Friday, February 27, 2015
Today, the FCC made two important decisions that will have a profound effect on the future of the internet. Most widely reported is their vote to reclassify the internet as a telecommunications service under Title II of the communications act. The immediate impact is that telecoms cannot charge extra for internet “fast lanes”. All traffic […]
Thursday, February 26, 2015
I’ve posted a number of stories (here, here, or here) about the conservative experiment going on in Kansas sponsored by the Koch brothers. It involves (in case you can’t guess) massive tax cuts for business (they pay no taxes), and massive cuts in education, roads, and social services. Ultra-conservative governor Sam Brownback predicted “enormous prosperity” […]
Monday, February 23, 2015
There is a somewhat long, but fascinating article in The Atlantic by Graeme Wood, which explains something that the mainstream media has gotten totally wrong. What is ISIS (or ISIL, or Islamic State, or whatever the press is calling it this week)? What motivates them? Why are they beheading fellow Muslims? Why are some Muslims […]
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Sunday, February 22, 2015
© Jon Rosenberg It really is true. An Oklahoma legislator is successfully pushing a bill to ban the teaching of an advanced American History course because it is not patriotic enough. He claims that the AP history course focuses on “what is bad about America” and fails to teach “American exceptionalism”. Considering that Oklahoma was […]
Friday, February 20, 2015
The election isn’t until November of 2016, over 20 months away, but the rhetoric has already started, and it doesn’t bode well for the future. For starters, some Republicans haven’t figured out that they are no longer running against Barack Obama. Take the words of Ted Cruz (on Fox News of course), who called Obama […]
Thursday, February 19, 2015
© Jen Sorensen Even animals know better than to crap up their homes! But what do I know, I’m not a scientist.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
A new set of polls from NBC News and Marist College are even more surprising than expected. The expected parts are that Republican voters don’t like presidential candidates who support things like Common Core, immigration reform, doing something about climate change, or raising taxes on the wealthy. The surprise part is that opposition to gay […]
Friday, February 13, 2015
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), in a craven attempt to burnish his ultra-conservative credentials (probably for the upcoming Republican presidential primary), has introduced a bill that would strip federal benefits from same-sex couples and leave it up to the states to restrict marriage as the union of one man and one woman. On his website, Cruz […]
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Jon Stewart announced tonight he will be leaving The Daily Show sometime later this year. He has been host for 16 years! Tonight’s episode also talked about another news anchor who is departing. NBC News suspended Brian Williams for six months without pay. Between these two announcements plus Stephen Colbert, how are we going to […]
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Wednesday, February 11, 2015
© Matt Bors In a strange, ironic way, it is comforting to know that it isn’t just conservatives who are anti-science. That way we can work together to address the problem. The other irony of vaccinations is that their effectiveness has led people to not appreciate them. I’m old enough to remember when childhood diseases […]
So, could you believe that the Boston Terrorist Bombing was possibly a false flag operation?
Following my recent post about bipartisanship, there is an interesting piece in The Guardian by Gary Younge: As a means, bipartisanship is, of course, an admirable goal: the more politicians are able to work together, put the interests of their constituents first and get things done, the better. The grandstanding, bickering and procedural one-upmanship that […]
Saturday, February 7, 2015
© Ted Rall What if Washington grid lock was the best thing that ever happened to us? What if it was the only thing keeping the rich and powerful from taking over, privatizing pretty much everything, and completely looting the government? Which would you rather have: Political paralysis or corporate big brother completely controlling everything? […]
The most ironic part is that Senator Tillis doesn’t seem to understand what a regulation is. Does he expect food establishments to just honestly tell you when things aren’t clean in their kitchens out of the kindness of their hearts? Seriously? Because if not, he just wants to replace one regulation with another regulation that […]
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Ever wonder what would happen if we didn’t have government regulations? You don’t have to wonder any more, because we have a class of products that has enjoyed virtually no regulation: dietary supplements like ginkgo bilboa, echinacea, and ginseng. For a long time there were no regulations on dietary supplements. Companies could manufacture almost anything, […]