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Last before weekend - 18 March 2011
Mar. 19th, 2011 09:27 amUp top, just because the media focuses on one thing doesn't mean there's a lot of other stuff going on - the use of live ammunition against protesters in Yemen, for example. (Need a refresher? Here's a quick "Who's Who" of the Yemen protests). Or several of the events happening in Central and South America. Even that The United Nations authorized a no-fly zone over Libya and gave permission to let their members invade and use military force against Gaddafi, which might be giving a green light to the worst way to provide assistance and resolve the conflict, because it lets the West and others who still have that desire to conquer and rebuild in their own image avoid looking for solutions that would let the people of Libya do the conquering, governing, and rebuilding.
United States Secretary of State Clinton wants to meet with the opposition groups in Tunisia that are building their government. When going for the same idea in Egypt, she was snubbed by one of the main opposition groups because of the United States' support of Hosni Mubarak for years and general inaction on his deposition.
Have some pictures of one of the many operations underway to help the earthquake and tsunami victims. And now that the issue with the nuclear plants has gone on long enough, the coasts of the United States are now having to look and see whether the winds are carrying dangerous radioactive particles with them. But if you're paranoid, don't take the Potassium Iodine unless you're actually exposed to the radiation.
Domestically, Another labor fight has begun, this time of the players of the NFL versus the cabal of owners claiming that player salaries are too high. Anti-trust law looks to be the battleground here, rather than labor law, but it's still basically a case of working stiffs against their fat-cat owners. There are more zeroes, for sure, but the issues are relatively the same. And at least they're not trying to make it so that people on state benefits aren't legally allowed to have cash on hand.
The Republican majority of the House of Representatives voted to stop all federal funding to National Public Radio, claiming that NPR is ale to raise sufficient funds by itself that it no longer needs government grants.
And that's different from the Rpublican plan to turn the IRS into their personal abortion cops, by forcing the IRS to ask on audits whether or not a woman that claimed any tax benefits for health spending used them to pay for abortions not covered, meaning any abortion not caused by rape or incest. Every day, the Republicans prove their fidelity to both the corporations and the Tea Partiers - the corporations on the economy, the Tea Partiers on social issues. And they're doing so in a much more overt manner than usual (unless my memory is clouded and they've always been like this, and are just now getting coverage because they're able to actually do stuff.)
The New York Times rolls out a paywall plan - twenty articles per month for free, as well as some sections, $15-$20 USD for unlimited access to the website. We shall see whether they will be able to maintain a paywall or whether their content will be reposted outside of a paywall.
A chair of the Missouri House Financial Institutions Committee believes that payday lenders shouldn't be too tightly restricted, nor have their interest rates capped too low...because predatory lending services should be able to thrive with their excessive interest rates in that state, apparently.
Finally, the possibility of an Advanced Research Projects Agency for education, on the thinking that education is underfunded and not funded in such a way as to be able to attract the talent to solve problems that DARPA has been able to do with military solutions an dproblems.
In technology, A pictorial look at Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission.
In opinions, A fairly surface look at why the Midwest seems to be widly undulating between Democrats and Republicans in their preferences - the suggestion is that the unemployment rate controls all, and that this wild variance may continue for as long as the jobless numbers stay high. Oh, and maybe those governors implementing Rand's Wet Dream might have something to do with it, too. Mr. Fund believes the Democrats are sitting on their heels and waiting for the Republicans to present a target to start shooting at on the budget. Which would be much of the same technique the Republicans used against the Democrats. And sitting and waiting is a smart strategy when your opponents has yet to prove that they can put forth a cohesive anything, much less a workable one that deserves to be seriously discussed. Until the Republicans start showing they know how to govern, instead of chasing their culture wars policies or believing that welfare recipients are lazy, became poor and dependent on government assistance through their own choices, and just need to be threatened with the loss of their benefits to get them to go back into the workforce and be productive again, the Dems are probably good to sit back and snipe.
Mr. Hanson finds a new comparison to make between President Obama and other characters of literature - Hamlet, in this case. His stated comparison and his actual comparison are off, however - Hamlet did not act because he couldn't find the right moment for it and needed proof of Claudius's villany. The examples of Obama are the Janus condition or wanting both sides and not acting on one of them definitively, or of acting on one to start with, and then acting in the other direction when the consequences of the first action came through. Still, points for at least trying to expand the repertoire past Carter. Unfortunately, it looks like the "do-nothing president" is the newest talking point, as Ms. Strassel is annoyed that the administration doesn't seem to be willing to take any stands on tough issues. Those comparing this, by the way, to the complaints about the "do-everything", "big-government" President when the Democrats held the Congressional majority are to be commended and awarded a gold star for Having Paid Attention. Ms. Strassel commits the same error, though, mistaking "holding contradictory positions simultaneously or sequentially" for "doing and saying nothing".
Last for tonight, Nathan Fillion talks a bit about the types of fans he gets, and how much he could aspire to be typecast in a role like Mal.
United States Secretary of State Clinton wants to meet with the opposition groups in Tunisia that are building their government. When going for the same idea in Egypt, she was snubbed by one of the main opposition groups because of the United States' support of Hosni Mubarak for years and general inaction on his deposition.
Have some pictures of one of the many operations underway to help the earthquake and tsunami victims. And now that the issue with the nuclear plants has gone on long enough, the coasts of the United States are now having to look and see whether the winds are carrying dangerous radioactive particles with them. But if you're paranoid, don't take the Potassium Iodine unless you're actually exposed to the radiation.
Domestically, Another labor fight has begun, this time of the players of the NFL versus the cabal of owners claiming that player salaries are too high. Anti-trust law looks to be the battleground here, rather than labor law, but it's still basically a case of working stiffs against their fat-cat owners. There are more zeroes, for sure, but the issues are relatively the same. And at least they're not trying to make it so that people on state benefits aren't legally allowed to have cash on hand.
The Republican majority of the House of Representatives voted to stop all federal funding to National Public Radio, claiming that NPR is ale to raise sufficient funds by itself that it no longer needs government grants.
And that's different from the Rpublican plan to turn the IRS into their personal abortion cops, by forcing the IRS to ask on audits whether or not a woman that claimed any tax benefits for health spending used them to pay for abortions not covered, meaning any abortion not caused by rape or incest. Every day, the Republicans prove their fidelity to both the corporations and the Tea Partiers - the corporations on the economy, the Tea Partiers on social issues. And they're doing so in a much more overt manner than usual (unless my memory is clouded and they've always been like this, and are just now getting coverage because they're able to actually do stuff.)
The New York Times rolls out a paywall plan - twenty articles per month for free, as well as some sections, $15-$20 USD for unlimited access to the website. We shall see whether they will be able to maintain a paywall or whether their content will be reposted outside of a paywall.
A chair of the Missouri House Financial Institutions Committee believes that payday lenders shouldn't be too tightly restricted, nor have their interest rates capped too low...because predatory lending services should be able to thrive with their excessive interest rates in that state, apparently.
Finally, the possibility of an Advanced Research Projects Agency for education, on the thinking that education is underfunded and not funded in such a way as to be able to attract the talent to solve problems that DARPA has been able to do with military solutions an dproblems.
In technology, A pictorial look at Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission.
In opinions, A fairly surface look at why the Midwest seems to be widly undulating between Democrats and Republicans in their preferences - the suggestion is that the unemployment rate controls all, and that this wild variance may continue for as long as the jobless numbers stay high. Oh, and maybe those governors implementing Rand's Wet Dream might have something to do with it, too. Mr. Fund believes the Democrats are sitting on their heels and waiting for the Republicans to present a target to start shooting at on the budget. Which would be much of the same technique the Republicans used against the Democrats. And sitting and waiting is a smart strategy when your opponents has yet to prove that they can put forth a cohesive anything, much less a workable one that deserves to be seriously discussed. Until the Republicans start showing they know how to govern, instead of chasing their culture wars policies or believing that welfare recipients are lazy, became poor and dependent on government assistance through their own choices, and just need to be threatened with the loss of their benefits to get them to go back into the workforce and be productive again, the Dems are probably good to sit back and snipe.
Mr. Hanson finds a new comparison to make between President Obama and other characters of literature - Hamlet, in this case. His stated comparison and his actual comparison are off, however - Hamlet did not act because he couldn't find the right moment for it and needed proof of Claudius's villany. The examples of Obama are the Janus condition or wanting both sides and not acting on one of them definitively, or of acting on one to start with, and then acting in the other direction when the consequences of the first action came through. Still, points for at least trying to expand the repertoire past Carter. Unfortunately, it looks like the "do-nothing president" is the newest talking point, as Ms. Strassel is annoyed that the administration doesn't seem to be willing to take any stands on tough issues. Those comparing this, by the way, to the complaints about the "do-everything", "big-government" President when the Democrats held the Congressional majority are to be commended and awarded a gold star for Having Paid Attention. Ms. Strassel commits the same error, though, mistaking "holding contradictory positions simultaneously or sequentially" for "doing and saying nothing".
Last for tonight, Nathan Fillion talks a bit about the types of fans he gets, and how much he could aspire to be typecast in a role like Mal.
