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Monthly Archives: December 2011

Apparently, the people have risen up and demanded an end to privacy

Sunday, December 11, 2011

If any proof were needed that we live in an oligarchy, where sometimes the rest of us are thrown a bone, consider the “Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011“, which would amend federal law to allow corporations to pester cell phone users with robocalls. I first learned about it in a fundraising email from the […]

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Friday Night Music

Friday, December 9, 2011

One source of rather dismal inspiration for this feature is the obituary page. This week Dobie Gray died. According to the Times he was both a singer and a songwriter, having written hits for a number of major artists. I’ve chosen two videos, one from 1965, one from 1974. In a way they illustrate the […]

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I’m so prescient

Thursday, December 8, 2011

A while back I had this to say about the fact that Wall Street is pouring so much money into Scott Brown’s campaign: One must wonder how much money Wall Street will have to raise for Scott Brown to overcome the harm articles like that in today’s Times (Wall Street Rallies Around Scott Brown for […]

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Miracles do happen: bought and paid for politicians looking at a financial transactions tax

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sometimes the stars align, and what once seems far fetched suddenly becomes possible. For years people like Dean Baker and Paul Krugman have been recommending a financial transactions tax. It brings in immense amount of revenue, discourages useless and non-productive speculation, and has negligible impact on people who are buying stocks for actual investment. Since […]

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Willard’s Massachusetts coverup

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

It’s actually hard to make the argument that anything could make Mitt Romney look worse, so lets just say that the latest revelation about his preemptive coverup of his record in Massachusetts is getting even more interesting. I give him credit for the gambit, by the way. Most politicians wait until they’re accused of something […]

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Tip of my hat

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Never let it be said that I don’t give credit where credit is due, though I suppose sometimes I don’t. But I want to do so today, to Commissioner of Consumer Protection William Rubenstein.    I happen to represent a tenant’s association at a mobile home park. The tenants have found themselves in a dispute […]

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Glass have empty, or glass half full?

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sometimes it takes an act of bigotry to see how far we’ve come. A church in Kentucky took what its members no doubt thought was a perfectly reasonable racist action recently:  When Stella Harville brought her black boyfriend to her family’s all-white church in rural Kentucky, she thought nothing of it. She and Ticha Chikuni […]

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Stephen Colbert exposes Siri’s bias

Friday, December 2, 2011

Monday I get my new iPhone 4s. I’m going back on my work plan, which I left because I couldn’t stand the Blackberry I was issued a few years ago, and I could get the iPhone relatively cheaply on a family plan. But now that Verizon has the iPhone, I can get one for free, […]

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Friday Night Music

Friday, December 2, 2011

Well, this is something completely different. Glenn Hardy is a local guy, who many years ago had the misfortune of trying to teach our kids to play the piano. Alas, he had no success in inspiring them to fall in love with the instrument, though they can both play tolerably and both went on to […]

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A Meta-scam

Thursday, December 1, 2011

My first reaction upon reading the following, was that no one could possibly be stupid enough to fall for it. Then I reflected that I live in a country in which half a dozen scam artists are running for president, and it’s considered normal. The full text of an email I just received: SCAMMED VICTIM/US$1,000,000.00 […]

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