tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50895342024-02-08T06:20:03.291-08:00Ted The DogIf we can shrink government, and infuse what's left with a heart and a soul, we can make something worth fighting for.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger756125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-56781152062365518632010-04-07T13:31:00.001-07:002010-04-07T13:31:38.234-07:00Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-22766329448542042102010-04-07T09:08:00.000-07:002010-04-07T09:08:59.627-07:00Today's GOP vs. Ronald Reagan. (via Sully). Great stuff as usual from Bruce Bartlett.
It may come as a surprise to some people that once upon a time in the not-too-distant past Republicans actually cared enough about budget deficits that they thought raising taxes was necessary to bring them down. Today, Republicans believe that deficits are nothing more than something to ignore when they are Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-27513064845187007442010-04-07T09:05:00.000-07:002010-04-07T09:05:12.707-07:00Slate uses Tiger's return to golf (and the zen practice that informed much of his early life) and the upcoming PBS serious about Buddhism to discuss the role that Zen has played in America.
After a broad and amazing recap of the changing perception of Buddhism Wen Stephonson laments the one missing element from the doc:
There is one aspect of Buddhism, however, that (PBS Documentary Producer) Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-14348022739618218382010-04-06T17:52:00.001-07:002010-04-06T17:52:34.625-07:00Thanks for the patience. it's looks like the computer trouble is over (for now)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-27304844907268793272010-04-05T10:12:00.001-07:002010-04-05T10:12:39.015-07:00Time makes martyrs of us all. Al Ross, founder of the iconic Doggie Dinner chain has died.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-22680746210568976292010-04-05T10:05:00.000-07:002010-04-05T10:05:20.871-07:00Looks like the effort to legalize tax weed is putting together a stronger cast than originally reported. Chris Good at the Atlantic has the details. The latest Pew report still has support trailing, but the gap is narrow.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-80148369598701301072010-04-01T07:53:00.000-07:002010-04-01T07:53:36.084-07:00Look like the iPad might meet the hype. Early reviews have it rocking boats.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-33148592687368406542010-03-30T08:08:00.000-07:002010-03-30T08:08:04.313-07:00You didn't get mad after 8 years of Bush Cheney, but NOW you're mad?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-11524584489250919522010-03-24T16:58:00.000-07:002010-03-24T16:58:14.957-07:00I'm jaded. I find the web is mostly a mess. A cacophony of poses. But every once in a while some small thing jumps out at me that reminds me of the good old days. When you'd hear a voice that so resonated with you, but you probably wouldn't have met/heard/read it unless these wires brought them to you some how. I felt that way when I first stumbled across DFW, and again reading this article todayUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-86237574970033123372010-03-24T07:06:00.000-07:002010-03-24T07:06:59.406-07:00I think it's a testament to how unhinged the "Right" has become that David Frum is considered a voice of reason in some parts. He's an ass. But his Waterloo article speaking to how the opposition to HCR is going to hamstring the GOP for sometime has been making the circles. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
For the record, I think he's right here, but it's an anomaly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-90151459050952443452010-03-24T06:52:00.000-07:002010-03-24T06:52:17.553-07:00This is the sort of Beltway-insider/MSM gossip I tend to find boring (heh, "Beltway insider" I feel like a Tbagger) but Shales attack on Amanpour are unconscionable.
As per usual, Greenwald brings his laser vision to the sitch.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-67325138289563713552010-03-24T06:49:00.000-07:002010-03-24T06:49:33.257-07:00Krug on the contrast between Dems and Repubs as they pushed through the final moments of HCR.
The day before Sunday’s health care vote, President Obama gave an unscripted talk to House Democrats. Near the end, he spoke about why his party should pass reform: “Every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes that you had about yourself, about this Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-75875866715703097452010-03-16T07:44:00.000-07:002010-03-16T07:44:54.152-07:00Film Directors discuss their favourite movie scenes.
Amazing to note, Gene Hackman's famous driving scene from the French Connection basically just happened:
Phenomenal. Basically they just did it. There was no security blocking off other traffic, just Hackman in a car with a camera mounted on the front. They went crazy, lost their minds, and went for it. It was the kind of thing that you just Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-86145979369041922512010-03-16T07:37:00.000-07:002010-03-16T07:37:08.157-07:00Chris Beam writes a surprisingly sympathetic profile of conservative media rabble-rouser Breitbart.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-6154149562069772732010-03-10T13:17:00.000-08:002010-03-10T13:17:14.228-08:00David Denby has a dead-eye profile of the career of Clint Eastwood. A must read for movie fans. A wide ranging essay that discusses America, the western, and his place in all tilts on this, "Being underestimated is, for some people, a misfortune. For Eastwood, it became a weapon."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-53462629062502859882010-03-08T16:00:00.000-08:002010-03-08T16:03:59.840-08:00Bruce Bartlett takes a look at the debt and how much it matters (a lot). And then debunks the ideas that cutting taxes and "growing out of it" will work:Some Pollyannas, like my friend Larry Kudlow, think we can just grow our way out of the debt by cutting taxes. But this is not really possible given the magnitude of our problem. First, increasing real growth doesn't have as much effect on the Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-72360559078453905062010-03-08T08:53:00.001-08:002010-03-08T08:54:25.959-08:00A strong piece from the Times of the risk of a double-dip in the jobs market. The first problem is that consumer spending is still lagging, plus:The second problem is that the stimulus program and the Fed's emergency programs are in the early stages of slowing down.These programs have done tremendous good, as I've written before. The bubbles in housing and stocks over the last decade were far Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-45627061346378373052010-03-08T08:46:00.000-08:002010-03-08T08:49:28.779-08:00We are all geniuses. Not exactly but David Shenk's new book seems to argue that none of us are born to be mediocre. He claims tries to dispel the "nature vs. nurture" dichotomy that most laypeople get absolutely wrong.He feels that genetics and environment clearly interact, but not in the deterministic factor we've been lead to believe.Shenk's particular interest is talent, genius and other Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-43385854707702673702010-03-08T08:21:00.000-08:002010-03-08T08:26:29.262-08:00Interesting discussion of the challenges of protecting the President Obama. Working from the Southern Poverty Law Center's research it appears that (Shocker!) right-wing extremism presents the most clear and present danger to the President.A former special agent describes the risks:"In Obama, we have a president with a very unique personality who likes to be out with the people. Put that togetherUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-44591713763816535302010-03-08T08:03:00.000-08:002010-03-08T08:06:06.640-08:00A different kind of freedom.we're going to miss DFW in ways we're only beginning to understand.He finishes strong. But of course there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talk about much in the great outside world of wanting and achieving.... The really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline, and being Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-87406588961475674222010-03-05T11:22:00.000-08:002010-03-05T11:24:49.900-08:00Hova at the House. If this doesn't make you smile a little bit...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-84129398490302134962010-03-01T07:36:00.000-08:002010-03-01T13:12:33.113-08:00McWhorter attempts to shift our gaze from the tea-baggers to work that Obama is doing in education reform:Obama is well on his way to becoming an Education President in the true sense. No, all of America’s public schools will not be turning into lushly funded academies churning out bright-eyed, civicly-engaged, readaholic yet well-rounded Übercitizens anytime soon, if ever. But great stuff is Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-68187432366891252102010-03-01T07:35:00.000-08:002010-03-01T07:36:18.751-08:00The Krugman profile is worth a slog. In his columns, Krugman is belligerently, obsessively political, but this aspect of his personality is actually a recent development. His parents were New Deal liberals, but they weren't especially interested in politics. In his academic work, Krugman focussed mostly on subjects with little political salience. During the eighties, he thought that supply-side Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-55662919614616618762010-03-01T07:33:00.000-08:002010-03-01T07:34:25.652-08:00know hopeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5089534.post-65897405086563801702010-03-01T07:31:00.000-08:002010-03-01T07:33:31.133-08:00I don't know why, but this feels like progress on the racial front. (albeit tiny)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com