New flava in ya ear!
Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi.
Tight Rope.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Smooth Operator.
R.Kelly.
Be My #2.
P.S. Did they just STOP giving R.Kelly video money? This ain't a video. This is party footage...Shot on an iPhone.
Be My #2.
P.S. Did they just STOP giving R.Kelly video money? This ain't a video. This is party footage...Shot on an iPhone.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Playing with Fire.
A Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"Unfairly or not, the defining images of opposition to health care reform may end up being those rage-filled partisans with spittle on their lips. Whether the outbursts came from inside Congress — the “baby killer” shout of Rep. Randy Neugebauer, and his colleagues who cheered on hecklers — or outside, where protesters hurled vile names against elected representatives, they are powerful and lasting scenes of a democracy gasping for dignity.
Now, ask yourself a question: can you imagine Ronald Reagan anywhere in those pictures? Or anywhere in those politics? Reagan was all about sunny optimism, and at times bipartisan bonhomie. In him, the American people saw their better half.
...the Republican Party now has taken some of the worst elements of Tea Party anger and incorporated them into its own identity. They are ticked off, red-faced, frothing — and these are the men in suits.
...as the party of the hissy fit, Republicans are playing with fire.
...Of course, public sentiment is a fickle thing. And no one can predict whether health care overhaul will work for most Americans, or add to the distrust people already have for the ruling and business classes.
But it’s always better to be building something than destroying it.
...consider the policy positions. Do Republicans really want to campaign in favor of insurance companies’ right to drop people when they get sick? Do they really want to knock the 25-year-old graduate student, living on Top Ramen and hope, off his parents’ health care? Are they going to deny tax credits for small businesses?
It was the ancient Greeks who gave us a sense of what Republicans will be living with under this pact with rage. Many people are afraid of the dark, the saying goes. But the real tragedy is those who are afraid of the light."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: House of Anger
Words.
"Unfairly or not, the defining images of opposition to health care reform may end up being those rage-filled partisans with spittle on their lips. Whether the outbursts came from inside Congress — the “baby killer” shout of Rep. Randy Neugebauer, and his colleagues who cheered on hecklers — or outside, where protesters hurled vile names against elected representatives, they are powerful and lasting scenes of a democracy gasping for dignity.
Now, ask yourself a question: can you imagine Ronald Reagan anywhere in those pictures? Or anywhere in those politics? Reagan was all about sunny optimism, and at times bipartisan bonhomie. In him, the American people saw their better half.
...the Republican Party now has taken some of the worst elements of Tea Party anger and incorporated them into its own identity. They are ticked off, red-faced, frothing — and these are the men in suits.
...as the party of the hissy fit, Republicans are playing with fire.
...Of course, public sentiment is a fickle thing. And no one can predict whether health care overhaul will work for most Americans, or add to the distrust people already have for the ruling and business classes.
But it’s always better to be building something than destroying it.
...consider the policy positions. Do Republicans really want to campaign in favor of insurance companies’ right to drop people when they get sick? Do they really want to knock the 25-year-old graduate student, living on Top Ramen and hope, off his parents’ health care? Are they going to deny tax credits for small businesses?
It was the ancient Greeks who gave us a sense of what Republicans will be living with under this pact with rage. Many people are afraid of the dark, the saying goes. But the real tragedy is those who are afraid of the light."
Life after (America's) DEATH!
Words. For the Grand Old Party's consideration...
"It's time to demand that GOP leaders, candidates and other would-be Obamacare repealers take a pledge. It should be simple. Something like: "Because I believe so strongly that Democratic health-care reform is a calamity for the country, I hereby vow that neither I nor anyone in my family will take advantage of the protections offered by this law." Those pledging would of course voluntarily surrender their current group health coverage and be thrown into the unregulated market for individual health insurance, so as to swim in the same sea of insecurity as their constituents. A quickie law would be passed allowing insurers to treat pledge-taking Republicans and their families under prior rules, exempting them from the reforms just signed into law by the president.
Perhaps you're thinking this would be cruel. Should we really punish Mrs. Debbie Boehner if she has a preexisting condition? If one of Mitch McConnell's daughters develops a disease that puts her over the lifetime cap in one of the plans the minority leader favors -- the kind that would give his daughter more "skin in the game" -- wouldn't that be too harsh? What if the McCain brood came down with uncoverable blights? Come to think of it, where is Sarah Palin's family getting coverage today? Thank goodness being on the ticket was her ticket to riches -- as a former state employee whose COBRA coverage is running out, she'd soon be out of luck. (Maybe a small-government GOP fix would be to name every uninsurable American a vice presidential candidate, so they could cash in and afford . . . well, maybe not.)
Still, one man's "harsh" is another's "accountability." And no one argues more sternly than Republicans that behavior should have consequences. So I have no doubt these principled warriors of the right would do their duty. Rather than submit their loved ones to the character-corroding clutches of Obamacare, they would urge their kin to buck up and go to the poorhouse stoically -- and, if need be, to meet their maker with their love for freedom intact..."
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
KISS KISS BANG BANG!
A Conservative Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"Every nation needs an intelligent and constructive form of conservatism. The debate over the health care bill, which mercifully came to a close on Sunday night, was not American conservatism's finest hour.
In its current incarnation, conservatism has taken on an angry crankiness. It is caught up in a pseudo-populism that true conservatism should mistrust -- what on Earth would Bill Buckley have made of "death panels"? The creed is caught up in a suspicion of all reform that conservatives of the Edmund Burke stripe have always warned against.
Authentic conservatism is better than this..."
THE WASHINGTON POST: Three points for conservatives
Words.
"Every nation needs an intelligent and constructive form of conservatism. The debate over the health care bill, which mercifully came to a close on Sunday night, was not American conservatism's finest hour.
In its current incarnation, conservatism has taken on an angry crankiness. It is caught up in a pseudo-populism that true conservatism should mistrust -- what on Earth would Bill Buckley have made of "death panels"? The creed is caught up in a suspicion of all reform that conservatives of the Edmund Burke stripe have always warned against.
Authentic conservatism is better than this..."
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Sowing the Seeds.
Words.
"Mitch McConnell is right. The Republican Senate leader, a man whose vision is to deny others theirs, told the New York Times that President Obama's health-care proposal was part of an attempt to "turn us into a Western European country," which, the good Lord willing, is what will now happen. I, for one, could use a dash of Germany, where there are something like 200 private health insurance plans and where everyone is covered and no one goes broke on account of bad health. It's great to be healthy in America, but for too many Americans, it's better to be sick somewhere else.
I would also take France or Switzerland, but mostly I'd like Japan, which I move to Western Europe for the sake of argument, and where medical care is as good (or better) than it is here and much less expensive. What all these countries have in common is the recognition that health care is, like food or education, a universal right. The United States, to McConnell's evident chagrin, is now moving this way.
Do not underestimate the importance of Sunday's House vote. It was momentous, and it will not be repealed by the results of the November elections. Against the hopes and insistence of the GOP, America did not reverse Social Security (as late as the Eisenhower administration, that was the fervent wish of the party's right wing) or Medicaid. The worth of these programs became evident, and thus they became politically sacrosanct..."
Monday, March 22, 2010
The Nation.
"This [Healthcare Reform] is, of course, a political victory for President Obama, and a triumph for Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker. But it is also a victory for America’s soul. In the end, a vicious, unprincipled fear offensive failed to block reform. This time, fear struck out."-Paul Krugman
First Aid.
"WHOSE HOUSE?!"
Words.
"Yes, we did.
...This new law will not end all our health-care problems (no law could), but it does a great deal for access, and it makes solving other problems a little easier. Above all, it puts us on a new path.
For Obama, this struggle was transformative. He began his administration full of hope that his campaign pledge to achieve concord across party lines was a realistic possibility. But when faced with implacable Republican opposition, he jettisoned the happy talk and came out fighting.
If bipartisanship is more fashionable than partisanship, partisanship with a purpose is infinitely preferable to paralysis. Obama has made clear that he will reach out when he can, and do battle when he must.
By temperament, the president is more a consensus builder than a warrior. But he is also a practical man who wants to accomplish big things. On Sunday, he did just that on health care, and he earned a place in history."
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