Archive for January, 2007

Father Robert Drinan, Congressman


Posted by Bruno on January 31st, 2007

I didn’t know anything about the late Drinan, who was both a congressman from Boston and a Roman Catholic priest until Pope John Paull II made him step down (priests should be loyal to the Vatican and to God, the Pope reasonably argued).
This was of course, back in the 1970s, when priests like [...]

Friedman on Iran


Posted by Bruno on January 31st, 2007

Good Tom Friedman column today. He’s right to say that there’s no need for our relationship with Iran to be as confrontational as it is. The more we keep antagonizing them, the harder we make the situation. This goes back at least as far as 1953, when the CIA overthrew their democratically [...]

Hey, It’s Called States’ Rights


Posted by Contrarian on January 31st, 2007

Two years after approving civil unions, some Connecticut lawmakers are proposing that the state legalize full-fledged same-sex marriage:
The two Democratic leaders of the General Assembly’s judiciary committee say they intend to introduce a bill legalizing gay marriage, even though Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she would veto such a measure.
“This is obviously not the [...]

Andy Stern’s On The Trail


Posted by Bruno on January 31st, 2007

Harold Meyerson racks up the SEIU boss’s new initiatives. One asks Democratic candidates to spend a day with working-class candidates in the primary states, another, They Work for Us, monitors Democrats nationwide to make sure they don’t drift from the labor line (essentially a mirror image of the anti-tax Club for Growth on the [...]

Cuts to Farm Subsidies


Posted by Bruno on January 31st, 2007

This Bush proposal seems like a good thing:
The administration is seeking to eliminate farm payments for wealthy producers, limiting subsidy payments to those making less than $200,000 in adjusted gross income annually. The current income cap is $2.5 million.
Farm subsidies are on the order of $20B/year, and they’re largely a

Um, you left WHO in charge of the store?


Posted by Matski on January 30th, 2007

There are some things in life that are merely stupid. Then there are things that that are so stupid they make me want to run, screaming, in terror for the future of our species.
Before I post my little quote, just keep in mind two things. 1) Iran (according to our dimwit president anyway) [...]

More Great Game Fun


Posted by Bruno on January 30th, 2007

Following up on yesterday’s post, and building on what Matt says in the comments, Iran and Saudi Arabia are also “projecting soft power into a space in which we should be dominant,” (the Prof’s words) by working together to end the conflict in Lebanon.
In some ways, of course, that’s a good thing: more [...]

Dystopia


Posted by Bruno on January 30th, 2007

I caught this out of the corner of my eye on MyDD:

Al Franken, Curt Schilling… oy. Apparently John Elway is being pushed into the Colorado race as well. I’m having flashes of a dystopian future where the entire Senate and half the House is made up of former athletes, actors, and other assorted [...]

Pole Position: Baghdad


Posted by Bruno on January 29th, 2007

Andrew Sullivan has posted a great YouTube video of a U.S. Humvee driving through downtown Baghdad. Bumping the locals’ cars, as Sullivan writes, can “hardly endear the U.S. forces to the local population.” Indeed.
A couple of other interesting things. First, note that none of the traffic lights work. Second, [...]

Sims Wants in on the Viaduct Conversation


Posted by Bruno on January 29th, 2007

Sidelined by Hizzoner and the Guv (I smell a sitcom title!), King County exec (and BATP Official Favorite Local Politician) Ron Sims gives us 49 reasons to relax about the viaduct. He says that transit and traffic improvements can save 35,000 trips/day (of the current 110,000) for pennies on the dollar.
(via.)


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Unions and weatherization programs

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