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Latest Articles: Opinions/Editorials
Woodchoppers complaint.
Post Date: 2011-07-04 11:59:33 by Wood_Chopper
10 Comments
THIS TITLE WAS EDITED BY A K A STONE
I just got back from a two day suspension. Stone suspended me two days ago, but unless you were quick, you wouldn't know it, because the thread in which he did has has been “disappeared” down the memory hole. The thread was up for a day before he (or mod x, don't ya just love the new uncertainty??) deleted it.
BUT, before deleting the thread, he edited the title WITHOUT INDICATING THAT HE HAD EDITED IT, making it look as though I HAD AUTHORED THE TITLE. The original title was “Moderator X is an asshole”, which Stone changed to “Wood_Chopper is acting like an asshole”.
Being suspended, I couldn't post to point that out, and now that I'm back, ...
14 Propaganda Techniques Fox "News" Uses to Brainwash Americans
Post Date: 2011-07-03 19:54:45 by Brian S
1 Comments
There is nothing more sacred to the maintenance of democracy than a free press. Access to comprehensive, accurate and quality information is essential to the manifestation of Socratic citizenship - the society characterized by a civically engaged, well-informed and socially invested populace. Thus, to the degree that access to quality information is willfully or unintentionally obstructed, democracy itself is degraded. It is ironic that in the era of 24-hour cable news networks and "reality" programming, the news-to-fluff ratio and overall veracity of information has declined precipitously. Take the fact Americans now spend on average about 50 hours a week using various forms of ...
Mark Ames: Why the American Right Never Liked V.S. Naipaul [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2011-07-02 10:22:11 by lucysmom
154 Comments
I’ve often wondered why the American Right has been so quiet about V.S. Naipaul. He’s easily the most talented reactionary writer in the English language–maybe the only living talent left in the right-wing zombiesphere. The American Right devotes an insane amount of resources into manufacturing hagiographies on anyone whom they believe makes them look good–even the Soviets couldn’t compete with today’s American Right when it comes to glorifying their pantheon of degenerate cretins like Ayn Rand, Phyllis Schlafly, Friedrich von Hayek… I found a few passages that I think explain why they never liked Naipaul much. Basically, it comes down to this: The ...
A Political Scientist Who Does Great Economics [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2011-07-01 01:43:27 by lucysmom
54 Comments
On the selection of Elinor Ostrom for the Frank E. Seidman Distinguished Award in Political Economy in 1997, I was invited to the award ceremony to say a few words. A colleague asked me who the recipient was, and I said "Elinor Ostrom." Ostrom pioneered the study of informal, non-governmental institutions that people invent to ration their use of the "commons," even in asymmetrical situations like upstream versus downstream occupants of a river bank. What is known as the "free rider" (non-cooperator) problem has found a number of solutions, voluntarily adopted, in a variety of cultures and environments. Elinor Ostrom "discovered" this subject and ...
Bachmann, Palin should just admit gaffes, then move on [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2011-06-30 11:37:30 by go65
65 Comments
It’s the scramble-back that makes you look insecure, stubborn and not all that bright. Does it really matter that Michele Bachmann got her John Waynes mixed up and said she shared a hometown with John Wayne when in fact it was John Wayne Gacy? “John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.” In fact, it was John Wayne Gacy who lived in Waterloo, whereas John Wayne, the actor, was born about 150 miles away, in the Iowa town of Winterset. Not a sane person in the world jumped on the gaffe to say, “Oh my God, she’s trying to align herself with the Killer Clown!” But the mainstream-lamestream media pounced on the gaffe with ...
The Failure of Republican Ideology: Part 1
Post Date: 2011-06-30 08:57:09 by go65
19 Comments
"Blame it on Bush" is the sarcastic phrase which John McCain could be heard sneering to his colleagues shortly after his defeat in 2008, as if knowingly exasperated that the democrats could do no better than to excuse their poor economic numbers by blaming the last president. This kind of spin is presumably intended to silence the democrats' defense that they inherited a disaster for which no quick fix is possible. If the American public does have this short a memory, then perhaps the republican reputation is safe. But I have to wonder, is it really enough to the republicans themselves just to convince the electorate? Sure, maybe for a cynical few but this is a party of such ...
Higher taxes ?
Post Date: 2011-06-29 02:43:27 by socalv8
3 Comments
An interesting data point to consider for those of you interested in the tax revenue discussion we've been having . From 1951 through 1963, the U.S. maintained extremely high marginal tax rates. The lowest rate of federal income tax was 20%, and the highest equaled 91%. The tax structure back then generated revenue equal to 7.7% of GDP. Marginal rates were lowest from 1988 through 1990, when the lowest rate was 15% and the highest rate was 28%. With that structure, federal income taxes brought in revenue equal to 8.1% of GDP. (This information comes from Alan Reynolds' well-sourced piece in the June 16, 2011 Wall Street Journal.) The point is, the liberal Democratic policy goal of ...
N.Y. Times: Fraught Nexus of Lies, Stupidity, and Bigotry
Post Date: 2011-06-25 18:57:32 by CZ82
0 Comments
N.Y. Times: Fraught Nexus of Lies, Stupidity, and Bigotry by Ann Coulter, 06/22/2011 Perhaps instead of taking potshots at me in its Book Review section, The New York Times could consider reviewing one of my books. With only one review -- not in the Book Review -- after eight New York Times best-sellers, the editors can rest assured that I know they don't like me. Reviewing a book about the 1989 rape of the Central Park jogger last week, the reviewer sniped that "coarser pundits like Ann Coulter continue to exploit the case whenever possible." My chapter on the Central Park rape in my recently released, smash New York Times best-seller, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is ...
Why Liberalism is Evil and Liberals Aren’t Compassionate At All
Post Date: 2011-06-25 18:23:24 by A K A Stone
3 Comments
Linking Compassion with Aggression The more I read Robert Ringer, the more I come to the conclusion that not only is liberalism immoral, it’s evil. From a Christian perspective, liberalism puts you on the side of Satan. Here’s an example, and here’s why: 1. In order to fund health care, the government will have to take from those who work hard and give it to those who don’t. You can call it anything you want, but it’s stealing, and stealing is wrong, a sin. God hates sin, and He won’t tolerate it much longer. 2. The Founding Fathers considered government to be evil. They didn’t want to give us anymore government than necessary. So, they didn’t. ...
What Neocons Don't Understand About War
Post Date: 2011-06-24 12:56:25 by Brian S
1 Comments
In National Review, The Weekly Standard, and the Washington Post, leading War on Terror hawks are expressing outrage at the timeline President Obama set for troop reductions in Afghanistan. Their complaint: politics is driving American policy. "So why September 2012?" Bill Kristol writes. "Because, one has to conclude, Election Day is November 6, 2012. The deadline will allow candidate Obama to say that he has completely withdrawn the surge forces, and that we're on our way out of Afghanistan and coming home. The timetable President Obama has set isn't based on military considerations, diplomatic strategies, or financial calculations." Perhaps it's time to ...
Why Eric Cantor Bailed
Post Date: 2011-06-24 12:49:16 by Brian S
1 Comments
In the end, Eric Cantor took a hike—away from the interminable budget talks with the Democrats, and perhaps from his own House speaker as well. The majority leader, the GOP’s go-to guy in negotiations with Joe Biden over the looming debt-ceiling crisis, infuriated Democrats on Thursday by announcing he is bowing out of the discussions. That is, until the other party abandons the idea of any tax increase whatsoever to bring down the ballooning national debt. By single-handedly bailing out, Cantor puts the onus of finding an elusive deal back on John Boehner, the man who assigned the majority leader to the thankless task in the first place. The fact that Cantor reportedly gave the ...
When The GOP Doubled Down On Crazy
Post Date: 2011-06-23 12:01:36 by Brian S
3 Comments
Have you ever sensed that conservative talk radio hosts are reading from a script written by somebody else? Well, you're right. According to a well-documented report in Politico, such fearless, independent thinkers as Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are taking millions in payola to promote the policy ideas of the Heritage Foundation without necessarily letting listeners in on the secret. OK, scratch "payola" -- make that "sponsorship fees." Payola's what you call it when disk jockeys take cash under the table to play certain songs. It's illegal only when that income goes unreported to the IRS. Nobody's saying Hannity and Limbaugh are doing that. But ...
Buchanan: The Dumbing-Down of America
Post Date: 2011-06-21 13:12:59 by Brian S
0 Comments
"Is our children learning?" as George W. Bush so famously asked. Well, no, they is not learning, especially the history of their country, the school subject at which America's young perform at their worst. On history tests given to 31,000 pupils by the National Assessment of Education Progress, the "Nation's Report Card," most fourth-graders could not identify a picture of Abraham Lincoln or a reason why he was important. Most eighth-graders could not identify an advantage American forces had in the Revolutionary War. Twelfth-graders did not know why America entered World War II or that China was North Korea's ally in the Korean War. Only 20 percent of ...
What’s Germany’s Secret?
Post Date: 2011-06-21 11:44:17 by Brian S
11 Comments
Why the Republican War on Workers’ Rights Undermines the American Economy The battle has resumed in Wisconsin. The state supreme court has allowed Governor Scott Walker to strip bargaining rights from state workers. Meanwhile, legislators in New Hampshire and officials in Missouri are attacking private unions, seeking to make the states so-called “open shop” where workers can get all the benefits of being union members without paying union dues. Needless to say this ploy undermines the capacity of unions to do much of anything. Other Republican governors and legislatures are following suit. Republicans in Congress are taking aim at the National Labor Relations Board, which ...
Twenty-Nine Reasons to Be Angry And/Or Scared
Post Date: 2011-06-20 19:09:48 by CZ82
0 Comments
Twenty-Nine Reasons to Be Angry And/Or Scared By Monty Pelerin If you're not both angry and scared at the world's current situation, you're not paying attention. Rained out from a planned and anticipated golf game is not a good thing. As a result, I find myself confined to the house and computer in a less than jovial mood and decided to list a few problems in the world today. The list grew beyond my intentions. In no particular order, and hardly complete, is the following enumerated list: 1.The Eurozone is imploding and likely will be unable to hold in its present constitution, if at all. 2.Fiat currencies are being debased rapidly in a "beggar thy neighbor" ...
Russia Holds Key Lessons for Greece on Default: Roland Nash
Post Date: 2011-06-20 08:34:07 by lucysmom
9 Comments
European leaders fear disaster if they allow the Greek government to renege on its debt and drop the euro. But that outcome may not be as bad as it seems. The experience of Russia suggests that what looks like catastrophe before the event can be something very different after it. After three years of crisis, rising unemployment and falling living standards in Greece and other strapped nations, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are demanding more austerity in return for emergency loans. The logic: The pain wrought by a default and an exit from the euro would be so catastrophic that it is better to force governments to slash spending in the depths of a recession. ...
Fish don't know they're in water
Post Date: 2011-06-20 07:58:56 by A K A Stone
12 Comments
Fish don't know they're in water. If you tried to explain it, they'd say, “Water? What's water?” They're so surrounded by it, that it's impossible to see. They can't see it until they get outside of it. This is how I feel about culture. We're so surrounded by people who think like us, that it's impossible to see that what we think are universal truths are just our local culture. We can't see it until we get outside of it. I was born in California and grew up with what I felt was a normal upbringing with normal values. I was speaking to a business school class here in Singapore. I asked, “How many people would like to ...
Rand and Rubio
Post Date: 2011-06-20 00:41:50 by A K A Stone
5 Comments
On domestic policy, the Republican candidates in last week’s primary debate seemed to speak with one voice: Cut taxes, cut spending, repeal Obamacare, declare victory. On foreign policy, though, they sounded a more uncertain trumpet. There were flashes of the old post-9/11 confidence — as in Tim Pawlenty’s declaration that post-Saddam Iraq represents a “shining example” to the Middle East. But there was also pessimism about Afghanistan, skepticism about the Libyan intervention, and a general sense that the United States is bearing too many burdens overseas, and paying too high a price. For the first time in a decade, it seems, the Republican Party doesn’t ...
What GOP Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Marco Rubio's Exceptional Maiden Speech
Post Date: 2011-06-18 09:08:15 by CZ82
0 Comments
What GOP Presidential Candidates Can Learn From Marco Rubio's Exceptional Maiden Speech by Tony Lee, 06/15/2011 Freshman Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio delivered his maiden speech on the floor of the Senate yesterday and it was a speech all GOP presidential contenders should watch. It was the best speech of the 2012 presidential cycle, except the person who delivered it has all but ruled himself off of the 2012 ticket on numerous occasions. The GOP presidential field has been criticized for not having passion or conviction, and Rubio’s speech lit up the normally staid Senate chamber to the extent that this is possible. It had a clear argument, an emotional arc, ...
Texas Is a Shining Example of Right-Wing Governance in Action and That's Why It's a Complete Basket
Post Date: 2011-06-17 12:23:42 by Brian S
5 Comments
Conservative mythology now holds up Texas as a shining example of right-wing governance in action. Republicans would have us believe that gutting the state's social safety net, denying workers the right to bargain collectively and relentlessly cutting taxes unleashed a torrent of “job creation” and, ultimately, prosperity. Under governor Rick “Goodhair” Perry's term in office, Texas has indeed been a model of conservative governance, but the truth is that it has resulted in anything but prosperity for the people of the Lone Star State. In fact, Texas is not only a complete basket-case, it would be faring far worse today without the help of policies enacted by ...
Viewpoints: Racist cartoon of Obama forces me to leave GOP [Full Thread]
Post Date: 2011-06-17 06:28:23 by Ferret Mike
88 Comments
I was one of those rare species: a black Republican, the guy willing to spit into the wind of conventional thought, who was often showcased on camera at party events to prove inclusiveness. But as a proud black man, I can no longer be a member of the Republican Party. Being a Republican has long been a part of my personal and professional identities, so leaving the party is a difficult and emotional decision. In 1998, as a young man searching for what I believed were shared values, I cut ties with the Democratic Party and became a Republican. Democrats, in my view, had become unwelcoming to those holding center-right views not in lockstep with the party, and it was my belief that through ...
Al Gore: Good for Mitt Romney!
Post Date: 2011-06-15 22:57:45 by go65
5 Comments
While other Republicans are running from the truth, he is sticking to his guns in the face of the anti- science wing of the Republican Party: “It seemed like a straightforward question on a second-tier issue: Would Mitt Romney disavow the science behind global warming?” “The putative Republican presidential front-runner, eager to prove his conservative bona fides, could easily have said what he knew many in his party's base wanted to hear.” “Instead, the former Massachusetts governor stuck to the position he has held for many years -- that he believes the world is getting warmer and that humans are contributing to it.”
Get Rid of Government--But First Make Me President!
Post Date: 2011-06-15 21:40:19 by CZ82
8 Comments
Get Rid of Government--But First Make Me President! by Ann Coulter I consider all Republican debates time-fillers until New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie jumps in, but Monday night's debate did crystallize for me why I dislike libertarians. (Except one, who is a friend of mine and not crazy.) They lure you in with talk of small government and then immediately start babbling about drug legalization or gay marriage. "Get the government out of it" is a good and constitutionally correct answer to many questions, but it's not a one-size-fits-all answer to all questions. It was a good answer, for example, when libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, was asked about government ...
Neocons Trade Medicare for War
Post Date: 2011-06-15 13:36:43 by Brian S
1 Comments
Exclusive: The American neocons are again on the upswing as they undercut peace initiatives from the Obama administration and gain Republican support for maintaining massive Pentagon spending, in exchange for limiting senior citizens’ access to Medicare. As Robert Parry reports, the neocons can now see the light at the end of the tunnel for their restoration to power. By Robert Parry June 14, 2011 For decades now, America’s neoconservatives have pushed for higher military spending and baited their political opponents as being “soft” on whatever the enemy-of-the-day was: Moscow, Nicaragua, Cuba in the 1980s; al-Qaeda, Iraq, Iran, Libya in recent years. The neocons ...
Seven Republican Dwarfs
Post Date: 2011-06-15 10:11:41 by Brian S
1 Comments
They assumed the stance of the Seven Dwarfs, not as a matter of physical but rather intellectual stature. Not one of the candidates for the GOP presidential nomination who debated Monday night rose to a point of seriousness in addressing the nation's grievous problems. Instead, they ever so playfully thumbed their collective noses at any possible meaningful government reaction to the mess that we are in. It was Herbert Hoover warmed over, leaving Barack Obama secure in the mantle of FDR whether he deserves that tribute or not. Obama, who has been inconsistent and weak in reining in the Wall Street greed that got us into this deep economic morass, is now under no pressure from the ...
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