Not new. Still delightful.
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Father Of The HCR "Mandate"
Feb 1st, 2011
Ezra Klein interviews Mark Pauly, life long Republican, who first conceived the HCR "mandate" in conjunction with the hyper-conservative Heritage Foundation at the request of the G.H.W. Bush administration.
It is largely this proposal that is written into the law today. How the heck anyone can describe backers of the provision as "socialist" continues to astound me. The money quotes:
"Was the constitutionality of the provision a question, either in your deliberations or after it was released?
I don’t remember that being raised at all. The way it was viewed by the Congressional Budget Office in 1994 was, effectively, as a tax. You either paid the tax and got insurance that way or went and got it another way. So I've been surprised at that argument. But I’m not an expert on the Constitution. My fix would be to simply say raise everyone’s taxes by what a health insurance policy would cost -- Congress definitely has the power to do that -- and then tell people that if they obtain insurance, they'll get a tax break of the same amount. So instead of a penalty, it’s a perfectly legal tax break. But this seems to me to angelic pinhead density arguments about whether it’s a payment to do something or not to do something."
Mubarak Statement - Live Blog
Jan 1st, 2011
3:15 Dylan Ratigan: "wildly disappointing." Jonah Goldberg via Twitter: "Mubarak losing the future."
3:10 WELL. Statement is over. I doubt very much that the crowds of thousands are even remotely pleased by this. No specifics other than paying lip service to a supposed democratic process which has never in 30 years been anything than a farce. It was a defiant and thuggish statement. It was also painfully short and without contrition.
3:09 "On this land I will die." I dunno, Hosni. I think you better split. And soon.
3:07 He looks forward to "serving and protecting" his people. WTF? Is he a cop? "this is my vow to my people in the remaining months." Here we go... "So I can end my serving time (trans)." "The people will achieve what they are asking for." WHEN?
3:04 "I did not intend to run for another term." Riiiiight. What does that mean? He says he has to "finish my work." None of this is looking good. He "call the Parliament to discuss" blah, blah, blah... he is trying to hold on. Draping the lawlessness of his phony Presidency in legalese. He picked his parliament.
3:02 Mubarak seems to have engaged in some self praise (cabinet shuffle, etc...). BAD sign. Complaining of those who have "rejected dialog." Is he kidding?
3:00pm CST Or maybe not... talking about "looting" and "frightening diplomats." "has imposed upon us" the need "to choose between stability and chaos." Uh oh.
2:55pm CST There is a lot of chatter in the background. Seems pretty chaotic. Praising the peaceful nature of protests.
3:15 Dylan Ratigan: "wildly disappointing." Jonah Goldberg via Twitter: "Mubarak losing the future."
On FOX, arguments that violence against protesters was probably perpetrated BY protesters.
We're out.
3:10 WELL. Statement is over. I doubt very much that the crowds of thousands are even remotely pleased by this. No specifics other than paying lip service to a supposed democratic process which has never in 30 years been anything than a farce. It was a defiant and thuggish statement. It was also painfully short and without contrition.
3:09 "On this land I will die." I dunno, Hosni. I think you better split. And soon.
3:07 He looks forward to "serving and protecting" his people. WTF? Is he a cop? "this is my vow to my people in the remaining months." Here we go... "So I can end my serving time (trans)." "The people will achieve what they are asking for." WHEN?
3:04 "I did not intend to run for another term." Riiiiight. What does that mean? He says he has to "finish my work." None of this is looking good. He "call the Parliament to discuss" blah, blah, blah... he is trying to hold on. Draping the lawlessness of his phony Presidency in legalese. He picked his parliament.
3:02 Mubarak seems to have engaged in some self praise (cabinet shuffle, etc...). BAD sign. Complaining of those who have "rejected dialog." Is he kidding?
3:00pm CST Or maybe not... talking about "looting" and "frightening diplomats." "has imposed upon us" the need "to choose between stability and chaos." Uh oh.
The Right on Egypt - From Sane to Crazy
Feb 1st, 2011
The events unfolding throughout Egypt are provoking an interesting variety of responses from the right. First, there is this very sober and thoughtful essay in The National Review by Duncan Currie:
"The history of democratic Christendom," (Reuel Marc) Gerecht wrote in The Weekly Standard, suggests that "you don't get to arrive at Thomas Jefferson unless you first pass through Martin Luther."
How Many Sharks Can One Guy Jump
Feb. 1st, 2011
Glenn Beck has managed to attempt to link Nazis, Communists, Liberals, Progressives, Acorn and The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt. Seriously. Here are the facts. More people have been in the streets in more cities and more have been killed by Egyptian security forces than their counterparts in the recent Iranian uprising. Their cry for freedom from tyranny is legitimate. Alas and again, facts don't matter to the tribal right.
Glenn Beck has managed to attempt to link Nazis, Communists, Liberals, Progressives, Acorn and The Muslim Brotherhood In Egypt. Seriously. Here are the facts. More people have been in the streets in more cities and more have been killed by Egyptian security forces than their counterparts in the recent Iranian uprising. Their cry for freedom from tyranny is legitimate. Alas and again, facts don't matter to the tribal right.
The American Right's Tribalism
Feb 1st, 2011
In an interesting piece on the disconnected devotionalism of the American conservative fringe, Charles Johnson writes:
"Within the tribe there's no need to be concerned with facts or accuracy; if the goal is to demonize a hated opponent, for example, anything and everything goes, including smears known to be false. That's because the objective is not to convince an impartial observer -- it's to reinforce the tribal bonds, the sense of belonging to something, with its own shared reality. That shared reality doesn't have to reflect actual reality; anybody who doesn't share it is by definition not part of the tribe, and therefore an enemy."
To the Becks, the Gellers, the Gaffneys, etc..., I'd say Mr. Johnson has you pegged.
Quote Of The Day
Feb 1st, 2011
"I find war detestable but those who praise it without participating in it even more so." -- Romain Rolland
Monday, January 31, 2011
Another Voice For Equality
Jan 31st, 2011
It is worth giving credit where it is due. Coming from a family that has so injured our nation for so very long, I must applaud young Barbara Bush's decision to support the HCR campaign for marriage equality.
It is worth giving credit where it is due. Coming from a family that has so injured our nation for so very long, I must applaud young Barbara Bush's decision to support the HCR campaign for marriage equality.
Most Obvious Study Result Award
Jan 31st, 2011
 |
| FOXNews' Megyn Kelly |
Women are used as objects in broadcasting to sell men lousy beer, to sell one another little "massager" devices and according to a recent Indiana University study by Maria Elizabeth Grabe and Elizabeth Sampson, to essentially make male viewers less receptive to detail oriented news and complicated information structures. FOX... we're looking at you.
Last week, Miller McCune reported on the methodology of the Grabe/Sampson Study:
"They created two versions of their own short newscast, both of which featured the same 24-year-old female anchor.
For the first version, the broadcast journalist “was dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue jacket and skirt that accented her waist-to-hip ratio,” they write. “She also wore bright red lipstick and a necklace.” For the alternate version, she was dressed in “a shapeless and loose-fitting dark blue jacket and skirt,” and wore no lipstick or necklace.
“The anchorwoman was framed in a medium-long shot to reveal her upper body, including her upper thighs, waist and hips,” the researchers note. “The news stories were about local matters, including United Way fundraising, interest rate changes for federal loan programs” and the like.
The just under 400 participants were randomly assigned to watch one version or the other. All then filled out questionnaires summarizing their impressions of the reporter. They were also asked four multiple-choice questions about her physical appearance, and 10 multiple-choice questions about the content of the five stories she presented."
From their report in the magazine Communication Research:
"Male participants saw the sexualized version of the anchor as less suited for war and political reporting. They also encoded less news information presented by the sexualized than her unsexualized version. Conclusions were drawn in line with evolutionary psychology expectations of men’s cognitive susceptibility to visual sex cues. Women participants, on the other hand, did not vary across conditions in their assessments of the anchor’s competence to report on war and political news. Moreover, they encoded more news information presented by the sexualized than unsexualized anchor condition."
In an ironic turn of events, Tucker Carlson's increasingly low-rent rag, The Daily Caller, "reported" on the findings by confirming them:
"In the words of Antoine Dodson, “hide your wife,” at least if she happens to be a television anchor."
I will go out an limb here at the risk of alienating some of my female contributors and readers. When I look at the photo of FOXNews' Megyn Kelly (above left) I am NOT thinking about politics.
Most Obvious Study Result Award
Jan 31st, 2011
|
| FOXNews' Megyn Kelly |
Women are used as objects in broadcasting to sell men lousy beer, to sell one another little "massager" devices and according to a recent Indiana University study by Maria Elizabeth Grabe and Elizabeth Sampson, to essentially make male viewers less receptive to detail oriented news and complicated information structures. FOX... we're looking at you.
Last week, Miller McCune reported on the methodology of the Grabe/Sampson Study:
"They created two versions of their own short newscast, both of which featured the same 24-year-old female anchor.
For the first version, the broadcast journalist “was dressed in a tight-fitting dark blue jacket and skirt that accented her waist-to-hip ratio,” they write. “She also wore bright red lipstick and a necklace.” For the alternate version, she was dressed in “a shapeless and loose-fitting dark blue jacket and skirt,” and wore no lipstick or necklace.
“The anchorwoman was framed in a medium-long shot to reveal her upper body, including her upper thighs, waist and hips,” the researchers note. “The news stories were about local matters, including United Way fundraising, interest rate changes for federal loan programs” and the like.
The just under 400 participants were randomly assigned to watch one version or the other. All then filled out questionnaires summarizing their impressions of the reporter. They were also asked four multiple-choice questions about her physical appearance, and 10 multiple-choice questions about the content of the five stories she presented."
From their report in the magazine Communication Research:
"Male participants saw the sexualized version of the anchor as less suited for war and political reporting. They also encoded less news information presented by the sexualized than her unsexualized version. Conclusions were drawn in line with evolutionary psychology expectations of men’s cognitive susceptibility to visual sex cues. Women participants, on the other hand, did not vary across conditions in their assessments of the anchor’s competence to report on war and political news. Moreover, they encoded more news information presented by the sexualized than unsexualized anchor condition."
In an ironic turn of events, Tucker Carlson's increasingly low-rent rag, The Daily Caller, "reported" on the findings by confirming them:
"In the words of Antoine Dodson, “hide your wife,” at least if she happens to be a television anchor."
I will go out an limb here at the risk of alienating some of my female contributors and readers. When I look at the photo of FOXNews' Megyn Kelly (above left) I am NOT thinking about politics.
It's Time To Ask
Jan 31st, 2011
How long can the nation of Israel maintain the position that it's very existence is dependent on preserving the oppressive regimes of it's neighbors? Yuval Ben Ami asks the question:
"According to Haaretz, the Israeli government sent a message to world governments urging them to enhance their support of Mubarak’s regime in Egypt. The message urged that the stability of Egypt’s regime is beneficial to the stability of the entire middle east and thus must be preserved.
"According to Haaretz, the Israeli government sent a message to world governments urging them to enhance their support of Mubarak’s regime in Egypt. The message urged that the stability of Egypt’s regime is beneficial to the stability of the entire middle east and thus must be preserved.
What is the value of our so called democracy if it can only flourish by keeping millions and millions out of democracy’s reach? We have been told for years that such occupation techniques as the construction of the separation barrier are neccesary to ensure the survival of “the Middle East’s only democracy”. We learned to accept that our democracy is dependent on human rights infringements. Now we learn that the scale of these infringements must be fantastically greater.
For 30 years Israel enjoyed the status quo with Egypt, while Egyptians suffered from tyranny, lacked freedom of speech and could not effect their own destiny. What message is Israel sending now? Does it truly imply that only a dictatorial Middle East will permit it to survive as a Jewish state?
Is this Jewish state such a fragile fantasy, that an entire region of the world must be kept imprisoned in order for it to thrive?"
"How many people must be deprived of liberty so we can have ours? Can we only have our liberty by maintaining absolute dictators as allies? Are we really that scared?"
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Rep. Jack Kingston's Amusing Denials
Jan 30th, 2011
The real irony here is watching a man denying evolution and in the process making a monkey out himself.
The real irony here is watching a man denying evolution and in the process making a monkey out himself.
Quote Of The Day
Jan 30th, 2011
"The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage." -- Thucydides
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Quote Of The Day
Jan 29th, 2011
"Dictators ride to and fro on tigers they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry." -- Winston Churchill
Friday, January 28, 2011
Made In U.S.A., cont...
Jan 28th, 2011
Rich Engel reports from Cairo:
"In my hands, this is one of the tear gas canisters and very clearly written in English on it it says "Made in the U.S.A. by Combined Tactical Systems from Jamestown, Pa."
Rich Engel reports from Cairo:
"In my hands, this is one of the tear gas canisters and very clearly written in English on it it says "Made in the U.S.A. by Combined Tactical Systems from Jamestown, Pa."
Worth 1,000 Words
Jan 28th, 2011
This just came across the interwebs. A protester in Cairo kisses a "bewildered" security officer.
This just came across the interwebs. A protester in Cairo kisses a "bewildered" security officer.
Made In The U.S.A.
Jan 28th, 2011
This photo is causing quite the stir around the world. It should. It shows an Egyptian protester holding one of the hundreds of spent tear gas canisters that litter the streets of Cairo. As you look at it, remember that it was our tax dollars that payed for it's manufacture. It was our tax dollars that payed for it's shipment it to Mubarak's regime. It was our country that made it possible for a people crying out against their own tyrannical government to be abused with "low-intensity" chemical weapons.
This photo is causing quite the stir around the world. It should. It shows an Egyptian protester holding one of the hundreds of spent tear gas canisters that litter the streets of Cairo. As you look at it, remember that it was our tax dollars that payed for it's manufacture. It was our tax dollars that payed for it's shipment it to Mubarak's regime. It was our country that made it possible for a people crying out against their own tyrannical government to be abused with "low-intensity" chemical weapons.
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