March 2010 Archives

It has been almost a week since I wrote last and I have a pretty good excuse. A relative of my wife's passed away over the weekend. I wasn't going to bring my computer and my Iphone ended up going on the fritz on the way back home. My customer service experience with Apple will be the subject of another column soon. Suffice it to say, everything is almost back to normal after the ten...

There's just no pleasing some people. President Obama proposes to open up much of the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the North coast of Alaska to offshore oil and gas drilling and what is the response of Rep. John Boehner (R-Darque Tan)? It's not enough: "President Barack Obama's plan to allow expanded offshore oil and gas exploration won rebuke from the top House Republican on Wednesday. House Minority Leader John Boehner...

We're all familiar with the shenanigans of Westboro Baptist Church.  From protesting outside soldier's funerals holding signs that say "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" to protesting outside the Obama children's private school to running a disgusting website that I won't link you to because I like you too much, this guy is the very definition of an out of control extremist prick.  He believes that the Iraq war is God's punishment for America's tolerance of...

The chorus of those calling for breaking up the big banks is growing larger and louder by the day. Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) in a speech on the floor of the Senate last Friday:"These mega-banks are too big to manage, too big to regulate, too big to fail and too interconnected to resolve when the next crisis hits.  We must break up these banks and separate again those commercial banking activities that are guaranteed by...

Regulatory capture: a term used to refer to situations in which a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead acts in favor of the commercial or special interests that dominate in the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. See also John C. Dugan, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Related subject: Washington/Wall Street revolving door. From today's New York Times:Houston"For now at least, the nation's front line for...

My fellow native Texans and fellow southerners, are you tired of being harassed, discriminated against, maligned, ridiculed, and otherwise mistreated because of your southern ancestry? Are you tired of being told, "you talk funny?" Ever had those Yankee carpetbaggers in your neighborhood shake their heads when you proudly fly the Stars and Bars on Jefferson Davis' birthday? Well, we don't have to take it any more. Just declare yourself a Confederate Southern American on your...

I heard John McCain speak this morning on the news about the "sleazy, back door politics" of the Dems that are ramming this horrible healthcare bill through and how the American people don't want it.Hmm... sleazy. What does that make me think of ...Ehrlichman: "Edgar Kaiser is running his Permanente deal for profit. And the reason that he can ... the reason he can do it ... I had Edgar Kaiser come in ... talk...

This has been a very eventful couple of weeks. The health care debate seems to be like grandma on the respirator, but the discussion has quickly moved in recent days from health care to the level of discourse in our country. There have been several good pieces here that you should take a look at (Eljefe had a great piece this morning on right wing hate speech, Astrogirlkel had another on Ann Coulter, and Jefe...

Ann Coulter has been touring Canadian Universitites and making speeches, usually filled with vitriol and racial slurs (but we'll get to that part later).  University of Ottawa Academic Vice President and Provost Francois Houle sent Ann Coulter an e-mail this past Friday, reminding her of 'the strong Canadian tradition of respect, restraint, and consideration' before her booked speaking engagement with them.  Some text from the letter: Dear Ms. Coulter, I understand that you have been...

Now that health care reform, such as it is, has been signed, sealed, and set to be delivered in varying stages between now and 2014, can we please move on to other things. Believe it or not there are some significant storm clouds on the horizon which have the potential to come on shore sooner than 4 years from now, and which might merit some attention from policymakers in Washington, D.C. Such as:The next wave...