Breaking News: The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of the Republic of Ireland gets drunk. Quite a bit. In fact, he’s probably rat-arsed right now. According, at least, to an alarming exposé by none other than that bastion of journalistic excellence, the Daily Mail: But a review of Mr Cowen’s public behaviour and his own admissions, coupled with extensive interviews of people who have witnessed the Taoiseach’s excessive consumption, reveals a habit of drinking that has been well known in Leinster House for more than a decade. This is a man who has designated Wednesday nights as ‘drinking nights’...
Continue reading...Poplicola
New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. This is a daily feature dedicated to these folks: one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Paul \”The Little Professor\” Krugman, who in his column \”The Angry Rich,\” highlights the...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Monday, 20 September 2010
Good morning, everybody. Lindsay failed another drug test. Now, your morning constitutional: The busted oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is finally plugged for good. President Obama will revive its defense and support of the health care reform passed earlier, with a number of changes taking effect this week, including the elimination of co-payments for preventative services and allowing people to stay on their parents\’ insurance until they\’re 26. The Sweden Democrats, Sweden\’s far-right party, won seats in the Swedish parliament for the first time, denying the ruling center-right coalition enough seats to form a majority...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Friday, 17 September 2010
Good morning, everybody. Did you know Lady Gaga is the most-searched-for woman on the Internet? Well, here\’s your morning constitutional: The success of the tea party groups is forcing Republicans to revise their playbooks for 2012. Karachi, Pakistan\’s largest city, is shut down after Imran Farooq, the exiled leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, was stabbed in London. President Obama is expected to announce today that he will appoint Elizabeth Warren to lead the new consumer financial protection bureau. The Great Recession has driven the poverty rate to its highest in 15 years. The Senate yesterday passed...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day
If you’re one of the four-or-so frequent readers of this here blog, chances are you also occasionally check out the New York Times op-ed page. You may even know the names: Thomas “Friedman’s Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose” Friedman, Gail “The Colander” Collins, Nicholas “The Dark Crystal” Kristof, &c. This is a daily feature dedicated to these folks: one line that is either awesome, funny, insightful, intelligent, ridiculous, or utterly divorced from reality. I hope you enjoy. Today\’s is from Paul \”The Little Professor\” Krugman, who in his column \”Things Could Be Worse,\” writes:...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Friday, 10 September 2010
Good morning, everybody. Lou Reed made Susan Boyle cry. Now, your morning constitutional: In San Bruno, California, a natural gas line ruptured, causing a massive fire that has so far killed six and engulfed at least 53 homes and sent fireballs shooting through the air. The fire raging west of Boulder, Colorado, continues to burn, and officials are concerned that high winds may push the fire toward the city. U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips has ruled that the military\’s ban on openly gay service members from serving in the arms forces is unconstitutional. Afghan protests...
Continue reading...Poem of the Week
Part II of last week’s theme: villanelles. I’ve read and re-read this poem in at least three different English classes, and haven’t yet tired of it– to the contrary, I find more to like each time. And it seems apropos in the whirlwind of unpacking to post a poem dedicated to the fine art of losing things. One Art by Elizabeth Bishop The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost...
Continue reading...V+V Endorses: Adrian Fenty for the Mayor of the District of Columbia
“Last December, according to multiple sources, [D.C. Mayor Adrian] Fenty kicked a trash can, slammed a door, and screamed, “I’m the fucking mayor,” after learning that some much-hated New Jersey Avenue NW billboards were being removed without his being present for a photo-op.” Four years ago, then-Councilmember Adrian Fenty swept into the mayor’s office promising to take on the city’s biggest problems: an education system that was failing the city’s most disadvantaged youth; crime that, while lower than its 1990s peak, was still stubbornly high; and a city bureaucracy still weighed down by incompetence and entropy. Big...
Continue reading...The Stakes
Forget for a moment about Speaker of the House Boehner or Senate Majority Leader McConnell, or the likelihood of complete legislative stalemate. Often overlooked down-ticket races have even bigger consequences that affect races for the next decade: Republicans are within reach of gaining control of eight or more chambers in statehouses around the country this fall, according to interviews with Republicans, Democrats and independent political analysts. That would give Republicans the power to draw more Congressional districts in their favor, since the expected gains come just as many legislatures will play a major role in the once-a-decade...
Continue reading...Morning Constitutional – Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Good morning, everybody. David Letterman would like to kill that Jon Stewart bastard. Now, your morning constitutional: Thousands have been evacuated from areas west of Boulder as a 7,100-acre wildfire blazes out of control. The report from BP\’s own investigation into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill unsurprisingly focuses on blaming other companies rather than their own negligence. Fidel Castro criticizes Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and escalating conflict between Iran the West. Taxpayers in New Jersey, as well as other places in the country, are still paying for stadiums that have been...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments