Skip to content

Monthly Archives: June 2011

We saw this coming

Monday, June 20, 2011

Steve Benen points out that the Republican’s obstruction of President Obama is unprecedented, particularly in the area of presidential appointments, as the Republicans have basically announced that in many instances, they will not allow a vote on any of Obama’s nominees, no matter who they might be. This is truly outrageous. But we must not […]

Filed in Republicans | | Comments (0)

Judge Thomas’s generous friends

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I’ll have to admit that I didn’t make it all the way through the article in the Times to which this post refers. It’s yet another story about the ethical blindness of Clarence Thomas. The story concerns the largesse shown by right wing millionaire Harlan Crow to Thomas. My overall impression is that his friend […]

Filed in Uncategorized | | Comments (0)

Street art

Sunday, June 19, 2011

This link was passed on to my wife by an old friend. Well worth a few minutes of your time. Makes you realize how much creativity is out there. Maybe there’s hope after all. Some commenters on the site suspect that some of the pictures were photoshopped. Most of them look genuine to me.

Filed in The Arts | | Comments (0)

Friday Night Music

Friday, June 17, 2011

This one is the fruits of free association. I suppose this is sort of a 60s cliche, but I still love the song, and these group songfests are always fun. The main players here are Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Brian Wilson, and Rod Stewart, but if you’re an aficionado, you’ll be able to […]

Filed in Music | | Comments (0)

There they go again

Friday, June 17, 2011

From Pro Publica: There are yet more delays in implementing financial reform. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has said it needs extra time to write a set of derivatives rules required by Dodd-Frank, and others that were scheduled to go into effect automatically next month may be deferred until the end of the year—leaving the […]

Filed in Economics | | Comments (0)

Glad I didn’t join

Friday, June 17, 2011

I am, I confess, chronologically eligible to join AARP, though I haven’t done so. I hold grudges, and I haven’t forgiven them for their position on the drug benefit and Medicare Advantage. Plus, I can’t face up to being old. Anyway, my obstinacy may be vindicated, if it’s true that AARP’s about to announce a […]

Filed in Social Security | | Comments (0)

The FBI has better things to do than investigate Wall Street

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

It appears from this article in the Times that the FBI has its sights set on Lance Armstrong, and will not stop until they get him, no matter how much it costs the taxpayers and no matter how trivial the offense. I hold no brief for Armstrong, but there is something unseemly about the top […]

Filed in Corporate Crime | | Comments (0)

Batting .250

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I’ve read at least 25 of them. A few I think I read in college, but can’t remember for sure, so I’m not counting them. Of course these lists are pretty subjective.

Filed in Ramblings | | Comments (0)

No surprises here

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Every one of them is a grifter. ABC News reports that Newt Gingrich’s Renewing American Leadership organization, a non-profit dedicated to Christian faith issues, has provided contracts worth $220,000 to Gingrich Communications, a for-profit consulting firm owned by Gingrich. Another one of Gingrich’s non-profits, American Solutions for Winning the Future, which supports oil drilling, shares […]

Filed in Grifters, Republican Corruption | | Comments (0)

What’s good for banks isn’t always good for bankers

Monday, June 13, 2011

James Surowiecki, writing in the most recent New Yorker makes the case for approving Elizabeth Warren’s nomination (prediction: it isn’t going to happen, and the Obama administration will leave her to “twist slowly, slowly in the wind”) and argues that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will actually be good for the banks: The C.F.P.B. […]

Filed in Corporate Crime | | Comments (0)