THE WASHINGTON POST: In comments on gays, Pope Francis doesn’t pontificate
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Alejandro.
words. for your consideration.
"The exhibitionist compulsion, now a viral plague thanks to the mixed blessing of social media, was once considered not de rigueur but repugnant.
...Showing one’s schnitzel to a random collection of “friends” and “followers” was, needless to say, inconceivable to any but the occasional pervert, who was recognized as such. What is Anthony Weiner but a flasher who, in a saner world, would be arrested for indecent exposure? But for the missing rumpled raincoat, what’s the difference between a man tweeting his shenanigan to strangers online and exposing himself to a stranger on the street?
Not much except for our acceptance of deviant behavior. Community standards are impossible to impose on a global horde and so there are no standards. The liberated id — uninhibited, impulsive and self-gratifying — thrives without restraint, tyrannizing the culture under the banner of freedom. As a result, we have erased the line between adult behavior (as in grown-up, not X-rated) and childish expression.
Technology, ironically, seems to have produced an inverse effect on behavior. The more advanced our ability to express ourselves, the more primitive our expressions..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Anthony Weiner and defining deviancy down
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Red Eye.
words.
"The next chair of the Federal Reserve will have to guide the institution and the country through treacherous terrain. He or she will have to gain a consensus among governors on whether, when and how to “taper” down the extraordinary measures the Fed has undertaken to keep the economy from sinking. He or she will have to continue the effort to bring order back to the financial markets, curb the banks too big to fail and too big to manage, and strengthen the necessary regulations to make banking boring again.
The opposition to Larry Summers isn’t simply an objection to the old boys club. It represents an incipient but growing reaction against the old ways of doing business. Over the last 40 years, Democratic and Republican administrations have helped to build an economy that works remarkably well for the wealthiest Americanswhile the middle class sinks. Global banks and corporations have thrived while U.S. manufacturing has been devastated. Corporate and bank profits are at record levels while workers’ income share of the economy is at record lows. Big banks have been deemed too big to fail and too big to jail. Trillions have been spent to save them, while the middle class struggles to stay afloat. Increasingly the cloistered club and the revolving door seem in service less of the public than of the few. The pushback against the Summers nomination may be an inside-the-beltway scuffle, but it hints at a much more potent backlash."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Fed up with Wall Street’s revolving door
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Choosing the Next Fed Leader
"The next chair of the Federal Reserve will have to guide the institution and the country through treacherous terrain. He or she will have to gain a consensus among governors on whether, when and how to “taper” down the extraordinary measures the Fed has undertaken to keep the economy from sinking. He or she will have to continue the effort to bring order back to the financial markets, curb the banks too big to fail and too big to manage, and strengthen the necessary regulations to make banking boring again.
The opposition to Larry Summers isn’t simply an objection to the old boys club. It represents an incipient but growing reaction against the old ways of doing business. Over the last 40 years, Democratic and Republican administrations have helped to build an economy that works remarkably well for the wealthiest Americanswhile the middle class sinks. Global banks and corporations have thrived while U.S. manufacturing has been devastated. Corporate and bank profits are at record levels while workers’ income share of the economy is at record lows. Big banks have been deemed too big to fail and too big to jail. Trillions have been spent to save them, while the middle class struggles to stay afloat. Increasingly the cloistered club and the revolving door seem in service less of the public than of the few. The pushback against the Summers nomination may be an inside-the-beltway scuffle, but it hints at a much more potent backlash."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Fed up with Wall Street’s revolving door
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Choosing the Next Fed Leader
Dissapointment.
Starring Nine Inch Nails.
PITCHFORK: Watch: Nine Inch Nails Debut Another New Song, "Disappointment"
PITCHFORK: Watch: Nine Inch Nails Debut Another New Song, "Disappointment"
Miss Me.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"There was plentiful schadenfreude on the Internet this morning at the news that Rush Limbaugh (along with Sean Hannity) is apparently parting ways with the company that distributes his show on some 40 stations around the country. Limbaugh’s been a liberal bugbear for as long as he’s been a right-wing poster boy, and as such, the former are responding to news of his apparent downfall with glee. But really, this should be a source for celebration for everyone, because Limbaugh both personifies, and has at least partially responsible for, much of what is problematic about American politics in the 21st century.
...it’s that exact polarization that speaks to a more fundamental reason why Limbaugh shouldn’t be missed: the type of political discourse in which he trades has been responsible for the sorts of deadlocks that have plagued Washington over the last few years. It’s easy to forget these days, but politics doesn’t have to be the sort of adversarial spectacle we’re used to seeing today, where the two sides behave like spoiled schoolchildren, where filibustering and other obstructiveness for the sake of political point-scoring take priority over effective governance. It’s been on the rise since the 1960s and 1970s, but really took hold during the 1980s — there’s some interesting statistical analysis here.
...Pundits tend to underestimate the general public, to see them as a bunch of simpletons who only appreciate the lowest common denominator. Those more optimistic about human nature, like your correspondent, might argue that, in fact, we tend to adapt to our cultural surrounds in the same way that we adapt to any other environs. American political discourse doesn’t have to be like this, and indeed in the past it has been very different. It’s the way it is because we’ve chose to make it this way, or at least allowed it to devolve into what it’s become. And if we want this country to be able to function effectively, we need to stop shouting at one another and start listening to one another."
FLAVORWIRE: Why Everyone — Liberal and Conservative — Should Root for the End of Rush Limbaugh
WORDS.
"There was plentiful schadenfreude on the Internet this morning at the news that Rush Limbaugh (along with Sean Hannity) is apparently parting ways with the company that distributes his show on some 40 stations around the country. Limbaugh’s been a liberal bugbear for as long as he’s been a right-wing poster boy, and as such, the former are responding to news of his apparent downfall with glee. But really, this should be a source for celebration for everyone, because Limbaugh both personifies, and has at least partially responsible for, much of what is problematic about American politics in the 21st century.
...it’s that exact polarization that speaks to a more fundamental reason why Limbaugh shouldn’t be missed: the type of political discourse in which he trades has been responsible for the sorts of deadlocks that have plagued Washington over the last few years. It’s easy to forget these days, but politics doesn’t have to be the sort of adversarial spectacle we’re used to seeing today, where the two sides behave like spoiled schoolchildren, where filibustering and other obstructiveness for the sake of political point-scoring take priority over effective governance. It’s been on the rise since the 1960s and 1970s, but really took hold during the 1980s — there’s some interesting statistical analysis here.
...Pundits tend to underestimate the general public, to see them as a bunch of simpletons who only appreciate the lowest common denominator. Those more optimistic about human nature, like your correspondent, might argue that, in fact, we tend to adapt to our cultural surrounds in the same way that we adapt to any other environs. American political discourse doesn’t have to be like this, and indeed in the past it has been very different. It’s the way it is because we’ve chose to make it this way, or at least allowed it to devolve into what it’s become. And if we want this country to be able to function effectively, we need to stop shouting at one another and start listening to one another."
FLAVORWIRE: Why Everyone — Liberal and Conservative — Should Root for the End of Rush Limbaugh
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Arrested Development.
words.
"For more than a decade, the U.S. government has been focused on one type of threat above all others: terrorism. This obsession has not only been used to justify an erosion of Americans' privacy, it has opened them to other dangers and, paradoxically, made it easier for terrorists to achieve success.
Let me explain.
During the years I worked in the Pentagon, 2010 and 2011, officials there were responding to what many understood to be an implied directive from the commander in chief: to bring the risk of terrorist attack on U.S. soil to 0%. The entire apparatus swiveled toward that single goal.
...the single-minded focus on that task has led to myopia elsewhere. I have repeatedly watched members of the intelligence community, in their drive to target individuals, overlook other critical aspects even of violent extremism, including how the groups' structures evolve, how they are financed or what underlying grievances fuel them.
...Demanding zero risk of terrorism at home, moreover, makes it easier for terrorists to succeed. If the bar is set at zero, then a single successful attack means the terrorists have triumphed. And it is likely to produce the kind of dramatic overreaction that, according to Osama bin Laden's own writings, is Al Qaeda's ultimate aim: disrupting the U.S. economy, obtaining a disproportionate psychological impact and eroding the trademark values and liberties of U.S. society.
...It's time to regain some balance. A frightened public needs its leadership to work to bring panic within the bounds of reason, not play to it.
No one denies that terrorism is a real and ongoing threat that must be addressed. No one denies the tragedy of lives that have been cut short or wrecked by terrorist attacks. But those tragedies are no more bitter than deaths due to other preventable threats. It is time for the United States, and its political leaders, to begin getting over it."
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Blinded by the war on terrorism
Privilege.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"When Hollywood tackles race directly, it’s usually by way of uplifting allegories like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Crash” and “The Help,” each of which, in its own way, perpetuates the consoling idea that eradicating racism is simply a matter of purging our negative prejudices.
Rarely do films ask audiences to grapple with the deeply embedded, race-based habits that give white Americans an edge in everything from housing to employment, or the positive racial profiling that grants white people countless free passes.
Indeed, far from being confronted with the pernicious legacies of official discrimination, white audiences tend to have their assumptions about race reinforced. Black people are far more likely to go see movies with majority-white casts than vice versa. And whereas movies about African Americans have tended to be confined to comedies and urban dramas, the white experience has long been represented across a diverse range of genres, stories and characters.
...Just as the roots of blacks’ mistrust of the system lie in their unfair treatment over generations, the roots of whites’ optimism can be found in our own history. Like compounded interest from an investment we never made, the advantages white people enjoy derive from past racist practices and present-day unconscious behaviors that create channels no less wide, deep and real for being largely invisible."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Pop culture, white privilege and widening the lens
words.
"When Hollywood tackles race directly, it’s usually by way of uplifting allegories like “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Crash” and “The Help,” each of which, in its own way, perpetuates the consoling idea that eradicating racism is simply a matter of purging our negative prejudices.
Rarely do films ask audiences to grapple with the deeply embedded, race-based habits that give white Americans an edge in everything from housing to employment, or the positive racial profiling that grants white people countless free passes.
Indeed, far from being confronted with the pernicious legacies of official discrimination, white audiences tend to have their assumptions about race reinforced. Black people are far more likely to go see movies with majority-white casts than vice versa. And whereas movies about African Americans have tended to be confined to comedies and urban dramas, the white experience has long been represented across a diverse range of genres, stories and characters.
...Just as the roots of blacks’ mistrust of the system lie in their unfair treatment over generations, the roots of whites’ optimism can be found in our own history. Like compounded interest from an investment we never made, the advantages white people enjoy derive from past racist practices and present-day unconscious behaviors that create channels no less wide, deep and real for being largely invisible."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Pop culture, white privilege and widening the lens
Friday, July 26, 2013
Health. CARE. First. AID.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"...even as Republican politicians seem ready to go on the offensive, there’s a palpable sense of anxiety, even despair, among conservative pundits and analysts. Better-informed people on the right seem, finally, to be facing up to a horrible truth: Health care reform, President Obama’s signature policy achievement, is probably going to work.
And the good news about Obamacare is, I’d argue, what’s driving the Republican Party’s intensified extremism. Successful health reform wouldn’t just be a victory for a president conservatives loathe, it would be an object demonstration of the falseness of right-wing ideology. So Republicans are being driven into a last, desperate effort to head this thing off at the pass.
...Over all, then, health reform will help millions of Americans who were previously either too sick or too poor to get the coverage they needed, and also offer a great deal of reassurance to millions more who currently have insurance but fear losing it; it will provide these benefits at the expense of a much smaller number of other Americans, mostly the very well off. It is, if you like, a plan to comfort the afflicted while (slightly) afflicting the comfortable.
And the prospect that such a plan might succeed is anathema to a party whose whole philosophy is built around doing just the opposite, of taking from the “takers” and giving to the “job creators,” known to the rest of us as the “rich.” Hence the brinkmanship.
...Republicans may be willing to risk economic and financial crisis solely in order to deny essential health care and financial security to millions of their fellow Americans. Let’s hear it for their noble cause!"
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Republican Health Care Panic
EARLIER:
The New Normal.
WORDS.
"...even as Republican politicians seem ready to go on the offensive, there’s a palpable sense of anxiety, even despair, among conservative pundits and analysts. Better-informed people on the right seem, finally, to be facing up to a horrible truth: Health care reform, President Obama’s signature policy achievement, is probably going to work.
And the good news about Obamacare is, I’d argue, what’s driving the Republican Party’s intensified extremism. Successful health reform wouldn’t just be a victory for a president conservatives loathe, it would be an object demonstration of the falseness of right-wing ideology. So Republicans are being driven into a last, desperate effort to head this thing off at the pass.
...Over all, then, health reform will help millions of Americans who were previously either too sick or too poor to get the coverage they needed, and also offer a great deal of reassurance to millions more who currently have insurance but fear losing it; it will provide these benefits at the expense of a much smaller number of other Americans, mostly the very well off. It is, if you like, a plan to comfort the afflicted while (slightly) afflicting the comfortable.
And the prospect that such a plan might succeed is anathema to a party whose whole philosophy is built around doing just the opposite, of taking from the “takers” and giving to the “job creators,” known to the rest of us as the “rich.” Hence the brinkmanship.
...Republicans may be willing to risk economic and financial crisis solely in order to deny essential health care and financial security to millions of their fellow Americans. Let’s hear it for their noble cause!"
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Republican Health Care Panic
EARLIER:
The New Normal.
The New Normal.
words.
"The bad news is that approval ratings for both the president and Congress are sinking, with voters increasingly frustrated at the bitter, partisan impasse in Washington. The worse news is that in terms of admiration for our national leaders, these may come to be seen as the good old days.
...My fear is that stasis has become a structural feature of our politics. Nothing lasts forever, but this depressing state of affairs could be with us for quite a while — and could get worse.
...that we’re in for a much longer period of divided government in which the principal way that Republicans can affect federal policy is through obstruction. The whole “party of no” thing is more than a meme; it’s a logical — if somewhat nihilistic — plan of action. Or inaction."
THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP obstruction as the new normal in Washington
SEE ALSO:
THE WASHINGTON POST: The core contradiction at the heart of the GOP campaign to sabotage Obamacare
"The bad news is that approval ratings for both the president and Congress are sinking, with voters increasingly frustrated at the bitter, partisan impasse in Washington. The worse news is that in terms of admiration for our national leaders, these may come to be seen as the good old days.
...My fear is that stasis has become a structural feature of our politics. Nothing lasts forever, but this depressing state of affairs could be with us for quite a while — and could get worse.
...that we’re in for a much longer period of divided government in which the principal way that Republicans can affect federal policy is through obstruction. The whole “party of no” thing is more than a meme; it’s a logical — if somewhat nihilistic — plan of action. Or inaction."
THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP obstruction as the new normal in Washington
SEE ALSO:
THE WASHINGTON POST: The core contradiction at the heart of the GOP campaign to sabotage Obamacare
Find My Way.
Starring Nine Inch Nails.
PITCHFORK: Watch Nine Inch Nails Perform New Song "Find My Way" at First Comeback Show
PITCHFORK: Watch Nine Inch Nails Perform New Song "Find My Way" at First Comeback Show
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The Middle.
words.
"...up to now, the president has been foiled or distracted whenever he has tried to focus the public conversation on reversing rising inequality and restoring social mobility.
So why should his latest effort be any different?
...First, Obama and his advisers have learned from past failures. Earlier speeches along these lines came and went, barely causing a ripple in the public’s consciousness. This time, the president is embarking on an eight-week campaign to keep his themes at the center of the debate. He wants to bend the news cycle, rather than bow to it.
By giving a series of addresses that include specific proposals — some old, some new — he hopes to grab the public’s attention, and the media’s. His grass-roots operation will mobilize supporters to talk up these themes with their neighbors. Whatever else it is, this campaign is not a one-off.
Second, he will be speaking to a country that’s fed up with the mean, narrow and pessimistic tone emanating from a capital locked in what Obama called “short-term thinking and stale debates.” The president’s critics have said over and over that he needs to “go big” and push the system beyond itself. Even his friends have been frustrated at his difficulty in seizing the initiative and confronting obstructionist opponents. He appears to have listened. ...this time, he cannot let himself be sidetracked. With 1,276 days left in his presidency, he chose to draw a clear line and start a big argument. His place in history will hang in large part on whether he can win it."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama goes big
SEE ALSO:
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama vows to use bully pulpit to break the austerity curse
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Twerk It.
A video.
Starring Busta Rhymes & Nicki Minaj.
Busta Rhymes ft. Nicki Minaj - Twerk It from Artists And Derelicts on Vimeo.
Starring Busta Rhymes & Nicki Minaj.
Busta Rhymes ft. Nicki Minaj - Twerk It from Artists And Derelicts on Vimeo.
Center Stage.
words.
"...Mr. Obama did not deliver a laundry list of new proposals. Most of what he advocated has been on his list for years: A major investment in rebuilding roads and power grids and school buildings. High-quality preschool for every four-year-old. A reduction in college costs — a huge barrier between lower-income students and professional success. Better incentives for retirement savings.
These ideas were good when he first proposed them as part of the American Jobs Act, and they remain essential ingredients of long-term economic growth. They are not “stale” and “tired,” as Republicans charged; they are familiar only because they remain unfulfilled. The hard-right that controls the G.O.P. never really cared about the content of his proposals, anyway; it reflexively opposes whatever he supports.
...so far, Republicans have clung to an agenda of less: cutting taxes, cutting spending, cutting regulations and any program that benefits those on the lowest rungs.
“Repealing Obamacare and cutting spending is not an economic plan,” he said. “But if we’re willing to take a few bold steps, if Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship that we’ve just seen for way too long, if we just make some common-sense decisions, our economy will be stronger a year from now.” If the president himself doesn’t get distracted or lose heart in making that case, there is still a chance to put the government — and millions of people — back to work."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Middle Class at Center Stage
"...Mr. Obama did not deliver a laundry list of new proposals. Most of what he advocated has been on his list for years: A major investment in rebuilding roads and power grids and school buildings. High-quality preschool for every four-year-old. A reduction in college costs — a huge barrier between lower-income students and professional success. Better incentives for retirement savings.
These ideas were good when he first proposed them as part of the American Jobs Act, and they remain essential ingredients of long-term economic growth. They are not “stale” and “tired,” as Republicans charged; they are familiar only because they remain unfulfilled. The hard-right that controls the G.O.P. never really cared about the content of his proposals, anyway; it reflexively opposes whatever he supports.
...so far, Republicans have clung to an agenda of less: cutting taxes, cutting spending, cutting regulations and any program that benefits those on the lowest rungs.
“Repealing Obamacare and cutting spending is not an economic plan,” he said. “But if we’re willing to take a few bold steps, if Washington will just shake off its complacency and set aside the kind of slash-and-burn partisanship that we’ve just seen for way too long, if we just make some common-sense decisions, our economy will be stronger a year from now.” If the president himself doesn’t get distracted or lose heart in making that case, there is still a chance to put the government — and millions of people — back to work."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Middle Class at Center Stage
Meanwhile with High Speed Internet in America...
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"We are the country that once brought electricity to every ranch and a phone to every farm. Now, our broadband providers tell us, we can't get broadband a short drive out of Manhattan.
Instead of acknowledging our broadband problems, the industry seems to want a prize for showing up. Its message is this: See, we're doing our job, now leave us alone so we can continue to make magic. No regulations, no policy changes.
Why worry about those pesky gaps in connectedness, as long as you can update your Facebook status with your smartphone? Why be concerned that your kids can't get the bandwidth to support massive open online courses or that your doctor can't practice telemedicine? After all, ESPN is in negotiations with wireless Internet providers over data caps, and soon every ESPN subscriber will get unlimited sports!
And even if our broadband is still too slow, too expensive or too nonexistent to support a digital economy and create jobs, remember, we're ahead of Europe (a claim, by the way, that some sources have challenged).
For those of us concerned about the broadband future, this isn't about whether our broadband is better than Europe's. We need policies that put affordable broadband within the grasp of everyone. We need every corner of the nation cheaply, reliably connected to the digital future.
Our broadband report card may "show improvement," but let's not kid ourselves. We, and our elected officials, need to push the broadband industry to provide affordable, reliable broadband to everyone. America was once known for bringing electricity to every farm, so it's hard to believe that we can't bring a reliable connection an hour and a half outside New York City."
LOS ANGELES TIMES: America's broadband blues
WORDS.
"We are the country that once brought electricity to every ranch and a phone to every farm. Now, our broadband providers tell us, we can't get broadband a short drive out of Manhattan.
Instead of acknowledging our broadband problems, the industry seems to want a prize for showing up. Its message is this: See, we're doing our job, now leave us alone so we can continue to make magic. No regulations, no policy changes.
Why worry about those pesky gaps in connectedness, as long as you can update your Facebook status with your smartphone? Why be concerned that your kids can't get the bandwidth to support massive open online courses or that your doctor can't practice telemedicine? After all, ESPN is in negotiations with wireless Internet providers over data caps, and soon every ESPN subscriber will get unlimited sports!
And even if our broadband is still too slow, too expensive or too nonexistent to support a digital economy and create jobs, remember, we're ahead of Europe (a claim, by the way, that some sources have challenged).
For those of us concerned about the broadband future, this isn't about whether our broadband is better than Europe's. We need policies that put affordable broadband within the grasp of everyone. We need every corner of the nation cheaply, reliably connected to the digital future.
Our broadband report card may "show improvement," but let's not kid ourselves. We, and our elected officials, need to push the broadband industry to provide affordable, reliable broadband to everyone. America was once known for bringing electricity to every farm, so it's hard to believe that we can't bring a reliable connection an hour and a half outside New York City."
LOS ANGELES TIMES: America's broadband blues
Static Electricity.
WORDS. For Your Consideration...
"Obama will say the right things. But he can’t do big things anymore. As with Bill Clinton, the affirmative phase of Obama’s presidency ended when he lost the House after two years. Two years on offense, six years on defense has become the modern Democratic presidential norm. It won’t suffice to renew the country.
And so the facts I noted in a recent column remain depressingly true. After eight years of Obama, 20 million Americans who want full time work won’t be able to find it; the United States will be more unequal than at any time since the 1920s; there will be less upward mobility in the United States than in most of Europe; 1 in 5 children will live in poverty; our school rankings will continue to slip internationally; poor children will still be assigned to the worst teachers and most rundown facilities in the country; 12,000 Americans will still die each year from gun violence; college will be less affordable and student debt higher than ever; half of all jobs will pay less than $35,000 a year; the wealthiest 400 Americans will have more assets than the bottom 150 million combined; our top banks will be bigger than before, and powerful enough to fight off rules meant to prevent a repeat of the financial meltdown; we’ll spend a third to twice as much per person on health care than other wealthy nations without better results; health insurance premiums will consume a third of the average family’s income; carbon emissions will continue to rise toward levels most scientists say threaten the planet; most Americans won’t be saving nearly enough to maintain their standard of living in retirement; and politicians will spend half their time groveling for cash from the 1/20th of 1 percent of Americans who bankroll their campaigns.
Nothing Obama says anymore can change any of this. Nor can 2014, because the smaller, whiter midterm electorate favors the House GOP.
...It may sound premature or maudlin, but the real test of Obama’s speeches now is whether they contribute to what the race to succeed him sounds like. It can’t be easy for the president or his team to accept. But American renewal is all about 2016 now."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Thanks to Republican intrasigence, it’s all about 2016 now
"Obama will say the right things. But he can’t do big things anymore. As with Bill Clinton, the affirmative phase of Obama’s presidency ended when he lost the House after two years. Two years on offense, six years on defense has become the modern Democratic presidential norm. It won’t suffice to renew the country.
And so the facts I noted in a recent column remain depressingly true. After eight years of Obama, 20 million Americans who want full time work won’t be able to find it; the United States will be more unequal than at any time since the 1920s; there will be less upward mobility in the United States than in most of Europe; 1 in 5 children will live in poverty; our school rankings will continue to slip internationally; poor children will still be assigned to the worst teachers and most rundown facilities in the country; 12,000 Americans will still die each year from gun violence; college will be less affordable and student debt higher than ever; half of all jobs will pay less than $35,000 a year; the wealthiest 400 Americans will have more assets than the bottom 150 million combined; our top banks will be bigger than before, and powerful enough to fight off rules meant to prevent a repeat of the financial meltdown; we’ll spend a third to twice as much per person on health care than other wealthy nations without better results; health insurance premiums will consume a third of the average family’s income; carbon emissions will continue to rise toward levels most scientists say threaten the planet; most Americans won’t be saving nearly enough to maintain their standard of living in retirement; and politicians will spend half their time groveling for cash from the 1/20th of 1 percent of Americans who bankroll their campaigns.
Nothing Obama says anymore can change any of this. Nor can 2014, because the smaller, whiter midterm electorate favors the House GOP.
...It may sound premature or maudlin, but the real test of Obama’s speeches now is whether they contribute to what the race to succeed him sounds like. It can’t be easy for the president or his team to accept. But American renewal is all about 2016 now."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Thanks to Republican intrasigence, it’s all about 2016 now
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"While the president is unlikely to be celebrated in history for his economic record, his presidency marks the end of Republican orthodoxy on economic matters dating to the late 1970s. The Republican frame for 40 years has been that Democrats are the party of tax, spend and regulation, while Republicans are the party of tax cuts, austerity and deregulation. It’s hard to let go of this message; for many years, it worked. But then we had the presidency of George W. Bush and the campaign of Mitt Romney. Bush won because he was a compassionate conservative, the supposed antidote to the callousness of Newt Gingrich. But he governed, with the exception of the prescription drug benefit, as an orthodox Republican, pursuing tax cuts for the wealthy and loose regulations. The deficit exploded and the economy collapsed. While these policies cannot be blamed exclusively for these economic outcomes, the rosy and ridiculous Republican assumption that cutting taxes on the wealthy and reducing regulation lead to prosperity was finally and brutally exposed. The trickle in trickle-down dried up, and Republican economic policies were blamed.
...Perhaps the new Republican ideas and approaches are germinating in some think tank or will be revealed soon on the presidential campaign trail. Until then, Republicans will lose the economic argument. A weak hand beats no hand every time."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The Republicans are losing the economic argument
"While the president is unlikely to be celebrated in history for his economic record, his presidency marks the end of Republican orthodoxy on economic matters dating to the late 1970s. The Republican frame for 40 years has been that Democrats are the party of tax, spend and regulation, while Republicans are the party of tax cuts, austerity and deregulation. It’s hard to let go of this message; for many years, it worked. But then we had the presidency of George W. Bush and the campaign of Mitt Romney. Bush won because he was a compassionate conservative, the supposed antidote to the callousness of Newt Gingrich. But he governed, with the exception of the prescription drug benefit, as an orthodox Republican, pursuing tax cuts for the wealthy and loose regulations. The deficit exploded and the economy collapsed. While these policies cannot be blamed exclusively for these economic outcomes, the rosy and ridiculous Republican assumption that cutting taxes on the wealthy and reducing regulation lead to prosperity was finally and brutally exposed. The trickle in trickle-down dried up, and Republican economic policies were blamed.
...Perhaps the new Republican ideas and approaches are germinating in some think tank or will be revealed soon on the presidential campaign trail. Until then, Republicans will lose the economic argument. A weak hand beats no hand every time."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The Republicans are losing the economic argument
WORDS.
"In a town where the powerful are rarely held accountable for their actions, this time, there was no mercy for someone who made a mistake and apologized for it — and that’s a shame. Her brand of fearless journalism, animated by moxie and an almost pathological need for answers, has inspired other intrepid reporters to follow in her stead. This, as we learned the hard way with the disastrous war in Iraq, is essential.
After 9/11 and in the run-up to the war, a national security fog enveloped Washington, and an obsequious press corps, with a few exceptions, behaved like stenographers to power and gave Bush a pass. Many in the media, afraid to raise objections for fear of appearing unpatriotic, dutifully enlisted in the administration’s war. Those who did ask tough and dissenting questions, including such journalists as Thomas and publications such as the Nation, came under fire from people across the political spectrum.
That dark period in our nation’s journalistic history was a lesson that, in a national security crisis, accountability journalism is the linchpin of a strong, functioning democracy.
Thomas unapologetically urged reporters to steadfastly seek the truth and “let the chips fall where they may.”..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Helen Thomas’s legacy
After 9/11 and in the run-up to the war, a national security fog enveloped Washington, and an obsequious press corps, with a few exceptions, behaved like stenographers to power and gave Bush a pass. Many in the media, afraid to raise objections for fear of appearing unpatriotic, dutifully enlisted in the administration’s war. Those who did ask tough and dissenting questions, including such journalists as Thomas and publications such as the Nation, came under fire from people across the political spectrum.
That dark period in our nation’s journalistic history was a lesson that, in a national security crisis, accountability journalism is the linchpin of a strong, functioning democracy.
Thomas unapologetically urged reporters to steadfastly seek the truth and “let the chips fall where they may.”..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Helen Thomas’s legacy
Monday, July 22, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Flesh & Bone.
words.
"George Zimmerman wasn’t a racist because he hated Trayvon Martin, he was a racist for fearing Trayvon Martin simply because he was black. In the coming days, weeks, and months, people will talk a lot about trying to erase the hate, but I want to try and figure out a way to erase the fear of others who don’t look like us, talk like us, or socialize with us.
I believe people are two things: Inherently good and inherently afraid of what they don’t know. The former makes it difficult for us to be the latter sometimes and that’s unfortunate.
I wish more people would open their eyes and face their fear with peace rather than aggression and violence. I wish George Zimmerman would have simply asked Trayvon Martin where he was going and remained in his car, instead of charging after him with a gun. But I wish most of all George Zimmerman wasn’t afraid of a boy who liked to smile. Trayvon Martin didn’t have to die. There was no reason to fear him."
GAWKER: On Trayvon Martin and Our Fear of Smiling Black Men
EARLIER:
A Moment of Clarity.
this.
Life After Death.
Black Like Me.
Mother Nature's Son.
Reflections.
"George Zimmerman wasn’t a racist because he hated Trayvon Martin, he was a racist for fearing Trayvon Martin simply because he was black. In the coming days, weeks, and months, people will talk a lot about trying to erase the hate, but I want to try and figure out a way to erase the fear of others who don’t look like us, talk like us, or socialize with us.
I believe people are two things: Inherently good and inherently afraid of what they don’t know. The former makes it difficult for us to be the latter sometimes and that’s unfortunate.
I wish more people would open their eyes and face their fear with peace rather than aggression and violence. I wish George Zimmerman would have simply asked Trayvon Martin where he was going and remained in his car, instead of charging after him with a gun. But I wish most of all George Zimmerman wasn’t afraid of a boy who liked to smile. Trayvon Martin didn’t have to die. There was no reason to fear him."
GAWKER: On Trayvon Martin and Our Fear of Smiling Black Men
EARLIER:
A Moment of Clarity.
this.
Life After Death.
Black Like Me.
Mother Nature's Son.
Reflections.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"What is so significant is that the president spoke up for Trayvon. After a trial that seemed to put Trayvon on trial for his own death and a verdict that freed people to smear all young black men for the actions of a few, Obama’s nearly 20-minute oration restored Trayvon’s dignity.
...I was in the briefing room when the president said these words, and I will admit to a welling of the eyes. One of the reasons President Bill Clinton is so popular among blacks is because he spoke to them and about them in ways that were knowing. To have a president who looks like me and has lived the same experience I have and to say so before the nation was as overwhelming as it was historic.
But Obama wasn’t just talking to me or fellow African Americans. He was talking to all Americans..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: President Obama speaks up for Trayvon Martin
EARLIER:
this.
"What is so significant is that the president spoke up for Trayvon. After a trial that seemed to put Trayvon on trial for his own death and a verdict that freed people to smear all young black men for the actions of a few, Obama’s nearly 20-minute oration restored Trayvon’s dignity.
...I was in the briefing room when the president said these words, and I will admit to a welling of the eyes. One of the reasons President Bill Clinton is so popular among blacks is because he spoke to them and about them in ways that were knowing. To have a president who looks like me and has lived the same experience I have and to say so before the nation was as overwhelming as it was historic.
But Obama wasn’t just talking to me or fellow African Americans. He was talking to all Americans..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: President Obama speaks up for Trayvon Martin
EARLIER:
this.
this.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"... when President Obama got into the substance of his soliloquy on race and Trayvon Martin’s death, his words had the power of a moving freight train.
Obama’s unscripted comments were some of the most remarkable and admirable few minutes of his presidency. He spoke carefully, but with great passion and clarity. He spoke explicitly as a black man, but also as an American president. He said the “unsayable” so wisely and subtly that he made it accessible, and to me, indisputably clear and correct. ...I can imagine that many people will be uncomfortable with Obama’s comments and find them inappropriate for a president. I couldn’t disagree more. This is what leadership is about: finding a voice and a language that only a president can speak. It’s exciting to imagine what the next three years could be like if Obama continued to operate at this level of engagement and intensity.
If people don’t like it, so be it: He’s not running for anything now except the history books. One person who understood immediately the good sense of what Obama had to say, interestingly enough, was Zimmerman’s brother, Robert. He called Obama’s remarks “very sincere” and praised his effort to “reduce the mistrust” between police and the African-American community. “I’m glad he spoke up today,” he said. I am too."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama makes the ‘unsayable’ accessible
EARLIER:
Black Like Me.
WORDS.
"... when President Obama got into the substance of his soliloquy on race and Trayvon Martin’s death, his words had the power of a moving freight train.
Obama’s unscripted comments were some of the most remarkable and admirable few minutes of his presidency. He spoke carefully, but with great passion and clarity. He spoke explicitly as a black man, but also as an American president. He said the “unsayable” so wisely and subtly that he made it accessible, and to me, indisputably clear and correct. ...I can imagine that many people will be uncomfortable with Obama’s comments and find them inappropriate for a president. I couldn’t disagree more. This is what leadership is about: finding a voice and a language that only a president can speak. It’s exciting to imagine what the next three years could be like if Obama continued to operate at this level of engagement and intensity.
If people don’t like it, so be it: He’s not running for anything now except the history books. One person who understood immediately the good sense of what Obama had to say, interestingly enough, was Zimmerman’s brother, Robert. He called Obama’s remarks “very sincere” and praised his effort to “reduce the mistrust” between police and the African-American community. “I’m glad he spoke up today,” he said. I am too."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama makes the ‘unsayable’ accessible
EARLIER:
Black Like Me.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Mother Nature's Son.
words.
"I hate the fact that part of what makes you who you are — being African American and male — also means carrying centuries of racism on your back. It is so much harder to soar when our “post-racial” society still fears you.
Please always know that I love you, like a mother. Not like a black mother but like all mothers love their babies. Some of us have to fear for ours, too."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Trayvon Martin’s death: Could something similar happen to my son, too?
SEE ALSO:
A Moment of Clarity.
"I hate the fact that part of what makes you who you are — being African American and male — also means carrying centuries of racism on your back. It is so much harder to soar when our “post-racial” society still fears you.
Please always know that I love you, like a mother. Not like a black mother but like all mothers love their babies. Some of us have to fear for ours, too."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Trayvon Martin’s death: Could something similar happen to my son, too?
SEE ALSO:
A Moment of Clarity.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"We must acknowledge the deep racism in our country that leads to increased poverty, profiling and, ultimately, a higher level of crime attributed to young black men. How is this brokenness to be healed?
At the Sisters of Mercy, where I am a member of the leadership team, our missions include unmasking and addressing the underlying causes of and connections between social injustices such as racism and violence. Peace is clearly linked to economic, health and educational opportunities. Addressing these issues, not perpetuating stereotypes, is what will better our world."
-Sister Anne Curtis, Silver Spring
THE WASHINGTON POST: Racism and the Trayvon Martin case
EARLIER:
Reflections.
"We must acknowledge the deep racism in our country that leads to increased poverty, profiling and, ultimately, a higher level of crime attributed to young black men. How is this brokenness to be healed?
At the Sisters of Mercy, where I am a member of the leadership team, our missions include unmasking and addressing the underlying causes of and connections between social injustices such as racism and violence. Peace is clearly linked to economic, health and educational opportunities. Addressing these issues, not perpetuating stereotypes, is what will better our world."
-Sister Anne Curtis, Silver Spring
THE WASHINGTON POST: Racism and the Trayvon Martin case
EARLIER:
Reflections.
Lyrics.
Ain't That Way & Chained to Love.
Lyric videos.
From Divine Fits.
AND
PITCHFORK: Watch: Divine Fits "Ain't That the Way", "Chained to Love" Lyric Videos
Lyric videos.
From Divine Fits.
AND
PITCHFORK: Watch: Divine Fits "Ain't That the Way", "Chained to Love" Lyric Videos
Thursday, July 18, 2013
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"As the law comes online in the next five months, untold numbers of uninsured Americans will either receive benefits through Medicaid, or they’ll begin to enter the exchanges, receive subsidies, and purchase health insurance. In short order, the Affordable Care Act will have created a constituency for itself — the millions of voters who receive benefits as a result of the law. It will yield countless politicians — at all levels of government — who will want to capitalize on this constituency by working to implement it as best as possible. And this isn’t just true for blue states — you’ll see a similar dynamic in red states, where exchanges will also exist.
It’s Republicans who are caught in a bind. Soon, they’ll either have to accommodate the law in order to satisfy their constituents, or continue their quest for repeal, and in the process, further harm their political standing."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obamacare puts Republicans in a bind
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Hearts Afire.
An Ongoing Discussion.
words.
THE WASHINGTON POST: Why was Zimmerman allowed to walk around armed and loaded?
EARLIER:
Reflections.
words.
THE WASHINGTON POST: Why was Zimmerman allowed to walk around armed and loaded?
EARLIER:
Reflections.
My Country Tis of Thee.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"As I sit here on my first furlough day, I have the opportunity to think about what has occurred in the country I’ve dedicated my entire life to serving. Am I concerned about losing 20 percent of my pay for 10 weeks? You bet. I have bills like everyone else, but we’ll get through that. What I really feel is disappointment — disappointment in my government’s leadership. The president and the Congress — both liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican — have let us down.
...I can remember when the Air Force first put our “core values” in writing. My commander made everyone in our squadron memorize them and recite them from memory. I thought this was a waste of time. But since then I have realized that those short few phrases are much more than words; they describe what and who we are. “Integrity first.” “Service before self.” “Excellence in all we do.” Those words guided me as I rose through the ranks. Today I’m concerned that they do not have the same meaning to our current leaders..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: What happened to ‘service before self’?
"As I sit here on my first furlough day, I have the opportunity to think about what has occurred in the country I’ve dedicated my entire life to serving. Am I concerned about losing 20 percent of my pay for 10 weeks? You bet. I have bills like everyone else, but we’ll get through that. What I really feel is disappointment — disappointment in my government’s leadership. The president and the Congress — both liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican — have let us down.
...I can remember when the Air Force first put our “core values” in writing. My commander made everyone in our squadron memorize them and recite them from memory. I thought this was a waste of time. But since then I have realized that those short few phrases are much more than words; they describe what and who we are. “Integrity first.” “Service before self.” “Excellence in all we do.” Those words guided me as I rose through the ranks. Today I’m concerned that they do not have the same meaning to our current leaders..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: What happened to ‘service before self’?
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