FACT CHECK: Palin Goes Rogue on Some Details

Nov 13, 2009 - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sarah Palin's new book reprises familiar claims from the 2008 presidential campaign that haven't become any truer over time. Ignoring substantial parts of her record if not the facts, she depicts herself as a frugal traveler on the taxpayer's dime, a reformer without ties to powerful interests and a politician roguishly indifferent to high ambition. Palin goes adrift, at times, on more contemporary issues, too. - 5 Comments

Does anyone care what Obama has to say?

Sep 25, 2009 - Iran certianly doesn't.   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/25/AR2009092500289_pf.html   Iran Reveals Existence of Second Uranium Enrichment Plant By Michael D. Shear and Debbi Wilgoren Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, September 25, 2009 12:42 PM   PITTSBURGH, Sept. - 6 Comments

From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution

Sep 08, 2009 - From Citizens to "Stakeholders": The New American Constitution By Angelo M. Codevilla "I'm going to get everybody concerned around a big table where all can express their views and their needs. And I'll express mine, and that will make sense of them all because I'll be president." - 2 Comments

White House appears ready to drop 'public option' (Running up the white flag?)

Aug 16, 2009 - White House appears ready to drop 'public option' By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Writer Philip Elliott, Associated Press Writer – 15 mins ago WASHINGTON – Bowing to Republican pressure, President Barack Obama's administration signaled on Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system. Facing mounting opposition to the overhaul, administration officials left open the chance for a compromise with Republicans that would include health insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run plan. Such a concession probably would enrage Obama's liberal supporters but could deliver a much-needed victory on a top domestic priority opposed by GOP lawmakers. - 6 Comments

There's Plenty of Energy at the Bottom (on of those must read articles IMHO)

Apr 26, 2009 - There's Plenty of Energy at the Bottom By William Tucker On December 29, 1959, on the threshold of the 1960s, Richard Feynman, "the best mind since Einstein" and interpreter of quantum mechanics, gave a lecture at the California Institute of Technology that is generally regarded to be the opening bell of the Information Age. It was titled, "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." "There is a device on the market, they tell me, that can write the Lord's Prayer on the head of a pin," Feynman began. - 12 Comments

Not Yet Ready for a Welfare State

Mar 30, 2009 - Not Yet Ready for a Welfare State A Commentary By Michael Barone Roadblocks. That's what Barack Obama has been encountering on the audacious path toward a European-style welfare state he has set out in his budget and other proposals. He continues to insist that America cannot enjoy real prosperity again without higher taxes on high earners, a government health insurance program, a cap-and-trade program that amounts to a tax on energy and the effective abolition of secret ballots in unionization elections. - 6 Comments

Dramatic Advances Sweep Iraq, Boosting Support for Democracy (ABC News/BBC/NHK National Survey of Iraq)

Mar 16, 2009 - Dramatic Advances Sweep Iraq, Boosting Support for Democracy ABC News/BBC/NHK National Survey of Iraq ANALYSIS by GARY LANGER Dramatic advances in public attitudes are sweeping Iraq, with declining violence, rising economic well-being and improved services lifting optimism, fueling confidence in public institutions and bolstering support for democracy. The gains in the latest ABC News/BBC/NHK poll represent a stunning reversal of the spiral of despair caused by Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006 and 2007. The sweeping rebound, extending initial improvements first seen a year ago, marks no less than the opportunity for a new future for Iraq and its people. - 3 Comments

Climate Change Surprise

May 21, 2009 - Climate Change Surprise Virginia Democrat Rick Boucher tries to craft a more moderate cap-and-trade bill. by Gary Andres Beverly Hills and the Appalachian Mountains don't have a lot in common--geographically, culturally or politically. One region produces a lot of coal to keep people warm and fuels American industry; the other is the home of Hollywood and generates, well . - 1 Comment

Making Ends Meet in the Great Depression (an oral history)

Apr 04, 2009 - Making Ends Meet in the Great Depression By JOYCE WADLER (New York Times) Published: April 1, 2009 AT a time when life in America is beginning to resemble a roller-coaster ride on the way down and everyone is trying to find ways to save money, it may be instructive — both in terms of offering helpful hints and putting things in perspective — to look at how people ran their households during the Great Depression. Memories from the Great Depression seem more relevant today than ever. The New York Times is starting a series of video conversations about that painful past and the uncertain future. - 10 Comments

Revenge of the Aristocrats (Eco-hypocrisy)

Apr 28, 2009 - PUBLIC POST * IMO this is additional, and clearer (due to the aristocratic connections), evidence that eco-fascism is one more tool in the hands of the privileged to keep the lower classes and developing countries from bettering their circumstances. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, April 27, 2009 Revenge of the Aristocrats [Brendan O’Neill] Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne who is most famous for talking to plants, has signed a deal to make a movie and write a book about climate change. The project will be called “Harmony,” because, in Charles’s words, humankind must “rediscover that sense of harmony, that sense of being a part of, rather apart from, nature.” His film will educate the unruly masses — with their fast cars, fridges, and other planet-destroying luxuries — that human beings “have a sacred duty of stewardship of the natural order of things.” The thought of being lectured about living more meekly by a taxpayer-subsidized prince who has never done a proper day’s work in his life — and who is currently flying around Europe on a private jet with a master suite and plush bathroom that will spew a whopping 53 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere over the course of his five-day, $116,000 charter — is of course eye-swivellingly irritating. - 6 Comments