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Category Archives: politics
How Stupid is the Mass Media?
Check out the headline on this article: CNN Poll: Still no front-runner in the battle for the GOP nomination. Of course not, you stupid shit. They just started campaigning. It’s a [expletive and a half] horse race. Did you see … Continue reading
Dear Amtrak: Learn How to Price Your Service
Apparently you neglected to read my last letter, but with the fast approach of National Train Day and the increase in oil prices making your services slightly more competitive, I thought it might be helpful to bring up the topic … Continue reading
On the Matter of the National Popular Vote
I’m on Mrs. Clinton’s e-mail list because I haven’t unsubscribed yet. Today, the list sent me an e-mail about bills currently in the New York legislature to change how the State allocates its Electors. The bills under consideration in New … Continue reading
Frak That
There’s some discussion up in Albany of permitting the use of hydraulic fracturing to remove natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation upstate. In the industry this is colloquially called “fracking” because afterward you’re pretty much fucked. The problem with … Continue reading
Comments on the Arlington Central School District Budget
The Board of Education of the Arlington Central School District has made the difficult decision to close an elementary school in order to reduce the district’s budget.There are obviously consequences to this decision other than the money involved. Some are … Continue reading
Dear Amtrak
You disappoint me. You don’t understand pricing. Or perhaps you simply have no experience of buying things with your own money. In any case, what are you thinking? I know that you stop in both cities, so I was hoping … Continue reading
Who Do You Include on Your Christmas Card List?
Our dear leader has suggested that we include our senators on our Christmas card list. That’s an excellent idea! (But I don’t think we printed enough.) This year, when you’re writing holiday cards to your friends and loved ones, there … Continue reading
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Naming the Institutions
Do you think people would be more attuned to the operation of governments if the branches were called the Rulemakers, the Deciders, and the Enforcer?
Pointless Distinctions: barriers to entry to Real Journalism
Journalists can obtain a copy of this publication via the Password-protected Web site for accredited journalists or from the OECD’s Media Relations Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00). Non-journalists can download the raw data underlying each indicator … Continue reading
On the Nature of Power
Like electricity in the grid, use it or lose it.
What, Me Worry? I’ve Done Nothing Wrong.
One thing I’ve never quite understood is how advocates for expansive government power never quite seem able to imagine themselves as being on the unpleasant receiving end of that power. Take, for example, Michelle Malkin, who has been a vocal … Continue reading
Freeze Tag
As previously mentioned, the school district needs to trim about $18.5 million in order to avoid a tax increase.
Time Enough
Apparently President Obama remarked on education yesterday. For decades, Washington has been trapped in the same stale debates that have paralyzed progress and perpetuated our educational decline. Obviously Washington hasn’t been involved enough in education, so he proposes more interference. … Continue reading
Preacherman
Was watching a clip on The NewsHour of President Obama’s gathering in Florida today, and was struck by how like an evangelist he was. It doesn’t come across so much in the words, below, but in the mannerisms. HENRIETTA HUGHES: … Continue reading
Tone
I recognized the tone of President Obama’s voice at the beginning of the press conference last night. Katie Couric called it “stern.” That’s a polite way to put it. It was the tone of voice I use when I mean … Continue reading
For All Debts, Public and Private
As a young man with few dollars, I used to spend some time admiring the engraving on those few I had. I’ve long been struck by the phrase printed on Federal Reserve Notes: “This note is legal tender for all … Continue reading
Economic Stimulus Package: No Taxes
The bank just sent a summary statement of the escrow account we use to pay the local and school property taxes. One achieves a certain distance from the taxation by letting someone else manage it for you. It was a … Continue reading
The Third Rail
The third rail on electric railways carries the electrical current. Touching the rail will cause death. By extension, a number of topics in politics have been characterized as the third rail, in that they will cause an immediate political demise. … Continue reading
Interregnum
I’ve seen several references to this time between the election and the inauguration as an interregnum, and many writers expressing concern that President Bush is still, well, the President until January 20th. The thing is, we don’t have an interregnum … Continue reading
Coerced for My Own Good
H. W. Brands, in his biography of F.D.R., Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, writes, Many of the progressives, judging themselves lovers of peace, had assumed that they would be the wrong … Continue reading
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