Date night

We spent last evening making PBJs and hot chai as fast as we could run our little kitchen. The call from Occupy Seattle was for food and tarps. There was a contact number listed. It went to the cell phone for “Erin,” who cheerfully assured us that they didn’t need high tensile strength grommeted tarps, … [more]

Making ends meet

From an ABC News report by Olivia Katrandjia on the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg put it all into perspective for his protectorate. “The protesters are protesting against people who make $40,000 to $50,000 a year who are struggling to make ends meet. That’s the bottom line,” Bloomberg said. … [more]

Social Studies questions

Three-quarters of American voters (and 63 percent of global investors) support the “Buffet Rule” to raise taxes on our wealthiest citizens. Calls to Congress ran 300:1 against bailing out bankers. When TARP passed, investment bankers paid each other one-time bonuses that outweigh your entire life’s earnings. The top one-hundredth of one percent of Americans now … [more]

Secrets of Nym…

I’m gonna miss my Google+ account when they take it away from me, as must surely happen any minute now. Not because I paid anything for it — like all social networking media to date, G+ relies more on selling me to advertisers than on selling stuff to me — and not because I get … [more]

For Whom the Liberty Bell Tolls (or: Brief Thoughts on Crossing the Border on a Motorcycle)

I am an American, and this means certain things. As an American, I will say what I want, when I want, to whom I want. If you find my speech upsetting or disgusting, dangerous or irresponsible or even un-American, that’s your problem.  I’m an American.  I say what I want. I have the right to … [more]

Extremely put out

Repeatedly called an “extremist” by Democrats during the 1964 Presidential campaign, Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ) felt the need to channel Marcus Tullius Cicero and remind America, during his acceptance speech as the Republican nominee, that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice;” also that “moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” … [more]

Fellow Travelers

Per Godwin’s Law, the longer an internet thread persists, the greater the chances of someone invoking Hitler or Nazism to “settle” the issue. A popular corollary asserts that the invoker is considered to have lost the argument through his or her specious hyperbole.   Godwin’s adage would be more amusing if it weren’t so ecumenically … [more]

In Memoriam

Fair warning: politics ahead. Outrage imminent. Abort! Abort! …or pick up your coffee and join me in a little thought experiment (for those looking for a calmer introspection on Memorial Day, there is this item in the P-I, written before I read this morning’s news). The only guarantee in this little thought experiment is that … [more]