December 2009
3 posts
Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret Raids by the... →
“Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, recently initiated an internal review examining all Blackwater contracts with the agency to ensure that the company was performing no missions that were ‘operational in nature,’ according to one government official.”
Yep, that’s gonna do it. If they’re limited to non-operational stuff… sure. The evil can be kept at...
Amanda Knox, Sen. Maria Cantwell found guilty -... →
Battle on Late-Term Abortions Shifts to Clinic in... →
I have mixed feelings about this piece in the Times. I absolutely applaud Dr. Carhart’s work, but I wonder if the attention will only make things worse for him. Then again, women who need his services should know where to go, and people who hate him would probably find him anyway.
September 2009
15 posts
Happy Constitution Day! - Saturn Smith - Open... →
I <3 the Constitution.
My Blog: Biden's Near Miss In Iraq Raises... →
Group decries public plan as "massive taxpayer... →
I get that the GOP needs talking points against health care, but I sincerely, sincerely hope that this is not going to be one of them. Or, well, maybe I do — if they’re going with crazy as a strategy, they might as well be consistent about it.
Health Care Address Live Blog - Saturn Smith -... →
Bring in da noise, bring in da funk.
Think Progress » Rejecting Conservative Hysteria,... →
It’s a strange day when I find myself thinking, whoa, Newt Gingrich is being kind of reasonable.
Brad DeLong is Always Right: "I Will Genuinely Be... →
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one noticing the rightward lean of my formerly favorite paper.
My Blog: Van Jones Resigns: Bad News for Activism? →
Bernanke personal bank account struck by ID theft... →
I missed this earlier this week. Man, rough times to be Ben Bernanke. At least he has job security.
Biden Defends Federal Stimulus Program, Gets... →
There’s just nothing I don’t love about Joe Biden. Quote:
Mr. Biden said that the stimulus law was not a “single silver bullet” but rather “silver buckshot.”
@FelixSalmon » Ben Stein and the plight of the... →
I agree with every ounce of snarky dislike that’s aimed at Mr. Stein. Why can’t this guy just go away? A pox upon your house, Fortune, for hiring him.
Ecocomics: Superman is Buying New Underwear: Good... →
“Of his indulgences, Mr. Kennedy wrote: “I have enjoyed the company of women. I...”
– Kennedy Memoir Doesn’t Ignore Lows - NYTimes.com
@EzraKlein - What Leverage Do Republicans Have on... →
Despite the criticism in the comments section, Klein’s piece strikes me as right on. What’s holding Olympia Snowe back from this vote?
“My technique, rightly or wrongly, is pretty old school—if someone forwards...”
– Publishing Other People’s E-Mail - Ta-Nehisi Coates
Drinking Makes You More Likely to Exercise | The... →
Particularly if the drinks are far away and you’ve had your license revoked.
Linda Rivera, Hospitalized After Eating Nestle... →
I don’t know what to make of this WaPo article. Beyond some bad editing — check out that crazy photo caption, and the shocker headline, “This Woman Might Die From Eating Cookie Dough,” — the story itself actually makes the point that I would like to make, namely: “Her case is unusual because E. coli O157:H7 tends to most seriously affect the very young and old....
April 2009
12 posts
Robert Reich's Blog: The Great Credit Card Battle... →
I find it tricky to agree with the broad proposal of “crackdown” that Reich advocates here. I’d love to see clearer information available to everyone who gets a credit card, and I’d love to see regulation put in that going forward, rates can’t be arbitrarily raised, etc. But at the same moment that no one will try out TALF because they’re worried over the...
Barack Obama, penny pincher - War Room - Salon.com →
OK. Krugman, Koppelman, and (no surprise) Clusterstock are all up in arms about this, but… if it’s such a small amount of money, then it can’t take these departments that long to come up with a way to trim it, right? How long does it taken to search the couch cushions, usually? It takes me about 3 minutes and I have three couches. And at the end of it, I have parking money. ...
Matthew Yglesias » How to Comment on the EPA’s... →
At least the headline's accurate. Volcker Assumes... →
This is the kind of story that drives me a little nuts. It starts with “Paul Volcker’s being left out,” with evidence of him not meeting with Obama in a long time, then goes forward to talk about how last week he met with Geithner, Summers, and Romer and talks to Goolsbee three or four times a week, and that his committee that hasn’t yet met in full has been having weekly...
Summers' Vote of No Confidence - The Daily Beast →
This is just dumb. Why would a guy keep his holdings to mostly government bonds in 2008? Because he knows that he might be a player in the Capitol again, and wants to get his ducks in a financial-disclosure row before going into any administration. It wasn’t automatically or necesssarily that Summers had little faith in the stock market, or that he knew things were going to get bad, or...
Fred Hiatt tries to have it both ways on the... →
My respect for Fred Hiatt fell seriously over the George Will debacle, and this column makes me a little more concerned. Why do you write a whole column about a guy who’s got an idea you think is terrible, and then call his change necessary — it’s a “this is evil, but we need evil” column, an attempt at having it both ways. So the only point of this ends up being...
WatchThe amazing thing about this video is that Obama manages to talk for 5:46 about economic matters without ever mentioning Tim Geithner, who’s sitting right across from him. He calls the Fed Chair by the first name, mentions Sheila Bair by name, talks about the PPIP, but… no nice words for Geithner. I assume nearly everything Obama says is intentional, and everything he doesn’t...
Kansas - neither neurotic nor open. Oregon -... →
Rush Limbaugh Returns | The Onion - America's... →
The Onion is always excellent, but somehow better when savored on a Friday afternoon.
A psychic profile of Tim Geithner. Oh, lordy. ... →
Banks Are Said to Hold Up to Stress Tests -... →
There’s something paparazzi-ish about this photo that I find hilarious. The rest of the story, though, makes my head hurt a little.
