Archive for October, 2006
Great piece from Camille Paglia, icon of “third wave” feminism. Paglia offers a wide-ranging reflection on the (tarnished and tottering) state of our union in Salon. About the Dems, Paglia notes: The Democrats have to start fresh and throw out the entire party superstructure. I was bitterly disappointed after voting for Ralph Nader that he [...]
As some of you will know, one of my bete noirs is poor personal hygiene, especially of the kind that leads to spreading illness. I sort of understand why hourly wage workers are reluctant to miss time from work, but it bothers me tremendously to see salaried employees — all of whom have laptops and [...]
And Just Last Night I Had A Nightmare That This Damned NPR Pledge Drive Would Never End
Posted by Contrarian on October 26th, 2006
My blue state head is about to explode . . . Halloween at New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast’s house: Roz Chast hates Halloween. And so it is with resignation that she anticipates the events of this Tuesday, which include the publication of her latest book of cartoons and the appearance of 1,000 or so strangers [...]
With the Dems looking increasingly like the Chicago Cubs of politics (So much talent! The other teams are so bad! So many fans! How can they lose? Doh!) [aside: today's personal "Election 2006 Optimism Meter - 2 (out of ten)], I find myself waffling about Dean’s “50 State Strategy.” In some respects, I can get [...]
If a guy runs from his own Doctrine, it probably a bad Doctrine
Posted by The Chief on October 25th, 2006
Speaking of bullshit, this Lawrence Kaplan piece in TNR, self-indulgently entitled “The Bush Doctrine Must Survive the Iraq War,” definitely qualifies. I was with Larry Kaplan — and I might still be with him on this — when he wrote a piece earlier this year called “The Case for Staying in Iraq.” That piece was [...]
This is the most ridiculous shit we have yet to see from this administration– and that’s quite an honor, given the prolific quantities of ridiculous bullshit these guys have thrown at us over the last 6 years. “We will stay the course. We will help this young Iraqi democracy succeed,” he said in Salt Lake [...]
King County wants to trade its Airport to the Port of Seattle in exchange for a potential 43-mile bike trail. Of course, the Port doesn’t own the trail (currently a BNSF rail line) yet, so it’s going to buy it from the rail company, just as soon as Boeing — the company after whom the [...]
Good piece by Dan Voelpel in the Tacoma News-Tribune on how Portland does the whole new-urban smart-growh thang. Item #1 on the list? Tax Increment Financing, one of the Prof’s favorite ideas. Turns out that Washington is one of only two states that don’t allow TIF. Weird. Anyway, the point is that these things don’t [...]
They Act Like Being Like James Garner Is A Positive Thing*
Posted by Contrarian on October 25th, 2006
As a dyed-in-the-woll independent voter I like the idea of elected officials and politicians “speaking their minds” and all that. Personalities like John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg are hailed as straight shooters. In this worldview sometimes it seems that being a “maverick” is the best quality to which one can aspire. On the [...]
Ackerman Gores Leftward . . . But What’s With All The Skulls?
Posted by Contrarian on October 25th, 2006
An insider’s account of why Spencer Ackerman was fired from the New Republic: In what [TNR editor Franklin] Foer called the “proximate cause,” Mr. Ackerman had been using that personal blog — titled “Too Hot for TNR” — to disparage the magazine. Again with the Web logs: On Sept. 1, senior editor Lee Siegel was [...]
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