets Scene for Economic Disaster (10 Jan 2013 10:10am)

There is a lot of talk about minting platinum coins. And an increasing amount of talk about the Treasury issuing IOUs (Krugman calls them Moral Obligation Coupons). Jonathan Chait gives a good overview of these ideas. He notes that the coin option solves the debt ceiling issue forever, but it will s...

Man Doesn't Tip to Prove He's a Dick (10 Jan 2013 08:17am)

I found this on Joey deVilla. It was reportedly found by a waiter. I'm inclined to think that it is the real deal because it includes the bit about Prop 30 in California. What I think it most interesting is how petty this is. All those years of reading Shakespeare warped my mind into thinking that...

Parental Guidance (09 Jan 2013 06:12pm)

I took my brother to the movies today. Normally, that would lead to another Marxist film review. But because of a scheduling conflict, we were forced to miss Jack Reacher and instead see Parental Guidance. Actually, this is my kind of movie: I really like sentimental comedies. And it was okay—...

More Republican Immaturity (09 Jan 2013 10:06am)

James C. Capretta wrote in the National Review on Monday, The Budget Battles Ahead. He said that the Republicans are not going to do any negotiating with President Obama. Instead, they are just going to let the budget deficit get completely out of control and then blame it on Obama. "Future generat...

A Tale of Two Movements (09 Jan 2013 08:33am)

The fact is this—anyone paying careful attention could have told you that the Tea Party was simply the old far right dressed up in funny new clothing. Its numbers historically hover between one-fifth and one-third of all voters depending on the times. These were the people who thought Presiden...

Opportunity Costs of Torture (09 Jan 2013 03:34am)

Yesterday, I listened to Michael Krasny's excellent Forum show. It featured a debate between Glenn Greenwald and Mark Bowden on the issue of torture, especially as it applies to the appointment of John Brennan as CIA Director and the movie Zero Dark Thirty. It was interesting. Greenwald really went ...

Robert Reich Whistling in Hell (08 Jan 2013 06:38pm)

I really value optimistic people. But I don't pay much attention to them. Two of my favorite political writers are Dean Baker and Eric Alterman, or as I think of them, the Depressing Duo. Or "Pessimistic Pair" if you prefer. Alterman perpetually looks like his first girlfriend just dumped him. Baker...

ACA Incentivizes Two More Asshole Companies (08 Jan 2013 04:59pm)

Ah, incentives! Economists love them, people respond to them, and politicians fuck them up. MSNBC is reporting that Wendy's and Taco Bell franchises are cutting work weeks down to 28 hours to avoid penalties for not providing healthcare. This is understandable, of course. These are just business dec...

First They Came With... (08 Jan 2013 12:08pm)

First they came with their Social Security, and I didn't speak out because it seemed like it would be good for the old and the economy too—a win-win. Then they came with their interstate highway system, and I didn't speak out because I knew that could be great for commerce. Then they came wi...

Once More: Government Is Not Business (08 Jan 2013 11:40am)

Meet Greg Walden, the Republican representative from Ogegon. He is an idiot. But he has lots of company. Like our "liberal" president. Do you remember when Obama said, "After all, small businesses and families are tightening their belts. Their government should, too." Well, Greg Walden is using the ...

Bernanke's Impotence Problem (08 Jan 2013 09:47am)

Matt Yglesias ended his reporting from American Economics Association conference yesterday with a discussion of, Romer and Romer on Monetary Policy Complacency. It is really important work, but I think that Yglesias is being a little too cool for school. I guess he just figures that anyone who knows...

Public Sector Job Decline (08 Jan 2013 08:50am)

Yesterday, I saw the following graph that shows cumulative public and private job losses and additions. What it shows is that the there was a big loss in private sector jobs, but we've gained them all back. This doesn't take into account the people who have been added to the workforce, but it does i...

Nutjob Alex Jones Wants to Deport Piers Morgan (07 Jan 2013 08:54pm)

Okay. This is interesting. Alex Jones started a petition to "deport Piers Morgan." This is because Morgan has spoken about banning some guns. So Morgan invited Jones onto his show. The results are below: So Alex Jones is insane and should certainly not be allowed ever to have a gun. But the bigger...

Humanity Over Art (07 Jan 2013 08:24pm)

I watched the short interview below with Isabelle Carre from the promotion of Romantics Anonymous, that I've already written about. I was really struck by something she said in the interview. She was talking about going to an actual RA meeting and how she didn't want to go. Even though she is also s...

Edward II (07 Jan 2013 04:52pm)

Yesterday, I came upon a filmed version of Christopher Marlowe's Edward II. It was made way back in 1992, which surprised me. Marlowe's works are rarely even performed on stages and almost never filmed. But it makes sense. Edward II has a clear five-act structure that lends itself well to screen. Wh...

Depressing Rape Statistics (07 Jan 2013 03:42pm)

This came from Dylan Matthews at Wonk Blog in an article that says it all, The Saddest Graph You'll See Today. The main thing to notice are the two little men in the lower left hand corner. Those represent the falsely accused men. Notice also that even in the very small number of cases that go to co...

Political Capital is a Myth (07 Jan 2013 11:09am)

This morning, Jonathan Chait metaphorically scratches his head, Nominating Hagel Most Un-Obama Thing Ever. He can't understand this nomination given that (1) Hagel will be a hard sell and (2) Obama doesn't much listen to his advisers anyway. It is interesting speculation, but I wouldn't have even th...

Obama Can Have Hagel But... (07 Jan 2013 09:43am)

My colleague Michael J.W. Stickings over at The Reaction makes what I think is the strongest case against Obama's pick of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, Obama Misses Opportunity With Hagel Nomination. Basically, the optics are all wrong on this. Why is our Democratic president yet again pickin...

Green Card Even Worse 22 Years Later (06 Jan 2013 10:17pm)

If you are looking for a tedious film to slog through tonight, you could not do better (Worse?) than 1990's romantic comedy sensation Green Card. Rarely has Gerard Depardieu been less annoying, and by that I mean really annoying, but not as annoying as in, says, My Father the Hero or The Man in the ...

Phrop (06 Jan 2013 05:19pm)

I was listening to the NPR show Says You! today. I quite like the show, but I don't go out of my way to listen to it. This is a little strange, because it is the perfect show for literary wannabes and pedants everywhere. The centerpiece of the show has one team try to guess which of the three defini...

Matt Yglesias Whitewashes Economic Dispute (06 Jan 2013 02:09pm)

There was a big fight in San Diego this weekend, but it wasn't even on pay-per-view. It was on the effects of government stimulus between Paul Krugman and UC San Diego professor Valerie Ramey at the American Economics Association conference. Unfortunately, the only coverage I've read of it comes fro...

My Favorite Ice Cream (06 Jan 2013 12:53pm)

I was at the Supermarket yesterday, and a song came on. It was pretty typical pop—offensive only in its design to be utterly inoffensive. The singer was a typical American Idol style screecher. But the first lyrics struck me, "I want someone to know my favorite ice cream." That is basically th...

Media More Conservative Than Public (06 Jan 2013 11:02am)

For years, I've been arguing that journalists are centrists in their political orientation. What's more, those that identify as liberal are generally only socially liberal; on economic issues, they are conservative. Up to now, I have based this on my observations; it wasn't based upon research. But ...

Prophesy Prophecy (05 Jan 2013 07:58pm)

I've had this photo on my wall since September. There are hundreds of other pictures with other Libyans holding up the exact same message. These people probably do not speak English, but they know what they want to say. I assume they are all copying the same text because of the repetition of the sam...

Barely Progressive (05 Jan 2013 07:04pm)

This is a copy of Gover Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge. I had never looked at it until today when it was mentioned on Up with Chris Hayes. Check out the text: this is all about income taxes. The reason this is interesting is that poor people don't pay much in the way of income taxes. Poor p...

Wildebeest Road Crossing in Sweden (05 Jan 2013 02:22pm)

There's a joke going around Sweden, "Why did the wildebeest cross the road? Because it tastes like chicken!" That joke kills me! But that is probably because I made it up. (I think I'm just high-larious.) You see, there is important wildebeest news coming out of Sweden. The management of the Parken ...

Spreading the Quixotic Word (05 Jan 2013 11:40am)

If you read this blog even causally, you know what a fan I am of Don Quixote. It is a delightful book that everyone should read. In a way, my writing about the book is an effort to share my joy about Cervantes' crowning achievement. But there are other ways to do that. Here's one. I could go door t...

Republicans Fight to Kill Medicare (05 Jan 2013 11:14am)

Do you remember the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB)? It is what Sarah Palin famously called "death panels." It is necessary for not only making more affordable Medicare and Medicaid, but all healthcare in the United States. Of course, conservatives hate it. They wouldn't have hated it, had...

Victor Borge Plays "Birthday" (04 Jan 2013 08:38pm)

I found this via Mustang Bobby's Bark Bark Woof Woof blog, A Little Night Music. It is an early TV performance of Victor Borge doing the birthday song in various styles. It is both funny and brilliant. Watching people like Borge always makes me think of vaudeville and how it helped to develop acts....

State Department Mocks Fox News' Clinton Reporting (04 Jan 2013 08:06pm)

I like this discussion of Hillary Clinton on The Young Turks, because it goes along with my thinking. As I wrote back at the end of last year in response to Jonathan Chait's claim that liberals would have done the same thing to a conservative in Hillary Clinton's place, "I would have thought the Rep...

Live Long and Eat (04 Jan 2013 07:04pm)

Paul Campos is a law professor. And he is not fat. So why he wrote an op-ed about our fucked up ideas of proper body weight, I can't say. But it is a hell of an article, Our Absurd Fear of Fat. The article discusses a new analysis of data that I've been aware of for a while. These data indicate, amo...

It's the Jobs, Stupid (04 Jan 2013 10:57am)

In December, the economy added 155,000 new jobs. As usual, the private sector job growth was better (168,000), but we lost government jobs (13,000). These are not great numbers. The government really ought to do something about this. And contrary to what many people believe, there is much that the g...

My Favorite Scene from Romantics Anonymous (04 Jan 2013 09:08am)

This is my favorite scene from Romantics Anonymous. It is very sweet, which is half of what I love about this film: Angelique: My hands are clammy. Jean-Rene: I don't mind. Angelique: My stomach's growling. Jean-Rene: I like the sound. Angelique: I blush all the time. Jean-Rene: I think that's bea...

Time Bandits Vs. 12 Monkeys (03 Jan 2013 08:50pm)

I don't know what to say. Should I attack or praise? On the one hand, Terry Gilliam created a really mediocre film in Time Bandits. (Just calm down: I'll explain in a minute.) On the other, Terry Gilliam created one of my very favorite films in 12 Monkeys. And you know what the difference is? Madele...

Debt Ceiling "Negotiations" (03 Jan 2013 12:01pm)

Greg Sargent at The Plum Line reports this morning that media are already covering the upcoming raise in the Debt Ceiling in Republican terms, Media Shouldn't Get Rolled by GOP Debt Ceiling Spin.[1] He refers to Politico reporting on Mitch McConnell's new demands, "Democrats now have the opportunity...

The Right to Dweezil Your Kid (03 Jan 2013 11:14am)

The Associated Press is reporting with some relish that Iceland limits the names that people can have. If you have a baby, you are limited to 1,712 boy names and 1,853 girl names. So if you want to name your baby son "Snorri," you can just forget it! Actually, I'm kidding: "Snorri" is on the list. T...

Boehner's Mature Negotiating (03 Jan 2013 10:33am)

The Hill reported yesterday that Boehner is angry at that weasel President Obama. The article says that Boehner "spent weeks shuttling between the Capitol and the White House for meetings with the president in hope of striking a grand bargain on the deficit." Horrors! He must be exhausted! All that ...

Fiscal Cliff Deal Inequity (03 Jan 2013 08:53am)

Yesterday, Matt Yglesias posted the very ugly graph below from the Tax Policy Center. What it shows is the increase in taxes at different income levels. The main point is that taxes have gone up on everyone because payroll taxes have gone back up to their regular levels. I'm fine with that. However,...

The Tennessee Waltz (02 Jan 2013 10:17pm)

I've never been a big Patti Page fan. But I admit, she does a good job with The Tennessee Waltz. The truth is that it's an odd melody that most people mangle. I much prefer this very unfaithful version by Otis Redding: Or if I had to pick a more traditional version, I've always been partial to D...

Eric Cantor as Iago (02 Jan 2013 07:39pm)

This is interesting for two reasons. One is that there are "serious" rumors that John Boehner is going to step down as Speaker of the House. Boehner claims that this is not the case. I would love to see it, as I wrote earlier today. For one thing: it would be good for Boehner. It might turn him into...

Fuck You, Ezra. The White House Lost. (02 Jan 2013 02:48pm)

Or perhaps more accurately: the White House won a pyrrhic victory. But Ezra Klein is telling us, Calm Down, Liberals. The White House Won. Part of the problem here is that in some ways, Ezra isn't really a liberal. The main point of his article is that the Fiscal Cliff deal sets up the situation whe...

America's Broken Healthcare System Calculator (02 Jan 2013 01:29pm)

In the past, I've written about little economic tools that the Wonk Blog people put up. They are fun and even enlightening. But they aren't that great. For example, the Fiscal Cliff Calculator only allowed you to try discrete binary budget items: you repeal the defense sequester or you don't. Of cou...

In Praise of Earmarks (02 Jan 2013 11:18am)

Matt Yglesias wrote an article yesterday that goes along with my long held beliefs, Why I Miss Pork-Barrel Politics. This really came to me several years ago when there was this explosion of media coverage saying that earmarks were a bad thing. Earmarks and pork are not bad things—at least not...

Boehner's Choice (02 Jan 2013 09:49am)

Why did he do it? Why did John Boehner allow a vote on the Diving Off The Fiscal Cliff deal? And then vote for it himself?! There isn't much reporting on this issue, because few people other than me thought much about Boehner's upcoming Speaker of the House vote. All I have is speculation. Those wh...

Fiscal Cliff Apocalypse (01 Jan 2013 09:00pm)

For weeks now, Dean Baker has been sarcastically noting the apocalypse that news agencies like the Washington Post were predicting. Today, as I walked to the grocery store, I saw kids playing at the skateboard park—it was a nice day. And yet: we had gone over the Fiscal Cliff! The sun shine?...

Douchebag Named Word of the Year! (01 Jan 2013 07:17pm)

Michael J.W. Stickings, the founder and head of The Reaction (where I write) is not what I normally think of as a funny guy. Just look at that picture. Doesn't he look like a guy who beat you up in high school? Yet he was pretty funny today. He put together a new yearsy kind of article where he (fol...

Reliving the Recount (01 Jan 2013 04:47pm)

There were certain liberal commentators during the first decade of this millennium who really pushed the idea that George W. Bush was smart. I tended to side with them—at least against those who said that Bush was stupid. It is clear that Bush was not stupid. But over time, I began to see that...

These Are Not Very Bright Guys (01 Jan 2013 12:35pm)

I love this clip from All the President's Men. It seems to sum up so much, "The truth is, these are not very bright guys." Deep Throat says this about the Nixon White House, but this last few weeks I've thought it applied equally well to the Obama White House: I think this can generally be said ab...

Romantics Anonymous (01 Jan 2013 10:05am)

I have a special fondness for French comedies. They tend not to take their stories too seriously. No great effort is made to create a dramatic plot. You've got a boy and a girl. They try to get together, but there are problems. This is what is funny. They work out the problems without too much angst...

Prelude to a Catastrophe (01 Jan 2013 09:25am)

For the record, the Senate Fiscal Cliff deal is worse than indicated early yesterday. It doesn't raise capital gains tax rates as high as thought: only up to 20% and only on incomes above $450,000. It does not tax dividends as regular income. The estate tax was not raised as high as it should have b...

Republicans Hate You (01 Jan 2013 12:05am)

Just a quick note. Everyone in Washington is happy to let the payroll tax holiday expire. This includes (probably especially) the Republicans. That will be a rise of 2% in total wages taken in taxes. There are no deductions. Nothing is returned at the end of the year. Yet the "reasonable" Republic...

Shortest 2012 Year in Review (31 Dec 2012 08:53pm)

John Fugelsang and Frank Conniff present, Shortest 2012 Year in Review Show. It is very funny. My favorite line was from Conniff, "I spent all this past week buying and hoarding every Twinkie I could find, and it was weird: I just found out the company went out of business." I am struck by how sim...

Samurai Rebellion (31 Dec 2012 08:34pm)

I can't watch a western without thinking, "They didn't have duels like that!" And this tends to ruin these movies. Does anyone think that when a life is on the line that a man will stand on ceremony and wait for his opponent to draw first? Or that, on seeing his opponent draw, he would be able to re...

Quick Outrage (31 Dec 2012 06:41pm)

I keep hearing and reading that a deal may be in the works that will avoid the Fiscal Cliff. No! Let me say that again: no! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Nooooooooo! There is a deal that the Senate may pass tonight. There is a deal that the House might take up tomorrow. (But I seriously...

Happy New Year (and Grammar) (31 Dec 2012 05:34pm)

As anyone with the smallest amount of knowledge of me knows: I do not like holidays. What's more: I take pleasure in dumping all over holidays whenever I get the chance. I'm not particularly against New Years, although I don't celebrate it. At least, not any more than I do every day: getting shit-fa...

Will the Senate Be Stupid Tonight? (31 Dec 2012 04:11pm)

What a day! It is an amazing combination of actual news happening and almost no coverage of that news. CBS News has reported, No "Fiscal Cliff" Vote in House Monday. But the story indicates that they don't really believe the House Republicans. They imply that backroom dealing could still pull this o...

The Fiscal Cliff Deal That Can't (31 Dec 2012 11:24am)

Reuters is reporting, Tentative "Fiscal Cliff" Deal Emerges in Senate. The devil is in the details, but it is at least not as bad as I had thought. In fact, dare I say it: it looks pretty good. If the Republicans were willing to take this all the time, what was the problem? The problem, I fear, is t...

More on Chained-CPI (31 Dec 2012 10:58am)

I've been confused about Social Security and how Chained-CPI affects the program in the long term. Starting benefits are calculated by adjusting all of your top 35 years of work into current dollars. For example, the Social Security Administration says that your income in 1951 should be multiplied b...

Obama is Hopeless (31 Dec 2012 10:34am)

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Biden is negotiating with McConnell. First the bad news, and then the worse news. Biden asked for income taxes to rise on incomes over $250,000. McConnell countered: $550,000. Biden shot back: $450,000. Where do you think that ends? A half-million, right? B...

Jonathan Chait's Subtle False Equivalence (31 Dec 2012 08:59am)

There was a lot of talk the last day about whether Fox News is going to admit now that Hillary Clinton really did have a concussion, now that we know she really did. But then Jonathan Chait, always trying to be an iconoclast, tweeted, "If a Republican claimed concussion before testimony over controv...

Consider Hagel (30 Dec 2012 10:18pm)

The most surprising criticism that I've heard against Chuck Hagel as potential Secretary of Defense is that he is to the left of President Obama on the issues of foreign affairs. I don't even know that this is true. I suspect it is just that Hagel is to the left of the president in some ways and tha...

Tea Party Idiot (30 Dec 2012 06:55pm)

Howdy folks. I saw something on the TV machine today that was too much. I don't get to see a lot of Tea Party lunacy, because I avoid regular TV. But there was one of them on Up with Chris Hayes. Her name is Amy Kremer and she is with the Tea Party Express. And I can see why the group puts here out ...

BTW: We're Good They're Bad (30 Dec 2012 01:32pm)

Several people sent me to the most informative tweet I have ever seen. Marco Rubio explains the Republican Party in two short sentences: Republicans don't want to cut Social Security. And by the way, the Democrats do. There is something to be said for this. It's true: the Republicans aren't for cut...

Have a Nice Filibuster! (30 Dec 2012 01:06pm)

People are wondering about the Fiscal Cliff deal. If Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid can't agree on anything, Reid will propose a "little budget deal." This will consist of only tax cuts for incomes under $250,000 and an extension of unemployment benefits. If this happens, the proposal would probably...

Dogbert DID Write That (30 Dec 2012 11:54am)

I remember reading an introduction to a Calvin and Hobbes collection. It was by Charles Schulz, and he was arguing that what really mattered in a comic was that it was funny to look at. At that time, I disagreed. Actually, I didn't really even understand. But since then, I have definitely learned. T...

Wonky Awards Disappoint (30 Dec 2012 11:16am)

Wonk Blog presented their second annual Wonky Awards on Friday. I like the idea of it. I appreciate policy wonks a great deal. And I heartily agree with many of the awards. But others? In particular, the top two awards are ridiculous. First let's look at some of the well picked awards. They named T...

Will Republicans Protect Their Constituencies? (29 Dec 2012 08:00pm)

Robert Reich seems have come over to my way of thinking. As I wrote back in November, bipartisanship can bite me! The point I was making was that this idea that congressional Republicans should go along with Obama just because he won a national election is madness. They should do what is right for t...

Honeymoon in Vegas (29 Dec 2012 05:37pm)

I just watched Honeymoon in Vegas for the first time since it was released in 1992. I am a big fan of writer-director Andrew Bergman, who wrote one of my very favorite films, The In-Laws. He has also written other films that I'm not as fond of, but which have very funny scripts: Soapdish, Fletch, an...

The Irony of Manifest Destiny (29 Dec 2012 12:59pm)

In The Irony of Manifest Destiny, William Pfaff argues for a return to realpolitik—basing our foreign policy on our own interests rather than an ideology of "improving" the rest of the world. I am torn on this question, as I dare say most people are. On one hand, I really do hate the massive a...

Revolutionary Republicans (29 Dec 2012 11:36am)

I've been wondering about the 2011 budget deal: why didn't the Republicans take it? I've argued in the past that they were gambling on an Obama loss. In fact, all the evidence points to a Republican Party that was convinced that Obama would be defeated. It is all part of the echo chamber effect, whe...

Drinking with Boehner (28 Dec 2012 07:42pm)

Look. I've heard that John Boehner is a chain-smoking drunk. And that's why I want to have drinks with him. Other than his politics, he sounds like my kind of guy. That's why we should spend an evening drinking together. Don't misunderstand. I don't think I'm going to change his mind about anything....

Chris Matthews' Bouncing Ideology (28 Dec 2012 02:55pm)

I have long had major problems with Chris Matthews of MSNBC. Listening to him now, he really comes off like a real liberal. But I remember back when MSNBC was conservative and Matthews was right there with it. In addition, he seems to have been the major push behind MSNBC firing Phil Donahue in 2003...

Stupid and Evil Deficit Scolds (28 Dec 2012 10:57am)

Krugman posted an article that I quite agree with, A Double Shot of Misunderstanding. Basically, he says that there are two kinds of deficit scolds: stupid and evil. He doesn't put it that way, of course; he writes for the New York Times, after all. But I feel sure that late at night he turns to Rob...

The Danger of Coming Together (28 Dec 2012 01:08am)

It is always a problem when I watch Ezra Klein host The Rachel Maddow Show. This is because I read Wonk Blog every day—just look at the list on the right. But every once in a while, he will put together some really great television that goes beyond what he's already written online. He did that...

Three Deaths (27 Dec 2012 11:00pm)

A lot of people have died during the last week who I would like to write about. There was Jack Klugman, of course. People remember him most from The Odd Couple. As I recall, he replaced Walter Matthau in the Broadway play after just one performance. (Don't quote me on that, but I think so.) But when...

Spending Cuts Are Real (27 Dec 2012 10:06pm)

Two days ago, I reported on Ezra Klein's contention that Republicans think that they lose out in budget deals because the tax increases are real but the spending cuts are not. This is curious, because the evidence indicates exactly the opposite. For example, President Clinton and the other Democrats...

Ray Collins (27 Dec 2012 09:04pm)

Ray Collins of the two really great Mothers of Invention albums died on 24 December 2012 at Pomona Valley Hospital in Claremont, California. He left the band because of its increasing commitment to comedy over music. Zappa did have that problem. Unfortunately, the comedy wasn't that good. And certai...

Wonk Blog Forgot Dean Baker (27 Dec 2012 03:11pm)

Wonk Blog put together the favorite graphs from the last year of various policy wonks. It has some great graphs. Most I've seen, but some were quite new to me—especially about the environment, because frankly, I don't keep up on it enough. They did, however, not ask Dean Baker of the Center f...

Tsarist Russia Less Unequal Than America (27 Dec 2012 01:21pm)

Matt Yglesias writes today, Inequality in Pre-Revolutionary Russia. He is reporting on the work of two economists: Steven Nafziger and Peter Lindert. They've been looking at income inequality in Russia under the Tsar at the turn of the 20th century. What they find is that Russia was about as unequal...

Samsung Out Doing Apple (27 Dec 2012 11:01am)

The video below is amazing. It is also not true. It is a "render," which I take to mean it is speculation or "pretend." Clearly, it has something to do with a brick render or surface. What it shows is a Samsung Galaxy S4 that is about 1/8 inch thick with a docking station that provides a laser keybo...

A Tale of Two Indexes (27 Dec 2012 10:37am)

Are you worried about the Fiscal Cliff? I am! I'm worried that I will have to read another hysterical article about how we are going to go into recession if we don't reach a deal this week. And I'll tell you this: I won't even go into a Starbucks until this is over. I don't want to see "come togethe...

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (27 Dec 2012 09:46am)

Last night I watched Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Generally, it is your usual kind of 1960s style science fiction romp. It has dorky over-lit sets, silly science, and way too much plucky American can-do attitude. But there are fundamental problems with the story that it tells. The...

Our Final Rest (26 Dec 2012 08:22pm)

I think death is, gratefully, final. It's no different from the state that we were in before we were conceived. Even though life is very short—I'm fond of pointing out to people that the average human life is less than 1,000 months long, which is a good reason for not wasting time if one can h...

12.5 Years (26 Dec 2012 07:40pm)

The following video has over 4 million views, so you may well have seen it. I'm only putting it up so that I don't lose it. Noah Kalina is a photographer (he seems to do collages). He took a picture of himself every day from the age of 19. He is now 32. You get to watch him grow (?) from a boy into ...

Finding My Religion (26 Dec 2012 07:22pm)

Don Cupitt is my kind of theologian. Of course, I generally like theologians. What I don't like are apologist. In other words: I'm keen on the search for God, I'm not on the process of trying to shoehorn God into some existing dogma. To Cupitt, God is an invention: first there was Man and He created...

The Problem With Tolerance (26 Dec 2012 06:33pm)

If you step back from this for a second, you realize that what they are saying is "we are not for marriage equality, but we are for tolerance." So, quite literally, what is being suggested is that certain people will be tolerated instead of made equal. And that is the way tolerance has operated for ...

When Everyone's a Terrorist (26 Dec 2012 04:55pm)

Glenn Greenwald sent me to a CNN article from 1 July 2008, Mandela Off U.S. Terrorism Watch List. The first sentence of the article reads, "Former South African President Nelson Mandela is to be removed from a U.S. terrorism watch list under a bill President Bush signed Tuesday." You've got that rig...

Causes of Violent Death (26 Dec 2012 03:16pm)

The following chart was put together by Todd Lindeman at the Washington Post. It shows the top causes of violent death by age group in the United States. The most striking thing is that for people over 35 years old, gun suicide is by far the most common cause of death. And for adults and teens less ...

With Friends Like Democrats... (26 Dec 2012 11:24am)

With friends like the Democratic senator from North Dakota, Kent Conrad, do progressives really need Republicans? On Fox News Sunday, Conrad said that everyone should just agree to a Fiscal Cliff deal that averages the last deals of Obama and Boehner. But Ezra Klein notes that this gives the advanta...

Rich Kid Guilt (26 Dec 2012 10:15am)

I think it is good when very wealthy people have a certain amount of guilt about economic inequality. I congratulate them on being human. But I don't give them any extra credit. And that is at the core of my disappointment watching Jamie Johnson's documentary The One Percent. Johnson is the heir of ...

Positively Christmas (25 Dec 2012 02:00pm)

As we celebrate Christmas, the family has been listening to a local station playing holiday oriented songs. And then on came Bob Dylan doing one of the Christmas classics, Positively 4th Street. You can't get enough bitterness and anger during the holidays. Merry fucking Christmas! ...

Danger of Balanced Budgets (25 Dec 2012 01:00pm)

Yesterday, Ezra Klein posted an article that surprised me, For Republicans, It's Not About Deficit Reduction. In it, he says that Republicans don't like budget deals because they claim that the tax increases are real while the spending cuts are just chimera. I'd never thought of this because, of cou...

Be Polite While Shopping (25 Dec 2012 11:00am)

The St. Louis CBS affiliate reported last Friday that a 61-year-old Best Buy employee was bludgeoned by a couple in their late 30s leaving the story after the employee asked to see their receipt. I'm glad to see that everyone is getting into the holiday spirit. You know: Christmas. Christian. And wh...

What Christmas is All About (25 Dec 2012 09:30am)

My friend Will really loves this bit from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Or at least he did. I used to like it too. Now, I see it for what it is: Charles Schulz cramming his religion down my throat. He even repeats the damned speech in voice over! If you look back at his comic strip, he threw a lot of C...

It's Not a Wonderful Life (25 Dec 2012 08:00am)

The following parody of It's a Wonderful Life isn't all that funny. But I include it for personal reasons. You see, I'm a big Frank Capra fan. It Happened One Night is one of my very favorite films. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Lost Horizon are both excellent films. But I can't stand James Stewart. H...

Give the Jew Girl Toys (25 Dec 2012 02:00am)

In my long standing commitment to ruining every holiday, here is Sarah Silverman performing Give The Jew Girl Toys: ...

Sanitized News Coverage Provides Distance (24 Dec 2012 10:22pm)

[As anyone who reads this blog knows, the people who comment around here and very smart and knowledgeable. And opinionated. One of these people is Mike Blottin. And I am proud to offer the following as the first article here by an outside writer. Mike makes an interesting argument about how the (und...

The Danger of Conservative Frames (24 Dec 2012 08:41pm)

There are, of course, problems with this "truth by focus group" approach. For instance, polling data show that a majority of Americans do not know that electrons are smaller than atoms. The diffusion of knowledge would be greatly impeded if science teachers were expected to adjust their ideas accord...

Christmas Eve Party Shooting (24 Dec 2012 07:27pm)

Back in the early 1990s, Tom Tomorrow published a cartoon with a series of people in different situations, all with guns in hand. He was making fun of the saying, "An armed society is a polite society." In each panel, this was indeed the case. The last panel was a man standing over a dead man on the...

Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas (24 Dec 2012 02:30pm)

For years I've thought that there was something very obvious under the complaints of (mostly conservative) Christians when people say "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas." But I never took the time to work it out. Well, I spent some time this morning. And it turns out to be about as awful ...

Mercy and Justice in The Bicycle Thieves (24 Dec 2012 10:57am)

Last night I watched The Bicycle Thieves again. It is a remarkable little film. Its storytelling is so crisp that it is impossible not to be carried away with it. Of course, it must be; there isn't much of a story. The hero, Antonio, is just about at rock bottom when he gets a job. To have the job, ...

NRA Killing Our Kids (23 Dec 2012 10:44pm)

This image is from the Eh... Not so much tumblr. I still don't know exactly what Tumblr is. Click on the link to go to the posting: ...

Scripting Romney's Campaign (23 Dec 2012 10:23pm)

A very interesting detail in Michael Kranish's article on the presidential campaign was that Romney's chief strategist was Stuart Stevens. Actually, I knew that. He was the most intriguing member of the campaign. People often commented on how weird he was. My kind of man, I thought. Anyway, in the ...

Boston Globe Whitewash of Romney Loss (23 Dec 2012 07:28pm)

Michael Kranish has written an amazing post-election analysis of the 2012 presidential campaign, The story behind Mitt Romney’s loss in the presidential campaign to President Obama. I do not mean that in a good way. It does nothing so much as apply the Romney family narrative on top of the facts of ...

To Quote or Not to Quote (23 Dec 2012 04:46pm)

Michael Stickings of The Reaction blog was suggesting that I might want to do more blogging that quotes. You know the kind of thing: "I found this interesting article" followed by a quote from the article. I think he's worried about my health. He's been at this blogging things for a long time (almos...

More Guns Does Not Mean More Safety (23 Dec 2012 02:50pm)

David Atkins posted this over at Hullabaloo. All I've done is turn it into a playlist so that you can watch it all together. This is a really good test to show that having anyone (much less everyone) armed when a shooter comes along is a bad idea. It is a bit less than 15 minutes and well worth watc...

Social Security: the Phony Crisis (23 Dec 2012 02:03pm)

Thirteen years ago, Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot wrote a book, Social Security: the Phony Crisis. I just read it. The most amazing thing about the book is that nothing at all has changed. They could have written the book this year. I still hear people calling for Social Security privatization. I sti...

Don't Fear the Fiscal Cliff! (23 Dec 2012 12:10pm)

Ryan Grim has written the best article I have yet read on the Fiscal Cliff, Fiscal Fail: Government Agencies Plan Few Significant Changes For January, Despite Cliff Hype. He starts by explaining what readers of this site already know: nothing happens on 1 January. The stock market won't freak out. T...

Hope and Poverty (23 Dec 2012 11:21am)

Yesterday, I wrote about workers at UPMC who were trying to unionize because of the low wages. UPMC responded by starting a food bank. And I talked about how poor people have just as much self-respect and dignity as the rich. I explicitly put myself in that category of poor person. But there are var...

UPMC Avoids Responsibility for Workers (22 Dec 2012 07:55pm)

The non-medical staff at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) are not making enough money to get by. Like workers at Walmart and elsewhere, they have to depend upon welfare programs and private charities like food banks. As a result, they are trying to unionize under the Service Employ...

Christian Nationalism and School Shootings (22 Dec 2012 11:55am)

The poem below was sent to me by my Christian Conservative aunt. If she's sent it out, it must be viral among the Christian crowd on the internet. It is a parody of Twas the Night Before Christmas. As poetry, it shows about as much skill as I've come to expect from ChristiProp. There is a total lack...

Lesser Bargain (22 Dec 2012 10:29am)

As I reported before, changing how the government adjusts for inflation to the chained-CPI would affect both Social Security and income taxes. But the main thing that has been covered in the media is the effect on Social Security. I think this is mostly because while running for re-election, Preside...

A Decade Without Joe Strummer (22 Dec 2012 09:30am)

Ten years ago today, Joe Strummer died suddenly of a congenital heart defect. He was only 50. I always wonder about people who believe in a loving God. If God loves me, why did he take all the music that Strummer would have made for me but left all the bad law that Clarence Thomas has and will conti...

Sonny Curtis (21 Dec 2012 07:10pm)

Getting ready for tomorrow, I was reminded of the great Sonny Curtis. Here he is doing a version of his song I Fought the Law, which kind of sums up my life: an iconoclast who lost. He also wrote and sang the theme song to The Mary Tyler Moore Show and wrote Leo Sayer's hit More Than I Can Say....

We Need a Federal Agent at Every... (21 Dec 2012 06:19pm)

In an update for a post earlier today, I noted that Jim Naureckas tweeted, "If only an armed guard could be placed next to every state trooper." Well, it has become a thing. David Frum has now similarly tweeted 14 times. First, dental clinics: We need a federal agent at every dental clinic abcloca...

Still Worried About Kerry (21 Dec 2012 12:56pm)

Jonathan Bernstein at The Plum Line blog encourages us, Don't Worry Too Much About John Kerry’s Senate Seat. I not exactly worried about this, but I have been opposed to it. Of course, that was when Kerry was going to be moving to the Pentagon. Moving to State seems like a better deal, but I still t...

Tim Scott and the Future of the Republican Party (21 Dec 2012 11:08am)

In his farewell address to the Senate, Jim DeMint said, "If we can win the hearts and minds of the American people with these ideas, I know we can engage and enlist them to convince all of you here to set the politics aside, the parties aside, and to adopt those ideas that work." It has a certain ch...

NRA Calls for Militarizing Schools (21 Dec 2012 09:58am)

The crazy just gets crazier. Yesterday the Republicans staged a real fiasco where the House passed a bill to cut aid to the poor and elderly but couldn't even manage to increase taxes on incomes over a million dollars. I thought it couldn't be out done. But riding the crest of crazy, the NRA surpass...

Pete DeFazio on the Fiscal Cliff (20 Dec 2012 08:18pm)

H/T Dean Baker ...

Thursday Night Schadenfreude (20 Dec 2012 08:10pm)

John Boehner seems like a nice enough guy. The truth is, I feel kind of sorry for him. He doesn't seem like a ideologue. It's possible that over the years, he's come to realize that his party has no ideas other than the commitment to stay in power. Every time I see him, he looks like he would much r...

Fiscal Cliff Calculator (20 Dec 2012 04:00pm)

Dylan Matthews over at Wonk Blog has a remarkable little interactive budget calculator, Choose Your Own Fiscal Cliff Adventure! It is interesting to play around with. The main thing that you will notice is that liberal policies tend to improve the economy and help the budget deficit. Conservative po...

Death of Kingdom (20 Dec 2012 03:20pm)

Supposedly, ITV canceled Kingdom because it was too expensive to produce, not because it was unpopular. The show, which stars Stephen Fry, is beautiful to look at. It has too many helicopter shots for my taste, but I can't say they don't work. Nonetheless, the show would have been as successful on a...

21 December 2012 (20 Dec 2012 12:52pm)

This is a little early. NASA means to put out the video below on 22 December 2012. They want to be there to explain why the world did not end. Even though it has not yet not ended. If you know what I mean. My friend Toni asked me what I was planning on doing for the end of the world. I told her I w...

Their Children Die Too (20 Dec 2012 12:18pm)

The single political issue that I care most about—the only one that really even exists—is out-group vilification. It is what allows us to have some people starve to death while others have dozens of servants waiting upon their every need. It is what allows us to deny healthcare for tens ...

"Plan B" May Have Votes Thanks to Grover (20 Dec 2012 11:15am)

CBS News reports, House GOP: We have the votes for "Plan B". This does not come as a surprise. All the Republican authoritarian followers got the word from Grand Poobah Grover Norquist that it is okay to vote for this bill, so they will. I hope you weren't all thinking that previous Republican resis...

Senate Letter Condemning Zero Dark Thirty (20 Dec 2012 10:48am)

A remarkable thing happened yesterday. Dianne Feinstein, Carl Levin, and John McCain sent a letter to Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was regarding the portrayal of torture in the new film, Zero Dark Thirty. Feinstein does it as the chairman of the Senate Select Committee ...

On Not Seeing Pitch Perfect (20 Dec 2012 10:17am)

Yesterday, I snuck out to see a movie. There is not much at the $3 theater. Actually, there is nothing at the $3 theater because they have raised their prices to $3.50. Over the weekend, Matt Yglesias tweeted something to the effect that Pitch Perfect was very good. I have my problems with Yglesias,...

How to Not Survive a Shooting (19 Dec 2012 09:22pm)

Charlotte Allen over at National Review Online has interesting ideas for how we might be able to stop mass shootings in the future. They mostly have to do with having more men at elementary schools. I am so not kidding. And not just that, "Think of what Sandy Hook might have been like if a couple of...

Langue d'Amour (19 Dec 2012 07:08pm)

Strangely, this is one of my favorite songs. Maybe it's because I kind of like women and don't like men. That is to say: I don't really like anyone. This is especially true right now when I'm sick and can barely breathe. It is great storytelling. It is the language of love. ...

The President Has Already Agreed to a Deal I Don't Like (19 Dec 2012 06:31pm)

I saw a bit of The Ed Show tonight as I was making dinner. Ed Schultz said something that shocked me. I don't have the exact quote, but it was more or less, "I know that the president isn't going to agree to any deal that we don't like." I could hardly believe it. Did he really just say that? After ...

Post Hit Piece on Hagel (19 Dec 2012 12:25pm)

I've had my problems with the idea of Chuck Hagel as the new Defense Secretary. Why is it not possible to have a liberal? Why does Obama continue to try to court the right by having Republicans in his cabinet? But the Washington Post has a different take on this in an editorial, Chuck Hagel Is Not t...

2011 Negotiations Hurting 2012 Negotiations (19 Dec 2012 11:33am)

This morning, Ezra Klein discussed one of the real problems with the budget negotiations. Because Obama agreed to so many discretionary cuts in 2011, there is very little to give up now. He notes that after winning the 2010 elections, the Republicans demanded that the budget deal go entirely their w...

Obama Weakens Hand on Fiscal Cliff (19 Dec 2012 10:30am)

It's beginning to look a lot like 2011. John Boehner is holding the football, Obama runs toward it, and just as he is about to kick it, Boehner pulls the ball away, and "Aaugh!" I've long argued that these Fiscal Cliff negotiations are all for show. No deal that Boehner gets will be acceptable to hi...

What Could Have Been: Robert Bork (19 Dec 2012 09:52am)

It is a sad day. Robert Bork died this morning. But that's not why it's sad. It's sad because of the great opportunity we missed. One incident in Bork's career explains everything about him. During the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon wanted Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox fired because, you know,...

Obama Buys a Guitar (19 Dec 2012 09:12am)

I was talking to the president. It seems that Malia wants to learn to play guitar. I offered to sell him my American Stratocaster. He asked me how much I wanted for it. It's worth about a thousand dollars, but I didn't want to tell him that. "Make me an offer," I said. He looked it over carefully an...

Pete DeFazio Explains Chained-CPI (18 Dec 2012 09:05pm)

This is a speech by Pete DeFazio from last year during the debt ceiling debacle. It explains the chained-CPI pretty well. DeFazio does make some statements for effect, but it is all fundamentally correct: H/T Digby ...

The Wonderful Pundits of Oz (18 Dec 2012 04:52pm)

Frank Conniff of Mystery Science Theater 3000 has written and directed a radio musical, The Wonderful Pundits of Oz. It is quite a polished production with songs that are definitely better than anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber and a very good cast. The problem with it is that the script could be tigh...

Obama's Debt Ceiling Bluff Revealed (18 Dec 2012 01:30pm)

I was bothered all last night after seeing somewhere (The Ed Show?) that a two year elimination of the debt ceiling might be part of the Fiscal Cliff agreement. What happened to President Obama's resolve that he wasn't going to allow the Republicans to extort the United State in this way in the futu...

Different Views of Fiscal Cliff (18 Dec 2012 01:12pm)

Let's say that President Obama and Speaker Boehner agree on a deal that allows $1 trillion of the scheduled tax increases to take place over the next decade and cuts $1 trillion in spending over the same period. Most Republicans will view that as a deal with a 1-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax incre...

Chained-CPI Madness (18 Dec 2012 12:18pm)

[Part of this is wrong. Initial Social Security benefits are based upon wages. They aren't set and then adjusted upward by the CPI. Sorry for this error. -FM] I'm getting sick of having to talk about this stuff. The chained-CPI change is even worse for future retirees than it is for current retiree...

Too Soon to Talk About Presidential Succession? (18 Dec 2012 11:33am)

Yesterday, the long time senator from Hawaii, Daniel Inouye, died. He was 88 and had been in a wheelchair for the last year. So it is not of much surprise. He was a good guy—a reliable liberal voice in the senate. The most famous story about him—which to some extent informed his career&m...

Obama to Sell Out Social Security? (18 Dec 2012 08:34am)

Ezra Klein is again reporting that a Fiscal Cliff deal is almost done. And once again, I don't get this deal. He says that we will see the 39.6% tax bracket but only for incomes over a million dollars. There will be something less for incomes over $250,000 amount. In return for this, the president g...

Fiscal Cliff Tax Options (17 Dec 2012 06:32pm)

On Friday, Dylan Matthews wrote an article that mostly just included the following graph. The first line is what would happen if we just allow the taxes to go back to their Clinton levels. That would be a very regressive tax increase! But really, the only one that is really progressive and—giv...

Presidential Words Mean Little (17 Dec 2012 02:21pm)

Today, Jonathan Chait wrote his only article about the shooting thus far, The Bracing Political Reality of Gun Control. He notes that there is one good thing to come out of this tragedy: we woke up to the fact that the conservative appeal that we not politicize mass shootings is itself politicizatio...

Be a Real Man (17 Dec 2012 01:13pm)

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend about self-confidence. I am a nervous wreck about what people think of me. If I'm at a club, I find it almost impossible to dance. Or in my work, I've created a number of videos that even I think are rather good, but I can't quite bring myself to post th...

Enlightened Self Interest (17 Dec 2012 11:44am)

As regular readers know, I used to be a libertarian. But I was never that comfortable with it. A good example is how I used to bristle at a phrase that Ayn Rand used quite a lot, "enlightened self interest." So she would say something like, "Sure it is in your best interest to kill everyone and take...

We Have No Budget Problem--Really! (17 Dec 2012 10:55am)

You probably remember Dr. Evil of the Austin Powers films. Both characters had been frozen (or something) in the 60s and so they are a little out of touch. So when Dr. Evil hatches his evil plan he says that he will ask the United Nations for, "One million dollars!" Then he does his evil little fing...

God Is the Real Victim (17 Dec 2012 09:41am)

Billy Bob Neck sings, "Hey, little Tommy: if you believed in God you wouldn't be dead." This is satire of highest form, but I think even Paul Day (the actor) knows he is really pushing against people's revulsion tolerance on this one. To make it clearer, he throws in a clip of Bryan Fischer saying, ...

Larry Summers Offers Good Tax Reform (16 Dec 2012 09:16pm)

Larry Summers has written a remarkable and short editorial over at the Financial Times, How to Fix Costly and Unjust US Tax System. He starts by noting that all this talk of closing loopholes is stupid because it will raise very little money and it will leave us with an overly complex tax system. On...

Vatican Library (16 Dec 2012 08:03pm)

Tonight 60 Minutes reported on the Vatican Library. This is what I love about religion: history! And some of the illuminated manuscripts are stunning. Check this out, it is really good: ...

America's Gun Lunacy (16 Dec 2012 06:15pm)

There is something very much wrong with us. You've probably seen the graph on the left (click on it to see it at full resolution). The green line at the top is the murder rate in the United States over the last 50 years. The red lines at the bottom is the murder rate in the other OECD countries. It ...

Fascinating (16 Dec 2012 04:37pm)

Andrea sent me this photo because she knows what a burden I carry being such a fascinating person. The expectations are so great. People call me up and say, "You're such a fascinating person, entertain me!" I do my best. Strangely, people don't accept my arguments that the history of English Languag...

Situational Ally David Frum (16 Dec 2012 12:07pm)

As regular readers know, I have problems with David Frum. A lot of problems. A whole lot of problems. But he's so right about gun regulation. He's written a number of good articles in the past two days. The Myths that Enable Gun Tragedies. Every Day is the Day to Talk About Gun Control. And a numbe...

HSBC Travesty Crosses Partisan Lines (16 Dec 2012 11:15am)

The choice of the Justice Department to not prosecute HSBC for their criminal money laundering is the kind of thing that should cross all political lines. And indeed, we are seeing a bit of it. Marcy Wheeler at Empty Wheel has reported, Democratic and Republican Agreement: Prosecute HSBC. Chuck Gras...

Why is Zero Dark Thirty Wrong? (15 Dec 2012 09:04pm)

There is a bit of disagreement about Zero Dark Thirty among those who are completely in agreement about the politics. Let's start with the agreement. First, torture is wrong. I am so angry I even have to write that, because when I was a kid, that was a given. Anyway. Second, torture is not effective...

Guns Cheap, Mental Health Expensive (15 Dec 2012 05:34pm)

I've already written about how I think the primary lesson of the many recent mass shootings is that we need to do something about the easy availability of guns. But I still think much more needs to be said about mental health and anyway, I'm not sure that I have a lot to add on the gun situation. Go...

Schizophrenia and Psychopathy (15 Dec 2012 05:04pm)

I've heard a lot of loose talk about schizophrenia and (much more) psychopathy. They are not the same thing. They aren't even all that similar except that they are both pathologies and people suffering from both can be dangerous but in completely different ways. Schizophrenia is a broad term, but in...

Conservative Answers for Shootings (15 Dec 2012 12:04pm)

Yesterday, I reported on the obsession of Wall Street Journal reporters Tamer El-Ghobashy and Devlin Barrett regarding how the shooter got through the security system at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It was otherwise a good and informative article, but really: how did he get in? As I wrote, "This is...

Idiot Savant Pete Peterson (15 Dec 2012 11:14am)

People imagine an idiot savant to be someone like Raymond in Rain Man: a guy who can memorize the location of every card in a deck or tell you how many toothpicks have fallen on the ground. But I think of idiot savants much more broadly. For example, many excellent film directors exhibit an astonish...

Theater of the Austere (14 Dec 2012 11:55pm)

We could use a bit of levity, could we not? Paul Krugman posted a short play that apparently one of the commenters posted somewhere at The Irish Economy. If you know anything at all about what has been going on in Europe or even just a little about who Paul Krugman is, you will find this quite amusi...

Crazy Everywhere, Well Armed Here (14 Dec 2012 11:10pm)

Everyone wants to know why it is we have so many mass shootings—one every five days on average. Most of all, I want to know. Brad Plumer wrote what turned out to be a disappointing story over at Wonk Blog, Why Are Mass Shootings Becoming More Common? It was disappointing, because it turns out ...

Gun Are at Least Part of the Problem (14 Dec 2012 10:23pm)

Here is a graph from The Rachel Maddow Show based upon data put together by Ezra Klein. There is no doubt that this has something to do with gun availability: I'm afraid that I will have more to say on this later. ...

The Cocoanuts (14 Dec 2012 09:25pm)

Because I have been on a Marx Brothers jag and I wanted to forget about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, I watched The Cocoanuts. It is the first Marx Brothers film, and it is a bit weird. It has a few songs by Irving Berlin, remarkable dance numbers, and some of the funniest comedy bits I...

Rich Drug Criminals Not Prosecuted (14 Dec 2012 05:05pm)

Recently, the government found out about this big drug laundering enterprise. They'd laundered $9 billion over the last decade. So the feds got their paramilitary unit together, busted down the doors, and arrested everyone. Now they are all rotting in jail—for years. In fact, some of them will...

It Wasn't Sandy Hook's Security System (14 Dec 2012 01:29pm)

I just found out about the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I saw a bunch of chatter about gun control on Twitter. It actually made me feel good, because I thought that it was about the Portland shooting. I've been bothered by the lack of coverage of that shooting, b...

John Boehner's Position on the Gaming License (14 Dec 2012 12:07pm)

This is how I imagine the budget negotiation going. Boehner looks Obama in the eye and says, "My final offer is this: nothing. Not even the fee for the gaming license, because... I don't know what that is!" The one thing that we see coming from every source is that despite the negotiations, the Repu...

Good Dick, Bad Dick (14 Dec 2012 10:59am)

I've been giving a lot of thought to the question of just how tolerant I am of people being dicks. I know that to some extent, I admire dicks. Bill Maher is a dick, and I generally like him. Of course, he's funny, so there's that. But I'm thinking more of the people from Americans for Prosperity who...

Don't Balance That Budget! (14 Dec 2012 09:55am)

Robert Reich was the first person I heard make the argument for not balancing the federal budget. The argument is simple. Imagine that you have a business partner. You work very hard to save the company money and collect payments from customers. But every time you take a couple days off, your busine...

Chico's Favorite People (14 Dec 2012 08:59am)

Chico's favorite people were actors who gambled, producers who gambled, and women who screwed. —Gummo Marx, about his brother...

Nice Things Like Susan Rice (13 Dec 2012 10:02pm)

I don't care about the politics. I don't care who "won" in this fight regarding Susan Rice. Her decision to take herself out of contention for Secretary of State is the perfect example of why we can't have nice things. And this fits very well with my last article about the apocalyptic conservatism o...

Thiessen's Last Stand (13 Dec 2012 08:53pm)

David Frum has written two articles in as many days about what he calls "doomsday conservatism." Both relate to a column by conservative nutjob and Pillsbury Doughboy standin Marc Thiessen. He is the part of the Republican Party who think of themselves as The Little Party That Could. If they are jus...

Pleaded Vs. Pled (13 Dec 2012 06:57pm)

Recently, there have been a lot of articles about people who pleaded guilty to this or that crime. This came as a bit of a shock to me, because I'm a careful reader, and I just assumed that they pled guilty. You know me: the practical pedant. And this issue is very clear. Either of these constructio...

A Night at the Opera (13 Dec 2012 12:56pm)

Like all people who refuse to grow up, I love the Marx Brothers. But I fully admit that their movies are a mixed bag. There is total insanity followed by total boredom. I am not talking about Margaret Dumont here. She is brilliant and I don't think Groucho is ever funnier than when he's interacting ...

We Need More Than the Fed to Save Us (13 Dec 2012 10:50am)

Yesterday, I responded to the Fed's decision to tie interest rates to unemployment. Although I think this is good, it is the least they could do, and they are doing it much too late. My biggest problem was that the Fed's new unemployment target is 6.5%, which is nowhere near full employment. I noted...

Avik Roy Heard My Plea! (12 Dec 2012 09:34pm)

I don't know if you have noticed, but I've been feeling really down the last few days. But I just noticed something that really improved my mood: Avik Roy tweeted my last rant about him: A lefty blogger: "I want to rip off your scrotum and suffocate you with it. Cock sucking plutocrat bastard!" fra...

The Obama-Boehner Conspiracy (12 Dec 2012 08:35pm)

There has been a lot of reporting on the fact that there isn't anything to report about the Fiscal Cliff negotiations. John Stanton makes a big deal of this in his almost fun article for BuzzFeed, The Fiscal Cliff Is Boring Washington To Death. Everyone seems to agree that the lack of leaks indicate...

Thought Crime in London (12 Dec 2012 07:32pm)

Ah, justice! The London bomb plotters are in jail, but the English court system isn't done yet; they have thought crimes to punish! Ruksana Begum is the sister of one of the plotters. She downloaded a copy of Inspire, al-Qaida magazine in order to understand what was going on with her angry brother....

Fed Does a Little Late (12 Dec 2012 05:50pm)

Earlier today, I was surprised that people were surprised that reality TV was staged. This is different. Then it was surprising that people didn't already know what was obvious. This time, it is surprising that we have had our expectations lowered so much that we are surprised when the Federal Reser...

Boehner: Obama Must Reveal Mythic Bad Government (12 Dec 2012 02:12pm)

Pollsters are constantly asking Americans how much the government spends on foreign aid and how much it ought to spend on foreign aid. The numbers never really change in any substantial way. In a poll in 2010, Americans thought that the government spends about 25% of its budget on foreign aid and th...

A Good Idea for Better Latkes (12 Dec 2012 01:01pm)

Over at Slate, L.V. Anderson tells me, You’re Doing It Wrong: Latkes. First things first: no I'm not! The truth is that Anderson and I agree on the nature of the perfect latkes. She explains that people who claim that latkes should be nothing other than potatoes and salt are apparently mistaking th...

More Libertarian Right-to-Work (12 Dec 2012 12:37pm)

As much as libertarians drive me crazy, there are some who are smart and serious. You will get the best thinking on libertarianism from Reason Magazine, which I once subscribed to. Still, it is mostly all the usual theoretical, trapped in our own minds kind of nonsense that is libertarianism. But so...

More Proof Reality Shows Are Fake (12 Dec 2012 11:19am)

Unlike Atrios, who is correct when he says he is a lazy blogger, I work very hard in my 24/7 ranting. But there are some things that I will not do. One of them is to find out any more than necessary about the various reality shows on the TV machine. I am long on record about my hatred of these shows...

Racism at KTBS-TV (12 Dec 2012 10:29am)

File this one under, "What southern racism?" Rhonda A. Lee is a meteorologist at KTBS-TV, in Shreveport, LA. She's pictured on the left and I think you can see the problem: that hair! Can you say "colored dyke"? Maybe you can't, but keen viewer Emmitt Vascocu could. He wrote on Facebook, "The black ...

How to Shit on the Little People (11 Dec 2012 09:27pm)

Sarah Kliff at WonkBlog reported yesterday, White House to States: on Medicaid Expansion, It's All or Nothing. This hasn't been well reported, even though it is kind of interesting. But I suspect this is because it is yet more data showing that Republicans are all basically dicks. As you probably h...

Boehner's Gerrymandered "Mandate" (11 Dec 2012 08:32pm)

John Nichols over at The Nation explains, John Boehner Has No Mandate. This comes from the fact that Boehner is on his whining tour, complaining to Fox News that the White House, "must have forgotten Republicans continue to hold a majority in the House." I'm very sympathetic to that line of argument...

With Gun Rights Go Responsibilities (11 Dec 2012 07:49pm)

I used to live in Portland, and I remember the Clackamas Town Center being the most festive shopping mall I had ever visited. It had a ice rink where I saw Tonya Harding practice—a big attraction in the early 1990s. So I was shocked to read that there was a shooting rampage at the mall this af...

Why the Debt Ceiling is No Problem (11 Dec 2012 05:41pm)

Have you stopped thinking about the Fiscal Cliff and moved right on to the brewing debt ceiling fiasco? You are not alone. I haven't talked much about it recently, but this has been weighing heavily on my mind as well. I liked what I was hearing from the president. Last week at the Business Roundtab...

The Case for Cliff Diving (11 Dec 2012 04:53pm)

Noam Scheiber over at The New Republic makes the case, To Save His Second Term, Obama Must Go Over the Fiscal Cliff. He counters the standard thinking that while it may be tactically smart to go over the Fiscal Cliff, it is bad strategy. He quotes a number of people who argue that if Obama wins this...

Another Modest Proposal from Jonathan Chait (11 Dec 2012 11:11am)

Those Very Serious white guy business reporters Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen over at Politico report on the breaking news that CEOs are whining about the lack of certainty in the market. I discovered the article through Jonathan Chait where he attacked the insularity that allows reporters to think th...

Movie Torture (11 Dec 2012 10:07am)

There is a bit of buzz about the upcoming blockbuster Zero Dark Thirty. It is already getting rave reviews, which goes to the heart of my problem with film "critics": they aren't critics, they are ombudsmen. But it is a big mistake to listen to them. They tend to be too pretentious for most movie go...

Quien es mas macho? (10 Dec 2012 10:50pm)

On The Last Word today, Lawrence O'Donnell asked, "Quien es mas macho?" between presidents Reagan, Bush Sr, and Clinton and Speaker Gingrich. I have many problems with O'Donnell, but he is at his best when doing this kind of thing. And in this case, he's right. Basically Newt Gingrich destroyed Wash...

Accretion Fish (10 Dec 2012 08:42pm)

Tonight, on my way back from the garbage, I looked up into the sky. It was very clear and I could see a lot of stars. It made me think of my ancestor over tens of thousands of years who did the same thing. At first, they were just pretty lights in the sky. But over time, we noticed that they moved a...

Ten Ideas to Fix the Economy (10 Dec 2012 08:12pm)

I have this strange idea that I don't care for Dylan Matthews over at WonkBlog. But I just looked at my writing over the last year, and I find I am always very impressed with his work. I know that from time to time, he falls into false equivalence and splitting the difference fallacies. But mostly, ...

Letter to President Obama on Fiscal Cliff (10 Dec 2012 07:08pm)

Dear Mr. President: I am very concerned about the "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations. I don't understand why you would offer a smaller increase on the top tax rate than the one that will happen automatically on Jan 1 in exchange for raising the Medicare eligibility age. Unfortunately, I don't know what to...

Right-to-Work Limits Employer Freedom (10 Dec 2012 06:05pm)

All this madness about right-to-work in Michigan got me to thinking. About libertarians. I'm not sure about the intricacies of the Michigan situation, but what right-to-work normally means is that unions can't have a contract with employers to have a union-only shop and that non-union (non-dues payi...

The Golden Bowl (10 Dec 2012 02:19pm)

I just watched the Merchant-Ivory-Jhabvala production of Henry James' The Golden Bowl. The main thing that struck me about the film was Jhabvala's screenplay. If I had written an adaptation of James' novel, it would have been a cynical mess. But this film is a tribute to human dignity and the abilit...

The Sound of Waiting (10 Dec 2012 11:20am)

Do you hear it? It's the sound of waiting. There's only one thing on most pundits' minds (Oxymoron?) and that is the dreaded fiscal cliff. This morning, Ezra Klein continued to push his "Obama's gonna screw his base, ain't that keen?!" theory. John Waggoner of USA TODAY complains that the markets ar...

If US Land Were Divided Like US Wealth (10 Dec 2012 09:25am)

This is from High Noon in the Garden of Good & Evil. It is called If US Land Were Divided Like US Wealth. ...

Why Does PSY Hate Us? (09 Dec 2012 10:04pm)

I don't read Glenn Greenwald every day, I quote Glenn Greenwald every day. He is a great writer who really gets to the core of political issues in a way that is rare indeed. Yesterday, he asked a question, "Which of these two stories is causing more controversy and outrage in the US?" And then he of...

Death Penalty for Shoplifting (09 Dec 2012 09:00pm)

Shelly Frey, a 27 year old girl was shot to death by a Houston Walmart security guard. Let's cut through all the journalistic niceties and just admit: she had been shoplifting. That is the worst thing you can say about her—we know this because that is what Walmart and the cop are saying about ...

The Tweets of Frank Conniff (09 Dec 2012 05:30pm)

I am a big MST3K fan, as you can see by the fact that I call Mystery Science Theater 3000 "MST3K." I never really understood the character TV's Frank, but I've long thought that the actor Frank Conniff is a brilliant man. If I hadn't already thought that, however, I certainly would have after subscr...

DeMint is Dead; Long Life Rubio (09 Dec 2012 12:49pm)

Earlier this week, I wrote about Marco Rubio's pathetic excuse for moderating the Republican message at the Jack Kemp Foundation dinner. Basically, he didn't change anything about his speech, he just claimed that things he would normally say helped "job creators" now helped the "middle class." But R...

Avik Roy is Trying to Kill Me! (09 Dec 2012 11:51am)

A political science professor once told me about a friend of his who claimed that Richard Nixon killed his father. Every time Nixon appeared on television, this guy would start shouting. "That lying bastard!" And so on. Well, one time Nixon came on the TV, the man started shouting at it, had a heart...

As of Now Reinhold Weege is Officially Off Duty (09 Dec 2012 10:43am)

Reinhold Weege died last week. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Weege died of natural causes on 1 December. He was only 62. When I heard the news, I recognized the name. I am very much a geek about comedy writers and I pay close attention to the writing credits of any movie or TV show that I...

Guilt Spam (09 Dec 2012 09:26am)

I have been getting a lot of very compelling spam. I call it "guilt spam." It very politely asks for help. Some of it is clearly spam. In fact, there are two oldies along these lines that when first seen are greatly concerning. The first is something like, "Great website! But there seems to be a pro...

Landfill Harmonic (08 Dec 2012 05:29pm)

The video below is a teaser for an upcoming documentary, Landfill Harmonics. It is wonderful and will make you laugh and cry and become a part of blah blah blah. What I worry about is that these people are left to live and die in poverty—but at least they have imported European classical music...

Tax the Rich Fairy Tale (08 Dec 2012 03:54pm)

As agitprop goes, this little cartoon, Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale, from the California Federation of Teachers is quite good. I disagree with some of it. In particular, it greatly understates how much the middle class self-oppresses. I'm well aware of how the Tea Party was largely a marketi...

Sheldon Adelson Social Liberal (08 Dec 2012 11:05am)

Sheldon Adelson says, "I'm basically a social liberal." You better believe it. The only thing that is surprising about this admission is that he thinks this will shock anyone. Rich people understand better than anyone else that the only thing that matters in life is your own happiness. In fact, I w...

Going Along to Get Along (08 Dec 2012 10:39am)

Yesterday, Charlie Crist made it official: he's a Democrat. Earlier this year at the DNC, he said, "Half a century ago, Ronald Reagan, the man whose relentless optimism inspired me to enter politics, famously said that he didn't leave the Democratic Party; the party left him. I can certainly relate....

A Bigger Spoon (08 Dec 2012 12:44am)

Even by the standards of That Mitchell and Web Look, this is very strange. But funny: Of course, it is from their earlier series, The Mitchell and Webb Situation. ...

Republican Strategy (08 Dec 2012 12:02am)

I had a thought tonight about how Republicans see their position. The Republican focus is on ideology. It's strange, but if you look closely, they are united in a weird kind of thinking that is based on the idea that how things are is almost perfect. From this we get the libertarian talk that keeps ...

Is Obama Selling Us Out—Again? (07 Dec 2012 09:27pm)

Ezra Klein reported this afternoon and then again this evening on The Rachel Maddow Show, that a debt ceiling deal is all but done: the president will take a top marginal tax rate of 37% and raise the retirement age to 67. It sounds outrageous, but Klein makes a compelling case, even though it is ve...

Dying Parents (07 Dec 2012 08:27pm)

If you really want to understand me (And why would you?) you would first need to understand that I have no idea who Christina Aguilera is. Well, that's not exactly true. Based upon my research for this article, I have come to think that she is a singer. But I don't care. I'm sure she's either some A...

Corporations Game Obamacare (07 Dec 2012 01:08pm)

Here's a question for you: am I wrong to say that companies that care only about profits, and not about employees, are assholes? Before you answer: no I am not. Companies that care only about profits, and not about employees, are assholes. This is at the core of my hatred of the existence of corpora...

Trade Agreements Not So Effective (07 Dec 2012 12:16pm)

This morning, Paul Krugman maked a general argument following from what was, frankly, a rather technical article that Dean Baker posted yesterday. It has to do with the widely held belief that free market treaties are just great for the economy. For the record, my belief has always been that these t...

Pun Virus Spreading at Young Turks (07 Dec 2012 11:45am)

The Young Turks is a hugely popular internet based news show. It is very good and I like to stay up on what they are talking about. In general, I find them very well informed on issues and their positions are fairly compatible with my own, even if they tend to be a tad more conservative. There are t...

Good Jobs Report Because Obama Was Re-Elected (07 Dec 2012 10:12am)

The jobs report was released this morning. The headline is good: 146,000 jobs were created and unemployment dropped to 7.7%. But you really can't trust the headline. I start most mornings by reading Paul Krugman, but this morning, I went directly to Dean Baker. In a sense, Baker is the most importan...

DeMint Don't Change a Thing (06 Dec 2012 07:56pm)

Increasingly, I have very fond thoughts about Ezra Klein. But he is still capable of driving me crazy! Today, he did so with, Jim DeMint and the Death of Think Tanks. His basic argument is that Jim DeMint going to head the Heritage Foundation is indicative of some kind of trend. Specifically, it me...

No Rights at Work in Michigan (06 Dec 2012 07:18pm)

I'm thinking of starting a weekly rundown of the best writing I find online, because a lot of it doesn't get mentioned here because I have nothing to add. That is very much true of John Nichols at The Nation who manages to write brilliantly on the local and national level. This evening, he wrote an ...

Don't Click Here (06 Dec 2012 01:17pm)

Recently, I found myself at Michael Moore's website. I posted a comment that included a link. The link was stripped out. I'm used to that. It kind of explained why there were no comments. Today, I was over at Corey Robin's site. It has never had a problem with my adding a link to a comment. But tod...

Three Outlaw Samurai (06 Dec 2012 11:38am)

I picked up a copy of Hideo Gosha's Three Outlaw Samurai the other day. I didn't know anything about the film, but hey: samurai. It tells the story of three ronin who work together to protect a group of peasants. If this sounds familiar, it is basically the same plot as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samura...

Help Bobby Jindal! (06 Dec 2012 10:07am)

Bobby Jindal has published an OpEd in Politico today, Cliff Diving. In it, he says, "Today it's the fiscal cliff, but that surely will not be the end of it; next year it will be the fiscal mountain, after that the fiscal black hole, and after that fiscal Armageddon." The politics don't really matter...

A Tale of Two Votes (06 Dec 2012 09:23am)

Steve Kornacki provides us with a tale of two votes, What the Republican Party Has Become. In 1990, the Senate voted to approve the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and yesterday, it voted to approve a nonbinding United Nations treaty to encourage other countries to pass their own version of th...

Mr. Burns Deals with Election Results (06 Dec 2012 12:32am)

I don't know how old this is, but I just saw it for the first time. So watch it. It's very funny. Notice that there are three binders on the floor labeled "women." There is a book titled, "Nate Silver Can't Add." Also, "Think of the economy as a cliff and the rich man is the driver. If you don't ...

Republicans Still Aren't Changing (06 Dec 2012 12:14am)

Yesterday afternoon, E. J. Dionne wrote, The Conservative Learning Curve. He claims that all the talk about the middle class from the likes of Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan is an indication that the Republicans are taking their first baby steps toward changing their party. This is the kind of wishful th...

Rand Paul Doesn't Know His State (05 Dec 2012 10:01pm)

James Carter made a marvelous catch today. Rand Paul was interviewed on WMAL-AM, out of Washington DC. And he got to bitching about what's on everyone's mind: Ashley Judd. She's kind of like the modern Al Franken; everyone wants to know how events of the day will affect her, Ashley Judd. Thinking of...

If I Had a Nickel... (05 Dec 2012 09:21pm)

If I had a nickel for every time I've been incarcerated... I'd have fifteen cents. —John Lyshitski Let's Go To Prison...

The Bluing of Alaska (05 Dec 2012 09:01pm)

Bill Maher has more followers on Twitter than anyone else I follow. Guess who has the second most? Nate Silver. I know what you're thinking, "The election is over; who cares about Nate Silver?" Everyone who ever cared as far as I know. Plus a few odd people like Dick Morris and Karl Rove. And the r...

35 Years, 6 Months, 5 Days Ago (05 Dec 2012 08:11pm)

It's sad whenever someone who is not actively evil dies. So I'm sad that Dave Brubeck died. But here's the thing... He wasn't great. Don't get me wrong: he had his moments. He was a very capable jazz pianist. But Bill Evans he wasn't. But here's another thing... If I could be Bill Evans or Dave Br...

Same Ol' Rubio Plus "Middle Class" (05 Dec 2012 05:52pm)

David Weigel posted an article on Slate earlier today, Marco Rubio Mentions the Middle Class 35 Times in One Speech. But that's not really what it's about. But it does get to the heart of the matter. You see, Rubio mentioned the middle class, but never really engaged with the concept. As I've noted...

I Heart GO (05 Dec 2012 05:13pm)

I shop a lot at Grocery Outlet. They have amazing prices. Also, they have puppet spokespeople, and you know how I love puppets. So I'm at Grocery Outlet recently, and they are selling a Lois Prices bobblehead. And she is holding a sign that reads, "I [heart] GO." That seems very strange to me, but ...

King on Poverty (05 Dec 2012 10:31am)

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has com...

The Bipartisan Crowd (05 Dec 2012 10:20am)

This morning, Jonathan Chait published an article, Obama's Refusal to Deal Paving Way for a Deal. It starts, "Most of the news coverage of the 'fiscal cliff' has come from the perspective of soothing bipartisan centrism, a point of view dramatized most explicitly by CNBC's hysterical countdown to Ja...

Night of the Simpson-Bowles (04 Dec 2012 02:43pm)

I don't mean to scare you, but I found out some stuff this morning. Man! I don't even want to tell you guys. It's just so horrible. Ezra Klein writes, 11 Shocking, True Facts About Simpson-Bowles. See your home interest deduction vanish! Feel capital gains cuts taxed as income! Scream at defense bu...

The Price of Inequality (04 Dec 2012 01:14pm)

Joseph Stiglitz's new book The Price of Inequality is a great book. Unlike the books of Paul Krugman, which are also very good, Stiglitz goes into much depth. In fact, the book is kind of like taking a short course on what has been going on in our economy. It is as good as Winner-Take-All Politics, ...

Protection When You Least Expect It (04 Dec 2012 12:10pm)

This sign that has been posted all over New York City, reads "NYPD Drones: Protection When You Least Expect It." It is an excellent example of urban art which makes a difference. And thus, it has to be stopped! The NYPD held a weeks long manhunt for the artist. They finally arrested Essam Attia a...

Screw Rich a Little, Poor a Lot (04 Dec 2012 10:33am)

I try not to read David Brooks, but last night, Matt Yglesias tricked me into reading him with this tweet: I don't understand what David Brooks is proposing here or why:nytimes.com/2012/12/04/opi…— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 4, 2012 So I went ahead and read The Truly Grand Bargain...

Business and Public Politics (04 Dec 2012 09:28am)

Matt Yglesias sent us to a YouGov BrandIndex article by Ted Marzilli, Anti-Obamacare rhetoric and restaurant Buzz. It provides data for what I've always said: it is a big mistake to bring your politics into your business—especially when your business isn't a necessity, like dining out at low q...

Gay Republicans (03 Dec 2012 09:29pm)

There aren't a lot of openly gay Republicans, but there are some. This is not as surprising as it may seem. David Brock in his book Blinded By the Right talks about what it is to be gay inside movement conservatism: they accept it silently. At least they do until you stray from the fold and then the...

Clown of New York Takes a Fall (03 Dec 2012 08:11pm)

Prachi Gupta reports today in Salon, Scottish farmer trumps Trump. It tells the story of Michael Forbes, a salmon fisherman in Scotland who stood up to Donald Trump and his project to build the "world's greatest golf course" and amenities costing more than a billion dollars on over a thousand acres ...

Apple Censors Political Speech (03 Dec 2012 03:16pm)

Here's a question for you. What's worse: killing innocent civilians or reporting on it? If you ask the fascists at Apple, the answer is reporting on it, of course. Apple has turned down the app Drones+ because it is "objectionable and crude." Let's be clear here: there is nothing objectionable or c...

Robert Reich Explains Fiscal Cliff (03 Dec 2012 01:42pm)

Robert Reich has made another of his ticking clock videos where he explains something complicated in a short period of time. This time it is the fiscal cliff in two minutes 30 seconds: ...

We Have a Pope! (03 Dec 2012 01:17pm)

If you want to understand theater, you should watch the Italian film Habemus Papam or (more or less), "We Have a Pope." I picked it because the box said that it was hilarious. And generally, I find that other countries do a better job with comedy. In America, they tend to be over-produced and over-c...

Republicans Are Dicks Even Without Power (03 Dec 2012 12:01pm)

Peter Baker wrote a good article for the New York Times yesterday, Criticized as Weak in Past Talks, Obama Takes Harder Line. It is very evenhanded, of course, but just in reporting the facts, it makes the Republicans look very bad. The Republicans claim, for example, that they have changed: they ...

Gray World Without Poetry (03 Dec 2012 11:18am)

It doesn't much matter which side of the political spectrum an education bureaucrat comes from, they want to destroy the essence of education. The reason is very simple: they want to create workers rather than human beings. Children are not taught to read so they can spend time with the greatest mi...

When is 75 > 250? (03 Dec 2012 09:35am)

Dean Baker noted something in a post late last night. He was talking about the latest Robert Samuelson column over at the Washington Post, Who's Not Bargaining in Good Faith? Baker does this at least once a week. It seems that Samuelson can hardly open his mouth without making him apoplectic. And wi...

Bruce Bartlett Walks Like a Duck (02 Dec 2012 08:55pm)

After Bruce Bartlett's amazing performance on Up with Chris Hayes today, it is hard to complain much about him. Just the same, I found much to dislike in his The American Conservative article, Revenge of the Reality-Based Community. The biggest problem is that Bartlett spends half the article justi...

A Speculation Tax to Ignore (02 Dec 2012 08:03pm)

Ralph Nader has written a very good OpEd in the Washington Post on taxing stock trades. I fully expect that Dean Baker will write about this tomorrow, because this is one of his big issues. But I thought Nader laid out the case very well. The basic idea is that the government would levy a 0.5% tax o...

Bradley Manning's Crime (02 Dec 2012 07:30pm)

There are things that make me so angry that I tend to not even write about them. I suspect that some readers will find this amusing, because I seem to be angry much of the time. And that's true, so what I just said should be given the proper amount of weight. One of those things is the pretend Bengh...

Smart Ignorant Conservative (02 Dec 2012 05:40pm)

Something really interesting happened this morning on Up With Chris Hayes. One of the guests was Veronique de Rugy, who was repeatedly referred to as a researcher at George Mason University, but who seems more correctly called an adjunct scholar at the CATO Institute. She is clearly a smart woman&md...

Dean Baker Paints a Picture (02 Dec 2012 12:46pm)

Dean Baker, like any great thinker, has certain ideas that he pushes. (More on that later today.) One of those ideas is that an aging population is not bad for retirement programs. The common refrain from people, who are not nearly as smart and knowledgeable as Baker, is that fewer workers for each ...

John Brown Was Right (02 Dec 2012 10:18am)

One hundred and fifty-three years ago they hanged John Brown in Charles Town, Virginia. On that morning before his execution, he wrote, "I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself th...

Filibuster Reform (02 Dec 2012 12:31am)

There was a good discussion of filibuster reform on Up with Chris Hayes. But some of it was confusing. There were two pro-filibuster guests on the panel. Richard Arenberg and Alan Frumin who both argued energetically for the filibuster. But I found their arguments strangely uncompelling. I was expec...

Dead Milkmen with Special Guest Mojo Nixon (01 Dec 2012 11:25pm)

In personal correspondence, I was reminded how much I like Dead Milkmen. They are what I've always thought punk was at its core: fun. All the great punk bands have much more enthusiasm than talent, and that is entirely true of them. In fact, they hearken back to early Ramones. Anyway, here are Dead ...

Thomas Jefferson's Entitlement (01 Dec 2012 08:40pm)

Paul Finkelman has written a most striking OpEd in the New York Times about that great writer of God given liberty, Thomas Jefferson. The title of the article will give you some idea: The Monster of Monticello. I have to admit, I have tended to give Jefferson the benefit of the doubt over the years....

Socialism? Yes! (01 Dec 2012 07:55pm)

John Nichols discusses some shocking results from the latest Gallup Poll on economic and ideological terms. Almost one-quarter of all Republicans have a favorable opinion of the word "socialism." It has been well know that for a while, the "S" word had lost its scare power. But in the last two years...

Media Push Conservative Ideas (01 Dec 2012 06:36pm)

There is a question that is always floating around the minds of liberals: why don't perfectly respectable progressive policy ideas get any media attention while wacky conservative ideas get promoted like journalists are being paid by marketing companies? Earlier today, Paul Krugman posted a really g...

Old Republican Ed Rendell (01 Dec 2012 11:25am)

Ed Rendell is the prototypical New Democrat. Or as I like to think of him: an Old Republican. He is a good example of what I'm talking about when I say that any Republican of 40 years ago who really believed in what his party stood for would now be a Democrat. Any person still a Republican is either...

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (01 Dec 2012 10:54am)

I have never read any of John le Carré's books. But I have seen two movies based upon his books. The first was many years ago: The Little Drummer Girl. It is an interesting film, but not all that good. It is probably worth revisiting, especially with the continuing problems between the Israelis and...

War on Christmas Garbage (01 Dec 2012 09:54am)

I'm a big fan of Liberal Viewer (see the link on the sidebar below). Still, I don't think he has ever created as good a video as he did yesterday on Fox News' coverage of the "War on Christmas." Check it out: ...

Andrew Sullivan Doesn't Like Obama Any More (01 Dec 2012 08:35am)

You may remember Andrew Sullivan. He is a conservative Obama supporter. And after the first presidential debate, Sullivan had a very public freak out. That was understandable, a lot of liberals were similarly concerned, although he was much more ridiculous than most. Now that Sullivan has got the p...

Vague Republican Promise are Worse Than Vague (30 Nov 2012 07:25pm)

This morning Ezra Klein wrote, The Reality of Tax Reform: Less Charity, Smaller Homes, Higher State Taxes. It gets to the heart of politics, but most especially Republican politics. It's all about vagueness of proposals. The reason I associate it with Republicans is that their policy prescriptions ...

Reasonable Republicans = New Democrat (30 Nov 2012 11:27am)

Richard Barry over at The Reaction writes, How the Republican Party Could Save Itself. In it, he discusses a Time magazine article by Mike Murphy, Can This Party Be Saved? Barry, like most liberals, holds out some hope that we might some day get a reasonable opposition party. And Murphy's idea does ...

Old Leftists Are Sexy (29 Nov 2012 11:26pm)

Jean-Luc Mélenchon rocks. From campaigns past, but the song is great: ...

Republican Foolishness on Negotiations (29 Nov 2012 10:38pm)

I tend to think that Republicans are more evil than stupid. But sometimes I wonder. Take today: Republican operatives have leaked Obama's initial offer to deal with the "austerity bomb" (which is a much more accurate term than "fiscal cliff"). That's fine, but their reason for doing it is foolish. T...

Cliches for David Petraeus (29 Nov 2012 07:29pm)

For much of the media, the David Petraeus story never gets old. In fact, it seems that some of them are still hoping that they can convince the country that he has been unfairly victimized. There have even been calls to put him back in charge of the CIA. You see: he's blackmail proof. (Did you know ...

Daily Nerd Humor (29 Nov 2012 02:03pm)

I just watched Futurama, episode "Hell is Other Robots." It has one bit that really made me laugh. After Bender finds religion, he takes the crew out to dinner. But he insists upon saying grace, stopping everyone from eating. I think this is something that religious people don't see: just how narcis...

Why Conservatives Accept Discredited Ideas (29 Nov 2012 01:10pm)

Paul Krugman wrote a blog post this morning, Varieties of Error. In it, he highlights two kinds of predictive failures: those that indicate the fundamental thinking (or "model") is wrong and those that just show that predictions are predictions. Think of football, for example. The Texans is a much b...

Present "Fixes" for Future Problems (29 Nov 2012 12:16pm)

I first really took notice of Robert Reich many years ago when he said he was no longer for a balanced federal budget. He had been Labor Secretary under President Clinton, and he had seen how it was to work with Republicans. The way he saw it (I think this was in 2003), what was the point of Democra...

The Plutocrats (29 Nov 2012 11:31am)

I think the way it works—and I think Romney's comments were very telling in this regard—there are two differences in the mind of this class. First, they're absolutely convinced that they're not asking for special privileges for themselves. They're convinced that it just so happens that t...

Global Thinker Paul Ryan (29 Nov 2012 11:15am)

Alec MacGillis at The New Republic has now written about, Paul Ryan, Global Thinker? In the article, he alerts us to a new list from Foreign Policy, 100 Top Global Thinkers. Such exercises are always stupid. Earlier this year, I wrote about The Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Path...

Metaphorical Fellatio (28 Nov 2012 08:16pm)

Matt Taibbi took one for the team; he read All In, Paula Broadwell's biography of General Petraeus. He referred to the book as "slobberific"—a new word worth repeating. The point of his article—One Interesting Thing About Paula Broadwell's Petraeus Biography—is that it is perfectl...

Warren Buffett Still an Asshole (28 Nov 2012 05:37pm)

We have very low expectations of the rich. If they aren't complete assholes, we heap praise on them like they were curing lepers in Calcutta. Take Warren Buffett, for instance. Liberals just love him because he thinks maybe he shouldn't pay less income tax on his billions than his secretary pays. Ho...

Old Ideas from Young Republicans (28 Nov 2012 03:30pm)

Last night on Colbert Report, there was Reihan Salam explaining how the Republicans are going to win the hearts of the working class. And he had the book he wrote with Ross Douthat, Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream. Ah yes, the Grand New Party. T...

Why Republicans Hate Filibuster Reform (28 Nov 2012 11:36am)

For a long time, my position on the filibuster is that we should do it to them before they do it to us. The main liberal argument against filibuster reform is that at some point (likely soon) the Democrats will be in the minority and thus will rue the day when they limited the use of it. This is typ...

The Comedy of Theodicy (28 Nov 2012 10:18am)

That Mitchell and Webb Look is a favorite of mine. I don't think there has ever been better sketch comedy. What's more, their social satire is very incisive. I noticed this last night when I happened upon their version of the Abraham and Isaac story from Genesis. What I think I missed the first tim...

House Committee Chairmen (27 Nov 2012 09:03pm)

This is via The Rachel Maddow Show: the very white male House Republican leadership. ...

God Ain't On Kentucky's Side (27 Nov 2012 12:02pm)

Longtime reader and author James McCollough sent me to an amazing article at AlterNet by Laura Gottesdiener, A Year in Jail for Not Believing in God? How Kentucky Is Persecuting Atheists. I don't think of myself as an atheist especially; although I do self-identify as one, I think it gives an entire...

Protecting the "Simply" Rich (27 Nov 2012 11:00am)

This morning Paul Krugman posted an article, The Stiffs and the Players. This is a reference to a speech by Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. In it, he explains to Bud what they are working for. He says that Bud doesn't want to be some Well Street working stiff making $400,000 per year and flying first c...

It's the Turnout, Stupid (26 Nov 2012 09:37pm)

Tonight on The Last Word, Lawrence O'Donnell made the case that the reason that Obama won the election was that he was an outstanding candidate. Karen Finney and David Corn backed him up. I like all of these pundits, but they are wrong. Obama was certainly a very good candidate. But it's the turnout...

Picturing Reed Richardson (26 Nov 2012 07:37pm)

I think of myself as kind of public nuance rather than a stalker. And no one really seems to care. For example, Brad DeLong continues to ignore my helpful suggestion on cleaning up his very ugly blog. And Corey Robin (who is more than willing to correspond with me about history and politics) is sile...

Thomas Ricks Blasts Fox News (26 Nov 2012 06:43pm)

This is amazing. I can't say that I blame them, but Fox News quickly got rid of Thomas Ricks after he blasted the network over its Benghazi coverage. Jon Scott interviewed Ricks. He is what Fox News claims is a "straight news reporters." I've always felt that these were the most dangerous people on ...

Happy Lamb (26 Nov 2012 02:39pm)

I just had oral surgery, so even though I have much on my mind that I'd like to write about, I probably won't until tonight at least. In the mean time, here is a picture of a happy lamb courtesy of Cute Overload: ...

More Attacks on Obamacare (26 Nov 2012 10:01am)

The fucktards at Liberty University are trying another attack on the ACA (Obamacare). Actually, this is an old case, but it is now going forward. The college has two problems with the healthcare reform law: employer mandate and birth control coverage. This is a scattershot approach to destroying leg...

Ross Douthat Wants a Fight (25 Nov 2012 08:41pm)

You all know how much I admire reasonable Republicans. Or at least, you know how much I would admire them if they existed. For the record: any Republican who is reasonable has already become a Democrat. The people like David Frum are not reasonable. This is very simple, people! "Not crazy" does not ...

GOB Tampons (25 Nov 2012 09:11am)

Will sent me to this: ...

Fake Skills Gap (25 Nov 2012 09:06am)

A couple of weeks ago, my father asked me about a 60 Minutes segment in which some manufacturing executive complained that he couldn't find skilled workers who knew trigonometry. My father didn't know exactly what trigonometry was, but it seemed like some advanced math. So he was confused why a job ...

Lincoln Star Thaddeus Stevens (24 Nov 2012 06:06pm)

As I reported before, last weekend, I went to see Lincoln. It was a surprisingly good film. My only real problem with it is that the ending doesn't particularly work. Or perhaps more accurately, the film goes on too long. It is, after all, about the passage of the 13th Amendment. (In fact, I thought...

Progressive Ideas Get Media Coverage (24 Nov 2012 11:12am)

The House Progressive Caucus has long had a lot of good ideas. But in general, they get little coverage. For example, while all the media were going gaga over Paul Ryan's budget, the Progressive Caucus released the People's Budget, which was ignored except when it was used to ridicule its name. Wher...

Real Entrepreneurs Don't Fear Inflation (23 Nov 2012 07:50pm)

Earlier this week, Suzy Khimm (the only member of the WonkBlog staff to respond to my request for a WonkBlog twitter account) wrote, The Inconvenient Truth Facing Deficit Hawks. In it, she noted that for all of the squawking of the deficit hawks—"Any day now, bond interest rates will skyrocket...

Bill O'Reilly Is Not a Racist (23 Nov 2012 06:04pm)

On Monday, Bill O'Reilly went after some of the people who complained that his comments on the changing demographics of the country were racist. I don't actually think that Bill O'Reilly is a racist. He's just a dick—to everyone. He is an angry and hateful man who seems to be very sure that, a...

Economic Fairness for Homeowners (23 Nov 2012 10:31am)

We certainly should be trying to help underwater homeowners as a simple matter of fairness. We bailed out Wall Street billionaires, it seems a pretty minimal proposition to offer assistance to homeowners who bought into a bubble that all the top economists insisted did not exist. —Dean Baker ...

Bathroom Queue (23 Nov 2012 10:21am)

I was recently at the local CVS, and I saw the following sign on the bathroom door. It seemed very strange to me. Unless you read the fine print, this is very confusing. It certainly looks like CVS is offering to text you when the bathroom is available. What's next? Those little buzzer devices they ...

A Real Happy Thanksgiving (22 Nov 2012 08:52am)

Hindsight is 20-20. This is the way the original Thanksgiving should have been: ...

President Pardons Turkeys Not Humans (22 Nov 2012 08:10am)

I am very fond of turkeys. They are nice animals. So I'm glad that President Obama pardoned not one but two turkeys yesterday. But this reminds a bit too much of Charlie Costello in Seven Psychopaths—the guy who will kill another human without a thought, but who dearly loves his Shih Tzu. As ...

Charlie Brown Get Pilgrims All Wrong (21 Nov 2012 09:47pm)

With Thanksgiving comes not one, but two Charlie Brown specials. As I was cooking in preparation for tomorrow's thang, I watched them—mostly. The first one was the traditional A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. This is an interesting film because Lucy is not in it. As a result, it seems that Charli...

Back in the Box (21 Nov 2012 07:33pm)

I recently wrote about a documentary Park Avenue that used the game of Monopoly to illustrate some facts about capitalism. Mack, the same guy who called my attention to that video, sent me to the very short video embedded below, Back in the Box. It is just some graphics put together to go along wit...

One Problem with Sense and Sensibility (21 Nov 2012 04:42pm)

Your name is Elinor. Your sister Marianne is sick because she was dumped by the love of her life and wandered in a storm. You are watching over her—fearful that she may die. There is a knock at the door. It is John Willoughby—your sister's philandering ex. He must see her! But you won't ...

This Is What I've Been Saying About the DMV (21 Nov 2012 11:54am)

I've recently had fairly extensive dealings with both our health care system and with the New Jersey DMV. In one case, I encountered vast amounts of paperwork, mind-numbing bureaucracy, and extremely frustrating delays. In the other, my needs were met quickly and politely. So far, then, it's DMV 1,...

Welcome Back McCotter (21 Nov 2012 11:35am)

Now that McCotter has left Congress, I'm not sure what he is going to do. Unfortunately, he was replaced by someone as bad or perhaps worse than he is. But perhaps it is a boon to the music industry. "Conservative Rock" could certainly use the help. A year and a half ago, I wrote that Thaddeus McCo...

Words Have Consequences (21 Nov 2012 11:19am)

I don't know that much about Lincoln. But I do know a fair amount about his assassin. This is primarily because he was the brother of the great Shakespearean actor Edmund Booth. And knowing what I know, the flaming rhetoric of people like Ted Nugent concerns me greatly. Most people pass off the rig...

The Chris Myth Theory (21 Nov 2012 09:56am)

I just read The Christ-Myth Theory and Its Problems by Robert M. Price. I was disappointed that the book was not an integrated overview, but a large number of papers that Price had previously written. In terms of covering the whole subject, the best chapter is the second: "Jesus at the Vanishing Poi...

Fix The Debt Hypocrisy (21 Nov 2012 09:13am)

What [Fix The Debt] believe in, instead, is the overwhelmingly importance of rate-cutting tax reform and reduced spending on retirement programs. Which is fine. Tax reform and the appropriate level of spending on bolstering the living standards of retired people are legitimate topics for debate. But...

Ezra Klein Is EXACTLY Right About Retirement (20 Nov 2012 10:31pm)

Ezra Klein says pretty much exactly what I think and generally say here all the time. Watch it! ...

Unskewed Polls Reinvented (20 Nov 2012 09:14pm)

Nate Silver tweeted this morning that we should not give Dean Chambers of Unskewed Polls any of the attention he so clearly craves. But this is like crack—it's hard to resist. Chambers has started a new website, Barack O'Fraudo. On it, he offers up the following graph (thanks for Digby): Thi...

Republicans Waiting for Superman (20 Nov 2012 07:05pm)

Look! Out in the right wing echo chamber! It's a tax cut proposal?! It's a birth control ban?! No! It's another appeal to conservatives to seem reasonable without changing a God damned thing! Yes, the "let's all speak nicely about Latinos": argument from a fantasy land far away, come to reality hop...

John Metz: Idiot and Fucktard (20 Nov 2012 05:21pm)

Matt Yglesias has been writing a bit about about these business owners who are whining that the ACA (Obamacare) is just going to destroy their businesses. In particular, he highlighted John Metz, owner of more than 30 Denny's restaurant franchises, he said he was going to add a 5% "Obamacare surchar...

Topless Car Wash Crack Down (20 Nov 2012 12:25pm)

Derrick Belcher claims to be a libertarian. If I could, I would get rid of the word "libertarian" because it is just a meaningless word that conservatives use. Sure, there are libertarians who hate the Republican Party as much or more than they hate the Democratic Party. But such people are very rar...

Exekiel 4:9 (20 Nov 2012 09:43am)

Do you remember Jules in Pulp Fiction, when he's talk to Big Brain Brett? "You read the Bible, Brett? Well there's this passage I got memorized—sort of fits this occasion. Ezekiel four nine: take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to m...

Flies and a Very Good Pinot (20 Nov 2012 07:43am)

I like to drink while I cook—generally a nice pinot noir like the 2011 Hahn Winery. But I'm not a big drinker, so I often end up leaving half a glass of wine undrank. Most of the time, this results in one or more house flies dead in the wine the next day. I've thought about this a lot and I ha...

Rubio's Young Earth Fantasies (19 Nov 2012 08:30pm)

Marco Rubio has made a bit of a stir with comments about his young earth belief. It isn't so much the beliefs; they are standard fair in the conservative movement. What is most appalling is his relativistic statement in support of these beliefs, "At the end of the day, I think there are multiple the...

And a Little Child Will Lead (19 Nov 2012 07:08pm)

Isaiah 11:6 tells us: The wolf will live with the lamb, The leopard will lie down with the goat, The calf and the lion and the yearling together; And a little child will lead them. That time has come my friends. Jennifer O'Connell has posted an email sent from R— (Do you feel like you are in...

Treating Workers Better Costs a Bit (19 Nov 2012 02:00pm)

Ezra Klein tells us that we shouldn't laugh when John Schnatter of Papa John's Pizza tells us that the ACA will cause pizza prices go up by between 11 and 14 cents. It's nice to have such understanding people like Klein around. And the argument he makes isn't bad, "The Affordable Care Act isn't help...

Grow the Social Safety Net (19 Nov 2012 12:16pm)

We need a bigger social safety net. Yesterday, Paul Krugman pointed this out by noting our modern economy where everyone is just supposed to get used to the fact that you will have a new job every three years and that insecurity is now normal so get over it. This kind of dynamism requires some kind ...

Republican Moderates Not So Moderate (19 Nov 2012 10:55am)

There was an amusing bit on Real Time last Friday. The panel was talking about Romney's recent conference call and how the adults in the Republican Party needed to take control. Maher said that one way they could do that was to stop all this nonsense about Benghazi. Given that Real Time is at base a...

The Movie Game (18 Nov 2012 04:31pm)

People don't like movies as much as they like games. At least, that's what I learned today at a matinee of Lincoln filled with old people. Most of them just go to see how many actors they can name. The people sitting next to me only got two names right: Hal Holbrook and Tommy Lee Jones. That's not q...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Copyright Reform (18 Nov 2012 03:38pm)

Behold: the principled conservatives! Behold how they stand up to powerful interests in the name of free markets and free minds! Behold how they fold like a cheap card table the moment those powerful interests open their mouths! The House Republican Study Committee released a report on Friday calli...

Santa Claus, Jesus, and the Great Pumpkin (18 Nov 2012 10:29am)

With the holiday season upon us, I want to discuss Jesus and Santa Claus. And The Great Pumpkin. Jesus is much more like The Great Pumpkin than he is like Santa Claus. The reason is that Santa Claus delivers. Each Christmas, there is physical evidence of Santa Claus. The cookies and milk disappear....

Income Inequality Declining in Latin America (18 Nov 2012 07:50am)

The Young Turks reports that the leftist economies of Latin America are growing: ...

What Quint Got Wrong about USS Indianapolis (17 Nov 2012 10:26pm)

This is my favorite scene from Jaws: There are a couple of things about this speech. First, it was not written by Peter Benchley or Carl Gottlieb. The idea for Quint having been on the USS Indianapolis came from Howard Sackler (The Great White Hope). Most of the writing of the speech itself seems ...

Michael Hastings Ruining Journalism... Again (17 Nov 2012 08:59pm)

I really like Michael Hastings. Like most people, I learned about him when he published his explosive The Runaway General in Rolling Stone. I didn't give the article itself that much thought. A reporter had a good scoop. It was the reaction to the article that made me take notice of him. It seemed y...

A Better World for Nothing (17 Nov 2012 07:19pm)

I got a free copy of Funny Times sent to me. It's not bad. It's clearly geared toward an older audience, but it definitely has its moments. Like this cartoon: ...

Jonah Goldberg Calls for More Lying (17 Nov 2012 06:52pm)

Jonah Goldberg has written the kind of article that liberals just love, Compassionate Conservatism Redux. In it, he admits that this election has taught him a valuable lesson: as much as he and the other evil men at National Review may love their "Give me low tax rates and give them death" ideology,...

Jerry Nadler Pushes Tired Gaza Narrative (17 Nov 2012 05:22pm)

Jerry Nadler was on Up with Chris Hayes where he got to spout the official United States line regarding Israel: Here's the critical part: We were reminded of one thing that we knew, which is the utter hypocrisy of the UN and the non-aligned movement when it comes to Israel and the Middle East tha...

Tex Reform: One Good, One Bad (16 Nov 2012 08:38pm)

Today, the WonkBlog staff went full tilt against the crazies on the right. First, our favorite nerd Ezra Klein took on crazies in Congress who claim that "tax reform" will solve all our problems. It's sad that we even have to talk about this—that Klein even has to write an article. Their claim...

A Toast to Twinkies (16 Nov 2012 07:58pm)

I know what you're thinking, "What's the point of reading another blog post when soon there will be no more Twinkies and we will all starve?" I hear you. But I have good news! It is very possible that Twinkies will live on, coming out the same factories, albeit, under a different name. And maybe for...

Hookup Culture Not So Much (16 Nov 2012 12:17pm)

Fucking in the abstract is not that interesting. Much as it may surprise some men, foreplay is not a bribe to pay to get to the coitus. The process normally goes: guy sees a girl (if only in his mind) and gets horny. It doesn't really work the other way around. This is because sex is part of relatio...

Mitt Romney's No George Foreman (16 Nov 2012 11:34am)

If you are as old as I, then you remember The Rumble in the Jungle. This was a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the heavyweight champion at that time. This is documented in the excellent film, When We Were Kings. It is an amazing story. Ali was an aging boxer who was neither as ...

Bipartisan Consensus Can Bite Me (16 Nov 2012 10:13am)

On last night's The Daily Show, Al Madrigal talked to Third Way, the folks who want to stop partisan gridlock. This brought to mind something that has especially been bugging me this last month and a half of election coverage: the fetishization of bipartisanship. I hear it from liberals and conserva...

Don't Trust Elliott Abrams on Israel (15 Nov 2012 10:20pm)

I understand that it must suck to be Israel. That's a hell of a place to be Jewish. Of course, at this point, I think at least a large part of the area's hatred of Israel comes from the country being an asshole and a bully. But that's understandable. If I lived there, I'd have to be properly medicat...

When Helping the Poor Is Bad (15 Nov 2012 09:30pm)

Ezra Klein was a bit agitated this morning. He is none too pleased with Mitt Romney's recent conference call where he blamed his electoral loss on all the free stuff that Obama gave to his supporters. There is the whole sour grapes aspect of this, of course. I mean, does Romney really think that he...

Age Discrimination and Social Security (15 Nov 2012 01:11pm)

Aaron Carroll, our go to man for healthcare reform and chewing gum swallowing, has written an article over at The Incidental Economist, Zombie Life Expectancy Arguments. In it, he provides five charts that show that it is wrong to say that we should raise the retirement age because people are living...

Ireland's Medieval Abortion Laws (15 Nov 2012 11:51am)

"Another heavenly day." That's the first thing that Winnie says in Happy Days, one of Samuel Beckett's most disturbing plays. Every day is heavenly in Ireland, because they are a Roman Catholic country. And as such, abortion is illegal in that God fearing country. You know what really makes for a h...

Stay Put John Kerry (14 Nov 2012 09:54pm)

There is always a lot more that I want to write about than I have time for. For the last day or two, I've been wanting to write about this rumor that Obama is going to appoint John Kerry as Secretary of Defense. If this is true, I am really worried about President Obama. It seemed that after the deb...

Half of Stargate Not Bad (14 Nov 2012 09:29pm)

Before you ask: I had my reasons! I watched the film Stargate this evening. And I was really impressed with the first half. Other than that the film encourages people to believe Erich von Däniken's silly claims about ancient astronauts, it is impressive. There are two very compelling character arcs....

Vegetarian Dinosaurs (14 Nov 2012 05:58pm)

I like to put up things that amuse me. Lewis Black is a hit or miss kind of guy, but he's very good here. Just for the record, the standard Creationist explanation for why vegetarian Tyrannosauruses had six-inch serrated teeth was to better bite into watermelons and other tough-skinned fruit. ...

Romney Really Thinks What We Thought (14 Nov 2012 05:46pm)

Jonathan Chait discovers the real Mitt Romney. And guess what?! It's exactly what we thought: "The real Romney is indeed a sneering plutocrat." This comes from an article in the Los Angeles Times by Maeve Reston, Romney Reflects on His Loss in Call With Campaign Donors. The article is about a confe...

Inequality: the Monopoly Analogy (14 Nov 2012 03:12pm)

Regular reader and sometimes writer Mack brought my attention to a PBS documentary, Independent Lens Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream. It is about the two ends of Park Avenue: the part in the Upper West Side and the part in Harlem. It is a way of looking at income inequality in a ...

Two Ventriloquist Films (14 Nov 2012 12:49pm)

I just watched two documentaries about ventriloquism. The first, Dumbstruck, is about amateurs and the normal professionals. One of those normal professionals, Terry Fator, went from unknown to winning America's Got Talent and becoming one of the highest paid comedians in history during the course o...

Thomas Friedman's New Syria Metaphor (14 Nov 2012 10:54am)

Yesterday, paste eating pundit Thomas Friedman told us that the Middle East is about to explode. In fact, he claims that Obama could be facing all the Middle East conflicts suffered by presidents from Eisenhower on. "Does that mean Egypt is going to nationalize the Suez Canal?" you ask. Don't take F...

Hard Drive Sizes (13 Nov 2012 09:27pm)

Back in the late 1980s, NeXT released a high end workstation that had no hard drive. It only had a CD, because, hey, hard drives were a thing of the past. Sure, they been coming down in price at an amazing speed, but how long could that last? The manufacturers had worked all the magic they could. Th...

Sex Scandal Highlights War (13 Nov 2012 08:57pm)

WASHINGTON—As they scoured the Internet for more juicy details about former CIA director David Petraeus' affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, Americans were reportedly horrified today upon learning that a protracted, bloody war involving U.S. forces is currently raging in the nation of Afghanista...

Pay Your Damn Taxes (13 Nov 2012 08:39pm)

Foreign Policy is a pretty serious magazine. But when Texas last talked about secession, Annie Lowrey at the magazine took notice and had a good laugh about it. At that time, Rick Perry was publicly calling for secession—something she called, "A piece of asinine political rhetoric." But she di...

Southern Whites Want Inequality (13 Nov 2012 07:24pm)

Paul Krugman posted an article today, Identity Voters. In it, he discusses a Pew research poll that showed that five demographic groups did not vote as their incomes would indicate. Those groups were: Black, Hispanic, Jewish, Asian, and Southern Whites. As you have probably already guessed, the fir...

Latinos Not Natural Conservatives (13 Nov 2012 12:05pm)

This post isn't meant to take sides in that debate, just to urge that one talking point in it be retired. Namely: "Hispanics are natural conservatives because they're hard working, family-oriented, and religious." This line manages to be condescending to Hispanics, self-congratulatory for conservati...

100% Romney Nope (13 Nov 2012 10:34am)

Philadelphia is an interesting place. It is cut up into 1,687 voting divisions. Of these, 59 voted 100% for President Obama. That's right: in 59 divisions, Mitt Romney did not get a single vote. This is the kind of information that makes even the staunchest Democratic partisan suspicious. Not one vo...

Laugh and Crying with Victoria Jackson (13 Nov 2012 09:42am)

There is something in the water over at SNL and it ain't LSD. Or maybe it is. That would kind of explain the likes of Dennis Miller, Jon Lovitz, and especially Victoria Jackson. On election night, she had a bigger meltdown than most conservatives, claiming that she couldn't stop crying. And for good...

David Brooks Compromise Lie (12 Nov 2012 10:04pm)

I thought I was done for the night, but I made the great mistake of reading David Brooks repugnant column, Obama the Dealmaker. In it, he says that Obama shouldn't use his leverage against the Republicans. Why? Because that will cause them to not make deals later on in Obama's second term. At best,...

Stop Celebrating! (12 Nov 2012 08:23pm)

I think that liberals are being a bit optimistic about the future. It is still very likely that the Republicans will kick our asses in 2014. They will keep the House and take over the Senate. To me, the most important thing for us to do is work on increasing voter registration and getting all regist...

PolitiFact's Tweet Patrol (12 Nov 2012 07:30pm)

This is a good example of a fact check from PolitiFact: "Michael Moore [s]ays during George W. Bush’s administration 'we were losing millions of jobs per month,' while under Barack Obama we have 'three years of gaining hundreds of thousands of jobs per month.'" Their verdict, "False: Tweet, later c...

The Pandering Wars (12 Nov 2012 07:04pm)

Jonathan Cohn wrote an excellent, punchy article today on the conservative meme that says that Obama won re-election because he promised "free stuff" to all those lowdown no goodnicks, Stuff White People Like. Forget all of the racism, Cohn says. The conservatives just aren't making any sense. (Ima...

It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Libertarianism (12 Nov 2012 03:49pm)

After the election, libertarian Republican Eric Dondero got really mad. He has severed ties with all Democrats—apparently just because his party lost the election. This doesn't make a lot of sense. If three million more people had voted for Romney, he'd be fine with the 100 million plus Democr...

Rich Kids for the Rich (12 Nov 2012 02:34pm)

Over on (I don't know) Matt Yglesias' corner of ThinkProgress a couple years ago, Ryan McNeely wrote a really good article, Will The Debt Commission Listen to Young Americans Who Didn’t Go to Phillips Academy? It is about the group Concerned Youth of America who seem to now be called The Can Kicks B...

Decoding Archimedes (12 Nov 2012 09:32am)

One of my favorite songs is Bruce Cockburn's Nicaragua. In particular, I like the refrain, "In the flash of this moment / You're the best of what we are." I think about that a lot when I see people doing great or noble work. And I think about this most in relation to scientists. Here is a TED talk o...

Ideology is Biggest Republican Problem (12 Nov 2012 09:06am)

Kevin Drum has written another of those "Republicans need to be nice" articles over at Mother Jones, The GOP's Immigration Problem Goes Way Beyond Immigration. He specifically discusses the small amount of movement from conservatives on immigration. Drum doesn't mention this, but it is amusing that ...

Seven Psychopaths (11 Nov 2012 08:04pm)

I once had this dream about these kids who had formed a kind of cult where they set themselves on fire to prove how cool they were. The dream had a profound effect on me, resulting in years of writing and research. It ended in what I call a "theatrical essay" called Burned. Much of that time, I was ...

Veterans Day (11 Nov 2012 04:42pm)

I honor the service that individuals make to the collective. However, when Veterans Day rolls around, I have a hard time thinking of service. Instead, I think about sacrifice—even more: useless sacrifice. Almost without exception (and even those exceptions are muddled), wars are nothing but tu...

Don't Balance the Budget That Way (11 Nov 2012 10:42am)

This morning, Paul Krugman has an article, Squirming Hawks, about a Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget report fear trolling over the upcoming fiscal cliff. The problem with people like this is that for years they've been claiming that the federal debt burden is going to destroy our economy, ...

Frankenweenie (10 Nov 2012 08:54pm)

Frankenweenie made it to the cheap theater last week so I went to see it. I didn't know anything about it except for the poster, which led me to believe that it was an animated Frankenstein with a cute dog. I'm not sure what it says about me that I thought that was a great idea for a movie. I was a ...

Look Who Didn't Vote for Romney (10 Nov 2012 08:04pm)

Tom Scocca over at Slate created the graph below in an article, Eighty-Eight Percent of Romney Voters Were White. It is a shocking collection of data. Of course, it goes along with my argument that the minority issue the Republicans have is much bigger than toning down the rhetoric. Another interes...

Poor Minorities Must Wait to Vote (10 Nov 2012 05:33pm)

The following graph comes from Up With Chris Hayes of data from the AFL-CIO. Part of this is just that America is a racist country. But another big part of this is the result of Republican efforts to stop Democratic leaning voters. It is disgusting. ...

It's the Poor, Stupid (10 Nov 2012 01:01pm)

I just read Andrew Gelman's excellent Red State Blue State Rich State Poor State. You have to like statistics, because it's kind of a dry read. But the data! I can boil down the information in the book in one surprising sentence, "Rich vote Republican, poor vote Democrat, and this divide is most ext...

Secession Delusions (10 Nov 2012 09:14am)

Over the years, I have seen the leaders of many regions call for separating themselves from the mother country. But this is always rich regions wanting to take their money and run. For a while Scotland wanted to leave the United Kingdom because they liked all their oil money, thank you very much. Tr...

Humans Do Not Create CO2 (09 Nov 2012 09:20pm)

Conservatives really think they gotcha when they point out that humans breathe out CO2. Ha! Humans do not create carbon when they breathe. They cycle carbon. We are part of the global carbon cycle. You probably learned about this in grammar school. Plants take in CO2 and release O2. We take in O2...

American Hero Gives Andrea Mitchell the Vapors (09 Nov 2012 07:14pm)

You have to forgive her, I think. After all, she is married to Alan Greenspan. But Andrea Mitchell is getting the vapors over General David Petraeus. Rachel Maddow asked if she was sure that the affair was the real reason he resigned from the CIA. She was! David Petraeus?! Why he's an American hero!...

Conservatives Fear "Fiscal Cliff" (09 Nov 2012 10:08am)

You remember how I've spent much of the last year ranting about how unserious Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are about dealing with the budget deficit? My main argument: you don't start a discussion of the budget deficit by making it worse. Tax cuts may be a great idea, but that's a different issue. You ...

Increasing Poor Bodes Poorly for Republicans (08 Nov 2012 08:02pm)

Matt Taibbi has been writing some strange things recently. On election day, he wrote that it was going to be bad regardless of who won. Later that night he admitted that the evening was actually pretty good. Like a lot of us progressives, I think it was just nerves. He wanted to reassure himself tha...

Ayn Bran (08 Nov 2012 12:29pm)

Best line: "Like my books, every box of Ayn Bran is unnecessarily long." This comes via Digby: ...

MSNBC Winning Battles, Losing War (08 Nov 2012 11:53am)

It bothers me that supposed liberals don't see how they assure long term defeat by accepting the conservative framing of issues. The Republicans, by moving very far to the right, still get conservative policies even when Democrats win. The ACA—Obama's signature healthcare reform—is far m...

The Truth About Republicans (07 Nov 2012 06:07pm)

I don't think the "crazies" of the GOP are any different, policywise, from the mainstream, they're just a bit more uncouth. They shriek instead of dogwhistle, say what they actually think instead of speaking in code. —Duncan Black, Taken Over By The Crazies ...

Letter to CA Re: Legal Murder (07 Nov 2012 05:23pm)

Okay California, you get to keep your fucking death penalty. The repeal proposition failed with 46% of the vote. I just want to say for the record that you people disgust me. Let me describe a conversation I recently had. It explains how you think—in as much as you do think. I asked a friend ...

Don't Mess With the Nerds (07 Nov 2012 08:54am)

Monday evening, Nate Silver released his final predictions for the presidential race. The most remarkable aspect of the prediction was that Florida, which two weeks earlier had been solidly in Romney's favor, slipped into a slight lean towards Obama. How slight? Silver predicted that Obama would win...

Tea Party Helped Liberals (06 Nov 2012 02:09pm)

Ezra Klein notes the irony of the Tea Party. They have helped the Democratic agenda in three ways. First, they pushed Arlen Specter into the Democratic Party. And even though he was voted out of office soon after that, he was a Democrat long enough to stop the filibuster on the ACA. We would not ha...

The Case for Obama (06 Nov 2012 12:17pm)

While voting, I went ahead and voted for Obama. I think the popular vote is important even though it probably wouldn't mean a thing to Republicans in the event of an Obama win. Cenk Uygur lays out the case. It is interesting that we agree on Rocky Anderson; I didn't know that. ...

Machine Gives Obama Vote to Romney (06 Nov 2012 10:57am)

Oh please! Don't let this happen. There is no excuse for this. These machines should be error proof. This is what you get when you let the miracle that is private enterprise profit (directly and perhaps indirectly) from elections. This is disgusting: ...

Why the Electoral College Will Continue to Suck (06 Nov 2012 10:45am)

The wonderful C. G. P. Grey has made a lot of great videos, but today it seems important to revisit The Trouble with the Electoral College. In this video, he shows that it is possible to win the electoral college vote by winning only 22% of the popular vote. Clearly, this is unlikely to happen. But ...

My Votes (05 Nov 2012 09:11pm)

I could easily write another 5 articles tonight, but I figure I've already written a good deal too much. But before going to bed, I wanted to list how I'm most likely going to vote tomorrow. President: Jill Stein (But I still support President Obama for re-election and I may vote for him in the end...

Pundits Always Say Race is Tightening (05 Nov 2012 05:26pm)

I just read the following campaign intel from James Pethokoukis, "I just talked to one of my best Team Romney sources who told me that heading into today all the key battleground polls were moving hard and fast in their direction. The source, hardly a perma-optimist, thinks it will be a long night, ...

One Vote Doesn't Matter (05 Nov 2012 04:15pm)

It doesn't, if you think about it: ...

"Likely" Voters (05 Nov 2012 03:22pm)

[T]he study shows is that the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner went back at the end of 2008 and looked at who in their samples actually voted. It turned out that something like 87% of people who said they were likely to vote ended up voting. 70% of those who said they [were] pretty likely voted...

Religious Quiz (05 Nov 2012 02:26pm)

A few years ago, Pew did a poll of Americans to find out how much they knew about religion. This is discussed in the CNN video below. But I can tell you the results: they don't know much. In addition, atheists and agnostics do better than most religious groups on the test. The reason for both of the...

Yglesias' Romney Stimulus Articles (05 Nov 2012 12:35pm)

Back on Friday, Matt Yglesias wrote that Mitt Romney will probably be better for the economy in the short term than Obama will be. This is really not an outrageous statement. This is pretty much what I think. Republicans always campaign about getting rid of the deficit, but once in power, they spend...

House Reps Threaten to Not Work With Obama (05 Nov 2012 11:19am)

House Republicans have called the presidential race: Obama is re-elected! I know this because Politico is reporting that Republicans are already complaining about forcing rich people to pay a little more in taxes, House GOP Warns Obama to Think Twice on Tax Hikes. But that title makes it sound like...

Proposition 37 (05 Nov 2012 09:08am)

Proposition 37 in California is the Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food law that would require that genetically modified (GMO) food be labeled as such. In general, I don't think that GMO foods are that big a deal. But they could be and I don't think that the science is all in on this. ...

Steve Schmidt Another Republican Lackey (04 Nov 2012 10:39pm)

I just saw Steve Schmidt on The Rachel Maddow Show. They were talking about the internals of the campaign. Mostly, I thought it was a lot of nonsense. Schmidt claims to know a lot of things that I don't think he does. But I can give him the benefit of the doubt. Then they discussed the polls. Schmi...

Still Indications of Intrade Gaming (04 Nov 2012 09:20pm)

About two weeks ago, I wrote about how it seemed that Intrade was being gamed by Republicans. The Intrade Exchange Operations Manager, Carl Wolfenden, commented that I was wrong about a particular trade that had looked fishy. It turned out to be a statistical fluke that worked itself out. Still, I h...

Obama Calls for Reparations (04 Nov 2012 09:01pm)

According to the ONION, President Obama has made a major announcement, This May Not Be The Ideal Moment Politically, But It’s Time To Talk Reparations. It's a funny OpEd. The President does not bring the issue up lightly, but he isn't going to lie, either: Now, Americans have grown accustomed to h...

Doctor Faustus (04 Nov 2012 06:43pm)

I first heard this line applied to Doctor Faustus: "It has a beginning, a muddle, and an end." The truth is that this could describe most of drama, but it does seem very fitting for Christopher Marlowe's play. It has a fundamental problem that is nonetheless repeated constantly: there aren't a lot o...

Will Ferrell Will Do Anything to Get You to Vote (04 Nov 2012 04:29pm)

How can you resist? ...

White Guy Reporters Claim White Guy America (04 Nov 2012 11:14am)

This is shocking. But maybe it shouldn't be. Politico is a pathetic publication. Digby (who either reads 3000 words per minute or has some kind of magical power) directed me to Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen's new article, Lessons learned from 2012. Not everything they have to say is wrong, much less ...

Luxembourg: You're Next (04 Nov 2012 08:15am)

Britain launched their first recorded invasion at the end of second century as part of a Roman campaign against what is today France. This was the start of a pattern: Britain has invaded France more than any other country. This is all the more impressive when you consider that Britain has invaded mo...

Chicago Bubble Economics (03 Nov 2012 10:18pm)

Casey Mulligan has a new book out, The Redistribution Recession: How Labor Market Distortions Contracted the Economy. It is another attempt by a "Chicago Bubble" economist to explain that we shouldn't pay attention to any of the economic data about this recession. You see, Mulligan has a model so pe...

More Thomas Friedman Bullshit (03 Nov 2012 06:59pm)

I know that Thomas Friedman doesn't exist just to piss me off, because he pisses a lot of other people off too. But at the moment, I'm feeling persecuted, because I was tricked into reading his most recent column. It is all Matt Yglesias' fault. He tweeted, "Everyone is going to hate this Tom Friedm...

That Special First Time (03 Nov 2012 05:30pm)

I think everyone would agree with this young woman that the first time should be with someone special: ...

Hahn Winery 2011 Pinot Noir (03 Nov 2012 04:40pm)

I am no expert on wine. I just enjoy it. Unlike most things in my life, I have never tried to learn about wine and what makes it good. But I've drunk enough of the stuff to form some opinions. And my newest opinion is that Hahn Winery's 2011 Pinot Noir is a really good wine and a great price. What ...

David Frum: Reward Misbehavior (03 Nov 2012 12:59pm)

"When President Obama took office in January 2009 the US was plunging downward into the worst recession since World War II. By summer 2009, the US had begun a weak but real recovery, which at last seems to be accelerating into an expansion that more and more Americans can feel. "President Obama gav...

Bill Clinton Tells the Truth (03 Nov 2012 12:33pm)

Let me tell you something. I may be the only person in America, but I am far more enthusiastic about President Obama this time than I was four years ago. —Bill Clinton, campaign rally in Florida (Thanks to PoliticalWire.) ...

It's No Toss-Up! (03 Nov 2012 11:36am)

Nate Silver is not the kind of man to make brash statements. He doesn't even defend himself when people dismiss his work because he is "thin" and "effeminate." But there is one thing that seems to bug him: people saying that the presidential race is a toss-up. Don't misunderstand. He isn't saying t...

A Bridge Over Troubled Water: Senator Sam (03 Nov 2012 11:20am)

Senator Sam Ervin was an interesting guy. There are things to like. He was against prayer in school. He opposed "no knock" searches. And he was instrumental in taking down Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon. He is now something of a liberal hero because he was a big defender of Jim Crow during the 50...

Christie Wanted to be VP (03 Nov 2012 09:34am)

Maybe the reason I like economics and statistics (polling, modeling—my almost hysterical love of Monte Carlo simulations) is that I am, at base, an extremely naive person. This was well on display this morning when Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei at Politico reported that Chris Christie really did...

Romnopoly (03 Nov 2012 08:02am)

American Bridge has created the following anti-Romney ad, "Romnopoly." As a political ad, it is as honest as any, and by the standards of the Romney campaign, it is a shining beacon of light. There are two things I really like about the ad. First, it has the Monopoly dog riding on top of the car (bu...

Media Allow Presidential Misconduct (02 Nov 2012 10:12pm)

We all like President Obama, because he is, after all, as good a president as we could get. But he isn't as good a president as we deserve. And I say that knowing full well that as a society, we don't deserve very much. By industrial nation norms, we are distinctly on the bad side of average. But yo...

Comments on Ohio Romney Rally (02 Nov 2012 09:20pm)

Chase Whiteside of New Left Media is an amazing young documentary filmmaker. I came upon the video below over at Hullabaloo: Ohio Romney Rally—Interviews with Supporters. It is just amazing. I know there are ignorant fools of all political stripes. But Whiteside is hardly asking "gotcha" quest...

Friday Night Nate Silver Update (02 Nov 2012 07:51pm)

Tonight, Nate Silver's model has again increased President Obama's chances to winning the electoral college to 81.4%. He predicts that he will also win the popular vote 50.5% to 48.4%. Perhaps most striking, he predicts that Obama has roughly a 38% chance of winning 332 electoral votes or more. A wi...

Romney Could Take New York (02 Nov 2012 10:25am)

As everyone knows, this election will all come down to the independent voter. So I decided to do a poll of the most independent voters in New York. Well, the most independent vote: Donald Trump. We know he's independent because sometimes he's a Republican, sometimes a third party candidate, and even...

Conservative Affirmative Action (02 Nov 2012 08:57am)

Mustang Bobby over at Bark Bark Woof Woof has a fun snarky article about George Will's attempt to speak for the beau monde in all his bow tied crustiness—you know that Barack Obama is just a working class kid?! Of course, George Will is only part of the privileged class because of all the mone...

Dick Lane is All You Need (01 Nov 2012 09:52pm)

The following video is a collection of outtakes from You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx. There is one bit where a woman is telling Groucho that he should come to their Almond festival or some such. She mentions that Dick Lane will be there. Groucho replies, "Well, if you have Dick Lane, I don't thi...

Effective Bad Policy (01 Nov 2012 09:15pm)

We haven't heard much from Paul Krugman recently. According to his sporadic blogging, he and his wife (Robin Wells) have been trapped in their house by a downed power line. He has apparently been blogging from his phone. Tonight came his first column since Hurricane Sandy hit. And it shows that he's...

Media for Big Government Suddenly (01 Nov 2012 08:00pm)

Matt Taibbi is angry—at a lot of different people, but mostly the media. He's been watching how they have reacted to the storm. Before, the main thing was that Big Government was baaad. Small government was the way to go. I've written about this: journalists are almost all in the upper or uppe...

Yet Another Article About Ezra Klein's Adorableness (01 Nov 2012 04:37pm)

Ezra Klein wrote a fairly typical article over at WonkBlog today, The Tax Report Senate Republicans Don’t Want You to See. It discusses the Congressional Research Service report that looks at whether top marginal tax cuts help productivity. They don't. It also looks at whether top marginal tax cut i...

Scientists Fighting Back on Global Warming (01 Nov 2012 12:05pm)

There is a very good article in Bloomberg Businessweek by Paul M. Barrett with the shocking title, It's Global Warming, Stupid. It talks about a number of issues other than global warming, but the main point of the article is that storms like Sandy do tell us something about climate change. Barrett...

Unskewed Polls Goes Bold (01 Nov 2012 10:25am)

And I thought the crying child would be the best thing of the day. How wrong I was! Here is the Unskewed Polls projection of the presidential race: All you need to know here is that every state that Romney has even the slightest chance of winning is given to him. So even in Minnesota where Obama l...

Romney! Obama! You're Making This 4-Year-Old Cry! (01 Nov 2012 10:12am)

This comes to me via Richard K. Barry over at The Reaction in an article titled, I So Totally Relate. So do I my friend; so do I. ...

New Romney Narrative (01 Nov 2012 09:48am)

There have been a few tweets the last couple of days speculating that in the event of a Romney loss, the Republicans will offer a new narrative. Most recently, this comes from Ben Smith at BuzzFeed, "Top Republicans are already hinting that if Romney loses, his people will blame the storm for stalli...

Bored With Polls (31 Oct 2012 08:15pm)

This is just getting boring. Like all good liberals, I check Nate Silver's blog several times a day. (It's a Good Liberal Club rule!) But now it is just getting predictable. Let's think about this for a moment. It must suck being Mitt Romney. Here you are working your campaign strategy of never ans...

Econ4 Explains the Economy (31 Oct 2012 06:24pm)

For some reason, people think I know about economics. I kind of do. Mostly, it is just that I read really smart people like Dean Baker. The group Econ4 (4 people, 4 the planet, 4 the future) is attacking the problem of our national crisis in economic thinking. Here is their video. It pretty much is ...

Sandy to Rescue Our Economy—a Little (31 Oct 2012 09:14am)

The economy is crazy. The stock market is even more so. Tom Lee of JP Morgan told CNBC that Hurricanes are normally good for the stock market. How can that be? After all, hurricanes cause some much damage; wouldn't that mean that the economy has less value? In a fundamental sense, no. True, capital...

This Is Halloween! (31 Oct 2012 08:38am)

Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's cool. There are great movies to watch. People dress up in costumes. And the cobwebs in my house are totally in. Everybody scream! This is Halloween! ...

Undecideds Unlikely to Affect Presidential Race (31 Oct 2012 08:29am)

Dan Hopkins at The Monkey Cage takes the idea of polling bias for independents more seriously than I do: Polling Biases and Their Potential Impacts. This is in reference to Jay Cost's claim that the independents are going to break hard for Romney. Frankly, I don't see the problem. Over half of all ...

Des Moines Register Spreads Consumer Confidence Lie (30 Oct 2012 11:26pm)

On Saturday, the Des Moines Register endorsed Mitt Romney for president. It is kind of a big deal, because Iowa is a swing state. But this is not why the endorsement is getting a lot of news. Mostly, people are focusing on the weakness of the case the paper has made for Romney. Michael Tomasky at Th...

Nightly Crush: Erin Kissane (30 Oct 2012 09:30pm)

You know I will always tell you the truth. And the truth right now is that I am following Erin Kissane on Twitter only because I think she is really cute. Part of it is the hair color. Of course. No question there. But I've seen pictures of her with different hair colors and she is equally adorable....

Star Wars Forever (30 Oct 2012 07:44pm)

I am not a Star Wars fan. I saw it when I was 13 years old. And I thought it was all right. I liked the effeminate robot C2P0. But I didn't understand why Alec Guinness offed himself early on in the film. (Since then, I figured it out; it was embarrassment.) But like I said: it was okay. I was never...

David Brooks and the Republican Deficit Hawk Myth (30 Oct 2012 10:52am)

I don't normally write about David Brooks. He just makes me too angry. He is Paul Ryan in a Bill Clinton mask. In today's column, The Upside of Opportunism, he compares an Obama second term to a Romney first term. Spoiler: Romney's term rocks and Obama's sucks! What Brooks proposes is Romney's main...

Useless Inside Information (30 Oct 2012 09:43am)

In the lead up to the Iraq War, I was working at home and listening to a lot of NPR. At that time, I wasn't really a partisan. This was the period where I was transitioning from libertarian to what I am now. (Anarcho-syndicalist?) But it was a very frustrating time because it was obvious that the Bu...

Block Granting is Backdoor Destruction (30 Oct 2012 08:24am)

Don't get a nerd mad. You won't like him when he's mad. And Ezra Klein is mad this morning in an article over at Wonk Blog, Mitt Romney’s Voodoo Spending Cuts. In it, he goes after Romney, and conservatives more generally, about their ridiculous claims that "block granting" is the answer to every f...

RCP Embarrassing Final Calls for 2000 (29 Oct 2012 04:31pm)

Listen up my little ones, because I have a story to tell that I was pointed to by Dave Weigel! You certainly know about the website Real Clear Politics, where they put together all of the major polls and provide an average, even though the polls are not all of equal value. But still, that's not a ba...

A Message from The Greatest Generation (29 Oct 2012 03:49pm)

From Voters Rising: ...

Selective Christians (29 Oct 2012 03:24pm)

I've learned a great deal from reading Robert M. Price. But probably the most important thing I've learned is that people don't read the Bible and then decide what it means. They may read the Bible, but they do so in the context of what their pastors think it means. And where did the pastors get the...

Niall Ferguson Says Obama Wants War (29 Oct 2012 11:20am)

I have long thought that Niall Ferguson was an idiot, but I think that may be the wrong way to think about him. Ferguson is just evil. I understand being partisan. I certainly am. But to be only partisan is to be only interested in power. Today Ferguson has written an article over on The Daily Beas...

What a Difference a Word Makes (29 Oct 2012 08:39am)

There is a meme that Romney has closed the gender gap. It is almost exclusively coming from conservatives, but they are speaking with such unanimity that it seems real. The implication is that it is because the Democrats are talking down to women. "Women care about economics, not lady parts!" Of co...

Zomney: He Needs Brains (28 Oct 2012 11:08pm)

Joss Whedon has released a ad in favor of Romney because, "He will put this country back on the path to the zombie apocalypse." Zomney 2012!...

Linda Linda (28 Oct 2012 09:27pm)

I came upon the song Linda Linda thanks to Atrios. It is featured in the 2005 Japanese film Linda Linda Linda, where it is played by the fictional band the film is about. Here is The Blue Hearts doing the song originally: This is rock music at its best. Any band that makes you think of Wild Thing ...

All Concepts Are Simple (28 Oct 2012 08:02pm)

I've been reading Believing Bullshit by Stephen Law. I'll write about it more later. For now, I just want to mention something about his chapter on Pseudoprofundity. This especially has to do with postmodern academics where traditionally the field has been so weighted down with jargon that there is ...

Who Cares About Comments? (28 Oct 2012 06:12pm)

I'm not feeling much up to writing right now because the right side of my face has swelled up owing to mostly likely about $700 of dental work. Luckily, ibuprofen works really well. Anyway, that's why I am not posting today and probably won't post much tomorrow. But I do have something on my mind: c...

Republican Racism (27 Oct 2012 08:55pm)

This week John Sununu continued his campaign to be the most vile man in American politics by saying that Colin Powell was endorsing President Obama because they were both black. You know those two modern day black panthers with their shuck and jive shtick. They've got that whole deep-seated hatred f...

The Ballot (27 Oct 2012 05:53pm)

If you don't know about The Ballot, you should really check it out. While I think that reelecting Obama is very important, the stuff further down the ballot is also really important. Here is California, there a number of important ballot initiatives, of example. The Ballot takes you address and cre...

Dean Baker Talks to Big Think (27 Oct 2012 12:56pm)

Here is Dean Baker in 2009 doing this thang, which is, you know, seeing the economy more clearly than anyone else on earth: Afterword I like Baker's ideas about new taxes. He is not for raising the top marginal rate very much. He seems to think it could up as high as the low forties, but after th...

This Morning in Polling (27 Oct 2012 09:25am)

The big news is that Obama's poll numbers keep improving. On October 4, Nate Silver predicted that Obama had an 87.1% chance of winning the electoral college vote. This was his highest chance during the campaign because the first presidential debate happened on October 3. (Actually, the causality is...

God is Not All-Good (26 Oct 2012 11:18pm)

The Onion has published a very funny article, God Distances Self From Christian Right. As with all The Onion articles, it starts with one jokes and repeats it paragraph after paragraph. In this case, it is quote after quote from God saying basically, "I'm not a bigot like my followers!" God comes ...

"Moderate" Republicans (26 Oct 2012 08:17pm)

When it comes to Republican pundits, I'll take an extremist over a moderate any day. At least I know what the extremist believes. The moderate is as likely as not to be a Trojan horse. Read the likes of David Brooks or Michael Gerson. If we went by what they claim to believe they would be conservati...

Stick This! (26 Oct 2012 02:05pm)

When I was in grad school, I lived with this crazy English brother and sister Straford and Andrea Wild. (This is a different person from American Andrea English who writes Curiously Clever.) Now they are respectable with jobs and spouses, but as I recall, their last name was a good description of th...

Cleopatra Jones (26 Oct 2012 11:03am)

I finally got to see that 1973 cult favorite Cleopatra Jones starring Tamara Dobson. It is one of the silliest films I've ever seen. It tells the story of Cleo Jones, a secret government agent, who is apparently out to win the Drug War single-handedly. The film starts with her ordering the destructi...

Krugman's One Point Economic Plan (26 Oct 2012 09:25am)

Actually, if describing what you want to see happen without providing any specific policies to get us there constitutes a "plan," I can easily come up with a one-point plan that trumps Mr. Romney any day. Here it is: Every American will have a good job with good wages. Also, a blissfully happy marri...

The President Votes (25 Oct 2012 08:50pm)

Illinois does not have Voter ID laws for regular voting. But early voters in the state must show photo ID. This is why President Obama was asked for ID when he voted today: ...

Fed Swings Elections for Republicans (25 Oct 2012 12:15pm)

This is totally not surprising. Two researchers at the University of Michigan have looked at what the Fed does regarding interest rates when a Republican is the incumbent versus when a Democrat is. As we all know, if the economy is doing better coming into an election, the President is far more like...

Republicans Gaming Intrade (25 Oct 2012 09:16am)

In Blinded By the Right, David Brock talks about conservative operatives buying huge numbers of conservative books in New York City. They did this (and presumably still do), in order to game the New York Times Best Seller List. If a book makes this list, the author will be invited on talk shows and ...

The Legitimate Rape Song (24 Oct 2012 09:39pm)

This is an ode to Todd Akin called, Sex Education in Missouri. It is posted via a YouTube Account LiberalRhythms. Otherwise, I don't know anything about it except that it came via Digby. It's a good song. What I'm most taken with is how it sets the stage so that people who aren't up on the news (Alt...

Spiritual vs. Religious (24 Oct 2012 08:16pm)

Here is a very good cartoon by Atheist Experience contributor Tracie Harris: But I don't accept the point of this. Yes, I find foo-foo spiritualists as annoying as the next guy. But I do understand the difference between "spiritual" and "religious." And I dare say so does Tracie Harris. What they...

In Search of... God (24 Oct 2012 03:07pm)

For a while I was discussing the nature of God with an old friend who had since become a Christian. This is always a dangerous thing to do. I am very interested in spiritual matters, but I am actively hostile to religious dogma. Nonetheless, I tried to find common ground by introducing the idea of n...

Bill Maher and False Equivalence (24 Oct 2012 02:13pm)

Last week Bill Maher pitched in to help out with the false equivalency nonsense coming from the mainstream media and the right. Ever since the last debate, the Romney campaign has been pretending that it is winning in order to convince the chattering class. The Obama campaign is too. The problem is...

Obama's "Grand Bargain" Idiocy (24 Oct 2012 01:01pm)

Most of my liberal friends get mad about how much I complain about Obama. I understand this. Obama is a damn good President by historical standards (which doesn't say much) and he is infinitely better than what the Republicans have on offer. Yet I can't shake the idea that Obama doesn't much believe...

Billy Bob Back from the Dead (24 Oct 2012 08:43am)

As some of you may know, Billy Bob Neck is inexplicably back. He is the intolerant Christian literalist character created by comedian Paul Day. After almost 200 videos, Day killed off the character. This wasn't too surprising; previously Day had "raptured" Billy Bob Neck. But soon he was back—...

Third Party Debate (23 Oct 2012 08:08pm)

Free & Equal put on the 3rd Party Presidential Debate, which was broadcast by NBC. Just kidding. It was Al Jazeera English, of course. When you need real news, you really need to go outside the country. There were four candidates debating: Jill Stein (Green Party), Gary Johnson (Libertarian Par...

Would You Jump Off a Cliff? (23 Oct 2012 04:28pm)

You may remember back many months ago, Greg Smith wrote a high profile OpEd in the New York Times as he stepped down as a VP at Goldman Sachs. This last weekend, he was on 60 Minutes is a plug for this new book, Why I Left Goldman Sachs. Matt Yglesias, for one, doesn't really care about all that. "B...

Yes on 30 (23 Oct 2012 03:32pm)

Proposition 30 in California would levy a temporary quarter percentage point increase in the sales tax and a 1 to 3 percentage point increase in the top marginal tax rates (on money made above $250,000 per year). Initially, I was concerned about this proposition, because of the sales tax increase. T...

American Influence is Way Up (23 Oct 2012 02:08pm)

Last night at the debate, Mitt Romney claimed, "Nowhere in the world is America's influence greater today than it was four years ago." That sounds like a typical vague statement that a politician might make because they know it can't be countered. It's a matter of opinion, right? Well, maybe in a wo...

Mitt, Cheney, and the Auto Rescue (23 Oct 2012 10:19am)

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic has a very evenhanded column about Romney's position on the GM rescue, What Romney Wants You (and Ohio) to Forget About the GM Rescue. The title makes the article sound a lot more critical than it is. Let me briefly lay out Cohn's argument. Romney's New York Times ...

David, the Gnome (23 Oct 2012 09:33am)

It's another cartoon morning! In response to my Kimba the White Lion article, Mack asked if I had heard of a show called David, the Gnome. I had not, so I looked it up. It turns out to be a series from the mid-1980s produced in Spain, based upon a Dutch children's book, The Secret Book of Gnomes. T...

Newsweek Subscription Deal (22 Oct 2012 02:14pm)

As you may have heard, Newsweek is going out of business at the end of the year. But Jeff Smith notes that the "Best Deal!" for a Newsweek subscription is still two years: ...

Thank You China! (22 Oct 2012 01:07pm)

In the past, I have complained a bit about Chinese currency manipulation. The problem is that China has pegged its currency to the dollar, and this hurts US manufacturing, even as it subsidizes US consumers. This is a problem because pretty much everyone agrees that it is better to have a job than t...

LGBT Americans for Obama (22 Oct 2012 09:50am)

This is a really good ad for Obama. He isn't perfect, but I think he deserves this: ...

Kimba the White Lion (22 Oct 2012 08:44am)

My friend Will was (and maybe still is) a big fan of Kimba the White Lion. It was a kids' show when we were, well, kids. (Funny that!) I was reminded of it yesterday when Dependable Renegade published the photo on the left. (It was originally from BuzzFeed.) I was never that big a fan of the show. ...

Bill Moyers vs. Bill O'Reilly (21 Oct 2012 06:51pm)

Bill Moyers pushes back against Bill O'Reilly's baseless attacks. I know you're shocked at O'Reilly's actions. He's usually such a reasonable man. ...

75 Hour Work Week? Yeah, Right! (21 Oct 2012 05:08pm)

Sarah Kliff over at WonkBlog has written a very useful employment article. It isn't useful for employment. It is useful for telling your friends who claim that they work 80 hours per week that they're wrong. Kliff puts it more bluntly: Your friend who claims to have a 75-hour work week? He’s probabl...

Eastwood's Daughter Falls Far from the Tree (21 Oct 2012 11:52am)

Who knew Clint Eastwood's daughter was so cute? And smart! But this doesn't mean I want to see Francesca talking to an invisible Romney in a chair. ...

Defense Spending Projection (21 Oct 2012 11:11am)

On today's Up With Chris Hayes, they presented the following graph of proposed military spending under Obama and Romney: Yet another reason to vote for Obama. Not that it will be enough. Not nearly enough. ...

Canadian Supreme Court Rules Right (21 Oct 2012 11:04am)

From Friday's The Globe and Mail: "Workplace computers contain so much personal information nowadays that employees have a legitimate expectation of privacy in using them, the Supreme Court of Canada said in a major ruling Friday." Imagine the American Supreme Court finding this way! It won't happe...

Government Is Not Business (21 Oct 2012 10:51am)

Adam Davidson has an interesting column over at the New York Times, Do Good C.E.O.'s Make Good Presidents? Mostly, the article is about the differences between running a state and running the federal government. The truth is that governors have very little effect on how well their economies improve....

Pity the Billionaire (21 Oct 2012 09:41am)

In the introduction to The Great Unraveling, Paul Krugman discusses Henry Kissinger's PhD dissertation. In it, Kissinger deconstructs revolutionary movements. One thing that defines these movements is their rejection of political norms. Krugman talks about it in relation to the Bush Administration. ...

Sad Morning (21 Oct 2012 08:33am)

It's a sad morning. First I get news that George McGovern died after only a couple of days in hospice. Then Michael Stickings over at The Reaction reports that the new PPP poll of likely voters in Ohio gives Obama only a 1% lead over Romney. It seems like liberalism has died today. The 1972 electio...

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (20 Oct 2012 10:10pm)

I just watched The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. I remember vaguely it being very successful. And when I saw it was directed by John Huston, I thought I would give it a try. I should have looked closer. Troubling signs occurred during the credits: written by John Milius. But I stuck with it. Ri...

Amongst Our Problems with Monty Python... (20 Oct 2012 06:15pm)

My biggest complain about Monty Python's Flying Circus, is that it is not that well written. It has good ideas and often takes them in bizarre and delightful directions. But most of the time, instead of ending a skit, they simply stop it. Their favorite way of doing this is to just start an orthogon...

Chicken Hawk Down (20 Oct 2012 04:01pm)

I have long thought it curious that conservatives are drawn to the language of Republicans about small business and self-reliance. These are shown to be myths by their actual policies. But now I am more inclined to think these conservatives only believe in the Republican bellicosity. So the conserv...

The Wonderful Reagan Years! (20 Oct 2012 01:53pm)

On December 5, 1982, Ronald Reagan met Guatemalan president Efraín Ríos Montt in Honduras. It was a useful meeting for Reagan. "Well, I learned a lot," he told reporters on Air Force One. "You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries." It was also a useful meeting for Ríos Montt. Reagan decl...

Schumer on Tax Policy (20 Oct 2012 11:59am)

Ezra Klein has a really good interview with Chuck Schumer over at WonkBlog. Schumer is wrong about a lot of thing, of course; but he makes some excellent points. He is clearly a thoughtful guy. It's too bad he is such a New Democrat. Still, his heart seems to be in the right place (in his chest as o...

More on Political Harassment (20 Oct 2012 11:18am)

The terrible thing about this is that Romney is right: it is perfectly legal for employers to "inform" their employees in this way. Check out my article on Political Harassment in the Workplace....

All Good Ducks Go To Heaven (20 Oct 2012 09:16am)

The Lester & Charlie Review send us to the Huffington Post and a story about the results of home schooling, New Zealand Teen Proclaims 'Ducks Could Take Over The World' If Gay Marriage Is Approved. But before I get to the letter, I want to tell you why it makes me so happy. New Zealand! It's no...

Friday Night Fright (19 Oct 2012 08:45pm)

BuzzFeed offers up 8 Mind-Boggling Pieces of Illusionary Makeup Body Art. They are all amazing, but the one below is the best. This is just my little attempt to spice up your Friday Night: Of course, I could have just offered up Dali at the Age of Six When He Thought He Was a Girl Lifting the Skin...

Uh? No! Fiscal Cliff Doesn't Work Like That! (19 Oct 2012 08:09pm)

Jonathan Chait has noticed something important: the finance fucktards do not understand what the fiscal cliff is—or claim not to anyway. You, dear reader, may be forgiven if you are a little vague on it. So let me explain. Because of the Republican "debt ceiling" debacle, unless something is ...

Stop Me If You've Heard This (19 Oct 2012 08:49am)

I just read a fun little book, Stop Me If You've Heard This by Jim Holt. It is subtitled "A history and philosophy of jokes" but I don't know how accurate that is. It does have some history and philosophy, but it is more like a personal essay about jokes. It is really good: you can ask my friends wh...

The Young Turks on the Debate (18 Oct 2012 09:34am)

I have to go out of town again. Nothing much for the rest of the day. This is a good break down of the debate by Cenk Uygur: ...

Greece Pushes Back (18 Oct 2012 08:38am)

The BBC reports that there is a general strike in Greece over yet more austerity from their Europe Union partners. This stuff tends to be reported in the United States as though the Greek people are a bunch of ill behaved children who don't want to take their necessary medicine. Most of that is corr...

Newsweek's Dead; Long Live the Beast! (18 Oct 2012 08:06am)

The Daily Beast reports that Newsweek is going to stop producing its print version. Tina Brown, one of the top generals in the war to destroy our culture, puts a positive spin on this. They, "Are transitioning Newsweek, not saying goodbye to it." That is a load off my mind. After all, without Newsw...

Clinton Explains Romney Tax Lie (17 Oct 2012 07:40pm)

Will sent this to me. It is great and Clinton looks fabulous: ...

Spam Time Warp (17 Oct 2012 02:51pm)

Reading spam comments is like going back in time. There is an underlying theme to them: blogs are new and lucky me that I found a good one. "This is the type of info that are meant to be shared across the net. Shame on Google for now not positioning this submit higher!" You use Good too?! I thought ...

Fred Barnes' Conservative Wisdom (17 Oct 2012 12:45pm)

Fred Barnes used to be a centrist on The McLaughlin Group. That's what made that show so vile: Barnes is a conservative extremist. The McLaughlin Group was the first time I noticed that the news could distort without lying. Barnes works for that bastion of moderation The Weekly Standard. And today h...

Arizona to Spanish Speakers: Vote Two Days Late! (17 Oct 2012 10:40am)

This is the ballot in Maricopa County, Arizona. (Click on the image to see it full size.) In English, it gives the correct date of the election: 6 November. In Spanish, it gives an incorrect date of the election: 8 November. The ballot has been fixed and elections officials claim that it was an hon...

The Thomas Friedman Game (17 Oct 2012 08:04am)

Thomas Friedman has written another column calling for a Sensible Centrist who will tell America the truth. He notes that if we don't shape up, "We could go the way of Greece or Japan." This is an odd pairing. He means to say that our economy could go all haywire. The problem is that while the Greec...

Kristen McHenry Tackles the Prose Poem (16 Oct 2012 09:30pm)

Kristen McHenry has just published two new poems. And by "new" I don't just mean that they are new to me; she is working in a new form. Her work up to now has been traditional "lined" verse. My earlier article on her has a good example. These two new pieces are prose poems. You can check out the po...

Obama Kills at Second Debate (16 Oct 2012 08:20pm)

This is what I wrote from The Reaction Quasi-Live Blogging of the Debate. I have to post it here. Today was really hard on me, because I feared that the President wouldn't do well. I was wrong. I have 5 pages of notes. But who cares? It was pretty much the same thing over and over: Romney mislead; ...

Justice for Salim Hamdan? (16 Oct 2012 04:59pm)

Remember Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan? The Bush administration used to love talking about him. He was an example of an important catch in the War on Terror. They were not being ironic. At the time, I remember thinking that we were doing a pretty fucking bad job if the best thing we could c...

Sunday Politics Shows Designed to Suck (16 Oct 2012 04:25pm)

Paul Waldman tried to answer the question Why Do the Sunday Shows Suck So Much? over at The American Prospect. It's a great title for an article, but unfortunately, Waldman doesn't really have much to say on the subject. Mostly he just grouses about how predictable it all is. A Democratic spokesman...

Romney Not Bipartisan (16 Oct 2012 04:02pm)

Do you remember the first debate where Romney hammered Obama about not reaching across the isle and creating bipartisan consensus? If you are like me, you were angry because working with Democrats in Massachusetts is a hell of lot easier than working with Republicans who have publicly stated that th...

The 12 Million Job Myth (16 Oct 2012 03:07pm)

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Djuna Barnes (16 Oct 2012 11:58am)

If you're like me, you don't know Djuna Barnes as a poet. But as you can see on the left, she was also an artist. And a prose writer and many things more. However, unlike in Paris at Midnight, where I discovered her, there is no evidence that she was a serious jitterbugger. I read through quite a l...

Economist Joke (16 Oct 2012 08:09am)

Dean Baker provides us with an excellent joke to start the day. It made me laugh more than The Daily Show (which was quite funny last night) and The Colbert Report (which wasn't that good). I love economics humor. There ought to be more of this. Economist jokes are easy to create. Question: How ma...

Midnight in Paris (15 Oct 2012 08:29pm)

Last night I watched Midnight in Paris. It is quite a good film with lots of honest fun for the intellectually or artistically inclined. On the down side, it is a Woody Allen film. By this I mean that it was continuously delightful but never transcendent. Of course, it will likely also be the best f...

Debates Would Be Meaningless Even If They Were Debates (15 Oct 2012 07:12pm)

The New York Times has an article by Brian Stelter about the presidential debates, Memo Outlines Format and Rules for Candidate Debates. It basically demonstrates the the debates are a sham. The most important part of the article is a quote from George Farah, "An anti-trust lawyer who runs Open Deb...

Newsweek Article or Drug Trip? (15 Oct 2012 06:40pm)

Erowid is an organization that provides information about drugs and the experiences that drug users report. From the earliest days of its website (that predates the organization by about a decade), it has more focused on psychedelic drugs (but it covers all of them). On the site are lots of "trip re...

Religious Morality (15 Oct 2012 02:21pm)

This is actually a pretty good discussion of religious morality even though the caller is not presenting the best of arguments. It is from The Atheist Experience: ...

Andrew Sullivan: Don't Be Like Me (15 Oct 2012 01:05pm)

Ah, the blogger's life! Most of it is one long anxiety attack: staying up on the news and writing something fast that doesn't suck too much. But now and then, something comes along that makes it all worth while. I imagine it is like a great hitter watching an anemic fast ball heading toward the plat...

Romney Will Explode National Debt (15 Oct 2012 10:16am)

According to the new Washington Post / ABC News poll, Obama has bounced back a bit. He leads Romney in almost all of those sub-questions like, "Is Obama or Romney better on the issue of Medicare?" But the one big place that Romney is leading is on the deficit. By a margin of 8%, the people think tha...

Latinos Con Romney (14 Oct 2012 01:46pm)

I want to believe it is a new kind of cannibalistic taco: Photo from Liliana Segura tweet. ...

RIP: Democrat Specter (14 Oct 2012 01:33pm)

Do you remember the end of I Was a Teenage Werewolf, when Tony dies having reverted to human form again? It may be bad for science, but isn't it great that his parents don't have to bury a monster? That's how I feel about the death of Arlen Specter: at least he died a reasonable man—a Democra...

Political Harassment in the Workplace (14 Oct 2012 11:48am)

On Up with Chris Hayes today, they discussed employer coercion. This is in reference to people like David Siegel who sent his employees a letter telling them that if Obama is reelected, he will have to fire many of them because his taxes will go up.[1] As the panel discussed why we don't do somethin...

Roseanne Barr 2012 (14 Oct 2012 11:19am)

In O Brother, Where Art Thou? the trio decide to vote on who should be the leader. After both Pete and Ulysses vote for "yours truly," Delmar says, "Okay. I'm with you fellas." Delmar, of course, is a lovable idiot. I am neither. But I am with Noam Chomsky. He has said it makes sense to vote for Ob...

Children of Christian Nationalists (14 Oct 2012 09:34am)

I just read Kingdom Coming by Michelle Goldberg. It is about Christian Nationalism. I've been interested in subject for a long time. In particular, Chris Rodda's work has made me very aware of this evil movement. And there is much to fear of such a movement in a country where 80% of the people belie...

BB-Code (12 Oct 2012 03:41pm)

As noted by a number of users, Frankly Curious has installed BB-Code for our comments. This allows users to add typesetting to their comments. Actually, there is much more than this. You can also add quoted material (also source code) and even embed YouTube videos. The code below shows how to use t...

The Cycle Sucks (12 Oct 2012 01:29pm)

Have you seen MSNBC's The Cycle? It is amazing, because the show tries so hard to be "young" and "hip" it is painful to watch. It is like they're going after the demographic that likes The Young Turks without having ever watched it. "Put some young people on the TV; it will be like a political Ameri...

Best Democrat Debate: Tie (12 Oct 2012 07:40am)

There was one dynamic of last night's debate—any debate in this campaign—that I completely missed. There is no way anyone would have said that Biden was the clear winner. The reason is that half of the political commentators were going to say that Ryan won, because they are Republican. ...

Ode to Paul Ryan's Abs (11 Oct 2012 03:55pm)

Thanks to Black Flag: ...

Debates Not Important (11 Oct 2012 10:00am)

Jonathan Chait has written a scattered article that has one interesting thing to say: the differences in polling between the swing states and the nation as a whole are not mysterious. Chait claims that this is just because in the swing states, voters couldn't get away from the campaign. As a result,...

Newsweek Offers Crap on Crap (10 Oct 2012 05:05pm)

Newsweek is out! And what is the news on the cover? You can read it in the image on the left: "Heaven Is Real." What you can't see in this image is the subtitle, "When a neurosurgeon found himself in a coma, he experienced things he never thought possible—a journey to the afterlife." It is wri...

Social Security Paradox (10 Oct 2012 01:23pm)

Do you know the Social Security Paradox? It comes up all the time regarding reform of the program, but almost no one notes the paradox. Here it is: in order to stop future benefit cuts we must cut future benefits now. The worst case scenario is that at some point in the next 50 years, Social Securi...

Unions Protect Us, We Must Protect Them (10 Oct 2012 11:25am)

When people think of unions, they think of salaries and benefits. And indeed, unions do improve wages for union and non-union employees alike. But have you ever wondered why a lot of companies are willing to match union pay in order to stay non-unionized? If the company is going to pay the same, why...

Talking Puppets (09 Oct 2012 02:41pm)

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Wyatt Cenac, and John Oliver became Muppets for a segment. They were discussing Mitt Romney's surprise announcement that he would talk about one way in which he would cut the federal budget: defund PBS. (It's funny how concerned conservatives get about the ...

Woodward Hates Obama—For Now (09 Oct 2012 01:52pm)

Noam Scheiber at The New Republic has a really good review of Bob Woodward's new book, The Backscratcher—Bob Woodward’s Anti-Obama Bias. More than just a review of The Price of Politics, it is a good refresher on the debt ceiling debacle, which has made me rethink my harsh criticism of Obama. But mo...

IMF Vs. Austerions (09 Oct 2012 10:52am)

Everybody—in the sense of "economic geeks"—is buzzing about the IMF World Economic Outlook report (PDF). In it, they explain that they've been underestimating the economic multiplier effect. Don't click away! Really: this is interesting, and simple, and important. I promise you! Just g...

10 R&B Songs From My Childhood (08 Oct 2012 09:11pm)

I'm going out of town on business for a few days. I don't know how much blogging I will be doing. Maybe a lot. We'll see. Regardless, I created this set of ten R&B songs from my childhood. When all the polls are going against you, you can always turn to this: Update (8 October 2012 9:39 pm) When ...

Romney's Foreign Policy Speech (08 Oct 2012 08:21pm)

Fred Kaplan has a devastating article about Romney's foreign policy speech today, Mitt Romney’s Most Dishonest Speech. You can get some idea of where he's coming from in the subtitle, "When it comes to lies and half-truths, Romney saves his best stuff for foreign policy." Kaplan goes point by point...

The Cheech-and-Chong Machine (08 Oct 2012 05:10pm)

We have allowed the powerful, the rich, the Democratic and Republican Cheech-and-Chong machine... to define the political context through which we view the world... We need to remove 9/11 from our memories for a moment, and look at a perfect trajectory of mass slaughter in Iraq that extends back man...

Problem With Debate Coverage (08 Oct 2012 04:51pm)

Matt Taibbi has an interesting take on the debate. He thinks that both Obama and Romney lost. But I suspect that he sees it pretty much the way everyone else does, because he spends most of the article attacking what Romney actually said. The main point of the article is that the media should not e...

Unhappy About Defending Obama (08 Oct 2012 03:57pm)

This is how the presidential race works. We start with a policy of Obama's that I don't like. Then Mitt Romney, who very much likes the policy, lies and says the policy doesn't exist. And then Obama defends doing something that I don't like. Meanwhile, of course, the media are at the point where Mit...

The Moderation of Romney (08 Oct 2012 10:37am)

Ezra Klein discusses Moderate Mitt isn’t so moderate. In it, he notes that what was once a Republican extremist is today called a Republican moderate. I've sort of come to terms with this by noting that while Republicans may not have been this extreme in public, this was always who they were. You kn...

Winners Always Win (08 Oct 2012 09:02am)

Our intellectual property system has been broken for so long that most people can't even see the problem. I remember back in the early 1990s, my friends and I often talked about software patents and how they were killing innovation. Things like the GIF image format and the XOR cursor could make me a...

Get That Girl a Heart! (07 Oct 2012 10:00pm)

I guess her wish was what told the doctors she needed a new heart: ...

Media Bias Against Chavez (07 Oct 2012 08:44pm)

Question: How many US newspapers does it take to predict the Venezuelan presidential election? Answer: Predict it wrong? All of them! Maybe it's just because I'm some godless socialist, but I think Hugo Chavez has been pretty good for Venezuela. There is no subject on which the mainstream media ar...

Time Weighs the News (07 Oct 2012 08:06pm)

Peter Hart over at the excellent Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) has an amazing catch. In the most recent Time magazine, Michael Scherer present a cover story that is supposed to get past the campaign lies, Blue Truth, Red Truth. But it is, of course, just another exceptional example of ...

Raw Food and the Secret of Fire (07 Oct 2012 06:03pm)

Anthropologists the world over are trying to figure out when man discovered the secret of fire. Now by the secret of fire, we don't mean, "Lightning therefore: fire!" We mean the Boy Scout (or any other fascist youth organization) idea of creating fire by rubbing sticks together, or otherwise creati...

Winner-Take-All Politics (07 Oct 2012 12:15pm)

In a lot of discussions of income inequality, people note that the huge rise in inequality over the last 35 years happened in both before and after tax income. Thus, like Estragon in Waiting for Godot, they claim, "Nothing to be done!" Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson in Winner-Take-All Politics dis...

Empathic Captcha Likely as Useless as Regular Ones (07 Oct 2012 10:06am)

Kimber Streams at The Verge has written about, New Captcha system uses empathy to distinguish humans from bots. Instead of a highly distorted set of letters to be parroted back, this captcha asks a question like this: This is a nice idea. Unfortunately, what I've found with any captcha system is t...

Insulting Will Cain on Twitter (07 Oct 2012 09:31am)

I created a Twitter account this last week and I've learned quite a lot. Just this morning, I learned that every Twitter address you include in your message gets a copy of your tweet. Last night, after watching Real Time with Bill Maher, I was really annoyed with one of his guests, Will Cain, a cons...

Tea Party Report (06 Oct 2012 04:56pm)

I've always found Susie Sampson amusing, but I think this most recent Tea Party Report is particularly good. Or maybe I'm just drunk: ...

Avik Roy: Charlatan (06 Oct 2012 01:01pm)

Romney economic adviser Avik Roy was on Up with Chris Hayes today. He pooh-pooh the carried interest loophole, saying, "Carried interests—I can't remember the exact numbers—but what I think it raises for the government is something like $15 billion dollars or 4 billion—some tiny nu...

Reed Richardson and the Name Anchor (06 Oct 2012 11:26am)

Every Friday, rain or shine, Eric Alterman makes a post on his blog at The Nation magazine. It has three parts. First, he links to the articles he has published that week. Sometimes, this means there is no part one. Second, he talks about the music and theater he's seen that week. I call this his "Y...

I Miss Reagan: Obama 2012! (06 Oct 2012 10:03am)

Dave Weigel made a funny about having found Andrew Sullivan's car. But you don't have know that Sullivan is one of that growing group of conservatives who are starting to wake up to the fact that the Republican Party is nuts. This picture paints about 10 Sullivan columns. Or David Frum: ...

Employment Has Improved Over Last Year and a Half (06 Oct 2012 09:12am)

Paul Krugman has a really interesting article this morning where he presents a new formulation for reporting unemployment. As everyone should know, the unemployment rate is deceptive because it only counts people who are actively looking for work. As a result, a lot of people prefer the employment t...

Thank God It's Friday (05 Oct 2012 10:08pm)

I've had a thought all night long. I don't claim that it is original. In fact, it seems kind of obvious. Romney supposedly won the debate. And yet the only really memorable line from the debate is a clear blunder, and it was by Mitt Romney. Obama didn't have a bad performance so much as he had a bor...

Mitt's Excuse for Killing Big Bird is Wrong (05 Oct 2012 01:15pm)

First things first: I don't like Big Bird. I never have. Nor am I fond of those metrosexual cohabitors Burt and Ernie. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't fight for Sesame Street. If only for the sake of Grover, we must protect Sesame Street. Romney's comment about Sesame Street roiled me, but not abo...

Krugman's Wrong: Obama Did Fight Back (05 Oct 2012 10:51am)

Paul Krugman has a good article on Mitt Romney's biggest lie of Wednesday night's debate, Romney's Sick Joke. He points out the usual stuff: Romney's "plan" is to simply go back to what we had before—unemployed people who can afford the outrageous COBRA fees can keep their coverage. He also a...

George Will: Protector of Brainless Babies (05 Oct 2012 09:11am)

Frankly Curious' favorite economist, Dean Baker, takes a bite out of conservative affirmative action case George Will. Following the presidential debate, Will is screaming, "Healthcare rationing!" This isn't even a canard; it's a lie. There is no way that George Will is this stupid or ignorant. As ...

Matt Yglesias Pretends to Be Intellectual (04 Oct 2012 07:34pm)

If there is one thing I can spot from 3000 miles away it is intellectual pretense. Why? Because I am the fucking intellectual pretense master! And if I am willing to call myself on it, you can bet that I'm going to call that twitter happy mother fucker Matt Yglesias on his! Yglesias starts an other...

Death to Pagination and Wives Who Don't Love Fowler (04 Oct 2012 05:20pm)

If I could have a beer with anyone on the internet, tonight it would be Farhad Manjoo. I know what you're thinking, "You mean that guy who says he divorced his wife because she puts two spaces after the end of a sentence?" Yep. He's my kind of guy! Don't pooh-pooh this behavior. If I could choose b...

A Tale of Two Romneys (04 Oct 2012 03:18pm)

Via Andrew Kaczynski at BuzzFeed, Romney Contradicts Himself On Cutting Taxes Of The Wealthy From Earlier Debate: Romney also said the rich would not get a tax cut at all. A tale of two Romneys? Does it matter? If this country votes for this fucktard then they deserve him. Of course, lots of inno...

The Mitt Romney Show with Guest Stars Obama and Lehrer! (04 Oct 2012 12:34pm)

Did you see the Mitt Romney Show last night? It was great! Romney spun a lot of tall tales and made all kinds of promises to good little American citizens. It might not have been such a good show had Romney's co-stars Barack Obama and Jim Lehrer not been so passive. Luckily, many people in the press...

Voter Suppression New Mexico (04 Oct 2012 11:38am)

It is hard to get excited about voter suppression efforts. After all, it is much the same as screaming, "Republicans exist!" But here is another example, and frankly, I am shocked at how endless the endeavor is. I know: the Republicans don't have a real popular base. They explicitly do the bidding o...

Romney Campaign Walks Back "Moderation" (04 Oct 2012 09:01am)

This is brilliant. While all the pundits can't get enough of how Romney transformed himself, the Romney campaign is quietly going back on all of his "moderation." You may recall that Romney claimed that his healthcare plan would cover people with pre-existing conditions. Obama countered that this wa...

Romney's Santa Routine May Hurt Him Long Term (03 Oct 2012 09:07pm)

I spent the debate "live blogging" over at The Reaction. You can go over there to see my reactions as they occurred in real time. My initial thinking was that Romney did better than I had expected—and I expected him to do fairly well. But I didn't think that Romney necessarily "won" the debate...

Proxy War with Two Coptic Children (03 Oct 2012 12:04pm)

I get religious intolerance. It's like someone saying your mom's a whore: it's upsetting if it's not true; it's devastating if it is. This is really all about civility. I don't like rudeness. Just the same, a lot of people are nothing so much as outrage springs ready to be triggered. And that is it...

Predicting Smartphone Revolution (03 Oct 2012 11:21am)

Matthew Yglesias has a short article about how terrible the 2007 predictions of which Smartphones we would be using today. They predicted that Symbian would be the market leader with 40%. This is mostly Noikia (31%). It hasn't worked out that way. Symbian now has roughly 1% of the market, as you may...

Bill Murray Shills for Romney (03 Oct 2012 10:58am)

Back in February, I was too busy celebrating my birthday by hiding from everyone I know to notice that Bill Murray was shilling for Mitt Romney on CNBC. This brings up one of the great annoyances of life that is always simmering in my brain stem. But first I should tell you what Blurry said. It wasn...

Even Fox Covering DHS Senate Report (03 Oct 2012 10:35am)

A new Senate report slams the Department of Homeland Security. It seems that the fusion centers created in every state aren't fighting terrorism so much as just militarizing local law enforcement and infringing on the civil rights of Americans. If you're think Quelle surprise! you're not alone. A lo...

Right Wing Lies About Libyan Attack (02 Oct 2012 10:50pm)

It's hard to keep up on what's happening in the conservative media echo chamber. Sure, I here this and that. I even occasionally read articles in the National Review, although these tend toward the most reasonable of the conservative commentators. I've only been vaguely aware of the push of Darrell ...

Democratic Movement in House Polls (02 Oct 2012 09:45pm)

I've been one of the people saying that despite what those like Nancy Pelosi have claimed, there is basically no chance of the Democratic Party winning back the House of Representatives. I still feel this way. However, Real Clear Politics' Battle for the House, just made a change—and they don'...

New Romney Tax Plan: "Trust Me!" Pt. 2 (02 Oct 2012 07:10pm)

I am so tired of Mitt Romney, but I've got to write about this. The Serious Set are all a titter about Romney's announcement that he is going to cap deductions at $17,000. I don't know exactly what this will do to middle class income taxes. But this is more or less the same old song: Romney wants to...

Schwarzenegger Spouting BS (02 Oct 2012 02:27pm)

The last two years have been really great in California for political junkies. There has been a stark contrast between the governorships of Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I'm not completely happy with Brown, but he has done a great job as governor under the worst of circumstances. Schwarzene...

Chomsky, Obama, and Swing States (02 Oct 2012 01:58pm)

As I've said, I won't be voting for Obama this year. This is because I made a promise to the President about something. I don't quite remember what it was. I think it was over the debt ceiling debate where he was, as usual, willing to abandon liberal principles in the name of "bi-partisanship" that ...

What's the Point of Being President if You Can't Enrich Your Friends? (02 Oct 2012 12:31pm)

You know its going to be a good column when Ezra Klein starts with, "Ryan... called the Tax Policy Center study 'thoroughly debunked' when it's not even been dented." When I saw the Chris Wallace interview, I wasn't sure if Ryan was talking about TPC study when he said that. Could it be? I thought i...

Penis Sizes Shrinking! (02 Oct 2012 01:34am)

I'll just come right out and say it: it is hard to talk about penises without a lot of unintentional puns. See what I mean? And frankly, I don't like the whole subject. I don't like biology; I find it disgusting. But that doesn't mean I don't think about it all the time. This morning, I wrote the f...

We've Been Sacrificing for Decades (01 Oct 2012 10:19pm)

Steve M at No More Mister Nice Blog writes Is Frank Bruni Now the Worst Op-Ed Columnist at the New York Times? He starts by noting that the competition is fierce: David Brooks, Ross Douthat, Tom Friedman. Frank Bruni has mostly been off my radar, but I do remember he's annoyed me a few times recentl...

We Really Are Number One! (01 Oct 2012 03:17pm)

Matt Yglesias reports on a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research on the quality of mail service in 159 countries. They sent international letters to nonexistent addresses and measured how quickly the letters came back. Many countries have systems that are so dysfunctional that none of th...

Weathergirl Goes Rogue (01 Oct 2012 02:26pm)

This is funny and informative. Go coal! ...

"Know Your States" Brought to You by Twitter (01 Oct 2012 01:48pm)

I've long thought that Twitter was one of the stupidest ideas in the world. But I had never tried it. I am, after all, not a 160 character kind of guy. But I finally got an account, and it is great. What I didn't understand is that twitter is not just a bunch of inane narcissists sending out tweets...

Incoming: Romney Zingers (01 Oct 2012 11:39am)

According to the New York Times, Romney has been memorizing "zingers" since August. They will be his secret weapon at the debates. Is this absurd? I don't know. Ezra Klein tweeted last night, "Who would bet a campaign on Mitt Romney's sense of comic timing?" The obvious response is: Mitt Romney! Th...

Liberal Talks to Conservative (30 Sep 2012 10:13pm)

This is nice to see: a liberal talk show host—Sam Seder—talking to a conservative caller. A couple of things I noticed. First, Seder is much nicer to the caller than conservative hosts are to the few liberal callers who make it past their screeners. Second, I love this entitled caller. H...

The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (30 Sep 2012 10:00pm)

Have you heard about The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure? It is a feature film produced for toddlers. But the reason people are talking about it is that after $20 million in production and $40 million in marketing, Oogieloves had the worst opening weekend in film history—making less th...

The Magnificent Ambersons (30 Sep 2012 07:41pm)

The last time I watched The Magnificent Ambersons was about 17 years ago. If you don't know what to expect, it can be a very upsetting film. But when I watched it today, it was mostly a delight. When I first watched it, the film was going along swimmingly. And then the last scene—The last sho...

Conservative Desperation (30 Sep 2012 03:30pm)

I feel old, but that isn't always a bad thing. One of the benefits is that I have a long memory. And whether it is on the national level or the micro level, I know desperation when I see it. Michelle Goldberg uncovers some startling goings on deep in Conservative World, With 'Dreams From My Real F...

Karateci Kiz as Art (30 Sep 2012 01:00pm)

You've probably heard about Karateci Kiz ("Karate Girl"). Cyriaque Lamar at io9 claimed, this is the worst death scene ever committed to film. This claim is as silly as said death scene. But the internet loves this kind of thing; everything is the worst or best. But okay. It is certainly quite an i...

A Double Mystery (30 Sep 2012 12:37am)

First, there was the strange case of the Romney-Ryan direct mail campaign, Doing more to fight the spread of Lyme Disease. The pamphlet claims that Lyme Disease is a, "Massive epidemic threatening Virginia." Massive? I don't know. I guess that it sucks if you get it, but only about 900 people get it...

Matt Yglesias Too Busy Tweeting to Care About American Workers (29 Sep 2012 08:56pm)

Matt Yglesias is a writer for Slate. He mostly writes about the financial industry. (Although last night he was on a plane and so sending out a long string of the most banal tweets I've ever seen.) And he's good; I read him every day. But he definitely has his blind spots and often falls ill with Se...

Paul Krugman Cracks a Joke (29 Sep 2012 02:12pm)

On his blog today, Paul Krugman discusses three current Republican misconceptions. The first is how Romney is a bad candidate. Krugman notes that this may be true, but he's not as bad as everyone else who ran. It is much the same argument that Saturday Night Live presented last week: Krugman added...

Infinity is Not a Number (29 Sep 2012 12:20pm)

AnswersInEddas has posted 3 videos criticizing William Lane Craig's arguments for the existence of God. I've only watched the first, but it is very good and I plan to check out the others. I'm no fan of Craig. To be stupid is unfortunate; to be brilliant and use it to obfuscate is evil; William Lane...

Majestic Equality of Law (28 Sep 2012 11:02pm)

The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich and the poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. —Anatole France This is a great quote that cuts to the heart of conservative thought. This is exactly the thinking behind the flat tax. It is also why cons...

Wake the Fuck Up (28 Sep 2012 05:21pm)

I hear this is from the same people who brought you the great Sarah Silverman Let My People Vote 2012 video. This time we get Samuel L. Jackson, who happens to say "Mother fucker!" better than anyone on the planet. I don't have much to say other than that this is also a fucking great video: Also: ...

Ayn Rand and Indians (28 Sep 2012 01:04pm)

The first year I was in graduate school up in Oregon, I drove back and forth to the Bay Area a large number of times. One of the things I remember was hearing conservative talk radio. It was surprising to me just how often people would mention John Galt. For those of you who have not read the novel...

The Wily Undecided Voter (28 Sep 2012 11:16am)

There's been a bit of push back against the deification of undecided voters. For election cycle after election cycle, I've been wondering who these people are who can't decide. After all, these are people who are supposedly in the middle. I can understand that a socialist would have a hard time deci...

The Fine Print (27 Sep 2012 06:21pm)

Earlier this year, David Cay Johnston published a new book, The Fine Print. After reading his last book, Free Lunch, I just couldn't take 300 more pages about how the corporations game the system. I did, however, scan the book, reading some parts of it in depth. It's a good book, of course, Johnsto...

Syncing 32 Metronomes (27 Sep 2012 02:31pm)

This is really interesting even you aren't a physicist. These people have started 32 metronomes at random times. Then, over the course of about 2 minutes, 31 of the metronomes get in sync and 1 gets perfectly out of sync. This one metronome that is anti-synced seems like it will stay that way. Appar...

Do We Need Better Candidates? (27 Sep 2012 12:54pm)

Matt Taibbi wrote a provocative article on Tuesday, This Presidential Race Should Never Have Been This Close. In it, he argues that Obama should have a huge lead, even if Romney were a good candidate, which he isn't. This goes completely against the conventional wisdom (especially among conservativ...

Let Karen Finney Speak! (27 Sep 2012 01:29am)

As regular readers know, I indulge my crushes on minor celebrities, academics, and grammarians. But no one knows about my most recent crush: Karen Finney. She was Director of Communications at the Democratic National Committee under Howard Dean. But I know her as a pundit on The Last Word. As you c...

My Name is Alberto Asenjo... (27 Sep 2012 12:04am)

Everybody loves a Spanish badass! Alberto Casillas Asenjo is the owner of the Prado Cafe in Madrid. During the clash between protesters and police, he stood defiantly in his doorway. Click on over, the video is great. What most strikes me is that he is clearly afraid. And yet, he stays. That's true...

Eli Wallach and Everybody Else (26 Sep 2012 08:27pm)

There are two kinds of people in the world: Eli Wallach and not Eli Wallach. And Eli Wallach's gonna be 97 in December. Soon there will be only one kind of people in the world. Enjoy it while you can. ...

It's the Great Pumpkin, Angela Merkel! (26 Sep 2012 07:48pm)

There continue to be major protests in Spain—one on Tuesday resulted in clashes with the police, ending in at least 22 arrests and 28 injuries. The people are rightly unhappy about the recent austerity deal. It's very simple. The Spanish government—like most governments—has debt. B...

Theodore Roosevelt on Inequality 1910 (26 Sep 2012 05:14pm)

The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man's making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made it. The citizens of the United States must effect...

A Feather in Scott Brown's Cap (26 Sep 2012 11:19am)

After seeing some of the debate Thursday night between Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren, I was angry. Brown said something that was so racist, I was stunned. He wasn't claiming to have special insight into Warren's family history when he claimed, "She checked the box claiming s...

Dean Baker Destroys Romney Low Tax Claim (25 Sep 2012 09:03pm)

I'm been thinking very hard (You know: frown, furrowed brow.) about this question of double taxation. The idea is that capital gains taxes should be lower because the money has already been taxed at the corporate level. I know that Paul Krugman accepts this, but I can't find the article. I still hav...

Catastrophize (25 Sep 2012 01:19pm)

Anyone who likes words can't help but make up new ones. This isn't that unusual. Even people who don't value words do it. Sarah Palin, word salad tosser extraordinaire, notably coined the word "refudiate." I do it all the time. About ten years ago, I coined the word "catastrophize." It turns out, i...

Noah Smith on Econo Trolls (25 Sep 2012 12:00pm)

Noah Smith is a very smart and often funny young economist. He runs the Noahpinion Blog, which has a different tag line just about every day. I keep up with his blog, but I don't spend that much time on it because it is largely over my head. However, he has a better understanding of libertarians and...

Obama's Plan on 60 Minutes (25 Sep 2012 01:11am)

This is an update on my article about 60 Minutes. In it, I talked almost exclusively about Romney. There was part of the Obama interview that made me cringe. It wasn't that I didn't know it already, but I hate to hear it. Despite the hysterical conservative claims that he is a socialist, President ...

Get Nana A Gun (24 Sep 2012 07:42pm)

This is the most awesome fucking thing I've seen in weeks: Sarah Silverman's "Let My People Vote 2012 - Get Nana A Gun." ...

Property Rights (24 Sep 2012 05:57pm)

A few years back, Romney explained why productivity increases, although painful, are good. This is simple stuff. He gives a hypothetical: a country with 200 people in it. Half of them farm and half of them build houses. Someone invents the plow and suddenly, all the country's food needs can be met ...

Push Me Pull You Economics (24 Sep 2012 04:39pm)

A standard conservative belief is that we must lower taxes on the wealthy because they are Job Creators. I've written much about how this is nothing more than a myth. Put simply: businesses hire when their businesses have to because of their work requirements. This stuff is not rocket science, and a...

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (24 Sep 2012 02:14pm)

Last night, I watched O Brother, Where Art Thou? for the first time in many years.It is a perfect film, and likely the Coen Brothers' best. It is based upon The Odyssey, but the word is that the Coens have to this day never read it. This is not surprising, because O Brother follows the book in only...

Romney Gets One Thing Right (24 Sep 2012 11:01am)

Once upon a time, 60 Minutes did actual journalism. Last night, they devoted their episode to interviews with President Obama and Mitt Romney. It wasn't terrible. I thought that the Obama interview was the more aggressive of the two. But it was clear why this was: Romney isn't up to a probing interv...

Clint Eastwood Talks to More Inanimate Objects (24 Sep 2012 01:20am)

I don't think people appreciate just how much of a Luddite I am. I am a pretty good programmer—c++, php, all that—but I have little idea what things like Twitter are all about. I do, however, know that tweets are occasionally hilarious. Here is a screen shot of one by Bill Maher yesterda...

Romney Didn't Ask Teacher a Question (23 Sep 2012 06:12pm)

I caught this via Crooks & Liars. The video contains a lot of information, mostly documentation that Romney has the standard Republican ideas about education: public schools baaad, private schools goood; teacher's unions baaad, vouchers goood. These are the same ideas they had 30 years ago. If t...

The Myth of Choice (23 Sep 2012 02:42pm)

I just read The Myth of Choice by Kent Greenfield. Unlike Free Will by Sam Harris, this book looks at the question of choice from a higher vantage—particularly the law. This is no surprise given that Greenfield is a law professor who clerked for Justice David Souter. Greenfield's primary argu...

Long Install (23 Sep 2012 01:42pm)

Will sent me this photograph of his computer screen. I think he sent it because of the length of time: 292 days. I find it interesting because of the implied accuracy: 292 days and 0 hours! If it had been 292 days and 1 hours, well, that's be outrageous. ...

Vote Republican (23 Sep 2012 11:26am)

You're getting sleepy... ...

Google Evil, Stanford Less So (22 Sep 2012 10:14pm)

I was talking to Will earlier about the Stanford football team. Many people mistakenly refer to them as the "Cardinals" but they are actually the "Cardinal." It seems weird to people, but it just means that Stanford is such a badass team that it only takes one of them to fuck you up. Or it could be ...

Chia Romney! (22 Sep 2012 09:11pm)

Will was at K-Mart tonight and he sent me a couple of pictures of... Chia Obama and Chia Romney. This is part of the Chia Freedom of Choice™ series. You aren't limited to Obama and Romney. Oh no! There is a Chia Gingrich and a Chia Ron Paul too. Sadly, no Chia Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, or...

Greed is a Religion (22 Sep 2012 06:52pm)

Digby speculates that for Mitt Romney, "Charitable giving to a church that primarily operates highly successful commercial businesses is just another tax dodge." I think this is true. Romney doesn't strike me as a particularly spiritual person. He seems incredibly materialistic, and I just don't bel...

"Equality of Opportunity" is Killing Our Kids (22 Sep 2012 11:49am)

Last week on This American Life the episode was called Back to School. It was very good—as always. It discussed non-cognitive skills and how they are perhaps more important to how well a student does in life than cognitive skills. In fact, one expert noted that the modern testing fascination i...

Romney's Master Chicanery (21 Sep 2012 11:26pm)

I really don't like Josh Barro. It's not just his politics. There is something visceral to my disdain. It could be that in some fundamental way, he's too much like me. I don't like to think these things. But whenever I dislike someone more than is strictly reasonable, I have to consider everything. ...

Dreaming of a White President (21 Sep 2012 02:44pm)

I think that Randy Newman has been lacking artistically the last many years, but he's released a new song that I really like. It has an obvious connection to Sail Away. This one is called I'm Dreaming. The whole line is, "I'm dreaming of a white President." And an AIF version of the file is availabl...

You've Been Outsourced! (21 Sep 2012 01:09pm)

The ad for the new season of The Simpsons is really great. A couple of things stand out. First, there is Homer's summation of democracy in America, "Oh man, not another election! Why do we have to choose our leaders? Isn't that what we have the Supreme Court for?" One of the best things about The ...

Republicans Abuse Poor Coming & Going (21 Sep 2012 11:57am)

I'm tired of the all the discussion about Mitt Romney's 47% remarks. But I want to say one (hopefully) last thing about it. Earlier this week, Ezra Klein published the graph on the left (click on it to see it at regular size). I know that I've been talking about Klein a lot recently, but as I said, ...

What You Think (20 Sep 2012 10:12pm)

I think this is good advice. But my thinking about consciousness and metaphysics—especially epistemology—makes me believe that better advice would be, "Don't Believe Anything You Think." ...

Male Knitting (20 Sep 2012 03:28pm)

I just read a really interesting, thought provoking, and humane article An Open Letter to My Fat Father, From His Fat, Trans Son: Or, Fatherhood, Fatness, and Family. It is about coming to accept ones weight. But there is a wrinkle: it is by a transgender man. On one level, I identify with the tran...

I [Heart] Ezra (20 Sep 2012 02:12pm)

As you all know, I've have found Ezra Klein to be a trial at times. But recently he has been really good. I don't say this just because I agree with him. I say it because he's been thought provoking. I haven't thought that much about Romney's 47% remarks. To me, the comments come as absolutely no s...

Jesus' Wife (20 Sep 2012 12:23pm)

You've probably heard that Jesus had a wife. Okay, he didn't really have a wife. There is a text fragment about the size of a business card that reads, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife is so fat, when she sits around the house, she sits around the house. Good night Jerusalem!'" I'm kidding, of course...

"I'm Disinclined to Acquiesce to your Request" (20 Sep 2012 01:22am)

That's what they told me when I specifically requested to be reminded when it was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. It means "No." And so I missed it. Finally, the perfect holiday: no business closures and... Pirates! ...

Leon Wieseltier on the Far Right (20 Sep 2012 01:06am)

"The far right combines the pity of the minority with the power of the majority." —Leon Wieseltier This is according to Ari Melber on an internet-only bit from The Last Word, who I think may have the wording wrong. Perhaps that should be "self-pity"? Update (22 September 2012 9:43 am) I gue...

The Most Corrupt Attorney General (20 Sep 2012 12:42am)

I'm not sure if I agree with Lawrence O'Donnell here, but this is powerful and insightful. There are many things to recommend it. For one, there is some Nixon administration history, and I love Nixon stuff. I really want to go to his library! And there is more about the now infamous Romney 47% video...

A Tale of Two HQs (19 Sep 2012 10:52pm)

Last weekend, I was walking around the Santa Rosa downtown, on my way to Treehorn Books to see if they had any new copies of Don Quixote that I don't already have. This is a fools errand, because I think I already have every English translation of the book except for three minor quasi-translations f...

The Job Creator Myth (19 Sep 2012 04:57pm)

I caught this on The Young Turks. Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe said, "I believe conservative policies help 100% of Americans. I don't believe it helps the 1%. I really do believe that you don't help the waiters and waitresses, who want to get a better job, by raising taxes on the job creators. " ...

Schooled by Mad Citizen Kane (19 Sep 2012 01:48pm)

Yes, yes, I've already written about Mad Kane before. But she deserves at least two articles because she won the Robert Benchley Society Award for Humor, which was presented by Bob Freaking Newhart. This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to anyone I know and I know some pretty cool and fam...

The Tabarrok Curve (19 Sep 2012 11:11am)

Via Ezra Klein most recently, I offer you the Tabarrok curve. It supposedly shows that some patent protection is good, but too much is bad. I agree with this. Most recently, I wrote about it in regards to Apple, which has always been on the forefront of stupid and evil patent disputes. Perhaps you'v...

Margin of Error (18 Sep 2012 10:51pm)

Polls, polls, polls! Everyone loves polls! Leading up to elections, we get lots of the little suckers. Yet, it seems that most people don't understand them. Especially the people who report them. I am here to help, because this just isn't that complicated. The issue is the poll's margin of error. ...

Is Mitt Romney a Psychopath? (18 Sep 2012 02:34pm)

This seems to be floating around the internet: It is funny, of course, but I think there may be a darker truth underlying it and all the jokes about Mitt "The Robot" Romney and Mitt the Clueless. Could Mitt Romney be a psychopath? It's entirely possible. We know, for example, that while only 1% of...

Where Do You Put That Hat? (18 Sep 2012 01:20pm)

Yesterday, my father came to me with a math question. He had been hired by a Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer who wanted a wooden box for her hat. She wanted it to be an octagon with a height (h) of 8 inches and a diagonal (d) of 12 inches. My father had been trying to make this work for some time, b...

Around the World in Gay Marriage (18 Sep 2012 11:16am)

Via Back2Stonewall, this interactive map over at France24 is really telling: What I find most interesting is that we are surrounded by same sex marriages: Canada and Mexico have them. I really do think that we are a small minded people—even in a relative sense. ...

Tanghi Argentini (17 Sep 2012 06:57pm)

A friend sent me a bunch of links to some excellent short films. One of them was very sweet and it got me thinking of a film I very much like, Tanghi Argentini, which is on the excellent A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films (2007). Here it is for you to enjoy: I want to be that...

More Than a Little Liberal (17 Sep 2012 06:01pm)

I was over at the Christian Science Monitor, and I got tricked into taking their Are you more (or less) conservative than Mitt Romney quiz. My result was: "You're more than a little liberal. You're a lefty! You might even be more liberal than President Obama. You won't be voting for Romney come Nov...

It's Bad the Poor Don't Vote (17 Sep 2012 04:16pm)

Ezra Klein (I know, I know: another WonkBlog post!) has an article debunking the conservative media meme that poor people are coming out to vote for Obama in big numbers because he's bribed them with luxuries like food stamps. The problem, as Klein notes, is that, "Poor people actually don’t vote t...

Two Points About Libertarians (17 Sep 2012 01:10pm)

This always bugged me when I was a libertarian. Libertarians, almost to a man, hate unions. I, on the other hand, always thought that strong unions were absolutely essential to a libertarian utopia. If the work force could not organize themselves the same way companies do, there could be no justice....

Bad News for Romney's Healthcare Plans (17 Sep 2012 10:45am)

Sarah Kliff has a very provocative article over at WonkBlog called Romney's Health Care Plans Don't Exempt Today's Seniors. As usual for the WonkBlog staff, she bends over backwards to be fair. (Fun Fact: before working for Ezra Klein, all staff must have worked for at least a year as a circus conto...

Kristen Schaal at WGA (16 Sep 2012 08:20pm)

There is surprisingly little Kristen Schaal on the internet other than her stuff on The Daily Show. The bit below is a very nice exception. She apparently hosted the WGA awards last year. I particularly liked this part: Winning a Whale's Tail is a huge honor. The winners tonight owe a tremendous de...

Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned IV (16 Sep 2012 07:22pm)

I find the whole Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned series a bit embarrassing. So a number of women just sit in the back of my mind waiting for me to get the nerve to write an article. It isn't that I'm embarrassed about them. It is that I think I will show myself to be the small minded pedant that I k...

Bing It On! (16 Sep 2012 02:54pm)

I have been highly skeptical of the new Bing It On Challenge commercials. So I decided to try it—just to show those bastards their ads don't work on me. I used the following five searches:Frankly CuriousDon QuixoteMadame Tutli-PutliMiller's Crossing HomosexualityBlond Blonde Overall, Bing is a...

Sam Seder Ups Reputation (16 Sep 2012 01:02pm)

I'm not a big Sam Seder fan. It isn't that he's bad, I just don't find him all that insightful because he isn't especially smarter or more informed than I am. That does not mean he isn't really good and vastly superior to pretty much everyone else you see on the TV or internet. This weekend, he's b...

Income Class (16 Sep 2012 12:09pm)

Dylan Matthews over at WonkBlog writes What is the middle class? where he notes that by the definitions put forward by Romney and Obama, only 4% of the country are not middle class. Actually, Matthews steals some of my thunder. For a long time, I've been advocating a definition of the classes broke...

Strange Sounds in the Echo Chamber (15 Sep 2012 09:14pm)

Capt. Fogg over at Human Voices has written an amusing article about a telephone survey he did. I suspect that you've had one of these that appear not to be a survey but an advertisement. "Would you vote for Representative Popular if you knew that he ate live kittens? What about if you knew that he ...

NPR Provides Platform for Rentier Class Apologist (15 Sep 2012 08:04pm)

This is unbelievable. I fully admit that economics makes my brain hurt and that I find it profoundly confusing. But I understand the fundamentals. The same cannot be said of Jeffrey M. Lacker, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. In its infinite wisdom, NPR put this idiot on the a...

Republicans Have No Ideology (15 Sep 2012 11:55am)

This morning, Paul Krugman notes that Mitt Romney has come out against QE3, with Romney saying that the economy "doesn't need more artificial and ineffective measures." He goes on to say that we shouldn't be "printing dollars." It is ridiculous, of course. This is the same kind of nonsense that we a...

Party Better Than iPhone? (14 Sep 2012 09:18pm)

This morning's New York Times column by Paul Krugman discussed a J.P. Morgan research note that said that the release of the new iPhone could stimulate the economy over the next quarter by up to a half of a percent of GDP. Krugman then went on to explain that if you accept this concept that a bunch ...

Monsignor Quixote (14 Sep 2012 03:57pm)

There is a great deal of moral thought in Graham Greene's Monsignor Quixote. I just want to finish off my thoughts on this novel, which I discussed in video form a couple of weeks ago. In modern America, I think of Christians as being selfish conservatives who think the poor are morally inferior. I...

Romney to Webmasters: Update Your Sites! (14 Sep 2012 11:58am)

You can always tell when someone doesn't believe his own bullshit: his story keeps changing. And that is the case with Mitt Romney and this nonsense about Libya. Romney's line about his premature and untrue attacks on the president is now pathetically trivial. First, according to Romney, Obama shoul...

Save the Lawyers (13 Sep 2012 10:07pm)

The video below is an excellent attack on the Humane Society of the United States. Watch it and then I'll add a little extra information: I agree that we should not support the HSUS, but your local "shelter" may be no better. As I wrote in my article Arms of a Death Angel, most shelters do little ...

Don Cheadle Isn't Political (13 Sep 2012 08:55pm)

Apropos of nothing except that I like Don Cheadle. This is nice: ...

The Liberal Side of Block Grants (13 Sep 2012 03:24pm)

I am no fan of so called welfare reform. On the large scale, it sucks because we make it very hard for the poor to get welfare even as we make it easy for the rich to get it. For example, there is the trivial paperwork required to get billions under TARP. And on the small scale, there are countless ...

We Are Our Own Investors (13 Sep 2012 02:08pm)

Robert Reich has taken on the fiscal cliff and Moody's statement that they might downgrade the United States government credit rating. I know: we've seen this before. But there is something different. When S&P downgraded us, it was because we weren't dealing with our debt problem. That was bullshit,...

KCRW's Greatest Hits (13 Sep 2012 12:55pm)

When I was down in Los Angeles last week, my brother-in-law introduced me to KCRW, which has an all-music channel Eclectic 24. It is rather good. They play a lot of music that I don't find that compelling, but they played very little that I was familiar with, and that's always a good thing. One so...

Fragile Conservatives (13 Sep 2012 11:35am)

According to Reuters, hundreds of protesters stormed the American embassy in Yemen. I have a slightly different take on this than most people. The United States kills innocent civilians all the time. In fact, our government has now defined the enemy so that anyone within shouting distance of a bear...

Another Sucky Hamlet (12 Sep 2012 05:20pm)

I was the more deceived. I recently gave the Patrick Stewart modern Macbeth a view, and was delighted. So when I saw a modern rendering of Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke, I allowed my expectations to rise and rented it. I should have known better. Macbeth is a good play. Hamlet is not. There are so m...

Dick Morris Reverse Man (11 Sep 2012 12:16pm)

The Young Turks note how wrote Fox News commentator Dick Morris has been thus far in the Presidential race. It is really good: Sorry that I haven't been around much recently. I've been on vacation, and since getting back, I've been working on other things. I will be posting more soon. ...

The "Principled" Conservatism of George Will (09 Sep 2012 10:45pm)

George Will annoys me more than most conservative pundits. Most commentators on the right can be dismissed as ignorant dittoheads, but Will has a reputation—largely undeserved—as intelligent, knowledgeable, and even thoughtful. Worst of all, he has developed a great capacity to sound rea...

Getty Center (07 Sep 2012 11:17am)

I spent the whole of yesterday at the Getty Center. Truly, I was none too keen on it, given my general opinion of J. Paul Getty—one of the great third basers who we are all supposed to bow down to. The fact that he was a miser doesn't help matters. He loaned his son money to pay for the kidnap...

Anne Adams and Frontotemporal Dementia (06 Sep 2012 10:31am)

Radio Lab produced an exceptional short program called Unraveling Bolero. It tells the story of the Anne Adams, a PhD cell biologist turned artist. Her change from science to art was the result of the early stages of a brain disease called frontotemporal dementia. The disease causes the language por...

1,000 Years of Darkness! (04 Sep 2012 07:24pm)

Okay, I know it comes as no surprise that Chuck Norris and his wife are freaks. But really, this is over the top: I think it will be really bad for our country—and perhaps the world—if Mitt Romney becomes President. But I don't think it will be apocalyptic. I don't think it will lead t...

Obama 7-Election (03 Sep 2012 11:31pm)

Will sent me this today. I assume there is a red cup for Romney (but they may be waiting for him come back from the vacation he started after the RNC). But who cares? This is great: We have been good enough that we really do deserve better than Obama, but we haven't been anywhere near bad enough t...

"Reasonable" Republicans (03 Sep 2012 10:02pm)

I watched last Friday's Real Time with Bill Maher. As regular readers know, I'm not that keen on Maher—he's a bit too much the arrogant libertarian (and a kind of atheist that might amuse me sometimes, but is mostly annoying). On this episode, I was very much in sync with Maher. Also on the sh...

California Beats New Jersey (03 Sep 2012 11:57am)

This via Crooks & Liars. Governor Brown challenges New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to a three mile race: I think there may also be a jab at Paul Ryan who recently claimed to have run a 3 hour marathon. For those of you that don't know, that would be a really fast marathon. In fact, 100 year...

Stupid Scientists in Science Fiction (03 Sep 2012 11:24am)

I hate the show The Big Bang Theory. It is a stupid person's idea of what smart people are like. But this kind of thing is hardly new. For years, I've been bugged by Star Trek. For example, there was an episode in The Next Generation where the surface temperature of some planet (or something) was mi...

Catch My Breath (03 Sep 2012 12:35am)

I really like Melissa Harris-Perry. But I haven't paid much attention to her MSNBC show. She's clearly thrilled to have the show, and I've thought that after she calmed down, the show would be worth watching. For the time, she was just too damned chipper. Well, perhaps it is time to take another lo...

[Redacted] (02 Sep 2012 02:53pm)

What am I doing? I am doing a half-programming, half-data entry job involving spam. Up until now, I thought that I was working for lawyers who were also spammers. This is all very cloak & dagger stuff. They don't tell me nothin'. But today, I can't see this as anything other than this unnamed l...

They Did Build the Debt (01 Sep 2012 01:43am)

I'm busy doing busy guy stuff. But yesterday, The Big Empty posted this great photograph: Yes, they did! ...

Noogie for Ezra (31 Aug 2012 03:29pm)

I like Ezra Klein. Really. I've attacked him on a number of occasions, but overall, he's a smart and insightful guy. But he's also a numbers nerd who seems about as comfortable in his body as your average 13 year old rocket builder. So I thought it was very funny this morning when I read Klein wri...

The Man With No Clue (31 Aug 2012 01:12am)

This was him tonight: And this was him less than a year ago: People think death is something sudden, but one doesn't die of old age that way. It takes decades as you notice your entire being fade away. I'm only 48 and I already feel it happening. It is sad to see this happening to Clint Eastwood...

Serious Centrist Saletan's Selfishness (29 Aug 2012 10:53pm)

Two weeks ago, Paul Krugman blasted William Saletan for his adoring love letter to Paul Ryan. Now, Saletan wants his letter back. He was blinded by his (typical) desire to find that mythical beast, the Reasonable Republican—just as Krugman said. And now that Saletan is repudiating his love, Kr...

Greed and Debt: The Mitt Romney Story (29 Aug 2012 05:54pm)

Matt Taibbi has written a cover story for Rolling Stone called, Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. You really ought to read it. It is filled with wonderfully truthful and snarky passages like this one: [Mitt Romney has] been right with [the other banksters] on the front...

Interest Not Debt Matters (29 Aug 2012 04:12pm)

In reference to the wonderful debt graph that Ezra Klein presented yesterday, Dean Baker presents an even better graph. This one is not on debt, because as Baker notes, the issue is not debt; it is interest on the debt. He notes sarcastically, "We don't get back to the same devastating interest burd...

A Late Night Babble (29 Aug 2012 12:22pm)

I've been experimenting for months, trying to create videos that don't totally suck. And I am making progress. I still don't feel comfortable releasing anything I've worked hard on. But I've decided to start releasing videos that I just throw together. It's typical internet stuff, except that they d...

The Graph the RNC Won't Allow (28 Aug 2012 10:34pm)

Ezra Klein has again posted the following federal debt graph on WonkBlog, and I thought it was a good idea to put it up here. It is from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. The main thing that it shows is that the Republican obsession over debt and deficits is completely hypocritical. The o...

2016: Obama's America (28 Aug 2012 02:07am)

I found this great review by Simon Maloy of the ridiculous right wing attack documentary on Obama, 2016: Obama's America. It is by wingnut Dinesh D'Souza. I had heard about the film from my wingnut brother, who I assumed heard about it from Rush or Sean. Anyway, Maloy should be canonized for not on...

Evil Republican Plan (27 Aug 2012 11:29am)

Jonathan Chait was on vacation, but he's back this morning. And what is he doing? Depressing the hell out of me. Chait has been pushing this idea—that I mostly accept—that demographics are soon going to crush the Republican Party. This is funny when you consider the strength of the argu...

Prodigal Son (27 Aug 2012 12:14am)

I was thinking about the Parable of the Prodigal Son recently. Ever since I was a kid I hated this story. It was just terrible. How could a father treat a loyal son in this way?! It's interesting, really. As the story moves on, it seems like it is coming to a big ending. The son says, "Why are you ...

You Sexually Harassing Me? (26 Aug 2012 09:49pm)

Voodoo Mama! ...

TED: Megaphone for Elite (26 Aug 2012 01:02pm)

Sarah Silverman did a TED Talk that wasn't released and it got me thinking. I've written before that as good as these talks often are they have a pernicious philosophical basis. In particular, they imply that they are just "telling it like it is." They claim to be objective. This in itself is a big ...

Apple Sucks (25 Aug 2012 08:15pm)

I've been unhappy with Apple for decades and this recent case against Samsung is a good example. I know there are a lot of Apple apologists out there. These are the same people who made excuses for Apple's use of sweat shop labor. On this point, I have a question: why is it necessary for Apple to sa...

Evil Myths (25 Aug 2012 01:20pm)

I was at the movies yesterday watching The Expendables 2, and I thought, "All these guys are rich and famous and they use the power they have to make pernicious, evil myths like this." It is impossible for me to relate just how much I hated this movie. It was bad on every level. Watching all these a...

John Fugelsang on Mitt Romney (24 Aug 2012 11:40pm)

John Fugelsang explains that it is the Republican base that has flip-flopped, not Mitt Romney: ...

The Age of Niallism (24 Aug 2012 10:13pm)

Matthew O'Brien wrote A Full Fact-Check of Niall Ferguson's Very Bad Argument Against Obama earlier this week. It was in reference to Niall Ferguson's disgusting counterfactual Newsweek article Obama’s Gotta Go. It seems everyone has written about this at some point during the week—even me. Bu...

Todd Akin Comes Clean (23 Aug 2012 08:24pm)

At The Onion, "America's Finest News Source" is not just a slogan; it is an indictment of the entire mainstream media industry. A couple of days ago, they "published" an oped from Representative Todd Akin with the title, I Misspoke—What I Meant To Say Is 'I Am Dumb As Dog Shit And I Am A Terrible Hu...

Mass Market Fun (23 Aug 2012 01:00pm)

As far as I know, my friend Will has never watched a whole movie during his adult life. He just can't sit still that long. I've watched many films over at his place, but he is in and out of the room and if he sees a quarter of them, I'd be surprised. He's fond of saying things like, "I watched Etern...

The Value of Bosses (23 Aug 2012 02:26am)

I found this paper The Value of Bosses via WonkBlog: Do supervisors enhance productivity? Arguably, the most important relationship in the firm is between worker and supervisor. The supervisor may hire, fire, assign work, instruct, motivate and reward workers. Models of incentives and productivity ...

48/2 + 7 < 37 (23 Aug 2012 01:48am)

First things first: in preparing this picture, I had to crop out the copy of Victor Navasky's history of the Hollywood blacklist Naming Names from Ms. Goldberg's left. And this is important, because what I'm about to say is not just about the objectification of women. In fact, it isn't even mostly a...

Abortion Demographics (22 Aug 2012 05:58pm)

This is from Sarah Kliff at WonkBlog in an article Who rejects abortion in the case of rape? It tells you all you need to know about abortion politics. If you are very religious in a fundamentalist way, you're for rapists getting to keep their babies. If you are very ignorant, you are for rapists ge...

It's Romney's Big Chance! (22 Aug 2012 02:43pm)

Obama is temporarily allowing Americans to send aid to Iran to help in the aftermath of its earthquake that killed hundreds. Quick Romney: get a political ad out! I can just see it. "Obama wants Americans to support Iran. Can real Americans support Obama?" You know, an issue ad: ...

On Hating Women (22 Aug 2012 11:12am)

The anti-choice movement is anti-woman. They hate women. When I wrote about Todd Akin, I got a little push back regarding my insinuation that Akin was some kind of a sexual deviant. I want to be clear: I do think that Todd Akin is a sexual deviant. I think that all the fundamentalist religious peop...

Ari Melber Describes the Republican Party (22 Aug 2012 01:31am)

Lawrence O'Donnell interviewed Ari Melber of The Nation today. I thought what he had to say about Paul Ryan and the Republican Party was very good: Paul Ryan was for earmarks before he was against them. He was for deficits before he was against them. And he's part of a political party that inherite...

Mad Citizen Kane (21 Aug 2012 11:18pm)

Via Crooks & Liars, I discovered Mad Kane's Blog. Actually, she has a few—I linked to her humor blog. I haven't spent much time with the blog, but it seems to circle around Madeleine Begun Kane's love of limericks. The limerick is an interesting art form. If you throw out all those that u...

Shame, Shame, Shame (21 Aug 2012 07:50pm)

Stephen Marche just wrote an article about the whole Niall Ferguson brouhaha, The Real Problem with Niall Ferguson's Letter to the 1% at Esquire. He notes that Ferguson charges $50K+ for public speeches, and that this is the audience he is going after: the super wealthy and corporation who can affor...

Two Who Pay Close Attention (21 Aug 2012 01:02pm)

Do you remember this bumper sticker? It has always made a lot of sense to me. Just the same, I try to keep calm. In recent years, this has been more and more difficult. There are two political commentators who I think of when I reflect on, "If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention!" The ...

Infinite Crazy (21 Aug 2012 12:04pm)

Recently, Jamie Peck over at The Gloss decided to see if she could get away with being topless in New York. It resulted in this picture: What is most remarkable about this picture is the book: Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace's masterpiece sort of about the search for a video tape that is so fu...

Stagger to Maturity (20 Aug 2012 06:48pm)

I discovered the quotation below from John Green on the most recent Crash Course World History video. Alfred Crosby is a historian who wrote about how European settlers thrived in Neo-European countries. I don't know much about him. He seems to have added a lot of information about biology to his s...

Fifth Time's a Disaster (20 Aug 2012 03:13pm)

Most of my friends are women, and that means that I have very few friends who are fans of Breaking Bad. In fact, most of them make derisive comments about the show. So basically, I get to talk about the show with Will (who I disagree with much of the time) and read Matthew Yglesias (who I agree wit...

Out of the Mouths of Romney and Fools (20 Aug 2012 12:47pm)

Dylan Matthews over at WonkBlog has a very good article looking at the current crop of Presidential campaign ads. One is the Americans for Prosperity "Has President Obama Earned Your Vote?" ad: Matthews correctly notes: The deficit critic in the ad continues, "I've seen zero interest in reducing ...

Rape and Ha Cha Cha (20 Aug 2012 11:21am)

Ladies (or as I like to think of you, baby vessels), Representative Todd Akin wants you to know that he's got your back. Or your vagina, he didn't get into specifics. By being against the right to abortion even in cases of rape, he isn't saying that you should have to give birth to the rapist's chil...

We're Not Screwing You (19 Aug 2012 01:57pm)

On today's Up with Chris Hayes, he deconstructs the right wing claim that they will not change Medicare for anyone over 55. I've been complaining about this for years, but especially last week. As I wrote then, "In other words: if you are young you probably won't vote for us anyway, so fuck you!" T...

Existential Threats (19 Aug 2012 12:43pm)

There are existential threats all around these days. In the long run, I believe the rich are facing one. In the short run, I am. And the poor always are. Here are a few thoughts on modern American. Class Warfare If there really were class warfare between the 99% and the 1% (actually, more like the...

The People's Touch Not People's Interests (19 Aug 2012 12:31am)

As much as I have problems with his policies and the way that he dealt with the Republicans, the President it great on the campaign trail. He really has the people's touch. It makes me want to follow him. But then I remember that he was going to sell out Social Security and Medicare for a tiny tax w...

My Boy Chris Hayes (18 Aug 2012 04:42pm)

Chris Hayes was fantastic today. He discusses how Paul Ryan's biography betrays his philosophy. He also notes the hypocrisy of Ayn Rand and other conservative icons, but puts it in context. "It's not hypocrisy that bothers me so much as the ridiculous self-serving selective vision of those who have ...

David Rakoff (18 Aug 2012 04:02pm)

David Rakoff died last week on 9 August 2012. He was 47 with a long history of cancer. Today, This American Life did a show dedicated to him. I always really liked him. Listening to him you could tell that he wasn't terribly comfortable in his skin. This I understand. At the end of the program, Thi...

Funny Tombstones (18 Aug 2012 03:06pm)

A friend sent me to a humorous tombstone. It is supposed to be Russell J. Larsen, although I've found a few different ones said to be his: Five Rules for Men to Follow for a Happy Life: It's important to have a woman who helps at home, cooks from time to time, cleans up, and has a job.It's importan...

Heart of Darkness as Frame Story (17 Aug 2012 11:46pm)

I just read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness again—the first time I've read it since I was forced to in college. My reason for reading it was that I had remembered that it was written almost entirely in quotes. In other words, that the story itself was the story of a guy telling the story tha...

Paul Ryan's Holy Trinity (17 Aug 2012 01:30pm)

I was just writing to Reed Richardson, Eric Alterman's unpaid lackey over at The Nation. Without trying, I think I wrote something semi-brilliant—which is my normal approach to brilliance. Reed just wrote an article Brilliant Disguise. This in itself is a disturbing development because it mean...

Matt Taibbi Acts Like a Man (16 Aug 2012 10:03pm)

It's true. I want to be Chris Hayes' father. On good days (like today), I want to be Ezra Klein's foster dad. But never have I admitted to having a man crush—until today. There are men who I think are ideals of male perfection: George Clooney and Antonio Banderas come to mind. I'd like to look...

Deepity (16 Aug 2012 06:54pm)

Daniel Dennett has popularized this new word deepity. Here's another common dodge—not a dodge, a common response: "What God is, is a concept; it's a concept in people's minds; it's a concept that enriches their spirits and inspires them." If you believe this, you're definitely an atheist. G...

Ezra Klein Gets Pissed (16 Aug 2012 12:12pm)

I tell you, this young man is angry. I don't think people understand the significance of this. Despite my recent attempts at humor, Ezra Klein is a sober, careful policy expert. He is not prone to hyperbole. Yet the Romney campaign seems to be driving him over the edge. It is interesting to watch R...

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (16 Aug 2012 11:50am)

Ladies and gentlemen, the Latio Bob Dylan rock god of South Africa: Here is "Rich Folks Hoax": And "Sugar Man": ...

The Entitlement Class (16 Aug 2012 12:47am)

This video will go viral if it hasn't already. Natalie Morales asks about releasing more tax returns and Ann Romney almost jumps out of her seat and attacks the reporter. She is clearly angry, but I don't think this is the most important thing: What comes across most clearly is Ann Romney's sense ...

Conservatives Stop the Vote (15 Aug 2012 11:18pm)

I want to explain why conservatives want to limit the number of people who vote—and I do mean conservatives and not specifically Republicans, because libertarians feel this way too. It all goes back to Plato (or Pluto, the Disney dog—conservatives aren't that clear on the difference). Yo...

Sam Harris on the Word Atheism (15 Aug 2012 03:42pm)

I recently implied something about Sam Harris that I don't actually believe. In The Atheist Libertarian Connection, I indicated that Sam Harris was a libertarian. I don't think this is quite right. It is okay to categorize him as conservative, in the sense that he has been for a number of neoconserv...

He Smiles in Paul Ryan's Face (15 Aug 2012 02:53pm)

If I could talk to Paul Ryan, I would tell him, "He smiles in your face, all the time he wants to take you place." I am speaking, of course, of Ezra Klein. I'm sure you've noticed it. What's he doing? He's getting downright hysterical. Oh, I know what you're thinking: we're all hysterical about Pa...

Blond On Blonde (15 Aug 2012 11:50am)

Recently, I wrote about female TV conservatives who are blond. Immediately, the phone rang. It was Andrea. "That's not how you spell blond," she said, but with an -e on the end of it. "It is blond without an -e for men, and blond with an -e for women." If it weren't for Andrea's large stockpile of...

You Don't Look a Day Older than 76 (15 Aug 2012 10:26am)

This comes via Crooks & Liars. Happy birthday Social Security! ...

Ayn Rand Was NOT a Philosopher (14 Aug 2012 08:42pm)

I thought this was a rather good discussion of Ayn Rand as philosopher. All you need to know about her supposed philosophy is that she claimed it could be boiled down to this: Metaphysics: Objective RealityEpistemology: ReasonEthics: Self-interestPolitics: CapitalismPerhaps you've noticed these kind...

Fuck Me, Please! (14 Aug 2012 12:13pm)

Soledad O'Brien does the most amazing thing: she counter's Romney apologist Barbara Comstock's ridiculous comments about Obama cutting Medicare.[1] The argument the Romney campaign is making is that Obama has cut $700 billion from Medicare and that it is very, very bad. Seniors, be afraid! Be very a...

Bitterness and Sentimentality (13 Aug 2012 11:55pm)

Tonight I watched the 23 December 1960 episode of The Twilight Zone, "The Night of the Meek." It stars Art Carney as Henry Corwin, a man driven to booze by a world that doesn't care about them that're supposed to inherit it. It is a very sentimental crying fest of a movie. And I tend to hate such th...

Gold Stand Gooood; Inflation Baaaad! (13 Aug 2012 01:00pm)

This morning, Brad Plumer writes about Paul Ryan's bizarre ideas about how raising the Fed funds rate would get the economy moving. You see, by making bank credit more expensive, people would start investing more. You know how it is: if you go to the store and lettuce is one dollar, you might buy on...

New York 1938 (12 Aug 2012 11:08pm)

This is via someone named Spocko (If this proves how unhip I am: you're surprised?!) via the always wonderful digby. It is the funniest thing I've seen since last night when I was gorging on Firesign Theater. But still: this is very funny. This shows how Scientology and Objectivism were born. And th...

Stephanopoulos 1; Pawlenty 0 (12 Aug 2012 10:05pm)

Is Tim Pawlenty scared or what?! This is truly amazing: Just in case you aren't as up on all this stuff as weirdos like me: Pawlenty obviously gave Romney more than 2 years of taxes. Why did Romney require more years of taxes than Romney thinks he himself should have to share with the voting publi...

The One Commandment (12 Aug 2012 06:23pm)

There are perhaps as many as 20 million Jains in the world. This is roughly twice as many adherents to Jainism as to Judaism—especially when you consider that a lot of "Jews" follow Judaism as much as I follow Catholicism. And Jainism is a hard road to brush. (Note: Jain joke!) But a beautiful...

Free Will (12 Aug 2012 01:07pm)

I just read Sam Harris' Free Will. There was nothing new in it for me. I have already worked all this stuff out for myself. But it was nice to see the argument laid out so well. For those of you who don't spend all your time fretting about such issues, it goes like this: all of your choices are neur...

Waiting for the Firesign Theater or Someone Like Them (11 Aug 2012 10:22pm)

"You wanna hear me rap? I saw the best minds of my generation..." That is a line from the first Firesign Theater album I ever heard (The first they recorded!), Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him from 1968. I was looking for something to listen to while I made dinner tonight, and I came ...

Reagan 2.0 in 2016! (11 Aug 2012 10:04pm)

I've read a lot today about Mitt Romney's pick of Paul Ryan for the VP spot on his ticket. The best was Paul Krugman referring to them as Gekko and Galt: the "greed is good" character from Wall Street and the demigod from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. But overall, nothing I read sounded correct. To me,...

David Barton Breaks Out and Down (11 Aug 2012 04:13pm)

I have a theory: religion is so big in the United States because it is the only place where people can find any meaning in their lives. From the founding of this country up to recently, America has not been that religious a country. People gave lip service to religion, but the prevailing view was, "...

Unexpected Displeasures (10 Aug 2012 01:02pm)

You can't have missed the Buick Verano Unexpected Pleasures ad campaign. The idea, I guess, is there is some kind of unexpected pleasure to driving a small luxury car, because it is a shocking revelation that a GPS and seat warmer could be put in a small car. Or something. I don't know and I don't c...

Dreaded Click Here Link (09 Aug 2012 11:26pm)

Jonathan Chait wrote an article today about how conservatives are trying to spin a couple of articles about the Tax Policy Center take down of Romney's tax cut proposal. I don't have much to say about that. If this careful work cannot persuade conservatives that there is something wicked and ridicul...

The Atheist Libertarian Connection (08 Aug 2012 06:35pm)

Ian Murphy has written a fun little article called Five Atheists Who Ruin it For Everyone Else. In it, he notes that there is a growing population of people without faith, but that this movement is being hindered by a few high profile atheists, who, for lack of a better word, are assholes. I take is...

Did He Build That? (08 Aug 2012 03:42pm)

You may have seen the original of this picture where small business owner Ray Gaster proclaims, "I built this business without gov't help. Obama can Kiss my ass." Of course, the fact that Gaster owns a lumber yard, means he's received lots over government help in the form of low cost lumber resource...

Fox News Blond Z-294 (08 Aug 2012 11:31am)

I'm not the only person who is bothered by the conservative blond automatons. Last night, Stephen Colbert discussed the coverage of the lack of patriotism at the Olympics in a segment hosted by, "Fox News Blond Z-294, Alisyn Camerota": The Colbert Report was very funny last night. The second segm...

Economic Apologetics (08 Aug 2012 12:28am)

Apologetics is the defense of a particular doctrine. It is a noble endeavor. But as with most things, it can be done poorly or well. Most people think of apologetics with regard to Christianity. But I think we all see it more often in the field of politics—especially economics. It is just tha...

Jerusalem Chalk Circle (07 Aug 2012 04:32pm)

Just to give you an idea of the greatness of Slavoj Žižek, his approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict is remarkably innovative and compassionate. He suggests that both parties should renounce political control of Jerusalem and turn it into an extra-state locale of religious freedom. Doing this wo...

Assumptions Assumptions Assumptions (07 Aug 2012 01:55pm)

Jonathan Chait is at it again, getting laughs while demolishing right wing idiocy. Today, it is fucktard (accent on the tard) Jennifer Rubin and her willful (?) misunderstanding of the Tax Policy Center's analysis of Mitt Romney's tax plan. This is the analysis that showed that even if you accepted ...

Usain Bolt: Spammer (07 Aug 2012 11:33am)

As though he is not busy enough at the Olympics winning every race he is in (he got the gold in the 100 m—of course—and was first in the first round of the 200 m), I got spammed by him this morning. Well, I got spammed by someone with the same name. What are the odds? You would think Bol...

Good Christian Man (06 Aug 2012 06:57pm)

This morning, Pat Robertson was speculating about why people are always shooting up "houses of worship"—as though people shot in movie theaters don't count. He wondered aloud, "What is it? Is it satanic? Is it some spiritual thing, people who are atheists, they hate God, they hate the expressi...

Republican Whining (06 Aug 2012 02:04pm)

Jonathan Chait has a good article this morning about how Romney's entire campaign is based upon a lie. He starts by noting that Obama's campaign is not exactly snow white: his attacks on outsourcing as simplistic and perhaps even misleading. I would add that they are somewhat hypocritical, because O...

Komodo Dragon (06 Aug 2012 02:55am)

I got into bed this evening and put on Lizard Kings: On the Trail of the Monitor Lizard, a NATO program about this very intelligent genus of lizards that includes the Komodo dragon. This reminded me of an old Bob and Ray routine that is one of the funniest things ever. So I got out of bed and listen...

Museum Day (05 Aug 2012 10:37am)

I am gone all day today at the Museum of Natural History. But not this one: It costs 30 bucks for 6 hours! Oh well. ...

Are You Talking to Napalm in the Morning? (05 Aug 2012 12:36am)

I was thinking about the line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from Apocalypse Now. Most people only think of that line, and so the line indicates a bizarre insanity. But I always remember the line as this: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning; it smells like victory." That means so...

The Art of the Opening (04 Aug 2012 10:05pm)

I know what's been on your mind this last week, "Did Frank read Foucault's Pendulum last weekend like he said he would?" Alas, no. Well, a little. I read the first 15 pages. Twice! Let me explain. I don't have a copy of The Name of the Rose, but as I recall, it started well. William and Adso are w...

Internet Suffering (04 Aug 2012 12:25pm)

My friend Ananda sent me a collection of photos from India. Many of them involve grammar errors, but could easily be from the United States or Kingdom. One admonishes people in Ludhiana, "Please don't encourage baggers." Another is a clever drunk driving sign, "After whisky [sic] driving risky." I'l...

Kung Fu Wisdom (03 Aug 2012 11:37pm)

Not to understand a man's purpose does not make him confused. —Master Po If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past. —Master Po In striving for an ideal, we ...

Arms of a Death Angel (03 Aug 2012 10:28pm)

I would like to create a poster. It would be a picture of a dead cat or dog in a clinic. And it would have the caption, "The ASPCA saved me... Right before they killed me." That's what the ASPCA does. And this is why I so hate those heart wrenching ASPCA commercials. If animals under the care of th...

Pepper Spray But One Problem at UC Davis (03 Aug 2012 03:33pm)

I guess I'm glad that Lt. John Pike (Pepper Spraying Cop) has been terminated. But as with all such things (e.g. Abu Ghraib), it seems that Pike was a scapegoat. I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been fired—just that his firing will be used to avoid making structural reforms that are at t...

You Do That Voodoo... (03 Aug 2012 12:19pm)

Rather than something normal like "See you later," I am prone to quoting Cole Porter at the end of conversations. And not just any Cole Porter. "You do that voodoo that you do so well." In my head, it is always said with a German accent, because I mostly know it because of the version by you know ...

The Art of an Iraqi War Criminal (03 Aug 2012 12:45am)

I caught a bit of The Rachel Maddow Show tonight as I made dinner. During one bit, she mentioned that since leading Iraq into ever more chaos for the Bush administration, L. Paul Bremer is now painting. She showed the painting on the left and I thought, "That looks really interesting." So I went to...

RIP: Gore Vidal (03 Aug 2012 12:16am)

I got a few minutes today, so I went looking for video of Gore Vidal, who died the night before last. He was very important to me when I was a teenager—and beyond. I particularly remember his essay Sex Is Politics, which he published in Playboy in 1974. (Ah, for the days when intellectuals cou...

The Dangers of Ideological Purity (02 Aug 2012 06:55pm)

I recently read Violence: Six Sideways Reflections by Slavoj Žižek. I'll have more to write about it later. But there was one line that really struck me. The great thing about Žižek is that he can write a book titled Violence without talking all that much about violence. In the fourth movement, "A...

Is Mormonism More Ridiculous Than Christianity? (01 Aug 2012 04:38am)

I have many problems with Sam Harris, even as I largely agree with him. He is also pretty funny in a low key way. Here is is discussing why Mormonism is necessarily even more ridiculous than Christianity. However, his argument, while funny, is wrong. Not that it matters. Maybe I'll discuss it late...

More Evil Blondness! (01 Aug 2012 01:11am)

I've written about this before. I overheard another evil blonde conservative woman and I had to post this: Susan Del Percio. ...

Put My Face on a Milk Carton (31 Jul 2012 09:20pm)

I'm in the middle of an emergency 24+ hour project. I hope to be back blogging tomorrow evening. ...

Let Buchanan Equal Colmes (29 Jul 2012 03:09pm)

FAIR has long reported on Fox News "liberals"—who are generally nothing more than conservatives in liberal clothing. The other side of this is not much discussed: conservatives on "liberal" shows are generally very conservative. Take Pat Buchanan's longtime association with MSNBC. It was only...

ALEX Exposed (28 Jul 2012 11:38pm)

I'm a big fan of Schoolhouse Rock. In fact, in Otherwise Nice Guys, we used to do the Preamble of the Constitution as an encore—not that anyone ever requested an encore. Here is one of the Schoolhouse Rock videos called "I'm Just a Bill" that shows the traditional route from idea to federal la...

Jehovah's Witness Bible Good?! (27 Jul 2012 11:19am)

Biblical scholar Robert Price has recently started an excellent podcast called The Human Bible. It is a non-religious look at the Bible. I really like it because it explains the bible the same way one would any historically important book. It doesn't require God to understand what the Bible is and h...

Whose Peer Review? (27 Jul 2012 12:15am)

I am spending some time with family who are visiting from out of town. Sorry for being AWOL. But I managed to read a very good article by the ever excellent Dean Baker: Horrors! Unpublished Study Used to Raise Health Questions About Fracking. In it, he discusses a very important unpublished study b...

Friedman Embarrasses Us in New Zealand (25 Jul 2012 11:25pm)

Thomas Friedman was in New Zealand late last year and he did a radio interview with Kim Hill. She beats the shit out of him. From his first word Friedman is on the defense, I assume because he already knew who Hill was. It is nice to hear someone go after him. In the United States, I've only ever he...

Ad Revenue (25 Jul 2012 05:57pm)

What I'm about to say has nothing to do with this site. The only ads on this site are for Amazon, and I only get money if you actually buy something. And then it is only 4% of the purchase price and that doesn't include shipping which is often the most expensive part. I'm thinking of taking down the...

Psychopaths and Turtles (25 Jul 2012 01:25pm)

I'm not nearly one of the first to find this amazing video. And it probably won't get that big because, you know, it's amazing. It is really great. It has the two things that every great video needs: new information about something totally useless and humor of the nerd variety. On the second front, ...

EU Break Up and War (25 Jul 2012 11:53am)

This morning, Paul Krugman speculates about how the impending Eurozone disaster will affect the political climate. In particular, since all of the "reasonable center" parties have been on board with the disastrous austerity program, once the end comes, the only political parties that won't be soiled...

Making Don Quixote Dramatic (24 Jul 2012 05:04pm)

I just finished reading two translations of the first part of Don Quixote and I've begun to see it in a whole new way, at least in terms of theatrical production. Cervantes does something that was greatly improved upon by later writers: he brings a number of subplots together with the main plot. It ...

Your Next President (24 Jul 2012 12:16am)

William Saletan of Slate created a video documenting Mitt Romney's journey regarding reproductive rights. It is appalling (6:43): ...

Conservative Quixotes (23 Jul 2012 07:17pm)

All-star fucktard, Jonah Goldberg has something to say about the United Nations. You know conservatives: they don't like the United Nations because it represents the promise of cooperation. And it goes against this ridiculous notion of American Exceptionalism. This is why conservatives get apoplecti...

Meta for a Hot Night (22 Jul 2012 10:33pm)

It's too darned hot! And yet, I am still working hard to improve the user experience here at Frankly Curious—in ways that almost no one will notice. About a month ago, I added a set of sitemaps over at the right. So if you click on one of the links under "Articles" (other than "Greatest Hits...

Roger Miller (22 Jul 2012 12:04am)

With the right combination of artistic brilliance and full tilt self destructiveness, Roger Miller is a hero to me. A long time amphetamine addict, it was the legal and encouraged drug of smoking nicotine that killed him. At his worst, Miller was a country hack; at his best, he was smart and tuneful...

Shocking Display of Liberal Media Bias (Or Something) (21 Jul 2012 03:00pm)

This is wonderfully silly and delightfully funny. And at only 40 seconds, you should watch it: The interesting thing about this is that I feel for the conservative blogger. I'm pretty careful about looking things up, but I can totally see myself embarrassed in this way. And from a conservative poi...

Thoughts on Killing Hitler and Einstein (21 Jul 2012 12:51pm)

In a very cheeky installment of Alter-Reviews, Eric Alterman discusses using a time machine to go back and watch a Muddy Watters show. He points out that he would first kill Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Then he would go back to Florida in 2000 and show the people how to use their voting machines. I'm i...

Capitalism is Not Meritocracy (20 Jul 2012 08:30pm)

I was just listening to a lecture by Slavoj Žižek where he quoted (of all people) Friedrich Hayek. In it, Hayek says that capitalism necessarily rewards some unworthy people and that this is good. If it were only the meritorious who made it to the top in capitalism, people on the bottom couldn't dea...

All The People Who Died (20 Jul 2012 07:32pm)

Maybe I'm just a crude little man. After 9/11, when people talked about the tragedy to the families of victims, I always thought, "I'm sure glad my mother wasn't killed by a drunk driver on that day." Death is death, right? If 3000 people die unnecessarily, that is more tragic than one person simila...

First as Tragedy, Then as Farce—Why Tea Party and OWS Can't Just Get Along (20 Jul 2012 02:48pm)

A reader suggested that I check out Slavoj Žižek. So I grabbed a copy of First As Tragedy, Then As Farce, his attack on modern liberalism from a leftist persepctive. These are my kinds of books. Part of it is just that I'm an iconoclast. I've already researched libertarian theory about as far as one...

Fitzgerald on Rich Boys (20 Jul 2012 11:18am)

In Paul Krugman's column today, he quotes from F. Scott Fitzgerald's novella The Rich Boy—twice! That's one of the reasons that I like Krugman: he's not only an astute political observer, he's also an interesting and knowledgeable guy. Anyone who quotes Fitzgerald (other than about second acts...

Sex Tonight (19 Jul 2012 11:08pm)

There are two bits of sex in the news that I think I had better address. The first is the man with the world's largest penis. Jonah Falcon, the man with said penis, was stopped at the San Francisco International Airport by TSA agents for the bulge in his pants. Apparently, there was no foreign objec...

The Great Tax Graph Rant (19 Jul 2012 08:47pm)

Ezra Klein sends me to a graph by Naomi Robbins, who is clearly a very smart woman (scientist, grapher). She has created this excellent graph that compares the Obama and Romney federal income tax plans. The main thing about this graph is that it does not distort how much Obama plans to raise taxes t...

Businesses Fleeing to Capitalist Canada (19 Jul 2012 01:58pm)

You've got to see this. I found this new blog Reading is for Snobs via Atrios. The video is queued up at exactly the right place, so there's only about 15 seconds to watch: John Sununu claims that the rich are fleeing to Canada, that great bastion of the free market. When I had heard that conserva...

Ezra's Very Big Problem (19 Jul 2012 12:50pm)

In an article The debate we should be having over ‘you didn’t build that', Ezra Klein says we should really be discussing something other than what we are discussing. This in itself is deceptive. It is only Fox News and colleagues who are discussing President Obama's statement that entrepreneurs did...

John McCain is a Generic Republican (19 Jul 2012 01:31am)

I just tuned into the beginning of The Rachel Maddow Show. She was talking about tests of leadership and mentioned that John McCain passed his test of leadership in this 28 second video clip from the 2008 campaign: I am so tired of McCain getting credit for this. He said this on 10 October 2008. B...

Not Exactly Brain Surgery (18 Jul 2012 11:51pm)

This week I did a little job for a rocket scientist. It reminded me of this skit from The Mitchell & Webb Look about a meeting between two very intelligent (if obnoxious) men. Enjoy: Which reminds me of a joke: A guy walks into a bar and orders three martinis. The bartender says, "You know yo...

Fucktards! Fucktards Everywhere! But Not A One to Shoot! (18 Jul 2012 11:19pm)

Something went very wrong when I wrote about Moe Tucker, the mediocre drummer for the Velvet Underground, and how she had become a member of the Tea Party. It has brought out a lot of loons—non-regular readers who come to the site somehow (not from search engines as far as I can tell). Mostly ...

Ezra Klein Teaches Punditry in One Lesson (18 Jul 2012 07:30pm)

Ezra Klein has a very nerdy sense of humor, but sometimes that's just what's needed. In an article, Want to be a political pundit? Keep this in your pocket, he provides the following table for what to say about something the President says that you know nothing about: ...

Conservative Definition of "Liberal" (18 Jul 2012 02:21pm)

Suzy Khimm over at WonkBlog reports that Harry Reid read an Ornstein and Mann OpEd on the floor of the Senate this morning. It was about Republican obstruction in Congress. You know: the kind of thing that no serious person could contest. But that doesn't mean a silly (or evil) person couldn't cont...

Paul Ryan Shrugged (18 Jul 2012 12:39am)

Back in 2009, Jonathan Chait wrote a substantial article about Ayn Rand for The New Replublic. In particular, he discussed how Rand has changed the modern conservative movement, even as say was never a part of it. As most people know, Paul Ryan is an Ayn Rand devotee. On the surface, this seems kin...

Fox Not As Evil As Previously Thought (17 Jul 2012 10:30pm)

Last month, I wrote an article, The 3 (or 7) Houses of Parliament. It was about a joke in the TV series Arrested Development. For the article, I made a video that used 22.8 seconds from one of their episodes, "The Ocean Walker." And I uploaded it to YouTube.[1] Fox, via some robot on YouTube determ...

The Bane Also Rises (17 Jul 2012 02:35pm)

Rush Limbaugh said today, "Do you think that it is accidental, that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed, whatever-it-is villain in [The Dark Knight Rises] is named Bane?" Here's the whole 4 minute bit: The problem, of course, is that this comment shows a complete lack of fami...

Romney: Do What I Say Not What I Do (17 Jul 2012 12:05pm)

In a widely quoted passage from The Real Romney, Kranish and Helman explain that when Romney was asked to take over Bain Capital, he first demurred. It was only when he received guarantees that if the Bain Capital venture went bad he would not lose any money and that his reputation would be protecte...

"They" Have Been at It Again (16 Jul 2012 11:46pm)

My schedule is kind of chaotic, so I'm posting in clumps. This one just caught my eye. It is a catch from Media Matters in an article, Fox's Carlson: Obama Is 'Apologizing To Foreign Nations All The Time,' But Won't Apologize To Romney. It is less than one minute: What I find interesting about thi...

Aaron Carroll Get a Bit Annoyed (16 Jul 2012 11:19pm)

Aaron Carroll is a doctor and a healthcare blogger. I wrote to him about a year ago about trend changes in healthcare. He was nice enough to write back that he didn't know what the hell I was talking about. Ah, the trials of a PhD scientist![1] Anyway, he takes on Tyler Cowen's column in the New Yor...

A Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch (16 Jul 2012 10:37pm)

If you're like me (And who isn't?) you really liked the phrase "a pair of pliers and a blowtorch" in Pulp Fiction. It isn't that I'm into torture; it is just that it's a great phrase, "I'm gonna call up couple hard pipe hitting niggers to go to work on the homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow...

Raffel's Unique Don Quixote (16 Jul 2012 12:50pm)

As I read through Don Quixote, I try to mix it up in terms of translations. As readers know, my favorite translation is Putnam for various reasons, but most especially because his translation is distinctly better than previous translations and no translation since is distinctly better than his. None...

Be Nice to America (15 Jul 2012 01:10pm)

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Chris Hayes' Pen (14 Jul 2012 03:55pm)

I do a great deal of writing, and I prefer using a pen. In fact, I find it easiest to write fiction when I'm not in front of a computer. And I am very picky about the pens I use. I'll use anything, but if I'm going to get into the groove, I need a good pen. What does that mean? The pen must posses t...

America the Out of Tune (14 Jul 2012 02:49pm)

It has been hard to listen to Mitt Romney sing. Certainly, the fact that I am not tone deaf has something to do with this. But this is not the main reason. It is my intense feelings of pena ajena—the Mexican Spanish phrase for the embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation. Bu...

Eat the Bankers (14 Jul 2012 01:08am)

Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is one of the most important books I've ever read. But at over 700 pages, I have had a hard time convincing many people to read it. So I was pleased to see that Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross had produced a documentary based on the book called (Surprise!) Th...

Don't Drink the Water, Ezra! (13 Jul 2012 02:55pm)

I don't enjoy talking about Ezra Klein, especially now that my article Ezra Klein Gets "Serious" got so much attention, thanks to the kind and wise people at Crooks & Liars. But Klein hit a new low today in an article 14 reasons why this is the worst Congress ever. In it, he claims that the 112th Co...

Give 'em Hell, Harry! (13 Jul 2012 01:12am)

My father sent me to this. Who would have thought Harry Reid and he would ever agree on anything? ...

I Remember... (13 Jul 2012 12:22am)

I'm no big fan of the Democratic Party, but this November I don't see how any thinking person can not support them. And if I were to dream: Obama reelected with a Democratic Congress might do some very good things—things they could have done in 2009 if they hadn't been too chickenshit to get r...

Stupid Petulant Schoolgirl (12 Jul 2012 10:58pm)

Did you know that on average, blondes are more intelligent than brunettes? And yet, we think of blondes as being stupid. I don't know how this started, but I know a big factor in perpetuating this myth: blonde conservative female pundits. Now, I'm not thinking about people like Gretchen Carlson. I ...

Temp Employment Not Up (12 Jul 2012 12:03pm)

On Tuesday, I wrote about how we all are job creators when we buy anything and that because the poor spend all of their money just to get by, they are better job creators than the rich: A Million Poor Job Creators. In that article, I discussed this ridiculous idea that conservatives love to throw ar...

Give a Murderer His Due (12 Jul 2012 01:03am)

Back in 1902, the most important magic book ever was written. (This is debatable, but it's what I think.) It was self-published with the title "Artifice, Ruse and Subterfuge At the Card Table" by a man identified as S. W. Erdnase. It is now known as The Expert at the Card Table and is said to have b...

Robert Reich Being All Smart and Shit (11 Jul 2012 08:35pm)

Robert Reich is at it again being all smart and right and shit. He says that the Progressives want to pull our country into the future whereas the Regressives (represented by a party that starts with "r" but frankly also a lot of the people in a party that starts with "d") want to drag the country b...

Of Puppets and Marginal Tax Rates (11 Jul 2012 10:10am)

The puppet on the left is George. He looks friendly, doesn't he? Well, he's not. If you close his mouth, you can see him for the grim misanthrope that he is. But angry though he may be, we still love George for all the joy that he, as a puppet, provides for all the world, even if he would prefer it ...

A Million Poor Job Creators (10 Jul 2012 08:32pm)

Paul Krugman has an excellent post regarding the incentives of marginal tax rates. He shows that marginal tax rates are highest on low income people trying to wean themselves off welfare programs. I wrote about this before: Catch-22 for Poor in America. Krugman also talks about how the rich don't do...

The Not So Amazing Spider-Man Writers (10 Jul 2012 11:08am)

I spent yesterday with my brother, and as usual, we went to see a movie I would never watch if I were by my self. Although I hate films like The Amazing Spider-Man, it is good to keep up on what Hollywood is capable of doing. And what they are capable of doing is striking another blow against the ar...

Signifying Nothing (10 Jul 2012 12:10am)

I spent the day—the whole day—doing things I will write about tomorrow. But I know how depressed you all get if I don't provide something here to gnaw on. I was just thinking that Orson Welles and Shakespeare are very similar in that they burn so brightly at times but overall are disappo...

Is Bobby Goldsboro Cool? (08 Jul 2012 07:11pm)

Let me come right and say it: if it weren't for the hair, Bobby Goldsboro would be cool—or at least a whole lot more cool than most people think he is. Let's look at the facts. He got his start in music as guitarist and band leader for Roy Orbison. That's very cool. And much of his work is sol...

And Shakespeare Wrote "And" (07 Jul 2012 10:37pm)

Here is a quote I got from The Great Divergence. It is Willford I. King in an article for American Economic Review: [H]ow many germs you consumed at this morning's breakfast, or how many times per page Shakespeare used the word "and," rest assured that the data are awaiting your examination. Two th...

The Great Divergence (07 Jul 2012 09:20pm)

Ever noticed how you don't hear much about economic inequality? Sure, you'll hear about poverty and how to employ more people. But when it comes to structural inequality, forget about it. And the reason is that it is the rich who determine what is discussed in the public square and they do not like ...

Ezra Klein Gets "Serious" (06 Jul 2012 12:17pm)

Ezra Klein has an interesting article about the jobs plans of Obama and Romney. But as usual, he is maddeningly "even handed" in a case that is not even. He claims that each have four main items. First, he gives Romney's: Expand domestic energy productionTrade agreements with Latin AmericaTrade pol...

Happy 4th: American Imperialism (04 Jul 2012 12:36pm)

You can't love an object you don't really see. See America, and then we'll talk. We're number one! We're number one!...

Pathetic Rock Journalism at Rolling Stone (03 Jul 2012 09:58pm)

Just a quick note. I was looking at The Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Such exercises are silly, of course. For one thing: of all time? There is not a single classical guitarist on the list. There is no guitarist on the list from before 1930. But okay, I'll play along. Certain th...

Libertarian Pets (03 Jul 2012 09:05pm)

I'm away visiting family so I won't have much to say here. I did come upon this great cartoon over at Patheos, in a discussion of bleeding heart libertarians that is well worth reading. ...

Who Mourns for Governor Yells-At-People? (03 Jul 2012 12:53am)

Watch this video and see if you can't managed just a little sympathy for Governor Yells-At-People: I have almost no capacity to stay mad at someone who is not actively being a dick. So I could take Christie's side in a second, if only he would stop being a dick. The problem is that he never does s...

Crab v. Dachshund (02 Jul 2012 03:49pm)

Unlike most videos that feature dogs, I do not find this adorable. But it is very interesting: What we see here is gross difference in perspective. The Dachshund is playing—it might as well be chasing a ball. But for the crab, this is an existential conflict. Even if the dog means it no harm...

Reich on Romney (02 Jul 2012 12:57pm)

Robert Reich has written a very interesting article for The Nation called Mitt Romney and the New Gilded Age. It discusses how it came to be that one of the two major political parties in the United States nominated a man for president who epitomizes everything that is wrong in our country. It was o...

God Bless Naive Fools (01 Jul 2012 11:28pm)

For about three and a half years, I've really hated the bumper sticker on the left. There are a lot of reasons. The first was that I saw it within a week of his taking office. Clearly, people were putting "So how do you like Obama now?" on their bumpers because you just couldn't fit, "I'm an asshole...

Absurdity Today (01 Jul 2012 11:17am)

Julianna Forlano, a stand-up comedian out of Brooklyn, has created a regular (every 2-4 weeks) YouTube show called Absurdity Today or "Ironic News Report." She's been doing it for a bit over a year with good results. Her shtick is low key sarcasm—a refreshing change of pace from the fiercely p...

SCOTUS Sasquatch Uphold ACA! (01 Jul 2012 10:49am)

Just so you don't think that I'm hiding from my incorrect prediction regarding the SCOTUS ACA ruling, I'm bringing you Avedon Carol's correct prediction: Carol is right: it is all about corporate profits. I don't buy all the discussion to the effect that Roberts is trying to save the legitimacy of...

Joplin Kills Summertime Every Time (01 Jul 2012 12:02am)

Atrios just put up this video of Janis Joplin with the Kozmic Blues Band performing live in Stockholm. What's important is that she killed with this song whenever she did it: The first time I ever heard this song was her singing with Big Brother and the Holding Company on their Cheap Thrills album...

Gini Coefficient (30 Jun 2012 01:43pm)

The Gini Coefficient is a number between zero and one that measures income inequality, or more generally, how non-randomly distributed a sample is. If everyone in the nation made exactly the same amount, the Gini Coefficient would be zero. If one person had all the money, it would be one. It is defi...

Killing Device 13417670 (30 Jun 2012 12:35am)

This is the serial number of a piece of debris from a drone strike in Pakistan that allegedly (but almost certainly) killed civilians. Your tax dollars at work. This was reported tonight on The Rachel Maddow Show. In general, I'm not fond of Maddow's coverage of war because it is too America-centere...

Antonin Scalia's Mental Degradation (29 Jun 2012 09:43pm)

Despite my reminder, I'm not sure what I wanted to write about. It may have something to do with the fact that I drank a beer and I am a light-weight in the Teetotaler's Drinking Olympics. But I'm not so far gone to forget to mentioned that the word "teetotaler" has nothing to do with "tea" as is co...

Ben Bradlee and Integrity (29 Jun 2012 04:45pm)

I'm posting this to remind myself of something I want to write later today. But it also happens to be great. In an excellent column on Wednesday, Eric Alterman wrote Attack Dog Jennifer Rubin Muddies the Washington Post's Reputation. He tells the story of the Washington Post and their search for a ...

Twisted Stretched (28 Jun 2012 11:48pm)

I was recently reminded of Jonathan Kellerman's novel Twisted. It came up in a conversation about Ayn Rand's novels. There are many things to dislike about them: bad plots and ridiculous characters come easily to mind. But without doubt the most annoying thing about her novels is how she puts her ph...

Daily Show Triples Down on "Fast and Furious" (28 Jun 2012 11:23am)

The Daily Show often annoys me. Unlike The Colbert Report, Jon Stewart seems to have at least a couple of "conservative" comedians. Or his otherwise liberal comedians really have to strain when trying to produce comedy from a conservative standpoint. For various reasons, The Colbert Report feels no ...

Little Con in Paper Moon (27 Jun 2012 04:59pm)

I don't tend to think of Peter Bogdanovich as a great filmmaker. But if a man makes a great film, that probably makes him a great filmmaker, right? The truth is, I haven't seen a lot of his films. I had always thought that The Last Picture Show was his first film. Instead, he made two really tantal...

Foxy Grandpa and Walter Johnson (27 Jun 2012 12:58pm)

I am researching the great baseball pitcher Walter Johnson for a book I'm writing. This involves reading Henry W. Thomas' Walter Johnson: Baseball's Big Train, which is the only really good biography of Johnson. The book relates some newspaper accounts of his early years that seem to amuse Thomas, b...

Harry Reid Gets Mad (27 Jun 2012 01:53am)

It is somewhat heartening to know that men like Harry Reid are in positions of power: I'll update regarding what comes of this. Update Today, the Senate passed the Flood Insurance bill without Rand Paul's amendment. You go Harry! ...

The Devil Wears Robes (26 Jun 2012 11:22pm)

Scott Lemieux has an excellent article over at The American Prospect about yesterday's ruling on Arizona's SB 1070—the "Show me your Papers!" law. He spends most of the article talking about Scalia's angry dissent. I don't pay enough attention to the Supreme Court, but even I've noticed that S...

No More Orgasms for Nora (26 Jun 2012 09:12pm)

Nora Ephron, writer and director of many successful "chick flicks," died from pneumonia earlier today. That's sad, she was only 71. But I have never thought much of her work. She kind of epitomized professionalism without depth. I rather liked some of her films in that "watch them in bed while you d...

Moonrise Kingdom Might Be Good (26 Jun 2012 04:13pm)

Wes Anderson has a film coming out called Moonrise Kingdom. This is not exactly big news: What I find interesting is that this film looks good. I think that Anderson has a lot of talent, but the only film of his I've liked was The Royal Tenenbaums. I think there is something about his worldview th...

I Wish More People Liked Me Than Knew Me (25 Jun 2012 11:22pm)

I went to watch the newest Crash Course video from the Vlog Bros. And by the way, I've come to think that they aren't nearly as good as I had once thought. John Green, in particular, is very interesting and funny, but not very informative. In particular, I didn't think his recent Renaissance video w...

Kittens Are People, My Friend (25 Jun 2012 02:45pm)

Corporations are things owned by people. This is what Mitt Romney meant when he said, "Corporations are people, my friend!" (Don't you love the condescending tone of that "my friend"?) I don't accept this, of course. Another example of how wrong this is, is that we can't set up our cats as employees...

Forget the Policy: They Just Hate You (25 Jun 2012 01:46pm)

Jonathan Chait says what few in the mainstream media will: the GOP think healthcare is a privilege. He writes [Bold is mine. -FM]: This is why it’s vital to bring yourself face-to face with the implications of mass uninsurance — not as emotional manipulation, but to force you to decide what forms o...

Bugs: Rabbit or Hare? (25 Jun 2012 11:35am)

You can go your whole life without asking the really important questions. For example, I've gone almost five decades without ever considering the species of Bugs Bunny. I know what you're thinking: his name is Bugs Bunny, so he must be a rabbit. And yet, most of the cartoons have titles like "Hare ...

Post-Truth Politics (24 Jun 2012 09:26am)

I was kind of hard on Chris Hayes yesterday about his book Twilight of the Elites. But he is still an exceptional political observer. He is great at the beginning of this clip: ...

Twilight of an Elite? (23 Jun 2012 07:50pm)

As my regular readers know, I like Chris Hayes. He's smart. He's knowledgeable. And he's cute as a button. If I had a son, I'd want him to be just like Chris Hayes, even though I know he would be much more like Ezra Klein. I was really looking forward to his new book, Twilight of the Elites: America...

Out Pandoa's Box: Madeleine Peyroux (23 Jun 2012 01:19pm)

I was listening to my Jacques Brel channel on Pandora. I am used to a lot of (too much) Django Reinhardt and Edith Piaf. But suddenly, I was hearing Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday?! I switched over to my Pandora tab and immediately, I was face to face with... an ad for Santa Rosa singles between the...

Sex, Photos, and Blues (22 Jun 2012 01:09pm)

I hate Norton Security Suite. Don't buy it. Get Microsoft Security Essentials—it is far better and free. However, I think this Norton commercial, Grandma was a Hottie, is really good: But it's no reason to buy their terrible product....

Ha-Joon Chang's Excellent 23 Things (22 Jun 2012 12:51pm)

Last week I read Ha-Joon Chang's exceptional 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism. Frankly, I'm smitten with Chang. Andrea claims I have some kind of man-crush on Paul Krugman. There is no doubt that I am very impressed by this ability to make economics[1] understandable, his insightful ex...

Tim Burton's Big Mess (21 Jun 2012 10:49pm)

This is how I imagine it happened. Tim Burton's phone rings. It is Richard Zanuck and he is agitated. "You've got to start shooting Dark Shadows. The people at Warner are concerned about a new Twilight picture. They're ready to pull the plug." "The script's not ready, Dick," Burton responds. "It's...

Bennie and the Fed (21 Jun 2012 02:10pm)

Lots of politics today. Matthew Yglesias asks a very smart question, "If the unemployment and inflation rates were reversed, would the Fed do something about it?" You see, the Federal Reserve has a double mandate: minimize inflation and maximize employment. Right now, the inflation rate is less than...

CEO: Romantic Hero Archetype (21 Jun 2012 01:27pm)

Melissa Harris-Perry—who is Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned—had a nice segment on her show last weekend. She discusses this idea that a business career is a great (or even) good background for someone becoming the POTUS. It is a good discussion: One thing that isn't discussed is an ide...

Income Distribution - Perceptions and Truth (21 Jun 2012 12:24am)

This amazing graph is taken from The Rachel Maddow Show. It is based upon work from the two academics listed on the graph. The bottom chart is the distribution of income that Americans think would be right. The yellow line is the top 20% of earners, the orange line is the next 20%, and so on. The mi...

We Are All Change—and Not (20 Jun 2012 06:31pm)

I just read Jerzy Kosinski's novella Being There. Its studied deepness is strangely compelling. The book is very short: 140 pages with loads of white space. I'm a slow reader, but I think it took me less time to read it than it had taken to watch the filmed version. The film is very true to the n...

Great Brain Still Great (19 Jun 2012 09:02pm)

When I was a kid, I loved John D. Fitzgerald's The Great Brain series. So I thought I would revisit it to see if I had any taste whatsoever when I was a youngster. I couldn't find the original The Great Brain nor my favorite, The Great Brain at the Academy. But I did find More Adventures of the Grea...

Conservative Energy Priorities (18 Jun 2012 11:35am)

Brad Plumer over at WonkBlog is writing about activists calling for an end to the $775 billion per year spent to subsidize the oil, gas, and coal industries. In the United States alone, it is over $11 billion per year. It really is shocking, because these industries are hugely profitable. Contrast ...

The 3 (or 7) Houses of Parliament (17 Jun 2012 02:41pm)

I tried to upload a video from Arrested Development to You Tube. It was 22.8 seconds long and it was bookmarked between a screen that read, "Sometimes satire just makes things worse." And "Now millions of 'hip' Americans think Parliament has 3 houses. Maybe it's because Congress has three houses." ...

Happy Father's Day (17 Jun 2012 11:17am)

You may remember that for Mother's Day, I posted this really great video Thank You Mom. So I went looking for something similar for Father's Day. The results were poor. All of the videos celebrating Father's Day were not only explicitly Christian, they had a very traditional view of fathers. Even w...

Dick on a Wire (16 Jun 2012 12:12am)

My father seemed to be impressed with Nik Wallenda's upcoming high wire walk over Niagara Falls. It seems really boring to me. I just can't see it as much of anything after seeing Man on a Wire a couple of years ago. So I forced my father to watch it. He was very impressed, but still looked forward ...

Woody Allen and Narration (14 Jun 2012 09:57pm)

Woody Allen has impressed me with his use of narration. I think it goes back to his fundamental orientation as a short story writer. In particular, Broadway Danny Rose is probably the best use of narration in a film ever. And I think everyone remembers the Greek chorus in Mighty Aphrodite. I've got...

The Other Evil (13 Jun 2012 10:07pm)

There were several things that I was going to write today, but it is too darn hot.[1] So I'm going to just quickly note that Colin Powell is on a book tour hocking what looks to be a real POS, It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership. On The Daily Show he said the book can be summed up by the first...

Mauvais Rêves (12 Jun 2012 01:41pm)

My friend Toni told me about a recent dream. She was driving in her car with John Waters, the iconoclastic creator of such films as Pink Flamingos and Serial Mom. This was very exciting for Toni, because she really likes him. Maybe because of this or maybe just because it is what anyone would do whi...

Dormouse is a Dormouse (11 Jun 2012 07:23pm)

Is it necessary to note that a rat is not a mouse? Or a squirrel? Yet it seems to be news that the dormouse is not a mouse. Admittedly, if rats were called ratmice, there might be more confusion. And rightly so! But there are 29 species of dormouse. What is going on?! There are a couple of things...

Bad Dreams/Sweet Romance (10 Jun 2012 06:57pm)

Has pop music advanced in the last three decades? Let's look at the evidence. Here from just three years ago, is a song that, given what it is, is quite good: And here is pretty much an identical song from 26 years earlier: This occurred to me today when a motorcycle drove past me blasting what ...

You Say Potato and I Say Genetically Modified Food Product (10 Jun 2012 02:54pm)

There is something unethical at the core of conservative thought. I even saw it in myself when I was a libertarian. At that time, I really did not want a lot of people voting because I knew that they would not vote along with my Loony Tunes[1] ideology. This came to my mind this morning, reading Er...

Heterodox Economics (10 Jun 2012 12:53pm)

I just finished Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang. It is refreshing to read an economist who attacks the free trade movement. I've long said that I look forward to a time when I disagree with Paul Krugman. The truth is that we disagree about...

Heart of a Dog (10 Jun 2012 12:48am)

For the first time in decades, I watched The Wizard of Oz. When I was a kid, I didn't like it. The Kansas scenes seemed so bleak and the Oz scenes scared me. It was pleasant to see that it is a wonderful, ridiculously sentimental film. It reminded me of a Powell and Pressburger film, but you know......

Second Person Singular Cover (09 Jun 2012 08:01pm)

I grabbed a copy of Sayed Kashua's Second Person Singular yesterday because of its cover: ...

Ha-Joon Chang (09 Jun 2012 10:28am)

As I wrote yesterday, I'm reading University of Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang's Bad Samaritans and I'm waiting for his new book 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism. Here is a taste of his thinking: ...

What the Fins Think of Elephants (08 Jun 2012 11:00am)

I read this joke in Bad Samaritans. It is a good example of how you can find a joke funny because you learn something rather than because it reinforces your knowledge. Here is my telling: A German, Frenchman, American, and Fin are asked to write a book about elephants. The German, being very thorou...

Misquoting Jesus (07 Jun 2012 01:39pm)

I just read a remarkable book, Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman. It tells the story of the centuries long effort to reconstruct the New Testament. Along the way, he provides a lot of information about the early Christians. I find this stuff fascinating, because when I was growing up, the Bible was su...

People Make Typos; People Can Stop Them! (06 Jun 2012 11:05pm)

Joseph Stiglitz has written an excellent article, The Price of Inequality over at Project Syndicate. He argues that economic inequality makes the economic system less stable. I've been seeing this point argued a lot more over the past year. It should come as no surprise that I find the argument comp...

Cat Video (05 Jun 2012 09:41pm)

I'm sorry, but I just really like this commercial: If you don't, you're a horrible person. ...

Vive la république! (05 Jun 2012 12:39pm)

I was talking to Will this morning and he asked how I was going to vote Prop. 29, the California cigarette tax. I told him that I thought it was a good idea. He countered that he didn't like the idea of making smokers, who are generally poor in more than one way, pay this tax. If he could tax the ci...

A Tale of Two Stories (05 Jun 2012 10:51am)

This morning, Will sent me two stories from the Press Democrat that are revealing. Sunday, we have A flurry of flipping. It tells a glowing story of Blue Mountain Realty: In an unprecedented effort to buy and flip distressed properties in Sonoma County, a Vacaville company has purchased more than $...

The Raven Doesn't Suck (05 Jun 2012 12:10am)

Previously, I made a bit of fun of the new film The Raven. And I didn't follow through on my promise to be the first person in line on opening day. It got away from me; it wasn't exactly well publicized. But I saw it today. First the bad news: my reading of the film based upon its trailer was total...

You Are What You Love (03 Jun 2012 10:08pm)

In my usual way of obsessing about things, I've been on a Charlie Kaufman jag. I just want to say a couple of quick things about Adaptation. It is a fun film, but I tend to think not great. But we'll see. Duality of the Artistic Personality There seems to be some belief that Kaufman created the tw...

Kafofell? Kerfuffle! (03 Jun 2012 02:49pm)

Like Michael Steele, I like the word kerfuffle. Unlike Michael Steele, I know how to pronounce it: Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a pedant. ...

There Can Be But One! (03 Jun 2012 02:00pm)

I wasn't surprised to hear that Richard Dawson had died. I have been surprised up until now that he had managed to live longer than almost everyone else in the cast of Hogan's Heroes. To quote a bad movie, "There can be only one!" And that one is Robert Clary. At 5'1", Clary shows that it really ...

Love Conquers Poses (03 Jun 2012 12:59pm)

I used to have a friend—a smart and funny guy. He is kind of an archetype to me, however. Because of his emotional unavailability, people really wanted to be around him. It was often commented that wherever he was around, you could tell he was calculated whether he might be having a better tim...

Conservative Foolishness on Electric Cars (03 Jun 2012 12:05pm)

Liberals can be silly; I've written about this recently. But conservatives are really the kings of talking out their asses. I've been amazed by the recent attacks on funding for solar panels (Solyndra) and electric cars. The argument seems to be that the government should only invest in sure things&...

KISS Doesn't Want to Hire a Vet (02 Jun 2012 05:42pm)

I don't know where exactly I saw it, but there was a headline that read, "KISS Wants to Hire Vet."[1] My reaction was immediate. I thought, "Interesting. The most clownish band has decided to become even more ridiculous by having animals in their stage show." I couldn't have been more wrong. KISS j...

Sauce Is Good For the Goose! (02 Jun 2012 12:22pm)

Thursday, the Romney campaign sent a bunch of protesters to heckle David Axelrod's event in Boston. When asked about this, Romney said, "Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander." What's interesting about this is that most commentators (especially on MSNBC) are focusing on the goose line rather ...

Pay No Attention! (02 Jun 2012 12:05am)

Atrios writes: It's just not polite to mention the fact that if they had any decency, all the top people at the Fed would be resigning in shame. There would be public pressure for them to do so, and the press would amplify such pressure. Instead it's just LEAVE BEN BERNANKE ALOOOOOOONE, trust the m...

True Love: Barefoot in Her Shift (01 Jun 2012 07:13pm)

I just watched The Sanctuary Sparrow, the second episode of the TV series based upon The Cadfael Chronicles, the Edith Pargeter novels about an unusual 12th century monk, Brother Cadfael, who solves murders and generally delights us by being more enlightened than his comrades. I won't go into the d...

Themes in the Bourne Movies (01 Jun 2012 12:32am)

Last week I introduced my father to the feature film version of The Bourne Identity. He really liked it, so I showed him The Bourne Supremacy and finally tonight The Bourne Ultimatum. As cheesy Hollywood superhero action films, they are fine. In fact, The Bourne Supremacy is actually kind of good. I...

Krugman vs. Austerians (31 May 2012 03:09pm)

This is great. In this country, I've noticed that people who disagree with Paul Krugman tend to simply ignore his arguments and call him crazy. Last night, he was on the BBC's Newnight, debating vulture capitalist Jon Moulton and conservative MP Andrea Leadsom. The two came out swinging and got blo...

Inform the Truth Then Again Again (31 May 2012 10:56am)

Since I've been moderating my blogs, I've noticed a lot of the same things over and over. The main thing I've noticed is that whoever the people who are writing these things are, they don't write English very well. But some of them are clever. The first time you get them, they make you wonder. One ...

Krauts with Attitude (30 May 2012 11:09pm)

Yesterday, Brad Plumer over at WonkBlog wrote an article called Today in European Stereotypes, which contained some really interesting data from a couple of different sources. Plumer chose to provide the data in stages in order to present it as a mystery story. And he was very effective. I for one c...

First Thoughts: Synecdoche, New York (30 May 2012 03:20pm)

Actually: first and second thoughts. Karl Paniczny suggested that I watch Synecdoche, New York, the directorial debut of Charlie Kaufman. He suggested that it might be my kind of film. I don't have much to say, because I've seen it only once. But that was more than enough to have first and second t...

Two Quick Thoughts on Karate Kid (29 May 2012 09:41pm)

Quick Thought One John Avildsen is a great director. I'm glad that Karate Kid was a success, but it kind of sucks when you consider that Avildsen directed Joe and Rocky. The great thing about him is that he has a vision. He fails more than he succeeds, but he always[1] succeeds his own way. And tha...

End This Depression Now! (29 May 2012 03:20pm)

I hadn't planned to read Paul Krugman's new book End This Depression Now! I read his blog every day and I've read all of his books for lay audiences, so I didn't think there would be much to offer in this book. But I couldn't help myself. The book is a quick read; Krugman writes in a breezy style th...

The World Forgetting by the World Forgot (27 May 2012 01:00am)

In the poem Eloisa to Abelard, Alexander Pope wrote: How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd. I know this, not because I'm big into 18th century poetry. I know it because...

Restore the Old Top Tax Bracket (25 May 2012 09:39pm)

The graph on the left shows the median family income over the last 35 years. What you notice is that incomes have not increased much over this time period: roughly $5,000 or 10%. That is far far far less than the per capita increase in income over that same time. The reason for this is that almost a...

Pena Ajena! (24 May 2012 08:45pm)

So Bad So Good published an interesting article a few weeks back called 25 Handy Words That Simply Don’t Exist In English. It says, "We look at 25 words that simply don’t exist in the English langauge (and yet after reading this list, you’ll wish they did!)" It is a fun article, but I have a few tho...

God Hates Figs (24 May 2012 03:48pm)

I've written before about Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church and their campaign (and website) "God Hates Fags!" Well, some clever person has noticed that they have it all wrong. It isn't fags; it's figs. Click on the image to buy the shirt. Or don't. I have no stake in it. Mark 11 (New American S...

American Unexceptionalism (24 May 2012 10:26am)

Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman got caught in a brouhaha recently after claiming that he wasn't sure if President Obama was a citizen. This is a big deal because it calls into question the legitimacy of the government by one of its official representatives. This statement didn't really bother me, ...

Pretend Scientist Fred Singer (23 May 2012 10:34pm)

When I was a global change scientist, I had occasion to hang out with Fred Singer. This isn't surprising, because I was an iconoclast in a group of iconoclasts. And the fact is that at that time (the early 1990s), there was a lot to doubt about global warming. The models weren't that good and we had...

NATO Protest: 20 May 2012 (23 May 2012 09:04pm)

Our friend, the photographer George Henry was at the NATO protest on Sunday. And for the kindness of covering the event, he was beaten up and arrested. Of course, that doesn't distinguish him from many people at the event. In the photo below, we see our protectors of order protecting the order. Geor...

Sarah Palin: Stupid and Evil Defined (23 May 2012 12:45am)

I take back anything nice or understanding I ever said about Sarah Palin. She is stupid—at least compared to other people who are around her—people like Sean Hannity, who are not themselves intellectual giants. Ditto for her morality, which at least is no worse than that of those who ar...

Famous Blue Raincoat (22 May 2012 09:49pm)

In a conversation, Leonard Cohen came up—in particular, his song Famous Blue Raincoat. It is my kind of song. It is written as a letter to a brother. It recounts the story of the brother cheating with the writer's wife: "So you treated my woman to a flake of your life / And when she got home s...

Spambot Update (22 May 2012 08:00pm)

Here is some spam from earlier today: Thank you for another excellent post. Where else may just anybody get that kind of info in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am on the look for such info. hello!,I really like your writing so so much! share we be in con...

Fuente Ovejuna (22 May 2012 01:18pm)

I recently read the Angel Flore and Muriel Kittel translation of Lope de Vega's Fuente Ovejuna. It was written right at the end of Shakespeare's career, when he was writing such gems as Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen. Fuente Ovejuna is not a perfect play by any means, but by the standards of t...

The Meaning of Facebook (21 May 2012 12:24pm)

As regular users know, I read Ezra Klein regularly, but I have problems with him. He is too intent on seeing both sides of every conflict, even when he has to strain credulity to do so. Thirty years ago, the truth was somewhere between left and right in this country—more to the left, but the r...

Klan Members for Obama! (20 May 2012 09:03pm)

Jim Lo Scalzo spent last summer in Southwestern Virginia taking pictures of the resurgent Klu Klux Klan. Before we get to the great article he wrote for Bag News, I feel I must tell you that I had no idea the Klan outfits were so beautiful. They are really gorgeous. If they would embrace their inne...

Who Gets to be a Hypocrite Around Here? (20 May 2012 01:41pm)

John Scalzi at his Whatever Blog has a great flowchart explaining who gets to be a dick on his website: I would create something similar, but that isn't the way it works around here. In general, anyone can be as big a dick as they want. I just don't have enough people commenting to complain. In fa...

TED Talks Show True Colors (17 May 2012 09:45pm)

There's been much controversy about Nick Hanauer's talk for TED. He made an argument that shouldn't even have to be made: high levels of inequality are not only morally wrong but bad for the rich as well as the poor and middle class. At first, the head of TED, Chris Anderson, would not post the vide...

The Agony and Ecstasy of Mathilde (17 May 2012 12:46am)

Scott Walker is a fine musician, with interesting ideas and a great voice. And yet, when I listen to this great Jacques Brel song, I can't help but think of it as I do Pat Boone performing Blueberry Hill: As opposed to Fats Domino. Here is Jacques Brel, debuting the original song, Mathilde: Can...

Birthday Rankings! (16 May 2012 10:55pm)

I'm going to be out most of tomorrow, so I may not post anything (not that I've been all that consistent recently). But that's not why I'm posting this. It just struck me as too cool: Taken from Daily Mail....

Conservative "Morality" (16 May 2012 10:17pm)

I'm very fond of Robert Reich, but I think he is fundamentally wrong in discussing how conservatives have public and private morality backwards. Yesterday, he noted that Mitt Romney thinks that banks—in particular, J. P. Morgan Chase—should be allowed to do whatever they want, because th...

"Power Players" on Jeopardy! Out of Touch (16 May 2012 09:42pm)

This week on the game show Jeopardy! they are presenting "Power Players," which is basically media figures. Tonight the show featured evil spawn of an arguably great man, Chris Wallace; proof that anyone can become a doctor and have their own TV show, Dr. Oz; and hardly great but the British press a...

Jean-Pierre Rampal Plays Francis Poulenc (15 May 2012 06:59pm)

This is arguably the greatest piece ever written for the flute. It is Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Flute and Piano. Here it is played by Jean-Pierre Rampal, the flutist the Sonata was composed for: And here is the master getting funky with composer Claude Bolling (also on piano[1]): [1] When f...

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing (15 May 2012 05:37pm)

Elmore Leonard is not one of my favorite writers, but I will allow that he has talent. And if forced to choose between Stephen King, J. K. Rowling, Danielle Steele. and Leonard, I'd pick Leonard. Faint praise, I know. It's no wonder that so many of his novels have become films, because that is about...

Thank You Mom (13 May 2012 11:21am)

Happy Mothers' Day! ...

Jean Ferrandis Slums in Santa Rosa (13 May 2012 12:07am)

I am very poor. It has been many years since I have been to any live concert, much less a symphony. But I received a card in the mail alerting me to an upcoming performance by the Santa Rosa Symphony. The conductor, Bruno Ferrandis, had brought his brother, flutist Jean Ferrandis, in for the season ...

Letter to the Editor (11 May 2012 10:03pm)

I always look forward to Fridays, for many reasons, but especially because Eric Alterman releases his blog post that day where he also has at least one of his own articles and one by Reed Richardson. Last week, I clicked over to The Nation where Alterman keeps his blog, Altercation, and... Nothing! ...

Which Came First: Settlements or Farming? (10 May 2012 09:00pm)

The Neolithic Revolution is the time about 10,000 years ago when humans in a number of places independently stopped hunting and gathering and started to farm. As a result, it is said, humans settled down; they stopped being nomadic. But in an article over at Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and Jam...

We're Doomed (10 May 2012 08:19pm)

When I was working in the field in the early 1990s, the concentration of carbon-dioxide was roughly 340 ppmv. I knew it was rising, of course; but I was surprised to read today that it is now just short of 400 ppmv. This is worrying enough, but yesterday, that titan of the field, James Hanson, wrote...

Enormous Mustache (10 May 2012 06:57pm)

As I've reported before, Atrios named Thomas Friedman the Wanker of the Decade. Via his site, The Partisan Report has produced Thomas Friedman Is An Enormous Mustache. It is the funniest thing I've seen this week, and that's saying a lot. ...

George Zimmerman and Fernwood 2 Night (10 May 2012 12:26pm)

Is this still funny in the age of George Zimmerman? Yes! ...

Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned III (09 May 2012 01:11pm)

I thought it about time to go back to my sort of sexist hobby of ogling at female public intellectuals. In my defense, I have wanted to include men because (1) this isn't about sex and (2) Chris Hayes is cute as a button. (Sadly, I'm afraid that Hayes would not make the cut—he falls a little s...

Moon: Deeply Affecting Intelligent Film (08 May 2012 10:32pm)

I just watched Moon, the film about He3 mining on the moon that stars Sam Rockwell. It is a deeply affecting film. There are no such things as spoilers. Even films with surprise endings like The Sixth Sense are better if you know the plot. So as usual, I am not going to worry about spoiling this fi...

Working for the NSA (06 May 2012 09:56pm)

The problem with working for the NSA: That's part of it for sure. Update Just so you know: I think Good Will Hunting is a terrible film—especially coming from Gus Van Sant, who has made a few great films. Of course, what really makes it retched is the script: a child's idea of "deep." But ...

Marvel's The Despots (06 May 2012 06:39pm)

Over years of watching way too many movies, I have a long list of movie cliches that annoy me. These are most definitely not things like people never saying "goodbye" before they hang up the phone. Only a much worse pedant than I would have a problem with that. What I'm talking about are offensive n...

Keep Calm and Carry On (04 May 2012 09:07pm)

I thought I was way behind in posting here, but I see I did something late last night or this morning (I am losing track of my life): a rant about Peter Beinart's book. Anyway, I found this movie from a list of favorite videos of C.G.P. Grey (see link on the right). I find this uplifting: keep calm ...

War Monger Apologia (04 May 2012 12:41am)

I was working in Silicon Valley for the last couple of years of the boom. The bust came as no surprise to me. I was working for a real estate investment company up through 2006. The later financial meltdown came as no surprise to me. I was freelancing up through 2003 and so was listening to a lot of...

The Giant Tortoise Protector (02 May 2012 06:16pm)

I'm kind of busy with other stuff at the moment—mostly trying to figure out how to use a teleprompter without looking like I'm insane. But I came upon this great little video via WonkBlog. Check it out; it's only a couple of minutes long: "I've been offered millions... And I've said no." My...

May Day Reading (01 May 2012 10:26pm)

On this May Day, it seems like a good time to talked about a great American tradition: socialism. I've never thought that much about socialism, because I learned in an introductory course in economics that pretty much every country on earth is a mixed economy: part socialist and part capitalist. And...

Happy May Day (01 May 2012 02:16pm)

Media Matters is reporting on the Fox News campaign to link May Day to Soviet Russia. As they point out, May Day started in 1867 after a week-long strike in response to the fact that "a state law limiting the work day to eight hours was ignored." Later today, I will have more to say about socialism ...

Mystery Video (01 May 2012 11:44am)

Will sent me this. He is very computer savvy, but for some reason, instead of sending me a link, he sent me embed code. I'm guessing that it is the Correspondents Dinner. And yes, I could have extracted the URL directly from it, but why would I do that when I can whine here? Update I'm so smart. ...

Romney and the Bandwagon (01 May 2012 11:23am)

Jonathan Cohn in writing about Romney's changing opinions on the auto bailout, reprints a number of tweets from Oliver Willis. The idea is that Romney's got a bandwagon problem. He was against going into Pakistan to get bin Laden, at least until it was done successfully. He was against the auto bail...

The Audacity of Lope (29 Apr 2012 10:54pm)

I have put off writing about Fuente Ovejuna for so long that I may have to read it again—not an unpleasant thought. Until then, Lope de Vega is not far from my mind. I was checking out my Google Analytics and just by chance, I came upon this great image under the heading, The Audacity of Lope:...

RIP: Mr. Bunny Rabbit (27 Apr 2012 10:46pm)

I was looking up "French antique folding chairs" when I came upon the picture on the left of Captain Kangaroo. It was from a blog post from 23 January 2004, the day that Bob Keeshan (AKA Captain Kangaroo) died. The picture caught my eye not because of the Captain but because of the little guy he's h...

A Good Cry (27 Apr 2012 03:02pm)

This is the sort of thing that commonly makes me burst into tears. Not because it is awful. It is actually kind of sweet: I don't understand what this guy thought he was doing. He wanted to protect the children from multiculturalism by killing them? Sixty-nine of them? Anders Behring Breivik[1] re...

Something Went Wrong For Fay Wray (26 Apr 2012 01:58am)

The other day, I was over at Big Lots and I noticed they had the 3 disc King Kong Deluxe Extended Edition for $3. This is the most recent remake of the classic, released in 2005, directed by Peter Jackson. I really like this film. Of the three versions, it is by far the best. The original is quite g...

Wally, Andre, and the Waiter (25 Apr 2012 04:25pm)

When I was 18, my girlfriend and I went to see My Dinner With Andre at the Plaza Theater in Petaluma. We were, to put it mildly, pretentious young intellectuals. After the film, we went to a restaurant and ordered french fries that we tried to "really taste." If I weren't involved in the memory, I w...

Um... (24 Apr 2012 04:36pm)

Last week, I read Michael Erard's exceptional Um... Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What they Mean. It is the kind of book that changes you. At least, it does so if you care about language. Regardless, the subject of the book was very much on my mind in the months leading up to reading it....

History Channel (23 Apr 2012 09:40pm)

At last, someone has said it: By the way, this guy has a lot of great videos. Go subscribe. ...

More Than Ever We Need Billy Bob Neck (23 Apr 2012 12:24pm)

After 190 videos spanning more than five years, Billy Bob Neck is no more. Earlier this month, Paul Day—the man behind this inspired creation—posted the following video: Many people, myself included, thought this was just a ruse. You see, Billy Bob Neck went away before: he was rapture...

My Vote for President (23 Apr 2012 11:12am)

Unfortunately, he isn't running in the United States: Francois Hollande. Why, oh why, can't we have a real political debate in this country? Why are we limited to "right" and "far right"? ...

How I Rate a Film (20 Apr 2012 12:48pm)

I am glad that Netflix uses a five-star rating system. It is probably because of the very many films that I think deserve 4 stars; somehow, 3 out of 4 stars doesn't seem quite high enough. I almost never give a film a rating of 2 stars, and I can't remember ever rating a film as 1 star. To do so wo...

Sarah and Kory (19 Apr 2012 11:43pm)

Hidi-ho gentle readers. For once, I haven't been writing here because I've been in a good mood. Fancy that. Now, that doesn't mean that I've been happy by real people standards. Every day starts with my lying in bed hoping the day will go away. When this doesn't work, I put on They Might Be Giants[...

Wanker of the Decade (17 Apr 2012 09:40pm)

Atrios is celebrating a decade of blogging. And despite a maddening number of typos and grammar errors, he is still a good read. By way of celebration, he has been counting down to worst political pundits in a "Wankers of the Decade" series. Well, the time has come. Today, he posted his The One True...

Unlikely Twins: Capehart and Lizza (17 Apr 2012 12:37pm)

Last Night on The Last Word, Jonathan Capehart and Ryan Lizza were talking about the current Romney scandal. But all I could think was, "Do these guys have the same mother? Who dresses them?" ...

Must See TV (16 Apr 2012 10:12pm)

I'm spending almost all my time on a video series and some publishing matters as well as my taxes, where I paid only a slightly less percentage than Mitt Romney, even though he made 1000 times as much. Anyway, that's why there hasn't been much posting. Until I get around to something, you should rea...

Mr. Smith and the Republican Myth (13 Apr 2012 06:27pm)

I really don't like Frank Capra. This is strange, because he directed one of my very favorite films: It Happened One Night. Even though I am a total softy and I love films that have a nice, gooey center, I find it hard to take Capra's sentimental style. Add to that, Jimmy Stewart—an actor who ...

George Zimmerman is Guilty! (11 Apr 2012 02:14pm)

I can forgive almost anything. Murder? Rape? Voting Republican? Hey, we all have bad days. But this?! I cannot forgive this: Zimmerman should consider himself tried and convicted in the court of "Websites That Sucked 20 Years Ago." I say hang the bastard. Update It turns out that Zimmerman earn...

Cage Does Cage! (10 Apr 2012 10:26pm)

When I was a music major, before I learned that I was no musician, I loved John Cage's work for prepared piano. This will give you a pretty good idea of this kind of music: John Cage is best known for a piece of music titled 4'33". It consists of one or more performers sitting down at or with thei...

The Case Against Q (10 Apr 2012 01:01pm)

I was listening to a Robert Price and Frank Zindler on Point of Inquiry recently. Price mentioned that the existence of Q had come into doubt and he referenced Mark Goodacre's The Case Against Q. That was surprising to me, because I thought that Q was an established fact. But I suspect that you are ...

The Dude Abides (09 Apr 2012 02:35pm)

I watched The Big Lebowski last night. It is a film that grows on you. I know that it suffered at the time of its release because it came right after Fargo, and everyone wanted to see Fargo II. But there are more important reasons to not like the film. Most notable is that it just seems loose—...

Cardenio (08 Apr 2012 07:57pm)

The first philosopher I ever read was Arthur Schopenhauer. I have no idea why. However, his thinking seems to have infected me. I keep thinking about his basic view of the futility of life. Basically: I keep doing the things I do so that I can keep doing the things that I do. I eat today so I will b...

Happy Easter (08 Apr 2012 11:14am)

This is the first video from a long video series called Excavating The Empty Tomb (beyond a reasonable doubt). It was either this or a two and a half hour debate between Richard Carrier and William Lane Craig. ...

Roberts Will Follow Kennedy (06 Apr 2012 11:31am)

I want to put in my prediction of how the Supreme Court will rule on the individual mandate of the ACA. Rube Goldberg Law For the record, I'm not fond of this piece of legislation. It is a huge giveaway to the insurance industry that adds nothing to the system. In the name of getting bipartisan su...

Oil Sands Won't Save Our Economy (04 Apr 2012 11:04am)

I'm sort of on vacation, so just a quick note here. Exxon-Mobile is an evil corporation and Artis Brown, supposedly an engineer, is an evil apologist. In the most recent add, he repeats the widely discredited talking point that the oil sands pipeline could create more than half a million jobs. Why s...

Seagullible (01 Apr 2012 11:38am)

One day when I was at college, a classmate asked, "Did you know the word gullible is not in the Dictionary?" Like an idiot, I said, "Really?!" It took me a half hour to get the joke. I am a gullible person—or at least very trusting. So I hate April Fools Day. I'll believe anything. But I assum...

Deconstructing Shaggy (31 Mar 2012 10:48pm)

I am working on a number of articles: Michael Erard's wonderful Um... Lope de Vega's Fuent Ovejuna Synoptic Gospels and The Case Against Q But until I get to them, here is That Mitchell and Web Look deconstructing Scooby-Doo: Who is that nephew? Lucky you have me to keep you informed about the im...

Creepy Cruise (30 Mar 2012 03:18pm)

Recently, I have noticed that The Nation really is a better magazine than The Progressive. For one thing, it comes out weekly and so is able to better keep up on what is happening. However, I don't think The Nation is that great. This morning, I got an email message from Victor Navasky and Katrina ...

Blah Blah Blah... (29 Mar 2012 12:56pm)

Atrios (Duncan Bowen Black) normally writes far too little. He is kind of like Daily KOS, providing an outlet for others to rant. But this morning, he wrote something that made me feel marginally better during a month that has been pretty much all bad. Can We End That Era: For the past couple of de...

Postmodern Comedy (28 Mar 2012 11:52am)

People often ask me what postmodernism is, give that I refer to it a lot. This is an uncomfortable question because I use the term because I think it is largely meaningless, except as it is that thing that came after modernism. In general, I think those in the field mean to imply a lack of any absol...

Shameful Fun (27 Mar 2012 01:19pm)

Have we seen this before? The Raven is coming out next month. It stars John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe. Sometime on or about 1835, there is a serial killer who is getting inspiration from the stories of Poe. The police turn to him for help. But when the murderer kidnaps Poe's fiance, well, it's perso...

What Will You Find? (26 Mar 2012 05:57pm)

This is via Suzy Khimm over at WonkBlog. I hate Mondays, not because they are the first day of the work week, but because the Sonoma County Library is closed on. Happy Monday. ...

The Stone Golem (26 Mar 2012 01:14pm)

The Brothers Bloom is a mess of film. And yet, I own it and watch it a bit. It is the kind of film that is better on DVD because of all the stuff that comes with the film. In particular, it comes with almost 40 minutes of deleted scenes. As is often the case, the best stuff was left on the cutting r...

Story Spoilers (26 Mar 2012 12:38pm)

I prefer to know the plot of a story before I read it. There are a couple of reasons for this. On a visceral level, I don't like uncertainty; I like to know where I'm going. More important, however, is that on a professional level, I'm pretty good at anticipating plots. So when I'm reading a novel f...

Conservative Rock?! (25 Mar 2012 12:15pm)

Back in 2006, National Review published Rockin' the Right, a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs ever, by John J. Miller (hereafter National Review or "they"). Like Christian Rock, Conservative Rock strikes me as an oxymoron. And even National Review agrees with me, starting the article,...

Good Lord! (24 Mar 2012 07:18pm)

With all this discussion of the Trayvon Martin murder, various news outlets are dredging up old cases that are similar, like the Bernhard Goetz case. I was very surprised to hear about the Joe Horn in Texas. In this case, Horn, a 61 year old retiree, used the Texas "Castle Doctrine" law to murder tw...

Just Saw Hot Coffee (24 Mar 2012 01:50pm)

Hot Coffee, the documentary about the infamous McDonald's coffee spill lawsuit, is out on DVD. For more, check out my brief article on it from last June. I just watched the film. It is much better than I expected. You should see it. Be prepared, however: it will make you angry; it will make you sad....

Speaking of French (24 Mar 2012 11:40am)

Here is a great American band who pretend to be French, Les Sans Culottes ("The Pantless"): You might also check out their hit: Allô Allô. Or buy their latest album: 'Pataphysical Graffiti. ...

It's Hard to Die in French (24 Mar 2012 11:23am)

There are few songs in the world as insipid as Terry Jacks' Seasons in the Sun. If you doubt me, consider this statistics: it is one of the top 30 best selling singles in the history of the world. Apart from this, however, there is something about this romantic notion of death that ruffles me—...

Rosalind Russell's Mysterious Writer (23 Mar 2012 10:35pm)

One of my very favorite movies is His Girl Friday. I watch it about once a month—any time I need cheering up. It has two of my favorite actors: Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. I will always be in love with Russell, or perhaps more accurately, I will always be in love with the character she pl...

Tim Tebow Hypocrisy (23 Mar 2012 11:36am)

Will Leitch writes in New York Magazine about The Jets Have Made Pat Robertson Part of Our Lives Again. The piece is ostensibly about Robertson's comment that because of the Tim Tebow trade, it would serve the Denver Broncos right if Peyton Manning got injured. Why would Robertson say such a thing?...

Dylan Moran on Americans (22 Mar 2012 09:25pm)

I'm rather fond of the old British sitcom Black Books, even though it isn't that good. It is mostly a vehicle for Dylan Moran who is brilliant. Here he is talking about Americans: ...

Art is Not "Good" or "Bad" (22 Mar 2012 03:02pm)

I was going to write at length about Wallace Shawn's Essays, which I recently read. Unfortunately, I've now forgotten what I was going to write about. It is an excellent book and well worth a read. You can check out one of his essays (not in the book) over at Huffington Post: "Why I Call Myself a So...

Ezra Klein Gives Paul Ryan a Break (21 Mar 2012 11:31am)

I like Ezra Klein; he is very honest and accurate and insightful. But he is too committed to a middle-of-the-road approach to politics. In Wonkbook today, he discusses the new Paul Ryan budget. And as is his way, he dismantles it. Like many other commentators, he notices that the budget can be desc...

Credit Where It's Due (20 Mar 2012 11:01pm)

When I was in graduate school, my thesis adviser was rightly proud of some of his scientific accomplishments. He was fierce in countering people who did not give him his due. Academia is like that. The saying goes that academic politics are so intense because the stakes are so low. When you are a co...

The Other Side of the Wind (19 Mar 2012 11:02pm)

One of my goals in life is entirely beyond my control: to see Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind. I first learned of it in the documentary Orson Wells: One Man Band (it comes on the extras disc with F for Fake, which you really should own). That film contained two clips from The Other Side of ...

The 500 Plays of Lope We Have Not Read (18 Mar 2012 07:29pm)

While reading Melveena McKendrick's Cervantes, I became really interested in Lope de Vega, the great playwright of the turn of the 17th century. I had already been intrigued by this towering figure of Spanish drama, because of what Gray Taylor had written about how our focus on Shakespeare blinds us...

The Jewish Question (17 Mar 2012 09:32pm)

When I was growing up, I didn't know what it was to be Jewish. It turns out that I wanted to be Jewish, because all the people I looked up to were Jewish: Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Woody Allen. I know: what I was actually into was urbane intellectualism. But the point is that I had no idea that they...

"They Don't Understand, Do They?" (16 Mar 2012 10:29pm)

I'm a freak. I got Thornton Wilder's Our Town, Two Historic Productions on Two DVD. The two productions they are referring to are the 1977 production starring Hal Holbrook and the 1989 production starring Spalding Gray. I'd seen each of them before at the time they were first released. And they didn...

The Virus of Reason (15 Mar 2012 11:30pm)

On his show tonight, Sean Hannity said that this clip of Bill Maher... was equivalent to this one of Rush Limbaugh... Amazing. ...

I Haven't Had My Teeth Cleaned Since 1974! (15 Mar 2012 10:55pm)

Right now, I'm reading Four Plays: A Thought in Three Parts, Marie and Bruce, Aunt Dan and Lemon, the Fever by Wallace Shawn. The first, A Thought in Three Parts is disturbing in the extreme. It is all about how people are incapable of connecting with each other, despite all their external attempts....

DJ Flula Remixes Celebrities! (15 Mar 2012 01:44pm)

I am working diligently to create a series of videos. But with videos like the one below, it is hard not to get discouraged. The guy is a total freak—in a good way. ...

Boycott The Hobbit (15 Mar 2012 12:56pm)

The fucktards associated with Saul Zaentz's production company are trying to shut down a pub in England. Why? Because it is called The Hobbit and the first part of Peter Jackson's film is supposed to come out this December. The pub[1] has been in existence for 20 years, during which time Zaentz has ...

Dennis Moore (15 Mar 2012 10:41am)

If we look at tax policy in the United States, we see that the government works as a kind of reverse Robin Hood. Conservatives like to say that inequality is surging everywhere so: nothing to be done! But of course, even this logic isn't consistent. What's more, the basic facts are incorrect. Inequa...

Satire is Dead (15 Mar 2012 09:50am)

I've shut off comments here for a number of reasons, the most important being that there just isn't a critical mass of readers. The only articles here that generate a lot of comments are those on Kory Stamper, which probably speaks to the fact that the writing here is too eclectic. But while I did a...

Rats Are Great Pets (14 Mar 2012 03:53pm)

When I was in graduate school, I watched the movie The Abyss with three of my poet friends: Rebecca Davis, Jim Haining, and Gerald Burns. For what are probably obvious reasons, the character Hippy reminded them of me. Hippy is the guy with the rat. I couldn't find a really good scene from the movie...

Conservative Arrogance and Willful Ignorance (13 Mar 2012 03:04pm)

I've talked before about David Harvey's excellent Marxist critique of our current economic crisis. HowTheWorldWorks presented a response video titled Crisis of Capitalism, The Critique. It is offensive in its ignorance or disingenuousness. Noscman1 then presented a response to that video titled "The...

Pee on Me[1] (13 Mar 2012 01:34pm)

Yesterday, I was talking to Andrea and the subject of trickle down economics came up. I said that it should really be called "tinkle down economics" because it is all about urinating on the poor. She countered with something that I don't even like to think about, so I certainly won't repeat it here....

"'Cause you're just like Hillary" (13 Mar 2012 01:16am)

Let's suppose that I didn't have HBO, but really wanted to see Game Change. I know I can't get an online subscription to HBO, because I've tried. And I don't have a TV. That would leave me with two options: find an illegal copy online or go visit a friend who has HBO. Let's just assume I went to vis...

TWiB is Back! (12 Mar 2012 08:55pm)

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Dehumanizing Iranians and Jews (11 Mar 2012 09:46pm)

On 60 Minutes tonight, Diane Sawyer interviewed Meir Dagan, former Director of the Mossad. The reason for the interview is that Dagan believes it would be a mistake for Israel (or the United States) to attack Iran regarding its alleged nuclear weapons program. At the beginning of the interview, Daga...

Moe's Waiting for THE Man (10 Mar 2012 07:48pm)

There was one really important band in the 1960s: The Velvet Underground. Sure, there were other great bands like The Beatles at times and The Mothers of Invention for the first three albums. And there are lots of other bands of that period that I still enjoy. Today, I would rather listen to Creeden...

Jeopardy! (08 Mar 2012 09:54pm)

It is hard for me to watch Jeopardy![1] The problem is that I'm pretty good at it. The number of answers I can easily spit out would put me above the average player, and the number of answers that are on the tip of my tongue would likely put me among the best. Of course, Jeopardy! is not exactly a ...

A Late Valentine (07 Mar 2012 12:11am)

When I was a kid, I thought comics sucked. The only mainstream comic I ever read was Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. It was written and drawn by Jack Kirby. But it definitely wasn't the art I liked. Kirby is a really important comic book artist. He more or less created Marvel Comics as we now know i...

Obama at His Best (06 Mar 2012 07:23pm)

From an article by Jonathan Chait: ...

$57,000 Per Day (06 Mar 2012 09:33am)

According to Think Progress, Mitt Romney's wife Ann, told Fox News, "We can be poor in spirit, and I don’t even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing, it can be here today and gone tomorrow." The couple's total income last year was $20.9 million dollars (they have a total wealth of ...

Lucky and Stupid (05 Mar 2012 11:41am)

I'm sorry to be once again discussing Lucky's speech. But I was reading Theatre in Spain, 1490 - 1700 (really good), and I came upon a sentence that talked about the sine qua non of the theater. It means literally "without which not" or more or less "an essential element." That means that "qua" mea...

Fear and Loathing in Politics (04 Mar 2012 12:45pm)

In an article, 2012 or Never, in New York Magazine, the always interesting and often funny Jonathan Chait discusses the long-term (but not long off) trend away from Republican and toward Democratic dominance. This is not exactly breaking news. What's more, there is a counter argument (which Chait di...

Totebagger (02 Mar 2012 10:08am)

I learned a new word today from Atrios: Totebagger. The word (actually "tote-bagger") is defined by Urban Dictionary as, "A left-winger, an antonym of 'teabagger,' from the tote bags offered as premiums for donations to public TV and radio stations." This definition is, as is typical of Urban Dictio...

Death as Public Good (02 Mar 2012 12:17am)

A lot of people are talking about Andrew Breitbart dying. In general, the script goes something like this: I disagreed with him, but he wasn't who he appeared to be; the private man was different and I morn his death. The problem with this is that no one would be talking about Breitbart if it weren'...

The Disappointment of Christmas (01 Mar 2012 06:45pm)

Paula Poundstone is such a freak. Here she is on one of her many videos that she produces for her site: ...

Big Hollywood Dicks (01 Mar 2012 02:15pm)

Samuel L. Jackson has been on the cover of Ebony Magazine many times. But last week's cover really annoyed me. This isn't so much because of this particular cover. It is how often I see men (and women to a lesser extent) on the covers of magazines chomping on a big fat cigar. If it were only that ci...

Mitt Romney: No We Can't! (01 Mar 2012 10:43am)

This is taken from The Daily Show. Romney said, "[Obama] raised the national debt; I will cut, cap, and balance the budget. He passed Obamacare; I will repeal Obamacare. He lost our triple-A credit rating; I will restore our triple-A credit rating." Jon Stewart continued, "He killed Osama Bin Laden;...

Maria Bamford (29 Feb 2012 09:03pm)

I really like Maria Bamford. She's brilliant and not enough people know about her. That seems to be the case with the comedians I find most impressive. I like Louis C.K. but what's the big deal? Note: comments turned off as spam prevention measure. ...

Then and Than (29 Feb 2012 08:56pm)

Reading slowly has its advantages. In general, I'm a good copy editor. And I know what you're thinking: if that's so, why are there so many typos on your website? There are two issues here. First, there is the cleaning paradox: people never see the spot you cleaned, only the spot you missed. In oth...

Happy Leap Day! (29 Feb 2012 03:28pm)

This is a nice short video about calenders. I'm posting it, because I'm working on other things that are keeping me from working on articles for this site. ...

Vote Sideshow Bob (28 Feb 2012 07:21pm)

Jonathan Chait notes that the Republican primary is turning out to be a lot like an episode of The Simpsons: ...

Samurai I: a Love Story (27 Feb 2012 10:18pm)

I finally got around to watching Samurai I, the first film of the Samurai Trilogy. You may recall that I discovered it while watching the documentary The Cats of Mirikitani[1] where Mirikitani rents the film and watches it—a great symbol of just how much his life has improved. I am always open...

Lysistrata Alive and Well in Virginia (26 Feb 2012 03:36pm)

Regular readers know how much I like Aristophanes—at least English translations of him. Over 2000 years before the Elizabethan playwrights, he knew how to write a comedy. And none of them did. I think we have to get all the way out to the Restoration before we get a really good comedy in Great...

The Logic That Isn't Logical (25 Feb 2012 09:22pm)

I have a problem with water faucets. When I see the blue and red color-coding, I freak out. Right now, I'm setting comfortably at my desk, so there is no problem. The blue means cold water and the red means hot water. As everyone knows. But when I was a physics undergraduate, I was taking upper di...

Late Night Interlude: Who Does This Remind You Of? (25 Feb 2012 01:31am)

This is Laura Cantrell. She's great. But the question is: who does she remind you of? It's taken me a while to realize that her voice is identical to Suzanne Vega. Of course, she's a country singer, but the kind we liberals like—people who remind us of Nanci Griffith. Here first album, Not th...

This is Not Cervantes (24 Feb 2012 02:23pm)

I've written before about Melveena McKendrick's exceptional biography, Cervantes. I just want to finish it off by providing a few quotations that I thought were very good. Probably the most important thing I learned about Cervantes in this book is that the portrait of him (seen on the left), is not...

Specter Stood Still (24 Feb 2012 11:21am)

I was thinking about Arlen Specter this morning. It all goes back to my often stated observation that the policies of such conservative icons of the past like Ronald Reagan and Dick Nixon would place them well inside the mainstream of the Democratic Party. There is a caveat, however. Politicians op...

Girl Fight! (23 Feb 2012 07:49pm)

A friend told me that she was going to punish her girls for fighting by having them write a song about sisterhood. Yes, she is a cruel woman. This caused me to do a Google video search on the phrase "sisterhood song." It turned up this. (Don't click on it!) I wasn't ten seconds into it before I had ...

Remix (23 Feb 2012 02:49pm)

I've been working on an internet video series called The Post, Post Modern Comedy Hour. It's kind of a kids' show for adults. And part of it involves a group of people watching TV commercials. It is one of the best parts of the shows. And thus, it has been bugging me because I don't know if we can g...

Apology Accepted (23 Feb 2012 11:56am)

I've been waiting for this. After Pete Hoekstra's "Debbie Spend it NOW" Super Bowl ad that aired in Michigan, I just knew that the actor who played the semi-fluent Chinese woman would come forward. When any job is offered to a young actor, it has to be exciting. It would be easy not to think it thro...

Fast Food Reviews (22 Feb 2012 07:50pm)

I'm late in getting to this. There have been two recent changes to the fast food environment: supposed improvements to french fries and hamburgers. Burger King Last December, Burger King changed their recipe for french fries. I was very excited to hear this. For decades, I've been trying to unders...

The Down and Down on the Up and Up (22 Feb 2012 11:53am)

Many years ago, This American Life did an episode about things we know that we don't. In particular, there was a guy (show producer Alex Blumberg) who, when he was a kid, got the idea that Nielsen Families were people named Nielsen. The TV industry used them to gauge the popularity of shows because ...

Map Projection Cartoon (21 Feb 2012 10:28pm)

If you read this whole article, I will reward you with a cartoon. But I know what you're thinking, "I can just skip down to the cartoon and read it now!" Silly reader! You won't be able to understand it without reading this article. Unless you know a lot about map projections. You don't, do you? I'l...

Khader Adnan (21 Feb 2012 08:11pm)

According to various news sources, Khader Adnan has ended his 66-day hunger strike in return for the Israeli government agreeing to release him from "administrative detention"—a phrase the Israeli government gives for holding 309 people indefinitely without charge (one man has been held for ov...

Corporations are Rarely Creators (21 Feb 2012 02:41pm)

Lawrence Lessig's 2004 book Free Culture is even more depressing 8 years later. But it is really worth reading, even (or perhaps especially) now. He starts the book by talking about the Wright brothers' invention of the airplane. I had never read Lessig, so I thought he was going to start talking a...

Jack's Amazing Healing Scars (20 Feb 2012 09:50pm)

In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Blackbeard abuses Jack Sparrow by carving something that looks kind of like a pitchfork into his voodoo doll, and thus onto the right side of Jack's chest. But there's a problem. We know from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, that...

Doing My Part for Romney (20 Feb 2012 07:13pm)

Just as with gay rights advocates and Rick Santorum's name, animal rights advocates are associating Mitt Romney's name with something unpleasant. Because I don't deal well with scatological matters, I will leave it to you to click on Santorum to find out what it means. However, I am happy to tell yo...

Huge in Canada (20 Feb 2012 02:16pm)

I sent a link to a friend up in Canada, and she could not open the page. I asked her if she could see the home page. Yes she could, but it was out of date. The most recent post was my article on the MPAA. I went and looked at it, and I noticed that it was the last article I posted before moving to a...

Painful to Watch (19 Feb 2012 08:40pm)

Many years ago, when I was paying a fortune to put down my ideas on 16mm film (Forty bucks to develop and print 100 feet of film—less than 3 minutes!) I had the idea of doing a video of just a guy talking into the camera, saying interesting things. At least I thought they were interesting: com...

Byron Dorgan’s Crystal Ball (19 Feb 2012 05:06pm)

One of the main things that the Banking (Glass-Steagall) Act of 1933 did, was to separate banks as most of us know them (places where you have a checking account) from investment banks. The act had already been cut back in 1980 with the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act. ...

Jack 'n Black (18 Feb 2012 10:03pm)

I just watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. As entertainments go, it is an excellent film—the best of the series. It is everything that it tries to be. Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three films, likes his action sequences long—far too long. Rob Marshall, like th...

Understanding Falstaff (18 Feb 2012 07:14pm)

When Kenneth Branagh made Henry V and threw a bit of Henry IV in with Falstaff, he used the most famous speech of the character. Kind of. The whole truth is that he cut it savagely. The scene is one where Falstaff and Hal role play Hal's upcoming meeting with his father, Henry IV. At first, Falsta...

Bill Gates, Sr? (18 Feb 2012 12:14am)

This is from Paul Krugman's Playboy Interview: Bill Gates Sr. used to say this: Suppose you were given the choice of being born in America or in Ethiopia. What proportion of your eventual fortune would you be willing to give to be born in America? Given the great good fortune of getting to live and...

The Redemptionless Story (17 Feb 2012 12:12pm)

The great affliction of the 20th century was the redemption story. You know it, because you've seen it during every episode (and I do mean every episode) of E! True Hollywood Story and Biography. Mr. Neutral does something bad and becomes Mr. Bad. Mr. Bad stops doing bad thing and becomes Mr. Redeem...

Your Authoritarian Brain on Power (17 Feb 2012 11:08am)

Talking Points Memo had an article yesterday: How The GOP Went Back To The 1950s In Just One Day. In it, Evan McMorris-Santoro discusses the three big events that the Republicans, who are amazingly tone deaf for politicians, managed to cram into a single day: First, Darrell Issa's hearing on contra...

Tuba Tuba Tuba (16 Feb 2012 08:50pm)

Most people think of the tuba as a slow, ponderous instrument. In fact, in the right hands (And lips!) it is as light and facile as any instrument in the orchestra. But don't encourage your child to play the instrument. Student model instruments cost about $7000, whereas you could pick up a flute fo...

Don't Worry Your Pretty Little Heads, We'd Got it Covered (16 Feb 2012 03:31pm)

...

Killing Properly (16 Feb 2012 03:09pm)

Before Cicero was murdered, he said, "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly." When I just tried to do a Google search on Cicero, Google offered me an option: Cicero's Pizza. Cicero's final words came to my mind. There is nothing proper about what w...

Ezra, Ezra, Ezra... (16 Feb 2012 02:22pm)

I really like Ezra Klein. For one thing, he's a hard working guy—he posted the following clip at 3:52 am, his time. But even more important, he knows how to cut to the chase (unlike the people who work for him who are also good just not as). On the issue of what has changed in the Obama admini...

Presume "Guilty" (16 Feb 2012 01:26pm)

Last night, I watched Presumed Innocent. I hadn't seen it in many years and I was pleasantly surprised. What I most remembered was that it was a very dark film, and so when the credits displayed "Cinematography: Gordon Willis" I was not surprised. What most people don't understand is that video alwa...

Michael Close Doesn't Get Branding (15 Feb 2012 08:33pm)

Michael Close is a professional magician and jazz pianist. He is a very impressive guy. What I most like about him is that he works presentations until they are finally tuned—more finely tuned than just about any other magician around. He is also an innovator. One of his effects—the poth...

Waiting for Groundhogs (15 Feb 2012 12:11pm)

Fake Science presented a chart titled Understand Groundhog Day.[1] It states, "Using statistical analysis, scientists have measured how a groundhog's reaction can create predictive models." There were four examples: sees its own shadow, six weeks of winter; sees some litter, neighborhood in decline;...

Hate What You Do Not Know (15 Feb 2012 01:22am)

Recently, I read an article (which I can no longer find) that showed that conservative opinion only has a shelf life of a generation. What this means is that after a generation, conservative opinion becomes so abhorrent that no one is willing to claim it. Take, for example, the opinion on civil righ...

Santorum's My Man (15 Feb 2012 12:10am)

I've decided to vote for Rick Santorum. The thing is, I just can't manage my life. I don't know who to fuck, where to fuck them, and how. So Santorum is my man. He'll tell me how to live my life. And isn't that what we all want: a government that looks out for the rights of corporations but greatly ...

The Best of People, the Worst of People (14 Feb 2012 10:48pm)

I have long thought that every generation believes theirs to be the worst, and every generation is right. But that does not mean that things only get worse. My experience of life indicates that things are ever getting different. And for conservatives souls, which all humans are, this is bad. I've lo...

The Other Brontës (14 Feb 2012 05:35pm)

I decided, for reasons not all together clear to me, that I ought to read a little Anne Brontë. I certainly wasn't going to read any Lord Byron wannabe poetry, so that left me with her two novels: Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Andrea told me that the latter was better and so I picked u...

The Blood of St. Valentine's Day (14 Feb 2012 12:38pm)

In my ongoing efforts to destroy any joy you might have during holidays or other gift-buying opportunities, I thought I'd say a few words about Valentine's Day. When I was confirmed in the Catholic Church, my mother bought me a book of saints. It amazes me to this day that I managed to get this far...

He Says it There, it Comes Out Here (13 Feb 2012 10:15pm)

Watch Ezra Klein hosting The Rachel Maddow Show: Or read this blog posting by him: Comparing taxes under Obama’s and Romney’s budgets But don't do both. You see, they are pretty much identical. And you would expect this. And this just shows that if Rachel Maddow had a blog I habitually read ever...

Genghis Khan: Family Values Man (13 Feb 2012 02:29pm)

What are we to make of a film like Mongol? Certainly, we don't expect it to be historically accurate. I think we expect it to be thematically and emotionally accurate. Take Braveheart, for example: it is a mess from a historical stand-point, but it does provide a pretty good picture of William Walla...

Those Who Receive Most Also Hate Most (13 Feb 2012 10:25am)

Paul Krugman presented a graph of the 50 United States by the ratio the federal taxes they pay to the federal money they receive. It is interesting. Here are the top ten states that pay the most and receive the least (and who they voted for in 2008): Delaware (Obama) Minnesota (Obama) Connecticut (...

It Cannot Last. I hope. (12 Feb 2012 11:05pm)

Today, Paul Krugman posits that the current state of the GOP is due to the fact that while the party's policies are for the very rich, they have gotten elected by appealing to social conservatives and other whack jobs. As an example, he talks about George W. Bush, who won (I dispute this) the 2004 e...

Playing Two Halves is Asking A Lot (12 Feb 2012 01:50pm)

I'm sick, so I don't know that I will post anything today. But I found this ad that I thought was very funny. It is a parody of Clint Eastwood's Halftime in America ad. I'm surprised that there haven't been more of them.[1] It was created by comedian Andy Cobb: From the poster: No, seriously, he ...

Catholics Lose Bad on Intelligence² (12 Feb 2012 12:16am)

I just watched the Intelligence Squared debate on the question of whether or not "The Catholic Church is a Force for Good in the World." It was recorded back in 19 October 2009 and featured Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Ann Widdecombe arguing in favor; Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry arguing ag...

Damn You to Hell, Eric Alterman! (11 Feb 2012 08:52pm)

It must be that Eric Alterman doesn't get much mail. Certainly, he is kind of an old-fashioned guy. He doesn't allow comments on this "blog." And he doesn't post all the time. I hate Fridays because it is the beginning of the weekend, and there are lots of reasons to hate the weekend. But there are...

On Crying at the Movies (11 Feb 2012 07:11pm)

This last week, I got a text from Andrea, "I just watched The Cats of Mirikitani and it made ME cry." Since you don't know my relationship with Andrea, you probably think this text represents some kind of information about her life or about a film recommendation. It isn't. It is more along the lines...

The Cave of Salamanca (11 Feb 2012 12:08pm)

Yesterday, I picked up a book from the library (in the closed stacks), A Treasury of the Theatre. The reason was that it included one of Cervantes's plays, and I have been keen to read his theatrical work because it was not considered good at the time and is generally discounted today. Melveena McKe...

The Devil for Conservatives (10 Feb 2012 11:13pm)

Bill Maher has a great take-down of the conservative obsession with Saul Alinsky. For those who don't know him, Alinsky was a community organizer from the 1930s through his death in 1972. The Right (Reich?) would have you believe that he was some kind of radical, but he was anything but. I think the...

Lucky Again (10 Feb 2012 09:50pm)

As I continue to struggle to memorize Lucky's Speech from Waiting for Godot, there are two things on my mind: panhandlers and changes in absurdist theater. Panhandlers Lucky's speech is of great value if you wish to navigate the great cities of America and avoid panhandlers. There is nothing like ...

Fragments of Reality (10 Feb 2012 09:10pm)

William Gibson's brilliance was to take the sex out of William S. Burroughs. For years, I thought that Gibson had combined Burroughs and science fiction, but this isn't true because there really is no science fiction in his writing. Sure: he pretends to write science fiction, but it is really all ab...

Quixotic Justification (10 Feb 2012 07:32pm)

The word quixotic means "foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals." However, when I think of Don Quixote, this is not what I think. Instead, I think of wonderfully twisted logic to justify crazy behavior. There is no better example of this than in Chapter 21 of Don Quixote. In it, ...

Lope and Cervantes: the Feud (09 Feb 2012 08:06pm)

Back in 1980, Professor Melveena McKendrick wrote a stunning biography of Miguel de Cervantes. I went through several biographies before landing on this treasure that is written in a more lively and engaging style than most modern novels. I'm no expert, so I don't know if the research in the book is...

A Charming Fuck Variation (08 Feb 2012 08:40pm)

When I recently discussed fucktard, I was sad to see that the tard ending was short for retard. (I know! I'm dense! Go read someone else if you don't like it!) Up to that point, I had thought that fucktard was a charming linguistic invention. It is true that retard is not generally a word used to de...

Catch 22 for Poor in America (08 Feb 2012 07:59pm)

Paul Krugman provided some class notes on his site today. In them, he reprinted a graph from The Hefty Penalty on Marriage Facing Many Households with Children. The graph confused me to be honest. As a result, I read the original paper and managed to figure it out. Lucky you because (hopefully) you ...

A Cretin's Defense of Dubbing (08 Feb 2012 01:41am)

Last night I watched The Criterion Collection DVD release of Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. I had never seen the film before and it was a revelation. Back in 2009, Janus Films restored it and the trailer below is from that print. The print in the DVD is perfectly acceptable, but this print is stunning (...

Will Ferrell's Old Milwaukee (07 Feb 2012 11:51pm)

I had heard that there was a Will Ferrell commercial for the greatest beer company ever: Pabst! Pabst Blue Ribbon! Okay: Pabst Brewing Company. And it does just so happen that Heineken sucks. Anyway, one of Pabst's worst beer offerings is Old Milwaukee. This video consists of a number of these Will ...

China Owns America! In Republican Ads (07 Feb 2012 04:21pm)

Laura Berman over at The Detroit News doesn't like Pete Hoekstra's dumber than racist "China owns America!" commercial: With his controversial new Super Bowl commercial and website, Pete Hoekstra seems to think he's got the advertising instincts and guts of Chrysler's Sergio Marchionne. My instin...

The Reasonable Conservative (07 Feb 2012 10:40am)

Liberals like David Frum—they think of him as the Reasonable Conservative. But like any conservative, that doesn't mean much. Yesterday, he wrote an excellent review of racist pseudo-scientist and conservative apologist Charles Murray's ("Blacks are poor because they're dumb!") Coming Apart. (...

Fat Men Can't Run (07 Feb 2012 12:36am)

I keep seeing this clip of Ann Coulter saying that if the Republicans don't run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and they will lose: But when I see Christie, I am appalled. It isn't that Christie is fat. I understand. A person's weight is largely determined by their genetics. I've seen ...

The Shakespeare Industry (06 Feb 2012 11:24am)

It's me again. You know: the guy who loves Shakespeare but never has a kind word for him? Once again, those in the Shakespeare industry are putting out the "Shakespeare as secular Jesus" line. I watched a little documentary last night called Discovering Hamlet. It documents the rehearsals for Kennet...

Paul, Niall, and Fareed (05 Feb 2012 10:52pm)

On 8 July 2010, Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson were on Fareed Zakaria GPS.[1] Niall Ferguson was saying that we have to deal with the budget deficit now. He's been saying this for years. Paul Krugman was saying that we need to stimulate the economy. He also said that eventually, we would need to de...

On Good Reasons for Suicide (05 Feb 2012 10:13pm)

There is nothing so much as watching the Super Bowl to make one start a list of reasons for suicide. How can you not? They are thrust in your face! Most notably, of course, there is the dullest of sporting events: football. It is deadly. First, there is the fact that there is very little actual pla...

Conservative Liberals: am I Wrong? (05 Feb 2012 03:55pm)

VoteView has provided the following graph of how much to the right or left all the presidents since World War II are: This is interesting in that it shows very clearly that Obama is the most conservative Democratic president in the post-war period. But it also goes against my often stated contenti...

Numeracy in Shakespeare in Love (05 Feb 2012 12:04pm)

In my never ending efforts to provide my readers with the most trivial observations of life, I recently wrote roughly a thousand words about a ten cent mathematical error in the film Rocky. And I promised that I would discuss a similar issue in the film Shakespeare in Love.[1] This brings to mind an...

Winter of Our Discontent Comparison (03 Feb 2012 11:48pm)

I am fascinated by the opening soliloquy of Richard III. Most of it is Shakespeare at his best and a little, Shakespeare at his worst: Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. N...

Kill Your Daughters (03 Feb 2012 12:17pm)

According to MSNBC (and many other sources), "In a reversal of Susan G. Komen For the Cure's funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, the founder and CEO of the nation's largest breast-cancer advocacy agency said Friday that the group would amend the criteria that sparked a firestorm." Despite what Kome...

Why I Like Romney (03 Feb 2012 10:59am)

I remember the 1980 presidential election. I remember that liberal-minded people were thrilled that the Republicans had nominated Ronald Reagan. And then he won, and the United States has been on a constant ride to more inequality that I fear eventually leads to some form of neo-fascism (admittedly,...

Death of the Liberal Class (02 Feb 2012 10:31pm)

I just picked up Chris Hedges' Death of the Liberal Class. It is an excellent book. He argues that the liberal class—basically, the professional class—has traditionally served as a counterbalance to corporate power. Over the past many decades, however, the corporate class has eroded and ...

I am Rita (02 Feb 2012 09:28pm)

There is a librarian who, on seeing me, is fond of yelling out, "Frank" in the Liverpudlian accept of the title character in the film Educating Rita. I find this charming. What's more, I would only be too delighted to think of myself as the erudite and emotionally wounded Frank Bryan. I've always b...

Earth vs. Burt I. Gordon! (02 Feb 2012 12:21am)

Dramatic momentum is surprisingly easy to sustain in narrative art. All you have to do is move the plot along in some direction. It absolutely doesn't matter which direction. So imagine if you came up with an idea for a story about a crazy doll maker who is turning humans into doll sized creatures a...

A Jewish-Italian Fairy Tale (01 Feb 2012 11:54am)

I watched Woody Allen's movie Broadway Danny Rose this morning, for the first time since I was a kid. It may well be his best film. Regardless, it is perfect: it never makes a wrong move. It is a comedy, of course. And very funny. But Allen usually makes funny films. I don't actively seek him out a...

Caffeine's Like Mething Around (31 Jan 2012 08:29pm)

Most people are not aware that the United States tried to make caffeine illegal in the 1930s. They found that it was impossible. It was already in so many products and the United States of Commerce has a government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations. But you didn't need t...

Lou Dobbs: Ignorant and Evil (31 Jan 2012 03:21pm)

Lou Dobbs (You know: the bigot!) was on The Daily Show last night. I frankly don't understand why Jon Stewart gives vile people like Dobbs the platform. All he did on the show was defend Fox News and attack Obama. But that didn't surprise me. It did, however, surprise me when he said this: It's a l...

Innumeracy in Rocky (31 Jan 2012 01:11pm)

The original Rocky is a great film. You probably find that strange because I'm such a pretentious arty kind of pedant. But that's the whole point. You see, Rocky is not a boxing movie. The film has little to do with boxing. It is about a man who finally takes charge of his life. And this, perhaps mo...

All is Clarity (30 Jan 2012 09:29pm)

A long time ago, I wrote poetry, just like too many sensitive young people. But I was marginally successful, reaching the height of my art with a couple of things published in Andrei Codrescu's Exquisite Corpse (now just known as The Corpse). But in looking back at my work, on balance, I would have ...

Puppet News (30 Jan 2012 01:44pm)

Kermit, of course, is one of my heroes. But the loud-mouthed pig nails it here: ...

Rotten Tomatoes for Orson Welles (30 Jan 2012 12:12am)

I recently wrote that I am not a worshiper of artists. But when I looked at how Orson Welles' films have been rated over at Rotten Tomatoes, I was shocked. Here they are in chronological order, followed by their rating in parentheses: 1941 Citizen Kane (100%) 1942 The Magnificent Ambersons (96%) 19...

Some Thoughts on Fucktard (28 Jan 2012 11:21pm)

There are currently 403 definitions of "fucktard" on the Urban Dictionary. Of course, many of them are like number 402: The fucktard that wrote definition 201 is a fucktard. A fucktard is anybody whom makes up their mind before hearing the issue at hand. Love that "whom" don't you? Just so you know...

Dissing Artists for Fun and Profit (28 Jan 2012 10:23pm)

When I was a teenager, it was fun to take potshots at great artists and thinkers I knew little about. This is part of growing up. But I wonder why it is that many people never outgrow this urge? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for iconoclasts. But in order to be against something, you have to know it pr...

Waste Land and the Birth of Hope (28 Jan 2012 01:35pm)

About that title...[1] If you want to see the kind of social connections that I have to the people who live around me, all you have to do is go out on the street on a Monday night. Tuesday morning there is garbage pick-up, so everyone brings their garbage bins out to the sidewalk the evening before...

A Quick Note on Subtitles (28 Jan 2012 11:29am)

I am watching the documentary Waste Land, which takes place largely in Brazil. Thus, much of it is in Portuguese. And thus, much of it has English subtitles. The problem is that the subtitles are poorly done. First, they are small. Second, and more important, they are white. This is a big problem, ...

Republicans are Wimps (27 Jan 2012 11:17pm)

Laura Ingraham on her radio show (from The Rachel Maddow Show): I was going back on YouTube ... and I was watching some of Reagan's old debates from the 60s—late 60s, early 70s. There wasn't a place he wouldn't go to argue the conservative message and advocate for conservative principles. And...

The Man from San Sebastian (27 Jan 2012 10:09pm)

Like most people, I discovered DeVotchKa (apparently Russian for "girl") in the delightful film Little Miss Sunshine. And I've heard a bit of their music since then and generally liked it all. Just today, I came upon a song from their most recent album 100 Lovers called The Man from San Sebastian. I...

Copyright is for Wimps (27 Jan 2012 07:59pm)

Dean Baker wrote an excellent article about copyright that goes along with much of what I (as the creator of many copyrighted works) believe. I certainly don't want to go back to the days of Cervantes when publishers alone were allowed copyright of authors' works. But the truth is that today, with a...

A Little Meta (27 Jan 2012 12:38pm)

Hello boys and girls! After a day of trying, I've finally managed to get Frankly Curious transferred over to its new host. You see, the bad people over at Lunar Pages have clearly outgrown their infrastructure, and rather than investing in more are depending upon the fact that it is a total pain in ...

Fucking MPAA (26 Jan 2012 01:35am)

According to the MPAA, "A motion picture’s single use of one of the harsher sexually-derived words, though only as an expletive, initially requires at least a PG-13 rating." This is just a really fucked-up way of saying that in a PG-13 film, you can say "fuck" once, but only if you use it the way it...

PolitiFact Has Sucked for a Good Long Time (25 Jan 2012 10:07pm)

I gave up on PolitiFact a couple of years ago—long before the recent ridiculousness about the claim that House Republicans voted to end Medicare was named their Lie of the Year. The truth is that if you go to PolitiFact (I don't recommend it, so I won't provide a link), you will see that in ge...

How Good is Scott Turow? (25 Jan 2012 06:34pm)

Scott Turow is about the only modern "Best Selling" novelist who I will read. I give him credit for teaching me how to write a mystery/suspense novel, and to some extent how to write a novel at all. So while in the Hong Kong Airport, I found myself without anything to read. So I picked up a copy of ...

Hard Work, Low Pay (25 Jan 2012 12:32pm)

I present the following video (a catch from Ezra Klein's Wonkbook) as an illustration of what it is like to be a freelance writer: lots of work for little pay. This young man made a $100 bet with his father than he could do a backflip every day in 2011. Watch it. It is really interesting. Shockingly...

The Problem With Iran that I Don't Understand (25 Jan 2012 09:47am)

I would be worried what people would have to say about this article, but no one reads my political writing. So I will go ahead and pretend to be brave. I don't understand all the uproar about Iran's supposed nuclear weapons program. First, of course, there is the issue that the evidence is pretty p...

Power for Its Own Sake (24 Jan 2012 01:44pm)

Paul Krugman provided the following graph of total public and private debt, which I altered with red with the presidents at the different times. The only Republican who doesn't look too bad is George H. W. Bush, who was an old-fashioned conservative. What it shows, as I've discussed before, is that ...

A Really Big Problem (23 Jan 2012 10:09pm)

As regular readers of this blog know, my background is in climate change science. And recently, I have become very angry about continued global warming denial, because now it sounds so much like evolution denial. I think I may have a way to talk to conservatives about it. I just heard Fred Thompson...

RICO Laws and Regulation (23 Jan 2012 01:59pm)

Last Thursday on The Daily Show, Jason Jones did a very funny segment about the over-regulation of the Mob via the RICO laws: I really like this and I think it gets at the heart of what is wrong with the economy: it is largely controlled by thieves. But as usual with The Daily Show, I'm not really...

I'm Not So Bad (23 Jan 2012 11:39am)

Now I don't feel so bad about The Revolution Will Be Televised. In that article I had a vision (Fantasy?) about a time when the people would rise up in this country and exact vengeance for what has become a very unjust country. And in particular, I pointed out that many more or less good people woul...

Full Sentences Inside Parenthetical Enclosures (23 Jan 2012 09:54am)

Because I am a freak, I suffer some considerable anxiety about the proper way of dealing with complete sentences inside of parenthetical enclosures. Most of this is purely aesthetic. For example, I hate constructs such as "XX XX (XX XX.)." I just hate the period-parenthesis-period. Or anything simil...

Shakespeare Apologists (22 Jan 2012 02:24pm)

So I'm reading Shakespeare. And I'm watching Shakespeare.[1] In particular, I am studying the Henry IV plays and Henry V. And I notice something: all these low characters (Falstaff, Prince Hal) speak in prose, while all the high characters (Henry IV, Henry V) speak in verse. This does not come as a ...

Falstaff "Railed Against Our Person"? (22 Jan 2012 01:14am)

I've been thinking about Falstaff for a couple of weeks now, as is evidenced by my trolling around over at Shakespeare Geek. So I've been hitting The Book (my old and rather bad Complete Works of That Bard), trying to make some sense of Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight. In particular, there is a sce...

Why Google AdSense Sucks (21 Jan 2012 10:02pm)

I had Google AdSense for four months, through most of December. In all that time, I made almost no money from it. That was fine, I understand that Frankly Curious only gets about 150 unique visitors per day and not all of these are actual people. I wasn't expecting to make any real money, but I want...

Al Green Not Demented, Just Asshole (21 Jan 2012 07:51pm)

Ten years ago, I went to see Al Green in San Jose. It was a very annoying concert. Green finished less than half of his songs. He would start on something, go for a few bars, and then stop the band and say, "I don't want to do that one." It happened so often, that I decided that he had some form of ...

And Lizzie Borden (21 Jan 2012 01:28pm)

This is something I hear a lot, "But isn't it wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction?" (When I read it, there is no conjunction at the beginning of that sentence.) And I always reply, "You learned that in grammar school, didn't you?" And they always respond in the affirmative. I don't know wh...

In Defense of Brad DeLong (21 Jan 2012 01:02pm)

Recently, I published an article Bad Blog Quoting, where I complained about how some bloggers—Brad DeLong in particular—create articles that are simply quotes without any value added. They could, as Mark Thoma often does (and as often does not), just provide the link. I still think this ...

Nina Conti Not Nominated for Oscar (20 Jan 2012 09:59pm)

I remember an amazing year for the Best Actor category of the Academy Awards: 1983. There were four actors nominated from the UK and one from the US. And, of course, the American actor won. But that's not important. There were three English actors: Michael Caine (Educating Rita), Tom Courtenay (The ...

That Radical Shakespeare! (20 Jan 2012 05:00pm)

Although I would feel sorry for them, I do think that children should be compelled to read the Bible and Shakespeare. Yes, I am an atheist. Yes, I think Shakespeare is overrated in the extreme. But a culture must have a foundation. What's more, I truly believe that any objective reading of the Bible...

Who is Mista Moose-Puppet-Head? (18 Jan 2012 07:30pm)

This is a cry for help. For a couple of weeks now, I've been signing off my email with, "As Mista Moose-Puppet-Head would say, 'Ha-cha-cha-cha!'" It speaks volumes about who I am and how long I have been, that not a single person has thought to ask, "Who is Mista Moose-Puppet-Head?" Maybe they all...

Opinions Vary on Value of Wikipedia (17 Jan 2012 01:52am)

Over the years, I've been highly critical of Wikipedia. In general, I have two problems with them: Their utter domination of Internet information to the detriment of other sites Their plagiarization (if not strictly in a legal sense) of other online information providers Their whitewashing of most ...

Woman in Red (15 Jan 2012 01:28am)

Why am I in China? I wish I could tell you. This is not one of those, "If you knew, I would have to kill you." Although, I will admit that after three days in China, I am inclined to kill just about anyone just because. In America, there is a stereotype of the Chinese being bad drivers. The Chinese ...

An Important Point About Lucky's Speech (11 Jan 2012 12:06pm)

Lucky's Speech from Waiting for Godot[1] goes along with my take on the play that the universe is unfathomable and all we have are our relationships. Lucky never says anything, he only starts to and this is why his hat must be removed, because he will simply continue on starting to say something&mda...

A Tale of Two Constanzes (11 Jan 2012 09:24am)

Milos Forman's filmed version of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus was a huge hit. According to Box Office Mojo it made over $51 million in the United States alone, and this is just the money it made during its theatrical release. You can imagine the kind of money it made worldwide and via tape and disc ...

The Revolution Will Be Televised (09 Jan 2012 11:52am)

I had a vision of Charles Koch standing handcuffed on a platform. His brother, David, was next to him, on his knees, his head secured in a guillotine. The blade was released and fell with lightning speed. David's head tumbled to the wooden planks below while blood gushed from his neck. Looking away...

True Grit: Post-Art Coen Brothers (09 Jan 2012 09:52am)

The Coen Brothers' True Grit is a huge disappointment. To start, did we really have to make this tiresome film again? To end, did we really have to do it so badly? So unartfully? Have the Coens taken the advice of the Mothers of Invention's third album: are they only in it for the money? However, I...

Falstaff Dies a Broken Man (08 Jan 2012 05:23pm)

Over at Shakespeare Geek, the question is asked if Falstaff dies a broken man. I respond with my usual love of That Bard: Beware Welles' Shakespeare for it is more Welles than That Bard! Welles' take on Falstaff is quite different from any other I have seen or from what one would take from the text...

The Good Christian (08 Jan 2012 10:08am)

I don't hate Christians. I have little tolerance for stupid Christians. In fact, my spiritual beliefs[1] fit in rather well with New Testament dogma. Unfortunately, David Byrne[2] was far more profound than almost any Christian I've met when he wrote, "Heaven is a place where nothing happens." One C...

The Evil Philosophy of William Lane Craig (07 Jan 2012 09:48pm)

Andrea's been writing a bit about religion recently. Just yesterday, she wrote Speaking of Jesus... about the vile practice of Christians trolling for converts at hospitals. And before that, she created a hilarious cartoon (for want of a better term) Jesus is getting pissed. Even before that, howeve...

Bad Blog Quoting (04 Jan 2012 01:45pm)

My favorite blog just happens to be on economics. It is Paul Krugman's The Conscience of a Liberal. There are several other economics blogs that I read regularly. I am very fond of Robert Reich's site, although it isn't really a blog. There are three other blogs that I regularly read: Dean Baker's B...

The Gift That Keeps on Killing (03 Jan 2012 09:39am)

This picture is probably more responsible for turning the tide against the Vietnam War than any other, including the infamous photo of Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation.[1] Like most people, I'm not too fond of guns. True: I would rather be killed by a bullet in the head than flames covering my body...

Reality TV Not So Real (02 Jan 2012 02:02pm)

I hate reality television for a number of reasons. The first is a worker's complaint: there is far less use of writers. (But don't kid yourself: reality shows use writers just as game shows—which are just the oldest form of reality shows—use writers.) Another complaint is that all realit...

Ostentatious Religiosity Should Be Laughed At (02 Jan 2012 01:38pm)

If it weren't for his ostentatious religiosity, I doubt that anyone would know who Tim Tebow was. So it is ironic that there is such an uproar when there is a little push back against his annoying public displays of religious faith. Bill Maher's tweet was right on target: "Wow, Jesus just fucked Tim...

Merry Secular Christmas II (25 Dec 2011 10:33am)

For those who dread this day, but have nothing like cooking to distract you, I provide a few diversions. Some Talks First, there is Robert M. Price interviewing Tom Flynn on Point of Inquiry: The Trouble with Christmas You may be alone, but you are not alone! And last, to lift your spirits even...

What's the Matter with America? (22 Dec 2011 01:16pm)

Thomas Frank's What's the Matter with Kansas reminds me of my youth when I was involved with the Rose Bird reconfirmation election. That election was all about the death penalty, and eventually she was removed from office because she had never voted to uphold a death penalty case.[1] This was not, o...

They Don't Make Pens Like They Used To (21 Dec 2011 12:30pm)

Via The Daily Telegraph, a pen held inside a woman's stomach for 25 years still writes. There are about five things from this story that are amazing. Just check out Rachel Maddow's three minute summary: ...

Disappointed in Obama—Again (15 Dec 2011 09:49pm)

I don't suppose it matters because I've already told you I wouldn't vote for you in 2012 because of the debt ceiling debacle, but you've annoyed me even more with your move about not vetoing the defense authorization. The Republican Party only believes in power. The Democratic Party is much better ...

The Meaning of Marlene on the Wall (15 Dec 2011 09:13pm)

Suzanne Vega's Marlene on the Wall was one of the great pop songs of my youth, but its meaning was always murky to me. Over the weekend, I happened to hear the song again. For the first time, its meaning became clear. It is well known that the Marlene that is on the wall in this song is a picture (...

Up with Chris Hayes Goes Down (11 Dec 2011 04:04pm)

Today is the beginning of the end for Up with Chris Hayes. I had wondered recently how long the new show would manage to continue to be unapologetically liberal. This morning, for the first time in its young history (as far as I know), it had two conservative panelists—who just happened to get...

Artists and Sell Outs (11 Dec 2011 12:50pm)

I was watching some news program online and there was an ad for Hyundai: I had seen it many time before and I had come to the conclusion that the voice on it couldn't be Jeff Bridges; it had to be some anonymous voice actor doing Jeff Bridges. How wrong I was. I found a list of more than ten sta...

Carole Slade Saves Tobias Smollett (09 Dec 2011 09:11pm)

For years, I've noticed these special classics published and sold by Barnes & Noble. I've never bought one, probably because the bindings seemed to be poor. But yesterday, over at Treehorn Books, I found a used copy of their Don Quixote for $5—only half its already low cover price of $9.95. I ...

Don't Pick it Up! (07 Dec 2011 08:02pm)

Many years ago, a friend told me that Bill Gates makes so much money that if he saw a $100 bill, it would not be worth his time to pick it up. Most of us are not in this category, but still struggle with whether we should pick up smaller value currency, like the penny. My mother always picked up pen...

Lucky's Spam (06 Dec 2011 02:17am)

I was cleaning out spam earlier today and I noticed another bout of random acts of spamness: "If you’re not acceptable at this ratio, afresh either you are traveling afterwards the amiss projects or you’re angle and presentation abilities charge a tune-up..." I now see them in a different light, how...

Personal Management (30 Nov 2011 12:47pm)

I just watched D.A. Pennebaker's documentary about Bob Dylan's 1965 tour in the United Kingdom, Don't Look Back. This was the second time I've seen it; the first time was about 30 years ago. What struck me most both times was the conversation between Dylan and the "science student." During this con...

Racist Spam? Political Satire? Or Party Time in Newquay? (30 Nov 2011 09:45am)

Andrea's recent post, which was just a reprint of a Dilbert Cartoon, got a bizarre comment that had a link for Stag Weekends in Newquay (a seaside community on the southwest tip of the United Kingdom). This again comes down to racial identity. McCain can be trusted; Obama cannot. The white man can ...

Police Myths (23 Nov 2011 08:56pm)

After Friday's police spraying of non-violent protesters at U.C. Davis, I—like any reasonable person—am very angry and sad. Right now, I'd like to talk about part of my anger: the firestorm of apologia for the police. Only the most evil of people are defending the specific police and the...

A Musical Confession (21 Nov 2011 06:07pm)

Most people I talk to tell me that they like all styles of music. Sometimes they will admit to a particular style they dislike, especially Country or Heavy Metal. Such statements have always amused me, because I know these people are fooling themselves—not that I shatter their illusions. My ex...

Up with Chris Hayes (21 Nov 2011 12:00pm)

As you probably know, I am very fond of The Nation editor Chris Hayes (even if I am less and less pleased with the magazine itself). Thus, I was excited to check out his new MSNBC show. He is an amazing man. He seems to know everything that is going on in politics, even little obscure things. When I...

Politicians Bored with Politics (20 Nov 2011 10:45pm)

All the excitement over Herman Cain not knowing what has been going on about Libby did not surprise me. It reminded me of Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential election when she was asked to name a Supreme Court ruling other than Roe V. Wade. It has been some time since I have been surprised by an in...

The Ultimate Question (15 Nov 2011 10:02am)

Aasif Mandvi is one of my favorite people on The Daily Show. Plus, he has rapidly growing jowls. Sure, they're not too big yet, but just wait. At the rate he's going, he'll look worse than I do in two years. Anyway, jowls aside, he has the best scene in the charming romantic comedy Ghost Town. ...

Now I've Written to Senator Feinstein (15 Nov 2011 09:20am)

I was much nicer when I wrote to Senator Boxer—because she isn't such a schmuck. Hi- The deal that looks to be emerging from the Super Committee looks to be very bad. I am determined not to vote for anyone who votes to cut social safety net programs—regardless of how much in tax increa...

That Mitchell and Webb Look Get Serious (14 Nov 2011 09:28pm)

It came as a great gift that when I went to check out some old episodes of That Mitchell and Webb Look on Netflix, I found that a new season (series?) was available. Like the glutton I am, I sat down and watched all six episodes. What a delight these guys are. The show compares so well to American c...

I Guess We'll Have to Come Up with Some Other Way to Survive an Anaconda Attack (14 Nov 2011 11:20am)

The following supposedly comes from a Peace Corps manual, but if it does, we are in serious trouble. Do not run. The snake is faster than you are. Lie flat on the ground, put your arms tight against your sides and your legs tight against each other. Tuck your chin in. The snake will being to nudge...

Lonely Shoes (13 Nov 2011 03:20pm)

I hate artificial uselessness. Yesterday, I was walking down the street and I passed by this shoe: I would not normally take a picture of a shoe. Smaller objects, I will often pick up and hold onto for a while. I have no idea why. But shoes are too big, too personal. So normally, I note them and ...

I Miss Daylight Savings (11 Nov 2011 02:12pm)

This is 5:00 pm, last night. I miss my evenings! ...

Another Letter to President Obama (10 Nov 2011 07:03pm)

The super-committee debate over budget cuts reminds me again of just how angry I am at you for how you handled the debt ceiling issue. And now, to make matters worse, the Democrats on the super-committee seem to be going out of their way to cut even more than is required. And what for? Is cutting t...

Why Media Mail (09 Nov 2011 06:56pm)

I sell books on Amazon. It is not a big deal. Mostly, I just do it to justify spending hours at thrift stores and book sales. The amount of money I make is small, but I doubt most of the people who buy from me think so. I know I used to think, "I just paid $3.99 for shipping this book and this selle...

Mother Fuckers! (08 Nov 2011 07:58pm)

Mississippi rejects the personhood amendment. Ohio Turns Back a Law Limiting Unions’ Rights. And what is the top story on Google News? Herman Cain: I'd take lie detector test to rebut Sharon Bialek claims. Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? Update An hour after the New York Times repor...

The Mythical Perfect Government Killing Machine (08 Nov 2011 07:37pm)

On September 7, Brian Williams asked a question of Rick Perry at the Republican presidential campaign debate. It was about the 234 executions that have taken place under Perry's governorship. The question itself was not widely covered. What really caused a stir was the audience response to that stat...

My Fan at Michael's Furniture Warehouse? (06 Nov 2011 12:02pm)

Since starting with Goodle AdSense (Although I don't know why I try: nobody calls, nobody clicks...) I've been very aware of my website traffic. And here's the thing: when I write a lot, I get a lot of visitors (well, between 100 and 200 per day). When I don't, the number of visitors goes way down (...

Gold Diggers (05 Nov 2011 08:31pm)

The Bohemian has a mostly forgettable article about the gold buying business by Joe Rosen. But Rosen does do a little investigative reporting by testing some of the local (Santa Rosa area) gold buyers. He used a gold ring weighing 2.95 grams that was purchased for $200 in 1999 to test the widely mad...

Demand the Impossible (04 Nov 2011 10:18pm)

In the October 2011 issue of The Progressive Matthew Rothschild writes a commentary called "Demand the Impossible." In it, he discusses income inequality and how it has affected democracy in the United States. He points out that the rich own those with political power: "Their Republican servants in ...

Mitt Romney's America (02 Nov 2011 08:08pm)

I really need to get back to Don Quixote and my other 17th century interests, but with things like the following Priorities USA Action ad, it is hard not to pay attention. This is fantastic. Check out all of the Priorities USA Action videos over on YouTube. You'll be glad you did....

Tom Brokaw and the False Equivalence Lie (02 Nov 2011 11:55am)

Tom Brokaw was on The Last Word spouting the mainstream media lie of equivalence. He used Rush Limbaugh's ditto-heads as an example of people who are committed to a certain ideology regardless of facts. In his new book, Brokaw writes, "He has earned his fortune by creating an enormous audience of th...

Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned II (01 Nov 2011 01:07pm)

Ladies and gentlemen: Melissa Harris-Perry. I know her from MSNBC news shows where she is often an analyst and sometimes a guest anchor. And as I've stated before, I wasn't that taken with her at first. But like many things (from movies to food to people), those I like best I often started out by no...

Republican Solution to Debt: More Debt! (30 Oct 2011 06:36pm)

zFacts has a great article on the debt and who is really responsible for it. They also provide this excellent video. ...

Breaking News: Bill O'Reilly is Evil (28 Oct 2011 05:53pm)

I just saw on his show, Bill O'Reilly say that there are many things about President Obama that are "scary." O'Reilly wants people to see him as a reasonable conservative. And indeed, in the current environment of conservatives, he does seem moderate. But calling the President "scary" is the same as...

CREDO Mobile: Fighting for the Liberal Buck (26 Oct 2011 11:00am)

According to UPI, "Protesters gathered outside President Obama's fundraising lunch in San Francisco Tuesday, speaking out on a variety of issues." Many of the protesters were organized by a cell phone company: CREDO Mobile. People talk a lot about companies being good corporate citizens[1], but I do...

Word Processing (25 Oct 2011 07:55pm)

I found a delightful little poem in The Grammar Bible by Strumpf and Douglas. I plan to write a write more about little gems I've found in this fine book. But for now, here is the poem of unknown origin: I have a lovely spelling check That came with my PC, Witch plainly marks, four my revue, Miss t...

Transient Global Amnesia: Forget Free Will (25 Oct 2011 02:23pm)

Transient Global Amnesia (TGA) is a form of short-term memory loss that goes away after 24 hours. While it is occurring, the patient's memory resets on a set period. You can see the effect in the following video. It is a conversation between a mother who is in the middle of a TGA event and her daugh...

Most Dangerous Jobs (14 Oct 2011 11:52pm)

On a Last Word internet exclusive, Michael Moore makes a plea to the police officers of New York to join the Occupy Wall Street protests. Absolutely. He is right about this and I hope that some answer his plea. I have nothing particularly against the police. They are working stiffs just like the res...

Normally I Say There Are No Stupid Questions (14 Oct 2011 10:17pm)

Paul Krugman has an excellent post about Ricardian equivalence. What is Ricardian equivalence? It is an economic model that claims that any money spent by the government will be offset by money not spent by the private sector. Basically, it goes like this: if the government spends $100, the private ...

The Sentence as Will and Idea (13 Oct 2011 05:46pm)

I just read Stanley Fish's How to Write a Sentence. It is an interesting and often enjoyable book. Fish writes beautifully and is very funny. Unfortunately, his whole philosophy is utterly contrary to my own untrained, intuitive approach. Yes, it is true that I love reading about writing and grammar...

Beautiful, Intelligent, Learned (13 Oct 2011 08:41am)

I'm thinking of creating an archive of information about beautiful, intelligent, learned women. I don't think this is sexist, because it seems I am forever talking about beautiful men, although admittedly, with a sense of bitterness and despair. For example, Geoffrey Nunberg, who is better looking, ...

Save at Amazon (12 Oct 2011 11:09pm)

Check out this great deal! So let me get this straight, if I buy this book and sell it back to Amazon, it only costs $92.95? Otherwise, it will be $94.95!? That's a hard deal to pass up. For Amazon. ...

Windows 8: the Day the Computer Died (12 Oct 2011 09:37pm)

See that image to the left? That is the future of computing. Or the end. I'm just not sure. Actually, I am. It is the end. Microsoft's newest operating system is intended to be their response to the Open Handset Alliance's Android operating system. The problem is that a desktop (or laptop) computer ...

Justin Bieber and the End of Western Culture (12 Oct 2011 02:59pm)

As I noted previously, Justin Bieber's Baby ft. Ludacris is the most watched video on YouTube with over 630 million views—200 million views more than the next most watched video, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, which I will come back to shortly. The thing is, I really had no idea who Justin Bieber ...

uTorrent Toolbar Fiasco! (09 Oct 2011 04:52pm)

This is really annoying. I installed uTorrent to get something that it turned out I already had. Either because I wasn't paying attention or I wasn't wearing my glasses, I didn't notice that in the install process, they added the "uTorrent Toolbar"! In general, I hate toolbars. (Who doesn't?) I use ...

"Bye, Baby" (08 Oct 2011 01:18pm)

I am working on a book about nice people. Unfortunately, I am having some difficulty finding women and minorities who are known particularly for being nice. I've been reading and watching a lot of stuff about the modern civil rights movement, looking for people who can flesh out what one friend has ...

Potato Pancakes (07 Oct 2011 10:07am)

I love potato pancakes, and I consider myself something of an expert on them. Most people are not aware that there are two kinds of potato pancakes. First, there are the traditional—What will we do with these left-over mashed potatoes?—and then there are those we make from scratch as an ...

Little Blue Riding Hood (06 Oct 2011 12:05pm)

The Edmonton Public Library produced this delightful puppet show as a public service announcement. It is very effective and funny. ...

Puppet Shows and the Evil Dr. No No (06 Oct 2011 11:40am)

I have been doing puppet shows for as long as I can remember, but the first puppet show I do remember doing was for my second grade class.[1] I did it with my best friend of the time George Herring. We performed Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No. This must have been my...

There, There, There (04 Oct 2011 02:02pm)

I have always been a poor speller, although I've improved greatly over the last decade. However, because I am a careful writer, I am less likely than most to write an incorrect homonym like "beat red." This must be a point of pride to many intelligent bad spellers. In general, spelling is arbitrary....

Acclimation (03 Oct 2011 04:05pm)

I am working on a short article about Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape and so this reminded me of a short play I had written about a year ago that I called Acclimation. This is because my friend Kristen McHenry had mentioned that it reminded her of this play. I disagree completely, but she mu...

Interpreting the News (02 Oct 2011 06:21pm)

I was listening to NPR's Weekend Edition this morning. It was the first time I had heard it in some time. It was interesting to compare it to another form of mainstream news: Fox. Although NPR is hardly perfect, I noticed that the stories were presented in as non-judgmental a manner as possible. Int...

What is a Truel Heart? (02 Oct 2011 05:10pm)

Earlier today, I was listening to Elvis Presley's The Top Ten Hits. This collection included his number one hit, "Don't Be Cruel," of course. I have never been able to sing the refrain of this song anyway but, "Don't be cruel to a heart that truel." This is not just a matter of my usual silliness. T...

Reducing Shakespeare (30 Sep 2011 02:11pm)

A few years ago, I discovered the Reduced Shakespeare Company's The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It is a sketch comedy play which supposedly performs all of Shakespeare's (36, 38, 39?) plays in just one and a half hours. In fact, they only mention many of the plays. For example,...

Rush Limbaugh: Defender of Oppressed Rich (30 Sep 2011 11:35am)

My father just related something he had heard on the Rush Limbaugh radio show. There was an interview with a fourth grader who stated that he wanted to be President of the United States when he grew up. When asked, the boy said that if he were President, he would take money away from the rich people...

Netflix is Just Not That Into Movies (29 Sep 2011 08:37pm)

My biggest problem with Netflix is that the company just isn't that into movies. I first noticed this when watching Continental Divide via Instant Watch. I liked this film a lot when I was younger, so I know it well. As I watched it, I was shocked to see that it had been cut—with lots of dialo...

Michael Moore on Democracy Now! (29 Sep 2011 06:34pm)

Amy Goodman has an excellent hour-long interview with Michael Moore. It is well worth watching. ...

Why No One Knows Medgar Evers (29 Sep 2011 06:29pm)

I am doing all kinds of research for a book I am writing. It is just a collection of biographies of a certain kind of person. I won't tell you what it's about, but I'll give you a list of five of the people who will definitely be in it. Perhaps you will be able to figure out what connects them. Mil...

New Robber Barons (28 Sep 2011 12:59pm)

I have been reading Hershey by Michael D'Antonio, a biography of the remarkable Milton S. Hershey, who is known as much for his humane treatment of his workers as he is for the candy company he created. To put Hershey's life into perspective, D'Antonio provides a good picture of life at that time. H...

Just Philately (27 Aug 2011 03:23am)

When I was a physics undergrad, I was part of a clique of the best physics students—or so we thought. Along with Ken Chopin and Nancy Kunnari, I looked down on students from all the other disciplines as well as all the other physics students—at least the ones who didn't take all the uppe...

Rachel Maddow is Making Sense (21 Aug 2011 11:46am)

I have not been watching Rachel Maddow much these last few months, because I haven't found her that interesting. However, she was in good form this Friday, especially when she presented a new take on the Republican Party's presidential nomination process. According to her, it is not about all these ...

Don Quixote and the Death of Culture (18 Aug 2011 12:04pm)

In Chapter VI of Don Quixote, the protagonist's friends decide to burn the chivalric books that they believe were responsible for his insanity. In this chapter, roughly 32 books are specifically mentioned—books such as Adadis de Gaula and The Knight Platir. In Putnam's translation, he provides...

A Tale of Two Michelles (17 Aug 2011 08:48pm)

I've never been that fond of Melissa Harris-Perry, because I've never found her very exciting—she has never really been willing to get dirty, in an intellectual sense. It's the sort of thing that would make her a great college professor (which she is), but not a political commentator. However,...

Don Quixote Abridged: Putnam's Omissions (14 Aug 2011 05:12pm)

I have been reading Samuel Putnam's The Portable Cervantes, which contains an abridged version of Don Quixote. I hadn't thought about this until I came to the Chapters XI – XIV—"A Pastoral Interlude"—because the novel had been complete up to that point. It turns out that it is only sligh...

Cool, Cool Intolerant Men (07 Aug 2011 05:29pm)

In 1972, after the film version of 1776 was finished—even the negative had been cut—Jack L. Warner, the producer, brought a print to the Whitehouse to screen for President Nixon. who was a close friend. The President thought the movie was wonderful, but that the number "Cool, Cool Conser...

Republican BS (03 Aug 2011 06:49pm)

I was at the Sonoma County Fair today. In the main pavilion, was a booth for the Sonoma County Republican Party. They had a prominent sign that consisted for the acronym RINO inside a circle with a line through it: No "Republicans In Name Only." This was shocking. One expects the teabaggers to promo...

Obama Loses His Soul (01 Aug 2011 09:39am)

Obama has announced that a debt limit deal is in the works that "is a victory for bipartisan compromise, for the economy and for the American people." This is rubbish, of course; but even if it were true, Mark 8:36 comes to mind: for what does it profit a politician to gain the whole center, and for...

Bloody Burger (31 Jul 2011 09:26pm)

When it comes to a steak, cooking directions are clear. Rare, a steak is warm but uncooked in the center. Medium, it is pink in the middle. And well-done, a steak has no pink whatsoever. The reason it is safe to eat a rare steak is that disease is primarily limited to the surface, so as long as the ...

Kiss Me (30 Jul 2011 05:57pm)

Sixpence None the Richer had a huge hit in the late 90s called Kiss Me. And why not? It is a sweet song, well executed. But I have a hard time believing that the success of the song was not, at least in part, due to the wonderfully romantic video (no doubt indicative of the whole marketing campaign ...

The Truth About the Economy in 2 Minutes and 15 Seconds (29 Jul 2011 05:05pm)

It has been hard for me over the past couple of weeks to write much of anything because of my anxiety regarding the debt limit. More and more, I think it is all just hopeless. As it is, even the supposedly good guys are offering only bad solutions. It all means that soon I should be back to doing wh...

Paul Broun Weeps for the Rich (28 Jul 2011 08:35am)

One of the most dangerous myths in the United States is the belief that governing is something anyone can do, and worse yet, something that only the ignorant can do. Thus we get people like Paul Broun who introduced a bill into Congress that would reduce the debt ceiling. But Broun has other things ...

Jesus: God or Nut? (27 Jul 2011 12:53pm)

I have heard from many sources that Jewish scholars think that Jesus was a great man and profit, but not the messiah—not a god. This is very strange to me, because if Jesus was not the savior of the Jews—the son of God—he was at best highly deluded. The issue is very clear, becaus...

Eric Alterman Nails It (26 Jul 2011 05:43pm)

Eric Alterman often annoys me, but I think he is dead on today. I admit that perusing the back-and-forth news accounts below can make for a somewhat depressing read—they only serve to highlight how little progress liberals have made in shifting the debate on this issue in the last decade and a half...

Not Rocket Science (25 Jul 2011 11:55am)

Robert Reich wrote an excellent article that sums up what everyone should know about the current economy. As he says, this isn't rocket science. The only way out of the vicious economic cycle is for government to adopt an expansionary fiscal policy—spending more in the short term in order to ...

Quelle Surprise! (09 Jul 2011 07:56pm)

Today, on his blog, Paul Krugman wrote: And quelle surprise [sic], as Yves Smith would say, the economy is sputtering. When I first read this, I thought he meant to write, "quell surprise," as an ironic, "Stop the surprise!" But this was not what he meant. The first thing I did was to see if there ...

Pirates and Beavers and Priests! Oh my! (08 Jul 2011 09:00pm)

Earlier today, I decided—after much procrastinating—to see the movie The Beaver. You may be thinking, "But Frank, why would you procrastinate about seeing a film that's primary appeal was that it had a puppet?" The answer is its secondary appeal: Mel Gibson. Nothing quite takes the gloss...

Drop the I Word (08 Jul 2011 12:05pm)

I just heard Monica Novoa of the Drop the I Word campaign on FAIR's CounterSpin. The idea of the campaign is to get people to stop using the adjective "illegal" to modify human beings, as in, "He's an illegal immigrant." Frankly, I thought everyone had long ago given up that construction, if for no ...

I Felt Like a Gringo (04 Jul 2011 01:27pm)

On this 4th of July, I find myself thinking back to the Minutemen's 1983 EP Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and the song "I Felt Like a Gringo" by Mike Watt: Got a ton of white boy guilt, that's my problem, Obstacle of joy, one reason to use some drugs. Slept on a mexican beach slept in tr...

A Couple of Questions for That Bard (03 Jul 2011 10:35pm)

As regular readers of this site know, I very much like Kenneth Branagh and very much dislike Shakespeare, who I derisively call "That Bard." It is wrong to say that I dislike Shakespeare; it is more that I just don't think he is all that great. If no one liked him, I would probably sing his praises....

Five Dollar Man (03 Jul 2011 09:41pm)

There is a test that psychologists can give to a person to determine how much of a gambler he is. It is quite simple. Would you bet a quarter for a quarter on a coin flip?—that is to say, if it comes up heads, I pay you a quarter and if it comes up tails, you pay me a quarter. A man who would ...

Don Quixote in Pieces on the Ground (02 Jul 2011 01:58pm)

Don Quixote is roughly a half-million words long. The average modern novel is about 100,000 words. My first novel was 60,000 words. My current novel was supposed to 120,000 words, but it is becoming clear that it will have to be roughly double that length. The point is that Don Quixote is long. It i...

Clarity, Convenience, and the Serial Comma (01 Jul 2011 02:35pm)

Jay Ward created Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Confused? If you didn't know all these shows, you might think that "George of the Jungle and Rocky and Bullwinkle" somehow modify "Hoppity Hooper." Or you might think that that the three shows Jay Ward created were "Hopp...

Paul Krugman is Naive (29 Jun 2011 07:10am)

The only blog I read every day is Paul Krugman's Conscious of a Liberal. I like reading it because I learn a great deal about economics, and that is one area that I know very little about. (I also read Dean Baker over at Talking Post Memo and Brad DeLong's GRASPING REALITY WITH BOTH HANDS.) I'm a ve...

Let Raping Reign (28 Jun 2011 01:18am)

Today I rented a car so that my family could at long last scatter the ashes of my beloved mother—a woman who blessed me with many great virtues and vices like my love for reading and learning, and my contrarian nature (I owe my father much debt in these areas too). As always when I rent a car,...

Cleverbot Not So Clever (26 Jun 2011 09:54pm)

I was listening to a Radio Lab episode called Talking to Machines. They mentioned that there are things called "ChatBots" that are used on social networking sites. They are so good that people often have online relationships with these programs for months without realizing that they aren't talking t...

Hot Coffee (24 Jun 2011 06:16pm)

Remember the story of Stella Liebeck, the woman who sued McDonald's for spilling coffee on her and ended up getting a $2.9 million settlement? Remember how everyone thought it was a joke? Susan Saladoff has produced a documentary for HBO called Hot Coffee about this story and the broader issues of t...

Politics: Healthcare Population Statistics (23 Jun 2011 01:41pm)

I spent a lot of time on The Incidental Economist recently—it was wonderfully informative. One fact from Dr. Aaron Carroll's excellent How Do We Rate the Quality of the US Health Care System—Population Statistics [1] stood out to me, although it wasn't mentioned in the article or the com...

What the Fuck is Krugman on About? (22 Jun 2011 08:58am)

From time to time, Paul Krugman reminds his readers not to use naughty words in comments: Why Your Comment Was Deleted | 1. Gee whillikers, you used an obscenity! It’s clear that many people don’t even realize that they’re using banned words. But that’s by far the biggest reason for rejection. 2. ...

Politics: War Made Easy (20 Jun 2011 11:00pm)

Norman Soloman's excellent War Made Easy contains the following information about the number of civilians killed in recent wars. See if you can spot the trend: Don't you feel proud to be an American?...

Psychopaths and Authoritarians (19 Jun 2011 06:22pm)

David Schwartz writes about The Rise of the Second-String Psychopaths: Since psychopaths are usually very smart, they can be quite competent at impersonating regular human beings in positions of power. Since they don’t care how their actions affect people, they can rise to great height in enterpris...

The Amazing Usain Bolts (17 Jun 2011 10:46pm)

I've been editing the first act of the Post-Post Modern Comedy Hour this evening. It involves an old man (someone like me) racing a college sprinter. I was going to use the 50-meter dash, but there doesn't seem to be much of that, so I changed it to the 100-meter dash. In my research, I came upon th...

Politics: Sudoku in The Examiner (17 Jun 2011 07:35pm)

When reading the likes of Paul Johnson, William F. Buckley, or even David Brooks, it is easy to get so caught up in the eloquence of the writing and ostentatious erudition, that one misses the distortions (and sometimes plain lies) and specious arguments. It doesn't take much of a leap to conclude t...

Politics: Weiner Scandal is Over (09 Jun 2011 11:15am)

Yesterday, I wrote a short article about how his name ought to be pronounced, Anthony Weiner Pronounces Name Wrong. I did not talk about the political aspects of the sexless sex scandal he is now in the middle of. There isn't much I have to say on the subject, except this: the scandal is over. The c...

Voyeurs & Exhibitionists (08 Jun 2011 09:14pm)

I read the most amazing thing in The Chronicle today, "Six percent of Americans over 18 have sent a nude or near-nude image of themselves to someone else and 15 percent have received one, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project." I'll have to think about this more, bu...

Anthony Weiner Pronounces Name Wrong (08 Jun 2011 01:07pm)

When Anthony Weiner spoke at Congressional Correspondents' Dinner, I thought he was very funny. This is especially true when he spoke about living with his last name. It is at the beginning of this 12 minute talk (which is worth watching in full): Weiner is wrong about how his name ought to be pr...

Politics: Rachel Maddow is Wrong (06 Jun 2011 09:46pm)

First, check out this segment: I think her rankings in the "Post-Bill Clinton Modern American Political Sex-Scandal Consequence-O-Meter" are wrong. In particular, she seems to have a real problem with prostitution and thinks that it alone makes something creepy and prosecutable. For example, she ...

Politics: Rachel Maddow is Silly (03 Jun 2011 09:01pm)

Rachel Maddow is a very silly woman. I don't know how she ever got a news show, but I'm glad she did. ...

Billy Bob Neck in Heaven? (28 May 2011 07:31pm)

Here is Billy Bob Neck's most recent video. At 1:37, he disappears—obviously raptured (a man like Billy Bob). The remaining 13:35 is just his empty seat so don't wait for it.[1] My question is: does this mean that Paul Day has decided not to do Billy Bob Neck any more? After three years of ...

Politics: Lawrence O’Donnell is Winning me Over (27 May 2011 12:35pm)

O’Donnell is a very insightful guy. He thinks about politics better than anyone I know of. This is amazing. ...

Master Class with William Bennett (27 May 2011 12:07pm)

Roughly three decades ago, I went to a master class with the British flutist William Bennett—at the College of Marin, I think. The class consisted of four flute performers (three of them were professionals, just not of Bennett's caliber, and one was a college student, my age and slightly bette...

Fowler V. Strunk&White (26 May 2011 11:42am)

A reader wrote to asked how Fowler compared to Strunk & White's Elements of Style. I wrote back cavalierly saying that Fowler was fun—implying that S&W was not. That was unfair because I tend to find any grammar book fun. I am not the kind of man who hunts for grammatical errors in his...

Everybody Sings the Body Electric (24 May 2011 09:52pm)

In 1855, Walt Whitman self-published the first version of Leaves of Grass. This version of the book was only 95 pages long and did not include the poem "I Sing the Body Electric." It would have to wait for the 120 page, 1871 edition. (The final edition was 438 pages in 1891.) Don't believe the many ...

Two Thoughts on Lars and the Real Girl (23 May 2011 01:18pm)

I had planned to write about some important differences I noticed in the Beckett on Film version of Krapp's Last Tape and the play itself, but I finally got around to watching Lars and the Real Girl and I had two thoughts about it: one emotional and one technical. No Third Acts F. Scott Fitzgerald...

Who Mourns for Judy Johnson? (22 May 2011 09:01pm)

[Editorial Note: I'm sorry. This really is awful. It is not clear at all what I'm on about. I do, however, think it is a good starting point for a 5000 word personal essay on race in America. Read it at your peril.] Right now, I'm working on the screenplay for the pilot of a TV show called The Post...

Avuncular (20 May 2011 10:44am)

One of my favorite movies is Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (I think it is better than the play). This is probably because of my love-hate relationship with Hamlet and how it shows that Tom Stoppard understood That Bard's play far better than That Bard. The thing about Hamlet is that it isn...

Politics: Smart Hate (18 May 2011 06:43pm)

I just watched the full half-hour interview of Jon Stewart on Bill O'Reilly's show. The first half of it is quite worth watchin: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com The best you will ever do in a political argument of this type is get your opponent to admit that you make some good points, ...

Politics: I Need My Head Examined (18 May 2011 01:26pm)

I'm late getting to this, but I wanted to comment on something that President Obama said on 60 Minutes: "Justice was done. And I think that anyone who would question that the perpetrator of mass murder on American soil didn't deserve what he got needs to have their head examined." So I guess I need ...

Writing is Not Grammatical Analysis (16 May 2011 06:22pm)

As I was browsing through Strunk and White[1] for an upcoming article, I noted some examples of the "wrong"' way to write a sentence and the "right" way. And, of course, I agreed; even though I am not a "Strunk and White" man[2], it is hard not to agree with them on most matters grammatical. There i...

Politics: Trump Wimps Out (16 May 2011 04:03pm)

According to MSNBC, Donald Trump has announced that he will not run for President of the United States. This is no surprise. I don't know any reasonable person who thought he would. But the question remains: why did he pretend he was going to run? I don't think it was to improve the ratings of his s...

Kory Stamper is Ugly? (16 May 2011 07:53am)

I got an email message from the guy who has the name and the address that was listed at Internic for korystamperisugly.com. He said, "I would highly appreciate it if you would remove the below post from your website. That domain is not related to me in any way, shape or form. I also do not appreciat...

Innumeracy at Santa Rosa City Bus (15 May 2011 05:08pm)

Almost every day—often many times per day—I ride the Santa Rosa City Bus. Inside each bus are signs that explain (1) the cash fare price for riding for a two-hour period, (2) the City Pass price for riding for a whole month, and (3) the Ticketbook price—ticketbooks being a collecti...

What in the Hell is Emily Brewster Doing Anyway? (14 May 2011 10:53pm)

About a month ago, I sent a letter to Merriam-Webster because a reader mentioned that Kory Stamper might now be a Full Editor (whatever that is) and no longer an Associate Editor. Hi- A few months ago, I wrote a cheeky article about the fact that Kory Stamper had changed her hair color. I didn't t...

Thor: God of Boredom (14 May 2011 06:21pm)

For someone who really likes movies, I find a surprising number of them really boring. What's more, I can tell you when I find them boring: after one hour. In over half the movies I watch, I look at my watch at some point because I'm bored and I'm wondering when whatever "entertainment" I'm watching...

Kill or Save: It's Not Up To You (14 May 2011 04:02pm)

In Sam Harris' excellent The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values,[1] he puts forth an excellent experiment called The Asian Disease Problem. Here is how Harris presents the problem: Imagine that the United States is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease, which i...

Two Songs and Counting (27 Apr 2011 01:17pm)

A very creative young man named Jonathan Mann started a project of writing a song every day for a year. This was some time ago now, and I don't think he has stopped. (You'll have to look him up—I'm not that interested in his work.) He goes by the name Rock Cookie Bottom (he has a song about t...

Politics: Religiously Evil (26 Apr 2011 07:17pm)

Franklin Graham is an Idiot This is interesting. The only reason that his father wasn't such an embarrassment was that his father didn't talk so much. What evil men—both. Late Breaking News from Mark 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him...

Hamlet is an Asshole (25 Apr 2011 02:59am)

When Rosencrantz and Guildenstern first meet Hamlet in his eponymous play, he says with great delight, "My excellent good friends! How dost thou, / Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, / how do ye both?" Apart from the opening line (My excellent good friends!) this does not strike me as wonderf...

My Own Private Ballykissangel (23 Apr 2011 09:38am)

I was at the bank yesterday, and Juan, who has remembered my name from the day I met him (although it took him two days of reminding that he must call me "Frank" and not "Mr. Moraes") asked me, "Do you have any plans for Easter?" "Is it this Sunday?" I asked like the stupidest man alive given that ...

Politics: Thaddeus McCotter Can Play (22 Apr 2011 09:52am)

The Man Can Play! Conservative U.S. Representative Thaddeus McCotter recently did a video interview during which he is playing what looks like an American flag-painted Telecaster. Rachael Maddow has some fun with it, titling the segment, "This is the Worst Music Video I've Ever Seen." I like Maddow...

Politics: Any Film with Keenan Wynn... (21 Apr 2011 12:35pm)

Paul Krugman writes, "There Are No TV Series About Heroic Economists... But there was a so-bad-it-was-good movie about a villainous, murderous chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers." He then provides the trailer for The Internecine Project. "So-bad-it-was-good"? Well, you know how much I hate...

Politics: 20 April 2011 (20 Apr 2011 05:35pm)

McBama Paul Krugman makes an excellent point on his blog today: One thing I guarantee you: if John McCain were living in the White House, these same people would have lots of good things to say about the stimulative effects of deficits in a depressed economy. I know it's an excellent point, becau...

Box Office Poison at Mary's Pizza Shack (19 Apr 2011 03:34pm)

Yesterday while ingesting about a week's worth of calories in pizza, beer, and brandy, I over-heard my waiter mention that he had a band. Given that he looked something of thirty years old, I figured his band might actually be interesting. (Yes, I am an ageist; other than chess players and Olympic g...

Politics: 16 April 2011 (16 Apr 2011 02:55pm)

My Taxes Are Too High! I just wrote a check to the IRS for just under $2000 for my 2010 income taxes. This seems like a lot, when you consider that I only made about $20,000 last year. And that's just the income taxes; I'm not talking about state and local taxes or payroll taxes or sales taxes (9.2...

Politics: 12 April 2011 (12 Apr 2011 06:56pm)

I just wrote this letter to the president: I am so disappointed with you, but I don't want you to get the wrong idea. When I voted for you, I didn't think that you were going to work miracles. However, I *did* think that you would stand up against the Republicans. Instead, you seem always to be g...

Politics: 7 April 2011 (07 Apr 2011 04:11pm)

Paul Krugman Looks Back On his blog yesterday, Paul Krugman provides a list of things that politics pundits have been largely in agreement about. George Bush is a nice, moderate guy, who will work in a bipartisan way. George Bush is a heroic leader, who has risen to the occasion. The case for i...

Politics: 22 March 2011 (22 Mar 2011 08:00pm)

Eugene Agrees With Me Eugene Robinson seems to be saying exactly what I said yesterday—admittedly better. ...

Politics: 21 March 2011 (21 Mar 2011 08:35pm)

All the Faces of Gaddafi It bothers me how Gaddafi is perceived throughout the developed world—especially in the United States. Once he was a villain. I remember when Reagan bombed him and how it upset me—not so much because I cared about Gaddafi or because I was philosophically against...

The Problem With Wikipedia: Westbrook Pegler Version (18 Mar 2011 10:17pm)

One of many problems with Wikipedia is how it tends to homogenize history and people. Truly despicable people come off as okay because there is one person in the world who thinks he or she wasn't a monster. See, for example, George Heast. Or, more to the point, see Westbrook Pegler. According to Wik...

Andrew Keen's Big Bait and Switch (18 Mar 2011 08:42pm)

Neil Postman's 1985 book Amusing Ourselves to Death is one of the most important, eye-opening books I have ever read. In it, he presents a history of communications in the United States and makes clear what Marshall McLuhan meant when he wrote, "The medium is the message." Specifically, Postman disc...

Politics: 15 March 2011 (15 Mar 2011 10:00pm)

Homophobic Hypocrisy From Max Blumenthal's wonderful Republican Gomorrah: In 1996, Henry Adams, Lester Wright, and Bethany Lohr, psychiatrists and researchers at the University of Georgia, investigated the link between homophobia and repressed homosexuality, surveying over fifty self-declared hete...

Illiterate Filmmakers: Italian Edition (14 Mar 2011 01:16pm)

As a follow-up to Illiterate Filmmakers: Last Man Standing Edition, I can't help but comment on a TV show I just watched. The first episode of the fifth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured the 1983 American film Warrior of the Lost World, which seems to have been produced in Italy. Regul...

Politics: 13 March 2011 (13 Mar 2011 04:01pm)

Inside Job I just saw Inside Job, Charles Ferguson's documentary about the 2008 financial melt-down. It is good—very good. However, it isn't until I got to the deleted scenes with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, that I found the reason this crisis ended in a paralysis of the financial industry: lack ...

Illiterate Filmmakers: Last Man Standing Edition (04 Mar 2011 03:52pm)

A lot of proper writing is not a matter of hard rules[1]—it is just a matter of clarity and beauty. One of the best examples of this is parallel structure. As Janis Bell states in Clean Well-Lighted Sentences, "When you write items in a series, you need to make sure they match each other in te...

Politics: 2 March 2011 (03 Mar 2011 10:55am)

All Charlie, All The Time! It seems as time goes on, Lawrence O'Donnell is becoming more sympathetic to poor ol' Charlie Sheen. But in his fourth segment in three days, O'Donnell has upped his coverage of Sheen to 33 minutes and 19 seconds. Libya is still at one 3 minutes 20 second segment. ...

Politics: 1 March 2011 (01 Mar 2011 03:27pm)

Charlie Sheen Speaks Truth Charlie Sheen is most likely an asshole and certainly has a lot of problems. You would certainly get that impression from this clip from The Last Word: But one thing Sheen is right on about is Alcoholics Anonymous and its many 12-Step off-shoots. He calls it as it is: ...

"Why Ms. Brewster: You're beautiful!" (26 Feb 2011 10:53pm)

Ever since writing Kory Stamper Lightens Hair! I have been getting a lot of visitors searching for information about Ms. Stamper's collegue, Emily Brewster. And the searches are not as neutral as one would expect; I'm getting a surprising number of visitors to the site who are searching for things ...

A Most Forgettable Film (21 Feb 2011 04:07pm)

After Mel Gibson's musclebound Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, it should surprise no one that Guy Richie gives us a similar take on the only slightly less revered character of Sherlock Holmes. However, while we expect Christ to be seen shirtless, Richie's shirtless Victorian hero comes as a bit ...

Librarians: Be Afraid; Be Very Afraid (11 Feb 2011 05:24pm)

When a writer is poor, he makes great use of whatever free libraries are available to him. In my case, it is the Sonoma County Library, which is, as they say, "Free to use... not free to operate." And I do donate to the cause—just not anything close to what I get in return. I figure that rough...

"Getting Known" (11 Feb 2011 05:15pm)

This phrase (actually, a whole sentence as he wrote it) is from Samuel Beckett's great one-act play, Krapp's Last Tape. The full context is, "Seventeen copies sold, of which eleven at trade price to free circulating libraries beyond the seas. Getting known." Is it any wonder that of all Beckett's ch...

Politics: 8 February 2011 (08 Feb 2011 06:49pm)

Current TV to MSNBC: "Thanks for the brand! Keith Olbermann has joined with Current TV and will begin broadcasting this Spring. According to Marilyn Sparks, Current TV has been struggling to create an identity. Olbermann will be a great help in that. This whole situation reminds of when the Orlando...

Politics: 7 February 2011 (07 Feb 2011 09:57am)

"All Important Independents I just read NPR's summary of the Obama-O'Reilly interview. It was typical NPR "take no sides even when a child is stomping on frogs" sort of coverage. But one line really hit me, "To further his appeal to the all-important independents, Obama took the opportunity to unde...

Politics: 6 February 2011 (06 Feb 2011 02:05pm)

Bill O'Reilly Disrespectful to President It was amazing to me to have just watched the Bill O'Reilly's interview with President Obama. O'Reilly showed himself to be extremely ignorant, posing questions like, "Many people think you want to redistribute wealth..." This isn't surprising. I expected th...

Politics: 5 February 2011 (05 Feb 2011 12:11pm)

Idiocracy I wrote a very negative review of the film Idiocracy on Netflix, which you can read in my artcile Who is TB 152371?!. Last night Rachel Maddow discussed our modern day Idiocracy, also known as Faux News: She also did an excellent piece on The Death of David Kato....

Field Notes from a Catastrophe (02 Feb 2011 05:44pm)

Robert Reich said in a recent interview that he no longer believes in keeping a balanced federal budget. Why? Because in general, Democrats are fiscally responsible and Republicans are not. Bill Clinton managed to balance the budget and leave to George W. Bush a federal government that was actually ...

Politics: 2 February 2011 (02 Feb 2011 11:06am)

Stock Market Back, Republicans Yawn The Vancouver Sun reports that the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 12,000 yesterday. This is a 50% increase from where it closed the last day of the Bush administration. I know, big deal. Except that Republicans continue to claim that Obama is not only ...

Politics: 30 January 2011 (30 Jan 2011 06:33pm)

Stagnation Tyler Cowen wrote an interesting article in the New York Times yesterday called, Innovation Is Doing Little for Incomes. In it, he talks about how much people's lives changed over the course of the first half of the 20th century, but not so much the second half. (That isn't the main poin...

Mom's Home Frozen Cooking (30 Jan 2011 04:24pm)

Back in 1948, Don Callender started his business Marie Callender's—named after his dear mother—to sell pies, wholesale, to restaurants. Eventually, of course, he turned it into a chain of restaurants and finally into some of the finest frozen food you can buy for less than two dollars. I...

Politics: 27 January 2011 (27 Jan 2011 06:54pm)

Maybe Not a Person There I'm a little late on getting to this, but it's been on my mind since I saw it in real time. During the State of the Union Address, President Obama said, "I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on earth." Oh yeah! That's because everyon...

Politics: 25 January 2011 (25 Jan 2011 10:21pm)

Paul Ryan: Liar or Fucking Idiot? I watched the State of the Union Speech and even Paul Ryan's response. They were both pretty pathetic. Obama didn't say anything that was really offensive, but it left me wondering: how can we invest in the future if we can't invest at all because we have to cut th...

Who is TB 152371?! (23 Jan 2011 07:16pm)

For the past few weeks, I have been in a life-and-death struggle with TB 152371 on Netflix. Let me explain. I had given up writing "reviews" on Netflix, because I found the voting unfair. No one seemed to actually read the reviews; they just clicked "helpful" or "not helpful" if they agreed with you...

Politics: 22 January 2011 (23 Jan 2011 10:52am)

Chris Hayes, You Dog! On Friday's The Rachel Maddow Show, Chris Hayes had the opportunity to lampoon Darrell Issa, and I thought it was funny as hell. Watch: ...

Politics: 21 January 2011 (21 Jan 2011 09:52pm)

WTF?! Keith Olbermann is leaving MSNBC. According to the Los Angeles Times, Olbermann's leaving has nothing to do with the upcoming Comcast merger; this is based upon an MSNBC email announcement. Others say differently. TMZ reports that, "Sources connected with the network tell us ... Comcast honch...

Politics: 20 January 2011 (20 Jan 2011 10:50pm)

Abduction! At around 6:00 this evening, I walked under Highway 101 in Santa Rosa, and I was treated to the following sight: The main thing to notice is the brightly displayed sign in the back. Because I have a terrible phone-camera, you can't make out what it says, but you should be able to tell ...

Politics: 19 January 2011 (19 Jan 2011 06:58pm)

The One Problem With Anthony Weiner I'm sure you've seen this before, but it is so much fun to watch. So watch it again; now! The one problem I have with the Congressman is how he pronounces his last name. Yes, of course, everyone has a right to pronounce their own names however they want. But i...

It Wasn't You, Charlie (18 Jan 2011 10:04pm)

I'm working on an article about the absence of meaning in the universe, so I thought I would take a break and write something fun—not meaningful, but fun. I just watched On the Waterfront for, probably, the fifth time. The scene everyone knows is the one where Terry tells his brother, Charlie,...

Politics: 14 January 2011 (14 Jan 2011 12:03pm)

The Middle Ground In today's column, Paul Krugman discusses the fact that while it is a good idea for us all to listen to each other, what we are likely to find is that we really do disagree with each other. He points out that on the one side, we have people that really do think that taxation is th...

Politics: 13 January 2011 (13 Jan 2011 12:26pm)

Jon Stewart Does Have Balls—Today, Anyway The last two nights of The Daily Show were very funny. The 11 January 2011 show was very funny—the best I've seen in a long while. And then, last night's show was also very funny, but even more important, Jon Stewart showed that he actually did&...

Zombies (and Kory Stamper Fans) are Attacking! (11 Jan 2011 06:36pm)

When I was a kid, no film frightened me like The Last Man on Earth. Most people had a similar reaction to Night of the Living Dead, George Romero's excellent fright-fest (which itself was based at least upon Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, if not its first film adaptation—that Matheson c...

Politics: 4 January 2010 (04 Jan 2011 10:53am)

Conservatives' Brains Colin Firth (yes, the actor) was doing a show for BBC-Radio 4 and ended up helping an academic study of the differences in the brains of conservatives and liberals. Firth, a liberal, said, "I just decided to find out what was biologically wrong with people who don't agree with...

Two Days to Go! (01 Jan 2011 11:12am)

[Note: this is a deeply personal reflection about my life. I think that it is of general interest, but it doesn't deal with the nuts and bolts of the world that is the mainstay of this site. It is a story that I fear many people share to one extent or another—either from my perspective or that...

Politics: 29 December 2010 (29 Dec 2010 12:40am)

Deja Vu Nothing needs to be said; just watch. ...

Politics: 24 December 2010 (24 Dec 2010 10:31am)

Media Matters gives Sarah Palin Award Media Matters for America gave Sarah Palin The 2010 Glenn Beck Misinformer Of The Year Award: A Message from Mark Fucking Zuckerberg Will was kind enough to send this excellent SNL clip to me. Let's have a look, shall we: It is absolutely brilliant, apar...

Kory Stamper Lightens Hair! (23 Dec 2010 07:13pm)

For those of you soulless masses who lead unimaginably boring lives, I will explain that Kory Stamper is an editor at Merriam-Webster. I have a terrible crush on her as well as her two colleagues at the dictionary company: Associate Editor Emily Brewster and Editor-At-Large Peter Sokolowski. How do ...

Politics: 23 December 2010 (23 Dec 2010 11:37am)

The Mendacity of Hope Roger Hodge has a new book out called The Mendacity of Hope. I haven't read it. I don't even have it, but I will after the holidays and I'm sure I'll write about it. Until then, I bring you a couple of videos of the former editor of Harper's Magazine making a lot of sense abou...

Review of C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy (14 Dec 2010 10:27pm)

Jeff Sharlet’s C Street, the follow-up to his best-seller The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power is a must-read, even though it is not as good as it should be nor what its title implies. The book is not tightly written, and not really about C Street, the $2 million thre...

Politics: 1 December 2010 (01 Dec 2010 10:26am)

John McCain Was Never a Maverick, but He Was Always... For years, I've been saying that John McCain is no maverick. He's vengeful: after losing to George W. Bush, he did what he could to poke him in the eye, and that sometimes meant not holding extremist conservative views—which were and stil...

Thirty Days Hath September Bollocks (29 Nov 2010 09:13pm)

My mother was very fond of poetry and other "intellectual" pursuits. In fact, she was a good deal smarter than I am, but she did not have the advantages that I have had. In a fair world, she would be Professor Emeritus of Latin at Harvard. Instead, she's just dead. But being smart doesn't make you p...

Amongst Us, Among Them (19 Nov 2010 12:12pm)

Based upon the title of this article, regular readers of this site will most likely think that I am here to kill off "amongst." Or maybe "among" if I am in one of those moods. But both assumptions are wrong. I think there is good reason to keep both words around—the same reason that we keep "a...

Politics: 18 November 2010 (18 Nov 2010 10:19am)

Juan Williams: Pure Liberal In an interview with Howard Kurtz, Roger Ailes calls NPR, "the left wing of Nazism." In this, I pretty much agree. This country is not Nazi, but it is highly fascistic, and I mean this literally—so think Mussolini, not Hitler. Political discourse in this country ha...

Politics: 16 November 2010 (16 Nov 2010 09:24am)

Casino Writ Large I just watched part of Martin Scorsese's Casino. There is a very famous scene in the movie where two card cheats are discovered. The casino management break one of the guys' hand with a hammer and tell the other that he can leave with the hammer and the money or with neither. He p...

Politics: 15 November 2010 (15 Nov 2010 10:13am)

Democratic Party Losses: The Real Lesson I am reading all over the Internet that Obama lost the independent voters in this election and similar statements about how this election was some kind of mandate and that people's opinions of Obama have changed. There are so many such articles that I'm not ...

Politics: 14 November 2010 (14 Nov 2010 09:28am)

More on Chomsky The brief clip I embedded yesterday came from a 2009 Commonwealth Club lecture that Noam Chomsky gave. He goes into the topic of the teabaggers a little more. Hearing this and having a night to think about it made me reconsider it. I think Chomsky is wrong. It is not that the teabag...

Politics: 13 November 2010 (13 Nov 2010 06:11pm)

Noam Chomsky and My Dad I remember about twenty years ago, my dad—a radically conservative Faux News robot before there was a Faux News—watched an interview with Noam Chomsky. I was surprised that my father thought that Chomsky had the problems faced by the country totally pegged. It di...

Politics: 12 November 2010 (12 Nov 2010 08:29pm)

Governor George Bush: Murderer Just watch it: ...

Politics: 11 November 2010 (11 Nov 2010 08:41pm)

Veterans' Day It's a Veterans' Day. I don't think so ill of the people in the army. But let's be frank: joining the army is not the best thing you can do for your country. Most of our wars have been wars of choice. By holding up military service as a great thing, unjustified wars are easier for le...

I Could Use an Extra Hour (06 Nov 2010 07:42pm)

It is time to set our clocks back. This brings to mind the helpful reminder, "Spring forward, Fall back." According to Room Eight, this dates back to Walter Winchell, who in turn refers to the Los Angeles Times. I personally think that this phrase is up there with the great intellectual achievements...

Politics: 6 November 2010 (06 Nov 2010 08:12am)

Looks Like Obama Will Need Some Axe As the ads for Axe Clean You Balls have shown, you need to keep your balls clean. Over the last few days, I thought that Obama would need no such product, but it appears he has balls after all. An Acronym from Paul Krugman THTMAAAIYP: You have too many acrony...

Politics: 5 November 2010 (05 Nov 2010 06:46pm)

The Know-Nothing Party I was over at Fairness and Accuracy in Media (FAIR) where I was reminded of the long history angry right-wing populism. In particular, does anybody remember laughter the Know-Nothing Party? Its members strongly opposed immigrants and followers of the Catholic Church. The maj...

Politics: 4 November 2010 (04 Nov 2010 05:36pm)

It's All About Turn-Out I used a graph from The Atlantic to get the following statistics (I think they are wrong and greatly under-estimate the issue): people over 65 where 16% of the electorate in 2008 and 23% in 2010; people under 30 were 18% in 2008 and 11% in 2010. And so I used these data to c...

Politics: 3 November 2010 (03 Nov 2010 10:45am)

Will says maybe I shouldn't or couldn't stop doing this blog, but I think that is just because he was pissed off last night. This may be it. Following politics really does not improve my quality of life. Half Blue Dogs Out The house went about as I expected, but worse than I had hoped. On the up s...

Politics: 2 November 2010 (02 Nov 2010 02:56pm)

Let The Circus Begin I have little to say. It will be a bad day. I have this image in my mind of watching a teabagger reading his portable Constitution. I still don't understand how people can read the same document over and over and never understand it. Of course, without reading the Federalist Pa...

Politics: 1 November 2010 (01 Nov 2010 09:09am)

We Will All Go Together When We Go Kevin O'Rourke discusses the main economic issue facing Ireland—a country that must undergo fiscal austerity. Basically, he says that the only way such policies will be anything but contractionary is if exports grow. However, exports will not grow, because o...

Politics: 31 October 2010 (31 Oct 2010 05:56pm)

Let's Play Dress Up Gawker discusses this week's Time Magazine cover featuring Meg Whitman, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, and Christine O'Donnell. The cover proclaims, "How a new breed of Republicans tapped into voter rage and upset the Establishment—but can they govern?" The funny thing about thi...

Politics: 30 October 2010 (30 Oct 2010 12:26pm)

The Rally to Restore Sanity I watched the whole fucking thing. I'm sorry about that. Anyway: Jon Stewart, as usual, said something that really pissed me off. He was talking about hyperbolic language—I'm all for that. But then he said something about just because someone is more liberal than y...

Politics: 29 October 2010 (29 Oct 2010 04:55pm)

Where's Alito Now? Back during the State of the Union address, President Obama said, "With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that, I believe, will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend witho...

Politics: 28 October 2010 (28 Oct 2010 09:56am)

More on Lauren Valle Attack It bothers me that the attack on Lauren Valle is repeatedly referred to as a "stomping." It was not a stomping, it was an attack, or if you prefer a more legal term: assault. There is more news on the attack, though. According to KTAR, the man accused of tackling her is ...

Politics: 27 October 2010 (27 Oct 2010 11:16am)

No Control of 50 ICBMs: Who Cares? According to the LA Times, a computer glitch caused 50 ICBMs to go "off-line" at a Wyoming Air Force for 45 minutes. Given that the US has roughly ten thousand ICBMs, I don't see why we care. The glitch did not put us in any danger of the missiles being launched. ...

Politics: 26 October 2010 (26 Oct 2010 05:48pm)

Teabaggers Show Their Colors The Rand Paul Campaign showed what they think of dissent last night. Here, Lauren Valle was assaulted by two supporters. One of them is known: Tim Profitt, Bourbon County now former coordinator for Paul's campaign. He's the one stomping on Ms. Valle. The person who tack...

Politics: 25 October 2010 (25 Oct 2010 09:57am)

I Can Be a Writer! I just saw a review on Amazon by one Jon R. Stosser, commenting on S. E. Cupp's Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media's Attack on Christianity. Stosser writes, "I just [saw] Ms. Cupp on RealTime [with] Bill Maher and watched in amazement at her surprise that communism was akin t...

Politics: 23 October 2010 (23 Oct 2010 08:56am)

Obama on the Attempt to Repeal Wall Steet Reform I disagree with this guy so much. He would be conseridered very conserviative in, say, Finland (you know, the best country in the world). But I really like him. He could sell me a Peter Motteux translation of Don Quixote—he's just that good. Th...

Politics: 22 October 2010 (22 Oct 2010 08:24pm)

Chris Coons I've been very busy today. Other than the six-month anniversary of the soil spill (yesterday, actually), there is not a lot going on that needs my attention. Plus, Will tells me I should give this whole thing up. And he may be right. But here is an ad worth watching: ...

Politics: 21 October 2010 (21 Oct 2010 08:42am)

Strange Conservatives In conversations with conservatives where I ask for a justification for their beliefs, they will respond, "I'm just a Republican." I call these Popeye moments: I yam what I yam. I have received this response a number of times. I have never received a corresponding response fro...

Politics: 20 October 2010 (20 Oct 2010 10:53am)

Democratic Surge? Last night I reported on Russ Feingold's recent surge in the polls, and DailyKos reports this morning that in three of the last four polls, Joe Sestak is ahead of Paul Toomey. This is happening all over in Senate and House races. It doesn't mean that these Democrats will win (Fein...

Politics: 19 October 2010 (19 Oct 2010 11:25am)

The Real Issue with Joe Miller Joe Miller won't answer any questions about his past and apparently won't engage in debate with his rivals—he was not present for the Alaska Senatorial debate held last night by the Alaska Dispatch (check out their Palin Watch blog). But then, Joe Miller doesn'...

Politics: 18 October 2010 (18 Oct 2010 02:12pm)

At Least the Banks Are Safe! Reuter's reports, "U.S. stocks advanced on Monday as a stronger-than-expected profit from Citigroup helped financial shares shake off worries that the foreclosure mess could threaten the stability of the housing market." And why not? The Administration has made it clear...

Politics: 17 October 2010 (17 Oct 2010 11:44am)

Lizz Winstead on The Ed Show Lizz Winstead—co-creator of The Daily Show—was on The Ed Show. I don't usually find her that funny, but she had something very funny to say about "Coons v. Crazy Lady." Illegal Foreclosure In Friday's column, Paul Krugman discusses the foreclosure mess t...

The Death of Hope: Sweet Charity and All That Jazz (17 Oct 2010 10:57am)

I picked up a copy of Sweet Charity from the library. It was Bob Fosse's first film, and his most straight forward. The choreography is probably the best I've ever seen. And the songs are great, with lyrics by Dorothy "The Way You Look Tonight" Fields. And the whole "A Doll's House" plot. But most o...

Politics: 16 October 2010 (16 Oct 2010 05:03pm)

I don't feel much up to posting today, and it's the weekend, but you know how it goes: I don't have many friends. Tides Foundation CEO Call for Ad Boycott of Faux News Earlier this week, Media Matters for America reported on the important roll that Glenn Beck played in causing Byron Williams to at...

Politics: 15 October 2010 (15 Oct 2010 08:25am)

Sometimes "Whore" is Just a Metaphor As I have talked about before, the Whitman campaign wants to make an issue out of a Brown aide saying that they should call her a whore for her deal with the police union. When Brown countered that Pete Wilson (Whitman's campaign manager) called Congress whores ...

Politics: 14 October 2010 (14 Oct 2010 08:34am)

Condoleezza Rice on The Daily Show Jon Stewart provided another softball interview for a conservative. No shock there. More interesting perhaps was at the end of the interview when Rice said, "This is the most tolerant country in the world when it comes to other religions." Two points here. First, ...

Politics: 13 October 2010 (13 Oct 2010 11:48am)

Wow. This is the first day of the third month of this garbage: I started on 13 August 2010. I still don't know what the point is. Byron Williams: Pawn You may remember Byron Williams as the guy who engaged in a 12-minute shoot-out with the California Highway Patrol in Oakland on 18 July of this ye...

Politics: 12 October 2010 (12 Oct 2010 11:17am)

Aftershock I've heard Robert Reich speak about his new book Aftershock about a half-dozen times. I never tire of listening to him; he's right up there with Paul Krugman. Last night, he was on The Colbert Report and they talked about something that one never hears: if the middle class keeps losing i...

Politics: 11 October 2010 (11 Oct 2010 11:43am)

Chilean Miners Almost Out Far ahead of early estimates, the 33 trapped Chilean miners should be out by Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera English. I have been meaning to check out Al Jazeera English for some time—having heard that their reporting was excellent. Like so many good things, Al Ja...

Gilligan's Island Theme Song (10 Oct 2010 05:56pm)

I just learned via Woman's World Magazine via my sister that the theme song from Gilligan's Island that I know and love was not the song used in the first season. I'm sure you know the later song, so I won't remind you. (You can find it at metacafe.com if you need a refresher.) According to the art...

Politics: 8 October 2010 (08 Oct 2010 01:19pm)

But Whitman is a Whore A Brown aide says that they should call Whitman a whore because she will make any deal with anyone in order to become governor. The Brown campaign promptly apologized, because they know what they're doing. This is in start contrast to Whitman who still hasn't come clean on he...

Politics: 7 October 2010 (07 Oct 2010 06:50pm)

Wall Street I saw the new Wall Street film. It was strange. Oliver Stone chose to add some stupid happy ending to it. It should have ended on "Gordon Gecko is back!" Instead, we get something of a redemption for a man clearly far past redemption. Evil Sam Harris in Letter to a Christian Nation ma...

Politics: 6 October 2010 (06 Oct 2010 09:06am)

Drug Users Supporting Terrorism—Again NPR reporter John Burnett was on The Colbert Report last night saying that recreational drug users are responsible for the gang wars in Mexico. When Colbert responded that maybe this wouldn't be the case if people "bought local" or voted for Prop 19, Burn...

Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences (05 Oct 2010 08:23pm)

Janis Bell's Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences is a grammar book for people who don't like grammar but still must occasionally write. I've read it at least two times—and I don't even own it! I had been planning to write about it; on my first read, I found that I disagreed with her on a few issues....

Politics: 5 October 2010 (05 Oct 2010 12:49pm)

The Power of Nightmares I just got the first episode of this series (just like NetFlix to have it on three different one-hour disks when it is sold with all three episodes on a single disk at Amazon) by Adam Curtis about the use of fear to enslave people. It, along with other fun reads like The Sho...

KNOW Your Member of the Family Sciuridae (04 Oct 2010 02:33pm)

For years, Andrea and I have been arguing about the difference between squirrels and chipmunks. She is always right—and not just in that "it makes my life easier to say so" way. Always willing to use her artistic talents for Evil, she created the following: This is all very nice, but what I...

Politics: 4 October 2010 (04 Oct 2010 09:50am)

Physics and Economics Paul Krugman writes in Math, Models, and Mystification about economists who consider the likes of Brad DeLong and him ignorant of modern macroeconomic theory. Krugman's theory about these people is that they understand the math of their models, but not the theory that underlie...

Politics: 1 October 2010 (01 Oct 2010 12:04pm)

My third calendar month of doing this thing. Polly Wanna a Good Economy? J. Bradford DeLong has written a really good article Economics for Parrots on Project Syndicate. In it, he attacks the idea that we are seeing more and more: high unemployment is structural. By this, people mean there isn't u...

Politics: 30 September 2010 (30 Sep 2010 12:02pm)

Whitman Ads I did not start watching the Brown-Whitman debate until just as the first question was asked, thanks to a phone call from Will. The debate was covered only by channels 2 (KTVU) and 3 (KCRA). Will watched the debate on KTVU and tells me that in the half-hour before the debate there were ...

Politics: 29 September 2010 (29 Sep 2010 12:51pm)

Sorry for the few days off. I was going completely frigging crazy. Now that I'm back to just ordinary frigging crazy, the madness continues. Brown and Whitman Last night, Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman, candidates for California Governor, had their first ever debate. Strangely, there has been almost ...

Practicable Practical (25 Sep 2010 11:29am)

Some time ago, I promised that I would write about Janis Bell's Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences. And I haven't yet. And I won't today. The truth is that I had an idea for an article about this book and some disagreements I had with it. Unfortunately, I never wrote them down. So now I've read the book ...

Politics: 25 September 2010 (25 Sep 2010 09:38am)

Stephen Colbert at Congress Stephen Colbert testified before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security. Here is his opening statement: During the questions, he was asked why he cared about this issue. It was the only time he really fell out of character. He spoke of ...

Politics: 24 September 2010 (24 Sep 2010 11:57am)

War Heroes I constantly hear of "war hero John McCain" but almost never "war hero John Kerry." But I had never heard anything about what made McCain a hero other than being a POW and passing up early release available to him because of his powerful father. Thus, I looked up his war record. There is...

Don't Read German, But My Ancient Greek is Great! (23 Sep 2010 09:48pm)

So here I am reading "Sketch of a History of the Doctrine of the Ideal and Real" in Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer, translated by Belfort Bax and Bailey Saunders. And it is well translated: very clear English with not a hint of German syntax. Then: bam! Schopenhauer starts to discuss the ideality...

Politics: 23 September 2010 (23 Sep 2010 08:40am)

A woman in Montana was charged by a black bear while she was in her back yard. Thinking quickly, she picked up the closest weapon to defend herself: a large zucchini, with which she fended off the bear. All I can say is that had she grabbed a zucchini, this story would not have ended so well. I hope...

Politics: 22 September 2010 (22 Sep 2010 07:54pm)

Countdown dedicated half of their show today on the real definition of "small business" as the Republicans are using it to make the case for extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The "small" in "small business" refers to the number of owners. So companies like the Chicago Tribune are ...

Politics: 21 September 2010 (21 Sep 2010 07:34pm)

Ars technica has reported on a study about how skeptics discount scientific consensus by casting doubts on the scientific experts. Basically it says that if an expert says what they want to hear, they go along with it; if not, not. I don't think there is any doubt of this, but I question the study i...

Politics: 20 September 2010 (20 Sep 2010 07:40pm)

Christine O'Donnell ditched appearing on Face the Nation on Sunday—no surprise there! But she also ditched Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. You may remember Wallace as the one guy on Faux News that occasionally asks real questions of conservatives. As Media Matters put it, "However, faced w...

David Cay Johnston (19 Sep 2010 05:37pm)

Mr. Johnston has a confusing middle name. It is pronounced "kay" as in "Mary Kay." So I thought I heard people refer to him as "David C. Johnston" and "David K. Johnston"! I figured some people weren't doing their homework, but I did mine and found out so had they. ...

Politics: 19 September 2010 (19 Sep 2010 05:32pm)

I read David Cay Johnston's Free Lunch today, and it made me really angry. The subtitle of the book is, "How the wealthiest Americans enrich themselves at government expense (and stick you with the bill)." That about sums it up. It tells stories of large companies that get huge government subsidies ...

Politics: 18 September 2010 (18 Sep 2010 09:17am)

For three years, Billy Bob Neck has been on YouTube spreading the love and wisdom of Jesus. Before I say any more about him, however, here he is with "The Burn a Koran Song": Okay. Billy Bob Neck is a character created by comedian Paul Day. This is the best satire since A Modest Proposal. He has ...

Politics: 17 September 2010 (17 Sep 2010 11:11pm)

Elizabeth Warren! It amazes me that the Republicans won't allow Obama to have anything he wants. It is clear that Elizabeth Warren should be nominated to head the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. But we know that the Republicans will filibuster her nomination, because she might actually be ...

This is Not Your Father's Rene Magritte (17 Sep 2010 09:55pm)

As my 2.72 readers know, the header to this site is based upon an couple of paintings by Rene Magritte. One of them is not the following: This is one of my very favorite Magritte paintings, however; it is called "La condition humaine" ("The Human Condition") and was painted in 1935 (to distinguis...

Politics: 16 September 2010 (16 Sep 2010 05:15pm)

I'm really tired and I am cramming for a job interview—a good one that will let me pay off my $100,000 in medical bills and tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes. Plus no one (give or take me) reads this anyway. So here is episode ten of the third season of Elon James White's This Week In...

Politics: 15 September 2010 (15 Sep 2010 07:40pm)

It amazes me looking at the comments on conservative blogs. There are a number of somewhat reasonable old-school Republicans, but at least half the comments are from delusional teabaggers. Here is one such comment: Beautiful thing! O'Donnell will easily draw more democratic support than Castle eve...

Dark and Silent (15 Sep 2010 07:01pm)

It is dark here. The moon but a sliver sharp enough to sew. I see it reflected clearly on the lake—its surface calmer than stretched linen. And silent. Even, it seems, the raccoons are gone. Field mice a distant memory. My only light—shining down on The Passionate Shepherd to His Love fr...

The Myth of Zero-Emission Cars (15 Sep 2010 11:24am)

Anyone who thinks at all knows that the new plug-in hybrid and electric cars are not zero-emission vehicles. (Solar cars are, however.) The July 2010 issue of Scientific American has a nice short article on this called The Dirty Truth about Plug-In Hybrids. (Note: link does not include entire articl...

Politics: 14 September 2010 (14 Sep 2010 10:37pm)

Alone as usual, but I eat better than you. The Clarifying Chaos William Saletan wrote a wonderful overview of the whole Koran burning episode and how it relates to the Park51 project. I'm afraid it is written at too high a level to be of much use to those who need it most. Basically, Saletan says ...

Politics: 13 September 2010 (13 Sep 2010 08:41pm)

Who would have thought I would still be doing this? Certainly not me. Nor do I know why I continue, except for my addictive personality. Prayer Rooms In World Trade Center Samuel J. Freedman reported in the New York Times on Friday, that there was an official Muslim prayer room on the 17th floor o...

Madame Tutli-Putli (13 Sep 2010 01:27pm)

Madame Tutli-Putli is a 2006 Canadian animated short by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, which was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award. It is exquisite—both in animation and in content. There seems to be much confusion about its meaning. But first, we need context. I don't want to say a lo...

Politics: 12 September 2010 (12 Sep 2010 09:57pm)

Say It Ain't So, John! The Washington Post reports that Idiot Minority Leader in the house, John Boehner, told Face the Nation that he might not oppose ending the tax cuts on the wealthiest 2% of Americans. We'll see where that goes. But here's the thing: the article's lede states, "Congress is ret...

Politics: 10 September 2010 (10 Sep 2010 09:04pm)

I am deeply depressed—it doesn't matter why. But this fact may explain why my entire entry today is a defense of Phil Davison. Yesterday, I posted his speech to the Stark County Republican Party's executive committee. I have watched it a few more times. You can hear people laughing at him duri...

Politics: 9 September 2010 (09 Sep 2010 08:17pm)

Extraordinary Rendition The "liberal" Ninth Circuit Court found 6-5 that victims of extraordinary rendition cannot sue the government because national security concerns trump the rights of the tortured men. I don't have time to go into this and reading the link will not give you nearly enough infor...

Politics: 8 September 2010 (08 Sep 2010 08:06pm)

All the Republican candidates are being told to say "Federal Government Bad! Local Government Good!" This, of course, is just the modern version of "states' rights" which just meant segregation. Think Progress reports on a townhall where Representative-hopeful Jim Renacci makes the argument that the...

Politics: 7 September 2010 (07 Sep 2010 09:51pm)

I read the entire Constitution of the United States today for a regular article that I'm about to write. What I found was that there are a total of 22 references of "citizen." And pretty much without exception, these references have to do with voting: who can be president, senator, representative, a...

Politics: 6 September 2010 (07 Sep 2010 01:00am)

This was a holiday: I should have taken it off. New and many polls show that Americans by and large think the Republicans would do a better job running the country. I don't get it. Are people just not paying attention? I'm still hopeful that the polls are meaningless. It will drive you crazy trying...

Politics: 3 September 2010 (03 Sep 2010 11:17pm)

After spending $104 million, Meg Witless has mostly managed to greatly increase her negative ratings. Jerry Brown is just about ready to start up his campaign. I think we have a very good chance of winning this election. Ideology aside, I think that Whitman would be a disaster as governor. Based up...

Politics: 2 September 2010 (02 Sep 2010 11:01pm)

There wasn't a lot of news that interested me today. But the death of Matthew Dieckmann slapped me in the face as I was running errands. Surely, he deserves more, but this is the best I can do at the moment: And I can't leave without mentioning Hillary Clinton is having a manage a trois with Benj...

Politics: 1 September 2010 (01 Sep 2010 09:11pm)

Signs of the Times Not everything about the Glenn Beck rally was offensive. Watch this wonderful little video: A Perfect Earl Remember back in 1991 when the "perfect storm" hit the northeast of the United States and killed all the men aboard the Andrea Gail? At least you have to remember George...

El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote De La Mancha! (01 Sep 2010 12:25pm)

Yesterday, I dropped into Twice Told Books in Guerneville, California—a very cool little store that just happens to be be for sale for just $25,000. This sounds like a deal to me, and if anyone wants to loan me $15,000, I think I can make a go of it. (Or if you want to buy it, you can contact ...

Politics: 31 August 2010 (31 Aug 2010 09:22pm)

You may have noticed that I have changed the format of this blog. This is due to the fact that most of what is happening on a day to day basis really isn't that interesting or important. I have only two things to talk about today. The first is tragic but fascinating—even funny. The second is a...

Politics: 30 August 2010 (30 Aug 2010 06:40pm)

I don't want to keep hammering this, but the media coverage of the estimates of the attendance of Glenn Beck's rally are really bugging me. Let's look at what ...

The Sound of One Hand Clapping (29 Aug 2010 10:18pm)

According to my favorite online dictionary, a koan is "a paradox to be meditated upon that is used to train Zen Buddhist monks to abandon ultimate dependence on reason and to force them into gaining sudden intuitive enlightenment." And the most famous koan is, "What is the sound of one hand clappin...

Politics: 29 August 2010 (29 Aug 2010 06:21pm)

David Harvey provides an excellent Marxist crique of our current economic crisis. HowTheWorldWorks, provides a critique of this critique that is utterly falacious. Here is the link, but I warn you: it is disingenuous—filled with very familar conservative lies and distortions. You don't need to...

Politics: 28 August 2010 (28 Aug 2010 11:43am)

I will have more to say tomorrow (or even tonight). For now, nothing more need be said. Update There were 87,000 people at Glenn Beck's rally. This compares rather poorly with MLK's 1963 rally that drew over 200,000 without the months of cable advertising. When the readers of NewsOpi read this n...

Politics: 27 August 2010 (27 Aug 2010 07:56pm)

Most of the news is not very interesting. Here are two pieces that are. Thirty years ago, Nettleton Middle School in Nettleton, Mississippi, enacted rules to assure that there was racial diversity in the student council. They did this by doing things like requiring that only white students could r...

Politics: 26 August 2010 (26 Aug 2010 09:36pm)

There's not a lot today. It may be that the more news I read, the more I see that none of it much matters. But I have included to nice videos. Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman has admitted he's gay. Good for him—kind of. He's moved from using homophobia to help the Republicans win elections to...

Faith and Politics (25 Aug 2010 11:47pm)

Senator John Danforth has written a book, Faith and Politics, which is subtitled: "How the 'moral values' debate divides America and how to move forward together." It sounds hopeful enough. Indeed, had it been a magazine article I would have liked it well enough. As an 80,000 word book, it is a disa...

Politics: 25 August 2010 (25 Aug 2010 09:13pm)

I'm getting tired of doing this. It takes me two to three hours each day to put this together. Admittedly, I would spend the time anyway, but it is a drag knowing that even when I'm tired or sick, I'm still obliged (if only by myself) to determine what is most interesting and important and to write...

Politics: 24 August 2010 (24 Aug 2010 04:12pm)

There isn't much news today. I don't feel like going into all of the political machinations, like John Boehner's ridiculous speech today. I'll include anything really important from today tomorrow. According to Rachel Maddow last night, of the 324 congressional primaries, the incumbent has won 317 ...

Politics: 23 August 2010 (23 Aug 2010 06:41pm)

The level of intolerance in this country is really bothering me. Was I embarrassed through eight years with Bush? Yes. Am I even more embarrassed by the current anti-Islamic dust up? Yep. March of last year, President Obama signed an executive order repealing the Bush restrictions on stem cell res...

Politics: 21 August 2010 (21 Aug 2010 08:17pm)

On Thursday, there was a hijack or bombing threat on American Airlines flight number 124 out of SFO. It came to nothing. But the FBI picked two passengers to escort off the plane in handcuffs. They claimed they were picked randomly. But the passengers seem to have been visiting from Pakistan. So the...

Politics: 20 August 2010 (20 Aug 2010 04:45pm)

Fridays seem always to be slow. In yesterday's column, Paul Krugman equates the "apostles of austerity" to priests of an ancient cult who demand human sacrifices to appease some unseen god. It is, as usual for his columns, well worth reading. The strange thing about Krugman is that time after time ...

Politics: 19 August 2010 (19 Aug 2010 03:45pm)

Why is it that I consistently find the best coverage of events in foreign news sources? Oh, I know! Because the American news really sucks. Take for example, item number 1. The US is withdrawing from Iraq having not completed what we promised. Insurgents are killing an average of 250 people per day...

Politics: 18 August 2010 (18 Aug 2010 07:44pm)

I just finished reading The Man Who Would Not Shut Up, a biography of Bill O'Reilly. It is a very sympathetic depiction of him. It turns out that he is carbon-based. Of course, all the way through it, I kept wondering, "Why am I reading this?" And I'm half-way through a biography of Glenn Beck&mdash...

Politics: 17 August 2010 (17 Aug 2010 08:14pm)

There was a good side to my arguments yesterday. I used the "why do you care?" argument in the Prop. 8 case, and it seemed to work. They agreed that, in fact, whether or not there were same-sex unions made no difference to them. This is the thing about Republicans: most of the time they don't realiz...

On Evil by Terry Eagleton (16 Aug 2010 10:32pm)

When I checked out On Evil from the library, the librarian asked me, "Do you believe in it?" I stared blankly for a moment before realizing that she was referring to "evil." I gave her my best intellectual answer, "I guess it's definitional." And then I added that I might have more to say on the sub...

Politics: 16 August 2010 (16 Aug 2010 07:12pm)

I had two political arguments today. The first was about the Islamic community center and the second, Prop. 8. I didn't bring up either of these issues; it is telling that these are the two issues most on my local conservatives' minds. Why? Neither actually have anything to do with their lives. It i...

Politics: Happy Birthday Social Security! (14 Aug 2010 08:10am)

Social Security (which included unemployment benefits) turns 75 today—at a time when Republicans are back to pushing for its destruction. This is a good example of why a party of strong ideology (like the Republicans) is bad and a party of pragmatism (like the Democrats) is good. The Republic...

Politics: 13 August 2010 (13 Aug 2010 09:31pm)

It's Friday the 13th, but I don't believe in luck. The current political crisis is not a question of luck. Simply put, the Republicans are eager to sacrifice the good of the country (and the world) just to gain political power. It is repulsive. If they had not gone off the deep end, I would not be s...

Politics: 12 August 2010 (12 Aug 2010 10:37pm)

The Rachel Maddow Show had big news tonight. I owe the first two items here to it. I know how evil she is: she's a prominent member of the Professional Left. But Ms. Maddow is one of the few jewels in corporate medialand. I also wish to thank Canadian Living for the exceptional Snow Peas and Carrots...

George Henry (11 Aug 2010 01:46pm)

Yesterday, I had a curious, but ultimately delightful meeting with a young artist named George Henry. He is working on a collection of photographs of the poor, dispossessed, and wounded. And he thought I might be of some help in this endeavor—how much remains to be seen. Until I met with him, ...

Palindrone (08 Aug 2010 06:57pm)

If I remember anything from the 2008 Presidential Campaign, it is Sarah Palin answering questions. She was easy to fear, but hard to hate. She always seemed to me like a small animal in the middle of the road not sure where to run to escape a fast-approaching car. Much later, when she spoke more coh...

The Six Stages of Sewing (05 Aug 2010 07:26pm)

I have long been fascinated by sewing machines and how they work—especially because my theories on the subject have always struck me as absurd. I knew that a thread came from above, through the eye of the needle, and another from below, from a device called a "bobbin"—a word that sounds ...

Enunciating my Thoughts About Annunciate (03 Aug 2010 11:53pm)

Earlier this evening, I sent out some email that contained the following sentence, "Paul Krugman wrote a column that I think is really insightful and enunciates a lot of the frustration that I feel about the Obama administration." But before I did, I spent a half-hour fretting over whether to use th...

spare me your teen-aged angst (26 Jul 2010 06:36pm)

My friend Andrea and I were discussing self-consciously intellectual writers and so naturally E. E. Cummings came up. We agreed that he mostly sucked, but she promised to send me two poems that she thought were okay. As a kind of header, but perhaps more of a challenge, she wrote, "Life's not a par...

Walter Starkie's Don Quixotes (25 Jul 2010 04:12pm)

I have never seen the unabridged version, so I don't know that the unabridged version is anything but a completion of it. In fact, it seems reasonable to assume that the abridged version is just a subset of the unabridged version; and thus, Starkie did not translate Don Quixote more than once....

The Archie Leach (25 Jul 2010 02:21pm)

Tonight I am making Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Carrots and Yukon Gold Potatoes from the March 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. Or something like it; my oven is not nearly big enough to deal with the six servings of this recipe. So I am kind of winging it the way I often do when I am into my...

Bang Bang's Chicken (25 Jul 2010 02:15pm)

Jill Dupleix presents a dish she calls Bang Bang Chicken—a name I like because of the character Bang Bang in film The Brothers Bloom. I made it for the second time last night, because William came over and when I was out at the grocery store, I couldn't think of anything else to make; this is perhap...

On How You Had To Be Really Cool To Not Be a Victorian Writer In 1937 (15 Jul 2010 04:31pm)

I am in the middle of reading E. T. Bell's Men of Mathematics. It was written in 1937, but frankly, it could have been written in 1887. The thinking and style are so Victorian. I'm sure I will have more to say about Bell's thinking at a later time—for now, take my word he has a simplistic, highly ro...

Perfect Information (10 Jul 2010 04:26pm)

A great deal of conservative economic theory depends upon the idea that people in an economy make decisions based upon "perfect information." Along with this and the questionable assumption that all people are rational, economists on the right explain how the economy will be just fine if we simply l...

Will the Real Truman Capote... (04 Jul 2010 04:20pm)

I just watched Infamous—some five years after seeing Capote. The two are not only Truman Capote biopics, but ones that focus on the same event: the writing of In Cold Blood. The similarities between the two films cannot easily be overstated. Since Capote beat Infamous to theaters by roughly a year, ...

And Now a Few Words from a Dead Man (01 Jul 2010 04:15pm)

I am too busy to write anything of much interest here, so I thought I would just provide a few quotes from the late, great John Maynard Keynes. My outside work took me to The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations (by Robert Andrews) to find for a quotation from Keynes. It was probably his most...

The Prologue of Don Quixote (15 Jun 2010 04:12pm)

It may come as a surprise to many that Ingmar Bergman's almost three-hour-long Scenes from a Marriage was a heavily edited theatrical release of what was originally a six-part mini-series that is five hours long. Five hours! It may also surprise many that a pretentious twat like me has never seen it...

Our Mutual Friend (01 Jun 2010 04:06pm)

Just to show that an evening spent with H. W. Fowler 's Modern English Usage can be dangerous, I am now going to spend a little time with the word mutual. Because I am a product of the United States where the only things that really matter are commodities, my first and most profound connection to th...

Reason, Faith, and Revolution (21 May 2010 02:32pm)

I just read Terry Eagleton's Reason, Faith, and Revolution. It is largely an attack on the atheism books by Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Christopher Hitchens (God is Not Great). In his typically sardonic manner, Eagleton refers to the two authors as a single entity he calls Ditchkins. The ...

Two War Films in One Day (18 May 2010 02:28pm)

When I was in high school, I was in speech club. In fact, hard as it is to believe, I was president of the club. One year, I competed in the "programmed reading" category, which I was apparently rather good at because I went to the state championship—a feat I accomplished that one time only. My pres...

Pow Wow Theater (15 Apr 2010 03:21pm)

Wayne Poehlman is a singer/guitarist that I recently discovered on You Tube. To me, he’s the kind of performer who you listen to when you tire of the glitz and the posing and the pitch-correction of what is today called music. Of course, this goes along with my recent submersion into music of the pa...

Waiting for Beckett (07 Apr 2010 12:38am)

I continue to wrestle with the contextualization of art—especially my art—even though I am getting better at not caring. If I were to create a beautiful table, there would be a shared context for that table: it's a table. No one would question the rounded corners or intricately designed ...

Multiple Drafts (03 Apr 2010 11:37pm)

You can see why I write a lot of drafts: they don't improve very much from one to the next....

First Draft Fear (03 Apr 2010 11:09pm)

Kristen McHenry has made a list of her fears. One of them is fear of someone reading my first draft. By this, I must assume that either her second drafts are final, or she is not afraid of someone reading her second drafts, or—and most troubling, she simply forgot to list the drafts that she f...

Leak (02 Apr 2010 09:24pm)

I have so much to do, especially finish my article and interview with Pow Wow (Wayne Poehlman), but I just ran into an old friend Yana Bogosian who I wrote a song with about eleven years ago. Actually, we didn't write it together. She had written a little nursery rhyme about a pipe that was leaking ...

Film POV (17 Mar 2010 03:13am)

POV stands for point-of-view. For an article in which the author utterly misunderstands how POV applies to film, check out this page (in his defense, film is not his thing). POV in film is a little complex. Originally, POV was developed for a story told or read. To extend this idea directly to a mov...

Miller's Crossing (17 Mar 2010 02:55am)

Many people miss the point of Miller's Crossing; what's more, they don't judge it on its own terms. It is widely known that the Coen brothers were inspired to make this movie by the works of Dashiell Hammett. But their inspiration does not matter in the least; it only tells us where they started, no...

Paradox Lost (13 Mar 2010 02:23pm)

I recently rediscovered James R. Newman's four-volume The World of Mathematics in a thrift store. For 25 cents a piece, I got volumes i=1,4 where i 3; that is: I got volumes 1, 2, and 4. This was a disappointment, given that Volume 3 included Nagel and Newman's article on Goedel's Incompleteness Pr...

Indian Rope Trip Part II (25 Feb 2010 12:10am)

Check out Part I of this Article. As promised, I am going to explain the Indian Chain Trick, the magical illusion that is most like the Indian Rope Trick, but which probably had nothing to do with the creation of the myth because John Elbert Wilkie probably knew nothing about it. The Mogul Emperor...

Indian Rope Trip Part I (23 Feb 2010 10:12pm)

Peter Lamont has written a fun little book called The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick. If you know this magic trick, you will get the punning title; if you are like me, you won't know quite how you feel about that. If you don't know the trick, let me explain. A magician—but one with a turban, n...

Easy Refried Beans (22 Feb 2010 06:55pm)

This recipe creates tasty, very slightly sweet refried beans. It is a bachelor's recipe; the kind of thing that a man who knows nothing of cooking can make. All you need is: Two Tbs Vegetable Oil One Onion: coarsely chopped Two 15 oz cans of pinto beans Some pepper Put the oil in a skillet and tur...

About to Read Don Quixote (21 Feb 2010 06:55pm)

Gentle reader: you already know that this article on Don Quixote—the product of my eccentric intellect—is intended to be the greatest article I could possibly write. Unfortunately, it will probably suck; but I urge you onward nonetheless. The problem is not me, you see, but Miguel de Cer...

John Stewart and Jules Shear (15 Feb 2010 10:40pm)

Many years ago, while I was in the process of flunking out of college, John Stewart gave a lecture about nothing in particular and everything in general: his life, songwriting, cars, women, performing. This was only a few years after his hit song Gold, so it was surprising that not many more than a ...

Hand Sanitizers (09 Feb 2010 01:06pm)

These days, it seems that hand sanitizers are getting a bad rap: kids eat the stuff and get sick. This is not surprising, given that they are about 60% ethyl alcohol. Just the same, as far as I know, none of these children were badly harmed—much less killed—and I'm sure they learned valu...

Francois Rabelais (08 Feb 2010 12:02pm)

I have three translations of Gargantua & Pantagruel, and the best by far is the one in Complete Works of Rabelais, translated by Jacques Le Clercq. If you are up for it, it is worth a read; it pre-dates Don Quixote by roughly 70 years....

Getting to the Bottom of Things (08 Feb 2010 11:31am)

Today, I need to discuss the defecation and urination processes. I stress the word "need" because I really don't want to. These days, I always carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer for general uses, but particularly so that I can get out of public restrooms; there is the old question about how one ...

Pandora's Box (03 Feb 2010 10:16pm)

Okay, let's get this out of the way. My first experience with Internet radio was with Last.fm. And I know there are many others: Deezer.com, Mee Mix, Musicovery, Play It, Slacker, as well as many other similar kinds of services. I really liked the way that Last.fm worked, but it stopped working for ...

Elvie Thomas (31 Jan 2010 01:33pm)

Am I the only person who has noticed just how much Wikipedia sucks? (See: I won't even provide a link.) Wikipedia has no listing on Elvie Thomas and when mentioned on Geeshie Wiley's page it refers to Thomas as a man! Yes, for things that don't much matter, like Sirius Black's family background, Wik...

J. D. Salinger Dies 19 June 1965 at Age 46 (28 Jan 2010 10:16pm)

It is surprising that the death of J. D. Salinger should get so much press this week when he died over 45 years ago—on the publication of his last short story in The New Yorker. Okay; so maybe his heart was still beating and maybe he was continuing to be an asshole to his wife, but as far as ...

Cream of Potato Soup (24 Jan 2010 11:23pm)

Cut up potato(es) and a half a stick of butter and add it to a medium-sized sauce pan on a lowish temperature. Stir occasionally as you cut up onion(s), carrot(s) and celery stalks. Saute until the whole mixture is kind of mushy. If it gets too dry, add some olive oil—it adds a subtle taste t...

Mom's Recipes (24 Jan 2010 08:41pm)

My mother was an excellent cook; she had her own restaurant for about a decade. There were several dishes that I wanted her recipes for: Chicken Cacciatore, her chili, and especially her Potato Soup. My attempts to get these recipes always went something like this: "Can I get your Potato Soup recip...

Wow! (20 Jan 2010 01:33pm)

"Wow! 'Wow' is the word you're looking for!" is a quote from the greatly under-rated film The Brothers Bloom....

One Song, Two Song, Song Sung Blue Song (20 Jan 2010 01:17pm)

I have read a couple of sources that indicated that Thompson's Real has two extra songs, not one. However, from what I can tell, the original album contained 13 songs and the reissue contains 14 songs. I'm good at math: 14 - 13 = 1. It could be that I am wrong about the original album containing 13 ...

Skinny Leg Blues (20 Jan 2010 01:03pm)

My take on Skinny Leg Blues is that it is a revenge story. The singer has been raped by the man she is singing to and now she is coming to kill him. All the stuff about skinny legs and slowness put forward the idea that her revenge is inevitable: I am coming for you. The second verse lines "I've got...

Music Worth Listening To: Eric & Suzy Thompson (20 Jan 2010 12:35pm)

After Cher's 1998 hit Believe, I honestly thought I would never again have to hear digital pitch-correction used as an effect. The first time I heard it, I hated it. Every digital engineer had played around with it, but it wasn't something you allowed in public except maybe to scare kids on Hallowee...

To Seth on his Eighteenth Birthday (14 Jan 2010 10:58am)

When I was eighteen years old, I wrote my first song: a "gift" for a friend who was graduating from high school. The chorus of the song was: “Good-bye graduate / It’s the start of the end.” At the time, I thought this was very funny. It had other gems like: “You’ll get a job and work for Dodge / The...

Let's Make a Deal (13 Jan 2010 01:26am)

This evening, I wrote a letter to my nephew on his 18th birthday. I like to torture him, so I wrote: Up to this point the world has been nothing but possibilities; you could walk through any door you want to an exciting future. This is true, if by “exciting future” you mean a future in which you st...

As if I Have Nothing Better (12 Jan 2010 02:03am)

Andrea sent me a second link, as if I have nothing better to do than sit around watching TV. This one is to the pilot episode of the long-dead BBC sitcom Black Books. As usual, Andrea has rather good taste; the show is very interesting and funny. It tells the story of a group of people who live and ...

On Watching SNL (12 Jan 2010 12:54am)

I haven't watched Saturday Night Live for at least a decade. But when Andrea told me that last week's episode with Carls Barkley (Season 35, Episode 11) was very funny, I figured that I would waste an hour watching it. I thought the opening about Yemen was a bit racist, but still very funny. The i...

Living the Anti-Life (11 Jan 2010 06:15pm)

I get great pleasure from accumulating information. This is just because I want to become a better person. I see myself as a great work of anti-art: I will try to become my ideal until I die, and then it will be for nothing more than the joy I had while doing it. Senseless beauty and random acts of ...

Not the Bible (11 Jan 2010 06:09pm)

It was not the Bible that I was reading: it was Gary Taylor's exquisitely fun Reinventing Shakespeare. I will be writing about it soon; I had to re-supply my stock of book darts because of this book. (I don't get any money for that link; I just think that book darts are one of the greatest invention...

Spreading the Word in Mexico (11 Jan 2010 06:04pm)

When I was in Mexico recently a few people asked me if I was a padre—"a priest" one helpful questioner translated for me. I like the idea of people thinking that I'm a man of the Word. Yes, it is true that my spiritual beliefs are what people charitably called atheistic. Yes, I am a hopeless m...

Cream of Tomato Soup (06 Jan 2010 08:49pm)

I have been looking for the perfect cream of tomato recipe for about ten years. I think I may be close with this one. Originally, the recipe was from Cooks Dot Com, but I have made some major improvements to it. Here is the base recipe: Ingrediants Two (2) tbs butter One and a half (1.5) c chopped...

Making Money from Art (04 Jan 2010 01:03am)

The top Classical Realist painters seem to sell large canvas oils for upwards of a couple hundred thousand dollars. So the money isn't bad, if you are very good—which you must be to create even workman-like paintings in this sub-field. ...

The Twilight of Painting (04 Jan 2010 12:41am)

The Twilight of Painting is a reactionary book about how everything is going to hell these days. It was first published in 1945. And it was written by the great artist R. H. Ives Gammell. In fact, the book is not about how everything is going to hell—just painting. You see, Gammell started pai...

Illusory Superiority (03 Jan 2010 06:56pm)

This is actually a field within Social Psychology. In general, I am trying to avoid it these days, but the Wikipedia article on Illusory Superiority is really good. The most interesting thing I learned from the article is that people find any member of a group to be above the median of the group its...

93% of Drivers Above Median (03 Jan 2010 06:42pm)

Actually, 93% of a sample of American drivers rated their skill in the top 50%. This is from a 1981 paper "Are we all less risky and more skillful than our fellow drivers?" by O. Svenson in Acta Psychologica....

80% of All Statistics (03 Jan 2010 06:38pm)

Many years ago, I was introduced to the snarky statistic that 80% of drivers believe they are above average. This annoyed me from the start. Initially, I thought it was just another useless statistic; its snarky meaning had to be explained to me, "You see—idiot—only 50% of drivers can be...

Asphalt as Metaphor (03 Jan 2010 11:42am)

Yes, I know. But I like the asphalt metaphor; what can I say?...

Justice as Commerce (03 Jan 2010 11:41am)

One could say that the justice system in the USA where prosecutors have most of the power and a career/financial interest in convicting the guilty and innocent is nothing but commerce. I will need to think another couple of decades on this issue....

Non-Reversible Errors (03 Jan 2010 11:39am)

I have long felt that Scott Turow taught me how to write a novel. In particular, I experienced an epiphany while reading his third novel Pleading Guity. It was probably just that it was the third novel of his that I had read, and that I had figured out his tricks. Although I have previously thought ...

Snarky (02 Jan 2010 11:14pm)

I am of two thoughts about the word "snarky", and apparently everyone else is too. First, it seems like it used to mean testy. Second, it seems like it is now mostly used to mean sarcastically pithy. Dictionary.com states that it is, "Testy or irritable; short." And the Urban Dictionary says that it...

And I Won't Even Complain About Not Much Liking Shakespeare (02 Jan 2010 06:01pm)

Are you lucky you tuned in today! Probably not, but as usual: you should be. I have found a great short lecture (Okay! It's 58 minutes, but the time flies.) by David Timson: David Timson Speak the Speech If you know who Timson is you are doing better than I am. He is certainly a guy who reads bo...

A World in Which I Don't Have to Watch "The Princess and the Frog" (31 Dec 2009 10:40pm)

I always thought that I liked kids, but I have come to the conclusion that this is not the case. If there were no children, no one would have made The Princess and the Frog. If no one had made it, I would not have spent the afternoon watching it. If I had not spent the afternoon watching it, I would...

Blue Moon (30 Dec 2009 08:02pm)

As I am a big fan of all messed up creative people, let me start by quoting Lorenz Hart in one of my favorite Rogers & Hart songs: Blue moon You saw me standing alone Without a dream in my heart Without a love of my own. I only bring this up because Andrea did not know what a "blue moon" was, a...

Merry Secular Christmas (29 Dec 2009 02:47pm)

I agreed to make dinner for five on Christmas day—not so much because I wanted to, but because I wanted to have prime rib for dinner. It turned out to be twelve people, but the bigger problem was that I created a four-course menu and had a wholly unsatisfactory kitchen. It was stressful and th...

Don't You Think? (12 Dec 2009 11:34pm)

This is a reference to the movie Demolition Man. Lenina Huxley: I find this lack of stimulus to be truly disappointing, don't you think? Warden William Smithers: I try not to, my dear. However, you're young, think all you want! ...

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (12 Dec 2009 11:00pm)

Some time ago, I stumbled upon Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love." It delighted me—it is so beautifully written. Instinctively, I picked up my guitar and quickly set it to music. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, you really need to read this poem: Come live with...

Philomel (12 Dec 2009 10:57pm)

In Greek mythology, Philomel and Procne are sisters. Procne's husband, King Tereus agrees to escort Philomel to Thrace on vacation. But you know how it is with Greek men: Tereus can't control himself. He kidnaps and rapes Philomel. But you know how it is with Greek women: Philomel can't keep her big...

She Said "No" (10 Dec 2009 06:48pm)

What is with these "You're a loser but I love ya, babe" songs? The classic is Midnight Train to Georgia, but I'll let that one slide because it is totally kick-ass. What I have in mind is Please Come to Boston. Here is the last verse: Please come to L.A. to live forever The California life alone is...

No More Butcher Knives (11 Nov 2009 04:06pm)

Do I ever have egg on my face! For years, I have been extolling the virtues of the butcher knife for culinary purposes. No kitchen is complete without one of these knives; or so I thought. Just today, after years of pestering my sister about the lack of a butcher knife in her kitchen, it came to a h...

Everything Interesting for Everyone Interesting (10 Nov 2009 12:03pm)

In grad school, I had—we all had—the most boring professor on the planet: Dr. Greene (the extra 'e' did not help). He taught the graduate seminar in theoretical mechanics, and through this course was the derision of almost all the physics student body. "If he were slightly less irrelevan...

Rush Limbaugh's Good Immigration Question (31 Dec 1969 07:00pm)

Rush Limbaugh asked a very good question: if immigration reform is so great for Republicans, why are Democrats in favor of it. And Jonathan Chait provides an answer: because Democrats will still get more credit for it than Republicans. And if it fails, Democrats have to be in the position to say tha...

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