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Monthly Archives: July 2015

There’s good in everyone

I recently clicked on a link to an article about a woman who is being shunned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, a cult from which she has been expelled for being a lesbian, at the instigation of a man who sexually abused her as a child. Sounds terrible, right. Still, there is good in everyone, and […]

Bonus points for discretion

Every once in a while you read about something that is both jawdroppingly outrageous and, at the same time, not at all surprising. This story, out of Methuen, Massachusetts, is one such item. It seems that folks applying to be cops in that town are asked whether they would treat a drunken friend or police […]

All the euphemisms fit to print

The New York Times was never able, so far as I can recall, to refer to enhanced interrogation techniques by the more direct term torture. This was, of course, regrettable, because the word torture conveys the reality more directly and accurately than the euphemism. However, the Times’ avoidance of the T word was somewhat understandable, […]

A case for Obviousman

If you read the comic strip Non Sequitur you are no doubt familiar with the Superhero who makes occasional appearances in the strip. Obviousman’s super power consists in the ability to spot the obvious. This may not seem like much of a superpower, but he’s got something over today’s media, that’s for sure. He could […]

Hillary’s for what I’m for, unless, of course, she’s not

Hillary Clinton’s strategy has been obvious for a while. That strategy, just to be clear, is to get as many people as possible to believe that she is for what they are for, without actually committing herself to anything. You don’t really need to do a statistical analysis of her speeches in order to demonstrate […]

Storm is threatening

Read about it here. I suppose that it is some consolation to know that the Chinese economy is just as vulnerable to the tender ministrations of Goldman Sachs as is the American economy. It will be interesting to see if the Chinese government has any better luck than ours holding Goldman accountable when, as seems […]

Ready to Die

Glenn Beck is looking for a few good men to lay down their lives: Next week, Religious Right activist Jim Garlow will be hosting a four day conference at his California megachurch called the “Future Conference: What You Thought Was Coming … Is Here Now.” That sort of a dire warning perfectly matches up with […]

Sausage making in Hartford

There’s an old saying to the effect that you really don’t want to know how legislation or sausage is made. I’m not sure about the meat variety, but I’d actually love to know how this sausage was made. It is Section 57 of the budget bill just passed by our legislature. It reads as follows: […]

Europe’s March of Folly

If you haven’t read Barbara Tuchman’s March of Folly, go read it. It should be required reading in high schools everywhere. Anyone who has read it can only shudder at the possibilities opening up in a Europe that is marching in tandem toward chaos. If this writer is correct, and I suspect he is, the […]

The DCCC wants my money and will lie to get it

Well, maybe “lie” is too strong a word. Maybe “mislead” would be better. The type of misleading that, were it anything but political fundraising, would be considered fraud. The immediate cause of my (rekindled) ire: an email I received today from the DCCC fundraising off of Bernie Sanders “passionate speech about income inequality in front […]