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Monthly Archives: November 2009

Utopia East-even further East, that is

Sunday, November 15, 2009

There must be something about Hollywood that brings out the dupes in people. In today’s Globe we read that yet another small time Hollywood huckster has deluded yet another small New England town into believing a lot of hype that a little bit of due diligence would have exposed as claptrap. This time it’s Plymouth, […]

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It was 40 years ago today

Sunday, November 15, 2009

On November 15, 1969 half a million people descended on Washington D.C. to protest the Vietnam War, not a single one of them directly or indirectly subsidized by a TV network or an astroturfing group of lobbyists. I made the trip to DC with some college friends. There were four of us, joined by two […]

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Friday Night Music-James Brown

Friday, November 13, 2009

Fairly sure I haven’t done James Brown yet. I’m starting with this clip as much in tribute to Ed Sullivan as James Brown. Everyone loved making fun of Ed Sullivan, but the truth was that he was great at spotting talent. Even more important, he was an equal opportunity employer before it was either hip […]

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Drawing lines

Friday, November 13, 2009

The Catholic Church would have us believe that it simply cannot support any health care bill that might result in a single person getting an abortion, no matter how removed the cause might be from the effect. It’s a matter of principle, don’t you see. Just as millions of Africans must die for lack of […]

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The Supreme Challenge

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Via Think Progress: Business groups are worried by the potential effects of provisions banning the import of all goods made with convict labor, forced labor, or forced or indentured child labor that were included in a customs bill sponsored by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) Business sources say […]

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Scalia, a hypocrite for all seasons

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Antonin Scalia has a problem. His intellectual dishonesty is showing: If there is a topic Justice Antonin Scalia does not relish discussing, it is how he would have voted in Brown v. Board of Education had he been on the Supreme Court when it was decided in 1954.… The Brown decision, which said the 14th […]

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Comments

Monday, November 9, 2009

I get very few comments, and my basic philosophy has been to approve any comment I get, provided it’s not spam. I believe in free speech and I also think that I should be able to take my lumps if the comments are critical. Today, for the first time, I got a comment that crossed […]

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Rell chooses not to run

Monday, November 9, 2009

Some time ago Jim Amann stopped by our Town Committee. He received a lukewarm to frosty reception. In the course of his presentation he opined that Jodi Rell would not run again, and that the Republicans will nominate Lieutenant Governor Mike (who?) Fedele. Well, Jodi has dropped out and Fedele is running, though whether he’ll […]

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Sunday School

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Via Pharyngula. A debate on the BBC, the motion being: The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world. You can watch it here. It’s long, consisting of 5 you tube videos which, at least when viewed in full screen, will play one after the other. The fascinating thing about this is that […]

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Only in Massachusetts

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Could this happen anywhere else, even in the context of a Democratic primary: US Representative Michael E. Capuano yesterday blasted Attorney General Martha Coakley’s decision to get involved in an Alabama death penalty case, saying the man they are vying to succeed in the Senate, Edward M. Kennedy, “would have never supported this position.’’ “She […]

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