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Tag Archives: policy

Dear Lord Baby Jesus, we come before you today to inaugurate the new president of the United States of God…

Posted on 2008.12.18 by Bonesparkle 7 comments

Well, here’s a fine howdy-do: Rick Warren, pastor of the mother of all mega-churches, has been tapped to channel Jesus conduct a seance deliver the invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration. Because Warren is, you know, a “moderate.” …in 2004 Warren declared that marriage, reproductive choice, and stem cell research were “non-negotiable” issues for Christian voters and has admitted that the

Is America ready for an honest conversation about abortion yet?

Posted on 2008.12.17 by winterSmith 36 comments

In this season’s eighth episode, Boston Legal – the relentlessly liberal ABC dramedy starring William Shatner and James Spader – lobbed an absolute bomb at those of us on the pro-choice side of the Roe v. Wade question. The bunker-buster was posed, predictably enough, by Crane Poole & Schmitt’s resident conservative, the gleefully Republican Denny Crane, portrayed by Shatner. BL

RIAA, meet RICO

Posted on 2008.11.24 by winterSmith 2 comments

Finally, FINALLY we’re starting to treat the RIAA like an organized crime syndicate. Check the latest on a RICO class-action in Missouri, via Slashdot: “In Atlantic Recording v. Raleigh, an RIAA case pending in St. Louis, Missouri, the defendant has asserted detailed counterclaims against the RIAA for federal RICO violations, fraud, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, prima

ElecTunesDay: ending the War on Music

Posted on 2008.11.04 by winterSmith 8 comments

Trusting is one thing I don’t know When it comes to the campaigning men But I’ll meet you at the election When I vote for the hope of this land – Sean Kelly You may have noticed, if you’ve been paying attention, that the music industry has gone to hell of late. It isn’t that nobody is making good music

Why do so many bad ideas seem natural to voting Americans?

Posted on 2008.03.04 by winterSmith 7 comments

Joe Brewer and George Lakoff have published a new analysis that looks at the importance of “cognitive policy” – the process of constructing the assumptions that underlie actual material policy decisions. For instance: Conservative cognitive policy over many years has resulted in the following ideas being promulgated to the public: Successful wealthy people merit their success. Those who are not

Will.I.Am says Yes.We.Can

Posted on 2008.02.02 by winterSmith 25 comments

I don’t know what kind of musical talent lies in the McCain and Romney camps, but right now Obama is whomping the bejeezus out of Hillary’s girl Celine.

Is Obama the new JFK?

Posted on 2008.01.07 by winterSmith 36 comments

Something big happened a few nights ago in Iowa. Barack Obama began the evening as one of the top two contenders for the Democratic nomination and by the time people went to bed he was John F. Kennedy. This might sound like hyperbole – and to be sure, the race is far from won – but if the results we

Giuliani’s foreign policy advisor speculates wildly about NIE report

Posted on 2007.12.04 by winterSmith 14 comments

Neocon extraordinaire Norman Podhoretz, who currently works as Rudy Giuliani’s foreign policy advisor, is engaging in some wild speculation today regarding the new National Intelligence Estimate report on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Writing at Commentary Magazine, he suggests that the US intelligence community may be gaming its analysis on Iran to undercut Bush’s march to war. But I entertain an even

Britney coverage is in the public interest and Iran isn’t; are we as dumb as they think we are?

Posted on 2007.11.07 by winterSmith 21 comments

Well, here’s a fine howdy-do first thing this morning: an absolutely breathtaking bit of misdirection and pro-monopolist hackery masquerading as a good-faith critique of Bill Moyers. Moyers’ point seems to be that the opposite of more consolidation is the existence of more stations like this one in Chicago.This is absolutely false and Mr. Moyers should know it. The opposite of

The problem with democracy in America…

Posted on 2007.10.31 by Bonesparkle 48 comments

In my most recent post, one commenter repeatedly insisted that I offer a solution or an alternative for the problems I was pointing to. As I noted there, I never suggested that there was a problem, and even if there were, it’s hardly my job to be proposing a lot of solutions that aren’t going to be acted on. If

Saturday Video Roundup: edufication in the America

Posted on 2007.10.13 by winterSmith 6 comments

Howdy, folks, and welcome to Saturday Video Roundup, where today our guests tackle the tricky issue of education and politics. Up first, one of our heroes offers some thoughts on education in our ownership society.

Reframing the Republican lie about wealth in America

Posted on 2007.07.31 by winterSmith 72 comments

In America, the Republicans are seen as the party of money and wealth. This perception is certainly accurate in one sense – the GOP is the favored party of the wealthy elite. Unfortunately, the party is also supported in large numbers by those who have no wealth, and thanks to the policies of the Republican party, no hope of ever