Nugland

So now they tell us.

Seriously, though, the GOP has been claiming that reducing spending (mixed with, what, Unicorn farts?) would bring the economy back around for months now. Why the shift? Oh, right, because cutting spending has done the exact opposite. It is, like, actual economics or something… Continue reading

Fair warning: the fact that the current debate in Washington is between two (nearly identical) ‘austerity’ plans means that my country is ruled by assholes that apparently hate us citizens, and that the next ten years (guessing) will be miserable, and that after surviving that misery the country may be broken beyond immediate repair.

Normally it is just one side of the debate that insists on being ignorant of… Continue reading

… many of the current Republican leaders apparently believe that their own cockamamie ideas represent economic reality.

They think that history will somehow prove them to be prescient. They think that the Democratic party’s approach to economic problems will leave the US in a ditch (and that the voters will blame the Democrats for getting us there).

The problem they are going to have with that is that… Continue reading

Talking Points Memo is telling us that ‘McConnell Proposes Giving Obama Authority To Raise Debt Limit Alone’.

The gist of what McConnell is saying: ‘We [Republicans] can’t get you to see this our way, so you can have your stupid debt ceiling raised. But we’re warning you: you’ll have to face the consequences!’

The funny part is that they think government spending is actually the problem… Continue reading

The Republicans are holding up approval for raising the debt ceiling (translation: refusing to pay America’s bills) unless they get $2 trillion in budget cuts. That is a ridiculous position right now, for two obvious reasons: 1, cutting spending in a recession is very tough on the economy (and would lead to another recession) and, 2, not paying your bills leads to people not trusting you enough to lend you… Continue reading

How were all the books I want to read ever written? The people who wrote these books must have wanted to read, like, a bazillion other books about all the stuff they were interested in.

Today, I cleaned the bathroom and got through about 3.72% of The Third Reich at War. I’m proud of the fact that I read Richard Evans’ two previous books, but that dude freaking… Continue reading

I am a self-identified liberal, and I know in my heart that voting for Obama will be my best opportunity to express my feelings in November 2012, but I am starting to think that another (semi-)serious way to express my current feelings would be to not vote at all in 2012.… Continue reading

(One among many, but this is the real deal-breaker for me.)

Obama’s plan to reduce the FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) contribution.

This is money that is separate from your income tax and is the money that is intended to pay for your Social Security benefits.

Republicans have a long history of hating Social Security and hoping that it would go away. One of their favorite tactics… Continue reading

Broadly (and, perhaps, obviously): Information. [read more]

…they are funded separately from the income tax and the general budget.

Take a look at one of your pay-stubs if you don’t believe me. Them’r separate deductions.

I only bring this up because were entering an era (hopefully brief) where some politicians [cough-republicans-cough] will try and tell you that Social Security and Medicare have to be ‘fixed’ in order to save the general budget.

The people… Continue reading

Juan Williams, formerly of NPR and Fox News, is no longer employed by NPR, according to this New York Times story.

I have a feeling that NPR probably had an intern reviewing all of his public statements, and were waiting for him to go that last millimeter too far. I figure that it took this long because, in his usual smarmy way, Williams would always very carefully hedge… Continue reading

Some people think so, apparently. But if a quote like this:

Wordiness is a problem for one white woman who spoke to researchers about NPR: “I think it can be clever and quirky, and smart and insightful. But I don’t choose to listen to it because it’s too much talking for me.

… is anything to go by, then I think that NPR would be better off… Continue reading

I’m not bringing this up because of any call I saw tonight (though there is a recent call that now comes to mind), I’m just tired of American baseball being so awful about adding a video replay official to their game.

It is simple. Give the on-field officials one more, er, official hand gesture: ‘go to the video’ (Cricket, a game that has been played since

As I’m sure many of you are aware of, there are some immediate economic problems facing the United States right now. A big one is that our economy isn’t doing much lately; it’s in a bit of a stall.

The idea behind capitalism, as a system, is that people with money available to invest in things actually invest in things that will make these wealthy people more money. A… Continue reading

So this Rand Paul character wins the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky. For a seat left in contention thanks to the resignation of the really good baseball player and, arguably, lousy Senator Bunning.

Rand Paul is a self-identified libertarian, and has, now, exposed some of the problems I have always had with libertarians. Chiefly, the libertarian idea that the occult hand of the market will correct errors — any… Continue reading

And he had Jeremy Clarkson and Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. on, and that’s not what I want to type about. Nope.

I’m annoyed that an eHarmony.com ad made a big deal about intellect being one of 29 things that they match people up by. Seriously? Intellect and 28 other things? Um. Fuck eHarmony.com.

How about Intellect and then twenty-eight other, less important things. That may or… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Nova, the PBS show for kids, did a takedown on the ‘Chicago’ school of Economics (A.K.A. ‘Freshwater’ school). It was delicious. There were even interviews with all the Chicago big-wigs; they smugly defended their theories (which was predictable) while every other part of the show — both the science bits and the straight history bits — proved them wrong.

Priceless.

The whole thing is available online from PBS… Continue reading

The Shrill One explains why I’ve been kinda’ bummed out lately in a new must-read blog post. Let’s hope that his hopes are not in vain… Continue reading

So, the wingnut rump of the Republican party seems to want to expel all the old-school Republicans, and they like to call them RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).

What should people call the non-RINO Republicans? Well, according to my friend Mark Best, the answer is:

BLOND PIGs

Bullies, Liars, Obstructionists and Nuts Driving the Party Into the Grave.

Nicely done, says I… Continue reading

It appears that he’s worried about ‘distractions’, and would like it if all the people like me who assumed that all the secret stuff that Bush & Co. did would eventually see the light of day would, like, chill.

Um, fuck that. Seriously, fuck that.

The following appears in all-caps for emphasis:

THE TRUTH IS NEVER A DISTRACTION. IT IS WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING… Continue reading