Yes, I’ve called the State of the Union address long, boring and pointless. And it is. But how is it that the most important presentation before the most powerful and important institution in the country is basically a 16th-century Puritan sermon? Hell, even churches—those bastions of technological innovation—in the 21st century use music to accompany to enhance the experience and use screens to present images to make the material a little easier to understand. But the president walks up an aisle, stands at a lectern, and simply talks for a while, thanks God, and then we’re on our way...
Continue reading...“Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there.”
I’ve been struggling all day to put together thoughts on the Challenger tragedy anniversary and the bigger question of what role the U.S. should maintain in humanity’s exploration of space. Part of it is the very happenstance of the calendar: it’s a thought that only occurred because of the anniversary, as probably any other day that isn’t already taken over by State of the Union madness would be a better day to meditate on the theme. Surely, unlike President John F. Kennedy’s address to Congress on May 25, 1961, or President George W. Bush’s own 2004 State...
Continue reading...Two random North Korea-related stories of note
Just two random interesting things I came across today: The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea apparently can’t get enough South Korea’s Choco Pies. In a country where the best jobs pay $63-100 a month, “the snacks are viewed as exotic, highly prized treats, selling on North Korea’s black markets for as much as $10.” In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, meth is offered as casually as a cup of tea.
Continue reading...Ninety percent of fast food cooks will be affected by D.C. raising the minimum wage
D.C. recently passed a law gradually increasing the minimum wage, from $8.25 to $11.50 by 2016. According to a report by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, this will affect ninety percent of D.C. fast-food cooks. I don’t have much more to say about that, except it’s a damned shame we have to have this job-killing minimum wage, because corporations would be paying workers way better without it. Or something. Unleash the free market or whatnot.
Continue reading...The State of the Union address is too long and boring
As according to custom, the president (LOL) has been invited to address Congress tomorrow on “the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.” There are lots of ruminations and predictions going about as to what the speech will contain, what themes will be prevalent, and what initiatives will be unveiled. I predict that it’s going to be long, boring and utterly ineffectual. Arguably the greatest State of the Union address to date is President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 installment (he, uh, had a few), which is...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 27 January 2014
If you’re one of the three people who remembers this here blog from its hay-day, you have once in a blue moon checked out the New York Times op-ed page. You probably recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from Roger “Copacabana” Cohen, who in his column today, “The Egyptian Disaster,” does his part to save the Egyptian economy: I...
Continue reading...New York Times Columnist Line of the Day – 24 January 2014
Ha, two years since I typed that headline and the muscle memory is still in severely good shape. Anyways… If you’re one of the three people who remembers this here blog from its hay-day, you have once in a blue moon checked out the New York Times op-ed page. You probably recognize the names of the columnists, who every day spout the most conventionally wise of the conventional wisdom. This is a feature that is dedicated to these folks, highlighting one line that is either funny, ridiculous, strange, or actually intelligent or well-written. Today’s is from Paul...
Continue reading...Iowa: What we learned
Well, so last night they had some caucuses. Mittens Romney won by a landslide of eight votes. Eight votes. Rick Santorum’s surge proved to have been at the exact right moment, as he finished just behind. Ron Paul’s surge was just a moment too soon and finished fourth. Everybody else sucked. Here’s some things we learned: – Not a goddamn one of the Republican pack can deliver a nationally-televised speech. – Corollary: Somebody give Michele Bachmann a teleprompter. – Corollary: I like Newt’s voice the best of them. – Corollary: Perry’s was the most heart-felt, although that...
Continue reading...Some people gonna be voting today
Holy shit—today’s the Iowa caucuses. At about 7:00 p.m. CST (8:00 p.m. EST because we’re east-coast-elite-centric here), at 1,774 precincts across the state of Iowa, Republicans (and, actually, Democrats too, but we already pretty much know who’ll win that one) will begin to select their choice for the Republican nomination for president. Polls in the past week have pretty much shown a three-way statistical tie between Mittens Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Santorum has surged very recently, the latest in the series of second/third-tier candidates. It’s pretty clear that about half the Republican constituency finds Romney...
Continue reading...It Gets Better
I’ve said this many times before, but here it is again: My pride and affection for the American experiment lies in its ability to improve itself, to get better. This morning, America got better. Finally, after decades of a terrible and ridiculous compromise that left thousands of American servicepeople as second-class citizens, the military policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” is dead. It lies in the graveyard of many other terrible mistakes in bigotry: Slavery, segregation, bans on miscegenation, the accepted social and workplace mistreatment of women, and, more recently, bans on sexual practices between people of...
Continue reading...
Recent Comments