This feed contains pages in the “politics” category.
So, you’ve apparently done some tea leaf reading, and decided that Scott Brown’s victory in MA means that we all hated the health-care bill, Coakley, and the “progressive agenda”.
You’re 1 for 3.
We’re not going to say any more about Coakley-the-disappearing-candidate. But we really were unhappy with the health care bill. Not because it goes too far, but because it SPENDS A BUNCH OF MONEY without actually providing quality health care for all. It’s not really progressive at all.
Obama and the Democratic party captured independents across the country by promising CHANGE. Think about that for a second, and then understand that the way to recapture the independents is not to do less. Also, some fiscal responsibility would be nice.
Thanks! -Massachusetts “unenrolled” (aka independent) voters
This article in The Boston Globe has some fascinating anecdotes and data on how uncommon it really is to go to college straight out of high school and finish a Bachelor’s degree in four years.
I’m curious to find out more. I wonder how that data changes for science vs. arts. I’d assumed that my many acquaintances from MIT who took more than four years to graduate were the exception—that “most people” manage to graduate even in technical fields in four years. It’s so ingrained an assumption that end up defending my own path through college: “I finished in 8 terms!”, I say, as if not doing so were a stain on my credentials as an engineer or a “good person”.
What I see more and more is that four-year-colleges aren’t, and even when high school graduates push themselves through a program in four years, the ones who went in without passion for a particular career or discipline come out without the skills and passion to succeed. And all this is setting entirely aside the disaster that is college financing—the great majority of those graduates will be struggling under the weight of their college loans for decades after graduation, especially the ones who left with a sheepskin but no passion or marketable skills.
Not that I know what to do about it, when (as the article mentions, and as I’ve seen in recruiting practices at my own company and others) companies are using not only a BS/BA, but minimum GPAs as the first filter in hiring. A Bachelor’s degree has become the new high school diploma—you can get a job without one, but not one that will support a family. So what do we do about changing that culture?
<a href='http://americanrevolutionblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/tea-parties-18th-century-v-21st-century.html'>American Revolution Blog</a> points out that the Boston Tea Party in 1773 was organized as a protest against a corporate tax exemption (duties on importing tea to the Americas for the East India Company). They noted that several wealthy colonists, like John Hancock, had interests in local tea merchants.
So, it looks like the answer is “maybe”.
A number of people gathered at the State House today to protest the recent rash of government bailouts with taxpayer money. My friend over at Cozy Corner was there, and has pictures.
Copyright http://cosikin.com 2009 under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License
This editorial (now nearly two months old, sorry) was written by the paper’s editor-in-chief, Lasantha Wickrematunge, a few days before he was shot and killed, apparently for his criticism of the government and its repression of the Sri Lankan people. He wrote this editorial after several attempts on his life and threats, and asked the paper to publish it if (when?) he should be killed.
The editorial itself is beautifully written—it precisely and unashamedly condemns the actions of the government in attempting to suppress the press. This section, in particular, caught my eye:
Every newspaper has its angle, and we do not hide the fact that we have ours. Our commitment is to see Sri Lanka as a transparent, secular, liberal democracy. Think about those words, for they each has profound meaning. Transparent because government must be openly accountable to the people and never abuse their trust. Secular because in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society such as ours, secularism offers the only common ground by which we might all be united. Liberal because we recognise that all human beings are created different, and we need to accept others for what they are and not what we would like them to be. And democratic… well, if you need me to explain why that is important, you’d best stop buying this paper.
As an American, I am blessed with (by and large) the sort of transparent, secular, liberal democracy that this man died for, and it is an excellent reminder to me of the blessings I have and the obligation that places on me to protect, preserve, and extend them.
H/T to The Big Picture for the link to the editorial
Julian Gough has (apparently) been working with Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to bail out Big Books.
He says: “Yes, it will be painful; it will be difficult; but at times like this, the Government must step in and perform its duty, as reader of last resort.”
I encourage you to join me in our patriotic and bibliophilic duty by reading whenever possible: while on the train, while walking down the street (trying not to walk into anything), in stairwells and lobbies, in parlors and packing-houses. I’m certain that if we all read together (and separately) we will be able to overcome this literary liquidity crisis*.
I do not encourage reading in the shower, however, to avoid more literal literary liquidity. * Unless you have a Durabook. Feel free to read that in the shower.
(Thanks to BoingBoing for the pointer to Julian Gough’s website! I’m amassing quite a collection of authors on my RSS reader. Neat!)
Oddly, this video was on John McCain’s blog with the title “Obama’s Pie Problem”. I’m not sure I understand why—so the man likes pie? I like pie too. I nearly bought pie at lunchtime, because I am a sucker for pumpkin pie. (I did not, because I’m trying to be good and lose weight.) Other than a guaranteed job opening for a pastry cook at the White House, I’m not sure what Mr. Goldfarb was after with this one. It’s fun, though, so here it is:
I am by no means a rabid Obama supporter. Even though I’ve since learned that I can not support McCain(1) and I’m still upset at the insinuation that I should support Sarah Palin because I like hockey and have two X chromosomes, I had a lovely time last fall freaking out my in-laws(2) by telling them I was considering voting for McCain.
However, I am thrilled to see my friends interested and active in the political process, and I enjoy vicarious(3) hair-dyeing experiences, so I present to you the below combination. The lovely Sasen, pictured at left, is the artist.
Obamania Hits Hard
Originally uploaded by nimlabs
(1) I’ve since realized we have some incompatible beliefs about how much government is permitted inside one’s home, doctor’s office, etc. and negative campaign ads really turn me off. Also, the “We must suspend our campaigns to Solve The Economy” thing irritates me, since I didn’t want Congress to do anything in the first place. (2) Politics is no longer an acceptable dinner table discussion when visiting inlaws or when they are visiting. Sometimes, keeping one’s mouth shut is essential for family harmony. (3) I’ve never dyed my hair(4)—I’m the only woman in my family who can say that, and one of few of my friends, especially the female ones. But I was thrilled when it looked like one of my bridesmaids would have hair that (accidentally) matched the bridesmaid dresses(5), and I love some of the bright colors and Cool Stuff that my friends do with their hair. (4) It’s too fragile—my hair is long, but it breaks at the slightest provocation. (5) She decided to dye it back to brown shortly before the wedding, but we may have pictures from trying on dresses where it matches the slate-blue dress.
I’m glad you’re conflicted over the bailout legislation that failed yesterday. I’m conflicted, too. As a 26-year-old engineer, I know I’m not among the millions of Americans most at risk from a market crash. If I lose everything in my 401k, it really won’t be that bad compared to the losses that my 65-year-old colleague would experience. And I really do care about the retirement investments of all those Boomers that will really suffer if the market crashes.
That said, I still can’t fathom spending $700 billion of my and my fellow Americans’ tax revenues to finance the bailout of the financial industry. Yes, if we allow the big financial companies to fail it will hurt normal Americans who invested in the stock market—but there will be appropriate consequences for the CFOs and traders and slice-and-dice commodity managers who made all these bad financial decisions in the first place. In contrast, a bailout package hands all those investors a “get out of jail free” card for all that bad debt. If we’re bailing out all these banks, what example does that set for the homeowners just barely making their mortgage payments—or who aren’t making them? A bailout package says that we as a society don’t value thrift and caution in finance—if you make bad bets, the government will come bail you out. That’s not the kind of lesson we should be teaching investors, big or small.
The best way to prevent current and future disasters is to incentivize good behavior. Please make sure Congress does so, and makes Wall Street start setting a good example for Main Street.
Update @ 11:34 Apparently the “Write to Your Congressman” website is broken, so this didn’t actually get sent yet. I’ll try again after lunch, I guess.
Update @ 16:43 Still down. screencapture for posterity
