Liberal Talk Radio

Okay, Mr. Contrarian.  Yes, the war is effectively “won” (won like we won Vietnam).  And, yes, the Dems are everywhere on the ascendent … although I’ll believe it when I see it [and, frankly, the likely victory in November will only mask the serious rot in the party's roots -- much like Steve Marucci's 49ers, it's a talented [...]

I have to admit that I’ve passed by Citgo stations on the few times recently when we’ve either rented or borrowed cars**. Apparently 7-Eleven has noticed:
Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier at more than 2,100 locations and switching to its own brand of fuel.
The retailer said Wednesday it [...]

It’s the five year anniversary of 9/11 (like, duh), so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by the ubiquity of patriotic spectacle today.
Still, I implore you - don’t remember.  At least, not in the sense of honoring that black day with a national day of rememberance.  Those who lost their lives on 9/11 will always be [...]

Of course the curmudgeon who smarmily pooh-poohs the value of the internet in the New Yorker then turns around and cuts his online staff in favor of a dead-tree publication:
Jay Rosen, a blogger and journalism professor at New York University, said the move was a “strategic error” and that the review should drop its print [...]

Time was, Kevin Smith would seem pathetic by putting out “Clerks II”. Now it just strikes one as rather “Grup”-like:
Dude, if I’m wearing the Silent Bob coat when I’m 40,” Kevin Smith once told his old friend and producing partner, he should be shot. The producer, Scott Mosier, recalls this in the DVD extras for [...]

Kos writes:
Robert Byrd, who voted for cloture on the Hate Amendment, actually opposes the amendment itself. All other Dems, except Nebraska’s Ben Nelson, also opposed the amendment, even many of our much maligned members like Max Baucus, Mary Landrieu, Mark Pryor, and Blanche Lincoln. That’s why even ‘imperfect’ Democrats are important. We won’t get [...]

Village Voice writer Anya Kamenetz tackles what I’ve long thought has been a much-overlooked issue — how unpaid internships exacerbate societal inequities:
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not identify interns or track the economic impact of unpaid internships. But we can do a quick-and-dirty calculation: according to Princeton Review’s “Internship Bible,” there were 100,000 internship [...]

First, Twelve Inches Of Snow. Now Miller Brewing is ditching bikini-clad babes for “thoughtful” commercials featuring a roundtable discussion of manliness led by Burt Reynolds. I don’t know which is worse:
If Miller Brewing is to be believed, the days of beer commercials stocked exclusively with brainless party boys and buxom blondes are over.
Instead, the company [...]

Fascinating article in the NYT about a new outsourcing trend: fast-food order call centers.
This article disturbs me on many levels … some transactions just seem far too personal to outsource (and, eventually, offshore).
But maybe I should be comforted by the fact that when these minimum wage faux-flippers have a bad day, there’s no risk they’ll [...]

Here’s another one I can’t stand, while I’m at it: “Ought.” Bloggers love this, and pols have started to catch on, too. “Ought” is the hip new word in the ’sphere. Not just in the old-fashioned “there ought to be a law!” either. No, these days, ought is everywhere. Matt [...]