March 2009 Archives

In his farewell address to the nation on January 17, 1961 President Eisenhower warned the country to be vigilant about the relationship between the government, the armed forces, and the industries and commercial interests they support–what he called the "military-industrial complex." Eisenhower spoke of what he called the "grave implications" of allowing the power and influence of that triad to get out of control: "Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the...

A recurring theme among the detractors of President Obama has been his reliance on a teleprompter. Anyone who spends time on the internet has seen it on an almost daily basis. In the minds of some this apparently is an indicator of a lack of intelligence, as ridiculous as that is when speaking about a Harvard graduate, editor of The Law Review, and author of 2 books. One of the bloggers on the far-right, John...

Here's what I'm reading today and find interesting:TPM Muckraker:  Stanford may be hiring DeLay attorney Raw Story: Texas Bill allows creationists to get Master of Science degree.  Geez... Pollster: Zogby, compared to other national polls, shows bias even worse than Rasmussen.Politifact: Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., earns Pants on Fire award.Election officials in Kentucky arrested by feds for vote stealing with electronic machines.Newshounds: Fox Noise complaining about presser being boring a week after saying Obama is frivolous. Have a...

I recently rediscovered Motley Crue and Nikki Sixx watching this season's episodes of LA Ink.  The central character in the show is Kat Von D, glamour girl of the tattooed set, who now dates Sixx.One episode talked about Sixx now being sober and I recalled him writing a memoir of his addictions and recovery called the Heroin Diaries that was published in 2007.  I'm reading it now.  Digging around on the net, I found Life...

Yesterday, the Fed announced yet another aggressive program to increase the money supply and decrease interest rates.  It announced intent to purchase $750 billion of government backed mortgage securities on top of the $500 billion it's already announced.  Additionally, it announced that it was buying $300 billion of long term treasury bonds.What's going on here?  Well.  The fed is alarmed that, despite the trillion-plus dollars that have been injected into the economy, that no one...

I've been a big fan of Jon Stewart of the Daily Show for years.  Not only is he very funny, he has a way of going after hypocrisy and dishonesty like no other pundit I've ever seen.  He has a way of dismantling some of the fastest talkers on television without shouting back at them.  Here his is in 2004 on Crossfire telling the hosts that they are hurting America (the clip is long, but...

For most of my life I was apolitical, didn't pay much attention to government affairs or politics.  Oh, I voted, paid my taxes, worked my job and raised my family, but wasn't particularly active in politics.  That began changing as I watched Republicans, especially in Texas, grab power, and then begin to steadily dismantle our government and its support systems in the name of "efficiency" and "small government" and other mantras that we've all heard. ...