A video.
Starring A$AP Rocky.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Jealous.
Starring Fredo Santana & Kendrick Lamar.
STEREOGUM: Fredo Santana – “Jealous” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
dynamics.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"When is the last time you heard a truly big idea coming from the right that could become law and could move this country forward? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Exactly. Silence.
They are less interested in making laws that get things done than in making laws that prevent people from doing things. They want to halt progress and rewind it a few decades. For them, what used to be is always better than what can be, and that is a fatal logic flaw in a dynamic society.
...Republicans are so consumed with the mistaken notion that they are speaking for the American people that they refuse to recognize the change in the people of America.
So, absent ideas, we are forced to watch the G.O.P. wallow in frustration, and hold back American progress in doing so.
This isn’t about Obamacare, this is about Obama, and the country knows it and is paying for it."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Grudge Spectacle
words.
"When is the last time you heard a truly big idea coming from the right that could become law and could move this country forward? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Exactly. Silence.
They are less interested in making laws that get things done than in making laws that prevent people from doing things. They want to halt progress and rewind it a few decades. For them, what used to be is always better than what can be, and that is a fatal logic flaw in a dynamic society.
...Republicans are so consumed with the mistaken notion that they are speaking for the American people that they refuse to recognize the change in the people of America.
So, absent ideas, we are forced to watch the G.O.P. wallow in frustration, and hold back American progress in doing so.
This isn’t about Obamacare, this is about Obama, and the country knows it and is paying for it."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Grudge Spectacle
Love is Lost.
A video.
Starring David Bowie.
PITCHFORK: Video: David Bowie: "Love Is Lost", Remixed by James Murphy
Starring David Bowie.
PITCHFORK: Video: David Bowie: "Love Is Lost", Remixed by James Murphy
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
saturday love.
WORDS.
"The Yeezus show is long and physically and mentally exhausting, and I wouldn't take out a minute of it. Even from my seat — which was close to the stage but suffered from less-than-ideal sound, I found myself absolutely rapt by everything that transpired on that mountain and the hydraulic Pride Rock that extended from it into the floor of Staples Center. Most of the people seated around me felt differently; as the hours wore on the seats neighboring mine slowly vacated, couple by couple, until I had the whole row to myself (save for the seats the college boys behind me had propped their feet up on for their fourth-quarter naps). Like the album that is its namesake, the show was relentless and abrasive, yet somehow lush in its severity."
GRANTLAND: The Teaches of Yeezus: Kanye West's Los Angeles Concert
"The Yeezus show is long and physically and mentally exhausting, and I wouldn't take out a minute of it. Even from my seat — which was close to the stage but suffered from less-than-ideal sound, I found myself absolutely rapt by everything that transpired on that mountain and the hydraulic Pride Rock that extended from it into the floor of Staples Center. Most of the people seated around me felt differently; as the hours wore on the seats neighboring mine slowly vacated, couple by couple, until I had the whole row to myself (save for the seats the college boys behind me had propped their feet up on for their fourth-quarter naps). Like the album that is its namesake, the show was relentless and abrasive, yet somehow lush in its severity."
GRANTLAND: The Teaches of Yeezus: Kanye West's Los Angeles Concert
PRACTICE.
Starring Action Bronson.
PITCHFORK: Action Bronson Announces Blue Chips 2 With Party Supplies, Shares "Practice"
Monday, October 28, 2013
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Do You.
Sam Smith.
Do I Wanna Know?
A (Arctic Monkeys) cover.
STEREOGUM: Sam Smith – “Do I Wanna Know?” (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
Do I Wanna Know?
A (Arctic Monkeys) cover.
STEREOGUM: Sam Smith – “Do I Wanna Know?” (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"...Republicans who believe that their only political task is to reflect — to exactly mirror — public distrust for government have drawn the wrong lesson. Those who ride such purely negative populism to power will merely become newer objects of public disdain. Americans do not want public officials who share their contempt for government; they want public officials who no longer justify it.
The alternative to grandiosity and incompetence is not to do nothing. It is to achieve policy goals in ways that are practical, incremental and effective. Americans have not ceased looking for responses to routine educational failure or persistent economic stagnation — or to the problems of an expensive, inequitable health-care system. These are public challenges, in which government plays an inescapable role. A successful political party will provide a superior conception of that role.
...Most of the energy in the Republican Party today, at least in Washington, is expended on opposition, not on reform. And the travails of Obamacare have only fed that purely negative energy. Yet Republicans require an approach more sophisticated than pointing and laughing. The cultivation of contempt is the calling of the blogger. A public official has other tasks."
THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP: Stop being so negative
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: In Search of Republican Grown-Ups
Impregnable Question.
A video.
From Dirty Projectors.
EARLIER:
"BANDZ A MAKE HER DANCE!": The Albums, 2012: 01/Dirty Projectors/Swing Lo Magellan
From Dirty Projectors.
EARLIER:
"BANDZ A MAKE HER DANCE!": The Albums, 2012: 01/Dirty Projectors/Swing Lo Magellan
Thursday, October 24, 2013
The Killers.
words.
"The government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis inflicted a toll on the American economy, but that cost is only a fraction of the total damage that the federal government has been causing to the American economy.
Without exaggeration, the single biggest impediment to a stronger economic recovery has been the years of dysfunction in Washington and the policies that have emerged.
...far more harm has been done to the economy since early 2010 by terrible decisions as to how the government spends and the effect on both business and consumers of the uncertainty that stems from making policy crisis by crisis.
...It’s time that policy makers recognize the damage they are doing to the economy with their short-term thinking and imprudent fiscal decisions."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Biggest Economy Killer: Our Government
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
______ problems.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"...when Republicans argue that the Web site’s initial failure means we shouldn’t go forward with extending affordable coverage to the uninsured, it’s like saying that the other high-profile tech failure this month — of the Web-based Common Application used by hundreds of colleges — means we should tell this year’s high school seniors to put off college. I mean, if that nonprofit can’t get the application technology right, what other reasonable choice is there?
...As my daughter and her friends might say, “Chill, people.” Let’s see how the next few months go. There’s something sad and misguided about talented right-wing wonks devoting immense energy to criticism, yet seeming unable to spare a brain cell for actual public problem-solving. Even a conservative mind is a terrible thing to waste."
THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP crocodile tears on Obamacare
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: How to Fix the Glitches
words.
"...when Republicans argue that the Web site’s initial failure means we shouldn’t go forward with extending affordable coverage to the uninsured, it’s like saying that the other high-profile tech failure this month — of the Web-based Common Application used by hundreds of colleges — means we should tell this year’s high school seniors to put off college. I mean, if that nonprofit can’t get the application technology right, what other reasonable choice is there?
...As my daughter and her friends might say, “Chill, people.” Let’s see how the next few months go. There’s something sad and misguided about talented right-wing wonks devoting immense energy to criticism, yet seeming unable to spare a brain cell for actual public problem-solving. Even a conservative mind is a terrible thing to waste."
THE WASHINGTON POST: GOP crocodile tears on Obamacare
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: How to Fix the Glitches
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
HOME.
With (Drake and) Holy Ghost!
PITCHFORK: Watch/Listen: Holy Ghost! Cover Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home"
PITCHFORK: Watch/Listen: Holy Ghost! Cover Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home"
Downward Dog.
words.
For Your Consideration.
"How is it that the Department of Health and Human Services launched the president’s signature domestic program with a computer system that could not handle the anticipated load? We share Mr. Obama’s frustrations with efforts by House Republicans and GOP governors to sabotage Obamacare. But the computer snafu was self-inflicted incompetence.
Mr. Obama said Monday that “the number of people who’ve visited the site has been overwhelming,” with about 20 million site visits to date. Why is that so overwhelming? Commercial computer systems such as Google and Facebook manage to handle billions of visitors every month. The U.S. government runs supercomputers for national defense applications that are among the highest-performing in the world. Mr. Obama’s administration seems to have behaved as if this project were not a priority."
THE WASHINGTON POST: A prescription for fixing Obamacare glitches
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORKER: Why Obamacare Will Work (on Its Own Terms)
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Crisis Team.
An Ongoing Discussion.
words.
"...What took place was a political crisis, not an economic one. When faced with a true economic crisis in 2008 — the worst since the Great Depression — our economy proved its resilience. Since then, the American people have painstakingly fought their way back from the brink. Now businesses are hiring, our economy is growing, and we have cut our deficits in half. Throughout this period, the United States once again became a source of strength for the global economy.
But we are not where we want to be. Growth is not strong enough, and job creation needs to accelerate. And one of the fundamental reasons our economy is not firing on all cylinders is Washington. Our economy has been poised to make serious strides over the last few years, but self-inflicted political wounds have gotten in the way time after time.
...It is time to put an end to governing by crisis and focus on accelerating economic growth and job creation. If we are open to what we can achieve together rather than simply setting our sights on our divisions, there is a lot we can do to support America’s workers and businesses. This is what the American people expect from their leaders in Washington."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Lessons From a Crisis
words.
"...What took place was a political crisis, not an economic one. When faced with a true economic crisis in 2008 — the worst since the Great Depression — our economy proved its resilience. Since then, the American people have painstakingly fought their way back from the brink. Now businesses are hiring, our economy is growing, and we have cut our deficits in half. Throughout this period, the United States once again became a source of strength for the global economy.
But we are not where we want to be. Growth is not strong enough, and job creation needs to accelerate. And one of the fundamental reasons our economy is not firing on all cylinders is Washington. Our economy has been poised to make serious strides over the last few years, but self-inflicted political wounds have gotten in the way time after time.
...It is time to put an end to governing by crisis and focus on accelerating economic growth and job creation. If we are open to what we can achieve together rather than simply setting our sights on our divisions, there is a lot we can do to support America’s workers and businesses. This is what the American people expect from their leaders in Washington."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Lessons From a Crisis
NEVER SURRENDER.
A video.
From DJ Khaled.
And Akon.
And Anthony Hamiton.
And Jadakiss.
And John Legend.
And Meek Mill.
And Scarface.
From DJ Khaled.
And Akon.
And Anthony Hamiton.
And Jadakiss.
And John Legend.
And Meek Mill.
And Scarface.
Friday, October 18, 2013
"AMERICA!"
"F**K YEAH!"
THE WASHINGTON POST: Now, lead from the front
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Damage Done
Thursday, October 17, 2013
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"The crisis has been resolved, but this respite is temporary. We are bound to have more standoffs and brinkmanship in the months and years ahead. To understand why, you must recognize that, for the tea party, the stakes could not be higher. The movement is animated and energized by a fear that soon America will be beyond rescue.
...For many conservatives, the “rot” to be excoriated is not about economics and health care but about culture. A persistent theme of conservative intellectuals and commentators — in print and on Fox News — is the cultural decay of the country. But compared with almost any period in U.S. history, we live in bourgeois times, in a culture that values family, religion, work and, above all, business. Young people today aspire to become Mark Zuckerberg. They quote the aphorisms of Warren Buffett and read the Twitter feed of Bill Gates. Even after the worst recession since the Great Depression, there are no obvious radicals, anarchists, Black Panthers or other revolutionary movements — save the tea party.
...The era of crises could end, but only when this group of conservatives makes its peace with today’s America. They are misty-eyed in their devotion to a distant republic of myth and memory yet passionate in their dislike of the messy, multiracial, quasi-capitalist democracy that has been around for half a century — a fifth of our country’s history. At some point, will they come to recognize that you cannot love America in theory and hate it in fact?"
THE WASHINGTON POST: Conservatism needs to lighten up
SEE ALSO:
THE WASHINGTON POST: A lesson for moderates in the shutdown denouement
THE NEW YORK TIMES: A Teachable Moment
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
"WHAT'S IT GONNA BE?"
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"Here’s the question we should be asking ourselves right now: What next?
Even if the immediate crises — the partial shutdown and the looming debt default — are resolved, we will still be living in a dangerous political moment. The danger in question is because of the recent emergence of a political philosophy — and I mean that in the loosest sense — which threatens to unravel our joint commitment to a common democratic enterprise.
...it is not the shutdown itself that threatens the unraveling of our being jointly committed in this way. The government has shut down before and survived. Nor is the breakdown in normal legislative negotiations — because one side has, as it were, left the dance floor. It has to do with the fact that it is no longer common knowledge among the citizens of this country — left, right and center — that most everyone is willing to act together as a single political society. The real damage is caused by the idea that that our current democratic form of government should be shuttered. For that raises the question of whether it should be around at all. And once people begin to wonder whether the government is something that other citizens are taking seriously — even if they aren’t — the idea that we are all in this together can vanish.
...In the end, that’s the real danger we are now facing. Not just the shutdown, but the rise of the shutdown strategy. By unraveling the threads of our joint commitment to shared governance, it raises the chances those threads will be rewoven into something else: something deeply, and tragically, undemocratic."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Democracy After the Shutdown
words.
"Here’s the question we should be asking ourselves right now: What next?
Even if the immediate crises — the partial shutdown and the looming debt default — are resolved, we will still be living in a dangerous political moment. The danger in question is because of the recent emergence of a political philosophy — and I mean that in the loosest sense — which threatens to unravel our joint commitment to a common democratic enterprise.
...it is not the shutdown itself that threatens the unraveling of our being jointly committed in this way. The government has shut down before and survived. Nor is the breakdown in normal legislative negotiations — because one side has, as it were, left the dance floor. It has to do with the fact that it is no longer common knowledge among the citizens of this country — left, right and center — that most everyone is willing to act together as a single political society. The real damage is caused by the idea that that our current democratic form of government should be shuttered. For that raises the question of whether it should be around at all. And once people begin to wonder whether the government is something that other citizens are taking seriously — even if they aren’t — the idea that we are all in this together can vanish.
...In the end, that’s the real danger we are now facing. Not just the shutdown, but the rise of the shutdown strategy. By unraveling the threads of our joint commitment to shared governance, it raises the chances those threads will be rewoven into something else: something deeply, and tragically, undemocratic."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Democracy After the Shutdown
Millenium.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"Eventually this shutdown crisis will end. And eventually the two parties will make another stab at a deal on taxes, investments and entitlements. But there’s one outcome from such negotiations that I can absolutely guarantee: Seniors, Wall Street and unions will all have their say and their interests protected. So the most likely result will be more tinkering around the edges, as our politicians run for the hills the minute someone accuses them of “fixing the deficit on the backs of the elderly” or creating “death panels” to sensibly allocate end-of-life health care. Could this time be different? Short of an economic meltdown, there is only one thing that might produce meaningful change: a mass movement for tax, spending and entitlement reform led by the cohort that is the least organized but will be the most affected if we don’t think long term — today’s young people.
...At the Harlem Children’s Zone, explains Canada, “we have made a promise to all of our children: you play by the rules, do well in school, avoid drugs, gangs, crime and teenage pregnancy, and we will get you into college and on your way down the path of the middle class” and toward a future of financial security. But, he adds, “the current spending on my generation — I’m 61 — if it continues unabated, will erase any chance my children will have the safety net of social, education and health services they will need. It seems deeply offensive to me that we will be asking these poor children from Harlem to subsidize a generation that is, by and large, more well-off than they are, and then leave them deeply indebted in an America that had eaten the seed corn of the next generation.”"
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sorry, Kids. We Ate It All.
words.
"Eventually this shutdown crisis will end. And eventually the two parties will make another stab at a deal on taxes, investments and entitlements. But there’s one outcome from such negotiations that I can absolutely guarantee: Seniors, Wall Street and unions will all have their say and their interests protected. So the most likely result will be more tinkering around the edges, as our politicians run for the hills the minute someone accuses them of “fixing the deficit on the backs of the elderly” or creating “death panels” to sensibly allocate end-of-life health care. Could this time be different? Short of an economic meltdown, there is only one thing that might produce meaningful change: a mass movement for tax, spending and entitlement reform led by the cohort that is the least organized but will be the most affected if we don’t think long term — today’s young people.
...At the Harlem Children’s Zone, explains Canada, “we have made a promise to all of our children: you play by the rules, do well in school, avoid drugs, gangs, crime and teenage pregnancy, and we will get you into college and on your way down the path of the middle class” and toward a future of financial security. But, he adds, “the current spending on my generation — I’m 61 — if it continues unabated, will erase any chance my children will have the safety net of social, education and health services they will need. It seems deeply offensive to me that we will be asking these poor children from Harlem to subsidize a generation that is, by and large, more well-off than they are, and then leave them deeply indebted in an America that had eaten the seed corn of the next generation.”"
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sorry, Kids. We Ate It All.
A Whole New World.
Words. For Your Consideration...
"This just in from a new Esquire-NBC News study: There are more Americans in the vast middle than on either the left or right.
...What they lack is organization and perhaps self-awareness. There really are enough of them to change the political climate — if only there were someone to harness and channel what I would call their normalcy.
By “normal,” I mean that centrists like to keep as much of their hard-earned cash as possible, but want to help the helpless. They tend to prefer a laissez-faire attitude toward their neighbors, assuming no one’s making child porn next door or beating up the spouse and kids. Want to get married? Please. Need an abortion? Fine, but three months is plenty of time to figure it out. People who want to smoke pot in the privacy of their own home do not belong in jail.
Would this be such a strange world?"
THE WASHINGTON POST: A brave new centrist world
"This just in from a new Esquire-NBC News study: There are more Americans in the vast middle than on either the left or right.
...What they lack is organization and perhaps self-awareness. There really are enough of them to change the political climate — if only there were someone to harness and channel what I would call their normalcy.
By “normal,” I mean that centrists like to keep as much of their hard-earned cash as possible, but want to help the helpless. They tend to prefer a laissez-faire attitude toward their neighbors, assuming no one’s making child porn next door or beating up the spouse and kids. Want to get married? Please. Need an abortion? Fine, but three months is plenty of time to figure it out. People who want to smoke pot in the privacy of their own home do not belong in jail.
Would this be such a strange world?"
THE WASHINGTON POST: A brave new centrist world
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Hold On. We're Going Home.
"I'm scared I'll be Tyrese." - D. Glover
A.V. CLUB: Donald Glover shared a bunch of really personal notes on why he left Community
A.V. CLUB: Donald Glover shared a bunch of really personal notes on why he left Community
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"The BBC interview was personal and honest and heartfelt, but it was also frenetic and boastful and rambling at times—perfect fodder for late night TV, in other words. Kimmel mocked it by reproducing the interview with a black kid in place of West. When West took offense, and let loose a series of furious tweets, Kimmel gave the smirk of a comedian who couldn't see the big deal. You know the one; it climbs up only one side of the face, its meaning being: It was just a joke. That Kanye West didn't take it as a joke isn't really a surprise, even if we ignore the fact that he's famously self-serious. Here he'd done an interview explaining how hurtful it is to have proved one's ability and still be seen as inferior by rich white people, and a rich white person responded by infantilizing him.
Was Jimmy Kimmel intentionally trying to humiliate Kanye West by treating him, literally, as a boy, a slur that still holds a lot of power in the black community? Probably not.
...I believe there are numerous valid reasons to criticize Kanye West, but his rant on Jimmy Kimmel Live is not one of them. You may think he sounded crazy, but it wasn't a kind of crazy that was foreign to me—or, I'd assume, millions of other Americans. It was the crazy that comes from being stared at for daring to look different while eating breakfast with your mom. It was the crazy that comes from never knowing if you deserved to be kicked out of that bar. It was the crazy that comes from being the one person stopped by a cop amidst a sea of white people. "This is racist," you might say to the cop. "Prove it," he might say back. And at that moment, you can't."
GAWKER: Kanye West Knows You Think He Sounded Nuts on Kimmel
"The BBC interview was personal and honest and heartfelt, but it was also frenetic and boastful and rambling at times—perfect fodder for late night TV, in other words. Kimmel mocked it by reproducing the interview with a black kid in place of West. When West took offense, and let loose a series of furious tweets, Kimmel gave the smirk of a comedian who couldn't see the big deal. You know the one; it climbs up only one side of the face, its meaning being: It was just a joke. That Kanye West didn't take it as a joke isn't really a surprise, even if we ignore the fact that he's famously self-serious. Here he'd done an interview explaining how hurtful it is to have proved one's ability and still be seen as inferior by rich white people, and a rich white person responded by infantilizing him.
Was Jimmy Kimmel intentionally trying to humiliate Kanye West by treating him, literally, as a boy, a slur that still holds a lot of power in the black community? Probably not.
...I believe there are numerous valid reasons to criticize Kanye West, but his rant on Jimmy Kimmel Live is not one of them. You may think he sounded crazy, but it wasn't a kind of crazy that was foreign to me—or, I'd assume, millions of other Americans. It was the crazy that comes from being stared at for daring to look different while eating breakfast with your mom. It was the crazy that comes from never knowing if you deserved to be kicked out of that bar. It was the crazy that comes from being the one person stopped by a cop amidst a sea of white people. "This is racist," you might say to the cop. "Prove it," he might say back. And at that moment, you can't."
GAWKER: Kanye West Knows You Think He Sounded Nuts on Kimmel
Monday, October 14, 2013
"This Magic Moment."
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"The senseless government shutdown has led to a rout of the tea party, right-wing extremism and a House Republican leadership that was cowed into a march toward oblivion. But a great deal hangs on what happens next. Will this be a watershed moment? Or do we return to the same dreary politics that led to the shutdown in the first place?
...The United States should build, not just cut. We should invest again in an infrastructure whose decayed condition ought to shame us. We should deal with high ongoing unemployment, reverse the rise of inequality and give poor and working-class kids real opportunities for upward mobility.
...The president and his allies seem determined to seize this moment and not squander a triumph built on a willingness to stand firm against right-wing radicalism. Obama can’t slip back into the style of deficit wrangling that so weakened him in 2011. He now has an opening to refocus on his priorities: universal pre-kindergarten education, immigration reform, rebuilding our transportation and communications systems — and, one would like to hope, an even broader agenda for speeding growth and sharing its dividends fairly.
Obama’s 2012 reelection failed to break the right-wing fever he has always said would abate some day. Now is the time to heal the nation of this infirmity."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama can’t waste this moment
words.
"The senseless government shutdown has led to a rout of the tea party, right-wing extremism and a House Republican leadership that was cowed into a march toward oblivion. But a great deal hangs on what happens next. Will this be a watershed moment? Or do we return to the same dreary politics that led to the shutdown in the first place?
...The United States should build, not just cut. We should invest again in an infrastructure whose decayed condition ought to shame us. We should deal with high ongoing unemployment, reverse the rise of inequality and give poor and working-class kids real opportunities for upward mobility.
...The president and his allies seem determined to seize this moment and not squander a triumph built on a willingness to stand firm against right-wing radicalism. Obama can’t slip back into the style of deficit wrangling that so weakened him in 2011. He now has an opening to refocus on his priorities: universal pre-kindergarten education, immigration reform, rebuilding our transportation and communications systems — and, one would like to hope, an even broader agenda for speeding growth and sharing its dividends fairly.
Obama’s 2012 reelection failed to break the right-wing fever he has always said would abate some day. Now is the time to heal the nation of this infirmity."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama can’t waste this moment
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Saturday, October 12, 2013
"I don't like the drugs (but the drugs like me)."
words.
"While the United States is famous for break-the-bank cancer drugs, the high price of many commonly used medications contributes heavily to health care costs and certainly causes more widespread anguish, since many insurance policies offer only partial coverage for medicines.
...Unlike other countries, where the government directly or indirectly sets an allowed national wholesale price for each drug, the United States leaves prices to market competition among pharmaceutical companies, including generic drug makers. But competition is often a mirage in today’s health care arena — a surprising number of lifesaving drugs are made by only one manufacturer — and businesses often successfully blunt market forces.
...Pharmaceutical companies also buttress high prices by choosing to sell a medicine by prescription, rather than over the counter, so that insurers cover a price tag that would be unacceptable to consumers paying full freight. They even pay generic drug makers not to produce cut-rate competitors in a controversial scheme called pay for delay.
Thanks in part to the $250 million last year spent on lobbying for pharmaceutical and health products — more than even the defense industry — the government allows such practices.
...In all other developed countries, governments similarly use a variety of tools to make sure that drug manufacturers sell their products at affordable prices. In Germany, regulators set drug wholesale and retail prices. Across Europe, national health authorities refuse to pay more than their neighbors for any drug. In Japan, the price of a drug must go down every two years.
Drug prices in the United States are instead set in hundreds of negotiations by hospitals, insurers and pharmacies with drug manufacturers, with deals often brokered by powerful middlemen called group purchasing organizations and pharmacy benefit managers, who leverage their huge size to demand discounts. The process can get nasty; if mediators offer too little for a given product, manufacturers may decide not to produce it or permanently drop out of the market, reducing competition.
With such jockeying determining supply, products can simply disappear and prices for vital medicines can fluctuate far more than they do for a carton of milk."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Soaring Cost of a Simple Breath
REIGN OF TERROR.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"We have elected an ungovernable collection of snake-handlers, Bible-bangers, ignorami, bagmen and outright frauds, a collection so ungovernable that it insists the nation be ungovernable, too. We have elected people to govern us who do not believe in government.
...This is what they came to Washington to do -- to break the government of the United States. It doesn't matter any more whether they're doing it out of pure crackpot ideology, or at the behest of the various sugar daddies that back their campaigns, or at the instigation of their party's mouthbreathing base. It may be any one of those reasons. It may be all of them. The government of the United States, in the first three words of its founding charter, belongs to all of us, and these people have broken it deliberately. The true hell of it, though, is that you could see this coming down through the years, all the way from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address in which government "was" the problem, through Bill Clinton's ameliorative nonsense about the era of big government being "over," through the attempts to make a charlatan like Newt Gingrich into a scholar and an ambitious hack like Paul Ryan into a budget genius, and through all the endless attempts to find "common ground" and a "Third Way." Ultimately, as we all wrapped ourselves in good intentions, a prion disease was eating away at the country's higher functions. One of the ways you can acquire a prion disease is to eat right out of its skull the brains of an infected monkey. We are now seeing the country reeling and jabbering from the effects of the prion disease, but it was during the time of Reagan that the country ate the monkey brains."
ESQUIRE: THE REIGN OF MORONS IS HERE
WORDS.
"We have elected an ungovernable collection of snake-handlers, Bible-bangers, ignorami, bagmen and outright frauds, a collection so ungovernable that it insists the nation be ungovernable, too. We have elected people to govern us who do not believe in government.
...This is what they came to Washington to do -- to break the government of the United States. It doesn't matter any more whether they're doing it out of pure crackpot ideology, or at the behest of the various sugar daddies that back their campaigns, or at the instigation of their party's mouthbreathing base. It may be any one of those reasons. It may be all of them. The government of the United States, in the first three words of its founding charter, belongs to all of us, and these people have broken it deliberately. The true hell of it, though, is that you could see this coming down through the years, all the way from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address in which government "was" the problem, through Bill Clinton's ameliorative nonsense about the era of big government being "over," through the attempts to make a charlatan like Newt Gingrich into a scholar and an ambitious hack like Paul Ryan into a budget genius, and through all the endless attempts to find "common ground" and a "Third Way." Ultimately, as we all wrapped ourselves in good intentions, a prion disease was eating away at the country's higher functions. One of the ways you can acquire a prion disease is to eat right out of its skull the brains of an infected monkey. We are now seeing the country reeling and jabbering from the effects of the prion disease, but it was during the time of Reagan that the country ate the monkey brains."
ESQUIRE: THE REIGN OF MORONS IS HERE
Friday, October 11, 2013
The HELP.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"This week, Americans know that government isn’t just about sugar. It’s a necessary part of their lives, and Americans expect it to be there when the private sector lets them down, as it did during the recession and as it has done on health care for so many years. Now as the Republicans’ abysmal new approval ratings show, voters are also gaining a clearer picture of precisely who in Washington is letting them down."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: G.O.P. Helps Americans Like Government
words.
"This week, Americans know that government isn’t just about sugar. It’s a necessary part of their lives, and Americans expect it to be there when the private sector lets them down, as it did during the recession and as it has done on health care for so many years. Now as the Republicans’ abysmal new approval ratings show, voters are also gaining a clearer picture of precisely who in Washington is letting them down."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: G.O.P. Helps Americans Like Government
flashing lights.
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"It’s worth looking at how last night’s appearance was reported, because hey, what were we just saying about coded language? Gawker led with an edited version of the interview that seemed to go out of its way to make West look as silly as possible, doing exactly what West was complaining about Kimmel doing — taking certain comments out of context. It came with observations about West mispronouncing “Zara” and pointing out that he apparently had something at the side of his mouth for much of the interview. And the headline? “Here’s Kanye West Ranting for Over Eight Minutes Straight on Kimmel.”
Let’s have a toast for a douchebags! Let’s have a toast for the assholes! Because, actually, West didn’t “rant for over eight minutes straight.” He spoke at length on various topics, becoming heated at times, but generally in a manner that was quite personable. If it were anyone else, we’d call it “speaking out” or “being passionate.” But no, it’s Kanye West, so it’s “ranting.”"
FLAVORWIRE: Kanye West and Jimmy Kimmel — The Media Gets It Wrong, Again
words.
"It’s worth looking at how last night’s appearance was reported, because hey, what were we just saying about coded language? Gawker led with an edited version of the interview that seemed to go out of its way to make West look as silly as possible, doing exactly what West was complaining about Kimmel doing — taking certain comments out of context. It came with observations about West mispronouncing “Zara” and pointing out that he apparently had something at the side of his mouth for much of the interview. And the headline? “Here’s Kanye West Ranting for Over Eight Minutes Straight on Kimmel.”
Let’s have a toast for a douchebags! Let’s have a toast for the assholes! Because, actually, West didn’t “rant for over eight minutes straight.” He spoke at length on various topics, becoming heated at times, but generally in a manner that was quite personable. If it were anyone else, we’d call it “speaking out” or “being passionate.” But no, it’s Kanye West, so it’s “ranting.”"
FLAVORWIRE: Kanye West and Jimmy Kimmel — The Media Gets It Wrong, Again
Thursday, October 10, 2013
untitled (how does it feel).
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"At this point, Kanye is used to not being heard. In fact, his entire career has been shaped by a series of instances in which he pushed against various boundaries to communicate something.
...Heightened emotion and hard-pressed elocution have shaped much of West’s career and public persona. Last night's quote about his confidence in his fashion ideas reminded me of a lyric from the Late Registration track "Gone": "I'm ahead of my time, sometimes years out/ So the powers that be won't let me get my ideas out/ And that make me wanna get my advance out/ And move to Oklahoma and just live at my aunt's house." But Kanye never runs away—quite the opposite.
...Kanye’s decade-long solo career has been a struggle between the non-stop ideas running through his brain and his skills at verbalizing them through a variety of communication obstacles, whether self-created or forced upon him. In this light, it’s completely understandable that a man so bent on being understood would be furious to hear his words revoiced by a child.
...As Kanye reminded us last night, being black and creatively edgy, in fashion or music, can be an uphill battle when it comes to being heard—and understood—on your own terms."
THE PITCH: Let Me Get My Ideas Out: Why Kanye West Is Still Speaking Through the Wire
SEE ALSO:
VULTURE: The Best Things Kanye West Said to Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
words.
"At this point, Kanye is used to not being heard. In fact, his entire career has been shaped by a series of instances in which he pushed against various boundaries to communicate something.
...Heightened emotion and hard-pressed elocution have shaped much of West’s career and public persona. Last night's quote about his confidence in his fashion ideas reminded me of a lyric from the Late Registration track "Gone": "I'm ahead of my time, sometimes years out/ So the powers that be won't let me get my ideas out/ And that make me wanna get my advance out/ And move to Oklahoma and just live at my aunt's house." But Kanye never runs away—quite the opposite.
...Kanye’s decade-long solo career has been a struggle between the non-stop ideas running through his brain and his skills at verbalizing them through a variety of communication obstacles, whether self-created or forced upon him. In this light, it’s completely understandable that a man so bent on being understood would be furious to hear his words revoiced by a child.
...As Kanye reminded us last night, being black and creatively edgy, in fashion or music, can be an uphill battle when it comes to being heard—and understood—on your own terms."
THE PITCH: Let Me Get My Ideas Out: Why Kanye West Is Still Speaking Through the Wire
SEE ALSO:
VULTURE: The Best Things Kanye West Said to Jimmy Kimmel Last Night
old.
ROLLING STONE: "Overall, are you a happy person?"
DANNY BROWN: "Nah. Not really. I think I was too happy as a kid. When I found out that everything wasn't that – you know? I think things just got cold."
DANNY BROWN: "Nah. Not really. I think I was too happy as a kid. When I found out that everything wasn't that – you know? I think things just got cold."
BIG TYMERS.
A Moment of Clarity.
WORDS.
"...the culpability of big money in our current condition cannot be underplayed.
Rich conservatives are out to bend government to their will or break it in the attempt to discredit this Democratic president and ensure that there won’t be another soon.
...This is a sinister, last-gasp move of gangsterism: when you’re losing the game, tilt the table.
You must understand this larger plot to fully appreciate the Republicans’ current budget ploy. This is not so much about limiting government as it is about measuring power. Rich Republicans are reaching for the edges so that they can redefine the limits.
...This is not a “both sides at fault” issue. It is a tremendously partisan one.
...In some parts of the Republican universe, facts and fantasy merge, the truth doesn’t surface, it’s shaped, data must be made to conform to doxology, and accepted science borders on the heretical. This is how the money-rich are able to prey on the knowledge-poor.
...This is bigger than Obamacare. This is about rich conservatives seeking to exert unlimited influence on our political system, and employing far-right Republicans who are animated, to varying degrees, by an innate hostility to this president, fear of diminishing influence and a disavowal of disagreeable truths.
This is about the fragility of our democracy: the possibility that a government by the people may swiftly give way to a government dominated by dark money and dark motives."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Big-Money Manipulators
WORDS.
"...the culpability of big money in our current condition cannot be underplayed.
Rich conservatives are out to bend government to their will or break it in the attempt to discredit this Democratic president and ensure that there won’t be another soon.
...This is a sinister, last-gasp move of gangsterism: when you’re losing the game, tilt the table.
You must understand this larger plot to fully appreciate the Republicans’ current budget ploy. This is not so much about limiting government as it is about measuring power. Rich Republicans are reaching for the edges so that they can redefine the limits.
...This is not a “both sides at fault” issue. It is a tremendously partisan one.
...In some parts of the Republican universe, facts and fantasy merge, the truth doesn’t surface, it’s shaped, data must be made to conform to doxology, and accepted science borders on the heretical. This is how the money-rich are able to prey on the knowledge-poor.
...This is bigger than Obamacare. This is about rich conservatives seeking to exert unlimited influence on our political system, and employing far-right Republicans who are animated, to varying degrees, by an innate hostility to this president, fear of diminishing influence and a disavowal of disagreeable truths.
This is about the fragility of our democracy: the possibility that a government by the people may swiftly give way to a government dominated by dark money and dark motives."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Big-Money Manipulators
can't stop.
words.
"The United States emerged from a horrific global recession in better shape than most other countries. Our recovery was slower than it had to be because of too much budget-cutting, too soon. Nonetheless, we avoided the more extreme forms of austerity and our economy has been coming back — at least until this made-in-the-House-Republican-caucus crisis started.
It’s heartbreaking because a nation whose triumphs have always provided inspiration to proponents of democracy around the world is instead giving the champions of authoritarian rule a chance to use our dysfunction as an argument against democracy.
...And what’s going on is heartbreaking because this contrived emergency is distracting us from the problems we do need to solve, including rising inequality, declining mobility, under-investment in our infrastructure, a broken immigration system and inadequate approaches to educating and training our people.
...The tea party folks at least know what they believe in and fight for it. The rest of the Republican Party cowers before them, lacking both conviction and courage. This, too, would be heartbreaking: if a once-great political party brought the country down because its leaders were so afraid of confronting unreason in their ranks."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Obama can’t cave, even a little, in the face of GOP extremism
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
State of the Union.
An Ongoing Discussion/Moment of Clarity.
words.
"As President Obama forcefully asserted at a news conference later in the day, there can be no negotiations until the government is open and until Republicans raise the debt ceiling and end the possibility of default. Negotiating under threat of economic calamity is untenable.
Once those threats are removed, however, there is plenty to discuss: how to replace the sequester cuts, which are already devastating domestic programs and are about to get much worse for defense spending; how to use fiscal policy to stimulate the creation of jobs and fix the nation’s infrastructure; how to repair a broken tax system, reduce long-term debt, and ensure that social welfare programs remain healthy.
These issues have been staring Congress in the face for years, and Republicans have run from them.
...If Mr. Boehner continues to refuse to put those measures on the floor, Republicans and Democrats should join together to sign a discharge petition to force a vote, which would undoubtedly pass. And then the talks about what would be good for the country’s future can begin."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: First End the Crisis, Then Talk
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: What the Latest Consumer Credit Report Tells Us
words.
"As President Obama forcefully asserted at a news conference later in the day, there can be no negotiations until the government is open and until Republicans raise the debt ceiling and end the possibility of default. Negotiating under threat of economic calamity is untenable.
Once those threats are removed, however, there is plenty to discuss: how to replace the sequester cuts, which are already devastating domestic programs and are about to get much worse for defense spending; how to use fiscal policy to stimulate the creation of jobs and fix the nation’s infrastructure; how to repair a broken tax system, reduce long-term debt, and ensure that social welfare programs remain healthy.
These issues have been staring Congress in the face for years, and Republicans have run from them.
...If Mr. Boehner continues to refuse to put those measures on the floor, Republicans and Democrats should join together to sign a discharge petition to force a vote, which would undoubtedly pass. And then the talks about what would be good for the country’s future can begin."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: First End the Crisis, Then Talk
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: What the Latest Consumer Credit Report Tells Us
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
"YOLO!"
A Moment of Clarity.
words.
"That the very people who are causing the crisis are dismissing it shows the double game that’s being played here. Republicans don’t want the country to understand how big a threat they are posing to its well-being. A growing number of Americans already blame them for the whole mess, as the same poll shows. If people truly understood how bad a default would be — if they understood credit markets and interest rates, and how they would be affected by the global loss of faith in Treasury bonds — the anger would be much greater, and Republican control of the House would be threatened.
In the cynical game of spin and messaging that this crisis has become, the goal is to scare Washington Democrats while keeping ordinary people calm. It’s not working, though — Democrats have correctly refused to be intimidated, while businesses and average Americans are growing increasingly nervous. As they should be."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Do Republicans Believe in Their Own Crisis?
words.
"That the very people who are causing the crisis are dismissing it shows the double game that’s being played here. Republicans don’t want the country to understand how big a threat they are posing to its well-being. A growing number of Americans already blame them for the whole mess, as the same poll shows. If people truly understood how bad a default would be — if they understood credit markets and interest rates, and how they would be affected by the global loss of faith in Treasury bonds — the anger would be much greater, and Republican control of the House would be threatened.
In the cynical game of spin and messaging that this crisis has become, the goal is to scare Washington Democrats while keeping ordinary people calm. It’s not working, though — Democrats have correctly refused to be intimidated, while businesses and average Americans are growing increasingly nervous. As they should be."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Do Republicans Believe in Their Own Crisis?
Monday, October 07, 2013
A Moment of Clarity.
For Your Consideration...
WORDS.
"This city doesn't make things anymore. Creativity, of all kinds, is the resource we have to draw on as a city and a country in order to survive. In the recent past, before the 2008 crash, the best and the brightest were lured into the world of finance. Many a bright kid graduating from university knew that they could become fairly wealthy almost instantly if they found employment at a hedge fund or some similar institution. But before the financial sector came to dominate the world, they might have made things: in publishing, manufacturing, television, fashion, you name it. As in many other countries, the lure of easy bucks hoovered this talent and intelligence up – and made it difficult for those other kinds of businesses to attract any of the top talent.
A culture of arrogance, hubris and winner-take-all was established. It wasn't cool to be poor or struggling. The bully was celebrated and cheered. The talent pool became a limited resource for any industry, except Wall Street. I'm not talking about artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians – they weren't exactly on a trajectory toward Wall Street anyway – but any businesses that might have employed creative individuals were having difficulties surviving, and naturally, the arty types had a hard time finding employment, too... Unlike Iceland, where the government let misbehaving banks fail and talented kids became less interested in leaping into the cesspool of finance, in New York there has been no public rejection of the culture that led to the financial crisis." - David Byrne
PITCHFORK: David Byrne Says Wealth Inequality Has Crushed Creativity in New York City in New Editorial
WORDS.
"This city doesn't make things anymore. Creativity, of all kinds, is the resource we have to draw on as a city and a country in order to survive. In the recent past, before the 2008 crash, the best and the brightest were lured into the world of finance. Many a bright kid graduating from university knew that they could become fairly wealthy almost instantly if they found employment at a hedge fund or some similar institution. But before the financial sector came to dominate the world, they might have made things: in publishing, manufacturing, television, fashion, you name it. As in many other countries, the lure of easy bucks hoovered this talent and intelligence up – and made it difficult for those other kinds of businesses to attract any of the top talent.
A culture of arrogance, hubris and winner-take-all was established. It wasn't cool to be poor or struggling. The bully was celebrated and cheered. The talent pool became a limited resource for any industry, except Wall Street. I'm not talking about artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians – they weren't exactly on a trajectory toward Wall Street anyway – but any businesses that might have employed creative individuals were having difficulties surviving, and naturally, the arty types had a hard time finding employment, too... Unlike Iceland, where the government let misbehaving banks fail and talented kids became less interested in leaping into the cesspool of finance, in New York there has been no public rejection of the culture that led to the financial crisis." - David Byrne
PITCHFORK: David Byrne Says Wealth Inequality Has Crushed Creativity in New York City in New Editorial
QUESTION!
WORDS.
"The hypocrisy is stunning. After proclaiming (falsely) that the shutdown in 1995 was actually a win for Republicans and egging on colleagues to shut down the government this fall, House Republican hardliners – with encouragement from the Senate shutdown squad – now pass mini continuing resolutions so the little people won’t be hurt. They have discovered that public employees are people, too. What was the way to pressure President Obama to give way on his signature legislation is no longer that. So what is the point exactly of continuing the shutdown?
...Do they even know what they are seeking at this point?"
THE WASHINGTON POST: Republicans don’t cover themselves in glory
"The hypocrisy is stunning. After proclaiming (falsely) that the shutdown in 1995 was actually a win for Republicans and egging on colleagues to shut down the government this fall, House Republican hardliners – with encouragement from the Senate shutdown squad – now pass mini continuing resolutions so the little people won’t be hurt. They have discovered that public employees are people, too. What was the way to pressure President Obama to give way on his signature legislation is no longer that. So what is the point exactly of continuing the shutdown?
...Do they even know what they are seeking at this point?"
THE WASHINGTON POST: Republicans don’t cover themselves in glory
Sunday, October 06, 2013
stars.
An Ongoing Discussion/Moment of Clarity.
words.
"Our federal government doesn’t work, at least not the Congress, not the way it should if we’re going to preserve and pass on the treasure and blessings that were bequeathed to us, not the way it should if we’re going to strut around ceaselessly congratulating ourselves on how exceptional we are. We’re exceptional all right, in that we can’t summon the will, discipline or character to fix even those problems that most of us would like to see addressed. How many Americans doubt that our infrastructure is inadequate and leaves us at a serious global disadvantage? Few, but for all our hand-wringing, little gets done.
We’re exceptional in the billions of dollars that we pour into elections. All those commercials, air miles, speechifying and tweeting — and for what? We’ve spent a fortune on sclerosis, a king’s ransom on dysfunction. Then again, the money is a big part of the problem. In America your hobbyhorse can be a lonely, mangy one. Finance it generously enough and it has Secretariat’s stride.
...Voters should take their disgust with this shutdown and turn it into a fierce, sustained push for a better, fairer system.
Because the system’s the problem. The system’s the illness. We justly congratulate ourselves on what the framers of our Constitution set up, but that doesn’t mean we’re set forevermore. It definitely doesn’t mean we’re in a healthy place now. And I worry that on top of everything else, we’re growing so accustomed to our sickly lot that we’re losing sight of its direness. For all our recurrent brinkmanship, we haven’t tumbled into any abyss. So as we find ourselves on the next cliff, in the next crisis, we trust that John Boehner will snap into action at the last minute; that Democrats will eventually cave; that this, too, shall pass.
It might, because it’s just a symptom. The disease, though, doesn’t go away."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Our Sickly Political System
words.
"Our federal government doesn’t work, at least not the Congress, not the way it should if we’re going to preserve and pass on the treasure and blessings that were bequeathed to us, not the way it should if we’re going to strut around ceaselessly congratulating ourselves on how exceptional we are. We’re exceptional all right, in that we can’t summon the will, discipline or character to fix even those problems that most of us would like to see addressed. How many Americans doubt that our infrastructure is inadequate and leaves us at a serious global disadvantage? Few, but for all our hand-wringing, little gets done.
We’re exceptional in the billions of dollars that we pour into elections. All those commercials, air miles, speechifying and tweeting — and for what? We’ve spent a fortune on sclerosis, a king’s ransom on dysfunction. Then again, the money is a big part of the problem. In America your hobbyhorse can be a lonely, mangy one. Finance it generously enough and it has Secretariat’s stride.
...Voters should take their disgust with this shutdown and turn it into a fierce, sustained push for a better, fairer system.
Because the system’s the problem. The system’s the illness. We justly congratulate ourselves on what the framers of our Constitution set up, but that doesn’t mean we’re set forevermore. It definitely doesn’t mean we’re in a healthy place now. And I worry that on top of everything else, we’re growing so accustomed to our sickly lot that we’re losing sight of its direness. For all our recurrent brinkmanship, we haven’t tumbled into any abyss. So as we find ourselves on the next cliff, in the next crisis, we trust that John Boehner will snap into action at the last minute; that Democrats will eventually cave; that this, too, shall pass.
It might, because it’s just a symptom. The disease, though, doesn’t go away."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Our Sickly Political System
On & On.
An Ongoing Discussion/Moment of Clarity.
words.
"Since Tea Party conservatives dislike the federal government on principle, the derailing of what the federal government does every day doesn’t bother them all that much. What should bother them, deeply, is the anti-democratic nature of the maneuver. To hold up a budget and shut down the government in order to sabotage a law you don’t like is not just nose-thumbing at the government; it’s flouting the will of the people.
...It’s worth remembering that in the early nineteen-sixties, when another health-care bill was under debate, the rhetoric of the Republicans who opposed it was just as over the top. We didn’t get socialism, as those opponents warned; we got Medicare, which turned out to be a very popular, mostly high-functioning program that saves elderly people from going bankrupt when they get sick. In the end, as the President says, that is the kind of outcome that the extremist Republicans running this budget battle fear the most: that Obamacare will work, and the Democrats will get credit for it. And what the mainstream Republicans fear the most is that voters will blame them for letting the lemmings run the show. If Obama refuses to back down, this could be a moment that will define his legacy—a fight for democracy as much as for Democrats."
THE NEW YORKER: WASHINGTON DRAMAS
words.
"Since Tea Party conservatives dislike the federal government on principle, the derailing of what the federal government does every day doesn’t bother them all that much. What should bother them, deeply, is the anti-democratic nature of the maneuver. To hold up a budget and shut down the government in order to sabotage a law you don’t like is not just nose-thumbing at the government; it’s flouting the will of the people.
...It’s worth remembering that in the early nineteen-sixties, when another health-care bill was under debate, the rhetoric of the Republicans who opposed it was just as over the top. We didn’t get socialism, as those opponents warned; we got Medicare, which turned out to be a very popular, mostly high-functioning program that saves elderly people from going bankrupt when they get sick. In the end, as the President says, that is the kind of outcome that the extremist Republicans running this budget battle fear the most: that Obamacare will work, and the Democrats will get credit for it. And what the mainstream Republicans fear the most is that voters will blame them for letting the lemmings run the show. If Obama refuses to back down, this could be a moment that will define his legacy—a fight for democracy as much as for Democrats."
THE NEW YORKER: WASHINGTON DRAMAS
#TheYOUTH
words.
"Ms. Cyrus has been widely lambasted for her sonic choices, as if appropriation of black culture weren’t the default state of white culture, as if it hasn’t been that way for generations. She may have come by her taste honestly, or she may be carpetbagging — it hasn’t been that many years since she insisted she’d never heard a Jay Z song — and she may be playing fast and loose with signifiers with no larger understanding of their historical meaning.
Whichever the case, it’s clear that the rules that she’s breaking belong to an earlier generation, not her own. (That goes for her post-erotic take on sexuality, too.)
...Plus, a tremendous amount of her appeal is visual. She is, quite suddenly, a 360-degree pop star. From her chopped, bleached hair to her white nail polish to her VFiles fashion choices to her Terry Richardson-directed videos, she’s leaped to the front of the pop class in terms of presentation. Her apparent fearlessness has more to do with the rejection of how Old Miley looked than how she sounded. Those bold choices have helped Ms. Cyrus fill the current void of a female pop idol. Her closest competition now isn’t Lady Gaga — who appears eager to abandon pop stardom in favor of cheap experimental theater — but probably Katy Perry. No matter how candy-colored Ms. Perry’s image is, though, her insides are milk white.
The thrill of Ms. Cyrus is that it’s virtually impossible to know what her insides look like.
...Ms. Cyrus is channeling, chewing up and digesting several generations of transgressive pop divas. Her spectacle isn’t about the size of the shock, but the unexpected twists and turns on the way. It’s sloppy and invigorating and, at its best, interesting. She’s experimenting with the shape of pop stardom — let her live."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Get Back, and Just Let Miley Cyrus Grow Up
Saturday, October 05, 2013
FRESH.
I don't own many pairs of sweatpants.
And yeah, I got a pair of basketball shorts (somehow), but they only come out for the weights.
Do I lounge?
Oh yes, for sure.
And in these cases, I'm DRESSED.
Not, DRESSED DRESSED, but, you know, clothed, in a fit.
"I get it from my Momma", they say. And in this case, I do.
My Bigmama, to be exact.
A grandmother.
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in that durag.
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in that "wife beater."
(you better go find you a shirt)
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in those pajamas.
(if you don't go back there and find you some clothes to put on)
Get. Dressed.
Now, part of this, of course, was Parenting 101. But it was also, Parenting 101, starring an african american grandmother from the south re-raising these kids in this (southern california location) area, in today's america, so part of this was also about image and presentation.
Black babies.
Her black babies.
Babies ready to be evaluated, scrutinized, examined, tested, and any and everything else simply because they are Black babies, each and everytime they interact with the world, in manners both subtle and large.
So you will (and we did) get dressed. You can do you, and be you, and speak you, and give off you cause that can't and shouldn't be changed...
But you won't look like a fool.
Not today.
Not on my watch.
You will get dressed.
It's not about being fashionable with each and every entrance into the world (though it is welcomed and often encouraged), it's about being presentable and looking put together. LIKE YOU HAVE YOUR SHIT TOGETHER (even if you don't).
And like you care.
That's the reason why I don't own much lounge wear.
I gets dressed.
I thought about all this last night during Bill Maher's closing remarks on Real Time, and saw a little of what Bigmama was getting at.
Though it shouldn't play such a large role in our decision making processes, image often IS everything.
Shaping perceptions, forming opinions, and signing off on unwarranted and unfortunate streams of thoughts.
But it can also boost morale, install confidence, and bring about the right kind of attention, along with a healthy bit of mystery and fascination.
Now, this is not an endorsement for being forever "on", nor is it a push to place ALL OF THE EMPHASIS on presentation and how we look/doing it way big/dressing to the nines.
I'm just saying, care a little more. I know times is hard, and the world can be such a drag (especially right now, at this given moment and wrinkle in time in these here United States) but,
Get dressed America.
And get back to at least looking like you care, and, you know,
"give a shit."
And yeah, I got a pair of basketball shorts (somehow), but they only come out for the weights.
Do I lounge?
Oh yes, for sure.
And in these cases, I'm DRESSED.
Not, DRESSED DRESSED, but, you know, clothed, in a fit.
"I get it from my Momma", they say. And in this case, I do.
My Bigmama, to be exact.
A grandmother.
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in that durag.
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in that "wife beater."
(you better go find you a shirt)
You did not (and will not) step outside the house in those pajamas.
(if you don't go back there and find you some clothes to put on)
Get. Dressed.
Now, part of this, of course, was Parenting 101. But it was also, Parenting 101, starring an african american grandmother from the south re-raising these kids in this (southern california location) area, in today's america, so part of this was also about image and presentation.
Black babies.
Her black babies.
Babies ready to be evaluated, scrutinized, examined, tested, and any and everything else simply because they are Black babies, each and everytime they interact with the world, in manners both subtle and large.
So you will (and we did) get dressed. You can do you, and be you, and speak you, and give off you cause that can't and shouldn't be changed...
But you won't look like a fool.
Not today.
Not on my watch.
You will get dressed.
It's not about being fashionable with each and every entrance into the world (though it is welcomed and often encouraged), it's about being presentable and looking put together. LIKE YOU HAVE YOUR SHIT TOGETHER (even if you don't).
And like you care.
That's the reason why I don't own much lounge wear.
I gets dressed.
I thought about all this last night during Bill Maher's closing remarks on Real Time, and saw a little of what Bigmama was getting at.
Though it shouldn't play such a large role in our decision making processes, image often IS everything.
Shaping perceptions, forming opinions, and signing off on unwarranted and unfortunate streams of thoughts.
But it can also boost morale, install confidence, and bring about the right kind of attention, along with a healthy bit of mystery and fascination.
Now, this is not an endorsement for being forever "on", nor is it a push to place ALL OF THE EMPHASIS on presentation and how we look/doing it way big/dressing to the nines.
I'm just saying, care a little more. I know times is hard, and the world can be such a drag (especially right now, at this given moment and wrinkle in time in these here United States) but,
Get dressed America.
And get back to at least looking like you care, and, you know,
"give a shit."
Friday, October 04, 2013
Wrong Way.
An Ongoing Discussion/Moment of Clarity.
words.
"...About 30 or so Republicans in the House, bunkered in gerrymandered districts while breathing the oxygen of delusion, are now part of a cast of miscreants who have stood firmly on the wrong side of history. The headline, today and 50 years from now, will be the same: Republicans closed the government to keep millions of their fellow Americans from getting affordable health care.
They are not righteous rebels or principled provocateurs. They are not constitutionalists, using the ruling framework built by the founders. Just the opposite: they are a militant fringe of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government trying to nullify an established law by extortion. This is not the design of the Constitution.
Nor are they Martin Luther King Jr., or Rosa Parks or Winston Churchill — preposterous comparisons made on the floor of Congress by those whose only real fight is with progress.
...They are the opponents of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965, labeling what are now the two most popular government programs as socialism that would destroy the country. They are the foes of science and modernism, denying evolution, climate change and, on election nights, math.
Over the years, whether Democrat, Republican, Whig or Dixiecrat, the members of this club have one thing in common: they are left at the train station of destiny, and never realize it until it’s too late."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Wrong Side of History
words.
"...About 30 or so Republicans in the House, bunkered in gerrymandered districts while breathing the oxygen of delusion, are now part of a cast of miscreants who have stood firmly on the wrong side of history. The headline, today and 50 years from now, will be the same: Republicans closed the government to keep millions of their fellow Americans from getting affordable health care.
They are not righteous rebels or principled provocateurs. They are not constitutionalists, using the ruling framework built by the founders. Just the opposite: they are a militant fringe of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government trying to nullify an established law by extortion. This is not the design of the Constitution.
Nor are they Martin Luther King Jr., or Rosa Parks or Winston Churchill — preposterous comparisons made on the floor of Congress by those whose only real fight is with progress.
...They are the opponents of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965, labeling what are now the two most popular government programs as socialism that would destroy the country. They are the foes of science and modernism, denying evolution, climate change and, on election nights, math.
Over the years, whether Democrat, Republican, Whig or Dixiecrat, the members of this club have one thing in common: they are left at the train station of destiny, and never realize it until it’s too late."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Wrong Side of History
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