January 2010
17 posts
“¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
!שנה טובה
Bonne Annee!
Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!”
– ‘cause it’s time, and I’m not planning on being online when the clock strikes midnight.
Happy New Year. Let’s face it, 2009 was a shit year in many ways, capping off a shit decade, one that we’d all rather just forget, if you please.
That said, we have it within...
December 2009
19 posts
“The problem for Obama and the Democrats today, as they head into 2010, is that...”
– From The Obama Disconnect, Micah Sifry’s brutal analysis of Obama, David Plouffe and their grassroots mechanism. A MUST-READ.
Like Sifry (who’s an acquaintance of mine), I’m fairly skeptical of politicians; the two of us (among others) believe that the best route to a better...
"We as a culture are pretty much one second away... →
And it only gets better from there. The other songs on the list are worth checking out solely for the brutal takedowns that The Village Voice deals out, much like Mike Tyson obliterated Michael Spinks in 91 seconds.
So here we are.
langer:
Two years ago the prohibitive front-runner for the Democratic nomination presented a healthcare proposal mandating universal coverage. Everyone would have healthcare. Those who could not afford it would receive government assistance to ensure they could.
That prohibitive front-runner lost to Barack Obama, who throughout his time as both a senator and a presidential candidate wavered...
“The filibuster relies the assumption that after negotiating in good faith, one...”
– Mori Dinauer, in TAPPED.
Losing Face
“All politics is local,” Tip O’Neill used to say. This is another way to say that politics is about people, first and foremost.
By now, you know that Joe Lieberman has torpedoed the latest health care compromise in the Senate. There should be no surprise or shock about this development. Nate Silver has a typically good post about this, which I’m excerpting here:
So...
Watch“You’ve got blood on your hands…”
— Rachel Maddow, folks. This is what a journalist is.
From Ezra Klein’s weekly chat this week:
Hoboken, NJ: I’ve been reading articles on both Huffington Post and DailyKos by progressives that insist that health care reform without the public option is just a giveaway to the insurance industry and would make things worse. I know you do not agree with this, but what is the argument (with evidence to support it) that this isn’t...
“There is a very famous story about when Lyndon Johnson was president. There was...”
– James Carville, talking about the BCS.
The iTablet/MacBook and the Triple Challenge
No sooner did I post my quick take on the CrunchPad/JooJoo than someone wrote me to let me know that of course Apple was going to release a tablet; they’re just refining it, &c., &c.
That may well be the case; after all, Apple famously mocked cellphones and MP3 players before designing and coming out with the iPhone and iPod - and look where we are now!
My contention is that...
Amazon.com: 28 Free Holiday MP3s →
Some good stuff, including one by Lady GaGa, which will go some small way towards satisfying my wish to see her do a holiday album. Ideally, it would be a double album - Christmas on side, Hanukkah on the other. Say, 12 Days of GaGa/Lady HanuGaga?
Don’t act as if you wouldn’t buy it the moment it dropped. You know you would.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
– Winston Churchill (thanks to Kate & Minimal Mac).
WatchAs slick as this looks, I have to agree with John Gruber and Marco Ament: I really don’t see where this product goes. Maybe there’s a space for a slightly larger version of the iPod Touch - but the problem with the tablet is that it’s a solution in search of a problem.
Why would someone like me - who’s a certified gadget freak - spend $500 on a CrunchPad/JooJoo? I have...
“Ezra Klein’s post putting the fight for health-care reform in the context...”
– From Mori Dinauer’s weekly wrap at TAPPED.
This is a huge part of the reason I haven’t written a whole lot about political issues lately. There’s a phenomenal disconnect on our side of the fence. I might elaborate on this, but I think that many people thought that we’d be...
Netroots Nation Holiday Bazaar NOW OPEN! →
YES! It’s open - but only until Tuesday! Lots of great items and deals! Like an Obama scarf - and an Obama t-shirt! And collectibles! Whee! BUY! BUY! EVERYTHING MUST GO!
What I've Learned: Rafael Noboa Rivera
Writer, Activist & Veteran, 33
I’ve been writing since I was 9. My step-dad had different ways of punishing me; he was very strict. One of the ways was to make me write essays and compositions about what I’d done wrong. One summer, I was forced to write an essay every day before going out to play - and that’s what got me into the habit of writing. I’ve got blank books...