Archive for February, 2010

No podcast this week


Posted by Bruno on February 28th, 2010

Sorry folks, due to travel schedules, we’re not going to have a podcast this week. We’ll be back next week.

Scared? I am.


Posted by Matski on February 28th, 2010

Lately on the show, I’ve been talking a lot about my growing fear of right-wing extremism.
We’ve received a few comments from listeners, mostly accusing me of being a bit hysterical about the whole thing. And while I generally understand that criticism, I do think that the country’s taking an ugly turn. [...]

 
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Links Mentioned: long-term unemployment … deflation vs. inflation …. Bayh’s op-ed

 
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McGinn Walks Back Staff Cuts


Posted by Bruno on February 10th, 2010

Mayor Mike McGinn, whom we supported for mayor when it Greg Nickels was eliminated, is turning out to be pretty ineffective in his first month or so on the job.
He’s now having to walk back his proposed staff cuts in the face of opposition from the entrenched bureaucracy:
During his campaign, McGinn promised repeatedly [...]

Instant Runoff Voting at the Oscars


Posted by Bruno on February 8th, 2010

Every once in a while, there are glimmers of hope for American democracy.
I’ve been complaining for the last few weeks to anyone who will listen that the increase from 5 Best Picture Nominees to 10 is a bad move, because it will increase the randomness — for lack of a better word — of the [...]

Episode 418: Superbowl Ads, Tea Party, DADT


Posted by Bruno on February 7th, 2010
 
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Links Mentioned: RAND’s study on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Defense Spending


Posted by Bruno on February 3rd, 2010

On this week’s podcast, we discussed the President’s gimmicky pledge to freeze “non-defense” spending in 2011. For your edification, here’s a chart showing defense spending over recent years:

To put that in context, the total discretionary budget for every other department of government combined — that’s education, HHS, agriculture, commerce, the VA, everything — totals [...]

Episode 417: State of the Union, HSR


Posted by Bruno on February 1st, 2010
 
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Links Mentioned: Nate Silver’s SOTU keyword analysis … Map of high-speed rail grants


Now Playing: Episode 422: Biden in Israel, Health Care, David Brooks

 
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David Brooks on Obama.

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