January 2011
35 posts
New Year's Eve parties kick off around the world →
The Guardian reports on New Year’s festivities happening around the world, including a huge party in Sydney, Australia which featured some of the most spectacular fireworks ever set off.
December 2010
23 posts
“To the best fans in America, thanks for sticking with us. We’re on our...”
– Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, thanking the Husky faithful after UW’s 19-7 victory over Nebraska in the 2010 Holiday Bowl.
“America can’t move forward until we once again believe, as they did, that...”
– Frank Rich, concluding another brilliantly written column (Who Killed the Disneyland Dream?), centered around the story of a family that won a trip to America’s best-known theme park.
Deepwater Horizon's final hours →
The New York Times masterfully tells the story of Deepwater Horizon’s hours, painstakingly exploring each of the points at which the rig’s fail-safe systems failed - or were not activated by the people in command.
The new tax deal: Reaganomics redux →
robertreich:
More than thirty years ago, Ronald Reagan came to Washington intent on reducing taxes on the wealthy and shrinking every aspect of government except defense.
The new tax deal embodies the essence of Reaganomics.
It will not stimulate the economy.
“Way to go, Max and Jon. Your compassion underwhelms me.”
– Kossack Mongo DeNizen, accosting Montana’s two Democratic senators for shamefully voting to block the DREAM Act from advancing in the U.S. Senate
GOP ‘think tank’ unable to defend ad claiming... →
ThinkProgress reports on an exchange it instigated with a Wall Street funded corporate front called the American Action Forum, which ran “independent” ads against Patty Murray showing an unidentified woman (ostensibly Murray) dressed in tennis shoes stomping on the backs of children. Washingtonians reelected Patty Murray to the U.S. Senate in November.
Perhaps ‘no’ really meant ‘no’ on liquor sales →
The News Tribune’s Peter Callaghan skillfully takes apart the arguments of alcohol profiteers, who continue to say the Legislature should close down the state-run liquor system despite the overwhelming rejection of Initiatives 1100 and 1105.
Surprise! Plutocrats less likely to feel empathy →
MSNBC’s Diane Mapes reports on a study that finds that people with significant wealth are less likely to naturally feel empathy for other people’s needs and wishes. The study’s author notes that in another experiment they conducted, rich people got better at reading others’ emotions after they had been asked to imagine themselves as impoverished.
“In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is...”
– Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, inadvertently acknowledging how politics really “works” in the District of Columbia.
Full-body scanners trivially defeated by... →
Boing Boing reports on an evaluation of the worthless and ineffective full body scanners being placed into airports by the Illusion of Security Administration. The evaluation, published in the Journal of Transportation Security, suggests an individual carrying unconventional explosives can easily evade the backscatter machines.
Senator Bernie Sanders stands up for the rest of... →
Progressive Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took to the Senate floor today in a day-long filibuster. Watch the video here.
“Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough...”
– International Association of Machinists leader and Hillary Clinton surrogate Tom Buffenbarger, making the case against Barack Obama on the campaign trail in 2008. At the time his remarks seemed crass and unfair. Now they just sound prescient.
“I will support President Obama when he is right and oppose the President when he...”
– Senator Patrick Leahy, announcing his opposition to Barack Obama’s “deal” to extend the Bush tax giveaway to the rich
“Senate Republicans have successfully used the fragile economic security of our...”
– Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, denouncing Barack Obama’s “deal” to extend the Bush tax giveaway to the rich
“This is a fight for the heart and soul of the Democratic Party and the Nation. I...”
– Representative John Conyers, Jr., announcing his opposition to Barack Obama’s “deal” to extend the Bush tax giveaway to the rich
“I’m thinking that the way to get some love from the White House is not to...”
– The USC Annenberg School’s Marty Kaplan, suggesting maybe the way for liberals to get President Obama’s attention is to “declare independents”.
“I think people are dazzled by Obama’s rhetoric, and that people ought to...”
– Excerpt from the last published words of respected historian Howard Zinn (Obama at One: The Nation)
1 tag
Wikileaks: Good for democracy →
The American Civil Liberties Union analyzes the “Wikileaks phenomenon”, concluding that Cablegate and other disclosures of state secrets are helping ensure that America is truly a nation where open government is a value.
1 tag
“Is this embarrassing? Yes. Is it awkward? Yes. Consequences for U.S. foreign...”
– Defense Secretary Robert Gates, calmly downplaying the impact of Cablegate at a Pentagon briefing
“I don’t quite recall any entity producing as much bipartisan contempt...”
– Glenn Greenwald, commenting on Cablegate