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Monthly Archives: March 2015

Unrepresentative democracy, an American tradition

I am currently reading a biography of John Quincy Adams, by Fred Kaplan. Both of the Presidents Adams have gained in stature recently. JQ Adams, like his father, had some admirable qualities, mixed in with some faults that truly make the mind boggle. Franklin’s quote about the father seems applicable to the son. But that’s […]

Quid meets quo

The bankers don’t like Elizabeth Warren and they’ve met with Democratic Party officials to tell them so: JPMorgan representatives have met Democratic Party officials to emphasize the connection between its annual contribution and the need for a friendlier attitude toward the banks, a source familiar with JPMorgan’s donations said. In past years, the bank has […]

Editor wanted

I have noted in the past that whoever writes the titles for the articles in the New London Day has a rightwing bent, as the titles often give a conservative cast to articles that turn out to not quite say what the title implies. Whoever this mystery person is (and I admit I could be […]

Saudi apologia

The New York Times has a rather remarkable story in today’s paper, telling us that Saudia Arabia’s “justice system” is not really all that bad, because some people who might otherwise get their heads or hands chopped off, don’t. Consider the case, the Times tells us, of Bandar al-Yehiya, who, Allah be praised, did not […]

Underestimating the criminal mind

Gretchen Morgenstern reports in this morning’s Times about a Public Citizen’s shareholder’s proposals to hold the top executives at Citigroup at least financially responsible for their criminal activities: .. [The proposal] would require that top executives at the company contribute a substantial portion of their compensation each year to a pool of money that would […]

Sunday sermon

This sermon is being written as I sit here on the first day of Spring, watching the snow fall. Our pilgrim fathers firmly believed that meteorological events were messages from god, expressing his anger or approval (usually anger, as it turned out)for the actions of man here on Earth. This attitude lives on. Witness the […]

We’re number 1!

On a number of occasions I’ve noted that we here in the rational states lead the nation in a number of respects. We may, for instance, be godless, but somehow we also manage to have the lowest divorce rates and the lowest rates of births out of wedlock. But, being rational, I’m bound to admit […]

Free speech for me, but not for thee

If you spend much time at left leaning blogs you have no doubt read more than one comment about the tendencies of right wingers to express rather strange ideas about rights. For example, it is a common argument on their part that gay marriage somehow tramples on their right to religious freedom, inasmuch as they […]

Surprise from the land of the Mormons

This is truly amazing. From the state that just voted to kill people by firing squad, we have a piece of legislation that is so far ahead of its time that it’s stunning: With just a point and a click, you can browse a face book of felons, a new government website that will warn […]

Fair and balanced reporting on Social Security Disabilty

Dean Baker makes an obvious point, therefore one that those claiming that the Social Security Disability program is abused totally ignore: Wall Street Journal Soon to Run Piece on Improper Denials of Disability Claims That’s inevitable, since any fair-minded newspaper that ran a column on improper approvals would surely want to balance it out. For […]