Good Reads July 13 2009

Haven’t been blogging of late, but here’s some good reads to tide over folks who still travel here:
WriteChic: Man Murdered by Health Insurance Companies (Obama should read this EVERY DAY until Health Care Reform passes).
DailyKos: Health Care – If you think you’ll always be insurable, Think Again.
Crooks and Liars: Hard Hitting Advertising on Health Care [...]

Republicans Lieberman and Graham to Block Torture Evidence

Republicans Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham vowed to block torture evidence by “any means necessary” (HuffPost).
Wonder if they’d resort to torture?

Question for Randall Terry

Randall Terry,
Since you are effectively endorsing murder, if someone kills you will you have reaped what you’ve sown?
Or just maybe, will a fucking crime have been committed?
I disagree with you strongly, but I will never, ever advocate violence against you. That’s a key difference of character between us. And I feel for the [...]

Why Sotomayor is the Perfect Obama Nominee

In an excellent post one 10 Things You Should Know (about Sotomayor), number 7 is quite revealing (Huffington Post):
Sotomayor’s record on two key hot button cultural issues is thin. But, quite notably, her sole opinion regarding abortion was in line with the anti-abortion movement’s position.
…
That said, pro-choice groups hailed her nomination, with Planned Parenthood declaring [...]

Mitt Romney Doesn’t Understand the Courts

Mitt Romney’s weak attack on Sotomayer shows a startling failure to understand her statement or our judicial system.  And this guy wanted to be President?!
Romney said (via CNN):
“The nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is troubling. Her public statements make it clear she has an expansive view of the role of the [...]

Obama’s GM Gaffe

Obama’s strong words on GM may come back to bite him (BBC):
“Our auto industry is the foundation for economies all across the Midwest,” Mr Obama said.
“Had we allowed GM or Chrysler simply to liquidate that would have been a huge anti-stimulus on the economy as a whole, and could have dragged us even deeper into [...]

Andrew Sullivan: Shutting Down Discourse

If there is one thing I hate more than watching journalists cook up weak or phony examples of left wing wrong doing to “balance” their stories, its when those journalists use that nonsense to attempt to shut down discourse. Andrew Sullivan is a choice exemplar. He gives his Moore award to Sara Robinson [...]

California’s Prop8 Upheld

Reports are coming in from Twitter that Prop8 has been upheld (with an exception for existing marriages).  This should be overturned by votes in 2010 (Orcinus):
Fortunately, the polls suggest that if it went back to the ballot next year, there’s a good chance a reversal would probably pass. A lot of Californians who stood on [...]

Tax Havens Are Un-American

When you realize that nearly a $100 billion, annually, in tax revenue is going unpaid by large corporations, you have to wonder where are their tea parties?  Where are the pundits questioning the patriotism of companies that are so clearly helping send our country into debt by skirting federal taxes?  Are any of the companies [...]

Its Hard to Say Rape

Its hard to say rape, nevermind talk about it.  Yet talking about rape is the surest way to fight it.  Leaving rape as an unspeakable part of our discourse leaves victims and criminals out of the public consciousness, and only serves to aide rapists and rape-apologists.  The more we talk about rape, the less they [...]

Fighting Religious Tyranny

We need to step up our fight against religious tyranny, for there are surely those fighting as hard as they can on theocracy’s behalf.
The politically dominant expression (and face) of faith in this country is that of conservative Christianity.  And conservative Christians are in battle mode over their perceived right to force their religion on [...]

Anger: Markets and the Reverse Galt Reality

Watching Jon Stewart eviscerate Cramer, MSNBC and Financial Reporting was a cathartic experience.  All the more so with the rash of movement conservatives and talking heads putting Ayn Rand on a pedestal and contemplating the virtues of Going Galt.  Because the idea being “Going Galt” is that it is the CEO’s who are the wealth [...]

Brief Update and Two Recommended Posts

Shortly (I hope) I’ll be announcing a new education blog related to my nonprofit.  In the meantime I’d like to recommend two exceptionally insightful posts…

Happy Apologize for Getting Shot in the Face Day!

WriteChic is onto something big with her holiday idea:
Harry M. Whittington (born March 3, 1927) is the American lawyer and real estate investor who received international media attention on February 11, 2006.  He was shot in the face by Vice President Dick Cheney while hunting quail with two women on a ranch in Corpus Christi, [...]

Youtube and Pearl Records Don’t Understand Fair Use

A video of mine was taken down from Youtube due to a copyright complaint from Pearl Records (which seems to be Garth Brook’s personal record label).
I don’t think they get Fair Use.
The video in question was a few seconds of Garth Brooks performing American Pie (which is owned by Don McLean) at the We Are [...]