Author: mongreldogs
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Health care reform passes
So, against all expectation, the Democratic Party managed to hang together and finally pass the comprehensive health care bill. As a lifelong Democrat, I am flabbergasted. I was certain they’d find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and fumble on the proverbial one-yard line. I’m glad to be disappointed, but this…
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The rising threat to music of the home taping phenomenon
This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3jkUhG68wY&feature=player_embedded) is a hilarious take-down of the music publishing industry’s allegation that personal filesharing is “killing” music. Part of the fun is figuring out the early 1980s references. Also, I would totally buy a flag that had that cassette-and-crossbones logo… Also, remember that according to former MPAA chief Jack Valenti, [T]he VCR is…
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David Brooks is disingenuous, delusional, or an idiot
Today, David Brooks had a column on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. It’s pretty much a standard Brooks piece, bemoaning the lack of civility in Washington today. It is wrong on its facts and wrong on its interpretations and laughably wrong on its understanding of politics. Ezra Klein takes it down analytically.…
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Texas approves explicitly conservative curriculum
The writing was on the wall for a while, but Texas just approved a revision to its history curriculum. It has an explicit conservative bent — I mean, literally, students are to learn about “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority…
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Reconciliation, in 90 seconds or less.
This video gives an explanation of the process of reconciliation vis a vis the health care bill. It’s brief, lucid, and informative. Needless to say, it won’t get airplay or attention. *sigh*
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I might just be succumbing to the lure of reliving my misspent youth…
… but this looks awesome. Apparently, the release date is 2010 December 17. Just for completeness, the original Comicon 2009 trailer is embedded below the fold.
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Idiot Quote of the Day
I don’t usually like to post these, but this one from Mary Matalin just floored me: The majority vote is tyranny of the minority. I agree that context is everything, so please, go ahead and read the whole bit. (You’ll have to search through the transcript; I’ll wait.)
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Our Broken Senate
Update: Also, news comes that Senator Richard Shelby has placed a blanket hold on Obama administration appointments, apparently as part of a plan to extort pork for his state. With Scott Brown having been seated, the Is the Senate broken? Or is the recent fretting over the filibuster just myopic whining that misunderstands our history? …
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Shouting in the wind
I know I’m not going to convince anybody, and this is far from the most important place to make this point, but I feel like I have to weigh in: Record snowfall does not “disprove” global warming. To advance the opposite proposition seriously, you’d have to do one or more of the following: Fail to…
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Our (Even More) Broken Senate
News comes that Senator Richard Shelby has placed a blanket hold on Obama administration appointments, apparently as part of a plan to extort pork for his state. With Scott Brown having been seated, the chance of cloture on these holds seems remote. So the Senate is even more broken. The danger is that this will…