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Monthly Archives: December 2009

Happy New Year and some resolutions

Thursday, December 31, 2009

I have taken the period between Christmas and New Years off from my legal labors, at least I took off from the office, though I put in a few hours a day of legal work. I have discovered anew that age old truth-the more time you have to do things, the less you do. But […]

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Beltway logic

Thursday, December 31, 2009

There’s a lot to criticize about Obama’s presidency, but his response to failed terrorist attempts is not among them. This piece by Glenn Greenwald is must reading. Our punditry is living in a sort of inverted world, in which Obama’s strengths are his weaknesses, and his weaknesses are his strengths. Fondly must we hope, fervently […]

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Asymmetries

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

It has been observed that we are living in a time of asymmetrical warfare. In this country we seem to be afflicted with asymmetrical politics. Witness the reaction to the unsuccessful attempt to blow up an aircraft, about which Obama appears to have gotten no warning, to the reaction to 9/11, about which Bush was […]

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The scam is built into the system

Sunday, December 27, 2009

My younger son is always good for at least one Christmas gift book that is from out of left field. This year it was First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, by Slavoj Zizek. To complete the baseball analogy, Zizek plays just slightly to the fair side of the foul line, leaving most of left field […]

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Good news for corporations, not so good for workers

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

From today’s Globe: In another sign that the economy might be turning around, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services has filled this year’s quota of 65,000 applications for H-1b guest worker visas, which allow companies to hire foreign workers for jobs they say they cannot fill with US-born applicants. Unlike previous years, it took nine […]

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Fool me once…

Monday, December 21, 2009

It’s almost enough to fill one with despair. What’s one definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. What clichés or common phrases are running through my mind? Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it It’s the same old song Here we go again. […]

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Bonus music

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Just finished digging out here, and the annual Christmas letter, which gets harder every year. This video will probably be all over the internet soon, so I’m trying to get ahead of the curve. Yes, I know it’s corporate sponsored and all that, but I’m a softie.

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Friday Night Music-Happy Holidays

Friday, December 18, 2009

A holiday concert. Bruce Springsteen with a classic Bob Dylan, veering toward the bizarre. I haven’t the slightest idea if there are even any Chanukah songs out there, except the Chanakuh Song, so here’s Adam Sandler: Speaking of music, in a short while my wife and I will be going to the farewell concert, the […]

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An abject apology

Thursday, December 17, 2009

A commenter recently took umbrage at the fact that I referred to the “Democrat Party” in a recent post. I humbly apologize, as I share her feelings about this usage. All I can say is that the reference slipped by the fact checking committee, the style committee and the board of editors, all of whom […]

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A health care rant

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I receive emails from a guy named Mitch Stewart, of Obama’s “Organizing for America” organization pretty much every day. Today I’m being urged to contact my Senators (rich irony on that one) to support health care reform because insurance lobbyists are desperate to pull apart the bill and […]

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