If Health Care Reform Is A Test Of Whether We Live In A Civil Society We Are Failing That Test

Steven Pearlstein on the Health Care debate:

"The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers on the effort to reform the health-care system have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage. By poisoning the political well, they've given up any pretense of being the loyal opposition. They've become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems."

Sphere: Related Content

Young Republicans Don't Know Much but...

man can they rap.


Thanks to Pushing Rope Sphere: Related Content

Pushing Rope: The Poison of Glenn Beck

Pushing Rope: The Poison of Glenn Beck
Beck being Beck. Will say anything for the dollar. Sphere: Related Content

Cash For Clunkers MPG Success

Time magazine is reporting that new cars purchased through Cash for Clunkers are 61% more fuel efficient than the traded in cars. That is an additional 10 mpg. An environmental success? Sphere: Related Content

Greed Can Be Good

Megan McArdle at The Atlantic asks why shouldn't people get huge amounts of dollars if they create innovative products or services that improve the quality of people's lives.

I agree with McArdle. My concern with the health care reform proposals is the lack of discussion and understanding of the impact on innovation and research. Perhaps there will be none or a negligible amount, but I intuitively doubt it. McArdle writes:

"The injustice of his demands for profit rankles more deeply than the miracle of his inventions can soothe. If they have to risk some innovation in order to wring this profit out of the system, and distribute the goods he's already produced for us more widely, they're fine with that tradeoff.

I'm not. And I don't think this is a gap we can bridge by discussing the thing. We're doomed to keep getting angry at each other."

I haven't found any research on this subject. If anyone knows of any let me know.

What do you think? Sphere: Related Content

Why a Doctor in Congress Has No Health Insurance

Interesting Story from Jill Lawrence at Politics Daily

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Competitive Naturalization--I See An Immigration Reality Show

The UK is proposing an immigration naturalization program that gives immigrants hoping to become UK citizen points for behavior that is British and deducting points for un-British behavior. Apparently un-British behavior includes exercising the right to protest the government, a right held by all British subjects.

Keith Best of Immigration Advisory Group, an immigration advocate says:

"'I would be very surprised if the government would say to probationary citizens, 'You need to curtail your freedom of speech as a probationary citizen in order to be able to enjoy it fully once you become a British citizen.''"

I understand the need to control immigration but this doesn't sound right. Does it control immigration or just the number of citizens? It does not seem to reduce the number of migrant workers coming to Britian.

Either way I can't wait until the BBC show that crosses the Weakest Link and Monty Python's Twit Olympics. Sphere: Related Content

Old Obama Videos

Lynne Sweet writes at Politics Daily about the release of older Obama videos. Sphere: Related Content

Weigel Reports On Newest Fake Birth Cert.

David Weigel is reporting that the last fake birth certificate from Kenya was created by Barack Obama supporters. Sphere: Related Content

More Pres. Obama Hilter Comparisons. WTF

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American Thunker: Barack Obama is just Like Adolf Hitler?

Bart Willruth at American Thunker asks, "Does this sound like the country you know (knew)?" Willruth asks this after he insanely equates nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, N. Korea, Cuba, Yugoslavia and China with the Obama Administration. What compelled Wallruth to make this syllogistic fallacy? I don't really know, but the faux issue he is so scared of is this post on the White House blog. The post asks people to send anti-health care reform emails they receive to a White House email address. The blog post says:

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

OK the White House is using technology to combat what they believe is disinformation. How is that comparable to regimes that arrest opposition at best and kill them at worst.

Willruth asks, "Are we now like one of those totalitarian states?" This question is being asked now, after the past decade. The decade of wiretapping and "see something say something."

Willruth writes:

"Our forebears sacrificed so much to pass on the blessings of liberty. The least that we can do in the shadow of those heroes is to exercise our right to speak, and to do so out loud, not in whispers fearing that someone will forward our thoughts to the Watchers. These intimidating tactics must end."

He does not explain what is intimidating about the White House request. It is obvious that Wallruth is comfortable with lies that mislead debates on important issues. But it is clear that Wallruth is entirely comfortable making really poor ad hominem attacks. Sphere: Related Content

Make Your Own Kenyan Birth Certificate

http://kenyanbirthcertificategenerator.com/

Found through Slate Sphere: Related Content

DICK Morris Says Journalists Should Pay Price For Going To North Korea

DICK Morris on FoxNews


DICK. thinks journalists should not go to dangerous unknown places to find the truth.
Some of the right are just like DICK. Ben Armbruster at Think Progress pulls the stupidity together. Sphere: Related Content

Frozen Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwiches?

Do people really buy frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I have never even seen them before.

Michael Pollan's NY Times magazine article this past weekend is a little to quick to dismiss the cooking shortcut. He is also too nostalgic for the 1950s. Pollan writes:

"Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens."

It seems that Pollan is telling us that we will have a better life if we follow his lead and spend more time prepping our food and seeking out the freshest and more exotics ingredients. What he forgets is that busier people may get more pleasure from other activities at home. Playing with the kids or watching movies with the family. What do we have to give up to cook more?

I think we should cook more at home. It may help the obesity problem and I find it therapeutic but Pollan seems a bit to strident.

Still he is worth the read. Sphere: Related Content

Is Climate Change A Priority? Everywhere But Here.

A survey of 19 nations asking residents to rate if climate change should be a national priority. The U.S. brings up the rear. 10 is greatest, 1 is least. The Palestinian Territories believe the issue is a greater priority that we do.

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WTF! Lehman Brothers Owes NYC $600,000,000

NY Times story about Lehman tax bill. Why is this only being caught now.

$600,000,000!!!! Sphere: Related Content

Can The Town Hall Be Closed To All Except District Residents

It seems the easiest solution to the disruptions of health care town halls caused by the organized roving gangs of zealots is to close the meeting to non district residents. Is this possible? Is it legal? Sphere: Related Content

Rebuttal To Conor Friedersdorf On Cash For Clunkers

Alas! A Blog has an excellent rebuttal to Friedersdorf's Clunker's post. The Alas! post uses more sound economic arguments. Going back to the basics. Perhaps I was swayed by nostalgia. Alas actually draws a demand curve bringing me back to my school days.

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Glenn Beck Being Crazy Doesn't Make You Right -- The Debate On $$$ For Clunkers

Conor Friedersdorf offers a sensibility to the debate over the effectiveness and efficiencies of the Cash for Clunkers program. Just becasue the arguments of the loudest critics are crazy and make no sense that does not mean the there are no good arguments against the program. Friedersdorf writes:

"Just because the right includes a lot of people making very bad arguments right now doesn’t make the people they’re arguing against right. It’s a lesson I learned when I saw the behavior of bombastic, juvenile folks on the left translate into support for President Bush’s bid to invade Iraq."

Friedersdorf offers these places as good arguments against Clunkers:

Radley Balko
Challenging Jon Stewart's treatment of Democrats, Balko takes issue with Stewart piece on Clunkers. Balko breaks it down to a mathematical equation:
(all of the energy that went into making the old car) + (the energy it will take to destroy it) + (all of the energy it took to make the new car) + ($3,500)

Rich Lowry
Lowry argues that Clunkers only creates an illusion of demand. Essentially reducing future demand. Also, destruction of the trade in cars is a waste of goods with economic value.

Derek Thompson:
Thompson point is that C4C, as he calls it, incentivizes the purchase of environmentally unfriendly SUVs and has only encouraged auto sales that would have happened soon regardless of C4C. Unlikely to increase the annual auto sales number. Sphere: Related Content

Andrew Sullivan Asks Conservatives-- What Use Is Conservatism

Andrew Sullivan crafted a remarkably eloquent response to Robert P. George's essay on gay marriage. In contrast to my response to George or my response to Cooper , Sullivan's response is tempered and pleasant. It raises thoughtful questions that George should answer.

Sullivan's response was pleasant and friendly until it wasn't. Sullivan writes:

"Alas, having studied George's work for years, I can tell you his social policy toward me and my kind. It is that gay people should be celibate, and if not celibate, invisible. But this much we know: gays in free countries are neither going to be celibate nor invisible for the foreseeable future. So what is George's prescription except quixotic when it isn't demotic?
Beneath the elegant philosophical language is a blunter message to George's gay fellow human beings: be straight or go away. And since when is that a practical option in the 21st century?"

I enjoy reading Sullivan's blog for his thoughtful writing. He doesn't write responses this long very often, but when he does it is usually excellent.

George's essay has brought Sullivan to the question:

"I repeat to conservatives: we know what you're against, in healthcare, energy, counter-terrorism, taxation, gay rights, abortion. What are you actually for? How do you intend to actually address the questions of our time and place? And if conservatism cannot do that, what use is it?"

Good question. Sphere: Related Content

Life The Biggest Cause of Death For People

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Is Chuck Norris Hunting For The President's Birth Certificate; There Is A $100,000 Bounty

Chuck Norris gets on board the Birther bandwagon. Norris writes a birthday "letter" to President Obama offering political advice to release his borth certificate. Norris writes:

"I hardly can believe that individuals are offering bounties — one for $100,000 — for any personal witness or sufficient evidence to your American birth."

"Speaking of birthdays, I couldn't help but hear and read all over the news this past week about the fresh attention to your constitutional eligibility and natural-born citizen status. I hardly can believe that individuals are offering bounties — one for $100,000 — for any personal witness or sufficient evidence to your American birth."

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Russian Subs Off U.S. Coast

The NY Times reports that two Russian Nuclear Submarines have been patrolling 200 miles off the east coast of the United States. Sphere: Related Content

John Bolton Is Wrong Again

This afternoon John Bolton wrote an essay for the WashPo that called the Bill Clinton trip to N. Korea a mistake. Since Pres. Clinton's visit was unexpected Bolton must have rushed to write this essay. Perhaps he should have taken a little more time. Bolton writes:

"The point to be made on the Clinton visit is that the knee-jerk impulse for negotiations above all inevitably brings more costs than its advocates foresee. Negotiating from a position of strength, where the benefits to American interests will exceed the costs, is one thing. Negotiating merely for the sake of it, in the face of palpable recent failures, is something else indeed"

I guess talking does work. John Bolton consistency under pressure. Is he always wrong? Sphere: Related Content

Greenwald Gets To The Issue Of Mohamed Jawad's Guantanamo Detention

Glenn Greenwald has the vital question as to why Jawad is being detained. Greenwald:

"So here you have somebody, who as I indicated earlier, is basically accused of attacking members of an invading army, of an army that invaded, whether justifiably or not, legally or not, that invaded his country. Is the reason that that's considered a war crime, or that he's treated as being a terrorist or war criminal, is because he's not part of a regularly constituted army, and was acting as a civilian? I mean, obviously, people who are involved in regular armies have the right under the laws of war to do things like throw grenades. Why is he being treated essentially as a terrorist, even if the accusations were true - and I understand the argument is that they're not - but even if they were, why would that justify taking him halfway around the world to Guantanamo?

And how is that different from - if you know - under the laws of war, from things like having Blackwater or civilian contractors engaging in violence in foreign countries in conjunction with our armies?"

Greenwald talks with the ACLU's Jonathan Hafetz. The entire podcast is worth a listen but this question is asked in the eleventh minute. Here is the itunes link.

Greenwald creates one of the best podcasts on policy, politics and laws.

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Geithner Knows A Little Finance, Let Jon Stewart Know

Gawker fact checks The Daily Show. Is that really necessary.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Home Crisis Investigation
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

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WOW! I Am Not Going To Write About This

ObamaCare Equals Government Funded Euthanasia


Found through The Daily Dish Sphere: Related Content

Birthday Card For The Pres.

Found through The Daily Dish Sphere: Related Content

Sotomayor Confirmation: Is She "Your Hispanic"

The American Prospect Tapped Blog does a nice job of asking what Miguel Estrada has to do with Sonia Sotomayor. Apparently they are like towels, his and hers Hispanics.

This makes me like Lindsey Graham more. Although, I don't know why. Sphere: Related Content

If religion allows you to ignore suffering, thank god I don't have it

Cal Thomas writes in the Washington Times today, " there are always euphemisms to help us through the troubling practices we might not, under other circumstances, wish to pursue." He is not referring to the trite little things people say when someone dies. "It was his time." "She's in a better place." "Their with god now." My favorite, "at least they're not suffering." What bullshit. Of course, dead people don't suffer. The living can suffer and most don't want to. No, Thomas is not referring to these arrogant mostly religious niceties; he is referring to the phrases "right to die" and "compassionate assisted suicide." He does not believe that individuals have a choice in how they die.

If people could choose to alleviate their own suffering there would be "a significant loss for the human race." Thomas does not explain what the human race would lose. I imagine the loss that Thomas thinks will be significant to the human race is purely sacramental. The bible is the ultimate argument for Thomas' position. As he writes, "in a sense, we all have a 'right,' or more precisely, an obligation, to die." Presumably because we are owned by god. As the Catechism says, "we are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of." Bullshit. Even Thomas does not believe this entirely as he writes, is death even "ultimately our decision? We did not create life... The state is supposed to protect life, not take it except in cases of capital murder." Hypocrite.

As I expect of any religious hypocrite the right to life only extends to the point of when you begin to choose how you want to live. At that point Thomas wants to impose his religious will on your life choices. Thomas wrote during the end of Terri Schiavo's suffering, "there is little legal or (shudder) theological precedent for any such 'right.'" I am not a theologian nor do I care for Jesus but in John 10:18 of the bible it says, "No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Did Jesus choose?

Of course Thomas connects this argument to abortion. But he also decided to perpetuate the myth that President Obama want to euthanize senior citizens. He writes:

"The One who gave us life has, or ought to have, sole discretion as to when it ends. However, if increasing numbers of us think 'the One' refers to a character in 'The Matrix' and that we are just evolutionary accidents, the conclusion of it all is euthanasia for the elderly, the 'defective,' the inconvenient and the unwanted. It's coming sooner than you think to a senior center near you, especially if Obamacare becomes law."

I can't imagine how someone as self-righteous as Cal Thomas can continue to live with lies he tells everyday. Oh wait, he goes to confession and a man in a wood box tells him it OK, say a Hail Mary or two and all is forgiven. While the people not burdened with religion have to think about the actions they take, the words they use and the suffering people feel. If religion allows you to ignore the suffering of people I am glad I don't have it.

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The U.S. Is Still Blue Six Months Later

Gallup poll shows states still strongly Democrat.


Found through The Daily Dish - Blue Nation Sphere: Related Content

Is Cash For Clunkers Sound Environmental Policy

Gwen Ottinger questions the environmental effects of Cash for Clunkers. Sphere: Related Content

There Should Be More Naughty Words Used

Apparently Tim Geithner's language in a meeting yesterday with financial regulators got a littler more colorful than usual. The writer of a Wall Street Journal story called it an "expletive-laced critique." I think I like the angry Tim Geithner. We should have more cursing.

The WSJ article states:

"Friday's roughly hourlong meeting was described as unusual, not only because of Mr. Geithner's repeated use of obscenities, but because of the aggressive posture he took with officials from federal agencies generally considered independent of the White House. Mr. Geithner reminded attendees that the administration and Congress set policy, not the regulatory agencies."

It continues:

"Government officials said Mr. Geithner had expected regulators to object to parts of the plan that threatened their power or authority, but Treasury officials appeared caught off guard at how much the criticism resonated with lawmakers.
Mr. Geithner wanted to tell the attendees they shouldn't let turf battles get in the way of fixing a system that is clearly broken, Mr. Wolin said. He declined to comment on Mr. Geithner's tone and language."

I have not been able to digest the Financial Regulatory Reform proposal, I probably won't be able to either. Nevertheless, Geithner's primary goal is to create a new regulatory agencies and boards, for example the Financial Services Oversight Council and the National Bank Supervisor. I will read more of the plan and hopefully be able the answer the following question. Is Geithner's proposal going to alleviate the rent seeking tendencies of regulators or is he creating a whole new agencies of rent seekers? Sphere: Related Content

Happy Birthday To You. Happy Birth....

Happy Birthday President Obama.

Hope the birthers get you something nice. Sphere: Related Content

Will This Recession End In October

Economic analysts revise 3Q GPD forecast. Hopefully these revised estimates materialize. Even if economy does reach these numbers most people won't feel the improvement for many months.

Analyst	Q3 - Prev.	Q3 - Revised
Credit Suisse	1.3%	2.0%
Deutsche Bank AG	0.0%	2.0%
J.P. Morgan	2.5%	3.0%
Moody’s Economy.com	1.1%	1.6%
Morgan Stanley	1%	3%-4%
UBS	2.0%	2.5%
Wells Fargo	2.2%	3.0%

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Pres. Clinton Lands In Pyongyang

I hope he can secure the release of the captive journalists. Sphere: Related Content

The President Can Wear Those Awful Jeans But This Woman Gets Lashed

National Review column about a woman threatened with 40 lashes for wearing indecent trousers. Sphere: Related Content

Weigel Must Have Teams Of Debunking Muckraking Superheros

David Weigel reports that the inspiration for the fake Kenya birth certificate had been found.
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Weigel Debunks The Nuts

David Weigel has quickly debunked the nut that is Orly Taitz (still love that name). Taitz's new fraud was Barack Obama's Kenyan birth certificate. Weigel writes:

"This has always been a red flag for conspiracy theorists, so it deserves some explanation. Barack Obama Sr. was born and educated in Nyanza Province, in southwestern Kenya, on Lake Victoria. This is the area where Obama’s family lived and continues to live; Sarah Obama, the step-grandmother of the president, lives in Nyang’oma Kogelo, a small town in the province. But Mombasa is a city on the Indian Ocean, a thousand miles to the east. It didn’t even have an international airport until 1979. And the city wasn’t even part of Kenya when the future president was born. Mombasa was a part of Zanzibar until December 12, 1963, when it became part of the newly independent Kenya."

Related post: Barack Obama's Kenyan Birth Certificate? Sphere: Related Content

Sand Animation (Sandimation?) From Ukraine's Got Talent

This is interesting art from the Ukraine. The music is just right. The video is long but enjoyable.
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Greenwald On Corporate Media

Glenn Greenwald continues to look into GE's editorial control of MSNBC.

Greenwald:

"Instead, GE is now openly and proudly boasting of their editorial control over the news organizations they own, and publicly rubbing it in the faces of NBC News journalists that they're subservient to GE's corporate agenda...
The reason the journalism industry insisted for so long on the ludicrous fiction that corporate parents never violated the sanctity of journalistic independence is precisely because everyone understood why that would be so dangerous. Apparently, they no longer feel a need to maintain that fiction."

Related post: If Olbermann Can't Attack O'Reilly Why Watch UPDATE Sphere: Related Content

Yglesias On Unemployment

Matthew Yglesias writes, "Of course it’s hard to deny that, in isolation, the availability of unemployment benefits has some disemployment effect." He continues, "Amidst mass unemployment things probably look different." Sphere: Related Content

Sex And Privacy At Nursing Homes

LA Times asks why nursing home residents lose privacy rights when they enter the home. What if they want to have sex?

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

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Some Want To Stop Gays From Marrying But They Let These People

Crazy people in Maine have super hero themed wedding. Sphere: Related Content

A Shockingly Familiar Picture Of Military Overspending

Visual Economis Sphere: Related Content

Another "The End Of Civilization" Argument Against Same Sex Marriage

In today's Wall Street Journal Robert George uses the end of the world as we know argument against gay marriage. He actually makes the claim that gay marriage "entails abandoning norms such as monogamy." He takes it one step further that I have not heard before. He says advocates for same sex marriage are also trying to define marriage to include poly-amorous families.

I have not seen anyone fighting for the rights of marriage also ask for poly-amorous marriage rights. If you have I would be curious to see the arguments.

A related post: "The End Of Civilization" Argument Against Same Sex Marriage Sphere: Related Content

Malkin Is Correct About Unemployment Benefits Update/Clarification

Since a few people were upset by the previous Malkin post I should be more clear. In no way am I advocating that the congress not extend unemployment benefits. I was just expanding on Malkin's point which was a valid economic theory even though she did a poor job at explaining it. I was unclear as to my point. Perhaps I should have pointed out that Lawrence Katz, the economist to which Malkin referred, came out publicly that the theory that he proved in his research was not appropriate because on the current ratio of jobs to labor. Which is around 1 to 5.7. Sphere: Related Content

Nevada's Bunny Ranch Will Accept Cali IOUs At Face Value

The Bunny Ranch will take the IOUs issued to people owed money by the state of California. Sphere: Related Content

Malkin Is Correct About Unemployment Benefits

There is a fair amount of research, including the Katz paper Malkin mentions, that show the escape rate of unemployment insurance gets closer to 100% as the recipient gets nearer to benefit exhaustion. At the point of exhaustion the recipients expected utility will decrease. Therefore, an unemployed person at the end of benefits will likely reduce their reservation wage and accept a position that they would have passed on earlier in their benefits period.

The incentive to accept a job depends on at least two factors for the insurance recipient. First, the availability of jobs that pay more than the current unemployment benefit. Second, the number of weeks available from unemployment programs.

The last few weeks of benefits will likely be the time when the unemployed commit more time to finding a job. Because at the end of benefits the search costs for the unemployed became too high.

There is an intrinsic benefit to allowing time for job search that creates quality job matching. Placing the right person to the right job increases productivity. But I am not sure that should be the priority now. So maybe we should not extend the unemployment benefits?

P.S.
I did not think I would ever need to recall my thesis research. Title: "Exploring The Canada United States Unemployment Gap In Regards To Repetitive Use And The Duration of Unemployment Spells" Sexy title?
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Barack Obama's Kenyan Birth Certificate?

Orly Taitz, the crazy birther lawyer, claims to have a copy of the President's Kenyan birth certificate.

I expect this to be sufficiently debunked by Monday morning.

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Washinton Post Reports Barack Obama's Impressions From The Campaign

The WaPo reports the Presidents impressions of the campaign. It reads fairly candid but you never know. Definitely worth a read.

My favorite passages:

"He was asked how the writer in him would spin the tale of what ultimately happened in 2008. 'The way I would tell the story would really have to do with what this campaign said about America and where we've traveled,' Obama said. 'The fact that just a little over 40 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, that I can run. That just a few decades after women were admitted to professions like law or medicine in any meaningful numbers, that Hillary could run in a credible way. The generational changes between John McCain's era and our own, and sort of the vestiges of Vietnam, the shift that's taken place in the salience of some of the culture wars that emerged in the '60s that really were the dominant force in our politics, starting with Ronald Reagan, and how that had less power. Which, by the way, includes why the issue of Reverend Wright or Bill Ayers never caught as powerfully as it might have 15 or 20 years ago. The way the Internet served our campaign in unprecedented ways.'"

"In the days leading up to Obama's decision to run, Axelrod prepared a private strategy memo -- dated Nov. 28, 2006 -- that has never been published before. He wrote that an outgoing president nearly always defines the next election and argued that people almost never seek a replica -- certainly not after the presidency of George W. Bush. In 2008, people were going to be looking for a replacement, someone who represented different qualities. In Axelrod's opinion, Obama's profile fit this historical moment far better than did Hillary Rodham Clinton's. If he was right, Obama could spark a political movement and prevail against sizable odds. He also counseled Obama against waiting for a future opportunity to run for president. 'History is replete with potential candidates for the presidency who waited too long rather than examples of people who ran too soon. . . . You will never be hotter than you are right now.'"

"'What was remarkable in my mind about our campaign was we never really changed our theory. You could read the speech we gave the day I announced and then read my speech on election night, and it was pretty consistent.'"

Sphere: Related Content

Is The Crisis At NYC Art Istitutions A Learning Experience

City Journal describes the trouble New York City's cultural venues are experiencing and struggles they will face over the next two years. Some institutions became too reliant on endowment investment income and have seen losses around 35%. Coupled with that contributions are down while art supporters feel the economy tightening their own belts and the city contribution to institutions is predictably down. Lay-offs, reduced hours, reduced service and canceled exhibits are being seen all over the city. Unfortunately some smaller institutions close amid this economic terror for the arts.

Sad times for the city. What is the impact on the tourist cache? Will institutions learn to be more conservative with endowment investments? Sphere: Related Content

The Bible According To Bedford Avenue

I miss my old neighborhood. I was there for nearly a decade but luckily the hipsters that live there now bring there hipsterness to the web.

The bible according to Bedford Ave.
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Palin Mountain - I Can Quit You? Update

Meg Stapleton, Palin spokesperson, issues statement via Facebook:

"No Truth to Latest Rumors

Yet again, some so-called journalists have decided to make up a story. There is no truth to the recent 'story' (and story is the correct term for this type of fiction) that the Palins are divorcing. The Palins remain married, committed to each other and their family, and have not purchased land in Montana (last week it was reported to be Long Island).

Less than one week ago, Governor Palin asked the media to 'quit making things up.' We appreciate that the more professional journalists decided to question this story before repeating it."

Sphere: Related Content

Palin Mountain - I Can Quit You?

Reports out of Alaska that the Palins are getting divorced. Sphere: Related Content

Toilet Paper Roll Art

Faces made from empty toilet paper rolls.






















Thanks to The Daily Dish Sphere: Related Content

What Would Insurance Premiums Be Like For A Blind Driver

Washington Post reports on a car designed by Va. Tech students for the blind. Another DARPA inspired project. Sphere: Related Content

High Minded Political Attack Ads

Found through Jonah Goldberg at National Review Sphere: Related Content

Clear Channel Passes On Palin

It is being reported at Media Bistro that Clear Channel passed on Palin for radio show. Sphere: Related Content

Henry Louis Gates Makes Nice Gesture To 911 Caller

The Boston Globe reports that Gates sent Lucia Whalen flowers. Sphere: Related Content

CNN Makes Money From Group Attacking Lou Dobbs

The Plum Line reports that Media Matters bought airtime on CNN to run ads attacking Lou Dobbs on the birther issue. Perhaps Jon Klein's support of Dobbs' "judgment as various stories evolve" is wavering or perhaps CNN just needs the money

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If Olbermann Can't Attack O'Reilly Why Watch UPDATE

Glenn Greenwald at Salon takes the NY Times story about NBC and Fox to the place where the NY Times should have. Greenwald writes:

"So here we have yet another example -- perhaps the most glaring yet -- of the corporations that own our largest media outlets controlling and censoring the content of their news organizations based on the unrelated interests of the parent corporation."

He goes further:

"It makes no difference what one thinks of O'Reilly's attacks on the corporate activities of GE or Olbermann's criticisms of O'Reilly and Fox News. Whatever one's views on that are -- and I watch neither show very often -- those are perfectly legitimate subjects for news reporting and commentary, and the corporate decree to stop commenting on those topics is nothing less than corporate censorship."

Greenwald also takes issue with the guest hosting slots by Richard Wolffe on the Olbermann program. I was unaware that Wolffe had left Newsweek for a corporate communication position, essentially a lobbyists. I was more disturbed by Howard Dean hosting. Sphere: Related Content

If Olbermann Can't Attack O'Reilly Why Watch.

The NY Times Business section reports on the deals being struck by NBC and Fox News to be nice to each other. Sphere: Related Content

Are You A Better Painter Than A Six Year Old?

This was painted by a six year old boy. Here is the story at the Daily Mail.
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Will Losing Expertise Cost Us An Art And A Leg?

Robert Lee Hotz laments the loss of technical skills from generation to generation. Hotz uses the art and science of art restoration to explain the distressing situation we face as one generation of skilled people retire without passing on those skills to younger people.

Sorry about the stupid pun in the title. Sphere: Related Content

Isn't This A Lovely Moment

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What Does The Country Know About Barack Obama

Matthew Yglesias at Think Progress shows this chart about misconceptions of President Obama. Follow the links to Think Progress for more info and commentary.

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Is There Any Surprise Where The Birthers Are?

Research conducted by Research 2000 for the Daily Kos asked respondents the question, "Do you believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States of America or not?"

Results by region:

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Clip Of Suspended Boston Cop Speaking With Larry King

Here is a clip from the recent interview conducted by Larry King with the Boston cop suspended for sending racist email.

My impression:
This man should be fired. While listening to him it sounds like he does not understand that his actions were wrong or offensive. He apologizes to police officers, soldiers and citizens but not to the author of the editorial nor Professor Gates who he called a jungle monkey. His excuse is that he did not mean for people to perceive his words as offensive or racist. He asserts that he isn't a racist. I think this guy is a racist. The quote that stands out from the apology is, "I did not intend any racial bigotry, harm or prejudice in my words." How is that possible? I could forgive a person that makes a statement that is prejudice or bigoted, if afterward they are aware that what they said is wrong and understand why it is wrong. This man is not aware of that he is racist.

Sorry about the quality.

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More Shatner Reading Palin's New Poem

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Boston Cop Apologizes, Should He Be Fired?

The cop suspended from the Boston PD for writing a racist email has apologized. He is going to fight the PD to keep his job if he is fired. His lawyer said, "I think the department has taken such an outwardly over-proportional response," he said. "We have police officers who do heroin, cocaine and keep their job, beat their wives, keep their jobs. The mayor isn't out on TV saying they're g-o-n-e."

If that is his argument he should start looking for a new job.

Should the cop be fired?

I think so. We are continuously told that cops should get the benefit of the doubt. I don't think that is appropriate but that it what some think is appropriate because cops do a potentially dangerous job. If we are to give cops this benefit we should also hold them to a higher standard of behavior. I think the language and ideas in this email surpass that standard. Sphere: Related Content

Will Same Sex Marriage Really Lead To The End Of Civilization? Wasn't Ending Segregation Supposed To Do That.

Charles Cooper in a letter to the Wall Street Journal yesterday contradicted an Op-Ed essay written by David Boies published in the same paper on July 20.

Cooper’s contention is that the State of California has the right to ban same sex-marriage obviously Boies’ argument is just the opposite. My agreement with Boies could not be stronger.

Boies makes an explicit argument that equates Jim Crow and anti-miscegenation laws as being the same as a law banning same sex marriage. In his letter, Cooper attempts to show that the two issues are not analogous. I whole heartily disagree with Cooper.

Cooper asserts that Boies argument only serves to defame “as bigoted not only the majority of Californians, but also the overwhelming majority of Americans.” He writes:

“The traditional definition of marriage has nothing in common with anti-miscegenation laws.”

As you read his argument and ponder on the implications that arise from them you can find that similar arguments were made in support of anti-miscegenation laws.

Cooper's argument rests on the belief that same sex marriage is not natural because homosexuals cannot procreate and this change in marriage laws would lead to the downfall of our civilization. He writes:

“It is an undeniable biological fact that only opposite sex relationships naturally, and often inadvertently, produce children. Accordingly, traditional opposite-sex marriages further the fundamental purpose of marriage in a way that same-sex relationships do not. This purpose of marriage goes to the very survival of civilization.”

Coopers argument, as I understand it, is that the natural order dictates that only a man and a woman together can reproduce “naturally” and marriage is the institution that can facilitate the development of the offspring to maintain civilization. Ultimately what Cooper is arguing is the demise of our civilization will come if we expand the definition of marriage because justification of homosexuality would eventually lead to a rise in the acceptance of it and the inevitable rearing of children by homosexuals. This argument shuns the scientific consensus that homosexuality is a naturally occurring deviation from the norm. As ridiculous as I find this it is not the problem I have with Cooper’s argument.

His assertion that efforts to ban same sex marriage have “nothing in common with anti-miscegenation laws” is belied by my understanding of his argument and the history of arguments in support of anti-miscegenation laws. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy details the history of anti-miscegenation laws in his essay “The Enforcement of Anti-Miscegenation Laws.” Kennedy quotes a passage from a letter:

“White race purity is the corner-stone of our civilization. Its mongrelization with non-white blood, particularly with negro blood, would spell the downfall of our civilization.”

I am certain that arguments have been made throughout history similar to Coopers. Many changes in society have elicited the cry that society will fail. Arguments have been asserted that civilization began to fall when women received the voting franchise. The same arguments were made in the failed efforts to preserve school segregation.

These argument are based on the fear of the unknown or misunderstood.

On the issue of “judicial activism”, is it the role of the jurist to apply a specific belief as to the definition of our civilization or is the jurist only required to apply our laws to issues, such as same sex marriage? Is it judicial activism to measure our laws against what our constitution allows or is judicial activism to measure laws against our own belief of what civilization should be? I think the former should be path chosen by our judges.

I would hope that courts hear arguments on these laws and decide on the merits of the arguments as they relate to our legal precedent not “age old definitions” of civilization.

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John Stossel On The Minimum Wage

Stossel writes at Reason an argument against minimum wages. Not a new argument but an economically sound one. Sphere: Related Content

Fox Affiliate In Boston Releases Email From Boston Cop

This is an image of the email sent buy Boston cop suspended for calling Gates "jungle monkey." Be aware that it is disgusting but I am sure you figured that already. Click on image for better view.

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PBS Wide Angle: Contestant No. 2

Wide Angle's Contestant No. 2 is a beautiful presentation of Duah Fares' struggle for courage in the face of religious parochialism. I don't want to write much more about the program because there is no fun in ruining the story for you. It is great. You should see it. Sphere: Related Content

Beautiful Women Will Have Sex With Any Man, Researchers Say

OK they really don't say that but they do report that women are getting more attractive as men's attractiveness does not evolve at all.

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have found, as reported in The Times:

"'If more attractive parents have more daughters and if physical attractiveness is heritable, it logically follows that women over many generations gradually become more physically attractive on average than men.'

In men, by contrast, good looks appear to count for little, with handsome men being no more successful than others in terms of numbers of children. This means there has been little pressure for men’s appearance to evolve."

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Time For A Laugh

Jimmy Kimmel Bleeps People -- Funny

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Ann Coulter Thinks The President Planted The Gates Questions In The News Conference

Coulter writes in HOW ABOUT A NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON RACE HOAXES?:

You could not ask for a more perfect illustration of the thesis of my latest book, 'Guilty: Liberal Victims and Their Assault on America,' than the black president of the United States attacking a powerless white cop for arresting a black Harvard professor -- in a city with a black mayor and a state with a black governor -- as the professor vacations in Martha's Vineyard.

President Barack Obama planted the question during a health care press conference, hoping he could satisfy the Chicago Sun-Times, which has been accusing him of not being black enough. He somehow imagined that the rest of the country might not notice the president of the United States gratuitously attacking a cop in a case of alleged 'racial profiling.'"

If she wants to talk about hoaxes we should start with how anyone would put her on a list of the top 100 Public Intellectuals.

As if this situation wasn't bad enough its now helping Coulter sell books. Sphere: Related Content

Boston PD Acts Smartly, Suspends Cop For Calling Gates A "Jungle Monkey"

A Boston, Mass. cop writes email to friends calling Henry Louis Gates a " Jungle Monkey." I wan to hear the nuts defend him from being suspended. Is this just one idiot cop? Sphere: Related Content

Andrew Sullivan is entering Lou Dobbs territory.

Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish is one of my favorite places to get a broad spectrum of information. So this pains me. This afternoon he wrote at the Dish:

"On The Birthers"

"So many readers are furious that I have dared to ask the president to show the original copy of his birth certificate. The reason for demanding it is the same reason for demanding basic medical records proving Sarah Palin is the biological mother of Trig.

Because it would make it go away and it's easily done.

I'm tired of these public officials believing they have some right to privacy. They don't. It's the price of public office. If you don't like it, don't be president. And for goodness' sake, don't run for president on a platform of transparency."

I agree with Sullivan's overall premise that people who enter the arena to compete for public office are waving much of their right to privacy. But I depart from his opinion when the call for further information will not provide additional useful information. It has been widely accepted that the documents released and statements made by officials have proven Barack Obama to be a natural citizen of the Unites States. The release of any further documents will just be a repetition of previously released evidence.

I also disagree that this issue will go away. Sullivan will probably be satisfied but the lunatic fringe birthers will likely deny the information or mutate their complaint to fit the new facts.

If people don't accept the released information I can't but think that they believe that additional information would contradict the present evidence.

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Instapundit asks, "If Congress can tax plastic surgery, can it tax abortion?"

Instapundit

Right off the bat, I think an argument against this type of tax would be that it is very regressive. There is also the matter of taxing a protected right. The TaxProf Blog covers the latter angle.

Paul Caron writes:

"Although there have been various suggestions to tax abortion, a colleague tells me that such a tax would raise serious constitutional concerns. In Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue, 460 U.S. 575 (1983), the Supreme Court held that a Minnesota use tax on the cost of paper and ink products violated a newspaper's First Amendment rights. Although the precise contours of this doctrine are much debated, a tax singling out the exercise of the constitutional right of abortion would likely face special scrutiny. But a general tax on elective cosmetic surgery that also reached elective abortions may be permissible under the Minneapolis Star doctrine."

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