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Monthly Archives: August 2013

This week’s good news

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Well, I was pretty worried about getting a good news post this week, but, for once, Obama came through. He is actually going to follow the United States constitution and seek congressional approval for the humanitarian bombing of Syria. Of course, no one should fool themselves into thinking that this has anything to do with […]

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A helpful suggestion

Saturday, August 31, 2013

I read this story in the New London Day, but was unable to find a link there. It was these paragraphs that caught my attention: ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) _ Massachusetts prosecutors in the Aaron Hernandez murder case said Friday there’s no truth to an allegation by lawyers for the former New England Patriot that investigators […]

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We really have to teach the British about 21st century democracy

Thursday, August 29, 2013

How quaint. In England the legislative body still actually has a say in whether the country goes to war. Where do they get such ideas? Well, maybe it’s not surprising in a country that has palace guards that wear silly hats. They really have a lot to learn about democracy from the former colonies.

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Gaming the Education Proposal

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

A few days ago I suggested that one should ask the following question when considering Obama’s proposals to make college more affordable: How would I subvert this system had I a mind to do so? I suggested one way in which the proposal was bound to founder: the institutionalized revolving door that guarantees that the […]

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Today’s media just can’t stand programs that help people

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Anytime, anywhere. This morning I read this article in the Times about France’s “slow decline”, caused, of course, not by robber barons but by a generous welfare state. It seems the Times, like the Post, just can’t stand the thought of ordinary people not ending their lives in utter poverty. So when I read it, […]

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Friday Night Music Returns

Friday, August 23, 2013

After a vacation sabbatical, during which I was just too lazy to search around. Today’s choice breaks a rule. One I’ve broken before, for this is the second time Kermit the Frog has made an appearance on this feature (last time singing the Talking Head’s Once in a Lifetime) and it’s a sad fact that […]

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Constitutional Law 101

Friday, August 23, 2013

Some good, if basic, discussion here about the right’s abuse of the 10th Amendment. The bigger problem, which author Robert Parry notes, is the refusal of the press to provide basic information to readers, many of whom will therefore come to the natural conclusion that there must be some validity to these specious arguments. The […]

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Sometimes simple is best

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Obama is proposing a plan to help students pay for college. What could go wrong? A draft of the proposal, obtained by The New York Times and likely to cause some consternation among colleges, shows a plan to rate colleges before the 2015 school year based on measures like tuition, graduation rates, debt and earnings […]

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Temporary birther

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Seems that Ted Cruz has a bit of a problem. He wants to be president, but according to many of the people to whom he’s catered for the last several years, he’s not eligible. He was born in the People’s Republic of Canada, and if the birthers are consistent, they will have no choice but […]

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You reap what you sow

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

To the surprise of absolutely no one, it turns out that the CIA did indeed depose democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq back in 1953. The proximate cause of this action was Mossaddeq’s nationalization of the country’s oil assets, which infuriated the U.S. and Britain. For a few years it worked. Our puppet Shah […]

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